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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 Eric Bazail-Eimil | |  In India, President Joe Biden met and backslapped with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the G20 host who has overseen his nation’s slide away from democracy. | Pool Photo by Kenny Holston | With help from Eleni Courea and Daniel Lippman Subscribe here | Email Alex | Email Matt NEW DELHI — President JOE BIDEN’s trip to Asia had its share of successes. But the way he achieved those wins re-raised the criticism that Biden sidelines human rights in pursuit of strategic interests. Realpolitik was on full display in the Indian and Vietnamese capitals. Washington’s ties to New Delhi and Hanoi are tighter now than before the president traveled to the region. A G20 joint statement, referring to the Ukraine-Russia war, said all nations should respect the “territorial integrity and sovereignty” of other countries — though the Kremlin-approved declaration didn’t blame Moscow for starting the conflict. A new “economic corridor” could further connect India through the Middle East and into Europe. Movement also was made toward reforming multilateral institutions that serve developing countries and curbing climate change. But Biden irked human rights advocates, and prompted questions from reporters, by how he got all that done. Biden met and backslapped with Indian Prime Minister NARENDRA MODI, the G20 host who has overseen his nation’s slide away from democracy. Ahead of the gathering, Indian authorities bulldozed New Delhi slums for optical purposes. Asked by NatSec Daily whether Biden brought that up with Modi during their one-on-one chat Friday, deputy national security adviser JON FINER didn’t directly say “yes.” “The broad category of issue that that falls into — democratic governance and its state in the United States and in India — was very much on the agenda,” he responded. Then at the G20, Biden and Saudi Crown Prince MOHAMMED BIN SALMAN shook hands following the announcement of the “economic corridor” involving Saudi Arabia. Pictures show a beaming Modi placing his hands atop MBS’ and Biden’s pressed palms. Biden continued his journey in Hanoi for an official upgrade in the U.S.-Vietnam relationship. The two countries have moved closer to one another for years, and the bonhomie has grown following Beijing’s regional aggressions and Vietnam’s desire to court American business fleeing China. But there was no public rebuke of Vietnam’s human rights abuses by the president or anyone in his entourage. The president and his team often say that prioritizing human rights doesn’t mean cutting off ties to abusive actors. The best thing to do, they insist, is to get out on the road, engage those governments and raise the issue while still getting stuff done. It’s a play Biden has run in trying to mediate conflict in the Middle East and to rebuild partnerships with countries he once labeled global “pariahs.” And this weekend Biden repeated often that he — in private — discussed America’s human rights concerns with Modi and Vietnamese leaders. But advocates wanted Biden to state — out loud — that closer relations with the U.S. were dependent on improved human rights conditions. That didn’t happen, and instead both India and Vietnam got what they wanted from the U.S. at minimal cost. “International alliances, while pivotal, should not sideline human rights for the sake of realpolitik,” said NANCY OKAIL, president and CEO of the progressive Center for International Policy. Biden’s trip delivered “a worrying and costly message: that American interests eclipse the fundamental rights of individuals elsewhere.” NGUYEN PHU TRONG, the general secretary of Vietnam’s Communist Party, certainly didn’t seem deterred by Biden’s warnings. During a joint news conference on Sunday, Nguyen emphasized the importance of “non-interference in domestic affairs.” The president in his retort said he’ll further raise his concerns in “candid dialogue.”
| | A message from Lockheed Martin: Our mission is to prepare you for the future by engineering advanced capabilities today.
Many of today’s military systems and platforms were designed to operate independently. Through our 21st Century Security vision, Lockheed Martin is accelerating innovation, connecting defense and digital to enhance the performance of major platforms, to equip customers to stay ahead of emerging threats. Learn more. | | | | | ‘DEVIL’S DEAL’: North Korean leader KIM JONG UN is on his armored train headed to meet VLADIMIR PUTIN in Russia to potentially make a “devil’s deal,” Sen. CHRIS COONS (D-Del.) said this morning. An exchange could involve the Kremlin agreeing to provide more advanced technology to help Pyongyang build a nuclear-armed submarine or successfully launch intercontinental ballistic missiles, both which Kim “is eager to do,” the senator told MSNBC. The Chosun Ilbo, Yonhap, and other South Korean papers report that Kim’s train started chugging Sunday ahead of what looks like a face-to-face with Putin on Tuesday. The Kremlin confirmed Monday that a meeting will take place in the coming days. The autocrat chat (autochat?) could happen as soon as Tuesday in Vladivostok. The Biden administration recently made public intelligence indicating the two leaders would meet to discuss an arms deal — an attempt in “trying to deter them, or at least raise the cost” of the meeting, Coons said. ‘I DON’T WANT TO CONTAIN CHINA’: The subtext to Biden’s Asia trip was that the U.S. was making regional friends at Beijing’s expense. How else to explain why America worked so hard to better its relationships with India and Vietnam, both of them China’s neighbors? The president forcefully pushed back on that narrative, as Alex reported. “I don’t want to contain China,” Biden said during a Sunday night news conference in Hanoi. “We’re not trying to hurt China.” Under his watch, Biden said America’s goal is “getting the relationship right” between the world’s two foremost powers. It’s unclear how Beijing will receive the message, one delivered in its backyard, no less. Republicans back home, meanwhile, have already pounced on Biden, promoting the clip as proof that Biden is weak on China. 9/11 ANNIVERSARY: A U.S. official, granted anonymity to detail declassified but still-sensitive information, told NatSec Daily that al-Qaeda’s ability to threaten the United States from Afghanistan or Pakistan “is probably at its lowest point since the group relocated to Afghanistan from Sudan in 1996,” and its assessed ineffectiveness “will likely persist over several years.” But as CNN and others noted, there’s concern in the Biden administration that the removal of intelligence assets from the Middle East and South Asia has made it harder to track terrorist activities, namely those of ISIS. Still, the U.S. official told us that since early 2023, “Taliban raids in Afghanistan have removed at least eight key ISIS-K leaders and spurred many others to relocate outside Kabul or to neighboring countries in the last few months.” Biden will commemorate the anniversary later today at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska with service members and their families. The move has sparked some outrage from some New Yorkers and Republican commentators who say the president should have instead made a stop in New York on his way back from Vietnam, as Newsweek’s EWAN PALMER reports. Vice President KAMALA HARRIS will be at the Ground Zero memorial in his place. ATACMS at UNGA?: The Biden administration is in active conversations about whether to send long-range missiles to Ukraine amid an intense campaign for the U.S. to transfer the weapon, Alex, PAUL McLEARY and LARA SELIGMAN report. It’s unclear if a decision memo has reached Biden's desk. The officials said a final call would be made with Ukraine’s input, but Washington and Kyiv aren’t engaged in discussions about an announcement or a rollout of Army Tactical Missile Systems. Ukraine is pushing the U.S. to greenlight the delivery of ATACMS by next week’s UN General Assembly attended by Biden and Ukrainian President VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY. Officials in Kyiv said they’re expecting some good news on that front after the Ukrainian leader touches down in New York City. But U.S. officials say that timeline is too tight. A decision by Biden on sending ATACMS for Ukraine’s use against Russian forces would almost certainly come after the annual Turtle Bay confab. IT’S MONDAY: 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 X at @alexbward and @mattberg33. While you’re at it, follow the rest of POLITICO’s national security team: @nahaltoosi, @PhelimKine, @laraseligman, @connorobrienNH, @paulmcleary, @leehudson, @magmill95, @johnnysaks130, @ErinBanco, @reporterjoe, @JGedeon1 and @ebazaileimil.
| | | | Enter the “room where it happens”, where global power players shape policy and politics, with Power Play. POLITICO’s brand-new podcast will host conversations with the leaders and power players shaping the biggest ideas and driving the global conversations, moderated by award-winning journalist Anne McElvoy. Sign up today to be notified of the first episodes in September – click here. | | | | | | | | HALEY BASHES ADMIN CHINA VISITS: Republican presidential hopeful NIKKI HALEY slammed Biden administration officials’ visits to China on Sunday, saying the trips to Beijing amounted to “appeasement.” In an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union Sunday morning, the former South Carolina governor and U.N. ambassador said that the Biden administration isn’t responding seriously to hacks and provocations from Beijing. “How much more needs to happen for Biden to realize you don’t send Cabinet members over to China to appease them? You start getting serious with China and say we’re not going to put up with it,” Haley said. “They keep sending different Cabinet officials over, Jake, and it’s embarrassing.” Haley was not the only Republican presidential candidate who took time over the weekend to bash the Biden administration’s approach to China, with North Dakota Gov. DOUG BURGUM tweeting that “Joe Biden couldn’t be more wrong. We ARE in a Cold War with China.”
| | | | JOIN US ON 9/12 FOR A TALK ON THE NEW AGE OF TRAVELING: In this new era of American travel, trending preferences like wellness tourism, alternative lodging and work-from-anywhere culture provide new but challenging opportunities for industry and policy leaders alike. Join POLITICO on Sept. 12 for an expert discussion examining how the resilience of the tourism and travel industries is driving post-pandemic recovery. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | | MILITARY UNDER FIRE: A network of 85 pro-China social media and blog accounts are spreading disinformation that the U.S. military used experimental weapons to cause the Maui wildfires in August, as our friends at Morning Cybersecurity reported (for Pros!). The global disinfo campaign is taking place across more than a dozen major social media platforms, according to a report by NewsGuard provided first to MC. There is strong evidence that the disinformation campaign was highly coordinated, and it’s the most expansive Chinese-linked influence operation NewsGuard has uncovered. The posts and articles in the campaign all make the same baseless claim: that MI6, the British intelligence service, has revealed that the U.S. military used a "weather weapon" to start the wildfires. But of course, MI6 denied making any such announcement. The social media barrage appears to have been launched by Chinese speakers in mid-August and targeted users in several countries, posting misinformation in 15 languages in addition to Chinese on at least 14 social media sites — including Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube, Reddit, Medium, Quora and TripAdvisor. It’s unclear whether China’s government was directly involved, researchers say. Read: We won’t cut China out of AI summit over spying scandal, U.K. says by our own EMILIO CASALICCHIO and VINCENT MANANCOURT
| | 30-45 DAYS LEFT: Bad weather could hinder Ukraine’s counteroffensive within 30 days, shortening the time Kyiv has to ensure its dramatic operation is a success, Joint Chiefs Chair Gen. MARK MILLEY told the BBC on Sunday. “There's still a reasonable amount of time, probably about 30 to 45 days' worth of fighting weather left, so the Ukrainians aren't done,” he said. "There's battles not done... they haven't finished the fighting part of what they're trying to accomplish." Milley, who will step down from his post at the end of the month, also told CBS News "neither side at this point in time have achieved their political objectives through military means…and the war will continue until one side or the other has achieved those means, or both sides have determined it's time to go to a negotiating table [because] they can't achieve their objectives through military means. And that time is not yet." Ukrainian President Zelenskyy is not ready for such talks yet. “I have to be ready, my team has to be ready for the long war, and emotionally I am ready,” he told the Economist. “This is a bad moment” for peace negotiations, Zelenskyy continued, adding “since Putin sees the same.”
| | MCCAUL’S AFGHANISTAN PROBE: The House Foreign Affairs Committee is escalating its investigation into the U.S. military withdrawal from the Afghanistan war. Chair Rep. MICHAEL McCAUL (R-Texas) told CNN on Sunday that the panel has formally requested transcribed interviews with top spokespeople for the administration during the time: JEN PSAKI of the White House, NED PRICE of the State Department and JOHN KIRBY at the Pentagon. (Psaki is now at MSNBC; Price is in a different role at State; Kirby is a NSC spokesperson). McCaul says he wants to understand why they were giving “a rosy picture while at the same time what was happening on the ground was very different,” he told JAKE TAPPER. McCaul has made prodding deep into the withdrawal a centerpiece of his HFAC leadership. He had a long standoff with Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN over gaining access to a dissent cable about the plan to leave Afghanistan, threatening to hold the top diplomat in contempt of Congress until State handed it over. NatSec Daily has learned that the committee has asked SAM ARONSON to provide testimony on the withdrawal. He’s the first rank-and-file member of the State Department team that worked at Kabul’s airport to be called in.
| | | |   | | | | | FIRST IN NATSEC DAILY –– ‘WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY’: PAUL WHELAN’s sister is calling on the Biden administration to secure her brother’s release before a trial date is set for Wall Street Journal reporter EVAN GERSHKOVICH. In August, a Russian court extended Gershkovich’s pre-trial detention until Nov. 30. If he’s found guilty of espionage charges, allegations the WSJ and U.S. government fiercely refute, Gershkovich could face 20 years in prison, complicating his release into American custody. ELIZABETH WHELAN told NatSec Daily that provides the U.S. a “window of opportunity to get Paul out without further complication,” as an imprisoned Gershkovich could increase the Kremlin’s price for any hostage swap involving the journalist. Whelan says the administration “has been amazingly good” at keeping in touch with her and her family over Paul, citing Secretary of State Blinken's phone call with the former Marine last month. But she’s worried the administration is dilly-dallying, failing to take the initiative and compel Russia to let Paul go. State Department spokesperson MATTHEW MILLER told NatSec Daily that “President Biden remains committed to bringing Paul home.” He also repeated a call for Russia to immediately release both Whelan and Gershkovich. BRITAIN’S CHINA SPY SCANDAL: The astonishing revelation that a British parliamentary researcher has been arrested on suspicion of spying for China has sent shockwaves through U.K. political circles, our own ELENI COUREA writes in. Prime Minister RISHI SUNAK said he raised “very strong concerns” about Beijing’s interference in parliament at a meeting with Chinese premier Qiang on Sunday. The two had a brush-by on the margins of the G20 summit, at which Sunak raised the case of the alleged spy, who had links to hawkish Conservative Party MPs including the chair of the U.K. parliament’s foreign affairs committee, ALICIA KEARNS. Police officers are investigating the researcher and a second man under the Official Secrets Act, which provides for the protection of Britain’s state secrets. The arrests were made in March but both men were released on police bail until a date in early October. Hawkish Tory MP IAIN DUNCAN SMITH said the British government failed “to realize how dangerously threatening China really is becoming.”
| | — EILEEN DONAHOE has been named the State Department’s special envoy and coordinator for digital freedom in the Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy. She previously served as executive director of the Global Digital Policy Incubator at Stanford University’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. — Slingshot Aerospace, a space data analytics company focused on spaceflight safety, has tapped former NSC Space Policy Director AUDREY SCHAFFER to be its vice president of strategy and policy. — Former counsel to the House Homeland Security cyber subcommittee ALICIA SMITH is starting her first day at CISA’s Office of Strategy, Policy and Plans today. — ELIZABETH BIBI has started her new role as director of media relations for Oxfam America, a global organization combating inequality to end poverty and injustice. She previously served as senior director of communications at the Human Rights Campaign.
| | — HANS KRISTENSEN, MATT KORDA and ELIANA JOHNS, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists: Pakistan nuclear weapons, 2023 — JOHN BOLTON, The Washington Post: The G20 should abolish itself — HUSSEIN IBISH, The New York Times: A Saudi-Israel deal would bring big benefits — to the U.S.
| | — House China Select Committee, 8:30 a.m.: A field hearing on "systemic risk: the Chinese Communist Party's threat to U.S. financial stability” — The Intelligence and National Security Alliance, 9 a.m.:A virtual discussion on issues including strategic competition with China — Senate Armed Services Committee, 9:30 a.m.: A hearing on the nomination of Gen. DAVID W. ALLVIN — The Wilson Center Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies, 11 a.m.: How does the Kremlin man the war in Ukraine? — The Wilson Center, 12 p.m.: One year after Mahsa Amini's death: the impact of female protests in Iran — The Henry L. Stimson Center, 1 p.m.: U.S. policy toward Afghanistan — The Center for Strategic and International Studies International Security Program, 1 p.m.: Next war online: using cyber games to understand emerging threats — The U.S. Navy Memorial, 1 p.m.: A virtual discussion with Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy JAMES HONEA — Georgetown University, 2 p.m.: Transforming the Indo-Pacific order: The AUKUS (Australia, United Kingdom, United States) wager — The Center for Strategic and International Studies Project on Prosperity and Development, 2 p.m.: A discussion on "Water: Access, Livelihoods, and Security" — The Hudson Institute, 3 p.m.: Quantum computing and avenues for U.S.-Japanese cooperation — The Atlantic Council, 4 p.m.: U.S. Department of the Navy financial management: building the force Thanks to our editor, Heidi Vogt, who we criticize in private and in public. We also thank our producer, Gregory Svirnovskiy, who we only say nice things about.
| | A message from Lockheed Martin: Our mission is to prepare you for the future by engineering advanced capabilities today.
Many of today’s military systems and platforms were designed to operate independently. Through our 21st Century Security vision, Lockheed Martin is accelerating innovation, connecting defense and digital to enhance the performance of major platforms, to equip customers to stay ahead of emerging threats. Learn more. | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |  |
