Analyzing Trump’s views on Syria and Assad

President Trump: “I do change and I am flexible, and I’m proud of that flexibility. And I will tell you, that attack on children yesterday had a big impact on me, big impact. … And I will tell you, it’s already happened that my attitude toward Syria and Assad has changed very much. …  I will tell you, what happened yesterday is unacceptable to me.

“It crossed a lot of lines for me. When you kill innocent children, innocent babies — babies, little babies — with a chemical gas that is so lethal — people were shocked to hear what gas it was — that crosses many, many lines, beyond a red line. Many, many lines.

“I inherited a mess. Whether it’s the Middle East, whether it’s North Korea, whether it’s so many other things. … I inherited a mess. We’re going to fix it. We’re going to fix it.”

Nikki Haley, ambassador to the U.N.: “When the United Nations consistently fails in its duty to act collectively, there are times in the life of states that we are compelled to take our own action. … Time and time again Russia uses the same false narrative to deflect attention from their allies in Damascus. How many more children have to die before Russia cares?”

Sen. Lindsey Graham: “I appreciate the strong and articulate statement by Ambassador Haley. … Her strong indictment of Russia was an appropriate response to the outrageous conduct of the Putin regime. Now, these strong words should be followed up by strong action.

“This is the biggest test yet of the Trump presidency. The president has an opportunity to punish Assad in a way that President Obama never would. This is the moment for President Trump to prove to everyone that when it comes to foreign policy and standing up to dictators, he is not President Obama.”

Sen. John McCain: “President Trump has been left with no easy options in Syria. Yet as difficult and complex as our challenges are, President Trump and his administration have an opportunity to finally change course and take action to address this strategic and humanitarian disaster. … Seizing this opportunity will require answering some very difficult strategic questions. But until we do, the war, the terror, and the refugees will continue, and America’s national security interests will be placed at greater risk.”

Rep. Adam Kinzinger: “I think the short term is you are going to have to go some airstrikes against the Assad regime. That means hitting some of their command and control, so effectively decapitating Assad from his fielded forces and commanding them, and then making it clear if another chemical weapon attack happens, there will be more punishing strikes to follow. In the long-term, I think that’s the strategy to be the stick behind being able to get to a diplomatic solution.”

Sen. Tim Kaine: “Here’s what I would do. I would start with the proposition of providing humanitarian aid. And then if anybody tried to screw around with our efforts to provide humanitarian aid there would have to be a military effort to protect our right to follow that UN Security Council resolution.

“The UN called for cross-border delivery of humanitarian aid in February of 2014. But the world community has done nothing, nothing to enforce that. You can’t have a statement of principle from the international world on something like this and do nothing to enforce it.”

Good Thursday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre), National Security Writer Travis J. Tritten (@travis_tritten) and Senior Editor David Brown (@dave_brown24). Email us here for tips, suggestions, calendar items and anything else. If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up, click here. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email and we’ll be sure to add you to our list. And be sure to follow us on Twitter @dailyondefense.

HAPPENING TODAY: The Mar-a-Lago summit begins this afternoon, as Trump meets with China’s President Xi Jinping. North Korea’s nuclear defiance and trade China’s expansion in the South China Sea will top the agenda. Mostly it will be a chance for the two leaders to take the measure of each other.  Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, will dine with Trump and his wife, Melania, tonight. Tomorrow’s meeting will wrap up after lunch. The entire summit will last less than 24 hours.

Trump is already anticipating a “very difficult” meeting, but the summit could be tougher than imagined due to the fledgling administration’s shortage of senior officials with significant Asia experience, experts say. Gabby Morrongiello writes some analysts worry the president is woefully unprepared to be addressing such issues at this time. “This administration is unprecedentedly unstaffed to be going into a summit with our major strategic rival in the world, and that has to influence the question of what we want to come out of the summit,” said Stapleton Roy, director of the Kissinger Institute on China and former U.S. ambassador in Beijing.

WILL NEW PENTAGON SPOKESPERSON’S OLD WORDS MATTER?: Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has selected Dana W. White to be his chief spokesperson, someone who in the past was sharply critical of candidate Trump. White, who most recently headed up her own leadership and strategic communications company in Washington, will be assistant to the secretary of defense for public affairs. That’s a Senior Executive Service job, and therefore does not require Senate confirmation..

A video from October shows that White, like many Republicans, had reservations about Trump during the campaign, but got on board for the good of the party once he was the nominee. Speaking on France 24 English, White said about Trump: “I think he has been damaging for the Republican brand, absolutely. His inability to sort of focus, his personal attacks, the fact that he’s a narcissist, an egomaniac, none of that is good as the standard-bearer for the Republican Party. And I stand by that.

“However, he has now won the nomination, and now the choice is, you can either vote for him and you can support him and hope to help him, because the other thing about Donald Trump, I don’t think he forgives easily, so I’m also very curious if he wins, who is he going to fill the Cabinet with. Because I imagine he doesn’t look favorably on people who have not been loyal to him. So as a Republican who wants the republic to still move forward smoothly, Republicans are going to have to help him because he is our nominee, and in one month, Americans are going to go to the poll and either choose him or choose Hillary Clinton. So that’s the choice that we have.”

According to the Pentagon announcement of her appointment, White previously served as the Taiwan country director in the office of the undersecretary of defense for policy, a professional staff member on the Senate Armed Services Committee, and was an editorial writer for the Wall Street Journal.

TROOPS WILL DIE: The top officers from the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps marched off to Capitol Hill Wednesday to warn of dire consequences if Congress opts to punt on the defense budget by passing another continuing resolution. In testimony before the House Armed Services Committee, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said it would lead to “dead Americans on the future battlefield” and he compared such a move to legislative “malpractice.” The other service chiefs also predicted shutting down most flight operations and training this summer as well as cuts that could affect some operations downrange in the fight against the Islamic State. Gen. David Goldfein, the Air Force chief of staff, said a stopgap budget measure would be equivalent to the devastating budget caps in 2013 that cut funding across the board. Congress has until April 28 to pass a defense budget for the rest of 2017, but most of the remaining time will be eaten up by a two-week spring recess starting at the end of this week.

TAKE IT UP THE CHAIN: Some Democrats at that hearing were reticent to offer up more money, despite the service chiefs’ dark rhetoric. Many are still smarting over a Trump administration proposal for a fiscal 2018 $54 billion defense boost by cutting the money from elsewhere in the budget, particularly from the State Department and foreign aid. It sparked one testy exchange between Rep. John Garamendi and Milley. “General, where is the war plan for ISIS? You were told to have it done in 30 days,” Garamendi said. But such war strategies are not typically provided to Armed Services lawmakers and Milley was not having any of the criticism. “I would ask that you refer that to the secretary of defense or the president. We work through the chain of command on war plans,” the general said.

HURDLE CLEARED: Trump’s nominee for Air Force secretary is a step closer to confirmation. Heather Wilson, a former congresswoman and Air Force veteran, was approved by the Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday in a 22-5 vote. Her nomination now moves to the full Senate for a likely floor vote.

The Trump administration has been slow to nominate candidates and fill top spots in the Pentagon after Mattis was confirmed in January, and Wilson could begin to turn that around. McCain was upbeat about the closed-door vote: “Let’s hope we get a bunch more [nominees] … she’s well-qualified,” he said. Sen. Thom Tillis called it “overwhelming bipartisan support.” But a handful of Democrats were not ready to overlook some questions over a lack of documentation for $450,000 in consulting payments Wilson received from contractor-run Department of Energy nuclear labs from 2009-2011. Wilson said she complied with the contracting and was paid for 50 hours of work per month. Sen. Jack Reed the top committee Democrat, voted against her nomination. “Her answers to the committee were incomplete and unsatisfactory.”

PLANES GROUNDED: All T-45 training jet flights have been grounded after more than 100 Navy pilots went on strike over complaints about the planes’ oxygen systems. The Navy announced all flights with the aircraft were halted for three days while the problem is addressed. The announcement came a day after Fox reported that pilots began boycotting flights last week and grounded hundreds of flights because they didn’t feel safe flying the plane. Vice President Mike Pence‘s son, Marine 1st Lt. Michael Pence, is among the pilots affected.

MILITARY FAMILIES WORRIED: Two-thirds of middle-class military families are feeling as anxious about a possible government shutdown this month as they did in the fall of 2013. The First Command Financial Behavior Index shows 66 percent of commissioned officers and non-commissioned officers making at least $50,000 are in households that are worried about another shutdown. The general population is a bit less worried, as 52 percent say they’re anxious about a shutdown.

“Looming prospects of another government shutdown are creating a complex mix of emotions for our nation’s career military families,” said Scott Spiker, chairman and CEO of First Command Financial Services.

ISIS MAKES FUN OF TRUMP: The Islamic State terrorist group called Trump a “foolish idiot” during a 37-minute rant about the United States, according to a report of the recording that was published Wednesday evening. “You [America] are bankrupt and the signs of your demise are evident to every eye,” ISIS spokesman Abu Hasan al-Muhajir said in the recording. “There is no clearer sign of you being ruled by a foolish idiot who does not know what Levant or Iraq or Islam is, who continue[s] his hallucination to express his animosity and war against it [Islam].” The recording was pushed out over social media by Islamic State sympathizers.

ISIS EXECUTES 33 PEOPLE: Not that we need any more reminders of ISIS’ brutal inhumanity, but the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports that ISIS carried out a mass execution in Syria yesterday. It says it has confirmed ISIS executed 33 people age 18 to 25 in the desert near Deir Ezzor city. The human rights group reported the “persons were slaughtered by sharp tools, and the marks of the slaughter appeared on their necks.”

BANNON OUT, PERRY IN: White House chief strategist Steve Bannon has been removed from the National Security Council in a staff shake-up, according to a federal filing. According to a National Security Presidential Memorandum in the Federal Register, Bannon is off the council and Homeland Security Adviser Tom Bossert has been demoted. National security adviser H.R. McMaster is now in charge of setting the agenda for meetings of the council and can delegate that responsibility to Bossert, if he so chooses. Yet reports surfaced last night that Bannon will still attend NSC meetings.

The same memo said Trump put Secretary of Energy Rick Perry on the National Security Council, reinstating the head of the Energy Department to the council after removing him in February. And both director of national intelligence and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff are once again regular attendees to the National Security Council’s principals committee, as was the case during the Obama administration.

TRUMP’S ACCUSATION: Trump said Wednesday he believes former national security adviser Susan Rice may have committed a crime by seeking to “unmask” the identities of Trump associates in U.S. intelligence reports. “Do I think? Yes, I think,” Trump said when asked during an interview with the New York Times if he thinks a crime was committed by Rice. “I think it’s going to be the biggest story,” Trump said in the Oval Office interview. “It’s such an important story for our country and the world. It is one of the big stories of our time.”

Rice maintains she has done nothing improper. Through a spokeswoman she said “I’m not going to dignify the president’s ludicrous charge with a comment.”

TILLERSON’S RUSSIA TRIP: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will travel to Moscow next week to discuss foreign policy flashpoints with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government, but the Russians hope to use the meeting to increase their influence in the Middle East, Joel Gehrke writes. Tillerson will focus on the crises in Ukraine and Syria, as well as North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.

“This trip is part of our effort to maintain direct lines of communication with senior Russian officials and to ensure U.S. views are clearly conveyed, including on next steps in Minsk implementation,” acting State Department spokesman Mark Toner said in a Tuesday preview of Tillerson’s upcoming Moscow visit, which is scheduled for April 12.

NO POLICY MAKING FOR YOU: Two leading House Democrats are trying to block the Trump administration from making foreign policy about Russia until the FBI completes its investigations into Moscow’s meddling in the presidential election and possible connections between White House officials and Russia, Nicole Duran writes.

“Until investigations are completed and the American people know the full facts of the attack upon our democracy, the Trump White House should not be changing our nation’s policies to benefit [Russian President] Vladimir Putin and his government,” Rep. Eric Swalwell said Wednesday. “We’re learning more every day about the deep personal, political and financial ties between the Trump campaign team and Russia — including many that converged with Russia’s election interference — and we need to ensure that all of America’s policies are in America’s best interests, not Putin’s.” Swalwell, the top Democrat on the Intelligence panel’s FBI subcommittee, and New York’s Eliot Engel, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, introduced the resolution.

THE RUNDOWN

Defense News: Schriver emerges as potential Pentagon policy nominee

Washington Post: Trump’s handling of Syria has some Senate Republicans very concerned

Wall Street Journal: Islamic State attack in Iraqi city of Tikrit kills 35, highlighting security challenge

Wall Street Journal: U.K. defense chief says NATO needs to be ‘fitter, faster’

USA Today: Once again, horrific images in Syria stun, but little may change

Task and Purpose: The US is about to ramp up in Somalia under this Marine general

Roll Call: Glenn to be buried at Arlington

Fox News: Military strike on North Korea may be only option, Gen. Keane says

Foreign Policy: Get ready for a ‘very difficult’ Trump-Xi summit

Defense News: Defense spending up, but new program pipeline thin, report finds

CNN: Secret Service agent on VP’s detail caught after meeting with prostitute at Maryland hotel

Associated Press: Mounting evidence nerve gas was used in Syria attack

Calendar

THURSDAY | APRIL 6

9 a.m. 1775 Massachusetts Ave. N.W. Sen. Chris Coons discusses whether we are headed for a crisis with Russia. brookings.edu

9 a.m. Rayburn 2212. An evaluation of the defense contract auditing process by Anita Bales, director of the Defense Contract Audit Agency, David Berteau, president and CEO of the Professional Services Council, John Panetta, national secretary of Financial Executives International, and James Thomas, assistant vice president for the National Defense Industrial Association. armedservices.house.gov

9:15 a.m. 1777 F St. N.W. Sen. Ben Cardin discusses anti-corruption in U.S. foreign policy under the Trump administration. cfr.org

9:30 a.m. Dirksen G50. Adm. Kurt Tidd of U.S. Southern Command and Gen. Lori Robinson of U.S. Northern Command testify about the status of their responsibilities. Armed-services.senate.gov

11 a.m. Pentagon Auditorium. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley speaks at the Army World War I commemoration ceremony.  Live streamed on www.defense.gov/live

Noon. 1030 15th St. N.W. Vice Adm. Andreas Krause, chief of the German navy, and Rear Adm. Ulrich Reineke, chief of the German navy’s planning division, discuss the future of that nation’s fleet in a new European security environment. atlanticcouncil.org

Noon. 1777 F St. NW. A conversation with Sen. John McCain. cfr.org

1:15 p.m. 1777 F St. N.W. A panel on fighting corruption through U.S. foreign policy, what has worked and what has not. Cfr.org

2:30 p.m. Pentagon Briefing Room. Adm. Kurt Tidd, U.S. Southern Command chief briefs reporters at the Pentagon.

FRIDAY | APRIL 7

9 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. N.W. Missile Defense 2020 and the next steps for defending the homeland, with Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, Laura Grego, senior scientist with the Union of Concerned Scientists, and James Miller, president of Adaptive Strategies. csis.org

MONDAY | APRIL 10

12:30 p.m. 1777 F St. NW. A Conversation with Sen. Chris Murphy about U.S. security amid budget cuts. cfr.org

1 p.m. 1211 Connecticut Ave. NW. Trump, Xi, and US-China economic relations after the Mar-a-Lago meeting. stimson.org

TUESDAY | APRIL 11

8 a.m. 2101 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 700. The quarterly procurement division meeting with speakers and panelists on the defense industrial base, challenges to acquisition and procurement. ndia.org

11 a.m. 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. A genealogy of Russophobia in America. wilsoncenter.org

WEDNESDAY | APRIL 12

9:30 a.m. 1501 Lee Highway. A Discussion with Lt. Gen. Mark Nowland, deputy chief of staff for operations at the Air Force, about the service and the future force. mitchellaerospacepower.org

10 a.m. 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Book launch for Al-Qaeda’s Revenge: The 2004 Madrid Train Bombings. wilsoncenter.org

6 p.m. 1777 F St. NW. Perspectives on Russia from Dmitri Trenin, director of the Carnegie Moscow Center, Alexander R. Vershbow, distinguished fellow with the Brent Scowcroft Center on International Security, and Rita Hauser, president of the Hauser Foundation. cfr.org

THURSDAY | APRIL 13

8:30 a.m. 1777 F St. NW. A series of morning panels on the origins of modern Russia in the collapse of the Soviet Union, current trends in the country today and the future of foreign policy toward Moscow. cfr.org

12:30 p.m. 1030 15th St. NW, 12th Floor. Former Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway and a panel discuss advanced energy innovation and national security. atlanticcouncil.org