| | | | |  | | By Miles Herszenhorn and Eric Bazail-Eimil | |  Mark Rutte (left) — known for his pragmatism, skillful coalition building and his staunch transatlantic views — may be better suited to working with President Joe Biden than Donald Trump | Alex Brandon/AP | With help from Maggie Miller, Nahal Toosi and Matt Berg Subscribe here | Email Matt | Email Eric The Biden administration got its way when outgoing Dutch Prime Minister MARK RUTTE secured the support of all 32 NATO allies for the alliance's top political post. Though the secretary general of NATO is often described as more of a secretary than a general, former NATO officials and U.S. diplomats said the alliance may need Rutte to be battle ready if DONALD TRUMP wins back the presidency in November. Rutte — known for his pragmatism, skillful coalition building and his staunch transatlantic views — may be better suited to working with President JOE BIDEN than Trump, who at one point threatened to pull the U.S. out of the alliance, and who has repeatedly berated European allies over their meager defense spending. GORDON SONDLAND, who served as Trump’s ambassador to the European Union, told NatSec Daily that Rutte “has had a history with him of pushing back when he thinks Trump is wrong, and he does it right to his face.” “I think that’s very refreshing for Trump,” he added. But long-time hands say Trump will pose a challenge to even the most seasoned diplomat. “No one person is going to be able to manage an alliance that is bound to be disrupted by a president who is not interested in either being managed himself or managing an alliance,” said IVO DAALDER, who served as U.S. ambassador to NATO during the Obama administration. Outgoing NATO Secretary General JENS STOLTENBERG attempted to manage his own relationship with Trump through a policy of appeasement, including by allowing Trump to take credit for helping increase member countries’ defense spending. That strategy may not work in a second term. “Trump, and some people around him, won’t be tricked a second time,” said FABRICE POTHIER, who served as former NATO Secretary General ANDERS FOGH RASMUSSEN’s policy chief. KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, who served as ambassador to NATO under Trump, told NatSec Daily that Trump’s relationship with the alliance could be determined by who he appoints as defense and state secretaries. Daalder said Trump may appoint a greater number of NATO-skeptics to top administrative posts if he wins in November. “The first term was different,” said Daalder, noting that many of those who served in Trump’s top defense and national security roles were “traditional pro-alliance people.” “If RIC GRENELL is secretary of state or if, god forbid, JARED KUSHNER — they don’t care about, they don’t understand and they don’t want to understand NATO,” he added. But regardless of who influences Trump’s stance on NATO, don’t expect Rutte to adopt Stoltenberg’s conciliatory approach to the former president. “Yes, he will try to figure out a way to work with the United States, but that only works if the United States wants to work with NATO — and there’s not a lot of evidence that’s going to be the case,” Daalder said. The Trump campaign has revealed little about how he would approach NATO under Rutte, saying that Trump “will restore peace and rebuild American strength and deterrence on the world stage.”
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The F-35 is the most significant defense program in the U.S., powering small and large businesses and creating high-paying, high-tech and manufacturing jobs for workers in the innovation economy. Learn more. | | | | | SUBTLE SHIFTS ON UKRAINE: The U.S. has told Ukraine it can use American-supplied weapons to hit any Russian forces attacking from across the border — not just those in the region near Kharkiv, our own LARA SELIGMAN reports. The subtle shift in messaging first appeared in a PBS interview with national security adviser JAKE SULLIVAN, who said the agreement with Ukraine about firing American weapons into Russia extends to “anywhere that Russian forces are coming across the border from the Russian side to the Ukrainian side to try to take additional Ukrainian territory.” Two U.S. officials maintained that the rhetorical change does not represent a change in policy and that the initial decision was simply characterized in context of Russia’s attacks on the city of Kharkiv. WHAT TO DO ABOUT HAMAS: Israel is continuing its campaign in southern and central Gaza, battering refugee camps and sending its tanks deeper into the city of Rafah, according to Reuters’ NIDAL AL-MUGHRABI. Israeli planes struck a house in the Al-Nuseirat camp and tanks shelled parts of two other historic refugee camps in the Gaza Strip Wednesday night. But Israeli military leadership is now publicly butting heads with Prime Minister BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, warning that it will be impossible to defeat the militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip, according to The Wall Street Journal’s JARED MALSIN and ANAT PELED. “The idea that we can destroy Hamas or make Hamas disappear is misleading to the public,” military spokesman DANIEL HAGARI told Israeli television on Wednesday night. Asked about the growing tensions between Israel’s military and its political leaders, National Security Council spokesperson JOHN KIRBY punted at a press gaggle today, saying that the White House does not “see any impact of these tensions on our shared objective, getting all the hostages out, getting this deal in place, getting a ceasefire in place, and trying to find a way to end the war.” HEZBOLLAH TALKS TOUGH: Meanwhile on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah is warning that it has more advanced capabilities that will allow it to hold its own against the Israeli military, according to the Associated Press’ KAREEM CHEHAYEB and ABBY SEWELL. “We now have new weapons. But I won’t say what they are,” the group’s leader HASSAN NASRALLAH claimed in a televised address commemorating a top Hezbollah commander who was killed in southern Lebanon by an Israeli air strike last week. “When the decision is made, they will be seen on the front lines.” The White House is eager to avoid a second front breaking out in Israel’s war, as tensions mount between Israel and Hezbollah and skirmishes occur at the border with Lebanon. “I would just tell you that we still don't want to see a second front open up,” spokesperson Kirby said. Top allies of the administration on Capitol Hill are voicing confidence that the White House will help prevent conflict from escalating further. Sen. CHRIS COONS (D-Del.) told NatSec Daily today that “we have a very capable ambassador” in AMOS HOCHSTEIN. KIM + PUTIN = BFFS FOREVER: Putin and North Korean leader KIM JONG-UN are pledging to provide each other’s countries with immediate military assistance if faced with a foreign invasion, according to Reuters’ JACK KIM and JU-MIN PARK. The announcement, a major showing of the deepening ties between the two U.S. adversaries, capped off a rare foreign tour for the Russian leader, who is slated to make stops in Vietnam and other countries this week. But South Korea has promised to respond in kind to the Moscow-Pyongyang lovefest. South Korean newswire Yonhap’s KIM EUN-JUNG reported this morning that Seoul is reconsidering its earlier decision not to supply Ukraine with weapons, opening the door to a fresh arms infusion for Kyiv’s beleaguered war effort from one of the world’s largest weapons manufacturers. 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 mberg@politico.com and ebazail@politico.com, and follow us on X at @mattberg33 and @ebazaileimil. While you’re at it, follow the rest of POLITICO’s national security team: @alexbward, @nahaltoosi, @PhelimKine, @laraseligman, @connorobrienNH, @paulmcleary, @leehudson, @magmill95, @johnnysaks130, @ErinBanco, @reporterjoe, @JGedeon1 and @mherszenhorn.
| | | | POLITICO is gearing up to deliver experiences that help you navigate the NATO Summit. What issues should our reporting and events spotlight? Click here to let us know. | | | | | | | | | THE CONGRESSIONAL TRUMP-PROOFERS: A group of progressive Democrats wants lawmakers on key national security and foreign policy panels to join their efforts to limit the damage a second DONALD TRUMP presidency could do to the federal civil service. As our colleagues at Morning Defense report (for Pros!), the group, led by Rep. JARED HUFFMAN (D-Calif.) is reacting to Project 2025, a policy roadmap for a possible second Trump administration compiled by the conservative Heritage Foundation. One of the authors of Heritage’s 920-page plan is Trump’s last acting defense secretary CHRISTOPHER MILLER, who “wants to fire most of the generals at the Pentagon, slash defense spending by half, shut down the military academies, break up the military-industrial complex,” according to a March profile. Rep. TED LIEU (D-Calif.), a retired Air Force reserve colonel, told our own JOE GOULD he’s worried that gutting the civil service will limit the number of objective professionals at the Pentagon and other key agencies. “You would want our Defense Department and national security agencies to take actions based on objective facts, not because you have partisan loyalists stuck into various positions,” he said. “It could be quite damaging if you take out people who are skilled professionals and replace them with people who have an agenda.”
| | BAD BUSINESS: The Biden administration is banning the sale and update of antivirus software products from Russian cybersecurity giant Kaspersky in the next few months due to cyber espionage concerns, our own MAGGIE MILLER writes in. The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security unveiled a rule Thursday that will ban Kaspersky from entering new agreements with U.S. customers after July 20, and ban the company from issuing software updates for existing products after Sept. 29. Commerce Secretary GINA RAIMONDO told reporters Thursday that while existing U.S. customers will not be forced to stop using Kaspersky products, they should seriously consider switching due to the degradation of the software with updates banned. Raimondo also noted that the step, which will essentially blacklist the company and its subsidiaries, was undertaken after a “thorough investigation” and after concluding that “the Russian government’s continued augmented cybersecurity ability and capacity” necessitated the rule. “We need to protect Americans and our national security,” Raimondo said. “Russia has shown it has the capacity, and even more than that, the intent, for exploiting Russian companies like Kaspersky to collect and weaponize the personal information of Americans, and that is why we are compelled to take the action we are taking today.” Spokespersons for both Kaspersky and the Russian Embassy in Washington, D.C. did not respond to requests for comment.
| | | | JOIN US ON 6/26 FOR A TALK ON AMERICA’S SUPPLY CHAIN: From the energy grid to defense factories, America’s critical sites and services are a national priority. Keeping them up and running means staying ahead of the threat and protecting the supply chains that feed into them. POLITICO will convene U.S. leaders from agencies, Congress and the industry on June 26 to discuss the latest challenges and solutions for protecting the supply lines into America’s critical infrastructure. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | | REDIRECTING TIME: The administration is moving Ukraine ahead of other countries that were slated to receive air defense missiles, Lara reports. The decision, announced by National Security Council spokesperson Kirby at a press gaggle today, is the latest push from Washington to rush urgently needed weapons to Kyiv. It will see Washington “reprioritize” deliveries of Patriots and National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems missiles planned for a select group of countries. Deliveries of interceptors to other countries will be delayed until after Ukraine’s inventory is restocked, Kirby said. The administration wants to give Kyiv enough air defense capabilities for the rest of the fiscal year and next fiscal year — the next 16 months in total, Kirby added. That may be tough news for Romania. As our own JOSHUA POSANER reports, Bucharest agreed today to send Ukraine Patriots so long as the U.S. replaced them. SHORING UP THE GRID: European leaders will call for increased military aid to Kyiv’s embattled electric grid in the face of Russian attacks against the country’s infrastructure, our own GABRIEL GAVIN and BARBARA MOENS report. Leaders at next week’s European Council summit are expected to approve the transfer of funds earned from frozen Russian assets to Ukraine. They will also instruct officials in Brussels to use the cash to provide loans to Ukraine worth “approximately” $54 billion "to support Ukraine’s current and future military, budget and reconstruction needs." "As Ukraine exercises its inherent right to self-defense, the European Council calls for stepping up the delivery of military support to Ukraine," it says. "In particular, air defense systems, ammunition and missiles are urgently needed to protect Ukraine’s population and critical energy infrastructure.”
| | | FIRST IN NATSEC DAILY — DHS’ ISRAELI SCRUTINY: Sen. TOM COTTON (R-Ark.) wants answers from the Department of Homeland Security about its process for screening Israeli citizens who served in the Israel Defense Forces. In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS, Cotton alleges agents “are reportedly asking Israelis applying for permanent U.S. resident status detailed questions about their time in the Israeli Defense Forces that go far beyond previous standard inquiries.” “If true, this Administration is expending a disgraceful amount of time, energy, and resources in a thinly veiled attempt to ‘prove’ IDF members have committed hypothetical war crimes,” the letter continues. FIRST IN NATSEC DAILY — ARMENIA AID CALLS: 21 Democratic Senators are calling on the Biden administration to allocate more humanitarian aid to Armenia to support refugees affected by Azerbaijan’s invasion of the contested Nagorno-Karabakh exclave last September. In the letter to Biden, the lawmakers, led by Sen. SHELDON WHITEHOUSE (D-R.I.), write that many of the nearly 120,000 refugees who fled the territory “are in urgent need of assistance, including food, basic staples, cash, housing, mental health counseling and employment aid.” They add that Armenia may need upwards of $2 billion to adequately provide basic needs to these refugees and call on the administration to release funds to help them in that goal.
| | | |   | | | | | ‘CUBAN NUCLEAR CRISIS IN SPACE’: House Intelligence Committee Chair MIKE TURNER (R-Ohio) warned today that the Biden administration is “sleepwalking into an irreversible ‘Day Zero’” in the face of new nuclear threats in space, Miles reports (for Pros!). Speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Turner said the White House has not done enough to respond to Russia’s deployment of nuclear anti-satellite weapons in outer space and called on Biden to declassify “all available information” on the threat they pose. The administration, he claimed, has not “done enough to inform … I firmly believe that the administration is avoiding discussing this topic because they don’t want the gap between what they should be doing and what they are doing to be publicly discussed.” Russian advances in anti-satellite technology have become a cause celebre for the top Republican on the committee, who raised alarms in February when he hinted publicly that Russia was deploying a new space-based nuclear weapon. BIBI KEEPS IT GOING: Netanyahu is adding fresh tinder to his fiery spat with the Biden administration over weapons shipments. “I am ready to suffer personal attacks provided that Israel receives from the U.S. the ammunition it needs in the war for its existence,” Netanyahu posted on X today. The U.S. has sharply pushed back against the Israeli leader’s repeated claims that the U.S. is slow-walking weapons shipments to its close ally. At today’s State Department press briefing, spokesperson MATTHEW MILLER minced no words, telling reporters: “I’m not exactly sure what the prime minister is talking about or what he was trying to accomplish. All I can tell you is what the secretary told the prime minister directly in his meeting in Israel last week, which is that our commitment to Israel’s security is sacrosanct.” “We have proved that, not just with words, but with deeds, and I don’t think it’s productive to engage in an intense public back and forth about this,” Miller continued. A ROYAL SNUB: Spanish King FELIPE VI is refusing to grant an audience to Argentina’s populist President JAVIER MILEI amid a major diplomatic rift between Madrid and Buenos Aires, our own SEB STARCEVIC reports. Earlier this year, the Spanish government recalled its ambassador to Argentina and publicly called on Milei to apologize after he assailed Spanish Prime Minister PEDRO SÁNCHEZ and his wife at a rally in support of the far-right Vox party.
| | –– ROBERT JOYCE is now senior policy adviser for the CHIPS program office in the Commerce Department. He previously worked for Sen. BRIAN SCHATZ (D-Hawaii). –– U.S. Space Force General (Ret.) DAVID D. “DT” THOMPSON will serve on Aerospace’s board of trustees. Thompson previously served as the U.S. Space Force’s vice chief of space operations –– PLOMBIR, a 15-year-old male beluga whale, and MIRANDA, a 14-year-old female beluga whale, were rescued from an aquarium in the besieged Ukrainian city of Kharkiv and evacuated to a Spanish aquarium.
| | | –– EDUARDO PORTER, The Washington Post: Latin America is not interested in another Cold War –– DAVID DAOUD and JONATHAN SCHANZER, The Dispatch: The Hezbollah time bomb is ticking –– KATHLEEN KINGSBURY, The New York Times: Where the world plans to test nuclear weapons next
| | –– Atlantic Council, 9 a.m.: Another battlefield: Telegram as a digital front in Russia's war against Ukraine –– Hudson Institute, 10 a.m.: Accelerating Latin America's economic growth –– Center for a New American Security, 10:30 a.m.: AUKUS: Taking stock and looking forward –– Hudson Institute, 10:30 a.m.: “The Black Sea Region as a Global Inflection Point," focusing on the U.S.-Romanian relations Thanks to our editor, Rosie Perper, who is never up for the task of negotiating with Miles and Eric about this newsletter’s future. Thanks to our producer, Gregory Svirnovskiy, the most skilled diplomat on the POLITICO payroll.
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