Terrorism on the agenda in Trump’s G7 visit

TRUMP’S NATO RANT: At NATO yesterday, Trump returned to his favorite talking point, excoriating the allies for failure to meet the 2 percent spending goal they all committed to in 2014. The president isn’t happy with the 10-year timeframe allotted for member nations to increase spending on their own defense. “Two percent is the bare minimum for confronting today’s very real and very vicious threats,” Trump lectured the allies at a ceremony dedicating a memorial to the September 11 attacks. “Over the last eight years, the United States spent more on defense than all other NATO countries combined,” Trump said. “If all NATO members had spent just 2 percent of their GDP on defense last year, we would have had another $119 billion for our collective defense and for the financing of additional NATO reserves.”

The president took some flak for not using the occasion to restate what the U.S. has said innumerable times in the past, namely that Article 5 is the bedrock of the NATO alliance. That’s the provision that states an attack on one NATO nation is an attack on all. But speaking to reporters on Air Force One, White House press secretary Sean Spicer insisted Trump is “fully committed” to NATO’s collective defense. “We’re not playing cutesy with this,” Spicer said, pointing to the fact that Trump mentioned Article 5 at the beginning of his speech, and that the ceremony itself was called an Article 5 dedication.

BUILD UP, WHAT BUILD UP? Trump’s defense budget ignores the core problem facing the Army — a lack of soldiers, according to Sen. John McCain. The Republican chairman of the Armed Services Committee used his bully pulpit yesterday to knock the service’s plans to hold steady at 476,000 active-duty troops in 2018, arguing it won’t allow more Army units to get better prepared to fight wars. “The build up, the administration says, will have to wait a couple of years,” McCain said. It was an opening salvo in an effort by McCain and other defense hawks to beef up Trump’s budget. But Democrats are already digging the trenches over administration proposals to slash non-defense spending. Sen. Jack Reed, the top Democrat on McCain’s committee, said “there must be a plan in place to use these additional personnel, and to pay for them.”

$6 BILLION ‘WASTED’: As criticism swirled over troop numbers, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley told senators that a battlefield communication system the service has spent a decade and $6 billion developing might be a bust. The Warfighter Information Network-Tactical system, or WIN-T, was supposed to give commanders a secure network to communicate with soldiers on the battlefield. “The bottom line is, I have some serious hard questions that have not yet been satisfactorily answered as to whether it’s going to work,” Milley said. The system has included contracts with General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin.

McCain and other senators were not happy about the potential failure. “It’s hard for us to continue to fight for more money [for the Army] when we see $6 billion wasted on one program,” McCain said. Sen. Tom Cotton, a former Army officer, said he had seen “credible reports” that the system is too fragile for a war zone. The system “has an electromagnetic signature so loud that it practically would call for enemy artillery on the top of its users’ heads,” Cotton said.

FUZZY SHIP MATH: The Navy, which originally requested eight ships in its fiscal 2018 budget submission, appears to be asking for one more, although nothing is official yet. During Wednesday’s hearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee, Navy leaders said the Office of Management and Budget now “supports” a second littoral combat ship in the budget submission, bringing the Navy’s total request to nine. LCS hulls are alternately built by Lockheed Martin and Austal USA.

Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff wasn’t amused by the change. “Whatever caused this reversal, it is obvious that President Trump is not making these decisions based on strategic considerations. It shows a disturbing carelessness about national security and taxpayer money that he would casually fudge a request for a $634 million ship.” Schiff also points out that the Navy’s on track to get to 292 deployable ships in 2018, which is actually three ships below the level laid out during the Obama administration.

Good Friday 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 add you to our list. And be sure to follow us on Twitter @dailyondefense.

IRAN SANCTIONS: The Senate Foreign Relations Committee easily passed legislation yesterday to tighten sanctions against Iran, a move the Obama administration had warned against over fears that it could put at risk the Iran nuclear agreement, Pete Kasperowicz writes.

The committee passed the bill, authored by committee Chairman Bob Corker, in an 18-3 vote. Sen. Rand Paul was the only “no” vote among Republicans. That vote sets up the possibility of a Senate floor vote in the coming weeks.

IRAN’S AMBITIONS: Iran is trying to gain a military base near the Israeli-Syrian border, a bipartisan pair of lawmakers warned the Trump administration, Joel Gehrke writes. “A permanent Iranian military base in Syria, potentially near the border with Israel or Jordan, would increase Iran’s operational capacity to inflict serious damage against two of our closest allies in the region,” Rep. Peter Roskam and Rep. Ted Deutch wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

GIVING SOME AUMF: A bipartisan pair of senators introduced legislation Thursday that would authorize the president’s use of military force against terrorist organizations, and say their measure will get a committee vote, Susan Ferrechio writes. Sens. Jeff Flake and Tim Kaine said their bill would grant authority for the president to take action against the Islamic State, al Qaeda and the Taliban. The move comes nearly two months after Trump ordered missile strikes in Syria as well as a massive bombing operation in Afghanistan.

This legislation, however, would not authorize another Syria strike. “Congressional authorization for the use of military force against ISIS, al Qaeda and the Taliban will make clear to our allies and our adversaries that we are united in our resolve,” Flake said.

TRAVEL BAN TO SCOTUS: With yesterday’s ruling from a federal appeals court maintaining the freeze on Trump’s ban on entry to the U.S. from countries with links to terrorism, it is increasingly clear that the Supreme Court will have to decide the issue. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said as much yesterday when he announced the administration will petition the high court. “The Department of Justice strongly disagrees with the decision of the divided court, which blocks the president’s efforts to strengthen this country’s national security,” Sessions said in a statement reacting to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals 10-to-3 ruling.

As the president has pointed out, the law is clear that he has wide discretion to bar immigration to the United States, and the plain language of his executive order falls squarely under his executive authority. But the lower courts have consistently looked beyond the language of the order, which make no reference to religion, and use the president’s words during the campaign to find “religious animus,” which would violate the Constitution.

“Congress granted the president broad power to deny entry to aliens, but that power is not absolute,” the court wrote in its opinion. “It cannot go unchecked when, as here, the president wields it through executive edict that stands to cause irreparable harm to individuals across this nation.” But Sessions insists Trump’s revised second executive order is “well within [the president’s] lawful authority” to keep the country safe.

MORE PRESSURE ON TURKEY: House lawmakers called on the Trump administration Thursday to punish Turkey for the violence that Turkish security forces visited upon protesters in Washington this month, including blocking future visits to the U.S. by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Joel Gehrke writes.

“We have a message for [Erdogan]: We don’t need people like you visiting the United States anymore,” Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, who chairs the Foreign Affairs subcommittee for Europe, said during a hearing Thursday. “Erdogan should never again be invited to the United States.”

ISIS IS TO BLAME: The Pentagon has wrapped up its comprehensive review of a U.S. airstrike in March that resulted in the deaths of more than 100 Iraqi civilians in the Al Jadidah district of Mosul and concluded the Islamic State was responsible for the carnage. A U.S. military investigation found that ISIS essentially booby trapped a two-story building and that U.S. and Iraqi forces were unaware that 101 civilians had taken shelter in the bottom floor.

“The investigation determined that ISIS emplaced a large amount of explosive material in a structure containing a significant number of civilians and then attacked Iraqi forces from the structure,” according to findings briefed by U.S. Central Command officials.

A U.S. aircraft dropped a 500-pound joint direct attack munition intending to kill ISIS snipers on the second floor and the munition detonated the rigged explosives, causing the building to collapse and killing four more civilians in a neighboring building. Another 36 Iraqis are still missing. Despite surveilling the building for days, the coalition was unaware of the civilians, but officials said ISIS had been known to move clandestinely in Mosul by knocking holes in building walls.

The investigation did contradict an earlier report from the U.S. military that suggested the civilians were held hostage by ISIS in the building, instead finding that while ISIS fighters had “forcibly expelled families from their homes,” the displaced civilians “were invited by a well-known neighbor to seek refuge in his home.”

LEAK INVESTIGATION: After being scolded by British Prime Minister Theresa May, who was upset over how UK intelligence about the Manchester Arena bombing shared with the U.S showed up in the New York Times, Trump released a tough statement calling the leaks “deeply troubling,” and promising to “get to the bottom of this.”

“The leaks of sensitive information pose a grave threat to our national security,” Trump said. “I am asking the Department of Justice and other relevant agencies to launch a complete review of this matter, and if appropriate, the culprit should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

After the statement, the U.S. and U.K. resumed intelligence sharing that was briefly interrupted by the leak incident. “There is no relationship we cherish more than the Special Relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom,” Trump said.

JOE’S OUT: Joe Lieberman has withdrawn from consideration to be director of the FBI. Lieberman, formerly a senator from Connecticut, notified Trump of his decision in a letter sent Thursday. He wrote he wanted to avoid “any appearance of a conflict of interest,” the Wall Street Journal reported.

Lieberman works at the same law firm as Marc Kasowitz, whom Trump hired this week to join a team of lawyers representing him in the investigation into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election. “I do believe it would be best to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest, given my role as a senior counsel in the law firm of which Marc is the senior counsel,” Lieberman wrote in his letter to Trump.

JARED UNDER THE MICROSCOPE: Jared Kushner, senior adviser and son-in-law to Trump, is one focus of the FBI’s probe into Russian election meddling, according to multiple reports which say the agency is looking into meetings Kushner had in December with Russian officials. Investigators said Kushner has critical information relating to their probe but is not suspected of committing a crime, according to NBC News.

“Mr. Kushner previously volunteered to share with Congress what he knows about these meetings. He will do the same if he is contacted in connection with any other inquiry,” said Jamie Gorelick, Kushner’s attorney in a statement yesterday.

THE RUNDOWN

BuzzFeed: The Syrian airfield the U.S. hit is back in business

Defense News: Naval officer takes over F-35 program as Bogdan retires

Defense News: Senate confirms three appointees to Pentagon

The Daily Beast: Forces fighting ISIS turning on each other as Iran opens land corridor to Syria

NBC News: U.S. Fears New Threat From ISIS Drones

Military Times: John Glenn’s remains were disrespected at the military’s mortuary, Pentagon documents allege

Reuters: Kim’s rocket stars – The trio behind North Korea’s missile program

Politico: Rumsfeld praises Trump’s ‘first-rate’ national security team

War on the Rocks: Calm down, everyone. America is still committed to Europe’s defense

New York Times: European visits by Trump and Obama are a study in contrasts

Washington Post: Senate Intelligence Committee votes to give leaders solo subpoena power

DoD Buzz: Officials: the ‘right’ number of B-21 stealth bombers is 165

Army Times: Chief: The Army has developed a bullet that penetrates 5.56 mm-resistant body armor

Calendar

TUESDAY | MAY 30

5:30 p.m. 1789 Massachusetts Ave. NW. The future of Iranian power in the Middle East with Lt. Gen. Thomas J. Trask, U.S. Special Operations Command, and retired Vice Adm. Mark Fox. aei.org

WEDNESDAY | MAY 31

8 a.m. 1700 Army Navy Dr. Defense leaders forum breakfast with Lt. Gen. Joseph Anderson. ndia.org

5 p.m. 214 Massachusetts Ave NE. The Asia-Pacific and the growth of the Vietnam and U.S. comprehensive partnership with Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc. heritage.org

THURSDAY | JUNE 1

7:45 a.m. 901 17th St. NW. S&ET executive breakfast with Mary Miller, acting assistant secretary of defense for research and engineering. ndia.org

10 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. The Navy’s maintenance challenge in resetting the fleet with Vice Adm. Thomas Moore, of Naval Sea Systems Command. csis.org

10 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. Assessing risk in the 21st Century. csis.org

FRIDAY | JUNE 2

8 a.m. 300 1st St. SE. Nuclear deterrence series with Vice Adm. Terry Benedict, director of the Navy’s Strategic Systems Programs. mitchellaerospacepower.org