“EVIL LOSERS” A lone suicide bomber has killed 22 people, including children, in the worst terrorist attack in the U.K. since the 2005 London subway bombing. The deadly blast happened at the end of a concert by American singer Ariana Grande, as concertgoers, mostly young girls, were leaving the Manchester Arena. Fifty-nine people were seriously wounded, some are fighting for their lives in London hospitals.
President Trump’s response: “So many young, beautiful, innocent people living and enjoying their lives, murdered by evil losers in life,” Trump said during a joint appearance with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas early this morning. “I won’t call them monsters, because they would like that term, they would think that’s a great name,” Trump added. “I will call them, from now on, losers, because that’s what they are,” writes Sarah Westwood.
The Heritage Foundation’s Robin Simcox said of the attack, “Even though the U.K. has world class security services, this is a numbers game – and the amount of terror suspects in the U.K. is so high that it is impossible for authorities to be able to keep track of everyone that is of concern.”
PROSPECTS FOR MIDEAST PEACE: In that meeting with Abbas, Trump said both the Palestinians and the Israelis are open to his overture to broker a peace deal. “I am truly hopeful that America can help Israel and the Palestinians forge peace and bring new hope to the region and its people,” Trump said. “I also firmly believe that if Israel and the Palestinians can make peace, it will begin a process of peace all throughout the Middle East, and that would be an amazing accomplishment.”
TRUMP ON TO ROME: The president leaves Israel this morning for Rome, arriving tonight Italy time. He meets with Pope Francis tomorrow.
YEMEN RAID: Meanwhile, the war on terrorism continued yesterday in Yemen with another U.S. commando assault on what the military described as compound associated with al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, in Yemen’s Marib Governorate. “During this operation, U.S. forces killed seven AQAP militants through a combination of small arms fire and precision airstrikes,’’ a statement from U.S. Central Command said last night. “Raids such as this provide insight into AQAP’s disposition, capabilities and intentions, which will allow us to continue to pursue, disrupt, and degrade AQAP.”
This was the first ground operation in Yemen since the Jan. 29 raid approved by Trump in his first days in office, which resulted in the death of U.S. Navy SEAL William “Ryan” Owens, the first American to die in combat under the Trump administration. There were no U.S. casualties in yesterday’s operation.
The New York Times reports the raid was conducted by SEAL Team 6, and was intended to seize intelligence such as computers, hard drives and cellphones – and was not an attempt to kill or capture a particular individual.
BUDGET BRIEFS: The president will miss the big roll out of his $4.1 trillion fiscal 2018 federal budget — dubbed “A New Foundation for American Greatness” — beginning at 11 a.m. with a White House briefing by Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney. The budget has two key features. One is that it is based on the rosy assumption of 3 percent economic growth growth over 10 years, 1 percent over a more conservative forecast by the Congressional Budget Office, and it proposes a 2 percent cut in discretionary spending, excluding defense. The “two-penny plan,” as Mulvaney described it to reporters yesterday, would cut $1.4 trillion in nondefense spending out of $3.6 trillion in total cuts over 10 years, limiting that category of government spending to historically low levels, writes Joseph Lawler.
The Pentagon will follow the White House at noon with a briefing on the defense portion of the budget by acting Pentagon Comptroller John Roth, who will be joined by Lt. Gen. Anthony Ierardi, joint staff director for force structure, resources and assessment. Service-specific budget briefings will follow.
NEW TRUMP BUDGET, SAME AS THE LAST: Rep. Mac Thornberry has made no secret of his belief that Trump’s $603 billion baseline national defense budget is too small. But yesterday the Republican chairman of the House Armed Services Committee used the “O” word to describe it. “I think it is fair to say it’s basically the Obama approach with a little bit more [spending], but not much,” Thornberry said on the eve of the president’s budget release. Analysts have also likened the broad outline of Trump’s budget to Obama administration defense spending projections for 2018, with a boost of $18.5 billion. But hearing the direct comparison from a key GOP chairman carries a sting.
Meanwhile, Thornberry declined to say what topline spending figure his committee may settle on this summer when it crafts the annual National Defense Authorization Act. He has advocated for $640 billion, but it is yet to be seen what Armed Services will settle on, and what the House may be willing to pass. The chairwoman of the House defense appropriations subcommittee, Rep. Kay Granger, said last week she did not expect the House to approve spending higher than Trump’s $603 billion proposal.
THE KEY THING TO KEEP IN MIND: The budget proposed by the White House will almost certainly not be the budget enacted by Congress. It never is. It’s more of a blueprint, or a mission statement, or a wish list, or perhaps as some cynics might say, “a pipe dream.” Democrats and even some Republicans are already lining up against proposed cuts that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said yesterday would “pull the rug out from so many Americans who need help.” On the Senate floor, Schumer said, “It’s a budget that takes a meat cleaver to the middle class by gutting the programs that help them the most, including many that help create jobs and power the economy: transportation is cut, education is cut, programs that promote scientific and medical research are cut, programs that protect clean air and clean water are cut. All of these are favored — these programs are favored by a vast majority of my Republican friends across the aisle.”
Good Tuesday 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.
HAPPENING TODAY: Former CIA Director John Brennan testifies this morning at 10 before the House intelligence Committee about how the intelligence community came to its conclusion that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential campaign with the intent of helping candidate Trump. The open session will be followed by a closed session.
Meanwhile, the Senate Armed Services Committee will hear from Trump’s top intelligence official, Dan Coats, and Lt. Gen. Vincent Stewart, the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, regarding national security threats.
TRUMP’S QUEST TO END THE PROBE: Trump has said many times he believes the whole Russia investigation is a made up story, a hoax, and most recently a witch hunt. And now the Washington Post reports the president tried unsuccessfully to get Coats and NSA Director Adm. Mike Rogers to publicly debunk the claims that his campaign associates may have worked with the Russian government to sway voters in the 2016 presidential election.
Trump reportedly appealed to both men after former FBI Director James Comey testified before the House Intelligence Committee in mid-March that the FBI was investigating “the nature of any links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government and whether there was any coordination between the campaign and Russia’s efforts.” Both Coats and Rogers reportedly refused to weigh in on the investigations, saying it was inappropriate, according to officials with knowledge of the requests.
THE FLYNN CHRONICLES: The leaders of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Republican Richard Burr and Democrat Mark Warner say that former national security adviser retired Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn can invoke his right against self-incrimination, but that should not extend to documents. “While we recognize General Flynn’s constitutional right to invoke the Fifth Amendment, we are disappointed he has chosen to disregard the Committee’s subpoena request for documents relevant and necessary to our investigation,” the senators said in a joint statement. “We will vigorously pursue General Flynn’s testimony and his production of any and all pertinent materials pursuant to the Committee’s authorities.”
During the campaign, Flynn and Trump both said that taking the fifth was tantamount to an admission of guilt. But as any good defense lawyer would tell you, it is often not wise to appear before a politically charged congressional committee, especially because congressional immunity does not protect you from future criminal charges.
DID FLYNN LIE? Democrat Rep. Elijah Cummings is suggesting Flynn may have lied to interviewers when he renewed his security clearance in early 2016 under President Obama. Cummings, the top Democrat on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said Flynn hid the fact that he had taken trips to Moscow that were funded by a Russian government-backed media outlet.
“[T]he Oversight Committee has in our possession documents that appear to indicate that General Flynn lied to the investigators who interviewed him in 2016 as part of his security clearance renewal,” Cummings wrote Monday. “Specifically, the committee has obtained a Report of Investigation dated March 14, 2016, showing that General Flynn told security clearance investigators that he was paid by ‘U.S. companies’ when he traveled to Moscow in December 2015 to dine at a gala with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The actual source of the funds for General Flynn’s trip was not a U.S. company, but the Russian media propaganda arm, RT.”
BOGDAN: F-35 NOT IN DOGFIGHT WITH F/A-18: Retiring Air Force Lt. Gen. Chris Bogdan, program executive officer for the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter program, insists there is no real competition between the F-35 and the advanced F/A-18 Super Hornet. Both planes he said will be needed by the Navy for some time to come, and there’s no realistic option for either the Air Force or the Marines to buy F/A-18s instead of F-35s. Bogdan gave an exit interview to Defense & Aerospace Report’s Vago Muradian, in which he said the planes complement each other, and that the Navy’s plan all along was to have two squadrons of each on its large deck carriers.
MORE PERMANENT FORCES IN EUROPE? As Congress moves up into full budget mode, Thornberry says his committee has also asked the Pentagon to calculate the cost of permanently stationing more U.S. military forces in Europe. The U.S. is now rotating in forces to assure allies worried about Russian aggression. Soldiers arrived in Poland in January and fanned out to sites across Eastern Europe as part of a new initiative of “toe to heel” continuous Army brigade combat team rotations. Thornberry said lawmakers want to see the cost of forward deploying those forces long term, such as other units in Europe and the Pacific. “I’m not convinced that it is tremendously cheaper to rotate a bunch of units through rather than have that permanent presence,” he said.
BEIJING BOUND: A broad majority of senators voted Monday to install Trump’s choice to be the U.S. ambassador to China in his first term. Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad was supported by most Democrats in the 82-13 vote, but that didn’t spare him completely from the partisan gamesmanship that has dominated Trump’s nominees’ paths through the Senate. Republicans faulted Democrats for slow-walking his nomination, despite their approval of the pick.
TRUMP’S HEAD-SCRATCHING GAFFE: Trump insisted yesterday that he never mentioned Israel during a meeting this month with Russian officials, in which he was accused of spilling secrets given to the U.S. that were provided by Israeli intelligence services. The comment came during what was supposed to be a routine handshake and photo op between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “I never mentioned the word or the name Israel, never mentioned it, during that conversation,” Trump blurted out. “They were all saying I did, so you had another story wrong,” he said pointing to the journalists.
However, Trump was never accused of specifically identifying Israel in his meeting with Russian diplomats, and only was reported to have shared highly classified information that contained enough clues that the sources could easily be traced back to the foreign country that provided it to the U.S.
BIG SAUDI DEAL: The arms deal signed Saturday by Trump and Saudi Arabia’s King Salman is potentially worth $110 billion now and up to $350 billion over a decade. But some of the first sales could include $24 billion worth of military equipment already approved by the State Department under the Obama administration, according to the Defense Security Cooperation Agency. State green-lit the kingdom’s purchase of Freedom-class littoral combat ships, Abrams battle tanks, Chinook cargo helicopters, and a range of missiles and other ammunition between 2013 and January. Those sales could now go through as part of the new agreement, DSCA indicated.
Details of the deal announced by Trump were still unclear on Monday. Lockheed Martin, which reportedly worked with the president’s son-in-law Jared Kushner on the arms deal, announced the kingdom plans to buy $28 billion worth of its combat ship, tactical aircraft and integrated air and missile defense systems.
TURKEY STRIKES BACK: The Turkish government criticized the United States for the “aggressive and unprofessional actions” U.S. officials took against Turkish bodyguards last week following President Recep Tayyip Erdogan‘s visit to Washington. According to the Associated Press, Turkey summoned the U.S. ambassador to oppose the moves by U.S. security personnel.
The pushback from Turkey follows calls from several members of Congress for action against Erdogan’s bodyguards, who were caught on video last week brutally beating protesters outside the Turkish ambassador’s residence in Washington. The Turkish Foreign Ministry gave the U.S. ambassador a “written and verbal protest” against actions they said were “contrary to diplomatic rules and practices,” according to the AP. “It has been formally requested that the U.S. authorities conduct a full investigation of this diplomatic incident and provide the necessary explanation,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.
As of yesterday, the State Department declined to give a public defense of U.S. officials accused of “aggressive and unprofessional” by Turkey. Asked if the U.S. agrees with Turkey’s stance that U.S. security personnel were “aggressive and unprofessional,” the State Department declined to answer.
THE RUNDOWN
Washington Post: A U.S. troop increase would aim to double the size of Afghanistan’s special operations unit
Washington Post: Final stages of Mosul battle will be ‘extremely violent,’ U.S. commander says
Defense One: There’s less than meets the eye in Trump’s Saudi arms deal
Reuters: Symantec Says ‘Highly Likely’ North Korea Group Behind Ransomware Attacks
War on the Rocks: An honorable man at the heart of civil-military turmoil
Politico: Trump budget seeks to slash new Air Force One
AP: Questions about Russia chase Trump during first Israel visit
New York Times: Iran’s president mocks Trump’s Saudi Arabia trip as ‘just a show’
USA Today: Trump pushes for Middle East peace, ‘one of the toughest deals of all’
USNI News: Fiscal Year 2018 budget set to answer lingering Navy acquisition questions
Foreign Policy: Russia’s hearts-and-minds campaign in Syria is aimed at home
Calendar
TUESDAY | MAY 23
9 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. A full day conference on civil-military relations in policy, politics and public with retired Adm. Mike Mullen, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. csis.org
9:30 a.m. Dirksen G-50. Worldwide threats with Dan Coats, director of national intelligence, and Lt. Gen. Vincent Stewart, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency. armed-services.senate.gov
10 a.m. House Visitors Center 210. Open and closed hearings for the Russia Investigation Task Force with John Brennan, former CIA director. intelligence.house.gov
11:30 a.m. 800 16th St. NW. A dialogue with Canadian Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan. cabc.co
2:30 p.m. Russell 222. Cyber posture of the services with Joint Staff and branch cyber commanders. armed-services.senate.gov
2:30 p.m. Senate Visitors Center 217. Closed hearing on Navy readiness challenges, emerging threats, and the 355-ship force objective. armed-services.senate.gov
3:30 p.m. Rayburn 2118. Budget request for U.S. Cyber Command with Adm. Mike Rogers. armed-services.senate.gov
4:30 p.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. Debate on the modernization of nuclear missiles with retired Gen. C. Robert Kehler, former head of U.S. Strategic Command. csis.org
WEDNESDAY | MAY 24
1800 Jefferson Davis Hwy. Breakfast keynote by Vice Adm. Terry Benedict, director of the Navy’s Strategic Systems Programs. navyleague.org
9:30 a.m. Russell 232-A. Industry perspectives from Brian Cuccias of Huntington Ingalls, John Casey of General Dynamics, and Matthew Paxton, president of the Shipbuilders Council Of America, on options and considerations for achieving a 355-ship Navy. armed-services.senate.gov
9:30 a.m. Rayburn 2154. Oversight of the FBI’s independence. oversight.house.gov
10 a.m. House 140. Testimony from Gen. Joseph Lengyel, commander of the National Guard Bureau, and the chiefs of the reserve military forces. appropriations.house.gov
10 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. The Russian military of 2035. csis.org
10 a.m. Dirksen 342. Border insecurity with the rise of MS-13 and other transnational criminal organizations. hsgac.senate.gov
10:30 a.m. Dirksen 192. Review of the 2018 budget for the Navy and Marine Corps with acting Navy Secretary Sean Stackley and Adm. John Richardson, chief of naval operations. appropriations.senate.gov
11 a.m. 1211 Connecticut Ave. NW. Examining the strategic implications of Trump’s first budget. stimson.org
12 p.m. 214 Massachusetts Ave. NE. The threats and challenges of the South Caucasus region for the Trump administration. heritage.org
2 p.m. Rayburn 2212. Navy fiscal 2018 budget request for seapower and projection forces. armedservices.house.gov
2 p.m. Hart 216. The Kremlin’s gas games in Europe and the implications for policy makers, with Sen. Jeanne Shaheen. atlanticcouncil.org
2 p.m. Rayburn 2172. Nuclear deal fallout and the global threat of Iran. foreignaffairs.house.gov
2:30 p.m. Dirksen G-50. Department of Energy atomic defense activities and programs with Frank Klotz, under secretary for nuclear security. armed-services.senate.gov
3:30 p.m. Rayburn 2118. Ground force modernization budget request with Army and Marine Corps officials. armedservices.house.gov
THURSDAY | MAY 25
8 a.m. Rayburn 2212. Air Force FY 2018 budget request for seapower and projection forces with Lt. Gen. Arnold Bunch, Lt. Gen. Jerry Harris, and Lt. Gen. Mark Nowland. armedservices.house.gov
8 a.m. 300 1st St. SE. A discussion about nuclear modernization and strategic stability with Gen. Stephen Wilson, Air Force vice chief of staff. mitchellaerospacepower.org
8 a.m. 7940 Jones Branch Dr. OPNAV N4 Supply Chain Risk workshop. ndia.org
9 a.m. Rayburn 2118. Fiscal 2018 priorities for nuclear forces and atomic energy defense with Gen. Robin Rand, commander of Air Force Global Strike Command, and Vice Adm. Terry Benedict, director of Navy Strategic Systems Program. armedservices.house.gov
9 a.m. 1030 15th St. NW. Report launch on why Africa matters to U.S. national security. atlanticcouncil.org
9 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. Countering Coercion in Maritime Asia with Adm. John Richardson, the chief of naval operations. csis.org
9 a.m. 1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Rep. Adam Kinzinger about the way forward in Afghanistan, America’s longest war. wilsoncenter.org
9:30 a.m. Dirksen G-50. Posture of the Army with Gen. Mark Milley. armed-service.senate.gov
10:30 a.m. Dirksen 138. Review of the 2018 budget request for the Department of Homeland Security with Secretary John Kelly. appropriations.senate.gov
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
