KIM’S BREAKOUT MOMENT: China waited until Kim Jong Un’s armored train slipped safely back across the North Korean border before confirming the rampant rumors that Kim had made his first trip out of his isolated country since taking power six years ago. China Central Television showed video of Kim shaking hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the start of secretive meetings that official Chinese news agency Xinhua reported came at the invitation of Xi. The television images also showed a grand banquet for Kim at China’s Great Hall of the People.

DIAL M FOR MILITARY, NOT MEXICO: Trump is privately lobbying his advisers to support a plan that would divert some of the $1.4 trillion approved for national defense spending over the next two years toward the construction of the southwest border wall, the Washington Post reported Tuesday.

Trump hinted in a tweet Sunday that the government should “build WALL through M,” but now appears to be attempting to whip support among defense officials for his plan.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders declined to confirm whether Trump planned to use defense funding.”I’m not going to get into the specifics of that, but I can tell you that the wall is continuing to be built currently and we’re going to keep pushing forward until it’s fully completed in the way that the president feels is necessary to defend the country,” she said.

GRAHAM: TIME TO DEAL: On Fox last night, Sen. Lindsey Graham said if Trump really wants the money for his wall, he should stop talking about raiding the Pentagon’s readiness funds, and instead start dealing with the Democrats over the Delayed Action for Childhood Arrivals program Trump canceled.

“The best way to get the wall money is to do the deal the president talked about. The $25 billion for the wall in return will do a deal for the DACA recipients. That’s the deal to be done,” Graham said. “And if he would announce that any time soon, the Democrats would be in a box, because I want them to say ‘no’ to the DACA recipients because they don’t want to fund the wall that America needs.”

Graham said he would advise against reprogramming any defense funding to the wall, which would be a difficult sell on Capitol Hill anyway. “We need that $650 billion to repair the damage done during the Obama administration to our military. Going into the North Korea negotiations, rebuilding our military is going to make North Korea look differently at Donald Trump.”

OF NOTE: The night before Trump tweeted about using military funding to pay for the wall, conservative commentator Ann Coulter told Fox News host Jeanine Pirro that border protection is an issue of national security. “[We] engage in a lot of military actions around the world. I think it can be done right on our border as part of the defense, have the Seabees do it,” Coulter said, referring to naval mobile construction battalions.

“Where does he get the money to build the wall that you say he can build as national defense? Where does he take the money from?” Pirro asked. “The same place Reagan took the money to invade Granada, the same place [Trump] took the money to bomb Syria. He has money to spend on national defense,” Coulter responded.

MATTIS ON THE BUDGET HIKE: Mattis was at the White House last Friday when Trump threatened to veto an omnibus spending bill with $700 billion in defense funding and was credited with helping to walk the president back from the brink. But when asked by reporters about this reaction to the president’s threat, Mattis said he didn’t really have one. “This is the normal heave and ho of a democracy in action, OK?” Instead, he is focused on how to spend the biggest budget hike in years.

“What will you see? You’ll see more money going into research and engineering about future protections for the country, future readiness. So, the secretary of defense next after my successor inherits something that also has shown the kind of advance work if you go back to the days of GPS, of stealth, of those kind of things. Those kinds of approaches will be funded for our time,” Mattis said.

The money will also go to fixing the readiness problems military brass has warned about for years. “We do intend to get the planes back in the air fully staffed, squadrons back in the air, ships back to sea, and the new gear built. In some cases, we’re going to have to build even legacy gear. In some cases, we don’t have enough Air Force fighters, or Navy aircraft or Marine aircraft in the squadron. You can’t fix them,” Mattis said.

But the process is going to take years. “When you say I want an F/A-18 Super Hornet, they start building it. It won’t come to us for many, many months. But that’s the reality when you’re starting to bend metal and do more than click a mouse,” he said.

BUSY APRIL: The halls of Congress are quiet during spring break, but Senate Armed Services Committee work is set to hit a quick pace when the chamber returns the week of April 9. Over the remainder of the month, the committee will hold a series of hearings on nuclear weapons, shipbuilding, and Air Force modernization as well as testimony from the civilian and uniformed leaders of the Army, Navy and Air Force. The hearings will culminate with fiscal 2019 budget testimony on April 26 from Mattis, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford, and David Norquist, the Pentagon comptroller.

TRANSGENDER HEARING: A federal judge in Seattle has requested more information about the Pentagon’s newly released recommendations to ban most transgender troops from the military. Active-duty military plaintiffs and Trump’s Justice Department have until Friday to file new briefs on Mattis’ policy proposal before the court considers a final verdict on whether to strike down new restrictions.

“The court did have some questions and ordered more briefing to flesh it out but we’ll work swiftly to put that information before the court,” Natalie Nardecchia, a senior attorney for the Lambda Legal rights group, said during a press conference after the court hearing. “Although this might take a little bit longer than we’d hoped, we’re optimistic that the court will ultimately agree that this ban is unconstitutional, that it always has been.”

TROOP NUMBER COULD GROW: The Palm Center, a group that advocates for transgender rights in the military, says it will soon release a report “based on official DOD data” that shows the total number of transgender troops in all military services is about 14,700. After claiming for months that it did not know the figure, the Pentagon disclosed Friday that 8,980 active-duty troops identify as transgender. The figure comes from an anonymous workplace survey. The Palm Center says its data show an additional 5,727 transgender troops serve in the Selected Reserve.

ECHOES OF ‘DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL’: Meanwhile, a group of 26 retired military officers came out against Mattis’ proposed transgender policy on Tuesday, calling it a “troubling move backward.” The policy proposal unveiled last week echoes the earlier ban on gay and lesbian troops under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and would force transgender troops to hide who they are for fear of being discharged, the former officers said in a statement released by the Palm Center.

“Under the newly announced policy, most transgender individuals either cannot serve or must serve under a false presumption of unsuitability, despite having already demonstrated that they can and do serve with distinction,” they said. “They will now serve without the medical care every service member earns, and with the constant fear of being discharged simply for who they are.”

THE ARMY IS DOING AN OPERA: You read that right. The Army Field Band will be filling the lead roles on April 6 when a new opera called “The Falling and The Rising,” which is based on interviews with dozens of Army veterans at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. The Army Field Band says the opera “chronicles the imagined journey of a soldier suspended inside a coma following a roadside attack. Throughout the story, she makes her way through a coma-induced dreamscape punctuated by powerful encounters with other fellow service members, each on the brink of discovery.” If you happen to be in Texas, you can reserve free tickets here.

BOOM! The Pentagon has released video of what it says is the first time the Afghan air force dropped a laser-guided bomb in combat. The A-29 Super Tucano aircraft scored a direct hit Thursday on a Taliban compound in Farah, which is in southwestern Afghanistan. The airstrike comes about three months after the Afghan air force completed the training to use the laser-guided munitions.

THE RUNDOWN

New York Times: Can Jim Mattis Hold the Line in Trump’s ‘War Cabinet’?

Foreign Policy: James Mattis Is an Ancient Roman Action Hero

AP: Man Charged With Shipping Explosives To Military Sites

Roll Call: Trump Leaves Aides in Lurch on Border Wall Funding Idea

Army Times: US, coalition want to shrink role in Iraq, but ISIS fighters linger in the desert

Defense News: Closer to the fight: Inside the Corps’ plan to deploy tech experts alongside grunts

USNI News: Theodore Roosevelt Strike Group Training To Tougher Standards Underway Ahead Of Formal Navy Policy Changes

Business Insider: Beijing just flexed its navy in the South China Sea, but in a ridiculous way that the US could quickly smoke

BuzzFeed: Technically There Isn’t Any Policy Banning Transgender Troops Right Now

Defense One: Where’s the New Transgender Troops Ban Headed? Look at the Travel Ban Fight

Military Times: Mattis to check on military spouse deportation protections

Washington Post: For military veterans suffering from PTSD, are service dogs good therapy?

New York Times: Saudi Crown Prince, on U.S. Visit, Urges Tough Line on Iran

The Hill: Congress bans arms to Ukraine militia linked to neo-Nazis

Task and Purpose: How To Poop Under Fire, According To This Creepy WWII-Era Marine Corps Video