BACK TO PLAN A: So after all that, here we are back where we started. On Friday, after giving in to bipartisan pressure from Congress and threats from allies, President Trump insisted he was “not reversing course,” even as he agreed to leave 400 U.S. troops in Syria after the last bit of the ISIS caliphate has been liberated, expected sometime in the next month.

HAPPENING TODAY: President Trump leaves today for Hanoi and round two of his denuclearization summitry with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un later this week. Trump is planning a strong economic pitch, suggesting that like the country hosting the talks, Vietnam, North Korea could be an economic miracle, if it just gives up its nuclear and missile ambitions.

“Chairman Kim realizes, perhaps better than anyone else, that without nuclear weapons, his country could fast become one of the great economic powers anywhere in the World. Because of its location and people (and him), it has more potential for rapid growth than any other nation!” Trump tweeted yesterday, while in another tweet dismissing criticism from Democrats and national security experts, who say North Korea has shown no sign it’s serious about denuclearization. “So funny to watch people who have failed for years, they got NOTHING, telling me how to negotiate with North Korea. But thanks anyway!”

NO US TROOP REDUCTION: In South Korea, speculation is running high that Trump may be prepared to declare a formal end to the Korean War, which ended with an armistice not a peace treaty.

U.S. and North Korean negotiators have been meeting in Hanoi in advance of the talks to draft a joint statement for Trump and Kim to sign that would include “verifiable denuclearization steps the North can take and corresponding measures by the U.S., which could include the declaration of a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War,” according to the South Korean Yonhap News Agency.

On Friday President Trump ruled out reducing the 28,500 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea, while insisting, “Everything is on the table. Everything.” Asked specifically whether drawing down U.S. troop numbers was a consideration, Trump said, “No, it’s not. That is not a consideration. That is not one of the things on the table.”

ALSO TODAY — PENCE TO COLOMBIA: Vice President Mike Pence is traveling to Colombia today to meet with regional leaders and opposition leader Juan Guaido, as the United States is threatening a more muscular response to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s violent response to efforts to bring humanitarian aid to his own people.

President Trump has refused to rule out some U.S. military action, and yesterday on Fox News Sunday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, “We said every option is on the table. We’re going to do the things that need to be done to make sure that the Venezuelan people’s voice, that democracy reigns and that there is a brighter future of the people of Venezuela.”

SHANAHAN TOURS THE BORDER: On Saturday, Acting Defense Secretary Shanahan and Joint Chiefs Chairman Dunford toured a section of the U.S.-Mexico border near El Paso, Texas, and Shanahan declared himself solidly behind the president’s plan to build more barriers.

Shanahan said after an aerial tour on a V-22 and talks with El Paso Sector Chief Aaron Hull, he was convinced “barriers work,” especially in areas where border patrol agents can’t respond fast enough. “Any place where you have people that can vanish in seconds or minutes where there is a highway. People can escape to or move into an urban area, that’s where we need a direct barrier,” Shanahan said Hull impressed upon him.

Shanahan stressed that while border security has not been a “traditional mission” for the Pentagon, the U.S. military has a long history of supporting civilian law enforcement along the border. And he said the Pentagon stands ready to help but at some point wants to bring troops back from the border.

WHOLESALE REDESIGN NEEDED: “There’s a wholesale redesign that has to occur,” said Shanahan. “I hope that we can bring a kind of broader approach to solving some of these problems. In the end, it really needs to be about stopping the illegal trafficking.”

Shanahan said he would be meeting with the civilian service secretaries this week to come up with a plan. “So number one is: How do we quickly address productivity or effectiveness of the border patrol? So, can I supplement skills, the monitoring and detection mission?” Shanahan said. He described the process as doing a “deep dive into how can we accelerate a response and build an actionable plan.”

BUDGETARY GYMNASTICS: Shanahan is still giving no hint of what military construction projects could be affected by the president’s plan to find $3.6 billion dollars in the budget to use for additional border wall. Under section 2808 of Title 10 of the U.S. code, once the president declares a national emergency, the defense secretary can move money from one military construction project to another.

“At this time, no decisions have been made regarding specific projects funded by Title 10 U.S.C., Section 2808 (MILCON) funding,” said Chris Sherwood, a Pentagon spokesman, in a email Friday.

But at a background briefing, two Pentagon officials laid out how the lawyers have figured out how to get around a key provision of the statute, that the construction funds must be spent on a project that is in direct support of the armed forces.

The officials said once it’s determined where the barriers are needed, the Department of Homeland Security will obtain the land and turn it over to the Pentagon. “The Army will accept jurisdiction of that land from DHS and establish the location as a military installation,” one official said. “So once DoD has jurisdiction of that land, even if the land is simply land, it can be defined as a military installation.”

YOU CAN’T SPEND MONEY TWICE: Also on Friday we learned that another pot of money that Trump wants to tap, $2.5 billion in Pentagon counter-narcotics funds, has already mostly been allocated.

“One action the president has already taken proved to be unsuccessful,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. “By taking more than $2 billion out of a particular defense line spending, they found out that that money had already been spent. So they’re clearly not only doing the wrong thing, they don’t know what they’re doing.”

Tomorrow the House is scheduled to vote on a bill blocking President Trump’s emergency declaration, which is sure to pass the House but just as certain to fail in the end, even if it makes it through the Senate.

“We might lose a few Republicans in the Senate. All you need is 51 to get it out of the Senate,” said Graham on Fox. “So it will pass the House with a handful of Republican votes. It’ll come to the Senate. It might get 51. It’ll get vetoed by the president. And Republicans will stand with the president to sustain his veto, and it will be deader than dead.”

HOUSING OF SHAME: Senior Army leaders met with the top executives of seven private housing companies last week in the wake of reports of deplorable housing conditions at military bases across the country.

The CEOs and senior executives of companies that manage roughly 87,000 units on more than 40 Army installations promised to allow soldiers to suspend their rent payments and certain fees if they believe they are being forced to live in substandard conditions. They also agreed to develop a “Tenant Bill of Rights” that would spell out procedures for remediating problems.

Also last week, the commandant of the Marine Corps issued a directive telling all Marine Corps commanders and senior enlisted leaders to request voluntary inspections of housing conditions at government quarters, privatized military housing, and off-base civilian rental properties.

In releasing the “white letter,” Gen. Robert Neller said, “I expect commanders to know where their Marines and Sailors are living and to actively advocate on their behalf. Because we care, we have an obligation to be personally invested in the lives and welfare of our Marines and their families.”

ROOTING OUT EXTREMISTS: In the wake of the charges against an active-duty Coast Guardsman who was apparently plotting mass murder, former Homeland Security secretary Jeh Johnson said Sunday that the military needs to do a better job of “rooting out” extremists.

“The U.S. military, our services, should be apolitical. And for the most part they are. They’re apolitical, they’re remarkable professionals. To go down the road of probing people’s views on things is a dangerous road,” Johnson said on NBC’s Meet the Press.

“We do, I think, need to do a better job of rooting out people who harbor extremist views that could turn to violence. And again, I think the good news story here is that, we did, in fact, uncover this individual’s plans and his hatred before he was able to act on it.”

THE KALASHNIKOV KAMIKAZE DRONE: The Washington Post reports that as the Kalashnikov assault rifle changed the world, so will the Kalashnikov kamikaze drone. Here’s the key takeaway:

“With its low price, high efficiency and ease of use, the Kalashnikov rifle became the weapon of choice for revolutionaries and insurgents around the world, empowering disgruntled citizens against their governments in Latin America, Africa and Asia. It remains a potent tool to this day: The Pentagon purchases secondhand Kalashnikov rifles for its allies in Syria and Afghanistan, rather than give them more expensive American-made guns.

The Kalashnikov drone — officially named the KUB-UAV — will likewise be simple to operate, effective and cheap, its manufacturers claim — and just as revolutionary. It will mark ‘a step toward a completely new form of combat,’ said Sergey Chemezov, chairman of Russia’s state-owned Rostec arms manufacturer, which owns a controlling stake in Kalashnikov, according to Kalashnikov’s news statement on the launch.”

THE RUNDOWN

Times of San Diego: San Diego-Based Group Wins U.S. Suit: Male-Only Draft Unconstitutional

Reuters: Lavrov Says Russia Could Police Syria-Turkey Safe Zone: Agencies

Military.com: Discarded Deadlines Let Polluted Plume from Wis. Military Base Spread Unchecked

Politico: 58 ex-national security officials to denounce Trump’s emergency declaration

The Virginian-Pilot: USS George HW Bush heads into shipyard for more than two years of updates

The Washington Post: In Japan’s Okinawa, voters deliver a resounding no to new US military base

The Telegraph: ‘You’re the first infidel I’ve seen in four years’: Isil women emerge defiant from last scrap of Syria territory

New York Times: Defender of World Order or Trump Mouthpiece? Pompeo Is Tested by North Korea, Iran and U.S. Allies

Virginian Pilot: USS George H.W. Bush Heads Into Shipyard For More Than Two Years Of Updates