OUT OF STEP, OUT OF TIME? For the second time in the last three weeks, Mark Esper’s efforts to squeeze savings from the Pentagon’s $740 million budget have been overruled unceremoniously by a tweet from his boss.
In both cases, the moves — considerations of a $2.2 billion cut from the military health system and shuttering the venerable Stars and Stripes newspaper — were criticized as taking benefits away from troops and drew a quick Twitter rebuke from President Trump.
“The United States of America will NOT be cutting funding to @starsandstripes magazine under my watch,” Trump tweeted Friday. “It will continue to be a wonderful source of information to our Great Military!”
The growing disconnect between the president and his defense secretary comes as Trump continues to deny adamantly that he disparaged U.S. service members who died in war as “losers” and “suckers” during a visit to France in 2018.
Trump is reportedly disenchanted with Esper, who seems increasingly out of step with his boss, over issues including the use of active-duty troops, cracking down on violent protesters, and wearing masks and social distancing when meeting and talking with U.S. troops. (Photos from Esper’s recent trip to the Indo-Pacific show him and other commanders masked, but Trump, when he spoke to troops in Louisiana while touring damage from Hurricane Laura, was unmasked, as were some FEMA officials.
WILKIE IN THE WINGS: Reports that Trump was considering replacing Esper first surfaced last month, and in response, Trump insisted that he gets along “fine” with Esper but added, “I consider firing everybody. At some point, that’s what happens.”
Now, NBC News is quoting three senior administration officials as saying that the White House last month talked to Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie about taking over at the Pentagon should Trump decide to fire Esper.
Wilkie offered a spirited defense of Trump on CNN on Sunday, saying he had “absolutely not” ever heard Trump disparage war dead. “And I would be offended too if I thought it was true,” he told CNN’s Dana Bash, adding that he believes that the anonymous sources quoted by the Atlantic and other news organizations, including Fox News, “are the same people that brought you fake heart attacks, fake strokes, Russian collusion.”
Esper’s defense of the president was limited to a short statement given to reporters who requested it but was not published on the Pentagon’s webpage or Esper’s Twitter account. “President Trump has the highest respect and admiration for our nation’s military members, veterans and families. That is why he has fought for greater pay and more funding for our armed forces.”
A senior defense official said that while Esper was in France at the time, he never heard any of the reported allegations and recalls being informed that the president’s flight to Aisne-Marne American Cemetery near Paris was canceled because of bad weather.
A BRAVE FACE: Esper, who according to Bloomberg has told people close to him that he intends to leave regardless of the election’s outcome, continues to soldier on, ignoring the speculation swirling around his future.
He has been ratcheting up the attacks on China and tweeted that he is looking forward to taking part in the Pentagon’s Artificial Intelligence Symposium on Wednesday.
AT WAR WITH HIS OWN PENTAGON: Meanwhile, in his wide-ranging news conference on Monday, President Trump took a swipe at the Defense Department in remarks that echoed President Dwight Eisenhower’s famous warning about the dangers of the “military-industrial complex.”
“I’m not saying the military is in love with me. The soldiers are,” Trump said as he reiterated his pledge to end what he called “crazy, endless wars.”
“The top people in the Pentagon probably aren’t because they want to do nothing but fight wars so that all of those wonderful companies that make the bombs and make the planes and make everything else stay happy.”
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IN TRUMP’S DEFENSE: Trump says that 15 people who were with him on the trip to Paris in 2018 have now rebutted the allegation that he skipped a visit to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery because he considered war dead “losers” and “suckers,” the latest being Zach Fuentes, former deputy to White House chief of staff John Kelly.
“It’s a disgrace. Who would say a thing like that? Only an animal would say a thing like that. There’s nobody that has more respect for not only our military,” Trump said. “But Zach came out, as you know, today or yesterday, last night, and said very strongly that he didn’t hear anything like that. Even John Bolton came out and said that was untrue.”
‘I WAS WILLING TO SIT FOR HOURS. … I HAD NOTHING ELSE TO DO’: One last time, here is Trump’s version of events in his own words:
“And they said, “No, sir, that’s been canceled.” They would have had to go — Secret Service, they had the whole list. They would have had to go through a very, very busy section during the day of Paris. They would’ve had to go through the city.
“The Paris police were asking us, “Please, don’t do it,” because they’re not ready. When you do that, you need a lot of time. They take days and days and days to prepare for that.
“I wanted to do it very badly. I was willing to sit in a car for two hours, three hours, four hours. I didn’t care; it didn’t matter. And I had nothing else to do. I went there for that. I had nothing else to do.
“It was ended because of the terrible weather — and nobody was prepared to go through, in terms of Paris, the police, the military, and the Secret Service — and they came out very strongly and said, ‘Sir, we can’t allow you to make this trip,’ if I wanted to. ‘Sir, we can’t allow you from a safety standpoint.’”
STARS AND STRIPES FOREVER: The fate of Stars and Stripes is still a little murky despite Trump’s tweet granting the government-funded newspaper a reprieve from Esper’s death sentence.
The Pentagon had ordered the paper to halt publication by Sept. 30 and dissolve the organization by the end of January, and it has yet to say what it will do in light of the president’s tweet.
On Sunday, Stars and Stripes ombudsman Ernie Gates told CNN that it will ultimately be up to Congress to decide whether to restore the $15.5 million in funding for the paper.
“Ultimately, Congress is the arbiter of the budget, right? But it’s very good to have the president directing the Department of Defense to rescind the order to shut down Stars and Stripes,” Gates told CNN’s Brian Stelter.
“Let’s see what the Department of Defense does officially, not in tweet language but in something firm to rescind the order and commit to funding Stars and Stripes through the period of a continuing resolution, which is very likely,” Gates said. “And then, let Congress do its work: Settle on the FY ’21 budget and make the funding for Stars and Stripes ironclad.”
BIPARTISAN SUPPORT: Esper’s move to shut down the Pentagon-funded but editorially independent newspaper drew bipartisan howls of protest on Capitol Hill.
A group of 15 senators, both Republicans and Democrats, sent a letter to Esper last week urging him to reinstate funding, arguing that Stars and Stripes covers stories no one else covers and that cutting it could have a “significantly negative impact on military families.”
The Society of Professional Journalists called the paper an “American institution” and labeled the effort to kill the paper “a travesty.”
“We are disgusted at this latest attempt by this administration to destroy the free press in this country,” said SPJ National President Patricia Gallagher Newberry. “Stars and Stripes has been a lifeline and the source of much-needed information, inspiration, and support for troops all over the world, including places where communication with the outside world is at a minimum or nonexistent.”
INDUSTRY WATCH: After further review, the call on the field stands. The Pentagon has announced that after a “comprehensive re-evaluation” of the $10 billion Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure cloud proposals, “Microsoft’s proposal continues to represent the best value to the government.”
The decision is a setback for Amazon Web Services, which called the Pentagon’s review “nothing more than an attempt to validate a flawed, biased, and politically corrupted decision.”
In a blog post, Amazon insisted its bid was a far better value for taxpayers and vowed to continue its legal fight. “AWS offered a lower cost by several tens of millions of dollars. The DoD’s decision to intentionally ignore the clear cost benefits offered by AWS, reinforces the fact that this corrective action was never meant to be fair.”
In its Friday announcement, the Pentagon said that contract performance will not begin immediately due to a preliminary injunction issued by the Court of Federal Claims last February.
“There is a recurring pattern to the way President Trump behaves when he’s called out for doing something egregious: first he denies doing it, then he looks for ways to push it off to the side, to distract attention from it and delay efforts to investigate it (so people get bored and forget about it),” Amazon wrote. “On JEDI, President Trump reportedly ordered former Secretary Mattis to ‘screw’ Amazon, blatantly interfered in an active procurement, directed his subordinate to conduct an unorthodox ‘review’ prior to a contract award announcement and then stonewalled an investigation into his own political interference.”
The Rundown
Washington Examiner: Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny out of ‘medically induced coma’
Washington Examiner: Saudi judge issues light sentences in Khashoggi killing
Washington Post: Khashoggi Was Target Of Online Threats
Washington Examiner: US: China and others attack American space systems ‘with concerning regularity’
Washington Examiner: Cherokee World War II veteran recounts Battle of the Bulge 76 years later
Washington Examiner: Atlantic boss explains why he used unnamed sources in report about Trump insulting dead soldiers
Washington Examiner: Fox News correspondent defends sources confirming Atlantic story after Trump says she should be fired
Military Times: Respect For Troops, Military Sacrifice Becomes An Election Friction Point
NBC: White House has talked to VA secretary about taking Pentagon job if Trump fires Esper
Task & Purpose: The Pentagon is terrified of talking to reporters again
Wall Street Journal: FBI Sweep Nabs Chinese Researchers
Bloomberg: Russia Will Hold Naval Exercise In Mediterranean, Turkey Says
Air Force Magazine: ‘Smart’ Bullet Downs Cruise Missile in 2nd ABMS Test
USNI News: South Korea Seeking More F-35Bs For Future LPX-II Carrier
USNI News: Sailors Test Positive For COVID-19 On Carrier USS Ronald Reagan
Air Force Magazine: COVID-19 Delays Military’s Plan to Downsize, Close Medical Facilities
USNI: Search Underway For Sailor Missing From USS Nimitz
Military.com: Four Marines Safe After Super Stallion Helicopter Catches Fire Mid-Flight
Washington Post: U.S. Marine Pardoned By Philippine President
Boston Globe: Last year, he was the country’s top military officer. Now, he is retired on the South Shore
Calendar
TUESDAY | SEPTEMBER 8
8:30 a.m. — Billington CyberSecurity summit, with Stacey Dixon, deputy director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency; Maria Roat, deputy federal CIO in the Office of Management and Budget; Dryan Ware, assistant director for cybersecurity of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency; Katie Arrington, chief information security officer for acquisition and sustainment at the Defense Department; Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I.; and Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis.; Rosemary Banks, New Zealand ambassador to the U.S.; and Arthur Sinodinos, Australian ambassador to the U.S. https://web.cvent.com/event
9 a.m. — Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International virtual symposium, with Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition James Geurts; Joint Staff Director for Force Structure, Resources and Assessment Vice Adm. Ronald Boxall; U.S. Pacific Fleet Maritime Headquarters Director Rear Adm. Robert Gaucher; and Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Warfighting Requirements and Capabilities Vice Adm. James Kilby. https://www.thedefenseshow.org/register/attendee-registration
10 a.m. — Air Force Association Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies webcast with Brig. Gen. Adrian Spain, director of plans, programs, and analyses, USAFE-AFAFRICA. Video posted afterward at https://www.mitchellaerospacepower.org/aerospace-nation
RESCHEDULED: 10 a.m. — Atlantic Council webinar with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will now take place Tuesday, Sept. 15. https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event
11 a.m. — Middle East Institute webinar: “Election 2020: Challenges and Opportunities for U.S. Policy in the Middle East,” with former U.S. Central Commander retired Gen. Joseph Votel, president and CEO of Business Executives for National Security; Randa Slim, director of the MEI Conflict Resolution and Track II Dialogues Program; Paul Salem, MEI president; and Gerald Feierstein, MEI senior vice president. https://www.mei.edu/events
11 a.m. — Defense One webcast: “State of the Army,” with Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville; retired Army Lt. Gen. Karen Gibson, former deputy director of national intelligence; retired Army Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, Pershing chair in strategic studies at the Center for European Policy Analysis and former commander of U.S. Army Europe; Tom Karako, director of the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies; Kevin Baron, Defense One executive editor; and Safra Catz, CEO of Oracle. https://www.defenseone.com/feature/state-of-defense
12 p.m. — Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute on-line discussion: “The Future of the U.S. Army: Forward Presence, Modernization, and COVID-19″ with Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-future-of-the-us-army
1 p.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies webcast: “Technology’s Role Strengthening Biodefense and Accelerating Economic Recovery After COVID-19,” with Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb.; and Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass. https://www.csis.org/events/online-event
3 p.m. — RAND Corporation’s Space Enterprise Initiative webinar, with Brig. Gen. D. Jason Cothern, vice commander of the Space and Missile Systems Center; Bonnie Triezenberg, senior engineer at RAND; Yool Kim, senior engineer at RAND; Gary McLeod, senior policy researcher at RAND. https://www.rand.org/events
WEDNESDAY | SEPTEMBER 9
9 a.m. — Department of Defense Artificial Intelligence Symposium and Exposition, with Joint Chiefs Vice Chairman Gen. John Hyten at 9:30 a.m.; Katharina McFarland, National Security Commission on AI at 10 a.m., Lauren Knausenberger, Air Force Chief Information Officer at 10:30 a.m.; Michael Kratsios, acting undersecretary of defense for research and engineering at 11 a.m.; and Defense Secretary Mark Esper at 11:45 a.m. https://www.ai.mil/ai2020.html Full agenda at https://www.ai.mil/docs
9 a.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies webcast: “Mt. Fuji D.C. Event: The U.S.-Japan Alliance at 60,” with Japanese Defense Minister H.E. Kono Taro and Michael J. Green, CSIS senior vice president for Asia and Japan. https://www.csis.org/events/online-event
9:15 a.m. — American Enterprise Institute webcast, “The crossroad of competition: Countering the rise of violent extremists and revisionist powers in Africa,” with Air Force Maj. Gen. Dagvin Anderson, commander, U.S. Special Operations Command Africa; and Frederick Kagan, director, Critical Threats Project, AEI. https://www.aei.org/events/the-crossroad-of-competition
10 a.m. — Air Force Association Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies webcast: “Nuclear and Missile Defense, with Moshe Patel, director of the Israeli Missile Defense Organization. https://www.mitchellaerospacepower.org/aerospace-nation.
10 a.m. — Brookings Institution webinar: “U.S. Policy in the Middle East,” with Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Schenker. https://www.brookings.edu/events
1:30 p.m. — Air Force Brig. Gen. Chad Raduege addresses the Defense Strategies Institute “Military Tactical Communications Summit” webcast. http://tacticalcommunications.dsigroup.org
4 p.m. — Atlantic Council webinar “Countering New Threats to the Homeland: The Future of the Department of Homeland Security,” with former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, co-founder and executive chairman of the Chertoff Group; former Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkeley; former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP; former Deputy Assistant DHS Secretary for Counterterrorism Policy Thomas Warrick, nonresident senior fellow at Forward Defense; and former Assistant DHS Secretary for Infrastructure Protection Caitlin Durkovich, non-resident senior fellow at Forward Defense. https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/future-of-dhs-report-launch/
5 p.m. — United States Institute of Peace webinar: “A New Direction for U.S. Policy on North Korea.” with Christine Ahn, founder and executive director of Women Cross DMZ; Suzanne DiMaggio, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP); Markus Garlauskas, nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council; Van Jackson, senior lecturer in international relations at Victoria University of Wellington; Ankit Panda, senior fellow in the CEIP Nuclear Policy Program; and Frank Aum, senior expert on North Korea at USIP. https://www.usip.org/events/new-direction-us-policy-north-korea
THURSDAY | SEPTEMBER 10
8:45 a.m. — Defense Strategies Institute “Military Tactical Communications Summit” webcast, with Army Col. Stephen Hamilton, chief of staff of the Army Cyber Institute delivering remarks at 11 a.m. http://tacticalcommunications.dsigroup.org/
9 a.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies webcast: “The Capital Cable” with Gen. Robert Abrams, commander of United Nations Command, ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command, and U.S. Forces Korea. https://www.csis.org/events/online-event
9:30 a.m. — Institute for Corean-American Studies virtual fireside chat: “U.S. Leadership in Asia,” with retired Marine Gen. John Allen, president, Brookings Institution. https://www.icasinc.org
10 a.m. — Washington Post Live webinar with U.S. Ambassador to NATO Kay Bailey Hutchison, on “the emerging challenges facing NATO.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-live
11 a.m. — National Defense Industrial Association Women in Defense Leadership Symposium, with Janice Glover-Jones, chief diversity, equality and inclusion officer at the Defense Intelligence Agency; Valerie Hunter, vice president for human resources and administration at BAE Systems; and Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger delivers keynote remarks at 4 p.m. https://www.womenindefense.net/events
1 p.m. — Heritage Foundation webinar: “The Enemy Within: The Security Risks of U.S. Law Enforcement’s Use of Chinese Drones,” with Ellen Lord, undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment; Brendan Groves, head of regulatory and policy affairs at Skydio Inc.; retired New York City Police Lt. Art Mogil; John Venable, Heritage senior research fellow for defense policy; and Lora Ries, Heritage senior research fellow for homeland security. https://www.heritage.org/homeland-security/event
4 p.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies webcast: “How Ike Led: The Principles Behind Eisenhower’s Biggest Decisions,” with author Susan Eisenhower, granddaughter of Dwight Eisenhower and president of the Eisenhower Group. https://www.csis.org/events/online-event
FRIDAY | SEPTEMBER 11
9:45 a.m. — Memorial service at Flight 93 National Memorial near Shanksville, Pa. to commemorate the 19th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Both President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump, and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, are scheduled to participate in events.
MONDAY | SEPTEMBER 14
9 a.m. — Day one of the Air Force Association 2020 Virtual Air, Space & Cyber Conference, with Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett; Gen. Timothy Ray, commander, Air Force Global Strike Command; Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach, commander, Pacific Air Forces; Gen. Jeffrey Harrigian, commander, U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Africa. Full agenda at: https://www.afa.org/events/calendar/2020-09-14/air-space-cyber-conference
TUESDAY | SEPTEMBER 15
9 a.m. — Day two of the Air Force Association 2020 Virtual Air, Space & Cyber Conference, with Chief of Space Operations Gen. Jay Raymond; Will Roper, assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics; and others. Full agenda at: https://www.afa.org/events/calendar/2020-09-14/air-space-cyber-conference
10 a.m. — Atlantic Council webinar with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on his recent trip to Central and Eastern Europe. https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event
WEDNESDAY | SEPTEMBER 16
2 p.m. — McCain Institute “Authors & Insights Book Talk Series”: “Foreign Policy Crossroads: Where We Are and How We Got Here,” with former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, author of Hell and Other Destinations: A 21st Century Memoir, and Mark Green. https://asu.zoom.us
MONDAY | SEPTEMBER 21
12 p.m. — Day one of New America and Arizona State University Future Security Forum, a four-day virtual event reimagining national security in the age of COVID-19, with retired Gen. Joseph Votel, former U.S. Central Commander; Michèle Flournoy, former undersecretary of defense for policy; Bonnie Jenkins, founder and president, Women of Color Advancing Peace, Security and Conflict Transformation; Helene Gayle, MD, member, Committee on Equitable Allocation of Vaccine for the Novel Coronavirus, National Academies; Michael Osterholm, director, Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, University of Minnesota. https://www.newamerica.org/conference/future-security-forum-2020/
FRIDAY | SEPTEMBER 25
10 a.m. — “Hack at the Harbor” virtual security conference sponsored by Point3 Security, with speakers including Chris Krebs, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Department of Homeland Security. https://hackattheharbor.com/
TUESDAY | OCTOBER 13
10 a.m. — Day one of “AUSA Now,” the Association of the U.S. Army’s 2020 virtual annual meeting, with Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy, Defense Secretary Mark Esper, Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville and other Army leaders. Register at https://meetings.ausa.org/annual/Attendee
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I’m not saying the military is in love with me. The soldiers are. The top people in the Pentagon probably aren’t because they want to do nothing but fight wars so that all of those wonderful companies that make the bombs and make the planes and make everything else stay happy.”
