Tag: Pentagon

Breaking a trust to build the wall

CQ Budget Podcast, Episode 100

CQ’s award-winning defense reporter John M. Donnelly revealed that a Pentagon fund that President Donald Trump wants to use to pay for his wall is nearly depleted, forcing him to look elsewhere in the Pentagon budget for the money. Trump appears poised to break tradition and bypass Congress in this money transfer, and Donnelly says that “would tear a hole in the fabric of cooperation between the White House and the Congress.”

View the complete post with show notes on The Roll Call website here.

Pentagon put in bind after Trump-Putin summit

The following article by Ellen Mitchell and Rebecca Kheel was posted on the Hill website July 21, 2018:

The Pentagon has been caught flat-footed after President Trump’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin this week, with defense officials struggling to explain statements coming out of Moscow that the two leaders reached agreements involving military issues.

Adding to the angst, Defense Secretary James Mattis has kept a low profile amid backlash to Trump’s comments in Europe. While he met with his counterparts there, Mattis remained offstage for the president’s trip and was not in attendance at this week’s Cabinet meeting.

Mattis, a retired Marine Corps general and former NATO commander, has made no secret of his opinion of Russia, telling reporters traveling with him last week that Moscow has chosen to “undermine the fabric of nations that are young in their democratic processes … whether through false news reporting, economic strictures and interventions.”

View the complete article here.

Trump issues order supporting ban on many transgender troops, defers to Pentagon on new restrictions

The following article by Dan Lamonthe was posted on the Washington Post website March 23, 2018:

President Trump issued an order late Friday that supports a ban on many transgender troops, deferring to a new Pentagon plan that essentially cancels a policy adopted by the Obama administration.

The decision revokes a full ban that Trump issued last summer but disqualifies U.S. troops who have had gender reassignment surgery, as recommended by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.

“By its very nature, military service requires sacrifice,” Mattis wrote in a memo to the president that was released Friday. “The men and women who serve voluntarily accept limitations on their personal liberties — freedom of speech, political activity, freedom of movement — in order to provide the military lethality and readiness necessary to ensure American citizens enjoy their personal freedoms to the fullest extent.” Continue reading “Trump issues order supporting ban on many transgender troops, defers to Pentagon on new restrictions”

Trump forces Pentagon to throw him a parade after his relentless attacks on troops

The following article by Matthew Chapman was posted on the ShareBlue website February 6, 2018:

After years of insults and disrespect for Americans in uniform, Trump will be the first president since George H. W. Bush to throw a military parade for his enjoyment.

Carolyn Kaster, AP Photo

Donald Trump, who has never shied away from defying American norms for the sake of his own ego, is planning to put on a spectacle that would typically be more at home in China or North Korea: a military parade.

According to the Washington Post, the Pentagon is, at the behest of Trump, planning a massive demonstration of U.S. military power on our own streets.

One White House official says the plan “highlights the service and sacrifice of the military and have a unifying moment for the country.” As the Post notes, though, Trump’s real motivation may be envy at the display put on by French President Emmanuel Macron on Bastille Day, which led him to demand a Fourth of July parade last year. Continue reading “Trump forces Pentagon to throw him a parade after his relentless attacks on troops”

Donald Trump orders Pentagon to plan military parade to rival pomp and ceremony of France’s Bastille Day

The following article by the Foreign Staff of the Telegraph was posted on their website February 7, 2018:

Donald Trump admires a military parade in Paris last year Credit: AFP

Donald Trump has asked for a large-scale military parade, an unconventional move that has drawn comparisons between the US President and dictators such as Kim Jong-un.

Mr Trump – who has long toyed with the idea of a parade in Washington that would showcase American muscle and underscore his role as commander-in-chief – made the request to top Pentagon officers, who are looking for a date.

“President Trump is incredibly supportive of America’s great service members who risk their lives every day to keep our country safe,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said. Continue reading “Donald Trump orders Pentagon to plan military parade to rival pomp and ceremony of France’s Bastille Day”

Trump’s ‘marching orders’ to the Pentagon: Plan a grand military parade

The following article by Greg Jaffe and Philip Rucker was posted on the Washington Post website February 6, 2018:

The Pentagon and White House are planning a military parade requested by President Trump, breaking with U.S. tradition. (Elyse Samuels/The Washington Post)

President Trump’s vision of soldiers marching and tanks rolling down the boulevards of Washington is moving closer to reality in the Pentagon and White House, where officials say they have begun to plan a grand military parade later this year showcasing the might of America’s armed forces.

Trump has long mused publicly and privately about wanting such a parade, but a Jan. 18 meeting between Trump and top generals in the Pentagon’s tank — a room reserved for top-secret discussions — marked a tipping point, according to two officials briefed on the planning. Continue reading “Trump’s ‘marching orders’ to the Pentagon: Plan a grand military parade”

Pentagon investigating troubling questions after deadly Niger ambush

The following article by W.J. Hennigan and Brian Bennett was posted on the Los Angeles Times website October 19, 2017:

Defense Secretary James N. Mattis, troubled by a lack of information two weeks after an ambush on a special operations patrol in Niger left four U.S. soldiers dead, is demanding a timeline of what is known about the attack, as a team of investigators sent to West Africa begins its work.

The growing list of unanswered questions and inability to construct a precise account of the Oct. 4 incident have exacerbated a public relations nightmare for the White House, which is embroiled in controversy over President Trump’s belated and seemingly clumsy response this week to console grieving military families. Continue reading “Pentagon investigating troubling questions after deadly Niger ambush”