CHINA NOT HELPING: After his second summit with Kim a month ago, at which he walked away with no agreement, Trump insisted China continues to play a positive role in the diplomatic efforts to pressure North Korea to denuclearize. “China has been a big help. Bigger than most people know,” Trump said Feb. 28 in Hanoi. “China has an influence, and China has been a big help.’

His new Indo-Pacific commander isn’t seeing it: “They are watching how we do the sanctions enforcement regime. They’re offering zero assistance,” testified Adm. Philip Davidson at that same House hearing. China is being decidedly unhelpful in maintaining “maximum pressure” on North Korea, Davidson says, by both pushing for sanctions relief in the United Nations and turning a blind eye to ship-to-ship transfers of oil to get around sanctions. “They certainly aren’t monitoring their own territorial seas very well, and they are not adding to the picture at all.”

EXERCISES NOT CANCELED: In Vietnam, Trump talked about how he put a stop to expensive joint military exercises with South Korea. “Exercising is fun and it’s nice and they play the war games,” he said. “And I’m not saying it’s not necessary, because at some levels it is, but at other levels it’s not.”

But Abrams testified yesterday that the overall level of joint military training with South Korea has not changed, it has simply transitioned from the kind of in-your-face show of force that was conducted for 35 years to what he called an “even more rigorous” exercise regime tailored to the current threat.

“The biggest difference is that we just don’t talk about it publicly,” he said, noting that since he took over command of U.S. Forces Korea, there have been more that 80 combined field training exercises with South Korean military forces.

MONEY NOT SAVED: Trump said his order to cancel large-scale drills, including flying B-52s from Guam over the Korean peninsula, would save the United States hundreds of millions of dollars. “The military exercises, I gave that up quite a while ago because it costs us $100 million every time we do it.’

But when asked what he was doing with the savings, Abrams said he’s spending every penny of his budget on the current exercises. Pressed by the committee, Randall Schriver, the assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs, admitted the Pentagon has no idea if there is a “cost differential” between the old exercises and the new ones and in any event has no plan for the savings, if there actually are any.

‘I’LL FIX IT’: Meanwhile, Trump remains steadfast in his belief that he’s putting things right and that most of his troubles are the fault of former president Barack Obama and his Republican predecessors, and that includes blame for the political crisis in Venezuela.

“This didn’t have to happen in Venezuela. Past administrations, right here, should have been more forward-thinking. This should never have happened in Venezuela. This is a tragedy,” Trump said yesterday.

“I’ve inherited a mess, between North Korea and all of the problems we have all over the world — the entire Middle East and Venezuela. These are things that never — they never should have happened. They never should have allowed to get to this point. But I’ll fix it. We’re fixing it all over the world. That’s what we’re going to do.”

Good Thursday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, written and compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre) and edited by Kelly Jane Torrance (@kjtorrance). 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: Defense One and Nextgov’s second annual Genius Machines Summit begins at 8 a.m. at the Ritz Carlton – Pentagon City in Arlington. This year’s summit features a conversation with DoD Joint Artificial Intelligence Center director Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan as well as other government leaders, tech experts, researchers, and thought leaders about the newest technical advancements, ethics in artificial intelligence, imminent global threats, and how the most important technology of the 21st century can help America’s military maintain a tactical edge on the battlefield. Livestream at www.defenseone.com.

ALSO TODAY: Army Gen. Joseph Votel relinquishes command of U.S. Central Command to Marine Corps Gen. Kenneth “Frank” McKenzie during a ceremony at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida. Streamed live at 3 p.m. at www.defense.gov/Watch/Live.

Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan is also in Florida, for a tour of U.S. Southern Command in Miami.

HAIL TO THE NEW CHIEFS: President Trump has nominated Lt. Gen. David Berger to take over from Gen. Robert Neller as the next Marine Corps commandant. Berger is currently the deputy commandant for combat development and integration and commanding general of Marine Corps Combat Development Command at the base in Quantico, Virginia.

Trump has also nominated Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville to take over the top Army job from Gen. Mark Milley, who has been tapped to become chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the fall.

The nominations are the first three of seven as the entire make-up of the chiefs will turn over from Obama-era generals and admirals to Trump picks. The process is designed to provide continuity across the change of administrations, so that each incoming president inherits the military leaders from his predecessor, even as all the civilian political appointees leave at once.

TRANSGENDER VOTE TODAY: As the last legal impediment to implementing the Pentagon’s new transgender policy has been lifted, the House of Representatives is set to vote today on a nonbinding resolution that will call for an end to restrictions on service by some transgender troops.

“President Trump’s ban on transgender Americans who are serving or wish to serve their country is discriminatory, ” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said last week. “Not only does it denigrate the service of patriots serving in the military, but it weakens our national security by undermining our ability to recruit and retain the talented personnel we need.”

The policy is set to take effect on April 12.

WHAT THE RESOLUTION SAYS: The bill, H.Res. 124, “strongly opposes President Trump’s discriminatory ban on transgender members of the Armed Forces; rejects the flawed scientific and medical claims upon which it is based; and strongly urges the Department of Defense to not reinstate President Trump’s ban on transgender members of the Armed Forces and to maintain an inclusive policy allowing qualified transgender Americans to enlist and serve in the Armed Forces.”

The Pentagon says the resolution inaccurately characterizes the policy as a “transgender ban,” and critics like Heritage Action say it “prioritizes social engineering over military readiness and unit cohesion.”

At Tuesday’s House Armed Services Committee hearing, Chairman Adam Smith, D-Wash., conceded the policy is “a bit more complicated.”

“I don’t think it is correct policy,” Smith said, but added, “It is not a blanket ban on people who are transgender from serving in the military. It does however make it very difficult for people depending where they’re at in terms of are they in the service, are they trying to join, have they had transition surgery, all of those things, have really, really complicated the ability of transgender people to serve in the military.“

HURRICANE RECOVERY COSTS UP: The Air Force is calling for billions of dollars in supplemental funding to repair two Air Force bases that were badly damaged in natural disasters. The service has already deferred funding for 61 projects in 18 different states because Congress hasn’t approved supplemental funding to repair the Tyndall and Offutt Air Force bases.

Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson warned other facility and readiness projects could be on the chopping block if supplemental funding isn’t provided immediately. “We desperately need the supplemental funding to recover from the natural disasters that hammered Tyndall and Offutt. There are other decisions we’ll have to make if we don’t [have supplemental funding] by May or June,” Wilson said during an event at the Heritage Foundation yesterday.

B-21 TO ELLSWORTH: Meanwhile, Wilson says Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota, has been selected as the preferred location for the first operational B-21 bomber and the formal training unit.

“These three bomber bases are well suited for the B-21,” Wilson said in a statement released by the Air Force yesterday. “We expect the first B-21 Raider to be delivered beginning in the mid-2020s, with subsequent deliveries phased across all three bases.”

The Air Force says Ellsworth was selected as the first location because it provides sufficient space and existing facilities. Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, and Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, will also receive B-21 Raiders as they become available.

Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, and Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, will continue to host the B-52 Stratofortress, which is expected to continue conducting operations through 2050.

ASK NOT WHAT GOOGLE CAN DO FOR CHINA: After very public complaints from Joint Chiefs chairman Dunford that tech giant Google is assisting China to develop artificial intelligence that will help the Communist country oppress its own people and indirectly benefit China’s military, President Trump has taken a personal interest, meeting with Sundar Pichai, chief executive officer of Alphabet Inc.’s Google unit.

“Just met with @SundarPichai, President of @Google, who is obviously doing quite well. He stated strongly that he is totally committed to the U.S. Military, not the Chinese Military,” Trump tweeted yesterday afternoon. “Also discussed political fairness and various things that @Google can do for our Country. Meeting ended very well!”

Dunford said last week at an Atlantic Council event that while Google was declining to work on some Pentagon projects, it was doing business with China, which requires the company to essentially hand over its intellectual property, which then finds its way to the Chinese military.

“And so my concern when you think about things like artificial intelligence … they’re gonna help an authoritarian government assert control over its own population,” Dunford said.

MoH AWARD: President Trump has awarded a posthumous Congressional Medal of Honor to U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Travis W. Atkins, who heroically sacrificed his life to save the lives of three fellow soldiers while fighting in Iraq in 2007. Atkins’ son, 22-year-old Trevor Oliver Atkins, accepted the award on his father’s behalf.

“Your father’s courage and sacrifice will live for all time,” Trump said. “Every time we see our stars and stripes waving in the sky, we will thank our great Travis and we will think of every American hero who gave their last breath to defend our liberty and our homeland and our people and our great American flag.”

Today David Norquist, who is serving as deputy defense secretary, hosts a Hall of Heroes induction ceremony for Sgt. Atkins in the Pentagon auditorium at 11 a.m.

The Rundown

Washington Examiner: Taiwan wants more U.S. tanks and jets to defend against China

Newsweek: Russia and China to get new ships, train together to challenge U.S. power at sea

Washington Examiner: Top U.S. border official: ‘The breaking point has arrived,’ with 100,000 encounters in March

New York Times: Russia Told By the U.S. To Stay Out Of Venezuela Conflict

Washington Post: CENTCOM Head Cautions Against Disengaging From Fragile States In International Conflicts

USNI News: Indo-Pacom Commander Says Only Half Of Sub Requests Are Met

Air Force Magazine: Wilson: F-15EX Buy Takes Advantage of Existing Infrastructure, Production Line

Washington Post: Microsoft Takes Over Sites Used By Iranian Hackers

Defense One: All the Ways the U.S. Military’s Infrastructure Crisis Is Getting Worse

Breaking Defense: ‘How Is Yoda?’: An Appreciation Of Andy Marshall, by Andrew Krepinevich

Calendar

THURSDAY | MARCH 28

8 a.m. 1250 S Hayes St. Defense One and Nextgov “Genius Machines Summit” showcasing government leaders, tech experts, researchers and thought leaders who are shaping the future of artificial intelligence at the Ritz-Carlton – Pentagon City. Among the experts: Lt. Gen. John “Jack” Shanahan, director, Joint Artificial Intelligence Center, at 10:40 a.m. Livestream link: www.defenseone.com

10 a.m. 2212 Rayburn. House Armed Services Intelligence and Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee hearing on Fiscal Year 2020 Budget Request for Department of Defense Science and Technology Programs. Witnesses: Michael Griffin, under secretary of defense for research and engineering; Bruce Jette, assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology; James Geurts, assistant secretary of the Navy for research, development, and acquisition; and William Roper, assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology, and logistics. armedservices.house.gov

10 a.m. 2118 Rayburn. House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee hearing on Fiscal Year 2020 priorities for DoD nuclear activities. Witnesses: David Trachtenberg, deputy under secretary of defense for policy; U.S. Strategic Commander Gen. John Hyten; Vice Adm. Johnny Wolfe, director, Strategic Systems Programs; and Lt. Gen. Richard Clark, deputy chief of staff, strategic deterrence and nuclear integration. armedservices.house.gov

10 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Avenue, N.W. Special inspector general John Sopko launches SIGAR’s 2019 High-Risk List at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The 2019 High-Risk List identifies eight risks to the reconstruction effort that might persist or arise in the wake of any peace agreement. www.csis.org

10 a.m 406 Dirksen Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Environment Maureen Sullivan provides testimony on the federal response to the risks associated with per- and polyfluoroakyl substances (PFAS) before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.

2 p.m. 1775 Massachusetts Avenue N.W. “Constraining Iran’s nuclear and missile capabilities.” www.brookings.edu

FRIDAY | MARCH 29

11:30 a.m. 2301 Constitution Avenue N.W. U.S. Institute of Peace, “A New Parliament in Iraq,” a discussion with Iraq’s new speaker of the Council of Representatives, Mohammed al-Halbousi. www.usip.org

TUESDAY | APRIL 2

10 a.m. 2118 Rayburn. Army Secretary Mark Esper, Army Chief Gen. Mark Milley, Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson, and Air Force Chief Gen. David Goldfein testify before the House Armed Services Committee on their respective FY 2020 budgets. armedservices.house.gov/hearings

11:45 a.m. 201 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. The Hudson Institute’s “Artificial Intelligence and Quantum Technology: Implications for U.S. National Security,” with Hudson senior fellow Arthur Herman; Aaron VanDevender, Founders Fund; Elsa Kania, Center for a New American Security; and Hudson senior fellow Sorin Ducaru, a former senior NATO official for emerging security challenges. Register here.

THURSDAY | APRIL 4

11:45 a.m. 1201 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Hudson Institute Event: “Making Military Cloud a Success: Critical Next Steps for DoD’s IT Strategy.” Speakers: Fred Schneider, professor, Cornell University; and founding chairman, National Academies Forum on Cyber Resilience; William Schneider, senior fellow, Hudson Institute; and Arthur Herman, senior fellow and director, Quantum Alliance Initiative, Hudson Institute. www.hudson.org/events