DEFENSE INDUSTRIAL BASE REPORT: President Trump commissioned the review more than a year ago and today the comprehensive Defense Industrial Base Report will be released identifying 300 weak links in the nation’s supply chain that threaten national security. The report presents “an alarming picture of U.S. industrial decay driven by both domestic and foreign factors,” writes industry analyst Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute.

Deputy Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan will formally present the report to Trump at the White House at 1:45 this afternoon, and the president is expected to earmark funds available through both the Defense Production Act and a 1939 defense stockpile program to address some of the problems. When he asked for the report in July 2017, Trump noted that America’s national security was being threatened by the loss of 60,000 factories and key companies, along with almost 5 million manufacturing jobs since 2000.