An internal Defense Department memo identifying President-elect Trump’s four “defense priorities” as articulated by a Trump transition official makes no mention of Russia, according to Foreign Policy, which obtained the document and shared it Tuesday.
The memo was prepared by Undersecretary of Defense for policy Brian McKeon, who wrote it off of details of a meeting with Mira Ricardel, a former George W. Bush Pentagon official who helps helm the president-elect’s defense transition. The four defense priorities she “outlined,” McKeon wrote, were: develop a strategy to defeat [or] destroy ISIS; build a strong defense (by eliminating Budget Control Act caps and improving force strength, size, and readiness); develop a “comprehensive” government cyber strategy; and find greater efficiencies.
“Besides placing an emphasis on budgetary issues, ‘force strength,’ and counterterrorism in Iraq and Syria,” FP writes, “the memo noted other briefings between the Defense Department and the Trump transition team on China and North Korea. But Russia was not mentioned.”
A Trump transition official told FP the memo is “not comprehensive.”
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