Trump Is Right – NATO Needs To Lead On Defending Europe

WEDNESDAY PDB – And NATO is listening. Trump ally warns Eastern Europe to rapidly increase defense budgets. The adviser says frontline countries should spend 10 percent on defense to fend off Russia.

SEEMS TEAM BIDEN IS GETTING THE MESSAGE – BIDEN NSC Advisor Jake Sullivan: You can count on a strong NATO. Americans understand the value of alliances. But they also want to make sure that our allies are pulling their weight and paying their fair share of the costs of a common defense.

AND SO ARE SOME IN NATO – Sweden's prime minister: Europe must step up to defend itself. European leaders know what needs to be done — no matter who is in the White House.

YES – Three Baltic defense ministers urge fellow NATO members to boost defense spend. Their countries all share a border with Russia. They are urging their NATO partners to live up to their defense spending commitments.

YES – Saab awarded $123 million air defense order from Lithuania. “I would like to create a Lithuanian hedgehog, which could be so strong [that it would be] uncomfortable for bigger Russia to swallow,” Lithuania's Minister of National Defense, said.

AND YES – NATO signs $700 million Stinger missile contract amid production push. This, to have member countries produce more Stinger missiles, part of a bid to get each country to boost its own weapons production capabilities.

AND THEN THERE'S WEAK, LEFTY CANADA – Canada to share a plan for reaching NATO's spending target, defense minister says. LET'S SEE – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has failed to meet a pledge to spend at least 2% of gross domestic product on defense. It will spend just 1.33% this year. 

FOR YOUR EYES ONLY – Here's a roundup of today's other top defense stories from conservative national security expert PAUL CRESPO.

Not the President's Daily Brief, but almost as good – PAUL'S DAILY BRIEFING – the PDB:

NATIONAL SECURITY

Understanding the next era of warfare. Conflicts abroad and defense-contract competitions at home illuminate in real time the future of America's war machine.

Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor dangerously misunderstands our military. She may be a constitutional law expert, but she apparently is unaware of a key limitation on executive power: our American troops.

Sailor searched for Biden's electronic health records. This, on the military's electronic health record database earlier this year. He was disciplined for the infraction.

PENTAGON WOKE WATCH

GOOD – NO TAXPAYER-FUNDED SEX CHANGE PROCEDURES – Restrictions on transgender health care slipped into Senate's must-pass defense bill. The military would not be able to pay for surgeries for transgender troops under the Senate's version of the must-pass annual defense bill.

POLITICS

Ukraine's path to NATO membership ‘irreversible,' allies expected to declare. The decision would be a major win for Ukraine and make this summit among NATO's most historic in its 75-year history.

Biden unveils additional air defense aid for Ukraine at 75^th NATO summit. This is a priority for Kyiv as it struggles to thwart Russian missile attacks.

Key senators agree on spending levels for FY25. The Senate wants a spending increase next year of about 3.4% for defense and 2.7% increase for nondefense programs under a bipartisan agreement, setting up a certain clash with the House, which is pursuing less spending in both categories.

Speaker Johnson focuses on threats from China, support for NATO, Taiwan in major speech. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Monday outlined his vision for a foreign policy that bridges the historical Republican view of leadership in the world with criticism from former President Trump that allies are exploiting U.S. investments in defense.

US POWER OVERSEAS

Intelligence on Russian sabotage threat prompted the increase in security at US military bases across Europe. The bases were placed on a heightened state of alert last week for the first time in a decade.

FINALLY – US military's Gaza humanitarian aid pier will be permanently removed. It will be reinstalled Wednesday to be used for several days but will be pulled out permanently. It would deal the final blow to the Biden boondoggle.

Port security gets extra attention at RIMPAC. At this year's iteration of the biennial Exercise Rim of the Pacific — the world's largest naval exercise — port security is playing a prominent role as conflicts and competition put strains on global supply chains.

Here are the ships the US plans to sink in the Pacific this summer. In live fire exercises dubbed “SINKEXs,” U.S. troops in the region have already sunk two ships from the air and the land, with one big aquatic finale expected before Labor Day.

Navy should hit back harder against Houthi terrorists' online disinformation. Last month the commanding officer of the aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower, invited journalists to inspect the flight deck of his carrier while it was underway in the Red Sea.

IRAN THREAT

Iran covertly encourages Gaza war protests in the US to stoke outrage and distrust, ahead of elections, US national intelligence chief says.

CHINA THREAT

Chinese carrier strike group operating in Philippine Sea. The Shandong Carrier Strike Group is now operating in the Philippine Sea, marking the first time this year that the aircraft carrier has deployed outside of the South China Sea.

Philippines air force joins multi-nation war games in Australia for first overseas deployment in six decades. It is there for combat practice alongside U.S. and Australian troops, amid a rise in tensions with China in the South China Sea.

China hawks argue at the start of the NATO summit that the alliance needs less America in Europe. Blocks away from NATO's summit in downtown Washington, alliance critics said Tuesday that NATO allies are on a “sugar high.”

BEGUN BY TRUMP – To counter China, NATO and Asian partners are moving closer under US leadership. The four Indo-Pacific partners, which although not part of NATO, are gaining prominence as Russia and China forge closer ties to counter the U.S. and the two Koreas support opposing sides of the Ukraine war.

THIS COULD BE HUGE – Was the arrested Chinese defense minister compromised by hostile force? This was hinted at in the peculiar wording of the official indictment.

RUSSIA THREAT – UKRAINE WAR

TWO SIDES OF SAME COIN – High-tech American weapons work against Russia-until they don't. Moscow is learning how to defeat Western precision munitions in Ukraine.

Poland, Ukraine move to link arms industries, coordinate air defenses. Neighboring Poland is one of Ukraine's staunchest allies.

ISRAEL'S WAR AGAINST TERROR

Israel presses Gaza offensive in north and central Gaza on Wednesday. This, as negotiations to end the fighting were set to resume.

What we know — and don't know — about Hezbollah's weapons arsenal. The Lebanese terror army has guided and unguided rockets, anti-tank artillery, ballistic and anti-ship missiles, as well as drones equipped with explosives.

INTERNATIONAL SECURITY

Australia takes aim with US-made loitering munitions. Australia has ordered its first loitering munitions from overseas, the U.S.-made Switchblade 300 from AeroVironment.

US MILITARY

Photos: Coast Guard air crew surveys Texas cities in aftermath of Hurricane Beryl. On Monday, an HC-144 Ocean Sentry air crew from Coast Guard Air Station Corpus Christi conducted flyovers of a handful of coastal cities to assess the damage.

WATCH – Flying aboard the Ghostrider, a deadly aircraft carrying America's biggest gun in the sky. As the US Air Force AC-130J flies over South Korea's towering apartment blocks, its powerful cameras can almost see inside windows on the highest floors.

END of PDB

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.

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