| | | |  | | By Robbie Gramer, Nahal Toosi and Phelim Kine | | 
President Donald Trump, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin leave a press conference after their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Helsinki, Finland, July 16, 2018. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) | Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP | With help from Daniel Lippman Subscribe here | Email Robbie | Email Eric Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN has gotten plenty of carrots from DONALD TRUMP in the past week. Now he may finally be getting the stick. Trump today threatened to unleash a new raft of sanctions and tariffs on Russia if it continued to escalate the conflict in Ukraine before peace talks. He dropped the threat on Truth Social today: "Based on the fact that Russia is absolutely 'pounding' Ukraine on the battlefield right now, I am strongly considering large scale Banking Sanctions, Sanctions, and Tariffs on Russia until a Cease Fire and FINAL SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT ON PEACE IS REACHED." So far, Ukraine’s the only country that’s been getting the stick from Trump — namely a cut-off of U.S. intelligence and military aid. That’s despite Russia having launched the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in the first place. Not to mention the fact that Russia is a dictatorship and Ukraine is a fledgling pro-West democracy. Still, Trump signaled he wasn’t ready to ease up pressure on Ukraine. When asked by reporters today whether he still believed Putin when he said he wanted peace, Trump said: “I believe him. I think we're doing very well with Russia, and right now they're bombing the hell out of Ukraine. I'm finding it more difficult, frankly, to deal with Ukraine. They don’t have the cards.” Secretary of State MARCO RUBIO, national security adviser MIKE WALTZ and Trump’s Middle East envoy STEVE WITKOFF are traveling to Saudi Arabia next week to meet with their Ukrainian counterparts. That trip will come after an absolutely head-spinning week of Trump bashing, pushing and cajoling Ukraine into going into peace talks and signing a deal to sell off its deposits of valuable rare earth minerals to the United States. Trump’s approach to Ukraine in recent weeks shocked and angered officials in Kyiv and Washington’s closest allies in Europe. Republican hawks — who if they’re privately rattled by Trump’s seeming pro-Russia tilt aren’t saying anything out loud about it — were quick to jump on Trump’s new sanctions threat against Putin as a win. “Thank you, President Trump, for working to restore peace. Putin and his thugs bomb hospitals, murder innocent civilians and have no business being in Ukraine. The President is right — it’s time for this to end,” Sen. RICK SCOTT (R-Fl.) said on X in response.
| | NOT SO LOVE LETTER: Trump says he has sent a letter to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah ALI KHAMENEI, warning him that Iran needs to negotiate a new deal to restrain its nuclear program or face a potential military strike. Trump told Fox Business News in an interview earlier this week that he warned the Iranian leader: “I hope you’re going to negotiate because if we have to go in militarily, it’s going to be a terrible thing.” Trump reiterated a sense of urgency on the issue today, saying, “There’ll be some interesting days ahead, that’s all I can tell you. We’re down to final strokes with Iran.” The U.S. president’s threat comes as his administration is ramping up sanctions and other pressure on Iran. The Islamist regime in Tehran already is facing a dire economic situation and has been weakened militarily by Israeli blows against its proxies, such as Hezbollah. But there are obviously trust issues between the two governments. Trump withdrew Washington from the last formal nuclear agreement Iran struck with the U.S. and other nations. NOBODY PUTS BIBI IN A CORNER: Israeli Prime Minister BENJAMIN “BIBI” NETANYAHU and his top aides are unhappy with the Trump administration’s decision to have direct talks with Hamas, Axios’ Barak Ravid reports. Their frustrations came out in a Tuesday call between Netanyahu aide RON DERMER and U.S. hostage envoy ADAM BOEHLER, Ravid reports, citing unnamed officials. Netanyahu himself has been unwilling to publicly criticize the Trump team, but Dermer generally reflects the Israeli leader’s minister’s thinking. ASSAD STRIKES BACK: Armed fighters loyal to deposed Syrian dictator BASHAR AL-ASSAD are battling Syria’s new leaders, with clashes killing nearly 150 people in the past two days. The battles are an ominous sign for the Arab state, which already has endured a brutal civil war that ultimately saw Assad flee to Russia late last year. The country is now being run by former rebels, some of whom have had links to terrorist groups, but who are seeking sanctions relief and other support from the international community to stabilize the country. The fighting, much of it occurring along coastal areas long loyal to Assad, is reminiscent of the fractiousness that emerged in Iraq after the U.S. toppled SADDAM HUSSEIN in 2003. ARMY INDICTMENTS: Two U.S. Army soldiers and one former soldier have been indicted on an array of national security-related charges. One of the soldiers, a supply sergeant, is alleged to have conspired with others to obtain and transmit national defense information to individuals based in China, according to a statement from the Justice Department. DRINKS WITH NATSEC DAILY: At the end of every long, hard week, we like to highlight how a prominent member of the national security scene prefers to unwind with a drink. Today, we’re featuring ALYSSA PETTUS, the new director of communications for Republicans on the House Select Committee on China. But she’s no newbie to the Hill — Alyssa was press secretary for Sen. RICHARD SHELBY for almost four years and has returned to public service after a five-year detour doing comms in the private sector. It’s been a long, cold Washington winter and Alyssa told our own Phelim Kine that her go-to drink of choice to help to get her through it has been the steaming hot venti-sized Starbuck red eye (filter drip Arabica with an extra shot of espresso). But with daylight savings kicking in Sunday, Alyssa has her eye on warmer weather libations. And she proudly defies the “beer state” leanings of her native Alabama for something with more kick. “I want a margarita with the Tajín rim in a big Alabama Mexican-style margarita glass,” Alyssa tells us. And please mind the brand of tequila in that glass. “It’s gotta be Casa Amigos Blanco,” she said. As we slide into spring look for Alyssa in the post-work early evening hours at El Bebe in Navy Yard unwinding from a long day of countering malign CCP influence operations with her favorite Mexican-tinged attitude adjuster. ¡Salud! and 干杯! IT’S FRIDAY! WELCOME TO THE WEEKEND: 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 rgramer@politico.com and ebazail@politico.com, and follow Robbie and Eric on X @RobbieGramer and @ebazaileimil. While you’re at it, follow the rest of POLITICO’s global security team: @dave_brown24,@HeidiVogt, @jessicameyers, @RosiePerper, @nahaltoosi, @PhelimKine, @ak_mack, @connorobrienNH, @paulmcleary,@reporterjoe, @JackDetsch, @samuelskove, @magmill95, and @johnnysaks130
| | NULL AND VOID: The U.S. has cut funding for a key European effort to provide Ukraine with cybersecurity support, a top Estonian official tells our own Maggie Miller. TANEL SEPP, Estonia’s ambassador at large for cyber policy, also serves as a key leader of the Tallinn Mechanism, a program established at the end of 2023 to coordinate cyber civilian support to Ukraine between the U.S., Canada, NATO, the European Union and almost a dozen other European nations. In December, the mechanism turned one year old, and the coordinating nations put out a statement noting the program had brought in more than €200 million from donors and foreign assistance efforts. But, according to Sepp, around half of those funds were guaranteed by the U.S. government. The money has now been cut amid the broader rollback of U.S. support for Kyiv to entice it to agree to peace talks with Russia. Sepp said he is now “running around trying to find some cover” to fill the financial gap, including speaking with other potential government donors. “I am working with the assumption we are not getting a dime from the U.S. government,” Sepp said. “It’s an extremely tricky situation, and I just don’t understand the justification for this.” The State Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
| | CARROLL’S CONTROVERSIAL PAST: COLIN CARROLL, the deputy Defense secretary’s new chief of staff, was fired by the Biden administration for creating a hostile environment while chief operating officer of the Pentagon’s former Joint Artificial Intelligence Center, Daniel Lippman reported in Morning Defense (for Pros!). The inspector general conducted an investigation in 2021 into how Carroll treated his employees, according to three people who were interviewed for the probe. One of the people said they told the IG that they had heard Carroll regularly insult employees by saying they “weren’t smart,” “dumb” or “idiots.” Two other former high-ranking JAIC employees also said they heard him sometimes call colleagues “fucking idiots” or “morons.” Carroll confirmed he was asked to resign from the JAIC in August 2021. But he and his allies argue he was responsible for winnowing down DOD projects, which frustrated some colleagues, and fighting against an entrenched bureaucracy. “I was three years too early in attempting to drive the necessary revolutionary change required to deliver tangible outcomes to warfighters,” Carroll said. THE ENOLA [REDACTED]: The Defense Department’s push to purge references to diversity, equity and inclusion is so broad that an image of the famed Enola Gay aircraft is marked for potential deletion, according to a database obtained by The Associated Press. At least 26,000 images have been tagged for removal, though the final figure could be much higher. The majority of the photos and posts mention women and minorities. But the dragnet has also lumped in references to troops with the last name “Gay” and an image of the Enola Gay, the B-29 aircraft that dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. In a statement, Pentagon spokesperson JOHN ULLYOT praised the “rapid compliance across the Department with the directive removing DEI content from all platforms. In the rare cases that content is removed that is out of the clearly outlined scope of the directive, we instruct components accordingly.”
| | BLOCK ON ARMS SALES: The top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. GREGORY MEEKS (D-N.Y.), is blocking U.S. arms sales to the United Arab Emirates over its role in the ongoing civil war in Sudan, as your lead newsletter author and our own Joe Gould scoop today. Meeks is introducing a bill aimed at pushing the United States to do more to bring about an end to the conflict in Sudan. Separately, Sen. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN (D-Md.) and Rep. SARA JACOBS (D-Calif.) plan to introduce their own legislation soon that would block U.S. arms sales to the UAE over its role in Sudan. The UAE has been widely accused by human rights groups and outside conflict observers of covertly arming and funding the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, militia, which is accused of genocide and war crimes in Sudan. Sudan’s nearly two-year-long civil war has killed an estimated 150,000 people and left some 30 million people in need of food and medical aid. The United States has accused both warring parties — the Sudanese Armed Forces, or SAF, and RSF — of war crimes and atrocities. We asked the UAE embassy for comment, but they didn’t get back to us.
| | FIRST IN NATSEC DAILY – BACKLASH OVER GAZA TALKS: Democratic Majority for Israel, a pro-Israel Democratic advocacy group, is criticizing Sen. PETE RICKETTS (R-Neb.) for saying that Hamas should be part of the peace process, saying it is a “savage terrorist group” that doesn’t deserve to be involved, our Daniel Lippman writes in. After news came out this week that Trump hostage envoy Boehler had met with Hamas officials to get more Americans out of Gaza, Ricketts said that “to get to peace [in the Middle East], you have to have both sides at the table.” DMFI President and CEO MARK MELLMAN argued to NatSec Daily that Ricketts was wrong and that Hamas “does not belong at the table for peace negotiations in a post-war Gaza. Indeed, Hamas must have no role whatever in a post-war Gaza.” “Both the Biden-Harris administration and the Trump-Vance administration have been clear in stating that Hamas can have no role in post-war Gaza,” Mellman added. “Senator Ricketts should repudiate his statement.” A spokesperson for Ricketts didn’t respond to a request for comment.
| | — KATE CONSTANTINI is now communications director for House Foreign Affairs Chair BRIAN MAST (R-Fla.). She previously was director of communications at With Honor, a political action committee that supports military veterans running for office. — Law firm Hunton Andrews Kurth welcomed new partner ERIC CRUSIUS, a veteran government contracts attorney experienced with the Defense Production Act and cyber breach reporting. — SASHA PAILET KOFF is the new managing director of the Cyber Readiness Institute firm. Koff previously served in roles at Dell Technologies and Johnson & Johnson, and was most recently the founder and president of supply chain group So Help Me Understand. Koff replaces KAREN EVANS in the new role at CRI, after Evans was announced last week as the new executive assistant director of CISA. — CAITLIN CLARKE is taking on a new role as senior director for cybersecurity services at Venable in the firm’s technology and innovation — cybersecurity services group. Clarke previously served on the National Security Council under the Biden administration as the senior director for cyber and emerging technology. — PAUL FRIEDRICHS and STEWART SIMONSON have been appointed nonresident senior advisers with the Center for Strategic and International Studies Global Health Policy Center. Friedrichs was previously director of the White House Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy. Simonson is a senior adviser with Global Health Strategies and served as a WHO representative at the United Nations. — WELCOME TO THE WORLD: And some very exciting news for POLITICO’s national security team. Our own cybersecurity and intelligence reporter John Sakellariadis and Carly Hillman welcomed their new daughter Lina Sakellariadis on March 5. (Though she’s just a few days old, we hear she’s already eager to subscribe to NatSec Daily.)
| | — Katharine Houreld and Elizabeth Dwoskin, The Washington Post: A Turkish arms firm helped fuel Sudan’s brutal civil war, records show — Raya Jalabi, Financial Times: The secret history of Syria’s new leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa — Stephen Hadley, Daniel Fried and Franklin Kramer, Foreign Affairs: A Plan for Peace Through Strength in Ukraine — Justin Ling, The Toronto Star: We can no longer rely on America. This is how we forge a new place in the world
| | — Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, 1:30 p.m.: Robert A. Mundell Global Risk Memorial Lecture - Keynote Andrés Velasco — Georgetown University Center for Jewish Civilization, 3 p.m.: Statecraft 2.0 Book Talk with Dennis Ross Thanks to our editor, Heidi Vogt, who deserves no sanctions relief until she meets all of our demands. Thanks to our producer, Emily Lussier, who is joining our sanctions regime against Heidi. | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | |
