PENTAGON HANGING BACK IN TARIFF FIGHT: In February, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis sided with the rest of the Trump administration that steel and aluminum imports are a national security issue. But Mattis wrote in a memo that he was “concerned about the negative impact on our key allies” and that he preferred targeted tariffs. On Thursday, the Pentagon said it was still reviewing President Trump’s decision to go ahead with 25 percent steel and 10 percent aluminum tariffs on Canada, Mexico and the European Union. Trump first authorized the tariffs in March. The move had the U.S. teetering on the edge of a full-blown trade war with Canada and other long-time military allies France, Germany and the UK.

HAPPENING TODAY: The North Korean delegation that landed in New York this week is expected to travel to Washington, D.C., today to bring Trump a personal letter from Kim Jong Un, Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews before departing for Houston yesterday. He added that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s meetings this week with the delegation had gone “very well.”

Former North Korean military intelligence chief Kim Yong Chol, who is on a Treasury Department sanctions list, had to get another special waiver to travel beyond New York City to hand deliver the letter to Trump.

BUT WILL THE SUMMIT HAPPEN? “I don’t know the answer to that,” Pompeo said in New York, after his talks with Kim, but he did say there was reason for optimism.

“We’ve made real progress in the last 72 hours towards setting the conditions” for the summit to take place, he said. “The conditions are, putting President Trump and Chairman Kim Jong Un in a place where we think there can be real progress made by the two of them meeting.”

The talks were expected to go into the afternoon, but ended around 11:30 a.m. “We didn’t end the talks early,” Pompeo said. “We had a set series of items that we wanted to make sure we covered — topics which would make sure that we were clear on the terms of what our expectations were, and their expectations in return of us. We achieved that.”

FAILURE WOULD BE ‘TRAGIC WASTE’: “Our two countries face a pivotal moment in a relationship in which it could be nothing short of tragic to let this opportunity go to waste,” Pompeo said. “I’ve been very clear that President Trump and the United States’ objective is very consistent and well known: the complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.” In return, Pompeo promises “a brighter path” for North Korea.

“We envision a strong, connected and secure prosperous North Korea that maintains its cultural heritage, but is integrated into the community of nations. We think that working together, the people of the United States and North Korea can create a future defined by friendship and collaboration, not by mistrust, and fear and threats. We sincerely hope that Chairman Kim Jong Un shares this positive vision for the future.”

ASSAD WINNING IN SYRIA: In a friendly interview with RT, Russia’s state-owned international new channel, Syrian President Bashar Assad says he is closer to total victory over opposition forces, and would have won already if not for the interference by the West, specifically the United States.

Assad also warned the United States to get out of Syria before it is forced to leave. “The Americans should leave somehow. They are going to leave,” Assad said. “We are going to resort to liberating the area by force, with the Americans or without the Americans.”

Assad is seeking to reassert control over his entire country after seven years of civil war. “I think the best choice is to make reconciliation. This is our plan,” Assad told RT. “But when it doesn’t work, the only measure to resort to is the force.”

At the Pentagon yesterday, Lt. Gen. Frank McKenzie had a warning of his own for Assad. “Any interested party in Syria should understand that attacking U.S. forces or our coalition partners will be a bad policy.”

Meanwhile, he says, U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces are continuing mop-up operations against the last remnants of Islamic State fighters in eastern Syria. “We wouldn’t want to put a timeline on that, but we’re making progress, and, in concert with our SDF partners, I think that, you know, we’re beginning to clear out the final pockets of ISIS,” McKenzie said.

McKenzie said it won’t be possible to kill every last ISIS fighter, because some will go underground. “But what we want to do is leave behind … security elements that are going to be able to maintain it at the local level.”

WHAT MAN HAS MADE, MAN CAN PUT ASUNDER: With all the hand-wringing over China’s militarization of islands it’s constructed in the South China Sea, one reporter asked McKenzie at yesterday’s regular Thursday briefing, “What’s the ability of the United States military to blow apart one of these man-made islands?” After the laughter subsided, McKenzie said, “I would just tell you that the United States military has had a lot of experience in the Western Pacific, taking down small islands.”

Worried the quip might be interpreted as a military threat, another reporter asked for a clarification to make sure that McKenzie was referring to World War II, and wasn’t sending a message to China. “It’s just a fact,” McKenzie said. “We have a lot of experience, in the Second World War, taking down small islands that are isolated. So that’s a core competency of the U.S. military that we’ve done before. You shouldn’t read anything more into than a simple statement of historical fact.”

BOEING WINS THE CASTING CALL: When Tom Cruise brings “Maverick” back to the silver screen, he’ll be snubbing the most expensive U.S. fighter jet in history, Lockheed Martin’s F-35, for a Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet.

Cruise, who played Lt. Pete “Maverick” Mitchell in 1986’s “Top Gun,” tweeted a picture of himself looking at the Boeing fighter used in the upcoming “Top Gun 2” with the caption “Feel the Need.”

The choice of Boeing’s jet is a PR win for the Chicago-based company, as once-stagnant sales of the Super Hornet to the federal government begin to heat up. The starring role for the F/A-18 is likely particularly satisfying for Boeing because it lost the lucrative Joint Strike Fighter contract to Lockheed in 2001, the first year of George W. Bush’s presidency.

“This line was in danger several years ago of starting to shut down, and they’ve stabilized,” said Mackenzie Eaglen, national security analyst at the American Enterprise Institute. “While the line has stabilized on its own, this doesn’t hurt in general in helping to bolster the opinion of the aircraft.”

NO POINTS FOR 2ND PLACE: Cruise’s tweet also sparked a Twitter dogfight between the official U.S. Air Force and Navy accounts. The Air Force tweeted, “If Maverick really had a need for speed, he could hop into one of our F-15E Strike Eagles! #DYK: They have a top speed of 1,875 miles per hour.”

To which the Navy tweeted back, “Replying to @usairforce: Remember, boys, no points for second place. @flynavy,” a reference to an iconic line in the original 1986 movie.

McRAVEN’S PARTING WORDS: Adm. William McRaven, the former head of U.S. Special Operations Command, who went on to serve as chancellor of the University of Texas System, has written a farewell letter to his colleagues on his final day on the job.

“The future of our nation rests, not solely, with the quality of our education or the effectiveness of our care. The future rests with whether we have taught our young men and women the importance of being noble, the power of the noble deed. If we have taught them well, those who have achieved much will give back to those who struggle. If we have taught them well, the strong of spirit will stand tall with the weak and downtrodden. If we have taught them well, they will understand the importance of honesty and integrity, two qualities that will define their legacy in life. If we have taught them well, they will see that true courage is confronting the injustices, big and small, that leave many less fortunate than ourselves. And, if we have taught them well, they will find faith in mankind, and know that there is nothing more honorable, nothing more noble, than doing good for others.”

McRaven, who was the commander of the operation that killed Osama bin Laden, is also the author of Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life … And Maybe the World, an inspirational book that grew out of a 2014 commencement speech he gave at the University of Texas at Austin about 10 lessons he learned in Navy SEAL training.

THE RUNDOWN

Bloomberg: Disputed Pentagon Cloud Proposal to Be Delayed for More Study

Breaking Defense: The Navy’s Potential New Frigate Connects Crew, Lots of Space for Commandos

Reuters: U.S. withdrawal may halt nuclear nonproliferation work in Iran: diplomats

Task and Purpose: You Can Always Tell When Generals Don’t Have A Good Answer: They Invoke 9/11

Defense One: The Status Quo Killed 17 US Sailors. The Navy Must Change.

Defense One: Back Off, Congress: Don’t Meddle With the US Navy’s Command Philosophy

New York Times: What Is Terrorism? Attacks in Canada and Belgium Reflect Uncertain Definition

DoD Buzz: F-22 Raptors Replace F-35As in Pacific for Theater Security Mission

The Hill: US-led coalition acknowledges more civilian deaths in war against ISIS

USNI News: Pentagon Pledges More Freedom of Navigation Operations in South China Sea

Reuters: China Says Carrier Group Has Reached ‘Initial’ Combat Readiness