OPEN WARFARE: President-elect Trump’s consideration of Mitt Romney, one of his most vociferous critics and a solid mainstream Republican, has left some of his supporters apoplectic. Kellyanne Conway, Trump’s senior adviser, lambasted Romney on the Sunday shows. “People feel betrayed to think that Governor Romney, who went out of his way to question the character and the intellect and the integrity of Donald Trump, now our president-elect, would be given the most significant Cabinet post of all, secretary of state,” Conway said on NBC’s Meet the Press. “We don’t even know if he voted for Donald Trump. He and his consultants were nothing but awful to Donald Trump for a year,” she went on, explaining she was simply “reflecting what the grassroots are saying.” But even as Conway trashed Romney, she pledged to support whoever Trump picks. “That is a decision that only one man can make, President- Elect Donald Trump. I will respect it. And I will support it 1,000 percent.”
TEAM OF RIVALS: Over on Fox News Sunday, Trump’s incoming Chief of Staff Reince Priebus confirmed that the new president will likely be choosing some people who don’t share all his foreign policy views, creating a Lincolnesque Cabinet of rivals. “He’s going to be making the best decision for the American people. It isn’t a matter of warfare. I mean, there’s a lot of opinions about this and, yes, it is sort of a ‘team of rivals’ concept if you were to go towards the Governor Romney concept,” Priebus said.
That dynamic was on display Friday, when Trump named Fox News analyst K.T. McFarland as his deputy national security adviser. McFarland has held national security positions going back to the Nixon administration. She was an aide to Henry Kissinger in the 1970s and served on the Senate Armed Services Committee staff after that. She was also senior speechwriter to Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger and later Pentagon spokeswoman. She ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination to challenge Hillary Clinton for the U.S. Senate in New York in 2006.
But a review of McFarland’s past statements show some daylight between her positions and those of her soon-to-be-new boss, retired Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn. This year she said the U.S. is in a cyberwar with Russia, and cheered on the coup to seize control from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Flynn? Not so much.
Meanwhile a profile of Flynn in the New Yorker portrays him as someone who didn’t always think the rules applied to him. “Flynn broke rules he thought were stupid. He once told me about a period he spent assigned to a C.I.A. station in Iraq, when he would sometimes sneak out of the compound without the “insane” required approval from CIA headquarters, in Langley, Virginia. He had technicians secretly install an Internet connection in his Pentagon office, even though it was forbidden. There was also the time he gave classified information to NATO allies without approval, an incident which prompted an investigation, and a warning from superiors,” writes veteran defense reporter Dana Priest.
MONDAY MEETINGS: President-elect Trump will meet with at least eight individuals in New York City on Monday as he continues what has been described as an “Apprentice-style” search for top-notch individuals to join his administration. Among them are Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke, who rose to prominence this year as an outspoken critic of the Black Lives Matter movement. He has called the group an “anarchist movement” and a “hate group” and said President Obama “set this whole country on fire with his race politics.” We have the full list of job-seekers visiting Trump Tower today here:
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HAPPENING TODAY: We’ll hear from both Defense Secretary Ash Carter and his French counterpart Minister of Defense Jean-Yves Le Drian around noon today. Carter is meeting with Le Drian at DAR Constitution Hall. The two defense chiefs, who last met at a NATO Defense Ministerial meeting in Brussels last month, are scheduled to discuss “mutual security concerns including the ongoing counter-ISIL campaign.” according to the Pentagon. It’s Carter’s fourth meeting with Le Drian in five months.
ALEPPO FALLING? News agencies and the Russian Defense Ministry are reporting what could be a turning point in the years-long siege of Aleppo by Syrian forces loyal to President Bashar Assad. The AP reports Syrian troops have captured a major eastern Aleppo neighborhood, which now puts much of Aleppo’s rebel-held areas under government control for the first time in four years. Russia’s Defense Ministry says more than 100 rebels have laid down their arms and that the areas captured by Syrian government troops include 10 neighborhoods and over 3,000 buildings.
SAILOR KILLED IN SYRIA: The Navy on Friday identified the service member killed in Syria on Thanksgiving Day, the first U.S. military casualty in that country since the fight against the Islamic State began. Senior Chief Petty Officer Scott Cooper Dayton, 42, was killed by an improvised explosive device in northern Syria, according to his command. He was assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit Two based in Virginia Beach, Va.
PRE-HOLIDAY NEWS DUMP: The Navy dumped some bad news on Wednesday night before Thanksgiving, saying as many as 134,000 former and current sailors are victims of a data breach. Daniel Chaitin writes that Hewlett Packard Enterprise Services notified the Navy on Oct. 27 that one of the company’s laptops operated by an employee who was supporting a Navy contract had been breached. On Tuesday, an analysis by HP Enterprise Services and a Naval Criminal Investigative Service investigation indicated personal information — including names and Social Security numbers — of 134,386 current and former sailors had been accessed by unknown individuals. The Navy said it has not yet found any evidence of misuse of the sensitive information that was accessed.
ANTHRAX REPRIMAND: The commander of the Utah facility that accidentally shipped live anthrax spores to various facilities throughout the U.S. and overseas that was discovered last year has been reprimanded, according to a report. Brig. Gen. William King, commander of the Army’s 20th Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosives Command, is the highest-ranking officer punished or reprimanded in the flap, USA Today reported. King’s reprimand is likely a career-killer. “Brig. Gen. King was reprimanded for failing to take appropriate action to respond to and mitigate lapses in safety and protocol while serving as commander of Dugway Proving Ground,” Lt. Col. Jennifer Johnson, an Army spokeswoman, said in a statement to the newspaper.
MOSQUES THREATENED: Religious leaders are calling on law enforcement to respond to letters, which contain threats against Muslims while praising Trump, sent to at least three mosques in California over the last several days. The photocopied letter sent to Islamic centers in Long Beach, Claremont and San Jose addresses Muslims as the “children of Satan,” calls them “vile and filthy people” and advises them to “pack your bags and get out of dodge.”
TOO BUSY FOR INTEL BRIEFS: President-elect Trump has received only two classified briefings since winning the election on Nov. 8, according to a report. The briefings on foreign affairs and national security threats are prepared daily by intelligence analysts, but Trump turned down many of them down, according to unnamed U.S. officials. Meanwhile Vice President-elect Mike Pence, they said, has participated in the briefings on an almost daily basis. Conway on Sunday said Trump is receiving information from “a number of sources,” including world leaders.
FLOCK OF SEAGALS: Steven Seagal, who got famous in the 1990s for a slew of tough-guy martial arts roles but has in recent years became an envoy for the Russian defense industry, just became a Russian citizen. According to the official website for the Kremlin, Seagal met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday and received a Russian passport and Russian citizenship. “You have many friends in this country and you have professional plans as well,” Putin said, according to a transcript of their meeting. “Naturally, Russian citizenship and a Russian passport will make it easier for you to meet your friends and carry out your plans.”
MONEY FOR 90 F-35s: Lockheed Martin is being awarded a modification to a $7.1 billion contract to provide for the procurement of 90 F-35 aircraft. The modification includes a $1.3 billion down payment, while talks continue over the final contract price. “This modification provides for the procurement of 90 aircraft, comprised of 76 F-35A aircraft for the Air Force (44), non-U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) participants (16), and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers (16); 12 F-35B aircraft for the Marine Corps (9), and non-U.S. DoD participants (3); and two F-35C aircraft for the Navy,” said a Pentagon statement.
THE RUNDOWN
Military.com: Transgender Navy SEAL Applies for Job in Trump Administration
Defense One: As Trump Waits, So Do U.S. War Fighters, Planners
Military Times: If Trump wants to impress the military, he’ll order a decent pay raise
Washington Post: Retired Marine generals recommended each other to Trump as Pentagon chief
War on the Rocks: I Love Mattis, But I Don’t Love Him as SecDef
Washington Post: Obama administration expands elite military unit’s powers to hunt foreign fighters globally
Reuters: Norway plans $1.15 billion order for five Boeing Poseidon military aircraft
Daily Beast: Did the Navy Steal Its New Warship Designs?
Breaking Defense:Trump DepSecDef Prospect Urges Federal Cyber To Go Analog
Military Times: Military pay raise on track for January despite budget discord in Washington
Military.com: White House Urges Congress to Fund New Submarines
Associated Press: Election throws U.S. plans for Syrian refugees into question
Reuters: Winter closes in on refugees fleeing Iraq’s Mosul
Associated Press: Local intel key in house-to-house battle for Iraq’s Mosul
CNN: U2 ‘Dragonlady’ pilots spy on ISIS from the edge of space
Army Times: Army to study how physical conditioning affects soldiers’ mental health
Military.com: Navy Destroyer Named for 1st Black Marine Corps Aviator
Calendar
MONDAY | NOVEMBER 28
12 p.m. Constitution Hall Defense Secretary Ash Carter welcomes French Minister of Defense Jean-Yves Le Drian, before holding a bilateral meeting. Live streamed at defense.gov
6 p.m. 1777 F St. NW. Michael Chertoff, the former homeland security secretary, speaks at the Council on Foreign Relations about domestic security and the Islamic State. cfr.org
TUESDAY | NOVEMBER 29
9:30 a.m. Dirksen G-50. The Senate Armed Services Committee holds a hearing titled “Department of Defense Actions Concerning Voluntary Education Programs.” armed-services.senate.gov
9:30 a.m. 1030 15th St. NW. A panel of experts discusses how to handle Russia’s increasing involvement in the Middle East. atlanticcouncil.org
11 a.m. 1775 Massachusetts Ave. NW. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Paul Zukunft provides remarks at the Brookings Institution. brookings.edu
2:30 p.m. Dirksen 419. A panel of think tank analysts testifies at a Senate hearing on countering Iranian proxies. foreign.senate.gov
WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 30
12 p.m. 1030 15th St. NW. Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright speaks about a new approach for the Middle East. atlanticcouncil.org
THURSDAY | DECEMBER 1
8 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. Former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Rep. Mac Thornberry kick off a day-long Global Security Forum. csis.org
10 a.m. Rayburn 2118. The House Armed Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations holds a hearing on force management levels in Iraq and Afghanistan. armedservices.house.gov
3 p.m. 214 Massachusetts Ave. NE. The Heritage Foundation hosts an event on U.S. alliances with Japan and the United Kingdom. heritage.org
3:30 p.m. 1211 Connecticut Ave. NW. The Stimson Center holds an event on the U.S. drone program. stimson.org
FRIDAY | DECEMBER 2
12 p.m. 1030 15th St. NW. A panel of experts discuss how President-elect Trump’s vision for the U.S. relationship with Asia may differ from the Obama administration’s plans. atlanticcouncil.org
MONDAY | DECEMBER 5
9 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. Korean and American officials talk about what the relationship between the two countries will look like in the next administration. csis.org
2 p.m. 1775 Massachusetts Ave. NW. Robert Work, the deputy defense secretary, will speak about investing in the future of U.S. defense during a time of transition. brookings.edu
