CONFUSION REIGNS: At the Pentagon yesterday there was widespread confusion about exactly how President Trump’s surprise pronouncement ending “provocative war games” with South Korea would be implemented as a practical matter. The early line was that U.S. and South Korean forces would continue to train together, but not in large-scale, “in your face” exercises, and that preliminary planning was just beginning to look at ways to “restructure, scale down or reschedule” upcoming exercises.

NDAA STILL JAMMED: Disputes over amendments continued to hold up the Senate’s $716 billion National Defense Authorization Act bill on Tuesday. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell filed to eventually bring debate to an end, but the bill will be back on the Senate floor today. “Ninety-five percent of the people on this side of the aisle support intellectually this amendment. I would bet that, I would bet higher than 95 percent, and a lot of them would vote for it if it came to a vote,” Sen. Bob Corker said on the Senate floor, his voice rising. “But no, no, no. Gosh, ‘we might poke the bear’ is the language I’ve been hearing in the hallways. ‘We might poke the bear, the president might get upset with us as United States senators if we vote on the Corker amendment, so we’re going to do everything we can to block it!’”

Corker’s amendment, one of several drawing opposition and delaying the NDAA, would require Congress to sign off on Trump’s steel and aluminum trade tariffs. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has also gotten behind the amendment. Per Senate rules, individual lawmakers can hold up passage of the must-pass policy bill as leverage to get votes on their own legislation. Sens. Rand Paul and Mike Lee are also still pressing for votes on their amendments to end indefinite detention of terror suspects. Paul has been pushing it for six years but is facing opposition from Sen. Lindsey Graham.

“We presume people to be innocent. We don’t lock people up because they’re Japanese, not any longer. We don’t lynch people because they’re black, not any longer, because the Bill of Rights applies to everyone. But if you say, ‘well, he’s accused of terrorism’ he shouldn’t get a trial or she shouldn’t get a trial,” Paul said on the Senate floor. Graham came to the floor and said he believes Paul has been wrong for six years on the issues. “There is a reason I’m not talking about eye surgery on the floor. I don’t know anything about it. You’re talking about legal concepts you clearly don’t know anything about,” Graham said. There is little love lost between the two. Paul called Graham a “danger to the country” on Monday.

HAPPENING TODAY: Trump arrived home this morning after the long flight from Singapore, as Air Force One touched down at Joint Base Andrews just before 6 a.m. “Just landed – a long trip, but everybody can now feel much safer than the day I took office,” Trump tweeted. “There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea. Meeting with Kim Jong Un was an interesting and very positive experience. North Korea has great potential for the future!

“Before taking office people were assuming that we were going to War with North Korea. President Obama said that North Korea was our biggest and most dangerous problem. No longer – sleep well tonight!”

Meanwhile, Pompeo has landed in Seoul, where he plans to meet privately tonight with U.S. Korea Commander Gen. Vincent Brooks, and then tomorrow will brief South Korean President Moon Jae-in, and then have a separate meeting with his South Korea and Japanese counterparts. From Seoul, Pompeo will travel to Beijing to update the Chinese government on the talks.

LAWMAKERS REACT: When Pompeo gets back, a lot of members of Congress will want the chance to question him. Senate Armed Services Republicans don’t seem overly concerned about the decision to scale back U.S. military activity. “I don’t mind that. Training will continue but the joint exercises are to convey a message to North Korea that you’ll lose a war between North Korea, South Korea and the United States. I’m willing to give some breathing space, see if we can find a deal that would be good for the world including North Korea and the United States,” Graham said.

Sen. Mike Rounds said he was surprised that Trump “went that far” during the summit, but does not oppose the move. “They are critical to the safety of our men and women who are in uniform who have to coordinate with South Korean forces along with Japanese forces. They play a very important role but that does not mean that we cannot do a short delay. And I think I would look at it as more of a delay as opposed to a permanent elimination. I don’t think that is what he meant,” Rounds said.

SOME LUKEWARM REACTION: Trump is fond of saying “we’ll see what happens” when he is asked how events might play out. That was the general response Tuesday to his historic summit with Kim from lawmakers on the House and Senate armed services committees. “It is perfectly reasonable to hope that we are seeing the beginning of a process that will lead to a complete, permanent, verifiable end to North Korea’s nuclear capabilities. It is also perfectly reasonable to be skeptical of North Korea’s intentions, given its history of broken agreements,” said Rep. Mac Thornberry, the House Armed Services Committee chairman.

Sen. Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said it was too early to know whether the summit was a success or failure. “The summit conferred legitimacy on Kim Jong Un and it is not clear the United States received sufficient assurances in exchange for giving North Korea’s dictator the brightest of spotlights on the global stage,” Reed said. “Any agreement must ensure that North Korea is verifiably living up to its obligations.” The skepticism over the North’s pledge to work toward denuclearization included Republican leadership. “Only time will tell if North Korea is serious this time, and in the meantime we must continue to apply maximum economic pressure,” House Speaker Paul Ryan said.

STILL BETTER OFF: Even some of Trump’s sharpest critics conceded the world is better off debating the merits of the peace talks than the prospect of war. “We’re in a much better place where we’re on the diplomatic path as opposed to where we were, say, six or eight months ago. That’s the only real solution here in my mind,” said James Clapper, former director of national intelligence, speaking on CNN where he is a paid contributor.

“Bottom line: Tensions on Korean Peninsula have been reduced; danger of war has receded; we have a process towards peace endorsed by hard-liners in both North Korea & US; but this could all collapse unless there is a lot more done to concretize these vague promises and quickly,” tweeted Joe Cirincione, president of the Ploughshares Fund.

“Let’s be clear that what previous presidents have done all the way back to George H.W. Bush and President [Bill] Clinton has not been working with North Korea, and so President Trump tried a top-down approach. In that sense at least we are a lot further away from the risk of conflict and war than we were at the end of 2017,” said Vipin Narang, an associate professor of political science at MIT, in an interview with the BBC.

Narang is co-author of an analysis that concludes the Singapore summit marked Kim’s entry on the world stage as the leader of a nuclear state.

ATTACK HELOS TO INDIA: The State Department has greenlit a possible $930 million sale to India of parts and munitions for six AH-64E Apache helicopters. The U.S. ally is cleared to buy engines and other parts as well as Hellfire Longbow, Hellfire II and Stinger missiles, according to the announcement Tuesday. Congress and the Pentagon have been working to bolster ties with India to counter the increasing influence of China in the region. The prime contractors are Lockheed Martin, General Electric and Raytheon.

FUN FLYOVER: Four F-16s from the D.C. Air National Guard flew over the Mall yesterday as the city celebrated the Washington Capitals and their Stanley Cup victory. The flyover delighted thousands of fans, along with a certain Russian.

THE RUNDOWN

Daily Beast: Trump’s Singapore Summit Was a Bust—for the U.S.

Air Force Times: Flights to resume at Kadena Air Base after F-15 crash

Defense One: What ‘Missile Engine Testing Site’ Is Trump Talking About?

New York Times: News Analysis: Vague on Details, Trump Is Betting on ‘Special Bond’ With Kim to Deliver Deal

Roll Call: The Other North Korean Threat: Chemical and Biological Weapons

Defense News: What does America’s ambassador to NATO see for the alliance’s future?

Task and Purpose: Trump: War Games In South Korea Cancelled. Pentagon: WTF?

Business Insider: NATO has put forces in Eastern Europe to counter Russia — here’s where its battle groups are located

Breaking Defense: SASC NDAA Tasks Top Scientists To Suss Out Electronic Warfare Fixes

Military Times: Trump’s nominee for ambassador to South Korea was a vocal supporter of joint military drills

USNI News: Panel: Kremlin Now Reaping Benefits From Years of Investment in Information Warfare