LET’S MAKE A DEAL: President-elect Trump says he’s ready to do an arms agreement with Vladimir Putin, offering an end to U.S. sanctions against Moscow in return for a new nuclear weapons agreement. That was just one bombshell he dropped in a wide-ranging joint interview with the Times of London and the German newspaper Bild, released yesterday. “Let’s see if we can make some good deals with Russia,” Trump said. “I think nuclear weapons should be way down and reduced very substantially, that’s part of it. But Russia’s hurting very badly right now because of sanctions, but I think something can happen that a lot of people are gonna benefit.”
This morning, in a conference call with reporters, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia is withholding any response until after the new president is sworn in Friday. Peskov also denied there is any plan for a Trump-Putin meeting any time soon.
WHOM DO YOU TRUST? In that interview, Trump was asked whom he trusted more, Putin or German Chancellor Angela Merkel? “I start off trusting both, but let’s see how long that lasts,” he said. “It may not last long at all.” Trump professed admiration for the German leader who will be seeking fourth term this year, but said she should never have allowed so many refugees into her country. “I have great respect for her, I felt she was a great leader,” Trump said. “I think she made one very catastrophic mistake and that was taking all these illegals and taking all these people wherever they come from and nobody really knows where they come from.”
BRENNAN THE LEAKER? When Trump wasn’t stirring more controversy this weekend by ripping Rep. John Lewis over comments he made questioning the legitimacy of the election, the president-elect suggested CIA Director John Brennan is the one who leaked the controversial dossier showing an alleged connection between the Trump team and the Kremlin, Kyle Feldscher writes. Trump quoted a headline from Fox News’ interview with Brennan on Sunday when Brennan ripped Trump for “talking and tweeting” and questioning intelligence reports.
Brennan says Trump is underestimating the Russians. “I don’t think he has a full appreciation of Russian capabilities, Russia’s intentions, and actions that they are undertaking in many parts of the world … he does not yet have a full appreciation and understanding of what the implications are of going down that road, as well as making sure he understands what he’s doing,” Brennan said.
It didn’t take Trump long to return fire on Twitter. “Oh really, couldn’t do much worse – just look at Syria (red line), Crimea, Ukraine and the build-up of Russian nukes. Not good! Was this the leaker of Fake News?” Trump tweeted.
NATO IS OBSOLETE AGAIN, BUT IMPORTANT: Despite Defense Secretary-nominee James Mattis’ assurances during his confirmation hearing that NATO was a vital alliance for the U.S. to maintain, Trump in that Bild/London Times interview reverted to his campaign rhetoric from last year questioning the relevance of the group.
“I took such heat, when I said NATO was obsolete. It’s obsolete because it wasn’t taking care of terror. I took a lot of heat for two days. And then they started saying Trump is right.” Trump, said, but quickly adding, “With that being said, NATO is very important to me.”
Trump still thinks there are too many freeloaders in the alliance, “A lot of these countries aren’t paying what they’re supposed to be paying, which I think is very unfair to the United States.” But he didn’t repeat his threat not to come to their defense. “There’s five countries that are paying what they’re supposed to. Five. It’s not much.”
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GITMO: No confirmation yet this morning from the Pentagon on word from Oman that it has taken in 10 prisoners transferred from Guantánamo. President Obama is racing to reduce the population at the prison camp in Cuba to between 30 and 40 by the time he leaves office at the end of the week. At last count, the prison had 55 terror suspects, with 19 cleared for transfer including the 10 just sent to Oman.
SMOOTH SAILING: Congress is on track to easily approve Mattis to be the next defense secretary after both chambers passed the waiver required for him to serve so soon after his retirement from the Marine Corps last week. The House passed the measure Friday by a 268-151 vote that saw 36 Democrats support it. The White House said Friday that Obama will sign the measure.
ONE CHINA BATTLE BREWING: Trump says he’s ready to negotiate what China insists is non-negotiable: the “One China” policy that has been the foundation of U.S.-China policy for four decades. Friday, Trump told the Wall Street Journal the policy was up for discussion. Today the English-language China Daily said, “If Trump is determined to use this gambit in taking office, a period of fierce, damaging interactions will be unavoidable, as Beijing will have no choice but to take off the gloves,” according to Reuters.
STOPPING NORTH KOREA: Of all of America’s adversaries, only one world leader has consistently and repeatedly threatened to wipe out a U.S. city with a nuclear strike: North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. As Trump takes office, he has no shortage of advice on how to make good on his vow to thwart North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, but will any of the options work? Check out what some smart people think in this week’s Washington Examiner magazine:
RUSSIA HACKING PANEL: The Senate Intelligence Committee determined on Friday it will conduct a bipartisan investigation into Russia’s pre-election hacking, including a probe into “any intelligence regarding links between Russia and individuals associated with political campaigns,” Susan Ferrechio and Anna Giaritelli report. The decision comes a day after top intelligence officials briefed Senate lawmakers and left Democrats angry that they were not informed prior to the election about the intel community’s knowledge of Russian hacking. Democrats also want more information about unverified intelligence that the Trump campaign was in contact with Russian operatives.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein on Sunday said senators need to carry out a robust investigation into the Russian influence campaign on the election, starting with a review of the information that led to the declassified report released this month, Kyle Feldscher writes. The California Democrat said on NBC Sunday that Congress needs to investigate and tell the American people exactly what the Kremlin did to influence the election. She said it’s a warning shot across the bow of American democracy if a foreign power can have such a major influence on an election.
“I have been astonished by what has been a two-year effort in Russia to spearfish, to hack, to spread disinformation, to spread propaganda wherever it could,” she said.
A NEW NAME FOR SECNAV: Trump is said to be considering Philip Bilden, of the global private equity firm HarbourVest, to serve as secretary of the Navy under his administration, Gabby Morrongiello writes. Several news sites said Bilden was in the running on Friday, the first time his name has been mentioned in connection to the position.
Bilden serves as chairman of the Asia Advisory Council for the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association and is on the board of visitors for Georgetown University and Asia Pacific Advisory Board of Harvard Business School.
WE’RE GOING AS FAST AS WE CAN: As the incoming Trump administration is looking for ways to accelerate the defeat of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, the Pentagon insists the strategy of using local forces to do the dirty fighting on the ground is working, and is proceeding as quickly possible. “I think it’s always good to be reflecting on what more we can do, but I do not feel like we have been held back in any way from accelerating the campaign to the greatest extent possible,” said outgoing Assistant Defense Secretary Elissa Slotkin. In that Bild/Times interview, Trump said the operation to recapture Mosul had turned out to be a “disaster.”
OBAMA’S ADVICE TO TRUMP: In his last interview on CBS’s “60 Minutes,” Obama had this to say about the man who will replace him in five days. “He has a talent for making a connection with his supporters that overrode some of the traditional benchmarks of how you’d run a campaign or conduct yourself as a presidential candidate. What will be interesting to see is how that plays out during the course of his presidency. We are moving into an era where a lot of people get their information through tweets and sound bites and some headline that comes over their phone. And I think that there’s a power in that. There’s also a danger, what generates a headline or stirs up a controversy and gets attention isn’t the same as the process required to actually solve the problem.”
DEAL OR NO DEAL: Lockheed Martin CEO Marillyn Hewson met with Trump for the second time since the election on Friday and told the incoming commander in chief that the company is “close to a deal” that will bring the cost of the F-35 down “significantly.” The Pentagon is negotiating prices for the tenth lot of aircraft.
COOK TIMER: New time, new partner, same result. Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook is running out of opportunities to begin just one briefing on time. Friday’s 11 a.m. briefing included Elissa Slotkin on her last day as acting assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs. It began only 8 minutes late. We officially retire the Cook timer Friday, at 12:01 p.m.
THE RUNDOWN
Politico: McCain fires opening shot in Pentagon budget wars with buildup plan
Defense One: SPECIAL REPORT: The Military Loves the Obama Doctrine. Can It Survive Trump?
Associated Press: Kremlin counts days to Trump’s inauguration, blasts Obama
Defense One: Trump Has Considerable Authority to Revamp the Intelligence Community
Associated Press: Military’s shift away from oil clashes with Trump’s promises
Defense News: Raytheon Protests Army Contract Award To Leidos For Fires Support System
Breaking Defense: Fixing The Ford, Getting Creative With Carriers
Air Force Times: Commentary: Let’s show America who we are, and what we do
USNI News: Fleet Forces Commander: Navy Needs Capacity, Readiness, Not Just Capability
Military.com: Another Woman to Attempt Marines’ Infantry Officer Course
Military Times: The military’s massive valor awards review will result in fewer than 100 upgrades
Military.com: Marine Killed, Another Injured in Training Accident
Wall Street Journal: Iraqi Troops Recapture Mosul University From Islamic State
Calendar
MONDAY | JANUARY 16
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day – Federal Holiday
TUESDAY | JANUARY 17
8 a.m. 600 New Hampshire Ave. NW. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson talks about the future of the Navy in a Defense One Live event. defenseone.com
10 a.m. 1030 15th St. NW. Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, speaks about Russia’s impact on the world order. atlanticcouncil.org
10:30 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. Bob Schieffer leads a panel on foreign policy challenges facing the Trump administration. csis.org
3 p.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. Frank Kendall, the undersecretary of acquisition, technology and logistics, talks about improving the Pentagon’s acquisition process. csis.org
4 p.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. Ben Rhodes, the assistant to the president and deputy national security adviser for strategic communications and speechwriting, speaks about lessons learned about national security from which the next administration can benefit. csis.org
WEDNESDAY | JANUARY 18
9 a.m. 1789 Massachusetts Ave. NW. Gen. David Goldfein, the Air Force chief of staff, speaks about the future of American air power. aei.org
10 a.m. Dirksen 419. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee considers the nomination of South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley to be the U.S. representative to the United Nations. foreign.senate.gov
THURSDAY | JANUARY 19
11:30 a.m. 1667 K St. NW. The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments releases a new report titled “Preserving the Balance—A Eurasia Defense Strategy.” csbaonline.org
MONDAY | JANUARY 23
10:30 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. A panel of think tank experts talks about prospects for the defense budget in the Trump administration. csis.org
