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From the SitRoom to the E-Ring, the inside scoop on defense, national security and foreign policy. | | | | |  | | By Alexander Ward, Matt Berg and Lawrence Ukenye | | 
The NATO nation is an “unfaithful ally,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen told NatSec Daily in a Wednesday afternoon interview. | Tom Williams-Pool/Getty Images | Subscribe here | Email Alex | Email Matt Sen. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN (D-Md.) is mad at Turkey under President RECEP TAYYIP ERDOĞAN, and he doesn’t care who knows it. The NATO nation is an “unfaithful ally,” he told NatSec Daily in a Wednesday afternoon interview. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee member cited a list of transgressions: Turkey’s purchase of Russia’s S-400 missile defense system, attacks on U.S.-backed Kurdish forces in Syria, sidestepping of sanctions on Moscow and, most recently, a near-unilateral block of Sweden and Finland joining the alliance. For those and other issues, but especially the accession one, Van Hollen believes the U.S. shouldn’t sell Turkey the aircraft it most wants. “I don't think we should be providing the advanced F-16 to Turkey, when they're refusing to cooperate with the rest of the NATO alliance,” he told NatSec Daily. “That is my personal view, but I think it reflects overwhelming majority sentiment in the Senate.” The lawmaker has long rung the alarm bells about Turkey. Last year, he introduced an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Action to block the weapons sale. He’s joined by other senators, including SFRC Chair BOB MENENDEZ (D-N.J.), in railing against the country’s regional aggressions and vowing to keep American-made F-16s out of Turkey’s hands. And just today, Sens. JEANNE SHAHEEN (D-N.H.) and THOM TILLIS (R-N.C.), who co-chair the Senate NATO Observer Group, led a letter of 29 senators to President JOE BIDEN urging him to withhold the warplanes until Turkey gives Sweden and Finland the green light. Van Hollen hopes that expressly connecting the fighter jets to the Sweden/Finland issue will get Ankara to change course. That’s unclear, though. Turkish officials have long told NatSec Daily that they see no link between the aircraft transfer and adding two new members to NATO. MURAT MERCAN, Turkey’s ambassador to the U.S., has been delivering that message to lawmakers on the Hill directly — but not to Van Hollen. Asked why the envoy hadn’t yet met with the senator in person, Mercan told us “after your reporting we have gladly asked for a meeting with Senator Van Hollen, and I hope we will meet soon.” He declined to address the lawmaker’s many concerns about Turkey, saying he won’t respond to politicians in public. The U.S.-Turkey relationship could still worsen. Erdoğan has threatened to launch an invasion of northern Syria to root out Kurdish forces that he believes are anti-Ankara terrorists. Van Hollen said such an event might require the U.S. and its partners in Europe to consider sanctions on Turkey. But, the senator repeatedly noted, he’s not inclined to call for the longtime NATO ally to be kicked out of the storied political-military organization. “The bottom line is it's important for Turkey to be a faithful NATO ally and a faithful partner with the United States,” Van Hollen declared.
| | | UKRAINE UNDER ATTACK: Russian missiles have bombarded Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine in the past day, killing civilians and hindering rescue efforts in a city that serves as a key command center in Kyiv’s battle for Bakhmut. At least three people were killed when a rocket slammed into a four-story apartment complex in the city Wednesday night, The New York Times’ MICHAEL SCHWIRTZ reports. As rescuers dug through the rubble more rockets struck the city. The attacks came as YEVGENY PRIGOZHIN, leader of the Russian paramilitary Wagner Group, claimed victories near Bakhmut, saying that his forces had seized the village of Sacco and Vanzetti to the north. While the gains are small — if Prigozhin is telling the truth — they underscore Moscow’s increasing push for Bakhmut in the past weeks by narrowing Ukraine’s routes to resupply the city or evacuate troops. DOUBLE TROUBLE: The European Union will train a total of 30,000 Ukrainian troops, doubling the previous number as Kyiv readies for a spring counteroffensive, The Wall Street Journal’s LAURENCE NORMAN reports. Launched in November, the program originally aimed to teach 15,000 soldiers battlefield skills by May. About 10,000 have already been trained or are in the process, which is taking place in Poland and Germany. CAN’T TAKE CRIMEA: It’s unlikely that Ukraine will be able to recapture Crimea from Russian troops in the near future, four senior Defense Department officials told House Armed Services Committee lawmakers in a classified briefing, as Alex reported last night alongside PAUL McLEARY and CONNOR O’BRIEN. It’s unclear what led the briefers to that assessment, but it’s sure to frustrate leaders in Kyiv who consider taking the peninsula back one of their signature goals. The clear indication, as relayed by three people with direct knowledge of Thursday’s briefing’s contents, was that the Pentagon doesn’t believe Ukraine has — or soon will have — the ability to force Russian troops out of the peninsula Moscow seized nearly a decade ago. S/XI: Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN will meet with Chinese leader XI JINPING during his two-day visit to Beijing starting on Sunday, the Financial Times’ DEMETRI SEVASTOPULO reports, becoming the first chief U.S. diplomat to meet with Xi in China since 2017. Beyond U.S.-China relation relations, Blinken is expected to speak sternly with Xi about China’s support for Russia during its invasion of Ukraine. Blinken will also meet with WANG YI, China’s top foreign policy official, and QIN GANG, the former Chinese ambassador to the U.S. and newly minted foreign minister. ANY TAKERS? YES: Belize will take in a Guantanamo detainee and former al-Qaida courier who finished serving his sentence nearly a year ago, our own ERIN BANCO reports. MAJID KHAN has already left the prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba and is now in Belize, a senior State Department official said. The official did not say when the transfer took place. The 42-year-old Pakistani citizen pleaded guilty in 2012 to delivering $50,000 to an al-Qaida affiliate that financed a deadly hotel bombing in Indonesia in 2003, and was sentenced to 26 years in prison. Khan’s sentence was later reduced after he cooperated with the government and testified about his torture by the CIA at black sites oversees, making him eligible for release last March. IT’S THURSDAY: Thanks for tuning in to NatSec Daily. This space is reserved for the top U.S. and foreign officials, the lawmakers, the lobbyists, the experts and the people like you who care about how the natsec sausage gets made. Aim your tips and comments at award@politico.com and mberg@politico.com, and follow us on Twitter at @alexbward and @mattberg33. While you’re at it, follow the rest of POLITICO’s national security team: @nahaltoosi, @woodruffbets, @politicoryan, @PhelimKine, @laraseligman, @connorobrienNH, @paulmcleary, @leehudson, @magmill95, @johnnysaks130, @ErinBanco and @Lawrence_Ukenye.
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Lockheed Martin employees and customers are bound by a common cause. Ennobled by our shared patriotism, we will do all that is necessary to protect American and allied interests. Together, we will strengthen deterrence and help ensure mission readiness today. Learn more. | | | | | | ‘OVERWHELMING NUCLEAR FORCE’: North Korea is prepared to counter U.S. military actions with “most overwhelming nuclear force” in response to joint drills with South Korea’s military, the regime’s foreign ministry said today. As the U.S. and South Korea expand their military drills, the allies are pushing the situation on the peninsula to an “extreme red line,” North Korean officials wrote. “The more dangerous the U.S. threat to the DPRK gets, the stronger backfire the U.S. will face in direct proportion to it.” The harsh words follow Defense Secretary LLOYD AUSTIN’s remarks earlier this week in Seoul, where he pledged that the U.S. would increase its weapons deployment, including fighter jets and aircraft carriers, in the region to counter the northern adversary. NOT TRUE: A story in a German newspaper got some attention Thursday for reporting that CIA Director BILL BURNS, on Biden’s behalf, in January presented a peace plan for Russia and Ukraine in which both sides had to give up some occupied territory. Our own NAHAL TOOSI talked to U.S. officials about the piece and, per a senior one, “that is utter bullshit.” The official was granted anonymity to be very, very blunt. (Okay, also because it involved a sensitive intelligence matter) The CIA issued a rare on-record denial to Nahal: “This is completely false,” said spokesperson TAMMY THORP.
| | | KICK THEM OUT: Sen. MICHAEL BENNET (D-Colo.) penned a letter urging Google and Apple's app stores to remove TikTok due to concerns about China accessing Americans' data through TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance. "No company subject to CCP dictates should have the power to accumulate such extensive data on the American people or curate content to nearly a third of our population," Bennet wrote to Alphabet chief executive SUNDAR PICHAI and Apple CEO TIM COOK. The letter is a part of ongoing bipartisan backlash toward Tiktok over national security concerns, which has resulted in the federal government and many states banning the app from official government devices. TikTok has worked to assuage government concerns about the platform’s data storage efforts, but increasing pressure from Washington, including a House Foreign Relations Committee vote to ban the app, could make it harder to convince lawmakers the app should continue operating in the U.S.
| | | NEW BASE AGREEMENT: The U.S. and Philippines have reached an agreement to open four new American bases in order to deter China's expansion in the South China Sea and efforts to intimidate Taiwan, the Associated Press’ JIM GOMEZ reports. Lloyd Austin traveled to the South Asian nation on Tuesday to solidify the agreement where he announced the expansion would allow the U.S. to deploy more advanced weapons in the region to also help deter North Korea's recent aggression against South Korea. Filipino President FERDINAND MARCOS JR. has pursued warmer relations with Washington after his predecessor RODRIGO DUTERTE sought relations with Moscow and Beijing. Both the U.S. and Philippines have increased training to promote combat readiness and disaster responses.
| | | DEEP POCKETS: New House Armed Services Committee chair Rep. MIKE ROGERS (R-Ala.) said he's placing no limits on how much Pentagon spending the panel will propose in upcoming defense policy legislation — even as members of his own party push for cuts. "We're going to build a budget based on the threats. And that number's going to be whatever it's going to be," Rogers told Connor (for Pros!). "And I have no parameters in my head on what it should be. It will be as big as it needs to be." Still, Rogers said his panel would look to trim what lawmakers view as unnecessary spending, name-checking "woke" personnel policies Republicans have dinged the Pentagon over. He also said the panel would eye older weapons that won't be useful in a high-end potential fight with China. LET’S RESHUFFLE: Speaking of, the House Armed Services subcommittee rosters were announced last night. Here are the highlights: Rep. MIKE GALLAGHER (R-Wis.) will serve as chair of the Cyber, Information Technology and Innovation subcommittee, while Rep. RO KHANNA (D-Calif.) will be the ranking member. Rep. JACK BERGMAN (R-Mich.) was named chair of the Intelligence and Special Operations subcommittee, as Rep. RUBEN GALLEGO (D-Ariz.) takes the spot as ranking member. Rep. JIM BANKS (R-Ind.) will chair the Military Personnel subcommittee, while Rep. ANDY KIM (D-N.J.) becomes the ranking member. Rep. MICHAEL WALTZ (R-Fla.) takes the spot as chair of the Readiness subcommittee, while Rep. JOHN GARAMENDI (D-Calif.) becomes ranking member. Rep.TRENT KELLY (R-Miss.) will chair the Seapower and Projection subcommittee, as Rep. JOE COURTNEY (D-Conn.) takes the ranking member post. Rep. DOUG LAMBORN (R-Colo.) was named chair of the Strategic Forces subcommittee, while Rep. SETH MOULTON (D-Mass.) takes the ranking member spot. Rep. ROB WITTMAN (R-Va.) will chair the Tactical Air and Land Force subcommittee, while Rep. DONALD NORCROSS (D-N.J.) serves as ranking members. Also: The full roster for the new House Select Committee on China was released. “Great lists that should serve the bipartisan goals” that Chair Rep. Gallagher has outlined, the American Enterprise Institute's ERIC SAYERS tweeted. OMAR OUT: House Republicans kicked Rep. ILHAN OMAR (D-Minn.) off the House Foreign Affairs Committee Thursday, asserting that her past comments on Israel were anti-Semitic. Omar and Democrats rebuffed the claim, saying that the move was nothing more than vengeance for when Democrats removed Republicans from committees for their troubling comments. The 218-211-1 vote is the third time since 2021 that a House majority has forcibly removed a member of the opposition party from a committee, our own NICHOLAS WU and OLIVIA BEAVERS report.
| | | OOPS, THAT WAS US: Hungarian Foreign Minister PÉTER SZIJJÁRTÓ criticized U.S. Ambassador DAVID PRESSMAN for his comment in a POLITICO article on Prime Minister VIKTOR ORBÁN’s stance on Ukraine. The dispute first started with an interview with The American Conservative, in which Orbán said Ukraine is a lost cause and that Russia is bound to win the war. Pressman pushed back on that in the POLITICO piece, saying Hungarian leaders “continue to push policies endorsed by Putin.” Szijjártó responded, saying that Pressman’s views about “domestic political developments in Hungary” are “completely irrelevant.” “Respectfully, we do not consider Russia’s attempt to unilaterally redraw the borders of Europe as just a ‘domestic political development in Hungary,’” Pressman wrote back on Twitter. The spat isn’t too surprising, considering the tense relationship the ambassador has with the country. BOJO V. TUCKER: It’s the British-American crossover we never knew we needed. Speaking with the Atlantic Council yesterday, former U.K. BORIS JOHNSON called out a certain Fox News host, saying he has been “amazed and horrified at how many people are frightened of a guy called TUCKER CARLSON,” while critiquing Carlson’s coverage of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. That happened in the afternoon, which provided Carlson with plenty of time to quip back on his primetime show. The former prime minister “rolled, sashayed into Washington yesterday, trying to sell lawmakers on a new world war,” Carlson said. Because of his oratory skills, “we figured he was perfect, if there was one person on earth that might plausibly explain how a war between nuclear-armed Western powers could benefit anyone but China, that man would be Boris Johnson.”
| | | |   | | | | | | — Beacon Global Strategies has named KLON KITCHEN as managing director and JON DARBY as senior advisor. Kitchen, who previously was national security adviser to former Sen. BEN SASSE (R-Neb.), will lead the firm's Global Technology Policy Practice. Darby, who previously was the director of operations for the National Security Agency, will provide insight to the firm's Intelligence Practice. — Eastern Shipbuilding Group has named JOEY D’ISERNIA as CEO and chair of the board. He had served as president since 2015. — RACHEL WALKER is returning to the Republican side of the House Foreign Affairs Committee as a senior adviser. She was just handling comms for the House Intel Committee GOP.
| | | — RACHEL COHEN and GIAN GENTILE, Foreign Policy: Is the U.S. Military Capable of Learning From the War in Ukraine? — JENNIFER RUBIN, The Washington Post: Blinken’s Israel visit is an exercise in damage control — THEODORE OLSON, The Wall Street Journal: The U.S. Must Resolve the Cases of the Guantanamo Detainees
| | | — The United States Institute of Peace, 10 a.m.: A Fireside Chat on Identity and Inclusion with PÁDRAIG Ó TUAMA and AMANDA RIPLEY Have a natsec-centric event coming up? Transitioning to a new defense-adjacent or foreign policy-focused gig? Shoot me an email at award@politico.com to be featured in the next edition of the newsletter. Thanks to our editor, Heidi Vogt, who won’t give us fighter jets until we let other people write this newsletter. We also thank our producer, Kierra Frazier, to whom anyone would sell weapons.
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