‘YOU GET CLOSE, THINGS HAPPEN’: Just hours before he received the results of his coronavirus test, President Trump was thinking about all the people he had come in contact with in recent weeks, including many members of the military and law enforcement.
“When you’re with soldiers, when you’re with airmen, when you’re with Marines, and I’m with — and the police officers. I’m with them so much. And when they come over here, it’s very hard to say, ‘Stay back, stay back,” Trump told Sean Hannity on Fox News. “It’s a tough kind of a situation. It’s a terrible thing,” he said. “So, I just went for a test, and we will see what happens. I mean, who knows?”
Three hours later, he tweeted, “Tonight, @FLOTUS [Melania] and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!”
Trump, who is 74 and overweight, is at higher risk for complications from COVID-19, but in her own tweet, first lady Melania Trump said, “We are feeling good,” and that she had “postponed all upcoming engagements” while she and the president were quarantining at home.
“The survival rate is so much better now than it was,” Trump said on Fox News. “You have seen those numbers, I guess, 95%, or something like that, better. So, we will have to see,” he said before he found out he was infected.
TRUMP FLOUTED MILITARY PROTOCOLS: There is a stark difference between the strict protocols imposed by the U.S. military, which mandate masks and social distancing — and the more lax precautions followed by the commander in chief and his campaign staff, under which masks are often optional.
Unlike Defense Secretary Mark Esper, Trump has refused to wear a mask when meeting with troops, often arguing that because he was tested daily, he knew he was not infected and therefore could not infect others. Recent photos showed Trump, unmasked, speaking to troops in Louisiana while touring damage from Hurricane Laura, while Pentagon photos show Esper and his commanders always wearing masks along with troops when social distancing is not possible.
At a Pentagon virtual town hall a week ago, Esper fielded a question from a sailor embarked on the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford, who complained the required social distancing onboard the ship was affecting morale.
“It is tedious. I understand that,” Esper said. “But I think it’s showing, in terms of the Navy’s results in terms of infection rates, that they’re doing a very good job.”
“We know, we know factually that masks work. We know that social distancing works,” said Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, at the same event. “So you’ve got the vaccine out there, and that’ll eventually be a great solution, and it will defeat the COVID virus over time. But in the meantime, we’re going to have to maintain our restrictions that we have and continue to enforce the self-discipline that we use for masks and hygiene and social distancing.”
Under the military’s mandatory restrictions, only eight active-duty troops have died out of a population of more than 1.2 million.
CONTACT TRACING UNDERWAY: It has not yet been determined exactly how Trump and the first lady were infected, only that they tested positive after being in contact with trusted aide Hope Hicks, who began showing symptoms during a plane ride home from a rally in Minnesota Wednesday evening.
“I spend a lot of time with Hope, and so does the first lady,” said Trump on Fox News, adding that like him, Hicks had trouble social distancing. “She’s a very warm person. She has a hard time when soldiers and law enforcement come up to her. You know, she wants to treat them great, not say, ‘Stay away, I can’t get near you.’”
The White House says the president will continue to conduct business while quarantining for 14 days, while those who have come in contact with him or Hicks will be tested and quarantined as well.
POMPEO TESTS NEGATIVE: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tested negative for the coronavirus, reports Washington Examiner foreign affairs reporter Joel Gehrke, who is traveling with Pompeo to Croatia.
“We’re praying for the president and the first lady that they’ll have a speedy recovery,” Pompeo told reporters on his plane while descending into Dubrovnik. “I spoke with the vice president’s office this morning as well. We’re taking this, obviously, very seriously, and we’ll do everything we can to keep everyone safe, including you all,” Pompeo said. “I am feeling fantastic. I’m negative, yes, as of 20 minutes ago, 30 minutes ago.”
Pompeo said he has not been with Trump in-person since the September 15 signing of the Abraham Accords between Israel, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates, due to a busy travel schedule that took him to multiple Latin American and Eastern Mediterranean countries over the last two weeks.
Good Friday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, written and compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre) and edited by Victor I. Nava. Email here with tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. Sign up or read current and back issues at DailyonDefense.com. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email and we’ll add you to our list. And be sure to follow us on Twitter: @dailyondefense.
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HAPPENING TODAY: The recently retired commander of U.S. forces in Korea, Army Gen. Vincent Brooks, appears at an Atlantic Council webinar on “North Korea’s Strategic Weapons: An Informed Conversation.”
Brooks was the top general in South Korea in 2018 when North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un was writing fawning letters to President Trump, while at the same time working on expanding his nuclear weapons program, according to the Washington Post.
“Even as he penned the words, Kim was busy creating an illusion of a different kind,” reports the Washington Post. “At six of the country’s missile bases, trucks hauled rock from underground construction sites as workers dug a maze of new tunnels and bunkers, allowing North Korea to move weapons around like peas in a shell game. Southeast of the capital, meanwhile, new buildings sprouted across an industrial complex that was processing uranium for as many as 15 new bombs, according to current and former U.S. and South Korean officials, as well as a report by a United Nations panel of experts.”
The Atlantic Council event can be viewed here at 1:30 p.m.
McCHRYSTAL ENDORSES BIDEN: The general who famously was fired by President Barack Obama for tolerating mocking comments from his staff about then-Vice President Joe Biden, is now endorsing Biden’s bid for the White House.
“We have to believe in our values. You have to believe that your commander in chief, at the end of the day, is someone that you can trust, and I can trust Joe Biden,” said former U.S. Afghanistan Commander retired Gen. Stanley McChrystal in an interview on MSNBC’s Morning Joe program.
McChrystal was done in by a 2010 Rolling Stone article which quoted his staff making unflattering remarks about Biden and other civilian officials, in violation of the military law which prohibits officers from uttering “contemptuous words” about their civilian superiors.
“I talked to him right after the incident, but there was a lot more smoke than fire in that reality,” said McChrystal. “I never didn’t respect Vice President Joe Biden or President Obama. I think my willingness to endorse him now should signal to people that there was a respectful relationship then, and just how important I think it is to replicate that kind of respectful relationship between senior military and leaders.”
McChrystal said while he had policy differences with Obama and Biden, he appreciated that they always considered his views. “I’m looking for a president that is humble enough to understand that they are a servant. I don’t think we need a genius. I don’t think we need a magician. We just need an honest person who’s willing to listen. We need someone who will take in information, surround themselves with talented people, and lead the country as best they can.”
McChrystal is among more than 50 Republican former national security officials who will endorse Biden today.
‘FIREHOSE OF FALSEHOOD’: In another MSNBC interview, former national security adviser retired Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster praised the Trump administration for doing “an excellent job” in learning the “hard lessons” from the 2016 election in which he said Russia conducted a “sustained campaign of political subversion against us.”
But at the same time, he had a sharp rebuke of the president for “aiding and abetting” Vladimir Putin by not calling out Russian interference. “I don’t think the Russians really care who wins the election as long as we doubt the result and as long as they’re able to continue to polarize us on contentious issues,” McMaster said.
But Trump, he said, is playing right into Putin’s hand. “I agree that he is aiding and abetting Putin’s efforts by not being direct about this.”
“Putin gets away with literally murder right this week, or attempted murder with [Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny] as we see recently, because people don’t call them out on it. And so they are able to continue this kind of firehose of falsehood to sow these conspiracy theories. And we just can’t be our own worst enemies.”
McMaster is on a tour promoting his new book, Battlegrounds.
CSIS FEDERAL FORCES SHOULD BE USED ONLY IN THE ‘MOST DIRE AND LEGITIMATE OF CIRCUMSTANCES: The Center for Strategic and International Studies is out with an analysis warning that the deployment of military forces domestically in election or transition contexts could challenge the health of civil-military relations.
“Anger over what DHS assets are deployed where is not just an indication of frustration directed at federal law enforcement entities. These are symptoms of a much larger problem — the erosion of trust and confidence in democratic institutions — that could be exacerbated during a tense presidential election or transition period,” the authors write.
“For the sake of preserving the integrity of these institutions, including but not limited to elections, it is imperative that appropriate checks are put in place such that federal force deployments are reserved only for the most dire and legitimate of circumstances, and the rights and safety of all Americans are protected.”
SWING AND A HIT! The Missile Defense Agency says it has successfully paired a THAAD [Terminal High Altitude Area Defense] anti-missile system with a Patriot missile battery to knock a target missile out of the sky.
“The THAAD Army-Navy/Transportable Radar Surveillance and Control Model 2 detected and tracked the Black Dagger target and successfully provided data to the Patriot weapon system to determine a launch solution,” said the MDA and the Army in a statement. “The Patriot weapon system successfully achieved an intercept of the target with a Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile.”
NEED MORE SKYBORGS: A new report from the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies is touting the virtues of the Air Force Skyborg program to develop unmanned wingmen for manned fighter aircraft. (See: An algorithm for a wingman: The coming robot revolution in future wars.)
“In the face of rising great power threats and a potential defense budget downturn, the U.S. Air Force must maintain high readiness and modernize an aircraft inventory that is both old and small,” the report concludes. “Procuring low-cost ‘attritable/reusable’ UAVs with AI-enabled autonomy — in addition to high-end capabilities such as F-35As and B-21s — is an effective and sustainable pathway to grow the USAF’s combat capacity and meet power projection requirements.”
INDUSTRY WATCH: The State Department has approved the potential sale of Raytheon AIM-9X Block II Tactical Sidewinder Missiles to South Korea.
“This proposed sale will support the foreign policy goals and national security objectives of the United States by helping to improve the security of a treaty ally that continues to be an important force for political stability, peace, and economic progress in North East Asia,” said the Defense Security Cooperation Agency in a statement.
The Rundown
Washington Examiner: Pompeo tests negative for coronavirus but reevaluating travel schedule
Washington Examiner: Exclusive: Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya discusses fight for democracy
Washington Examiner: Pentagon refuses to discuss COVID-19-related spike in military suicides
New York Times: Russian Opposition Leader Navalny Says Putin Is Behind His Poisoning
Stars and Stripes: Russian Military Strength At A Post-Cold War High, Report Says
Wall Street Journal: Russia Rejects U.S. Terms For Arms Deal
Bloomberg: U.S. ICBM to Replace 1970s-Era Minuteman May Cost $111 Billion
Wall Street Journal: Kim Jong Un’s New Look Is More Man Than Superhuman
Reuters: China’s U.S. Envoy Says U.S.-China Relations Must Be Put On Right Track
AP: 6 Missiles Intercepted Targeting Airport That Houses American Troops In Iraq
The Drive: Navy P-8 Poseidon Flies Mission Armed With Harpoon Missiles In Asia-Pacific Show Of Force
The State: Too Early To Predict Marine Corps’ Future At Parris Island, Base Leader Says
USNI News: Marines Release More Details on F-35B, KC-130J Collision
Reuters: Over 50 Republican former U.S. national security officials join Biden endorsement
Calendar
FRIDAY | OCTOBER 2
8 a.m. — Woodrow Wilson Center webcast: “21st Century Diplomacy: Foreign Policy is Climate Policy,” with Hinrich Thoelken, director of climate and energy policy and digital transformation in the German Federal Foreign Office; Sharon Burke, senior adviser in the New America International Security Program and Resource Security Program; Huiyao Wang, founder and president of the Center for China and Globalization; and Alexander Carius, director of Adelphi. https://www.wilsoncenter.org/event
9:15 a.m. — Brookings Institution webinar: “Disinformed Democracy: The Past, Present, and Future of Information Warfare,” with former national security adviser retired Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, author of Battlegrounds: The Fight to Defend the Free World. https://www.brookings.edu/events
10 a.m. — National Defense Industrial Association virtual symposium: “Special Operations Forces and Great Power Competition,” with Acting Assistant Defense Secretary for Special Operations/Low Intensity Conflict Ezra Cohen; Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla.; and Air Force Command Sgt. Gregory Smith, senior enlisted leader at the U.S. Special Operations Command; Assistant Defense Secretary for Acquisition Kevin Fahey; Jim Smith, acquisition executive at the U.S. Special Operations Command’s Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Center; and former Principal Deputy Defense Undersecretary for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Alan Estevez, national security and logistics executive at Deloitte; Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition James “Hondo” Geurts; and Ramon “CZ” Colon-Lopez, senior enlisted adviser to the Joint Chiefs chairman. https://www.ndia.org/events/2020/10/2/2020-virtual-solic
10 a.m. — Center for a New American Security virtual discussion: “The Coming Revolution in Intelligence Affairs,” with Anthony Vinci, adjunct senior fellow at the CNAS Technology and National Security Program and former associate director and CTO at the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency; former Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence Susan Gordon; Robert Cardillo, fellow at the Georgetown University Center for Security and Emerging Technology and former NGA director; and Kara Frederick, fellow at the CNAS Technology and National Security Program. https://www.cnas.org/events/virtual-panel
12 p.m. — The Aspen Institute webinar: “The Day After: Preparing for a Contested Election,” with Sherrilyn Ifill, president and director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense Educational Fund; Mary McCord, legal director of the Georgetown Law Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection; Nathaniel Persily, professor of law at Stanford Law School; Sally Buzbee, senior vice president and executive editor of the Associated Press; and Vivian Schiller, executive director of Aspen Digital. https://www.aspeninstitute.org/events
1:30 p.m. — Atlantic Council webinar: “North Korea’s Strategic Weapons: An Informed Conversation,” retired Army Gen. Vincent Brooks, former commander of U.S. Forces Korea; and Markus Garlauskas, former national intelligence officer for North Korea and nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event
MONDAY | OCTOBER 5
9 a.m. — NVIDIA’s GPU Technology Conference on Artificial Intelligence and the future of work, with retired Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan, the first director of the Pentagon’s Joint Artificial Intelligence Center, and FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, among others. https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/gtc
TUESDAY | OCTOBER 6
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo meets with his counterparts from Japan, Australia, and India in Tokyo to discuss promoting a “free and open Indo-Pacific,” with Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne, and India’s External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. https://www.state.gov/
5 p.m. — Hudson Institute livestream: “Dialogues on American Foreign Policy and World Affairs: A Conversation with Sen. Tom Cotton,” with Walter Russell Mead, Ravenel B. Curry III Distinguished Fellow in Strategy and Statesmanship. https://www.hudson.org/events
TUESDAY | OCTOBER 13
10 a.m. — Day One of “AUSA Now,” the Association of the U.S. Army’s 2020 virtual annual meeting, with Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy, Defense Secretary Mark Esper, Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville and other Army leaders. McCarthy and McConville will hold a press conference in the Pentagon Press Briefing Room at 10:45 a.m. Register at https://meetings.ausa.org/annual/Attendee
TBA — Defense One webcast “State of the Navy,” with Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday. https://www.defenseone.com/feature
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“When you’re with soldiers, when you’re with airmen, when you’re with Marines, and I’m with — and the police officers. I’m with them so much. And when they come over here, it’s very hard to say, ‘Stay back, stay back.’”
President Trump, explaining to Fox News’s Sean Hannity why he didn’t practice social distancing before contracting COVID-19.
