Tillerson briefs Trump on North Korea options

But both men downplayed the use of military force to bring North Korea around. “We’ve committed ourselves to do everything we can to prevent any type of conflict from breaking out, and we view there are a number of steps that we can take that are in front of us,” Tillerson said. “We will work together to see if we cannot bring the government in Pyongyang to a place where they want to make a course correction and move away from their development of their nuclear weapons.”

Wang also sounded a conciliatory note, even as Trump was complaining on Twitter that China was doing little to help with the North Korea problem. “We have reached a fundamental consensus governing some of the overall general directions,” Wang said. “Both of us are firmly committed to the goal of a denuclearized Korean peninsula, and we are both ready to comprehensively and strictly implement the Security Council resolutions. And we both hope to find ways to restart the talks, and neither of us are ready to give up the hope for peace.”

BLOOD BATH: The Pentagon has little appetite for fighting a war with North Korea. “It would be a bloodbath,” one senior official told the Washington Examiner Friday. Speaking on background, the official repeated for emphasis, “Blood. Bath. And everyone in this building feels that way from the chairman on down.” He was referring to Chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford, who is the senior military adviser to the president and to the defense secretary.

As if to underscore its defiance, North Korea conducted a test of what it claimed was a new high-thrust engine for its missiles, “of historic significance.” North Korea’s news agency says the engine designed for a long-range ballistic missile for was launching satellites into space. But in January, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to develop an ICBM that could reach the United States mainland.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said he discussed North Korea’s missile activity in meetings over the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago residence. “He’s acting very very badly,” the president said of Kim.

THE NEXT NUKE TEST: A Republican lawmaker on the House Intelligence Committee is among those who believe North Korea will soon conduct another nuclear test, which could lead to an international crisis regardless of whether it succeeds, Joel Gehrke reports. A success carries obvious risks, and those watching from Congress agree that closer attention needs to be paid to the rogue regime.

“[Kim] might get lucky one of these days and actually hit Japan or actually do something that we’re like, now we need to focus on this solely, but he’s always … a prime focus, I think, for our national security,” House Intelligence Committee member Tom Rooney told the Washington Examiner.

Good Monday morning, happy first day of spring, and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre), National Security Writer Jacqueline Klimas (@jacqklimas) and Senior Editor David Brown (@dave_brown24). Email us here for tips, suggestions, calendar items and anything else. If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up, click here. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email and we’ll be sure to add you to our list.

HAPPENING TODAY: FBI Director James Comey and NSA Director Adm. Mike Rogers appear before the House Intelligence committee this morning at 10 to say what they can publicly about the allegations of Russian interference in the U.S. presidential elections, and in particular if there is any evidence of collusion between the Kremlin and the Trump campaign.

On Fox News Sunday, committee Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes was asked point black by host Chris Wallace, “Have you seen any evidence of any collusion between what I’ll call Trump world, associates, of campaign officials, Trump world and the Russians to swing the 2016 presidential election?” Nunes replied, “I’ll give you a very simple answer. No.” And Trump tweeted this morning: “James Clapper and others stated that there is no evidence Potus colluded with Russia. This story is FAKE NEWS and everyone knows it!”

Over on NBC, the top Democrat on the committee, Rep. Adam Schiff, was less categorical. “There was circumstantial evidence of collusion. There is direct evidence, I think, of deception and that’s where we begin the investigation,” Schiff said. He also said he hoped Comey will say publicly what committee members have been told privately, that there is no evidence to support the president’s claim that he was wiretapped by his predecessor. “I hope we can put an end to this wild goose chase, because what the president said was patently false,” Schiff said. “And the wrecking ball it created now has banged into our British allies and our German allies. It’s continuing to grow in terms of damage. And he needs to put an end to this.”

On Fox, Nunes said while the evidence the FBI provided the committee Friday didn’t support the Trump’s charge that the Obama administration “physically” wiretapped Trump Tower in Manhattan during the presidential election last year, that does not affect the conclusion that there was no collusion. “A president doesn’t go and physically wiretap something. If you take the president literally, it didn’t happen,” Nunes said.

SECOND RUSSIA HEARING CALLED: The Senate Intelligence Committee announced Friday it will hold a second public hearing on March 30 examining Russia’s involvement in the 2016 election, Susan Ferrechio writes. The committee will interview two panels of witnesses with a focus on “Russian active measures and influence campaigns.”

According to committee Chairman Richard Burr and Democratic ranking member Mark Warner, the first panel will focus on “the history and characteristics” of Russian misinformation campaigns. The second panel will examine “the role and capabilities of cyber operations in support of these activities.”

ALSO TODAY: Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi meets Trump at the White House, as his troops continue to tighten the noose on the Islamic State fighters holding to the last parts of western Mosul.

TAKING GLOVES OFF MEANS NO CAPS: Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton is urging the Trump administration to follow through on its plan to scrap troop cap numbers in Iraq and Syria, as the Pentagon looks to boost America’s presence in northern Syria in the coming weeks. “I don’t think we ought to set arbitrary troop caps — that’s what Barack Obama did for eight years in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Cotton said on CNN. “We ought to look at our mission and the strategy necessary to accomplish that mission,” he said.

MOSQUE OR MEETING HALL? The Pentagon has declassified an image taken by a U.S. drone to buttress its argument that a Thursday attack in Syria targeted a building where high level al Qaeda terrorists were meeting, not a mosque where worshippers were attending evening prayers. “The area was extensively surveilled prior to the strike in order to minimize civilian casualties,” said Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman. “We are still assessing the results of the strike, but believe that dozens of core al Qaeda terrorists were killed.” Another Pentagon spokesman, Eric Pahon added, “Intelligence indicated that al Qaeda leaders used this partially-constructed community meeting hall as a gathering place, and as a place to educate and indoctrinate al-Qaida fighters… Based on our close surveillance of the target area, we observed that evening prayers had concluded.”

GREEN ON BLUE: The U.S. military says three U.S. soldiers were shot and wounded by an Afghan soldier on a base in Helmand province, Afghanistan, in what appears to be a “green on blue” insider attack. “Coalition security forces on the base killed the soldier to end the attack,” said Navy Capt. Bill Salvin, a spokesman for U.S. Forces Afghanistan. The three wounded soldiers are receiving medical care, but there was no word on their condition.

BOMBS AWAY: The U.S. Air Force has increased the number of bombings and missile firings onto enemy targets in Afghanistan recently. While U.S. Central Command puts out a daily tally of bombing runs in Iraq and Syria to document the steady progress in the war on the Islamic State, the statistics for that “other war” in Afghanistan aren’t as readily available. But recently, U.S. Air Forces Central Command released a breakdown of airstrikes that shows a recent uptick in the number of monthly airstrikes that have been conducted by the United States in support of the Afghan security forces who have been battling a resurgent Taliban. An explanation here.

TAKE IT EASY: As lawmakers gear up for the next round of changes to how the Defense Department buys weapons, some experts are saying Congress should go easy on a short-staffed Pentagon. Tom Spoehr, an analyst with the Heritage Foundation, said he’s hoping the fiscal 2018 bill makes fewer changes in acquisition policy than in years past because many Pentagon positions are not yet filled in Trump’s administration and to give the department some time to see how past reforms are working before Congress makes more. “It’s like trying to diagnose a sick patient. You try one drug, and before it takes effect, shoot them with another drug,” Spoehr said. “You don’t know whether that one drug worked or whether it’s the new drug.”

GERMANY FIRES BACK: A day after meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Trump took to Twitter to dispute reports that his meeting the German leader went poorly, and then blasted Germany for failing to meet its NATO commitment. “Despite what you have heard from the FAKE NEWS, I had a GREAT meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Nevertheless, Germany owes….,” Trump tweeted Saturday. “…vast sums of money to NATO & the United States must be paid more for the powerful, and very expensive, defense it provides to Germany!”  

In response, German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen said that’s not how it works. “There is no debt account at NATO,” von der Leyen said in a statement. The NATO goals call on each member nation to spend 2 percent of GDP on their own military, in particular on combat capabilities needed by the alliance, not to make payments to NATO or to the United States. Germany is not yet at 2 percent, but has committed to get there by the deadline set by NATO of 2024.

ON THE MEDIA: During his Asia trip, Tillerson addressed concerns about press access in the first interview filed by the only reporter he brought along on his plane. “I’m not a big media press access person. I personally don’t need it,” Tillerson told Erin McPike, a reporter at the conservative news outlet Independent Journal Review. “I understand it’s important to get the message of what we’re doing out, but I also think there’s only a purpose in getting the message out when there’s something to be done.”

In that same interview, Tillerson dismissed a report Friday that he turned down a dinner with South Korean officials because he was tired. The Korea Herald reported that Tillerson cut short his meetings and public events in Seoul following long meetings and a dinner with Japanese officials during his first trip to Asia as secretary of state. According to the paper, “Seoul officials said the US side opted not to have a meal together, citing the secretary’s ‘fatigue.'”

Tillerson told McPike in the interview published Saturday that he never received an invite for dinner from the South Koreans. “[South Korean officials] never invited us for dinner, then at the last minute they realized that optically it wasn’t playing very well in public for them, so they put out a statement that we didn’t have dinner because I was tired,” Tillerson said.

Asked if he was saying somebody lied, Tillerson replied, “No, it was just their explanation.”

CORRECTION: In Friday’s newsletter we assumed that since Gordon Lubold of the Wall Street Journal was the pool reporter, he asked the question of the Saudi defense minister during a meeting last week with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. If I had thought about it just a moment longer I would have realized it’s just the kind of thing the fearless Fox News producer Lucas Tomlinson would do. It was Tomlinson, not Lubold, who got the Saudi prince to speak, through a translator. Apologies to both for the mixup.

THE RUNDOWN

Defense One: Boeing Might Be the Biggest Winner in Trump’s Military Buildup

UPI: Lockheed Martin to recoat U.S. Air Force F-22s

Associated Press: While Trump talks tough, US quietly cutting nuclear force

New York Times: Trump Adopting Hands-Off Style Toward Military

Military Times: The White House doubts climate change. Here’s why the Pentagon does not

Defense One: US and Russian Military Leaders Are Meeting Again, Breaking a Long and Dangerous Drought

Defense News: Leonardo CEO Moretti out, replaced by Italian banking exec

Marine Corps Times: The ‘old Corps’ under siege. The photo scandal and the big changes coming soon.

Associated Press: West Mosul battle looks to be deadliest yet for Iraqis

Army Times: Back to Europe: The Army is sending more troops, tanks and helicopters to deter Russia

CNN: North Korea’s rocket engine test: World will ‘soon witness’ significance

Calendar

MONDAY | MARCH 20

10 a.m. Longworth 1100. The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence holds an open hearing on the investigation into Russian hacking. intelligence.house.gov

11:30 a.m. 1201 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Rep. Joe Wilson talks about countering threats from North Korea. hudson.org

TUESDAY | MARCH 21

8:00 a.m. 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. The Army and Air Force chiefs speak at a day-long conference on the future of war. newamerica.org

9:30 a.m. Dirksen G-50. Retired Gen. Philip Breedlove testifies on a panel before the Senate about U.S. policy and strategy in Europe. armed-services.senate.gov

10 a.m. Rayburn 2118. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former national security adviser Stephen Hadley testify on America’s role in the world. armedservices.house.gov

2 p.m. Rayburn 2172. The House Foreign Affairs Committee holds a hearing looking at options for handling threats from North Korea. foreignaffairs.house.gov

3:30 p.m. Rayburn 2118. The House Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee holds a hearing on the social media policies of the military services. armedservices.house.gov

WEDNESDAY | MARCH 22

8:30 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. The Center for Strategic and International Studies hosts a day-long conference on issues in space for the new administration. csis.org

10 a.m. Rayburn 2118. The House Armed Services Committee holds a hearing on the challenges of hybrid warfare. armedservices.house.gov

10 a.m. 1775 Massachusetts Ave. NW. A former CIA analyst discusses his new book, Debriefing the President: The Interrogation of Saddam Hussein. brookings.edu

11:30 a.m. 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. The lead negotiators of the Iran nuclear deal talk about opportunities in U.S.-Iran relations in the new administration. wilsoncenter.org

2 p.m. Rayburn 2118. Maj. Gen. Scott West, the director of current operations for the U.S. Air Force, testifies about the current state of the service. armedservices.house.gov

3:30 p.m. Russell 222. A panel of Army witnesses testifies about modernization. armed-services.senate.gov

THURSDAY | MARCH 23

9:30 a.m. Dirksen G-50. Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, the commander of U.S. European Command, testifies on U.S. strategy in Europe. armed-services.senate.gov

10:30 a.m. Rayburn 2118. Three acting government officials testify about the U.S. policy toward countering weapons of mass destruction in fiscal 2018. armedservices.house.gov

2:30 p.m. Russell 232-A. Former defense officials testify about reforming civilian personnel. armed-services.senate.gov