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NOT-SO-GREAT EXPECTATIONS: After a Sunday spent playing golf at his private club in Scotland, President Trump is in Helsinki this morning for his much-debated face-to-face with Russian President Vladimir Putin. It’s their first one-on-one meeting since Trump took office in January 2017. As we publish the newsletter this morning, the meeting has just gotten underway. There is no agenda, and no state dinner, no joint statement, no pre-packaged “deliverables” as they say in diplo-speak. Just some talk. “How this conversation is going to go I think will be determined by the two parties. We have asked that, the Russians have agreed,” said national security adviser John Bolton on ABC yesterday. “It will be basically unstructured.” DON’T CALL IT A SUMMIT: “It isn’t a summit. I’ve heard it called a summit. This is a meeting. In fact, it’s the first meeting between the two presidents,” said Jon Huntsman, U.S. ambassador to Russia on NBC. “They’ve had some pull-asides, one at the G20 in Hamburg, [Germany,] and the other at the APEC Ministerial in Da Nang, Vietnam,” said Huntsman. “But this is really the first time for both presidents to actually sit across the table and have a conversation … This is an attempt to see if we can defuse and take some of the drama, and quite frankly some of the danger, out of the relationship right now.” WHO ARE THE BAD GUYS? Just hours before sitting down with Putin in Finland’s capital, Trump said that the tension between Washington and Moscow was not about Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea, or it’s meddling in the 2016 U.S. election laid out in great detail in Friday’s Justice Department indictments, or even the poisoning of British citizens, but rather “foolishness on the part of the United States. “Our relationship with Russia has NEVER been worse thanks to many years of U.S. foolishness and stupidity and now, the Rigged Witch Hunt!, Trump tweeted this morning. FRIENDS AND FOES: “I think the European Union is a foe, what they do to us in trade,” Trump said in his interview with CBS Evening News anchor Jeff Glor. “Now, you wouldn’t think of the European Union, but they’re a foe. Russia is a foe in certain respects. China is a foe economically, certainly. They’re a foe. But that doesn’t mean they’re bad. It doesn’t mean anything. It means that they’re competitors.” When Glor expressed surprise that Trump would list the EU as a foe before China and Russia, Trump said, “No, I look at them all. Look, EU is very difficult, I want to tell you.” “Don’t forget, both of my parents were born in EU sectors, OK? I mean, my mother was Scotland. My father was Germany. And, you know, I love those countries. I respect the leaders of those countries. But, in a trade sense, they have really taken advantage of us.” In a Twitter retort, Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, wrote “America and the EU are best friends. Whoever says we are foes is spreading fake news.” SO SUE THEM: When Trump, the real estate magnate, felt his business rivals were trying to take advantage of him, his go-to response was to sue. And that’s exactly the advice he gave British Prime Minister Theresa May, she revealed in a BBC interview published yesterday. “He told me I should sue the EU — not go into negotiations. Sue them,” May told the BBC. “Actually, no, we’re going into negotiations with them. DIDN’T THINK OF THAT: In that CBS interview, Glor suggested asking Putin to extradite the 12 Russian agents indicted Friday by the DOJ. “Well, I might. I hadn’t thought of that, but, certainly, I will be asking about it,” Trump said. “But, again, this was during the Obama administration. They were doing whatever it was during the Obama administration.” On NBC Huntsman hedged, acknowledging the U.S. has no extradition treaty with Russia, and that there would have to be a formal request. “The FBI office in the embassy no doubt will work on that,” Huntsman said. “I can’t disclose any details in that regard. Requests can be made. That doesn’t necessarily mean that the Russians are going to follow through with it.” On ABC, Bolton said he finds it “hard to believe” a dozen Russian military intelligence agents carry out an operation to undermine a U.S. presidential election and that Putin himself would not know, but he scoffed at calls from Democrats for Trump to demand their extradition. “I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and assume none of them are lawyers because the United States does not have an extradition treaty with Russia, so it’s pretty hard to imagine how that would happen, Bolton said, but added that arresting them if they leave Russia might be possible. “It’s always possible that we could go to Interpol, the International Association of Chiefs and Police — Chiefs of Police, give them what are called red notices, to issue arrest warrants in other countries.” ENSURING CRIMEA DOESN’T PAY: Huntsman said that it is “highly unlikely” Trump will say or do anything that would legitimize Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea, which Huntsman described as a “violation of international law.” “We all recognize that. You look at eastern Ukraine, the so-called breakaway province has come a violation of international law,” Huntsman said on “Fox News Sunday,” adding that the violation is also one against Europe. “These are very, very serious issues and issues that we have some serious sanctions tied to, by the way.” Good Monday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre) and National Security Writer Travis J. Tritten (@travis_tritten). David Brown is out this week. 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. |
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HAPPENING TODAY: Look up in the sky! Today’s the first day of the weeklong Farnborough International Airshow, generally considered the most important aviation trade show of the year. This year’s show is expected to attract about 100,000 visitors from 100 countries. It’s not just a big air show, lots of business is done. In 2016, the last time the English town of Farnborough hosted the event, it said $124 billion of orders and commitments were placed. This Trump tariff war has cast a small cloud over the event. Boeing Chairman, President and CEO Dennis Muilenburg told the BBC that the aviation industry depends on “open trade,” and that he’s hopeful that “prudent solutions” will be found as “an alternative to tariffs.” ‘I LOVE READING FICTION’: Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is disputing an NBC news report from last week that claimed U.S. military leaders embarked on a full-scale “damage control” operation with calls to their counterparts across Europe to reassure them that America will abide by its defense commitments in the region. “I also just heard about this story that the Pentagon’s in damage control,” Mattis told reporters traveling with him to Oslo, after the NATO summit. “That was fascinating. I love reading fiction, so it was stimulating to read it,” he said. “So anyway, people are entitled to their own opinion, even if it’s not facts-based.” NBC said the message from senior military officials in a series of phone calls was that U.S. military bases will remain open and American troop levels in the region will not be reduced. ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE: Trump continues to call the press his enemy. He did it again yesterday in a tweet when he said, “Much of our news media is indeed the enemy of the people.” But at the same time the president decries “fake news,” and Mattis dismisses NBC’s report as fiction, the Pentagon has made it increasingly difficult to get answers to basic questions. When Fox News Pentagon correspondent Jennifer Griffin tried to ask Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley if he had contacted NATO allies as suggested in the NBC report, she was cut off by Col. Rob Manning, a Pentagon spokesman who was moderating a press conference on the Army’s New Futures Command. It was the second time he admonished a reporter for asking off-topic questions. Earlier the AP’s Lolita Baldor tried to ask Milley about the security of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan after two combat deaths in less than a week, but Manning intervened to stop Milley from answering. “Army Chief of Staff Gen. Milley refuses to answer question IN A PRESS CONFERENCE about his soldier who was killed in Afghanistan, and the broader question of troop security. #IgnoreTheWar” Baldor tweeted afterward. KIA IDENTIFIED: The Pentagon has released the identity of the second U.S. soldier killed last week in counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan. Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Andrew Celiz, 32, from Summerville, S.C., was shot while supporting a medical evacuation in Paktia province, which is south of the capital Kabul and on the eastern border with Pakistan. He was a battalion mortar platoon sergeant with the Army’s 75th Ranger Regiment out of Georgia, had deployed to war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan twice before. “Sgt. 1st Class Celiz led from the front and always put himself at the decisive point on the battlefield,” said Lt. Col. Sean McGee, the commander of the 75th Ranger Regiment battalion, in a statement. “He was a loving husband and father, and he and his family have been an important part of the fabric that represents 1st Ranger Battalion and the Savannah community.” DOD MIGRANT CAMPS ‘NOT OUR ISSUE’: House Armed Services Chairman Mac Thornberry said his committee will not be holding any immediate oversight hearings into the Pentagon’s role of housing detained immigrants despite a unanimous request by Democrats. “That’s not really our issue. We’re focused this month on getting our conference report done, so I don’t know we’ll look at other possibilities but it’s not really our issue,” Thornberry told the Washington Examiner on Friday. “Conference is what we are decided on.” Every Democrat on Armed Services signed a letter last week urging Thornberry to allow immediate subcommittee hearings on the Pentagon housing up to 32,000 migrants. The chairman said the committee will be instead focused on conference negotiations on the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act. Work on a final bill officially started last week and leaders hope to wrap up by the end of the month. Meanwhile, the Pentagon has said it will construct tent cities for illegal immigrant children to be held at Goodfellow Air Force Base and for families at Fort Bliss, which are both in Texas. The space was requested by the Department of Health and Human Services and will be managed by that agency. “They are cordoning off parts of the bases. It is completely run by other organizations, not DOD at all,” Thornberry said. REPATRIATION OF KOREAN WAR DEAD: Talks between top ranking officials from the U.S. and North Korea over returning the remains of American troops who died during the Korean War resumed Sunday, marking the first time discussions between the two countries have taken place at the general officer level since 2009. “This meeting was aimed at fulfilling one of the commitments made by Chairman Kim at the Singapore Summit,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement, referring to the four-point joint statement signed by Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in June in Singapore. “Today’s talks were productive and cooperative and resulted in firm commitments.” Pompeo added that the search for the remains of about 5,300 missing U.S. service personnel would recommence and more meetings would be held on Monday to address how to bring the remains that have already been recovered home. RUSSIA EASING BACK ON MIDTERMS: The U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said on Saturday there are no signs that Russia is targeting this year’s midterm elections with the same “scale or scope” it targeted the 2016 presidential election. Nielsen spoke at a convention of state secretaries of state, an event that’s usually a low-key affair highlighting voter registration, balloting devices, and election security issues that don’t get much public attention. But coming amid fresh allegations into Russia’s attempts to sway the 2016 election, the sessions on election security have a higher level of urgency and interest. RUBIO SAYS ZTE SHOULD BE SHUTTERED: A Chinese telecom company that negotiated a settlement for violating U.S. sanctions laws “should be out of business,” Sen. Marco Rubio said late Friday. “ZTE should be put out of business,” Rubio said. “There is no ‘deal’ with a state-directed company that the Chinese government and Communist Party uses to spy and steal from us where Americans come out winning.” Rubio is dissatisfied with an agreement between the Commerce Department and ZTE, finalized Friday, that allows the company to have access to the U.S. market. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross had banned ZTE for lying about helping North Korea and Iran circumvent American sanctions, but he lifted that ban and imposed other penalties following a discussion between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. THE RUNDOWN Washington Post: A low-profile Mattis makes no mention of Trump as he tours Europe New York Times: How Israel, in dark of night, torched its way to Iran’s nuclear secrets Reuters: Lockheed F-35 jet price falls 6 percent to below $90 million: sources AP: Nation’s new aircraft carrier enters next phase at shipyard Breaking Defense: Mattis in Europe shows his influence, and challenges of translating Trump NBC: U.S. refuses European requests for exemptions from its new sanctions on Iran Axios: The time Putin actually enraged Trump Defense One: U.S. needs a national strategy for artificial intelligence, lawmakers and experts say New York Times: White House orders direct Taliban talks to jump-start Afghan negotiations AP: Russian bots, trolls test waters ahead of US midterms Navy Times: US Navy’s surface ship program head confident on meeting 355-ship goal Daily Beast: Russia hawk axed from National Security Council right before Trump-Putin summit AFP: Thousands protest for peace ahead of Trump-Putin summit Defense News: How L3 will become the 6th prime, in the words of CEO Chris Kubasik |
CalendarMONDAY | JULY 16 8:30 a.m. Arlington National Cemetery Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford attends a wreath-laying ceremony to commemorate the 74th liberation day of Guam and the battle for the Northern Mariana Islands. Live streamed at www.facebook.com/theJointStaff. 2 p.m. 1030 15th St. NW. Pulling at the Strings: Kremlin’s Interference in Elections with a Fireside Chat Between Sens. Mark Warner and Marco Rubio. atlanticcouncil.org 3 p.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. With Partners Like These: Strategies and Tools for Counterterrorism Cooperation. csis.org TUESDAY | JULY 17 8 a.m. 2101 Wilson Blvd. S&ET Division Executive Breakfast. ndia.org 4 p.m. 2101 Wilson Blvd. Beyond the Hype: Industry’s Experience with OTAs. ndia.org WEDNESDAY | JULY 18 6:30 a.m. 2425 Wilson Blvd. Institute for Land Warfare Breakfast Series with Lt. Gen. Paul Ostrowski, principal military deputy to the assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology. ausa.org 9 a.m. 1789 Massachusetts Ave. NW. US competition with China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran: A conversation with Rep. Michael McCaul. aei.org 11:45 a.m. 1201 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Conversations on National Security and U.S. Naval Power: Rep. Joe Courtney and Seth Cropsey. hudson.org 4 p.m. 214 Massachusetts Ave. NE. Policy address from U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations Nikki Haley. heritage.org THURSDAY | JULY 19 8:30 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. From Washington to Brussels: A Discussion on the 2018 NATO Summit with with Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Thom Tillis. csis.org 12 noon. 1030 15th St. NW. Russia’s Interference in the U.S. Judiciary. atlanticcouncil.org 12:30 p.m. 214 Massachusetts Ave. NE. Deep Fakes: A Looming Challenge for Privacy, Democracy, and National Security with Sen. Marco Rubio. heritage.org 4 p.m. 1775 Massachusetts Ave. NW. No friends, no enemies? Trans-Atlantic relations after Trump’s Europe trip. brookings.edu FRIDAY | JULY 20 8 p.m. 300 First St. SE. Missile Defense Review: Nuclear Policy Challenges and Opportunities with Rob Soofer, deputy assistant secretary of defense for nuclear and missile defense policy. mitchellaerospacepower.org MONDAY | JULY 23 11 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. The Unmaking of Jihadism: The Current Effort to Combat Violent Extremism. csis.org 1:30 p.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. Verifying Denuclearization: Where Do We Go from Here? csis.org
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ADVERTISEMENT: NDIA invites you to attend the Army Science and Technology Symposium and Showcase August twenty first through twenty third at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in DC. Register today at http://www.ndia.org/ArmyScience |
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