IT’S SHANAHAN’S TURN: After a brief phone call between the two men New Year’s Eve, outgoing Defense Secretary Jim Mattis turned over to his former deputy Patrick Shanahan the awesome responsibility of leading the Pentagon’s 1.4 active duty military, 700,000 civilians, and another 1.1 million Guard and Reserve troops. Shanahan’s name is now on the gold plaque outside the defense secretary’s third-floor office.

HAPPENING TODAY, ‘LET’S MAKE A DEAL’: President Trump has invited congressional leaders of both parties to the White House at 3 p.m. today to discuss a fight over his proposed border wall, which prompted a partial government shutdown. A congressional source confirmed to the Washington Examiner that Trump proposed the meeting, framing it as a briefing on “border security.”

“Border Security and the Wall ‘thing’ and Shutdown is not where Nancy Pelosi wanted to start her tenure as Speaker! Let’s make a deal?” Trump tweeted yesterday afternoon. Attending on the Republican side will be Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Ky., and soon-to-be House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Calif. and Minority Whip Steve Scalise, La. Incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Calif., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, N.Y., will represent the Democrats.

The meeting comes one day before the Democrats take control of the House, and one day after the U.S. fired tear gas onto the Mexican side of the border near Tijuana’s beach to repel about 150 migrants trying to breach the border fence. The migrants, including women and children, told The Associated Press they arrived last month with the caravan from Honduras.

BOLD PREDICTION: F-35 WILL BEAT THE GOAL: Before Mattis left, he ordered the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps to fix the problem of aircraft readiness by the end of the year. He set an ambitious goal for seven of the various front-line combat aircraft planes to have a mission-capable rate of 80 percent, meaning on any given day only 20 percent of the fleet could be down for maintenance.

Just last month the GAO told Congress the goal may be too much of a stretch, given how far behind maintenance has fallen after years of congressionally-mandated spending caps. But in an interview is this week’s Washington Examiner magazine, Vice Adm. Mat Winter, program executive officer for the F-35’s Joint Program Office says he’s betting the plane will meet or beat the goal.

“The answer is yes, but … this is a tough challenge,” Winter said, explaining that with a new plane the problem is the supply chain, getting spare parts where they are needed. “We want to make sure all our parts are in the garage or with our warfighter so that the downtime of an aircraft is measured in minutes and hours, not days and weeks.”

WHAT’S THE RUSH? Was it Lindsey Graham or Benjamin Netanyahu who got to Trump? In any event, after meeting with the Republican senator from South Carolina and talking to the Israeli prime minister by phone, Trump has changed his tune about a rapid immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria,

“I never said that I’m gonna rush out,” Trump said in a New Year’s Eve interview with Fox News. “We’re going to get out. We’re getting out of Syria; we’re bringing our young, great troops home after so many years.”

That’s not how it sounded two weeks ago, when Trump recorded a twitter video on the White House lawn, in lieu of addressing the nation about his pullout plans. “Now we’ve won, it’s time to come back. They’re getting ready. You’re going to see them soon,” Trump tweeted Dec. 21. “Our boys, our young women, our men, they are all coming back. And they are coming back now.”

Graham, who has been apoplectic about the prospect of a precipitous withdrawal that would hand eastern Syria over to Bashar Assad and the Russians, and possibly lead to another 9/11-level attack, had lunch with Trump Sunday and pronounced himself reassured.

“We talked about Syria. He told me some things I didn’t know that made me feel a lot better about where we’re headed in Syria,” Graham said. “I think the president’s taking this really seriously.”

The New York Times reports Trump will give the military about four months to pull 2,000 U.S. troops from Syria, citing administration officials.

LET ME MAKE THIS MCCHRYSTAL CLEAR: One thing you can count on if anyone criticizes President Trump, he won’t hesitate to hit back. In response to an interview former Afghanistan commander retired Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal gave ABC, Trump tweeted, “‘General’ McChrystal got fired like a dog by Obama. Last assignment a total bust. Known for big, dumb mouth. Hillary lover!”

“I think it’s important for me to work for people who I think are basically honest, who tell the truth as best they know it,” McChrystal said in the interview, which aired Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.” Asked by co-anchor Martha Raddatz if Trump is a liar, McChrystal answered, “I don’t think he tells the truth.”

“Is Trump immoral, in your view?” Raddatz asked. “I think he is,” McChrystal said.

McChrystal added, “What I would ask every American to do is … stand in front of that mirror and say, ‘What are we about? Am I really willing to throw away or ignore some of the things that people do that are — are pretty unacceptable normally just because they accomplish certain other things that we might like?’”

ROMNEY’S NEXT: Utah Sen.-elect Mitt Romney who lost the 2012 presidential race to Barack Obama, and who famously excoriated Trump in a 2016 speech in which he called Trump “a con man, a fake,” is blasting Trump again. This time, on the eve of his swearing-in as a senator. “On balance, his conduct over the past two years, particularly his actions this month, is evidence that the president has not risen to the mantle of the office,” Romney writes in an op-ed in the Washington Post, citing the departures of “Mattis and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, the appointment of senior persons of lesser experience, the abandonment of allies who fight beside us, and the president’s thoughtless claim that America has long been a ‘sucker’ in world affairs,” which Romney argues have “all defined his presidency down.”

“A president should demonstrate the essential qualities of honesty and integrity, and elevate the national discourse with comity and mutual respect … And it is in this province where the incumbent’s shortfall has been most glaring,” he writes. “I will support policies that I believe are in the best interest of the country and my state, and oppose those that are not. I do not intend to comment on every tweet or fault. But I will speak out against significant statements or actions that are divisive, racist, sexist, anti-immigrant, dishonest or destructive to democratic institutions.”

POMPEO IN BRAZIL: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reaffirmed U.S. support for Israel on Tuesday after a visit with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose team was caught off-guard by President Trump’s plan to withdraw from Syria. Pompeo met with Netanyahu in Brazil, writing in a Twitter post: “The United States fully supports Israel’s right to defend itself. The U.S.-Israeli alliance is strong.”

KIM’S NEW YEAR’S WARNING: North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un gave his traditional New Year’s address to his nation yesterday, and the message was clear, says Harry Kazianis, director of defense studies at the Center for the National Interest. “Pyongyang is clearly willing to engage in dialogue while working towards denuclearization with Washington and Seoul — but on its terms.”

In his speech yesterdy, Kim said, “I am ready to meet the US president again anytime, and will make efforts to obtain without fail results which can be welcomed by the international community.” But then added a caveat, that he wants sanctions relief first, something the U.S. has refused up to now.

“If the United States does not keep the promise it made in the eyes of the world, and out of miscalculation of our people’s patience, it attempts to unilaterally enforce something upon us and persists in imposing sanctions and pressure against our Republic, we may be compelled to find a new way for defending the sovereignty of the country and the supreme interests of the state and for achieving peace and stability of the Korean peninsula.”

“Will Team Trump be willing to back away from its position of zero sanctions relief until Kim entirely dismantles his nuclear program?” ask Kazianis. “If the answer is no, then we very well could be headed back to the days of ‘fire and fury,’ as Kim remarks seem to suggest his patience with America is wearing thin.”

It may be time for the U.S. to test the sincerity of Kim’s denuclearization intentions, Kazianis argues. “A grand bargain on denuclearization that matches action-for-action, where both sides make corresponding moves to ease tensions — such as a phased reduction in sanctions for a phased ending of Kim’s nuclear program — could be the way to secure peace on the Korean Peninsula once and for all.”

You can read the full English translation of Kim’s speech here.

TRUMP’S RESPONSE: “Kim Jong Un says North Korea will not make or test nuclear weapons, or give them to others – & he is ready to meet President Trump anytime.” Trump tweeted, citing a report on the “PBS NewsHour”. “I also look forward to meeting with Chairman Kim who realizes so well that North Korea possesses great economic potential!” he said.

PROPER USE OF A B-2: Col. Mat Calhoun and Lt. Col. Bob Bryant flew their B-2 stealth bomber, the “Spirit of America,” over the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., yesterday in the traditional pregame fly-over. Fortunately, the Whiteman Air Force Base pilots did not engage their cloaking device so the batwing bomber was clearly visible in the bright blue California sky. (That’s a joke, folks. Don’t write.)

IMPROPER USE OF B-2: The U.S. Strategic Command tweeted a video New Year’s Eve a showing a nuclear-capable B-2 dropping a MOAB “Mother of All Bombs” 30,000-pound conventional bomb, and included the tongue-in-cheek message, “#TimesSquare tradition rings in the #NewYear by dropping the big ball…if needed, we are #ready to drop something much, much bigger.’

The tweet was subsequently deleted by STRATCOM, which apologized, “Our previous NYE tweet was in poor taste & does not reflect our values. We apologize. We are dedicated to the security of America & allies.” One wag, on STATCOM’S Twitter page commented, “If you can’t be trusted with twitter, how can we trust you with nukes?”

The MOAB, officially named the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast, is not a nuclear bomb. It was last dropped in combat on an ISIS cave complex in Afghanistan in April 2017.

MARINE DEATH UNDER INVESTIGATION: A U.S. Marine stationed in Washington, D.C., died on duty from a gunshot wound. Washington D.C. Police Department responded to the scene at the Marine Barracks at 8th and I early yesterday morning. The Marine Corps did not provide the name of the victim, or provide additional information about how he died.

The Washington Post quotes two officials with knowledge of the investigation as saying the initial reports indicate the Marine appeared to have been struck by an accidental discharge from another Marine’s weapon.

THE RUNDOWN

New York Times: Xi Jinping Warns Taiwan That Unification Is the Goal and Force Is an Option

Reuters: China’s Xi Issues A Message For Trump: We’ve Got To Cooperate

AP: Few details on American accused by Russia of espionage

Bloomberg: Why the Pentagon Bought Romania a ‘Cheap and Cheerful’ Hatchback

Breaking Defense: 2019 Forecast: Budget Battles & Confirmation Wars

Defense360º: Bad Idea: Demanding Allies Spend Two Percent of GDP on Defense

Washington Post: Top Pentagon spokeswoman resigns amid internal investigation

Business Insider: A Chinese Warship Armed With An Electromagnetic Railgun Appears To Have Set Sail On The Open Ocean

Military Times: First KC-46 delivery stalled by Mattis’ departure

Inside Defense: Courtney: Navy Will Buy CVN-80, CVN-81 In Dual Buy Format, Save $4 Billion

Reuters: Taliban blow up Afghan army outpost, killing five soldiers, police say

Reuters: Top U.S. Commander In Afghanistan Sees Peace Opportunity In 2019

New York Times: Pilots Kept Losing Oxygen and the Military Had No Idea Why. Now There’s a Possible Fix.

Washington Post: Trump’s Syria decision was essentially correct. Here’s how he can make the most of it.

New York Times: Time To Get Out Of Afghanistan

Military Times: Army unit lifts sex ban, cancels order prohibiting ‘rubbing, humping, grinding’

Stars and Stripes: The End Of ALLCAPS In Performance Reviews Gains Support From Sailors