TRUMP: ‘I’LL KNOW IN TWO WEEKS’: After a week of insisting the meeting he personally brokered between Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky was on track, President Donald Trump has pronounced himself “not happy” it’s not happening, and is vowing to figure out which of the two presidents is responsible for slow rolling peace talks aimed at ending the war in Ukraine — in two weeks.
“I’ll see whose fault it is. If there are reasons why, I’ll understand that. I know exactly what I’m doing. We’re going to see whether or not they have a meeting,” Trump said. “And if they don’t, why didn’t they have a meeting? Because I told them to have a meeting. But I’ll know in two weeks what I’m going to do. I have a pretty good idea,” Trump said at a White House event on Friday.
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“I think I’ll know the attitude of Russia and, frankly, of Ukraine. It takes two,” Trump said, laying out two options: sanctioning Putin or essentially abandoning Zelensky. “It’s going to be a very important decision. And that’s whether or not it’s massive sanctions or massive tariffs or both. Or do we do nothing and say, ‘it’s your fight.’”
“I’m not happy about anything about that war, nothing. Not happy at all. We’ll see what happens. I think over the next two weeks, we’re going to find out which way it’s going to go.”
Two weeks will be Sept. 5. Mark your calendar.
TRUMP ‘NOT HAPPY’ WITH PUTIN’S DODGING, WEIGHS JOINING TALKS OR ALLOWING DEEPER UKRAINIAN STRIKES
LAVROV: ‘THERE IS NO MEETING PLANNED’: In a recorded interview that aired on NBC’s Meet the Press, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov conceded, “There is no meeting planned,” between Putin and Zelensky, and blamed Ukraine for not accepting the preconditions that Trump said out of the Alaska summit on Aug. 15.
“Putin is ready to meet with Zelensky when the agenda would be ready for a summit. And this agenda is not ready at all,” Zelensky told NBC’s Kristen Welker. “It was very clear to everybody that there are several principles which Washington believes must be accepted, including no NATO membership, including the discussion of territorial issues, and Zelensky said no to everything.”
“He even said no to, as I said, to canceling legislation prohibiting the Russian language. How can we meet with a person who is pretending to be a leader?”
Lavrov insisted that an American-funded electronics factory in far western Ukraine hit by Russian missiles last week was a legitimate military target, not a civilian enterprise as Zelensky has claimed.
“Some people are really naive and when they see a coffee machine in the window, they believe that this is the place where coffee machines are produced. Our intelligence has very good information,” Lavrov said, adding that Russia “never, ever” deliberately targets “any sites which are not linked to military abilities of Ukraine.”
Prompting an incredulous Welker to respond, “Close to 50,000 civilians have either been killed or injured in this war. Russia has hit maternity wards, churches, schools, hospitals, a kindergarten just this past week. So either the Russian military has terrible aim, or you are targeting civilians. Which is it?”
Lavrov blamed Ukraine for civilian deaths, and repeated his denial, “We never target civilian sites.”
RUSSIA READY TO MEET ZELENSKY AS ‘DE FACTO HEAD OF THE REGIME’
LET’S NOT GET ALL ‘NITPICKY’ ABOUT WHO INVADED WHOM: In shades of a classic Monty Python scene, in which Sir Lancelot kills the best man at a wedding, Vice President J.D. Vance has suggested it’s best to let bygones be bygones in the quest for peace in Ukraine.
“What I admire about the president in this moment is he’s not … you know, trying to focus on every nitpicky detail of how this thing started three and a half years ago,” Vance said on NBC’s Meet the Press. “He’s trying to focus on the nitpicky details of now, of what do the parties disagree on? What do they agree on? And how do you build a foundation from one side of that ledger to the other so that you can stop the killing?”
“We sometimes feel like we’ve made great progress with the Russians, and sometimes, as the president has said, he’s been very frustrated with the Russians. And we’re going to keep on doing what we have to do to bring this thing to a close,” Vance said. “What we do believe, though, is that we continue to have a lot of cards. The president of the United States has a lot of cards left to play to apply pressure to try to bring this conflict to a close, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
“He’s tried to make it clear that Russia can be reinvited into the world economy if they stop the killing, but they’re going to continue to be isolated if they don’t stop the killing.”
The comment that Vance made that drew the strongest reaction on social media, was when he told host Kristen Welker, “This is how wars ultimately get settled. If you go back to World War II, if you go back to World War I, if you go back to every major conflict in human history, they all end with some kind of negotiation.”
As many posters on X pointed out, World War II ended with Germany and Japan’s unconditional surrender. Many wars ended when one side suffered a crushing defeat. The 1991 Iraq war comes to mind, as does Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo and, more recently, the Syrian civil war.
UKRAINE PEACE DEAL ON UNCERTAIN TRAJECTORY AFTER ALASKA SUMMIT
Good Monday 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.
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HAPPENING TODAY: South Korea’s new liberal president, Lee Jae Myung is in Washington to meet with President Donald Trump in a highly anticipated first summit that is expected to focus on trade and security issues. Trump has announced sweeping tariffs on Korean imports, originally set at 25%, but dropped to 15% after negotiations.
Lee has only been in office since June, winning a snap election after his conservative predecessor was removed for attempting to impose martial law.
The White House schedule has Trump greeting Lee at noon, and then the two leaders sitting down for lunch at 12:45. But Trump has a habit of turning these meetings with foreign leaders into Q&A sessions with reporters.
The meeting comes two days after the state-run Korean Central News Agency said North Korea tested two types of new anti-air missiles, while leader Kim Jong Un looked on. This coincided with South Korean and U.S. forces conducting their annual military exercises known as Ulchi Freedom Shield.
KIM JONG UN REWARDS NORTH KOREAN SOLDIERS RETURNING FROM UKRAINE WITH ‘HERO’ TITLE
PETRAEUS: TRUMP IS ‘SPOT ON’: Friday morning, in a cryptic post on Truth Social, President Trump railed about how Ukraine has been forced to fight Russia with one hand tied behind its back.
“It is very hard, if not impossible, to win a war without attacking an invaders [sic] country. It’s like a great team in sports that has a fantastic defense, but is not allowed to play offense. There is no chance of winning!” he posted, “It is like that with Ukraine and Russia. Crooked and grossly incompetent Joe Biden would not let Ukraine FIGHT BACK, only DEFEND. How did that work out?”
“It’s a very valid observation. It’s spot on,” former U.S. Central Commander retired Gen. David Petraeus said on ABC’s This Week. “And interestingly, as we learned in a story overnight, it’s contrary to the Pentagon policy.”
While Trump blamed Biden, the Wall Street Journal reported that since March, Trump’s Pentagon has been blocking Ukraine from using U.S.-supplied ATACMS [Army Tactical Missile Systems] to strike deep into Russian territory. “On at least one occasion, Ukraine sought to use ATACMS against a target on Russian territory but was rejected,” two officials told the newspaper.
“This is another case where it appears that the Pentagon is carrying out policies that conflict with President Trump’s inclination,” Petraeus said.
The Wall Street Journal report identified Elbridge Colby, the undersecretary for policy, as the person behind a “new review mechanism” that gives Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth the final say over whether and where Ukraine can use ATACMS.
In a speech in Kyiv yesterday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky brushed off the restrictions as no longer relevant. “Today, we are using long-range weapons of domestic production. We don’t discuss such issues with the U.S. That was a long time ago.”
ARMED GUARD TROOPS PATROL WASHINGTON: As of last night, some members of the National Guard mobilized to support the federal takeover of Washington D.C.’s police department have been authorized to carry their service weapons. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth authorized the arming of Guard troops last week, and over the weekend, some soldiers were spotted with side arms in their holsters and some carrying rifles.
“Our Guardsmen are focused on protecting federal assets and providing a safe environment for law enforcement officers making arrests,” the Pentagon posted yesterday. “The streets of Washington D.C. are SAFER because of them.”
A Defense Department official who was not authorized to speak publicly told the Associated Press that “all units with firearms have been trained and are operating under strict rules for use of force.”
HEGSETH AUTHORIZES NATIONAL GUARD TROOPS TO CARRY SERVICE WEAPONS IN DC
WHO SAID IT BEST? Democrats like to accuse Republicans who they don’t see as sufficiently supportive of Ukraine of “parroting Kremlin talking points.” One reason is that often some of the rhetoric sounds eerily similar. Take the following two quotes:
“President Putin has regard for President Trump, respecting President Trump’s concentration on the interests, national interests of the United States, national interests and well being and historic heritage of the American people. And I don’t have any doubt that President Trump respects the same attitude of President Putin to protecting national interests of Russia, to protecting basic interests of the Russian citizens.”
“And I think fundamentally he’s a person who looks out for the interests as he sees it as of Russia. And I think one of the reasons he respects the president of the United States is because he knows the president looks out for the interests of the American people.”
The first is from Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The second is from Vice President J.D. Vance.
THE RUNDOWN:
Washington Examiner: Ukraine peace deal on uncertain trajectory after Alaska summit
Washington Examiner: Trump ‘not happy’ with Putin’s dodging, weighs joining talks or allowing deeper Ukrainian strikes
Washington Examiner: Vance says Putin won’t put ‘puppet regime’ in Ukraine, touts Trump’s ‘energetic diplomacy’
Washington Examiner: Russia ready to meet Zelensky as ‘de facto head of the regime’
Washington Examiner: Kim Jong Un rewards North Korean soldiers returning from Ukraine with ‘Hero’ title
Washington Examiner: Hegseth fires director of Defense Intelligence Agency
Washington Examiner: Trump and Hegseth continue to remake senior military positions
Washington Examiner: Hegseth authorizes National Guard troops to carry service weapons in DC
Washington Examiner: Trump rips Wes Moore on Baltimore crime, threatens to deploy Guard
Washington Examiner: Pentagon criticizes report about Hegseth’s security detail
Washington Examiner: Company showcases counter drone technology that can take over every machine with click of one button
Washington Examiner: Kremlin-endorsed social app to come preinstalled on all Russian smartphones
Washington Examiner: Trump again ponders his afterlife: ‘Some kind of report card up there someplace’
Washington Examiner: Israeli airstrikes hit Yemen’s capital, targeting Iran-backed Houthis
Washington Examiner: Tom Rogan Opinion: The questions that need answering over John Bolton FBI raid
Washington Examiner: Panetta suggests Bolton was targeted over past Trump criticisms
Washington Examiner: Illegal immigrant population reached 14 million under Biden in 2023
Washington Examiner: Inside the Georgia campus where ICE is training thousands of new recruits
Washington Examiner: Canada dropping retaliatory tariffs on many US products
Washington Examiner: Tom Rogan Opinion: Trump’s UN ambassador nominee needs a Senate vote
Washington Examiner: Tom Rogan Opinion: Cartel rising in Mexico: CJNG undermines Sheinbaum government and Mexican sovereignty
Washington Examiner: Michael Rubin Opinion: False genocide charges don’t help Palestinians
DoD: Hegseth Announces Establishment of Mexican Border Defense Medal
Wall Street Journal: Trump Looks to Chicago Next in Federal Crackdown
Wall Street Journal: Pentagon Has Quietly Blocked Ukraine’s Long-Range Missile Strikes on Russia
Wall Street Journal: Russia Covets This Ukraine Province Above All. These Maps and Charts Show Why.
Wall Street Journal: The New Acronym Driving South Korea’s Summit With Trump: MASGA
Washington Post: Land for peace? Ukrainians weigh frozen front line to placate Russia.
Washington Post: The president repeatedly pointed finger at John Bolton in the days before raids
Washington Post: Hegseth fires head of Defense Intelligence Agency, Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse
Washington Post: Hegseth authorizes National Guard to carry weapons in D.C. deployment
Militarycom: Air Force Top Enlisted Leader Says Service Oath Isn’t Made to ‘Any Individual’ Amid General’s Retirement
Fox News: National Guard Mobilizing in 19 States Amid Immigration, Crime Crackdown
AP: Four journalists, including a freelancer who worked with AP, killed in Israeli strike on Gaza hospital
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Collaborative Combat Aircraft First Flights are Imminent, Sources Say
Air & Space Forces Magazine: NORAD F-16s Intercept Russian Spy Plane Near Alaska 2 Days in a Row
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Air Force Seeks Fivefold Funding Hike for Mobile Base Defense Tech
Federal News Network: Army Opens Third Round of Deferred Resignation Program Amid Reorganization
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Air Force Investigates Deaths of Multiple Airmen Amid Summer Safety Concerns
THE CALENDAR:
MONDAY | AUGUST 25
12 p.m. — Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft virtual discussion: “The Trillion Dollar Pentagon Budget: Boondoggle or Beneficial,” with William Hartung, author focusing on the arms industry and U.S. military budget; Julia Gledhill, research analyst for the Stimson Center’s National Security Reform Program; Veronique De Rugy, chair in political economy and senior research fellow at George Mason University’s Mercatus Center; Ben Freeman, director, Quincy Institute’s Democratizing Foreign Policy Program https://quincyinst.org/events/the-trillion-dollar-pentagon-budget
8:30 p.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies virtual discussion: “Art of the Deal: New Opportunities for ROK-U.S. Cooperation,” with keynote remarks by former Defense Secretary James Mattis https://www.csis.org/events/joongang-csis-forum
TUESDAY | AUGUST 26
8 a.m. 7920 Jones Branch Dr., McLean, Virginia — Potomac Officers Club Navy Summit, with Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Information Warfare Vice Adm. Karl Thomas; Navy CTO Justin Fanelli; Vice Adm. Brad Skillman, deputy chief of naval operations for integration of capabilities and resources; Navy CIO Jane Rathbun delivers closing remarks https://www.potomacofficersclub.com/events/2025-navy-summit/
10 a.m. — Arab Center Washington, D.C. virtual discussion: “What Comes Next in Gaza?” with Yara Asi, assistant professor, University of Central Florida’s School of Global Health Management and Informatics and non-resident fellow at the Arab Center Washington, D.C.; Diana Buttu, Palestinian-Canadian lawyer and analyst and former spokesperson for the Palestinian Liberation Organization; Mouin Rabbani, co-editor of Jadaliyya; Jeremy Scahill, investigative journalist and co-founder of Drop Site News; and Yousef Munayyer, head of the Palestine/Israel Program and senior fellow at the Arab Center Washington, D.C. https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register
10 a.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies Defense and Security Department and the U.S. Naval Institute or a Maritime Security Dialogue virtual and in-person discussion: “The Future of Naval Aviation,” with Vice Adm. Daniel Cheever, commander, Naval Air Forces and commander, Naval Air Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet in conversation with retired Rear Adm. Raymond Spicer, chief executive officer and publisher, U.S. Naval Institute https://www.csis.org/events/future-naval-aviation-conversation-vadm-cheever
12 p.m. — New America virtual book discussion: The Fort Bragg Cartel: Drug Trafficking and Murder in the Special Forces, with author Seth Harp, 2025 fellow of New America; and Mike Giglio, author, filmmaker and 2022 fellow of New America https://www.newamerica.org/fellows/events/the-fort-bragg-cartel/
WEDNESDAY | AUGUST 27
8 a.m. 801 Allen Y. Lew Place NW — National Defense Industrial Association Emerging Technologies for Defense Conference and Exhibition, with Emil Michael, undersecretary of defense for research and engineering; Janet Wolfson, deputy assistant Air Force secretary for science, technology and engineering; Jeremy Andrews, director of science, technology and engineering, Space Force; Gillian Bussey, deputy chief science officer, Space Force; John Garstka, director of cyber warfare at the Office of the Principal Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary for Industrial Base Policy, and Navy Adm. Christopher Grady, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff https://www.ndiatechexpo.org/
9 a.m. 11493 Sunset Hills Dr., Reston, Virginia — Government Executive Media Group’s NextGov/Federal Computer Week Defense One and Route Fifty “Quantum Summit.” with Edward Mays, deputy assistant commissioner for infrastructure and support services at U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Information Technology; Charles Tahan, former assistant director of quantum information science in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy; Garfield Jones, associate chief of strategic technology at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency https://events.nextgov.com/quantum-summit/
9:30 a.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies virtual discussion: “What Happened at the Trump-Lee Summit?” with retired Army Gen. Vincent Brooks, commander of U.S. Forces Korea, United Nations Command, and ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command; Victor Cha, Korea chair and president of the CSIS Foreign Policy Department; Mark Lippert, CSIS non-resident senior adviser and Korea chair; and Philip Luck, international business chair and director, CSIS Economics Program http://www.csis.org
10 a.m. — Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies virtual discussion: “Nuclear Deterrence,” with Air Force Lt. Gen. Andrew Gebara, deputy chief of staff for strategic deterrence and nuclear integration https://www.mitchellaerospacepower.org/events/lt-gen-andrew-gebara/
8 p.m. — Jews United for Democracy and Justice virtual discussion: “War, Peace and the American Future: Insights From a Former Chair, Joint Chiefs of Staff,” with retired Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, former Joint Chiefs chairman; and Warren Olney, former host and executive producer, “To The Point” https://www.jewsunitedfordemocracy.org/blog/event/august-27-mike-mullen
THURSDAY | AUGUST 28
8 a.m. Washington Convention Center — National Defense Industrial Association Emerging Technologies for Defense Conference and Exhibition, August 27-29, with Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine; Air Force Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, commander, U.S. European Command; Casey Deering, acting deputy assistant Defense secretary for nuclear matters; Air Force Lt. Col. Jared Bindi, chief of science, tech and innovation at the U.S. Africa Command; and Michael Duffey, undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment https://www.ndiatechexpo.org/
8 a.m 2401 M St., NW — George Washington University Project for Media and National Security Defense Writers Group breakfast conversation: “Assessing China’s Upcoming Parade-Extravaganza for the People’s Liberation Army,” with Mark Cozad and Timothy Heath, senior international defense researchers at RAND [email protected]
FRIDAY | AUGUST 29
8 a.m. Washington Convention Center — National Defense Industrial Association Emerging Technologies for Defense Conference and Exhibition, with former Rep. William “Mac” Thornberry (R-TX), chairman of the Emerging Technologies Institute Advisory Board; Michael Holthe, acting assistant secretary of defense for science and technology at the Office of Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering; Julia Torrence, acting director, Joint Production Accelerator Cell at the Office of the Defense Undersecretary for Acquisition and Sustainment https://www.ndiatechexpo.org/
10 a.m. — National Institute for Deterrence Studies virtual seminar, 10 a.m., on “Nuclear Crossroads: Iran, Deterrence, and the Future of Nonproliferation,” with Chris Ford, professor of international relations and strategic studies at Missouri State University https://thinkdeterrence.com/events/nuclear-crossroads-iran-deterrence
10:30 a.m. — The Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies event to release a policy paper: “Disconnected by Design: Fifth- and Sixth-Generation Aircraft in Disaggregated Collaborative Air Operations,” with retired Air Force Lt. Gen. David Deptula, dean of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies; J. Michael Dahm, senior fellow for aerospace and China studies at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies; and retired Air Force Gen. Tod Wolters, former commander, U.S. European Command and NATO’s supreme allied commander Europe https://afa-org.zoom.us/webinar/register
TUESDAY | SEPTEMBER 2
3 p.m. Senate Chamber — Senate meets to resume consideration of the motion to proceed to S.2296, the “National Defense Authorization Act.” At approximately 5:30 p.m., the Senate will vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to S.2296. http://www.senate.gov