ESCALATE TO DE-ESCALATE: The way the day would end was foreshadowed by the way the day began, with President Trump chastising state governors for being too timid in their use of force against violent demonstrators and too hesitant to avail themselves of the National Guard to meet the protesters with overwhelming force.
“We have all the men and women that you need, but people aren’t calling them up,” Trump said on a White House conference call that was supposed to be private but was leaked within minutes. “You have to dominate. If you don’t dominate, you’re wasting your time. They’re going to run over you. You’re going to look like a bunch of jerks.”
“Most of you are weak,” Trump said, alternating between berating the governors and praising them for getting on board with his call for massive arrests. “It was incredible what happened in the state of Minnesota. They were a laughing stock all over the world,” Trump said, while the state’s governor, Democrat Tim Walz, was on the line. “And all of a sudden, and I said, you got to use the National Guard in big numbers. They didn’t at first. Then, they did,” Trump said. “And I’ll tell you this. … Those guys walked through that stuff like it was butter.”
And then, Trump hinted at what was to come: “We’re doing it in Washington, in D.C. And we’re going to do something that people haven’t seen before. … You’re going to have total domination,” he said, later adding, “It’s like we’re talking about a war, which it is a war, in a certain sense, and we’re going to end it fast.”
‘DOMINATE THE BATTLESPACE’: The president was taking the advice of Defense Secretary Mark Esper and chief military adviser Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “I agree. We need to dominate the battlespace,” said Esper on the call. “The sooner that you mass and dominate the battlespace, the quicker this dissipates, and we can get back to the right normal.”
“You have deep resources in the guard,” Esper told the governors. “Most of the guard has not been caught up. There’s only a few states that … I count two states where more than 1,000 troops have been called up. As of Monday, the National Guard Bureau said 17,015 guard members have been activated in 23 states.
‘MASS MATTERS. NUMBERS MATTER’: When Trump introduced Milley, he called him “a fighter, a warrior,” who’s had “a lot of victories and no losses” and “hates to see the way it’s being handled in the various states.”
“I just put him in charge,” Trump said, providing no details of what exactly the Joint Chiefs chairman was in charge of. When it was his turn to talk, Milley spoke of how large numbers of National Guard troops could help restore order.
“The introduction of the National Guard, in force, on the streets during civil disobedience, civil rights, civil unrest, proves to be a very calming effect. Mass matters. Numbers matter. And that’s what I just saw in Minnesota.”
Milley said he envisioned the guard being used to secure fixed sites while local police went after lawbreakers: “You have the police as mobile forces who do the arresting and law enforcement. That’s a very effective technique. It’s been used for years.” he said. “In the past, we have activated a National Guard support of civil authorities, on average, for civil disturbances, one every three years, the last 100 years.”
THE STAGE WAS SET: “We’re going to pull in thousands of people. We were under guard of the D.C. police, the mayor of Washington D.C., and Secret Service did a very good job around the White House,” said Trump. “But their primary function is around the White House, and we’re going to clamp down very, very strong, but you’ve got to arrest people. You have to try people. You have to put them in jail for 10 years, and you’ll never see this stuff again.”
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THE SPEECH: As the light began to fade in Lafayette Square across from the White House and protesters gathered there faced a 7.pm. curfew, President Trump delivered remarks in the bucolic setting of the Rose Garden.
“I am your president of law and order and an ally of all peaceful protesters,” began the president. “But in recent days, our nation has been gripped by professional anarchists, violent mobs, arsonists, looters, criminals, rioters, antifa, and others. … These are not acts of peaceful protest. These are acts of domestic terror.”
“Today, I have strongly recommended to every governor to deploy the National Guard in sufficient numbers, that we dominate the streets. Mayors and governors must establish an overwhelming law enforcement presence until the violence has been quelled,” he said. “If a city or state refuses to take the actions that are necessary to defend the life and property of their residents, then I will deploy the United States military and quickly solve the problem for them.”
THE SPLIT SCREEN: Trump’s short speech produced a split-screen moment reminiscent of President George H.W. Bush’s 1990 news conference touting the successful invasion of Panama that was juxtaposed with live pictures of the flag-draped coffins of U.S. servicemen being retired to Dover Air Force Base.
Just as Trump was declaring himself “an ally of all peaceful protesters,” television was showing riot police, including some National Guard troops, advancing on peaceful protesters in Lafayette Square, firing rubber bullets, flash-bang grades, and tear gas to push the crowd out of the park.
Among those hit by rubber bullets was an Australian TV crew, whose camera was bashed by a police baton on live TV.
The official explanation from White House spokesman Judd Deere was that “the perimeter was expanded to help enforce the 7 p.m. curfew in the same area where rioters attempted to burn down one of our nation’s most historic churches the night before. Protesters were given three warnings by the U.S. Park Police.”
THE PHOTO OP: After the park was cleared, Trump made the short walk to St. John’s Episcopal Church, which was damaged by fire the night before. He was accompanied by Esper, Milley, Attorney General William Barr, national security adviser Robert O’Brien, and his daughter Ivanka Trump.
Standing in front of the historic church, he held a Bible aloft. “We have a great country,” Trump said. “Greatest country in the world.”
THE REACTION: The narrative that Trump had the protesters roughed up and cleared out so he could visit the church for a photo op drew quick partisan condemnation.
“I imposed a curfew at 7pm. A full 25 minutes before the curfew & w/o provocation, federal police used munitions on peaceful protesters in front of the White House, an act that will make the job of @DCPoliceDept officers more difficult. Shameful!” tweeted D.C. Mayor Murial Bowser.
“Tear-gassing peaceful protesters without provocation just so that the President could pose for photos outside a church dishonors every value that faith teaches us,” tweeted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Smith took issue with the Pentagon’s advocacy of battlespace dominance as a tactic for riot control. “It is un-American to use our service members to ‘dominate’ civilians, as both the President and Secretary of Defense have suggested. We live in a democracy, not a dictatorship,” he tweeted. “I urge President Trump to reverse course and calm tensions across the country, not escalate them.”
That sentiment was echoed by former Joint Chiefs Chairman retired Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, who tweeted, “America is not a battleground. Our fellow citizens are not the enemy,” and by Army Gen. Tony Thomas, the recently retired head of the U.S. Special Operations Command. “The ‘battle space’ of America??? Not what America needs to hear…ever, unless we are invaded by an adversary or experience a constitutional failure…ie a Civil War” he tweeted.
MAGNUM OPUS: But the most evocative reaction from a member in uniform to the recent events came from Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force Kaleth Wright in an epic Twitter thread that’s been retweeted 7,600 times.
“Who am I? I am a Black man who happens to be the Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force. I am George Floyd…I am Philando Castile, I am Michael Brown, I am Alton Sterling, I am Tamir Rice.” he writes.
“Just like most of the Black Airmen and so many others in our ranks…I am outraged at watching another Black man die on television before our very eyes. What happens all too often in this country to Black men who are subjected to police brutality that ends in death…could happen to me. As shocking as that may sound to some of you.”
CAN HE DO THAT? President Trump’s threat to deploy active-duty military police to quell the violence by invoking the Insurrection Act has sparked a debate of whether he has the legal authority to send troops into a state without the governor’s invitation.
Most legal scholars seem to think he does have the authority, although the move could be highly unpopular.
“To those who claim the military has no role in stopping anarchists and other criminals from tearing apart our cities: read a book,” tweeted Sen. Tom Cotton, an Arkansas Republican. “The military has intervened to maintain public order since the Whiskey Rebellion.”
“In 1992, President George H.W. Bush ordered the Army’s 7th Infantry and 1,500 Marines to quell the Rodney King riots burning down LA. Bush 41 knew that King had been unjustly treated — “what I saw made me sick” — but he knew deadly riots would only multiply the victims.”
NO PASS FOR THE PRESS: Among the reporters roughed up by police last night was the Washington Examiner’s Mike Brest, who found himself with a group of about 200 curfew violators who were trapped between opposing lines of police.
“Law enforcement used tear gas to push protesters down Swann St. at the intersection of Swann and 15th NW.” Brest tweeted along with some video of the encounter. “I was also sprayed and shoved by officers despite identifying myself as a reporter.”
“Law enforcement started arresting men in particular. I was selected, but after repeatedly identifying myself as a member of the press, I was permitted to leave.”
Brest took some heat from commenters who thought that he should be abiding by the curfew as well. “Good! You are not above the law and need to listen to law enforcement,” tweeted one person. But D.C. Mayor Murial Bowser tweeted that the curfew does not apply to essential workers, which includes “working media with their outlet-issued credentials.”
CORRECTION: In yesterday’s edition, it was incorrectly reported that the Senate Armed Services Committee would begin marking up the National Defense Authorization Act this week. Actually, it’s next week. Normally when embarrassing mistakes like this are made, we blame an intern. But after further review, it has been determined that we don’t have an intern. As is always the case with an error of this sort, we regret it deeply.
The Rundown
Washington Examiner: Trump threatens to send troops into cities to end violent protests
Washington Examiner: ‘Central command center’ to oversee federal response to riots
Washington Examiner: Military leaders speak of ‘battle space’ in leaked call with governors
Washington Post: Trump threatens military action to quell protests, and the law would let him do it
Washington Examiner: ‘Fuel on the fire:’ Russia denies exploiting protests, mocks ‘American exceptionalism in practice’
Time Magazine: Defying Trump’s Landmark Peace Deal, Taliban Continues to Back Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, UN Report Says
Washington Examiner: Putin to set July vote that could put him in power until 2036
AP: Trudeau Says Russia Won’t Be Included In The G7
AP: Military Service Academies Plan For Students’ Return In Fall
Defense News: Pentagon Taps $688M In COVID Aid For Defense Industry
Breaking Defense: Pandemic Hits Navy’s New Nuke Submarine Program
USNI News: Defense Contractors Remain Upbeat About 2021
New York Times: Trump’s Hong Kong Stance Inspires Restraint In China
Asia Times: Taiwan Beefs Up On U.S. Arms Aimed At China
Defense News: In His Fight To Change The Corps, America’s Top Marine Takes Friendly Fire
USNI News: USS Gerald Ford Done Proving It Can Launch Planes, Ready To Tackle Warfighting Operations
Calendar
TUESDAY | JUNE 2
9 a.m. — Intelligence and National Security Alliance webinar with John Sherman, CIO of the Intelligence Community and John Doyon, former chief data officer and director of the National Counterterrorism Center’s Office of Data Strategy and Innovation https://www.insaonline.org/event
12 p.m. — Hudson Institute Video event: “Emerging 5G Technology is Disrupting Huawei’s Hopes for Sector Dominance,” with Doug Brake, director, broadband and spectrum policy, ITIF; Tom Duesterberg, senior fellow, Hudson Institute; Bob Everson, senior director, 5G architecture, Cisco Systems; Stein Lundby, head of corporate technology strategy, Qualcomm https://www.hudson.org/events
3:30 p.m. — Atlantic Council webinar: “War Stories From the Future,” with former Joint Chiefs Vice Chairman retired Marine Gen. James Cartwright; Max Brooks, nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council; August Cole, nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council; and Valerie Jackson, director of the Marine Corps University’s Brute Krulak Center for Innovation and Creativity https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/war-stories-from-the-future
6:30 p.m. — Smithsonian Associates book discussion webinar on Hell and Other Destinations: A 21st Century Memoir, with former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright; and Bob Barnett, author representative and partner at Williams and Connolly LLP https://smithsonianassociates.org
WEDNESDAY | JUNE 3
10 a.m. — Heritage Foundation webinar: “A Nuclear Anniversary: The U.S.-India Civil Nuclear Deal 15 Years Later,” with former U.S. Ambassador to India Richard Verma, vice chair and partner at the Asia Group; Ashley Tellis, chair for strategic affairs at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; Ted Jones, director for national security and international programs at the Nuclear Energy Institute; and Jeff Smith, research fellow for South Asia at Heritage https://www.heritage.org/asia/event
10 a.m. — Arms Control Association webinar: “The New Nuclear Arms Race and the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty,” with Maria Antonieta Jaquez, Mexican Foreign Ministry deputy director-general of disarmament, nonproliferation, and General Assembly; Hans Kristensen, director of the Federation of Americans Scientists’ Nuclear Information Project; Zia Mian, co-director of the Princeton University Program on Science and Global Security; and Alicia Sanders-Zakre, policy and research coordinator at the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register
11:30 a.m. — Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association webcast: “Harnessing 5G for Military Operations,” with Joseph Evans, technical director for 5G at the Defense Department; and Frederick Moorefield, deputy chief information officer for command, control, and communications at the Defense Department https://dcevents.afceachapters.org
1 p.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies forum, “Covid-19 and Grand Strategy,” with Kori Schake, Director of Foreign and Defense Policy Studies, American Enterprise Institute; Mira Rapp-Hooper, Stephen A. Schwarzman senior fellow for Asia Studies, Council on Foreign Relations; Jennifer Bouey, senior policy researcher; Tang Chair in China Policy Studies, RAND; and Beverly Kirk, fellow and director for outreach, International Security Program, and director, Smart Women, Smart Power Initiative, CSIS https://www.csis.org/events/online-event
THURSDAY | JUNE 4
9 a.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies webcast: “Enhancing Security in the High North,” with Norwegian Ministry of Defense State Secretary Tone Skogen; and U.K. Defense Select Committee Chairman Tobias Ellwood https://www.csis.org/events/online-event
10 a.m. 2118 Rayburn — House Armed Services Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection Forces hearing: “Future Force Structure Requirements for the United States Navy,” with retired Adm. Gary Roughead, former Chief of Naval Operations; and Bryan Clark, senior fellow, Hudson Institute https://armedservices.house.gov/hearings
10 a.m. — Woodrow Wilson Center Polar Institute conference call briefing, on “A Stronger International Regime for the Arctic Ocean?” with former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and Fisheries David Balton, senior fellow in the WWC Polar Institute; Andrei Zagorski, head of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Department for Disarmament and Conflict Resolution Studies; and Michael Sfraga, director of the WWC Polar Institute https://www.wilsoncenter.org/event
11 a.m. — Center for a New American Security webinar: “Russian Advances in Military Automation and Artificial Intelligence,” with Samuel Bendett, adjunct senior fellow in the CNAS Technology and National Security Program; and Martijn Rasser, senior fellow in the CNAS Technology and National Security Program https://www.cnas.org/events
11 a.m. — Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments webinar: “Deterrence by Detection: A Key Role for Unmanned Systems in Great Power Competition,” with Thomas Mahnken, president and CEO of CSBA; Travis Sharp, research fellow at CSBA; and Grace Kim, senior analyst at CSBA. https://csbaonline.org/about/events
1 p.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies Future Strategy Forum: “Covid-19 and the Military,” with MacKenzie Eaglen, resident fellow, American Enterprise Institute; Mara Karlin, director of strategic studies, Johns Hopkins University SAIS; nonresident senior fellow, security and strategy, Brookings Institution; Risa Brooks, director of undergraduate studies, political science, Marquette University; Pam Campos-Palma, political strategist; former U.S. Air Force military intelligence analyst; Alice Hunt Friend, senior fellow, International Security Program, CSIS https://www.csis.org/events
1 p.m. — Cato Institute webinar: “Building a Modern Military: The Force Meets Geopolitical Realities,” with Wendy Jordan, senior policy analyst at Taxpayers for Common Sense; Thomas Hammes, research fellow in the National Defense University Center for Strategic Research; Eric Gomez, director of defense policy studies at Cato; Brandon Valeriano, senior fellow at Cato; Christopher Preble, vice president for defense and foreign policy studies at Cato; and Lauren Sander, external relations manager for defense and foreign policy studies at Cato https://www.cato.org/events/building-modern-military
FRIDAY | JUNE 5
1 p.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies Future Strategy Forum: “Covid-19 and Democracy and Governance,” with Camille Stewart, cybersecurity policy fellow, New America; Susanna Campbell, assistant professor School of International Service, American University; Lainie Rutkow, senior adviser to the president, National Capital Academic Strategy; professor, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; and Suzanne Spaulding, senior adviser, homeland security, International Security Program, CSIS https://www.csis.org/events/online-event
11 a.m. — Foreign Area Officer Association and Daniel Morgan Graduate School of National Security discussion, via Zoom: “Middle East Security, Economics and Politics,” with Tim Lenderking, deputy assistant secretary of state for Arabian Gulf affairs, and Brig. Gen. Scott Benedict, the joint staff deputy director for Middle East. Register at [email protected]
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”
The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States
