TRUMP MAKES RUSSIA THE ISSUE AT G-7: As President Trump heads to the French seaside resort of Biarritz for the annual gathering of the Group of Seven nations, he’s managed to put Russia at the center of meetings that are designed to be focused on trade, climate change, and other economic issues.
Trump floated the idea of readmitting Russia to the group of the world’s seven largest economies this week in his rambling back and forth with reporters on the White House South Lawn, insisting the only reason Russia was booted from the group is that Russian President Vladimir Putin “outsmarted” President Barack Obama in annexing Crimea.
“We spend a lot of time talking about Russia at those meetings. And they’re not there. I think it would be a good thing if Russia were there so we can speak directly, not have to speak all the — you know, by telephone and other things,” Trump said.
POSITIONS U.S. AS THE OUTLIER: Depending on whether Trump presses the point, the issue could cast a shadow over the weekend meetings and once again put the United States at odds with its major allies.
You may recall that last year a photo of Trump with his arms crossed in an apparent stare-down with German Chancellor Angela Merkel went viral as it seemed to underscore the U.S. position as an outlier.
At a news conference in Ottawa yesterday after meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Canada’s foreign minister, Chrystia Freeland, said Russia should not be welcomed back until it leaves Ukraine.
“Russia grossly violated international law by invading and annexing Crimea and added to that with the continued war in the Donbas. This was an incredibly serious step. It is the first annexation of territory of a European country by another European country since the Second World War,” she said.
TRUMP EXPECTED TO PUSH TRADE: The president is also expected to press allies to open their markets to U.S. goods and support the United States in its trade war with China, which is why Democratic Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware suggests he ought to focus on strengthening U.S. alliances.
“If President Trump is going to be successful in his tariff war with China, for which millions of Americans are paying dearly right now, he ought to be restrengthening and reinvigorating our alliances of common purpose against Chinese economic aggression,” Coons said on CNN yesterday. “Instead, I’m afraid we will see a repeat of last year, where he, frankly, threatened or challenged or shook up a lot of our alliances and left the G-7 with all of them wondering exactly what direction he’s heading in.”
PILING ON: House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff said Trump’s advocating on behalf of Russia’s readmittance to the G-7 is a “terrible idea” and would just further embolden Putin.
“It’s a terrible idea because the whole genesis of this was, of course, Russia’s invasion of its neighbor and its occupation, to this day, of a significant part of its neighbor’s territory. And to invite them back in without condition essentially ratifies that illegal act and encourages Russia to do more of the same,” Schiff said on Morning Joe on MSNBC.
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WHEN YOUR FRIENDS ARE FIGHTING: The squabble between South Korea and Japan is turning ugly, and the Pentagon is worried. South Korea has scrapped an intelligence-sharing agreement with Japan in a dispute over human rights abuses during World War II.
The situation prompted the Pentagon to issue a rare public rebuke of South Korean President Moon Jae-in about what is essentially a diplomatic dispute between the two important allies in countering North Korea.
“The Department of Defense expresses our strong concern and disappointment that the Moon Administration has withheld its renewal of the Republic of Korea’s General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) with Japan,” said Lt. Col. Dave Eastburn, a spokesman at the Pentagon. “We strongly believe that the integrity of our mutual defense and security ties must persist despite frictions in other areas of the ROK-Japan relationship. We’ll continue to pursue bilateral and trilateral defense and security cooperation where possible with Japan and the ROK.”
“It’s incredibly damaging to our security relationships,” retired Air Force Gen. Rob Spalding, a national security strategy expert at the Hudson Institute, told the Washington Examiner.
South Korea’s withdrawal could slow down the detection of missile launches in the region, Spalding said, and thus delay the reaction from the U.S. Patriot missile defense systems that guard American and allied forces in Japan.
CHINA’S GROWING NUCLEAR ARSENAL: China will soon surpass France as the world’s third-largest nuclear-armed state, according to an analysis published by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, which concludes China’s nuclear arsenal now includes about 290 warheads for delivery by ballistic missiles and bombers and is likely to grow over the next decade.
The analysis by Hans Kristensen and Matt Korda of the Federation of American Scientists includes an interactive infographic depicting the current levels of nuclear weapons held by the world’s nine nuclear powers: the United States, Russia, United Kingdom, France, China, Israel, India, Pakistan, and North Korea.
FIVE-YEAR HIGH: The Pentagon has identified the two U.S. soldiers killed in Afghanistan Wednesday as Green Beret Master Sgts. Luis DeLeon-Figueroa, 31, and Jose J. Gonzalez, 35, both assigned to the 1st Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.
“Both soldiers died August 21, 2019 in Faryab Province, Afghanistan, as a result of wounds sustained from small arms fire while engaged in combat operations. The incident is under investigation,” according to the Pentagon announcement.
The latest casualties push the number of American combat deaths in Afghanistan so far this year to 14, a five-year high, although the numbers are much smaller than in the years before 2014, when tens of thousands of U.S. troops were involved in frontline combat.
GRAHAM’S FALLBACK PLAN: With the U.S. apparently nearing an agreement with the Taliban that would trade American troop withdrawals for Taliban promises to cut ties with al Qaeda, abide by a cease-fire, and negotiate peace directly with the Afghan government, skeptic Sen. Lindsey Graham reportedly wants a backstop.
Washington Post columnist David Ignatius reports that Graham plans to introduce legislation that would require the secretaries of state and defense to certify that any troop withdrawal won’t increase the risk of a terrorist attack on the U.S. homeland.
“Graham’s idea is to introduce a backstop to make sure that troop cuts promised as part of a peace deal don’t leave the United States vulnerable,” Ignatius writes. “He said the bill would require that the two Cabinet secretaries recertify every 180 days that ongoing troop withdrawals don’t endanger the United States.”
Under the proposal, the president could still overrule his Cabinet officers.
‘NOT THE ENEMY’: In his interview with Jennifer Griffin of Fox News Channel at the Pentagon this week, the new defense secretary repeated a mantra that many predecessors have also endorsed, namely that the news media are not the enemy of the people.
“Every night when Defense Secretary Mark Esper leaves the Pentagon he walks past the Preamble to the Constitution. ‘The press,’ he tells me, ‘is not the enemy,’” Griffin tweeted yesterday.
Esper follows a long tradition of Pentagon leaders who while not always happy with media coverage nevertheless recognize the role of the free press in a democracy. “The press is not the enemy, and to treat it as such is self-defeating,” said Defense Secretary Robert Gates in a commencement address at the U.S. Naval Academy in 2007. “As the Founding Fathers wisely understood, the Congress and a free press, as with a non-political military, assure a free country.”
READY FOR ITS CLOSEUP: Renovations to the Pentagon Briefing Room have been completed, and there are rumors it may soon be the site of an actual briefing. Stay tuned. The old 1990s-era light blue curtain and heavy wood lectern have been ditched in favor of a deeper blue and a skinny lectern that has a space-age look. Check it out here.
The Rundown
Washington Examiner: Trump’s North Korea strategy: Maximum pressure or maximum patience?
Reuters: North Korea Calls Pompeo ‘Diehard Toxin,’ Says Ready for Dialogue or Standoff with U.S
Arkansas-Democrat Gazette: U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton backs buying Greenland, says he floated idea to Trump, Danish ambassador
U.S. News & World Report: Trump Finds Unlikely Ally in Greenland Aspirations: Iran
Military Times: NAVSEC orders comprehensive review of Navy, Marine Corps JAGs
AP: US officials confirm Israeli strike in Iraq
Reuters: Vietnam Says ‘Deeply Concerned’ About Developments in South China Sea
Air Force Magazine: Gilday Outlines Top Priorities as New CNO
The Drive: China’s New Amphibious Assault Ship Is a Monster
Washington Examiner: ‘Work will set you free’: US Army commander suspended for using Auschwitz slogan to boost recruiting
New York Times: Inside America’s Dysfunctional Trillion-Dollar Fighter-Jet Program
Al-Monitor: Turkey’s Patriot Offer Dead After S-400 Delivery
Air Force Magazine: Boeing Gets New Contract for A-10 Wings
Washington Post: Marine failed to properly unload his pistol before fatal shooting of fellow Marine, prosecutor says
Calendar
FRIDAY | AUGUST 23
7:30 a.m. 1401 Lee Highway, Arlington. Air Force Association Breakfast Series event with Gen. James Holmes, commander, Air Combat Command. events.r20.constantcontact.com
8:50 a.m. 900 South Orme Street, Arlington. Institute for Defense and Government Advancement Multi Domain Battle Management Summit, with Rear Adm. George Wikoff, deputy director of operations at the Joint Staff National Joint Operations Intelligence Center’s Operations Team Five, delivering remarks on “Synchronization Between all of the Service Branches for Enhanced Organization in Combat.” www.idga.org/events-multidomainbattlemanagement
9 a.m. 300 Army Navy Drive, Arlington. The Pentagon’s Defense Advisory Committee on Investigation, Prosecution, and Defense of Sexual Assault in the Armed Forces meets for an all-day session.
TUESDAY | AUGUST 27
8 a.m. 2401 M Street N.W. Defense Writers Group breakfast with Gen. Gustave Perna, commander of U.S. Army Materiel Command. nationalsecuritymedia.gwu.edu
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I can reveal to you that several months ago, I met with the Danish ambassador and I proposed they sell Greenland to us. It’s obviously the right decision for the United States, and anyone who can’t see that is blinded by Trump derangement.”
Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, in an interview at a luncheon in Little Rock Wednesday, as reported by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
