NATO joins the coalition to fight ISIS

TRUMP’S NATO TEST: President Trump is in Brussels today making making his first appearance at the brand new headquarters of NATO, an alliance he once dismissed as “obsolete.” The meetings are expected to be non-confrontational, but still pose a high-profile test of his ability to apply his “America First” agenda while still cooperating with others, Sarah Westwood writes. While Trump has tempered his tone on NATO since taking office, walking back his claim for instance that the alliance has outlived its utility and reaffirming the U.S. commitment to its collective goals, he’s still pressing the allies to meet their commitment to spend 2 percent of GDP on their own defense.

“My sense is that, he will be very hard on the Europeans on military spending,” said Andras Simonyi, managing director of the Center for Transatlantic Relations at Johns Hopkins University and former Hungarian ambassador to NATO. “I think he will be very clear about the 2 percent as a minimum.”

TRUMP MAY GET AN EARFUL: The British press is all abuzz this morning about how the leaks to U.S. media have jeopardized the intelligence sharing between the two close allies. The BBC, using the quaint phrase “the BBC understands,” is reporting that police investigating the Manchester Arena bombing have stopped sharing information with the U.S., following outrage by UK officials, including Prime Minister Theresa May, over photos that show debris from the attack appearing in the New York Times.

“Greater Manchester Police hopes to resume normal intelligence relationships – a two-way flow of information – soon but is currently ‘furious’, the BBC understands,” according to a story posted this morning. British law enforcement shares intelligence with the U.S., Australia, Canada and New Zealand under the Five Eyes intelligence sharing agreement.

The BBC said May “is to raise concerns” with Trump, who one might surmise would reply with something along the lines of, “Hey, I’ve got my own problems with leaks.’

CHINA BACK ON NOTICE: China is confirming that a U.S. Navy warship sailed within 12 nautical miles of an artificial island built in the South China Sea, even as the Pentagon is being coy about the first such “freedom of navigation” mission since Trump took office. “We fly, sail, and operate wherever international law allows,” said Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. Jeff Davis in statement to the Washington Examiner last night. “We have a comprehensive Freedom of Navigation Operations program that seeks to challenge excessive maritime claims in order to preserve the rights, freedoms, and uses of the sea and airspace guaranteed to all nations under international law.”

The Wall Street Journal first reported that the USS Dewey sailed near Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands, and the New York Times said the destroyer conducted a “man overboard” rescue drill while passing by the island. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said the U.S. ship was “identified and warned” to leave, and a spokesman said he was “strongly dissatisfied” with the operation.

The Pentagon insists the “FONOPS” mission is not aimed at any one country or body of water. “In FY 2016, we conducted FONOPS challenging excessive maritime claims of 22 coastal states, including allies and partners,” Davis said. “We are continuing regular FONOPS, as we have routinely done in the past and will continue to do in the future. Summaries of these operations will be released publicly in the annual FONOPS report, and not sooner.”

Good Thursday 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: U.S. Central Command will release the results of its investigation of a March airstrike in West Mosul, Iraq, where 100 to 200 civilians were killed. The report contains “no surprises,” a U.S. military official tells us this morning. Previously, the U.S. said ISIS had forced a large number of Iraqi civilians into a building that was used as a sniper position to fire on advancing Iraqi forces, who are in the process of liberating the city. Those Iraqi fighters called in a coalition airstrike to take out the sniper, and a U.S. warplane attacked the location, deliberately using a small munition because of the close confines of the dense urban terrain. The U.S. is convinced the bomb was not big enough to take down the entire building, which it believes was booby-trapped to intentionally cause a mass casualty event to provoke outrage, and prevent the coalition from using airpower in the city. The results of the CENTCOM probe will be released at the Pentagon at 11 a.m. Chief CENTCOM spokesman Col. John Thomas will be at the Pentagon overseeing phone briefings from two locations in theater.

WHERE ARE THE SHIPS? A day after Trump’s first defense budget dropped, acting Navy Secretary Sean Stackley went to Capitol Hill to make the argument for the plan and faced a pointed question from Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican on the Senate defense appropriations committee, about the White House’s role in the shipbuilding plans. “Did your budget request get cut by OMB?” asked Collins, whose state is the home of General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, which builds destroyers for the Navy. She pointed out that the Navy had advocated for a more powerful fleet just this month and Trump called for 350 ships. But the Trump plans for eight new ships in 2018 are the same as the Obama administration’s plans, she said. “No, ma’am,” Stackley answered, the Office of Management and Budget was not the driver. He said the Navy decided to focus on bolstering its “in-service” fleet over the coming year and could request more ships in 2019.

NO ‘GODDAMNED’ STEAM: Stackley also confirmed to the Washington Examiner that there are no plans on the horizon for the Navy to overhaul designs and put steam catapults in its three new Ford-class aircraft carriers, despite an assertion by Trump this month that he ordered a return to the older technology. “The only thing I’ve seen is the [president’s] statement in the press,” Stackley said.

The first new carrier with a newly developed electromagnetic aircraft launch system, the Gerald R. Ford, could be delivered to the Navy this month and two more are slated for delivery over the next decade. Stackley said all three are designed to have the launch system, called EMALS. The service has proposed $580 million for the system in 2018 as part of its carrier replacement program.

HOUSE TAKES ON MILITARY REVENGE PORN: Nearly three months after the military’s Marines United nude photo-sharing scandal broke, the House passed a bill Wednesday to sew up what some see as a legal loophole in the military’s criminal justice code. The bill, introduced by former A-10 squadron leader Rep. Martha McSally, makes it illegal under the UCMJ for troops to post identifiable nude photos on social media without first getting consent from the person pictured – even if that person originally consented to making the images.

“As the only female Republican veteran in the House of Representatives — the first woman in the U.S. to fly in combat and to lead a squadron — I have personally experienced, confronted, and overcome sexist behavior in the military,” McSally said in a statement. “Our service members should not have to watch their backs among the individuals who are supposed to be their teammates.” House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Mac Thornberry also released a statement. “I continue to be disturbed by deplorable acts that degrade our service members,” Thornberry said. “I am encouraged, however, that the House took swift and significant action…”

Meanwhile, a Naval Criminal Investigative Service task force continues its investigation of the sharing of nude and revealing photos of troops through the Marines United Facebook page and numerous other sites.

PAGE IS READY: A former foreign affairs adviser to Trump’s campaign hopes to testify in front of the House Intelligence Committee for the first time next month, Todd Shepherd writes. Carter Page, who briefly worked as a foreign affairs adviser to the Trump campaign in 2016, said yesterday he will tell his side of the story at an upcoming hearing. Page’s announcement comes on the same day that the ranking member of the committee, Adam Schiff, said it would be issuing subpoenas to Mike Flynn and his businesses.

In a letter to the committee first reported by ABC News, Page hit back against Tuesday’s testimony from former CIA Director John Brennan. Brennan said he’s worried Russia’s plans to interfere with the 2016 elections may have included the effort to pull individuals into the Kremlin’s plans with blackmail, bribes or other compromising actions.

A NEW AUMF: Sens. Jeff Flake and Tim Kaine plan to introduce a bipartisan authorization for use of military force today. Flake said on Twitter Wednesday evening that he and Kaine would be making the official announcement at noon at the U.S. Capitol. For years, lawmakers have chafed at the fact that the military is conducting operations against ISIS using an authorization originally intended for al Qaeda. Various authorizations have been introduced, but were deemed unacceptable because they either hamstrung the administration or gave it too much leeway.

HOUSE LINES UP AGAINST TURKEY: A bipartisan group of top House lawmakers has offered a nonbinding resolution to formally condemn Turkish security officials’ violent response to protesters during President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to the U.S. last week. Leaders of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, along with top GOP and Democratic House leaders, have co-sponsored a resolution condemning the violence against peaceful protesters and calling for those who incited the violence to be brought to justice.

Introduced by House Foreign Affairs Chairman Rep. Ed Royce, ranking Democrat Eliot Engel, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, the measure urges the State Department to review its security procedures to reduce the likelihood of similar events happening in the future. They also want any diplomatic immunity waived for the security personnel.

VOTERS FAVOR SPECIAL COUNSEL: Most voters support the Justice Department’s decision to appoint a special counsel to lead the investigation into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election. According to a new poll from Morning Consult and Politico, 63 percent of voters said they approved of Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein’s move to appoint former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel. Just 22 percent said they disagreed with the move.

SESSIONS’ OMISSION: Attorney General Jeff Sessions did not disclose meeting with Russian officials and other foreign contacts on a security clearance form he filled out while going through the Senate confirmation process, the Justice Department revealed yesterday. Sessions was asked to share “any contact” he had with a “foreign government” or its “representatives” over the past seven years, but skipped over two meetings with Russian officials as well as any others that are not yet known.

An official familiar with the filing process told CNN that Sessions had fully filled out the form, but was told by an FBI employee who helped him to remove any meetings he had as a senator, and later in the day a spokesman for Sessions insisted he did nothing wrong. “As a United States Senator, the Attorney General met hundreds — if not thousands — of foreign dignitaries and their staff. In filling out the SF-86 form, the Attorney General’s staff consulted with those familiar with the process, as well as the FBI investigator handling the background check, and was instructed not to list meetings with foreign dignitaries and their staff connected with his Senate activities,” said Ian Prior, deputy director of public affairs.

RUSSIANS DISCUSSED TARGETING TRUMP AIDES: Senior Russian intelligence and political officers discussed how to influence aides on Trump’s campaign during the run up to last year’s presidential election, according to the New York Times. The Times reported three current and former American officials familiar with the intelligence, each of them anonymous, said the Russians wanted to influence Trump’s then-campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Flynn. The Russian officials reportedly had indirect ties to both men, which led them to believe they could be used to influence Trump’s thoughts on Russia.

According to the report, some Russians bragged about their relationship with Flynn while others talked about working their ties to Victor Yanukovych, the former president of Ukraine. Manafort did political work for Yanukovych for a number of years before the Ukrainian was deposed. The information was passed onto the FBI, which opened up a counterintelligence operation.

THE RUNDOWN

AP: Raids, arrests as on-edge UK seeks ‘network’ of attackers

Washington Post: U.S. and Russia boost dialogue about Syria operations to include generals

Foreign Policy: Israel changed intelligence sharing with U.S. after Trump comments to Russians

Defense News: Lockheed Martin drops out of US Navy missile competition

Defense One: Boeing Protests Air Force’s Jamming-Plane Decision, Alleging Conflict of Interest

Wall Street Journal: U.S. plans military boost for NATO

War on the Rocks: Getting the Pentagon’s next national defense strategy right

Washington Post: U.S. failed to keep proper track of more than $1 billion in weapons and equipment in Iraq

C4ISR News: CYBERCOM elevation at heart of budget increase

Task and Purpose: 10 things we learned about Mattis from that ‘New Yorker’ profile

USNI News: Navy adds second attack sub to 2021 plans; Considering 3 SSNs in future years

USA Today: Philippines’ Duterte mulls imposing martial law nationwide

Defense One: DARPA picks Boeing to build its new space plane

Calendar

THURSDAY | MAY 25

8 a.m. Rayburn 2212. Air Force fiscal 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. 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 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

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

11 a.m. Pentagon. U.S. Central Command releases results of investigation of civilian deaths that followed March airstrike in West Mosul.

12 p.m. Rayburn 2200. The right to peaceful protest and violence outside the Turkish ambassador’s residence. foreignaffairs.house.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

WEDNESDAY | MAY 31

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