Trump on Taiwan: ‘Zero chance’ China invades if he’s elected president again

“They will not do it. Zero chance,” Trump said, without saying how he would deter China’s Xi Jinping from achieving his stated goal of bringing Taiwan under Beijing’s control by the end of the decade. “There are other things you can do without going into a nuclear holocaust. There are other things you can do. China will never go into Taiwan.”

“There’s no reason to be afraid of China. We have a lot of things on China where they can’t do anything if you had a president that was even modestly capable,” Trump said, bragging about his “great relationship” with Xi while calling President Joe Biden weak. “He’s so weak on China. He’s so afraid of China.”

TRUMP IMPLIES HE WOULD NOT INTERVENE AGAINST A CHINESE INVASION OF TAIWAN

SAME ON UKRAINE: Trump also repeated his argument that Russian President Vladimir Putin would have never invaded Ukraine had he been reelected in 2020. “He was never going into Ukraine with me, ever,” Trump said. “I knew it was the apple of Putin’s eye. He would have never done it if the election weren’t rigged, our election. It was rigged and stolen. If that election wasn’t rigged, if I were president, you would right now have millions of people living that are dead.”

“You would have cities that would be flourishing, and they’d be up … in Ukraine, those beautiful gold … and everything else that are, to have been reduced to rubble,” Trump said. “Take a look at these cities. It was like demolition crews just went through … The numbers of how many people were killed, because the numbers are staggering. Staggering … if I were president, you would right now have millions of people living that are dead.

AFGHANISTAN: ‘WE HAD A GREAT AGREEMENT’: Trump disputed arguments from the Biden administration that Trump’s February 2020 deal with the Taliban made it impossible for U.S. and NATO troops to remain in Afghanistan.

“We had a great agreement, but they had to live up to it. And whenever they would miss a step, they were under default. And we would either hit them very hard, do something,” Trump said. “So we have a step-by-step agreement. They didn’t fulfill certain steps, and therefore we knocked the hell out of them. We didn’t lose a soldier in 18 months.”

“I’ll tell you who doesn’t think it was Trump’s fault is the parents and the loved ones of the 13 soldiers that were killed so unnecessarily with that horrible evacuation that they did,” Trump continued. “They had no idea what they were doing. They were, that was the gang that couldn’t shoot straight.”

UFOS: ‘I ALWAYS HAVE AN OPEN MIND’: Trump said while president, he was briefed on what the government knows about UFOs, now labeled UAPs for unidentified anomalous phenomena.

“So you have believers in that like you wouldn’t believe, and they’re very solid people. And then you have people that don’t believe,” he said. “I will tell you, I interviewed a couple people from the Air Force, and these guys were central casting, perfect guys with their crew cuts. And they walked in, and they were handsome as hell, and I said, what do you think, and they believe it. I mean, they believe it. They said they saw it.”

The reality of unexplained sightings of what appear to be objects in the skies is undeniable; the real question is if they are evidence of alien life or technology. “I always have an open mind,” Trump said when pressed about what he believes. “But you know what? I focus on things like China.”

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Good Thursday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, written and compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre) and edited by Conrad Hoyt. Email here with tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. Sign up or read current and back issues at DailyonDefense.com. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email and we’ll add you to our list. And be sure to follow me on Threads and/or on X @jamiejmcintyre

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HAPPENING TODAY: President Joe Biden leaves Washington this afternoon for New Delhi, India, and Saturday’s G20 summit of leading economies. Biden arrives in India tomorrow after a brief refueling stop in Ramstein, Germany.

The White House says Biden is still testing negative for COVID-19 after spending a long weekend with first lady Jill Biden who tested positive.

The meeting of 20 industrialized and developing countries comes against the background of rising tensions between India and China and as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is positioning himself as between the West and Russia over the war in Ukraine.

Neither Russian President Vladimir Putin nor China’s leader Xi Jinping are attending, instead sending representatives.

On Sunday, Biden will travel to Hanoi, Vietnam, where he will meet with Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and announce an upgraded strategic partnership with the former foe.

ANOTHER $1 BILLION FOR UKRAINE: In his meeting in Kyiv with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky yesterday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken cited “important progress that’s being made now in the counteroffensive” and called it “very, very encouraging.”

“We will continue to stand by Ukraine’s side, and today we’re announcing new assistance totaling more than $1 billion in this common effort,” Blinken said later at a news conference with his counterpart Dmytro Kuleba. “That includes $665.5 million in new military and civilian security assistance. In total, we committed over $43 billion in security assistance since the beginning of the Russian aggression.”

The $1 billion includes another $175 million in air defense equipment, artillery rounds, and anti-tank weapons drawn from Pentagon inventories.

It also includes:

• $100 million in Foreign Military Financing to support longer-term military requirements
• $90.5 million in humanitarian demining assistance
• $300 million to support law enforcement efforts
• $206 million in humanitarian assistance 
• $5.4 million in forfeited oligarch assets 
• $203 million for support to transparency and accountability of institutions, bolstering key reform efforts related to anti-corruption, rule of law and the justice sector

IT’S CALLED ‘DEPLETED’ URANIUM: The Pentagon package includes armor-piercing 120 mm depleted uranium tank ammunition for 31 M1 Abrams tanks that will soon be shipped to Ukraine.

The depleted uranium rounds are highly effective against the kind of tanks Russia has on the battlefield in Ukraine, but their use is somewhat controversial because of claims that the dust from the shells could be a health hazard.

The Pentagon insists that the rounds, a byproduct of uranium enrichment, are “depleted,”’ meaning they no do not pose any radiological threat.

MORE NOMINATIONS IN LIMBO: Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced another list of seven senior officer promotions that can be added to the 300-plus that Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) is blocking in his battle with the Pentagon over abortion travel funding.

The latest nominations include Lt. Gen. James Slife to get his fourth star and become vice chief of staff of the Air Force.

The Pentagon yesterday released a breakdown by service of where senior officers are in limbo because of the impasse, including 22 commanders who are being blocked from taking new assignments in the vital Indo-Pacific area of responsibility, which is focused on countering China and North Korea.

• The Army has 91 officers on hold, including 15 in the Reserves.
• The Air Force has 98 officers on hold, including 25 in the Reserves.
• The Navy has 86 officers on hold, including 14 in the Reserves.
• The Marines have 18 officers on hold.
• The Space Force has eight officers on hold.

Tuberville continues to deny his power play is degrading military readiness. “If I thought it was hurting readiness, I wouldn’t be doing this, but it’s not.”

Tuberville was responding to a remark by Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro, who, in an interview on CNN, said Tuberville’s hold was “aiding and abetting communist and other autocratic regimes around the world.”

“I’m disappointed that a secretary would say that about a senator, and he sat in this very office when he was going up for confirmation,” Tuberville told CNN Tuesday. “It’s concerning that you’ve got people that are in secretary positions like that that would say something like that in our country, instead of getting on the phone and calling me.”

TUBERVILLE STANDS FIRM AGAINST NEW PENTAGON MEDIA PRESSURE CAMPAIGN OVER HOLDS ON MILITARY NOMINATIONS

The Rundown

Washington Examiner: Tuberville stands firm against new Pentagon media pressure campaign over holds on military nominations

Washington Examiner: Trump implies he would not intervene against a Chinese invasion of Taiwan

Washington Examiner: Lindsey Graham tells Trump to support Biden negotiations with Saudi Arabia

Washington Examiner: Opinion: Why we should welcome the Saudi sports splurge

Washington Examiner: US Southern Command cancels Sound of Freedom screenings at headquarters

Washington Examiner: Texas ordered to remove Rio Grande barrier as court case continues

Washington Examiner: Donald Trump indictment: Four takeaways from first Fulton County televised hearing

Washington Examiner: China cracks down on iPhones for government workers

Washington Examiner: Blinken and Ukraine counterpart joke about hangovers during McDonald’s meal

AP: Russian missile strike on Ukrainian market kills 17 as Blinken announces new $1B aid package

Defense News: US Considering Long-Range Fires for Ukraine, State Dept Official Says

Bloomberg: Pentagon Pledges Thousands of US Drones to Counter China

Wall Street Journal: Pentagon Plans Vast AI Fleet to Counter China Threat

Defense News: Despite Cracks, No Thaw In U.S.-China Military Comms, Pentagon Says

AP: Australia and China open their first high-level dialogue in 3 years in a sign of a slight thaw

AP: Fighting Between Rival US-Backed Groups in Syria Could Undermine War Against the Islamic State Group

Defense One: NSA ‘Recently Completed’ AI Strategic Study, Director Says

Bloomberg: US Army Cancels Flight Test of Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon

USNI News: Marines Considering Autonomous Systems For Almost Everything, General Says

Bloomberg: Lockheed Deliveries of Advanced F-35 Jets Slip Again, Maybe to June

Air & Space Forces Magazine: Upgraded F-35 Deliveries Delayed to Mid-2024; USAF Prioritizes New Units in the Meantime

Air & Space Forces Magazine: New Vice Chief: Slife Nominated for USAF’s No. 2 Job

Air & Space Forces Magazine: Hill F-35 Pilots Ready For the Return of Historic ‘William Tell’ Fighter Meet

DefenseScoop: Air Force Contemplating Mission Adaptability for Future Robotic Wingmen

Air & Space Forces Magazine: Replicator Drone Effort Part of Pentagon ‘Culture Change,’ Not a New Program, Hicks Says

Marine Corps Times: Marines Will Get More Chances To Earn Expert Shooting Badge

Defense News: Sluggish Deployment of Emerging Tech Hampers US Military, Officials Say

Breaking Defense: SDA Steps Toward Global Hypersonic Missile Tracking, Plus New Targeting Capability

Space News: Space Force Rewrites Mission Statement

Air & Space Forces Magazine: Airmen and Guardians Test Launch ICBM, Plan Another in November

Calendar

THURSDAY | SEPTEMBER 7

8:30 a.m. 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW — Billington weeklong Cybersecurity Summit with Defense Department CIO John Sherman; Air Force Lt. Gen. Robert Skinner, director of the Defense Information Systems Agency; Kenneth Bible, chief information security officer at the Homeland Security Department; Gerald Caron, CIO of the Commerce Department’s International Trade Administration; Mike Witt, chief information security officer at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration; Air Force Col. Erica Mitchell, director of cyber and spectrum operations integration at U.S. Space Command; and Deputy CIA Director David Cohen https://billingtoncybersummit.com

8:30 a.m. — Government Executive Media Group’s NextGov/Federal Computer Week virtual forum: “Cyber Defenders” https://events.nextgov.com/cyberdefenders

11 a.m. 1201 Pennsylvania Ave. NW — Hudson Institute discussion: “Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific Security Ties,” with U.K. Defence Staff Chief Adm. Tony Radakin https://www.hudson.org/events/euro-atlantic-indo-pacific-security

11 a.m. 1775 Massachusetts Ave. NW — Brookings Institution discussion: “Should the U.S. Pursue a New Cold War with China?” with Jessica Chen Weiss, professor for China and Asia-Pacific studies at Cornell University; former Assistant Defense Secretary for International Security Affairs Joseph Nye; Matthew Turpin, visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution; and Demetri Sevastopulo, U.S.-China correspondent at the Financial Times https://www.brookings.edu/events/should-the-us-pursue-a-new-cold-war-with-china/

12 p.m. — Association of the U.S. Army Noon Report webinar: “Lessons for Veterans Seeking to Earn Their Degrees,” with author John Davis, former infantry squad leader in the 101st Airborne Division https://www.ausa.org/events/noon-report-combat-college

6 p.m. 14th and F Sts. NW — National Press Club film screening and discussion of America and the Taliban Part 3, with Jason Dempsey, adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security; Roya Rahmani, former Afghan Ambassador to the U.S. and Indonesia, senior adviser at the Atlantic Council; and Martin Smith, producer at Frontline https://www.press.org/events/documentary-screening-america-and-taliban-panel-discussion

FRIDAY | SEPTEMBER 8

11 a.m. — Foundation for Defense of Democracies book discussion: Beijing Rules: How China Weaponized Its Economy to Confront the World, with Axios China reporter Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian; Liza Tobin, senior director for economy, Special Competitive Studies Project.; F. Scott Kieff, former commissioner, U.S. International Trade Commission; and Craig Singleton, FDD senior fellow https://forms.monday.com/forms

12 p.m. New York, NY— Korea Society’s Policy and Education Department discussion: “Chinese Views of North Korea’s Uncertain Future,” with Sungmin Cho, professor at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, a U.S. Defense Department institution; and Jonathan Corrado, Korea Society policy director https://docs.google.com/forms

MONDAY | SEPTEMBER 11

9 a.m. 9/11 Pentagon Memorial — Annual September 11th Observance Ceremony for families and invited guests. To accommodate the event, the memorial will be closed to the public on Sept. 10 and will reopen at 2 p.m. Sept. 11 https://www.pentagonmemorial.org

9:15 a.m. 165 Waterfront St., National Harbor, Maryland — Air and Space Forces Association Air, Space & Cyber Conference, with Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall; Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr.; and Gen. Duke Richardson, commander of Air Force Materiel Command https://2023asc.expotracker.net/index.aspx

TUESDAY | SEPTEMBER 12

8:25 a.m. 165 Waterfront St., National Harbor, Maryland — Air and Space Forces Association Air, Space & Cyber Conference, with Gen. B. Chance Saltzman, chief of space operations; William LaPlante, undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment; Gen. Anthony Cotton, commander of U.S. Strategic Command; Thomas Bussiere, commander of Air Force Global Strike Command; and Chief Master Sgt. of the Space Force Roger Towberman https://2023asc.expotracker.net/index.aspx

1 p.m. — Stimson Center virtual discussion: “U.S. Policy Toward Afghanistan,” with Tom West, U.S. special representative and deputy assistant secretary of state for Afghanistan; Elizabeth Threlkeld, senior fellow and director, South Asia Program, Stimson Center; and Brian Finlay, president and CEO, Stimson Center https://www.stimson.org/event/us-policy-toward-afghanistan

WEDNESDAY | SEPTEMBER 13

8:15 a.m. 165 Waterfront St., National Harbor, Maryland — Air and Space Forces Association Air, Space & Cyber Conference, with Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force JoAnne Bass; and Adm. Christopher Grady, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff https://2023asc.expotracker.net/index.aspx

FRIDAY | SEPTEMBER 15

9:30 a.m. 2401 M St., NW — George Washington University Project for Media and National Security Defense Writers Group conversation with Mieke Eoyang, deputy assistant secretary of defense for cyber policy. RSVP: Thom Shanker [email protected]

11 a.m. — Center for a New American Security virtual fireside chat of CNAS report: “‘Production is Deterrence’: Investing in Precision-Guided Munitions to Meet Peer Challengers,” with William LaPlante, undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment; and moderator Stacie Pettyjohn, senior fellow and director of the CNAS Defense Program https://www.cnas.org/events/virtual-fireside-chat-the-honorable-dr-william-laplante