| TRUMP 'NOT SO SURE' NATO WOULD PROTECT US: In his ongoing like-hate relationship with NATO, President Donald Trump fired off another series of brickbats Thursday, casting doubt on the trans-Atlantic alliance’s core commitment, namely that an attack on one is an attack on all. "The biggest problem I have with NATO," Trump said during another executive order signing press event, "[is] if the United States was in trouble and we called them, we said, 'We got a problem. France, we got a problem.' A couple of others I won’t mention. Do you think they’re going to come and protect us? They’re supposed to. I’m not so sure." The offhand comment reflects Trump's long-standing disdain for the most successful military alliance in history, which he continues to see as a group of freeloading nations, failing to pay their fair share of defense costs. "It’s very unfair what’s been happening. Until I came along, we were paying close to 100% of NATO," Trump said, repeating one of the many claims he makes about NATO that can easily be proven false. The singling out of France was particularly galling, given that French troops fought and 90 died alongside American forces in Afghanistan after the only time NATO's Article 5 commitment to collective defense was invoked following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against the United States. “We are loyal and faithful allies, and if anyone doubts it, please only look at our contemporary history," French President Emmanuel Macron responded. "It simply justifies what we have for the United States of America — what I have for its leaders — respect and friendship. And I believe we have every right to expect the same in return because our history shows that we have earned it." 'IF THEY DON’T PAY, I’M NOT GOING TO DEFEND THEM': Trump also repeated the threat he often credits for getting NATO nations to step up their spending on defense, mischaracterizing — as he often does — the requirement for member countries to spend more money on their own military as payment to NATO. "I think it’s common sense, right? If they don’t pay, I’m not going to defend them. No, I’m not going to defend them," he said in response to a question. "I view NATO as potentially good, but you got to get — you got to get some good thinking in NATO … So, think of it, we’re paying 100% of their military, and they’re screwing us on trade." Again, this is false. All but eight of the 32 NATO nations have met or exceeded the goal of spending 2% of their GDP on defense, and Poland (4.12%) and Estonia (3.43%) spend a higher percentage than the United States (3.38%). The laggards are Croatia (1.81%), Portugal (1.55%), Italy (1.49%), Canada (1.37%), Belgium (1.30%), Luxembourg (1.29%), Slovenia (1.29%), and Spain (1.28%). The money does not go directly to NATO, nor does an increase in overall NATO defense spending — which now collectively exceeds 2% even without including the U.S. — do anything to lower America's defense spending. However, Trump sees alliances as akin to a business transaction. The ephemeral and intangible benefit of international security is not a sufficient payback. Take Japan for example, Trump said. "I love Japan. We have a great relationship with Japan, but we have an interesting deal with Japan that we have to protect them, but they don’t have to protect us. You know that? That’s the way the deal reads," Trump said. "They make a fortune with us economically. There’s another case, but we have to protect Japan. But under no circumstances do they have to protect us. I actually asked who makes these deals?" HEGSETH: 'EUROPE IS FUTURE OF EUROPEAN DEFENSE': In a meeting at the Pentagon Thursday with his British counterpart John Healey, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth praised Great Britain for stepping up as America is stepping back from its European commitments. "European leadership of NATO, led by the U.K., led by others, is, we believe, the future of defense on the continent,” Hegseth said. "We are in the middle of a dynamic security environment, where on that continent, President Trump is calling on our European allies to take the lead, and you have done just that." "We last met last month in NATO, and then you challenged Europe to step up. You challenged us to step up on Ukraine, on defense spending, on European security," Healey said. "Last week, the British prime minister announced the biggest increase in defense spending since the end of the Cold War, and we will go further." Hegseth and Healey first met in Brussels last month when Hegseth delivered remarks to the Ukraine Defense Contact group that rattled European allies by flatly ruling out NATO membership for Ukraine or any suggestion that American troops would come to the aid of allied troops in case they come under attack on Ukrainian territory. "If these troops are deployed as peacekeepers to Ukraine at any point, they should be deployed as part of a non-NATO mission. And they should not be covered under Article 5," underscoring that any peacekeeping forces would be on their own. "To be clear, as part of any security guarantee, there will not be U.S. troops deployed to Ukraine." CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER Good Friday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre's Daily on Defense, written and compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre) and edited by Christopher Tremoglie. Email here with tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. Sign up or read current and back issues at DailyonDefense.com. If signing up doesn't work, shoot us an email and we'll add you to our list. And be sure to follow me on Threads and/or on X @jamiejmcintyre. CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP OR READ BACK ISSUES OF DAILY ON DEFENSE HAPPENING TODAY: Ukrainian media is buzzing this morning with reports that U.S. aerospace company Maxar Technologies is complying with a U.S. State Department request to withhold commercial satellite imagery from Ukraine, as part of President Trump's pressure campaign to force Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to agree to peace terms with Russia. According to the Ukrainian website Militarnyi, unnamed users of the service in Ukraine suddenly found their access to the high-resolution satellite picture restricted. Maxar has not confirmed the reports, but they follow confirmation by CIA Director John Ratcliffe that the U.S. has stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine, including real-time targeting data, until Zelensky agrees on a path to peace. "The President decided to put a pause on intelligence sharing along with military aid, really to send a message to Zelensky, not to take the American people for granted," Tulsi Gabbard, director of national intelligence, told Laura Ingraham on Fox last night. "This came in the wake of a statement that came from Zelenskyy when he said that the war would go on for a very, very long time, and that he was confident that no matter what, that American aid and support would continue to flow his way." UKRAINE 'BROUGHT' US SUSPENSION OF AID AND INTEL 'ON THEMSELVES' FOR OVAL OFFICE DISPUTE HEGSETH: CHARGE THAT TRUMP IS 'PRO-RUSSIA' IS 'GARBAGE': Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth bristled when Missy Ryan, a reporter for the Washington Post, asked the British Defense Secretary, "What does it mean for the U.K. that its closest ally is now voicing the same narrative that Russia is voicing, vis a vis the war in Ukraine and seeming to align itself more closely with Russia?” John Healey sidestepped the question with typical British aplomb, "I don’t believe as members of government and decision takers, we’re the people to comment on every twist and turn in this process." But Hegseth shot back. "The press is interested in narratives. Our president is interested in peace," he said. "So, we will get characterized one way or another, 'Oh, your stance is pro-Russia.' It’s all garbage." Democrats have been pounding the argument that every move Trump makes seems to advantage Vladimir Putin and disadvantages Volodymyr Zelensky. "He blames Ukraine for starting the war, and now he is shutting off military aid that Ukraine desperately needs on the battlefield," Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said on the Senate floor this week. "He has frozen critical intelligence sharing between our countries." "He has brought President Zelensky to the Oval Office only to lecture and insult him in front of the whole world, and guess who was laughing as he watched: Vladimir Putin," Schumer said. "To side with Putin is to put America at risk … To side with Putin is to betray the values that define America." "I don’t know what his advisers are telling him, but if you set about systematically to weaken Ukraine, you couldn’t come up with a better plan," Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton said on CNN this week. "This isn’t peace through strength. This is going over to the other side, in the case of the war in Ukraine. Give Trump credit, he knows a good slogan when he hears it, but he’s not pursuing it. He has made one concession after another to the Kremlin." 'YOU STAYED WITH US': ZELENSKY THANKS EUROPEAN LEADERS FOR CONTINUED SUPPORT THE RUNDOWN: Washington Examiner: Trump convenes Cabinet meeting with Musk to instruct agency leaders to work with DOGE Washington Examiner: Ukraine 'brought' US suspension of aid and intel 'on themselves' for Oval Office dispute Washington Examiner: 'You stayed with us': Zelensky thanks European leaders for continued support Washington Examiner: Trump extends tariff exemptions to Canada after dustup with Trudeau Washington Examiner: DoD deputy press secretary faces backlash from Jewish groups over online post Washington Examiner: Greenland PM scoffs at Trump address: 'We do not want to be Americans' Washington Examiner: Trump will 'probably' extend TikTok sale deadline if agreement not reached Washington Examiner: Who lost Ukraine? Washington Examiner: Opinion: What both sides get wrong about Ukraine Washington Examiner: Opinion: Trump's Russia prostration is a great global gift to China Washington Post: DOGE staffers bring U.S. Marshals to small federal agency that denied them access AP: China's foreign minister criticizes US tariffs and accuses the country of 'meeting good with evil' AP: South Korea stops some military drills after accidental bombing in possible setback to US exercises AP: War heroes and military firsts are among 26,000 images flagged for removal in Pentagon DEI purge Air & Space Forces Magazine: Space Force Leaders Start Work on Golden Dome, See Massive Effort Ahead Breaking Defense: Budget Impasse Risks 'Doomsday' Plane Delay, SNC Says Air & Space Forces Magazine: Air Force Aircraft Readiness Plunges to New Low, Alarming Chief Air & Space Forces Magazine: Lockheed Offers a New Low-Cost Cruise Missile as Part of 'High-Low Mix' SpaceNews: US Military Taps Commercial Space Firms for Hypersonic Testing Program New York Times: Breakup of SpaceX's Starship Rocket Disrupts Florida Airports Wall Street Journal: Boeing Seeks Plan B After Fire Destroys Key Supplier's Plant DefenseScoop: DOD Reviewing Contracting Policies, Procedures, and Personnel to Comply with Trump's DOGE Directive Air & Space Forces Magazine: How USAF and USSF's Force Generation Models Overlap: 'You Can't Part Time Warfare' Defense One: F-35 to Get New Software This Summer—but There's No Date Yet for Planned Full Upgrade The War Zone: This Is How the Military Wants AI to Help Control America's Nuclear Arsenal Defense One: General Atomics Says It's Ready to Pump Out up to 18 CCAs per Month THE CALENDAR: FRIDAY | MARCH 7 9 a.m. 1100 Pennsylvania Ave. NW — American Bar Association forum: "Air and Space Law," with former Deputy FAA Administrator Katie Thompson; Nikki Harding, deputy assistant TSA administrator for compliance; and Alex MacDonald, former NASA chief economist https://events.americanbar.org/event TUESDAY | MARCH 11 9:30 a.m. G-50 Dirksen — Senate Armed Services Committee hearing: “Stabilizing the Military Health System to Prepare for Large-Scale Combat Operations,” with testimony from Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Douglas Robb, former director of the Defense Health Agency; retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Paul Friedrichs, former Joint Staff surgeon; and Air Force Reserve Col. Jeremy Cannon, professor of surgery at the Perelman School of Medicine University of Pennsylvania http://www.armed-services.senate.gov 10:30 a.m. 2362-A Rayburn — House Appropriations Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Subcommittee hearing: “Innovative Techniques in Military Construction,” with testimony from Dave Morrow, director of military programs at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; Keith Hamilton, chief engineer, Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command; Thomas Healy, CEO, Hyliion Incorporated; and Brent Richardson, principal research scientist of energy, infrastructure and environment at the Center for Naval Analysis http://appropriations.house.gov 2 p.m. 2200 Rayburn —House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe hearing: ""Arms Control, International Security, and U.S. Assistance to Europe: Review and Reforms for the State Department," with testimony from Yleem Poblete, PhD, former assistant secretary, State Department Bureau of Arms Control, Verification and Compliance; Daniel Kochis, senior fellow, Hudson Institute; and James O'Brien, former assistant secretary, State Department Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs https://foreignaffairs.house.gov/hearing/arms-control WEDNESDAY | MARCH 12 12 p.m. — Cato Institute discussion: "The Troublemaker: How Jimmy Lai Became a Billionaire, Hong Kong's Greatest Dissident, and China's Most Feared Critic," with Mark Clifford, author and president, Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation; Sebastien Lai, son of Jimmy Lai; Mark Simon, former group director, Next Digital Companies; and Ian Vasquez, vice president for international studies, Cato Institute https://www.cato.org/events/troublemaker | | | | "As the secretaries learn about, and understand, the people working for the various Departments, they can be very precise as to who will remain, and who will go. We say the 'scalpel' rather than the 'hatchet.' The combination of them, Elon, DOGE, and other great people will be able to do things at a historic level." | | President Donald Trump, announcing on his Truth Social platform that Elon Musk will be an adviser, not the decider, about which federal employees are fired. |
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