HERITAGE’S BUDGET ADVICE TO CONGRESS: The think tank most favored by President Trump has just released its 2019 defense budget advice to Capitol Hill lawmakers. The Heritage Foundation is urging Congress toward more soldiers, ships and bigger future spending than what is proposed by Trump. “There are multiple areas where the rhetoric of the administration on rebuilding the military, as conveyed in the National Defense Strategy, does not seem to match the budgetary reality expressed by the President’s budget request for 2019,” the think tank says in a new brief by its team of defense experts, which was obtained exclusively by our own Travis Tritten.

HAPPENING TODAY — SECAF SPEAKS: Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson speaks at 7:30 this morning at an Air Force Association breakfast at the Capitol Hill Club. The association says the event will emphasize recapitalization and modernization issues for the service.

NO PLANS TO CURB F-35 BUYS: The Air Force does not intend to cut the number of F-35A joint strike fighters it plans to buy despite rising concerns over ballooning upkeep costs, said Gen. David Goldfein, the service’s chief of staff. Goldfein told reporters Thursday that the Air Force will pressure F-35 maker Lockheed Martin to bring down costs as it attempts to save money on sustaining the fifth-generation aircraft. “Remember, we are going to be buying these aircraft for a number of years, so it’s way too early to be talking about any curtailment of any procurement or any buy. Anything that we might be talking about is really well out into the future,” Goldfein said. “I don’t want, because it’s just not true, that there’s any — any — intent on our part to go one aircraft below the current program of record, because that is what we require today to actually accomplish the strategy as it’s currently written.”

Air Force analysts determined the service may need to cut 590 from the 1,763 aircraft, about one-third, it plans to order over the next decade because of the $1.1 trillion it may cost to operate and maintain all three services’ aircraft through 2070, according to Bloomberg News.

2 DEAD, 5 WOUNDED IN SYRIA: The U.S. military is reporting this morning that two coalition troops were killed and five others wounded in a blast from an improvised explosive device yesterday in Syria. “Wounded personnel received immediate care and are being evacuated for further medical treatment,” Operation Inherent Resolve said in a brief statement. “The names of the deceased will be released at the discretion of the pertinent national authorities.”

TRUMP’S SYRIA CURVEBALL: In his rambling Ohio speech yesterday, Trump appeared to rewrite Syria policy on the fly. “We’re knocking the hell out of ISIS. We’ll be coming out of Syria, like, very soon. Let the other people take care of it now,” Trump said, either unaware or glossing over the fact the U.S.-backed offensive to complete the defeat of ISIS in Syria has stalled, thanks in large part to Turkey’s campaign to wipe out many of the Kurdish fighters the U.S. needs to finish the job.  

“Very soon — very soon we’re coming out. We’re going to have 100 percent of the caliphate, as they call it — sometimes referred to as ‘land’ — taking it all back quickly, quickly,” Trump said to enthusiastic applause. “We’re going to be coming out of there real soon. Going to get back to our country, where we belong, where we want to be.”

PENTAGON DISCONNECT: Just two hours before Trump’s talk of a quick withdrawal from Syria, the Pentagon was stressing the need to hold firm. “While the coalition has significantly degraded ISIS, important work remains to guarantee the lasting defeat of these violent extremists,” said Dana White the Pentagon’s chief spokesperson, who warned, “ISIS is taking full advantage of any opportunity to regain momentum.”

The official position of the U.S. up to now is that some number of U.S. troops would be remaining in Syria indefinitely to make sure ISIS doesn’t reconstitute, and to provide stability while diplomats try to work out a settlement in U.N.-brokered talks in Geneva. Or as Mattis put it last November: “We’re going to make sure we set the conditions for a diplomatic solution … Not just, you know, fight the military part of it and then say good luck on the rest of it.”

When asked about whether the president’s off-the-cuff musing amounted to a change in policy, both the Pentagon and the State Department seemed flummoxed and referred all queries to the White House. “I’m not prepared to comment on what was supposedly said,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told reporters. “I’d have to refer you back to the White House. I don’t work at [the White House].”

It was former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson who made the clearest statement of the U.S. intention to stay in Syria even after ISIS was defeated, in a speech at Stanford two months ago. “The United States will maintain a military presence in Syria focused on ensuring ISIS cannot re-emerge,” Tillerson said in January. But that was a lifetime ago.

OH, THAT’S JUST TRUMP: Jim Phillips, a senior research fellow for Middle Eastern affairs at the Heritage Foundation, said the infrastructure speech turned foreign policy declaration caught him off guard.

But Phillips cautioned against reading too much into Trump’s comment. The fact that the Pentagon and State Department weren’t ready to weigh in on Trump’s statement means it was likely an off-the-cuff remark that might not mean too much in the grand scheme of things.

“The statements of the State Department and Defense Department would indicate this wasn’t something that was planned, but more kind of an ad lib,” Phillips said.

IF ONLY WE HAD KEPT THE OIL: In his Ohio speech, Trump returned to a favorite campaign theme, arguing the U.S. has wasted far too much money in Iraq and Syria and should have taken the region’s oil to pay for the years of war.

“I used to say, ‘Keep the oil.’ We never kept the oil. If we kept the oil, we would have been OK. If we kept the oil, we wouldn’t have ISIS. Because you know who kept a lot of the oil? ISIS. That’s how they funded themselves. They kept the oil. We didn’t keep the oil. Stupid, stupid.”

Trump suggested all the blood and treasure the U.S. has expended in Iraq and Syria has not been worth it. “We spent $7 trillion in the Middle East. And you know what we have for it? Nothing,” he said. “Nobody ever heard of the word ‘trillion’ until 10 years ago. We spent $7 trillion in the Middle East. We’d build a school, they’d blow it up. We’d build it again, they’d blow it up. We’d build it again — hasn’t been blown up yet, but it will be. But, if we want a school in Ohio to fix the windows, you can’t get the money.”

RUSSIA’S TIT-FOR-TAT: Sixty U.S. officials are being ordered to leave Russia, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced Thursday, in the latest round of a diplomatic feud stemming from the poisoning of a former spy in the United Kingdom.

“US Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman has been summoned to our ministry, where my deputy Sergei Ryabkov is briefing him on the tit-for-tat steps against the US,” Lavrov said, per TASS, a state-run media outlet. “They include the expulsion of the same number of diplomats and our decision to withdraw consent to the work of the Consulate General in St. Petersburg.”

U.S. MAY TAT-FOR-TIT: The Trump administration might retaliate against Russia’s expulsion of 60 American officials, the State Department announced Thursday. “We reserve the right to respond further,” Nauert told reporters Thursday. “We’re reviewing our options.”

TRUMP TO PUTIN, BRING IT ON: Trump reportedly told Russian President Vladimir Putin during a phone call the U.S. would beat Russia if the two nations were to engage in an arms race. “If you want to have an arms race we can do that, but I’ll win,” Trump warned Putin, according to two White House officials who spoke to NBC News.

KIM TO RUSSIA? North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un may visit Russia for meetings related to the brewing nuclear crisis, according to Moscow officials. “Things are currently under consideration, but it is possible to say that the visit is an immediate prospect,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday.

COULD PENTAGON FUND THE WALL? It’s not a popular notion, nor would it be easy to get congressional approval, but the Pentagon yesterday confirmed that Mattis has discussed with the president his idea about getting the Defense Department involved in building his border wall with Mexico, under the rationale it’s all about national defense. A report from Just Security suggested that Mattis may actually be drawing up some options, but none seemed feasible. It could be that Mattis is gently trying to explain why the idea is non-starter.

WHAT? THE DEVIL? Mattis’ devilish sense of humor was on display as he shook hands and ushered Trump’s next national security adviser John Bolton into the Pentagon yesterday afternoon. As the two men disappeared through the River Entrance, the TV pool camera captured Mattis ribbing Bolton that he was “the devil incarnate.”

“It’s good to finally meet you,” Mattis told Bolton. “I heard that you’re actually the devil incarnate and I wanted to meet you.” Bolton could be heard laughing. It was first time Mattis has met the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, with whom he has pledged to form a partnership.

NELLER’S A TREKKIE: At an Atlantic Council event yesterday, Marine Corps Commandant Robert Neller confessed to Defense One’s Kevin Baron that he’s a big Star Trek fan. “I think that Star Trek is a leadership show,” Neller said. “There have been about four or five different versions of Star Trek. My favorite … is Star Trek: Next Generation, with Jean-Luc Picard as the captain of the Enterprise.”

Neller says while the show is “a little hokey sometimes” it does make you think about modernization, technology and leadership. “You always find that the crew and the captain are put in some sort of moral, ethical, operational dilemma, which I find interesting.”

SHANAHAN’S ‘GSDN’ INITIAL INITIATIVE: Deputy Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan, who famously tried to sneak some Star Wars references into some boring Pentagon acronyms, has a new set of initials he’s touting. At a Center for a New American Security event yesterday, the Pentagon’s No. 2 said you may see the initials GSD or GSDN on T-shirts or buttons or coins. GSD stands for “Get Stuff Done,” while GSDN adds “now” to the slogan.

Earlier this year, a draft Shanahan memo referred to the new “Central Cloud Computing Program Office,” or “C3PO,” to “acquire the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) Cloud.” The references were excised before the memo was issued.

THE RUNDOWN

Reuters: China Says It Is ‘Coordinating’ With U.S. Over Possible Mattis Visit

Air Force Times: What happened to the Air Force mechanic who stole a C-130 in a drunken, desperate bid to return home?

AP: US plant that destroys chemical weapons beset by troubles

Inside Defense: Geurts: Navy Faces Three Significant Hurdles To Improving Public, Private Shipyard Maintenance

Task and Purpose: Does Gen. Dunford Actually Believe His Own Bullsh-t?

Business Insider: A massive military exercise between the US and South Korea is about to kick off — check out why North Korea hates it

Military.com: With Pentagon Policy on Hold, Transgender Troops, Advocates Speak Out

Defense One: New Transgender Policy Is Grounded in Common Sense

Army Times: US officials say they’re not conducting ‘presence patrols’ in Manbij, Syria, but new photos show otherwise

USNI News: Current Schedule at Risk for Navy F-35C Fighters to be Combat Ready by End of Year

Foreign Policy: Trump Should Do His Nuke Deal Homework

Roll Call: S. Korea Trade Pact is Leverage in Kim Jong Un Talks, Trump Says

Breaking Defense: Army Accelerates Air & Missile Defense Five Years: MSHORAD, MML, Lasers

The Hill: US calls for larger rapid-reaction NATO force to counter Russia

National Interest: A U.S. Navy Aircraft Carrier Can Now Remotely Control And Land Fighter Jets

War on the Rocks: With Its New ‘White Book,’ France Looks to Become a World-Class Player in Cyber Space