NERVOUSNESS IN THE SOUTH, QUIET IN THE NORTH: President Trump’s threat to “totally destroy” North Korea if it becomes a danger to the U.S. or its allies yesterday at the United Nations drew praise from South Korea’s leadership, but also left many wondering how Pyongyang would respond.
“The United States has great strength and patience, but if it is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea,” Trump told the gathering, featuring representatives of the dictatorship and nearly 200 other nations. “Rocket Man is on a suicide mission for himself and his regime,” he said.
A spokesman for South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Trump “expressed a firm and specific stance regarding the important issue of maintaining peace and security now facing the international community and the United Nations,” according to the Korea Herald. “Also, we believe he clearly showed how seriously the US government takes this issue by allocating an unprecedentedly long period of time to address the North Korean nuclear and North Korean issues in his UN address as a US president,” he added.
The statement, however, stressed the need for dialogue, not destruction. “His remarks today regarding North Korea reaffirmed the need to put maximum sanctions and pressure against North Korea’s nuclear and missile provocations to make North Korea realize that denuclearization is its only option to ensure its future,” he said.
The Associated Press quoted experts and other national politicians in Seoul who are worried that the tough rhetoric coming out of the U.S. means that South Korea is losing its ability to influence Trump. “The government should comprehensively review its diplomatic and national security system and do its absolute best so that our stance on critical issues related to the existence of our country and the lives of our people doesn’t go ignored,” said Kim Su-min, a lawmaker in the People’s Party.
“With those words, President Trump handed the Kim regime the soundbite of the century. It will play on a continuous loop on North Korean national television,” wrote Marcus Noland, a North Korea specialist with the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington.
And the Washington Post reported that officials in that country and in Japan felt “blindsided” by Trump’s remarks.
WHAT WILL PYONGYANG DO? All eyes, meanwhile, are on North Korea, which has yet to respond to Trump’s remarks. The Korean Central News Agency did transmit a statement from Pyongyang reacting to U.N. sanctions, but the regime has been silent about the threat of destruction and the new nickname for its dictator.
“The U.S. cooked up another ‘sanctions resolution’ at the United Nations Security Council as part of its unprecedented military threat and sanctions and blockade to stifle the DPRK,” the statement said. “The U.S. describes the DPRK’s nuclear deterrence for self-defense as the ‘biggest threat to peace,’ but it is no more than a shameful logic and a brigandish deed to justify its crimes against peace on the Korean Peninsula.
“In case the U.S. opts for confrontation and war at last, defying the strategic position of the DPRK, nuclear power of Juche and a world military giant, it will meet horrible nuclear strike and miserable and final ruin,” it said.
THAT OTHER THING: Also during Trump’s speech before the General Assembly, he sent his strongest signal yet that he plans to tell Congress that Iran is not in compliance with the Iran deal.
“We cannot let a murderous regime continue these destabilizing activities while building dangerous missiles and we cannot abide by an agreement if it provides cover for the eventual construction of a nuclear program,” Trump said. “The Iran deal was one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into,” he added. “Frankly, that deal is an embarrassment to the United States, and I don’t think you’ve heard the last of it, believe me.”
ROYCE’S ADVICE: The chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee called on Trump to “enforce the hell” out of the Iran nuclear deal rather than doing away with it completely.
Rep. Ed Royce argued that since Iran has already received billions of dollars from sanctions being lifted against the country, the best course of action is to more stringently enforce the agreement.
“They now have this money. So, in a way the toothpaste is out of the tube,” Royce told CNN. “So, going forward, how do we focus on compliance and enforcement of the agreement and preventing them from moving forward with their intercontinental ballistic missile programs as well as their movement of troops to the border with Israel into Syria, across from the Golan Heights? These are the big challenges,” he added.
THE NEXT STEP: Sarah Westwood is out with a story this morning explaining that Trump’s comments may have boxed him in if he does want to certify the deal before Congress next month.
“I don’t think we know what the president’s decision on the deal is going to be yet,” John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the UN, told the Washington Examiner. “But these were very strong comments. And when you say, among other things, that the deal is an embarrassment to the U.S., it’s hard to see how you certify or stay in.”
Bolton suggested recertifying the Iran deal after criticizing it so harshly could send mixed signals to the international community about where Trump truly stands on Iranian policy. “To me, that’s the kind of one shoe on, one shoe off foreign policy — that’s not the way the U.S. leads, because to lead, you need moral and political clarity,” Bolton said.
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TODAY AT THE U.N.: Trump’s schedule today is packed with a series of bilateral meetings. He’ll be sitting down with King Abdullah II of Jordan and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, followed by a lunch with African leaders, then afternoon meetings with U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.
Trump tweeted this morning: “Big meetings today at the United Nations. So many interesting leaders. America First will MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
FULL COVERAGE: Beyond the major North Korea and Iran deal news, here is a roundup of other highlights from yesterday’s action at the U.N.:
- Trump tells the UN: ‘I will always put America first’
- Trump: US and her allies are crushing ‘loser terrorists’
- Trump calls for ‘great reawakening of nations’ at United Nations summit
- Trump vows at UN to solve ‘problem’ of Saudi-led blockade of Qatar
- Watch: Trump toasts ‘great, great potential’ of United Nations
CONFERENCE KEYNOTES: This morning at 8:30, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis will give the keynote address at the Air Force Association’s Air, Space and Cyber conference at National Harbor, Md. The secretary will speak on the third and final day of the conference after speeches by Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson and Gen. David Goldfein, the service’s chief of staff. Here’s a schedule of the other events.
Meanwhile, Marine Commandant Gen. Robert Neller is scheduled to give a speech at 10 a.m. on “littoral operations in a contested environment,” at the Modern Day Marine expo at Quantico, Va. The expo has two other panel discussions on the future challenges of combat and an awards ceremony scheduled for today, and you can see them here.
SAME PAGE BUDGET-WISE: At the United Nations, Trump touted plans in Congress to spend about $700 billion on defense in 2018 and Rep. Mac Thornberry, the Armed Services chairman who spent months criticizing the president’s $639 billion budget proposal as too small, took it as a good sign. “A majority of Republicans, Democrats, and now the President of the United States agree that after six years of neglect, America’s military needs a substantial investment to restore its strength and protect the nation,” Thornberry said in a released statement. “Consensus on this issue has eluded Congress and the Executive Branch in the past.”
The recent “announcement” cited by the president refers to the Senate’s passage of its $700 billion National Defense Authorization Act on Monday evening. It will make the U.S. military the “strongest it has ever been,” Trump said. But the major defense hike is far from a done deal. The Senate bill must be reconciled with Thornberry’s $696 billion House NDAA passed in July. Then Congress faces the difficult task of raising the standing $549 billion cap on defense spending for 2018. “There are still a number of hurdles to overcome, but I am encouraged that with President Trump’s support, we will soon be able to get troops the resources, training, and equipment they need,” Thornberry said.
SAILORS’ 100-HOUR WORK WEEK: In a hearing before his Armed Services Committee, Sen. John McCain told the Navy’s top civilian and uniformed leader that they are overworking sailors with 100-hour work weeks and pointed out that the service knew about the fleet’s high operations tempo, limited training and growing maintenance backlogs for years before those problems might have contributed to a string of naval mishaps and two collisions that have killed 17 sailors. “I don’t have to ask Rand [Corp.] to look at it. I think I know what 100 hours a week does to people over time,” McCain said. “Why not declare a halt to it right now?”
The work statistic comes from the Government Accountability Office, which found that some sailors stationed in the Pacific were working that much, and Adm. John Richardson, the chief of naval operations, did not deny it. “The sailors are working very hard,” the admiral said. But the Navy is working to reduce the workload and mandated this month that sailors get sleep in 24-hour cycles, Richardson said. “Again, this comes down to the leadership on those units to make sure that their teams are actually abiding by that,” he told the Washington Examiner. “There is certainly nothing that I’ve done or anybody in the Navy has done that mandates a 100-hour work week.”
GETTING TO THE BOTTOM: Meanwhile, Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer also appeared before the Armed Services for the first time since his confirmation hearing in July and told McCain and the committee, “We have a problem in the Navy and we are going to fix it.” Spencer told the Washington Examiner he expects the two Navy-wide reviews and incident investigations into the collisions of the USS John S. McCain and USS Fitzgerald to be completed in October or November. Once Spencer has the findings in hand, he told the Senate he will work to the “limit of my authority” to right the fleet and make it safe.
But a fix might also come down to the size of the fleet, said Sen. Roger Wicker, chairman of the Armed Services subcommittee on seapower. A GAO review after the McCain collision depicted a fleet of overseas-based ships that are stretched too thin and unable to get the training or maintenance they need. Richardson told senators that the existing Navy fleet can meet less than 50 percent of the global demand from combatant commanders. “It’s a fact that we are now asking 276 ships to answer to the requirement that a minimum of 355 ships would take,” Wicker said.
ANOTHER LCS IN THE MIX: Meanwhile, Wicker and other proponents of a larger Navy scored an initial win in the Senate’s NDAA. The $700 billion policy bill includes an amendment, sponsored by Sen. Luther Strange, calling for a second Navy littoral combat ship in 2018. The legislation could also be a win for the shipbuilding industry in Strange’s state, namely the Austal USA shipyard in Mobile that produces the Independence-class LCS.
The added $600 million for the ship puts the Senate’s NDAA in sync with the Trump administration’s request for two LCS hulls. But it still falls short of the three ships being proposed by the House in its version of the NDAA passed in July. Now, the Senate and House will convene a conference committee to negotiate a final version of the must-pass defense bill and a final number of the ships for the Navy.
NAVY BUDGET WOES: As the Navy is waiting for a final NDAA and a 2018 budget expected in December, it will be contending with a stopgap continuing resolution beginning next month that will crimp its operations and maintenance, Spencer said. “The fleet will mitigate approximately $200 million of [operations and maintenance] shortfalls over the next 69 days,” he said. To deal with Congress’ CR, Spencer said the Navy will incrementally fund or shorten periods of contracts where possible, which “will cause a degradation in the quality of the work.” It will also delay purchasing supplies and replacement parts for ships and that “will impact, again, the quality of service and the operation of the ships,” he said.
Richardson said the Navy has adapted to deal with the stopgap measures at the beginning of each fiscal year after being dealt dozens over the past decade by Congress. “Actually it’s become certain, we’re certain that we’re not going to get a budget in the first quarter,” he said. “Behaviors have adapted, so we don’t put anything important in the first quarter of the year.”
SHOW ME THE MONEY: Another amendment that made it into the Senate’s NDAA bill would force the Defense Department to be a little more detailed about expenses in its press releases. The legislation by Sen. Jeff Flake will require that “any press release, statement or other document” sent out to the public by the DoD about “any program, project or activity” that is even partly funded by department include an estimate of the dollar cost. Flake said it was inspired by a recent study on the effects of walking with coffee that was partially funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. “Getting the Pentagon to finally spill the beans on project funding is a buzzworthy victory in the long-brewing effort to put a lid on wasteful spending,” Flake said in a pun-laden press release.
RUSSIA NOMINEE: Trump’s nominee to serve as the U.S. ambassador to Russia said Tuesday there is “no question” Russia meddled in the 2016 election. “There is no question, underline no question, that the Russian government interfered in the U.S. election last year, and Moscow continues to meddle in the democratic processes of our friends and allies,” Jon Huntsman, the former governor of Utah, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Trump nominated Huntsman to serve as the ambassador to Russia in July, and he is expected to face easy confirmation in the Senate. In addition to serving as the governor of Utah, Huntsman was also the U.S. ambassador to Singapore and China. “I will also not hesitate to remind government officials that they are accountable for their actions,” he said. “Exhibit A is the fact that interference in the U.S. election has led directly to the current low level of trust in the relationship.”
TURKEY PARDON: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Trump called him to apologize after members of his security detail were indicted for attacking protesters during his visit to Washington, D.C., in May. “Actually President Trump called me about a week ago about this issue,” Erdogan said, through a translator, during an interview with “PBS Newshour” that aired Tuesday. “He said that he was sorry and he told me that he was going to follow up on this issue when we come to the United States within the framework of an official visit.”
Nineteen people, including 15 members of Erdogan’s security detail, were indicted in August for attacking peaceful protesters outside the D.C. embassy.
IS IT STILL LAST YEAR? Hillary Clinton panned Trump’s U.N. speech during an interview with “Late Show” host Stephen Colbert.
“I thought it was very dark, dangerous. Not the kind of message that the leader of the greatest nation in the world should be delivering,” she said.
Trump shot back this morning on Twitter. “After allowing North Korea to research and build Nukes while Secretary of State (Bill C also), Crooked Hillary now criticizes.”
THE RUNDOWN
Washington Post: National Guard chief cites ‘bigger, larger, more violent’ hurricanes as possible evidence of climate change
Defense & Aerospace Report: Orbital ATK’s Fogelman: Northrop Grumman Deal Would Be ‘Real Win-Win for Everyone’
Defense One: Some military planes will tell you when they’re going to break — for a fee
New York Times: Giant monument to Kalashnikov, creator of AK-47, is unveiled in Moscow
DoD Buzz: Is the Air Force’s T-X program in limbo?
Defense News: If CR persists, Air Force could announce T-X winner ahead of contract award
USA Today: 5 takeaways from President Trump’s United Nations speech, from North Korea to ‘America First’ foreign policy
Politico: Pentagon reporters frustrated by Mattis
Defense Tech: Humvee-mounted howitzer dazzles at Modern Day Marine
Washington Post: Disturbing images show Navy hospital staffers mishandling infant, calling babies ‘mini Satans’
Roll Call: Space Corps proposal has military brass going orbital
Navy Times: New Navy command will oversee Japan-based ships’ training and certification
USNI News: After deadly collisions Navy will broadcast warship locations in high traffic areas
Wall Street Journal: Russia and Belarus hold joint drills, and tensions emerge
UPI News: Saab eyes possible U.S. factory location
Military Times: Here’s what fights are left for the annual defense authorization bill
Stars and Stripes: Afghan air force gets upgrade with arrival of first Black Hawks
Calendar
WEDNESDAY | SEPT. 20
6:30 a.m. 1800 Jefferson Davis Hwy. Special topic breakfast with Rear Adm. Ronald Boxall, director of Navy surface warfare. navyleague.org
7 a.m. 201 Waterfront St. Air Space Cyber Conference with a keynote speech by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. afa.org
8 a.m. Marine Corps Base Quantico. Modern Day Marine conference with Marine Commandant Gen. Robert Neller. marinemilitaryexpos.com
4:45 p.m. 1777 F St. NW. A conversation with Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, prime minister of Pakistan. cfr.org
THURSDAY | SEPT. 21
8 a.m. Marine Corps Base Quantico. Modern Day Marine conference. marinemilitaryexpos.com
10 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. Lessons from developing Afghanistan’s security forces with John Sopko, special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction. csis.org
3:30 p.m. 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Book talk on “Melting the Ice Curtain: The Extraordinary Story of Citizen Diplomacy on the Russia-Alaska Frontier” with author David Ramseur. wilsoncenter.org
FRIDAY | SEPT. 22
10 a.m. 1775 Massachusetts Ave. NW. Meeting U.S. deterrence requirements with Madelyn R. Creedon, former principal deputy administrator at the National Nuclear Security Administration, and Walter Slocombe, former undersecretary of defense for policy. brookings.edu
10 a.m. 1030 15th St. NW. A debate on whether the U.S. should arm Ukraine. atlanticcouncil.org
3:30 p.m. 1777 F St. NW. A perspective from the League of Arab States on restoring stability in a turbulent Middle East with Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Arab League secretary general. cfr.org
MONDAY | SEPT. 25
10 a.m. 1000 Massachusetts Ave. NW. National security oversight: Congressional case studies and reform prospects. cato.org
12 p.m. 1030 15th St. NW. How Europe and Iran’s neighbors view the nuclear deal future with French ambassador Gérard Araud, British ambassador Sir Kim Darroch, European Union ambassador David O’Sullivan, and German ambassador Peter Wittig. atlanticcouncil.org
3:30 p.m. 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Consequences of the German election for the European Union and trans-Atlantic relations. wilsoncenter.org
TUESDAY | SEPT. 26
9 a.m. 1030 15th St. NW. Transatlantic forum on strategic communications and digital disinformation with Sen. Ron Johnson, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, Andrea Thompson, national security adviser to the vice president, and Ambassador Tacan Ildem, assistant secretary general at NATO. atlanticcouncil.org
10:30 a.m. Dirksen 419. Managing security assistance to support foreign policy with Tina Kaidanow, acting assistant secretary of state; Thomas Harvey III, acting assistant defense secretary; and Lt. Gen. Charles Hooper, director of the Defense Security Cooperation Agency. foreign.senate.gov
WEDNESDAY | SEPT. 27
8:15 a.m. 1127 Connecticut Ave. NW. 2017 Women in Defense National Conference with Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson; Gen. Lori Robinson, head of U.S. Northern Command; Leda Chong, senior vice president at Gulfstream Aerospace Corp.; and Sharon Dunbar, vice president at General Dynamics Mission Systems. womenindefense.net
9 a.m. 1789 Massachusetts Ave. NW. Europe’s pressure points. aei.org
10 a.m. Dirksen 342. Full committee hearing on threats to the homeland. hsgac.senate.gov
4:30 p.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. Debate on the future of the INF treaty. csis.org
