NOW WE KNOW: Both Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Richard Spencer elaborated on the behind the scenes machinations that led to Esper firing Spencer and then following orders from President Trump to stop a review of Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallager’s fitness to retire a Navy SEAL.
Esper made his comments to reporters at the Pentagon, while Spencer granted an interview to veteran CBS correspondent David Martin on his last day at the Pentagon
Here is what we learned:
Esper was “flabbergasted” to learn that Spencer had offered Trump a deal. Esper met unannounced with reporters in the Pentagon press bullpen, read a statement and took some questions. He described a meeting with President Trump at the White House Friday after returning from a nine-day trip to Asia, in which afterward a senior White House official pulled him aside and told him and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley of Spencer’s plan.
“We had no knowledge whatsoever. We were flabbergasted by it and quite surprised and caught completely off-guard,” Esper said.
Spencer was willing to do what Trump wanted, so long as it technically wasn’t an order. By Esper’s account Spencer offered to fulfill Trump’s wishes, so long as it was on the down low.
“Secretary Spencer had proposed a deal whereby if the president allowed the Navy to handle the case, he would guarantee that Eddie Gallagher would be restored to rank, allowed to retain his Trident and permitted to retire,” Esper said. “The proposal was completely contrary to what we agreed to … It had undermined everything we had been discussing with the president.”
Trump declined the offer: Spencer told CBS he spoke with White House counsel Pat Cipollone on Nov. 15, but that Cipollone called back the same day to decline the offer, saying the president would be involved.
Spencer says he formally opened Gallaher’s Trident review board last Wednesday, the day before the president tweeted, “The Navy will NOT be taking away Warfighter and Navy Seal Eddie Gallagher’s Trident Pin.”
Esper insists Spencer’s firing was not about Gallagher, but for breaking the rules. “First we have a chain of command that should be followed and that chain of command must be kept informed,” Esper said. “Second, once we agree on a position we stick to it and support it both in private and public. Third, if you don’t like that position then simply resign, otherwise implement it as if you would implement any other order.”
Spencer did tell Esper he might resign. Despite Spencer issuing a denial while attending at the Halifax Security Forum over the weekend, Esper confirmed that Spencer did threaten to resign last Thursday, if Trump followed through with his demands.
“Yes, he told me that he would likely, probably — I don’t want to put exact words in his mouth, but he certainly indicated he was probably going to resign if he had to do this,” Esper said.
But Spencer told CBS he didn’t consider that a threat. “I never threatened to resign. I do. I don’t threaten,” Spencer said. “I got fired.”
Spencer does not deny he kept Esper in the dark. When confronted by Esper He “was completely forthright in admitting what had been going on,” Esper said, and was ready to be fired. “He took it in stride and said that he would have a letter to me within 30 minutes, and he did.”
In his CBS interview Spencer “I will take the bad on me, for not letting him know I did that,” Spencer said. “But far as I was concerned, at that point, the president understood the deal. Arguably, he doesn’t have to deal with anyone, but he was completely informed on this because his chief of staff (Eric Fanning) was briefed on this.”
Spencer argues Trump doesn’t get it. At a White House availability with the Bulgarian prime minister, President Trump insisted his intervention in the military justice system was to stop the unfair treatment of troops who are fighting for the nation.
“With Eddie Gallagher — you know that story very well — they wanted to take his pin away, and I said, “No, you’re not going to take it away.” He was a great fighter. He was one of the ultimate fighters. Tough guy,” Trump said. “And we’re going to protect our warfighters.”
“I don’t think he really understands the full definition of a warfighter,” Spencer told CBS. “A warfighter is a profession of arms and a profession of arms has standards that they have to be held to, and they hold themselves to.”
Trump’s order did not meet Espers threshold for resignation. While Spencer said in his letter acknowledging his firing that “I cannot in good conscience obey an order that I believe violates the sacred oath I took,” Esper implemented the same order without reservation.
“He gave me the order that Eddie Gallagher will retain his Trident,” Esper said. “The commander in chief has certain constitutional rights and powers which he is free to exercise. As many presidents have done in the past. Again, these are constitutional powers.”
At his confirmation hearing in July, Esper was asked under what conditions he would resign. “if you’re asked to do anything that is illegal, immoral or unethical, then that would be the point at which you would have to consider resignation.
“And you’d be willing to do that?” asked Sen. Gary Peters D-Mich. “Absolutely,” Esper replied.
Good Tuesday 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 Susan Katz Keating (@SKatzKeating). 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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REACTION IS HARSH: Trump’s defense of U.S. troops accused and convicted of war crimes has drawn sharp rebukes from military justice experts and Democratic lawmakers who, like fired Navy Secretary Spencer, says the intervention underlines basic U.S. values. “What message does that send to the troops?” Spencer said. “That you can get away with things. We have to have good order and discipline. It’s the backbone of what we do.”
“This was an outrageous, irresponsible interference by President Trump in the military justice system. The White House’s handling of this matter erodes the basic command structure of the military and the basic function of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. It signals to people that they can operate outside the rule of law and the Geneva Convention.” Sen. Jack Reed, ranking of the Armed Services Committee.
FORMER SECNAVS WEIGH IN: In an op-ed in the New York Times, former Navy Secretaries Richard Danzig and Sean O’Keefe who served under Presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush respectively also take Trump to task. They outline three problems with Trump’s action.
“The first is that it is very much the Navy’s business — and every military’s business — to maintain, as the military so often recites and Mr. Spencer put it in his final letter to the president, “good order and discipline.”
“The second problem intensifies the first. Contamination from the president’s approach is amplified when his judgment is largely shaped by television commentators and his decision announced by tweet.”
And third, “An American service member shared a photograph of himself with a corpse along with the message: ‘I have got a cool story for you when I get back. I have got my knife skills on.’ Our president’s endorsement of the perpetrator will be taken as a representation of our values. Our own troops, many of them teenagers, will be misled by the president’s sense, or lack of sense, of honor.”
BOEING AWACS UPGRADE: Tomorrow NATO and Boeing will mark the signing of a $1 billion contract to modernise the NATO fleet of AWACS aircraft, which is designed to ensure that NATO AWACS continue to support the alliance’s missions to 2035.
The ceremony will take place at Melsbroek Airport, Brussels, and will be presided over by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Sir Michael Arthur, President of Boeing International.
F-16s, F-35s, WHATEVER: During his meeting with Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov yesterday President Trump touted the NATO ally as a good customer of U.S. weaponry.
“They’ve ordered some F-35s and some other things. They buy a lot of military equipment from the United States — the best equipment in the world,” Trump said.
The State Department announced in June that Bulgaria was approved to buy eight F-16C/D aircraft with support for an estimated cost of $1.7 billion.
HE’S A SHE: President Trump welcomed Conan the military working dog and hero of the Baghdadi raid to the White House yesterday and then jokingly warned reporters to be careful what they say.
“This particular type of dog, it’s trained that if you open your mouth, you will be attacked. You want to be very, very careful,” He said “They were going to put a muzzle on the dog, and I thought that was a good idea, but then it gets even more violent.
“The dog is incredible, actually incredible. We spent some good time with it, and so brilliant, so smart. The way it was with the special forces people that it worked with, and for obvious reasons they can’t be out in front of the media. But they did a fantastic job. Conan did a fantastic job, and we’re very honored to have Conan here and to have given Conan a certificate and an award that we’re going to put up in the White House.”
One thing we did learn. Conan is female, serving in the long tradition of women in the U.S. military.
The Rundown
New York Times: U.S. Resumes Large-Scale Operations Against ISIS in Northern Syria
AP: Kim Jong Un Orders North Korea Artillery Firing, Drawing Seoul Rebuke
AP: Report: Turkey To Start Testing Russian S-400 Defense System
Military Times: With Few Afghan Air Controllers, The U.S. Is Stuck In A Forever War Of Air Support In Afghanistan
Reuters: Qatar, Kuwait Told U.S. They Will Join Naval Coalition, Official Says
AP: 13 French soldiers killed in helicopter collision in Mali
Washington Times: Pentagon races to end China’s ‘dream’ of military domination in space
Washington Post: Poll: Germans Are Deeply Worried About U.S. Alliance, While Americans Are Not
AP: Australia Investigates China Plot To Plant Spy In Parliament
Defense Daily: GAO: Navy’s Shipyard Plan May Cost Billions More
Inside Defense: Pentagon Requests Shifting $40 Million To Continue Work On CVN-78
Real Clear Defense: Marine Corps Launches First Phase of ForceFit
Washington Examiner: Former Mattis speechwriter stokes theory he is ‘Anonymous’ Trump critic
Washington Examiner: Navy SEAL who shot bin Laden rips Pentagon for ‘whiny’ response to Trump’s Eddie Gallagher move
Politico: Trump’s strain with Pentagon inspires talk of more departures
National Defense Magazine: U.S. Considering Expanding Arctic Presence As Tensions Rise
Calendar
TUESDAY | NOVEMBER 26
9:30 a.m. 1152 15th St. N.W. — Center for a New American Security Fireside Chat with Will Roper, assistant secretary of the Air Force (acquisition, technology, and logistics) and Susanna Blume, senior fellow and director CNAS defense program. https://events.cnas.org/Events
11:30 a.m. 1201 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W. — Hudson Institute discussion on “The U.S. Response to Iraq’s Growing Corruption and Political Unrest,” with Patricia Karam, regional director of the Middle East and North Africa at the International Republican Institute; Rend Al-Rahim, co-founder and president of the Iraq Foundation; Reuel Marc Gerecht, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies; and Michael Pregent, senior fellow at Hudson. http://www.hudson.org
WEDNESDAY | NOVEMBER 27
7 a.m. — Army Col. Andrew Morgan, NASA astronaut currently in space on ISS Expedition 60/61, holds Q&A w/Brooke Army Medical Center Wounded Warriors, family and staff broadcast live on NASA TV. https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html#public
THURSDAY | NOVEMBER 28
Thanksgiving Holiday
FRIDAY | NOVEMBER 29
5:30 p.m. 1101 6th St. S.W. — Mead Center for American Theater’s Arena Stage hosts the annual Military Thanksgiving Dinner for wounded warriors, service men and women, and their families, with retired Army Surgeon General Lt. Gen. Nadja West. https://www.arenastage.org/militarythanksgiving
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“What message does that send to the troops? …That you can get away with things. We have to have good order and discipline. It’s the backbone of what we do.”
Fired Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer in an interview with CBS about the order by President Trump to protect a Navy SEAL from any discipline following his conviction for posing with the body of a dead ISIS fighter.
