TRUMP: WE SELL WEAPONS TO NATO, NATO GIVES THEM TO UKRAINE: Today’s Russian strikes in Ukraine were not as heavy as the past few days, but at a maternity hospital in Kharkiv, women were among the wounded. “Ukraine needs protection, air defense above all,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a post on X. “Fortunately, no children were injured. Russia is targeting life itself, even in the very places where it begins.”
President Donald Trump, exhausted by his patience with Russian President Vladimir Putin, told NBC News that he will have a “major statement to make on Russia” on Monday. He also disclosed his latest plan to get more defensive weapons to Ukraine. Trump has never been a fan of giving away U.S. weapons, so his new plan, which he says was discussed at last month’s NATO summit in the Netherlands, will make NATO nations the middleman in the exchange.
“We’re sending weapons to NATO, and NATO is paying for those weapons, 100%. So what we’re doing is the weapons that are going out are going to NATO, and then NATO is going to be giving those weapons [to Ukraine], and NATO is paying for those weapons,” Trump told NBC. “We send weapons to NATO, and NATO is going to reimburse the full cost of those weapons.”
PAUSE? WHAT PAUSE? When NBC asked Trump about the short-lived pause of weapon shipments to Ukraine — including Patriot missiles already bought and paid for and sitting in Poland — Trump again pleaded ignorance, while indicating Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was not in any trouble over the matter. “I don’t know anything about it,” Trump said, adding that Hegseth is “doing a great job.”
Speaking to reporters in Malaysia, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the “pause” had been “mischaracterized” and that the “overwhelming majority of military aid that the United States provides Ukraine has never been paused and continues along the same schedules that it’s been.”
“It was a very limited review of certain types of munitions to ensure that we had sufficient stockpiles. And it’s typical when you do these reviews that there’s a short-term pause because if, in fact, the review comes back that you have a shortage, you can’t pull it back once it’s been sent,” Rubio said. “But generally speaking, aid to Ukraine continues along the schedule that Congress appropriated.”
The broader issue, Rubio said, is the lack of defense production capacity. “As an example, one of the things that the Ukrainians need is more Patriot batteries. There are Patriot batteries available in multiple countries in Europe, yet no one wants to part with them,” Rubio said. “If, in fact, Ukraine is the priority that so many countries in Europe say it is, they should be willing to share batteries that right now they don’t have a need to use.”
ZELENSKY MEETS GRAHAM, BLUMENTHAL: Meanwhile, Zelensky met on the sidelines of this year’s Ukraine recovery conference in Rome with two of his strongest congressional backers, Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), chief sponsors of a bill that would impose crippling sanctions on Russia.
“Zelensky expressed his gratitude to the senators for their bipartisan bill on strengthening sanctions against Russia, which has already been supported by 85 senators,” his office said in a statement. “He stressed that its adoption would serve as an important lever to compel the aggressor state to engage in real negotiations.”
In a post on X, Zelensky said the primary focus of his talks with the senators was the need to bolster air defenses in the face of Russia’s stepped-up drone strikes. “Russia is aiming to launch attacks involving up to a thousand drones at once. That is why it is crucial to scale up protection, particularly by investing in interceptor drones.”
“We also discussed the continued supply of weapons from the United States and joint weapons production. We are ready for different formats, including purchasing a large defense package from the United States, jointly with Europe, to protect lives,” Zelensky said.
After the meeting, Graham posted on X, “President Trump has earnestly sought to end the bloodbath in Ukraine. Putin’s refusal to be reasonable is going to be met with resistance by President Trump. If media reports are accurate, the combination of sending defensive weapons to Ukraine and having congressional sanctions available for President Trump’s use against Putin and his customers will be game changer.”
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HAPPENING TODAY: Secretary of State Marco Rubio departs Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia after two days of meetings, which included the ASEAN-U.S. Post-Ministerial Conference, the East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and the ASEAN Regional Forum Foreign Ministers’ meeting.
Rubio did manage to meet with his two most consequential counterparts, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Neither Rubio nor Wang provided any details of their discussions, but Rubio did tell reporters that in his meeting with Lavrov, the Russian diplomat floated a “new idea, a new concept,” that he will be taking back to President Trump to discuss.
“This new approach is not something that automatically leads to peace, but it could potentially open the door to a path,” Rubio said at a press conference. “I thought it was important and good that we talked. And we shared some information and ideas that I intend to take back to the president. Hopefully, it will lead to something positive. I can’t guarantee it.”
“The president wants to end wars. He’s not a fan of wars. He thinks wars are a waste of time and a waste of lives,” Rubio said. “And we’re going to continue to do everything we can and engage in every productive way possible to bring an end to this war.”
ALSO TODAY: The Senate Armed Services Committee meets at 9 a.m. in closed session to markup the National Defense Authorization Act for F.Y. 2026. http://www.armed-services.senate.gov
HEGSETH: ‘CUTTING RED TAPE TO BOOST DRONE PRODUCTION’: His job apparently safe for now, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a memo yesterday, in which he blasted the Biden administration for bureaucratic roadblocks he said hampered U.S. military’s ability to acquire the kind of small, drones that now form the backbone of modern warfare.
“While global military drone production skyrocketed over the last three years, the previous administration deployed red tape. U.S. units are not outfitted with the lethal small drones the modern battlefield requires,” Hegseth wrote. “I am rescinding restrictive policies that hindered production and limited access to these vital technologies, unleashing the combined potential of American manufacturing and warfighter ingenuity. I am delegating authorities to procure and operate drones from the bureaucracy to our warfighters.”
Hegseth outlined three lines of effort: rescinding policies, he said “hindered production and limited access” to “low-cost drones made by America’s world-leading engineers,” rushing those drones to frontline troops, and integrating “force-on-force drone wars” into “all relevant combat training.”
“We’ll train as we expect to fight,” he wrote. Missing from the memo was any estimate of cost or funding source for the initiative, which Hegseth says will “power a technological leapfrog” over U.S. adversaries, who “produce millions of cheap drones each year.”
“Emergent technologies require new funding lines,” the memo said. “To address the urgent need for drones, investment methods outlined in [President Trump’s Jan. 6 Executive Order] are being investigated.”
HEGSETH ORDERS MAJOR DRONE PRODUCTION SURGE TO COUNTER GROWING THREATS
THE RUNDOWN:
Washington Examiner: Intel community’s ‘final’ assessment on Iran strikes won’t ‘be completed for some time’
Washington Examiner: Hegseth orders major drone production surge to counter growing threats
Washington Examiner: ‘Gloves are coming off’: Hegseth announces key change in military production
Washington Examiner: The battle over Colorado’s Space Command isn’t over, but it may be ending soon
Washington Examiner: Trump ‘satisfied’ with investigation into Butler assassination attempt: ‘Had a bad day’
Washington Examiner: Silencer sales up 265%, will surge under ‘big, beautiful bill’
Washington Examiner: Army to put ceremonial horses up for adoption as part of budget cuts
Washington Examiner: Trump appoints Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy as temporary NASA administrator
Axios: Trump plans to send Ukraine weapons via NATO allies
AP: By day, the Ukrainian capital is alive and humming. By night, it’s a battleground
AP: Yemen’s Houthi rebels launch new, more violent attacks on ships in the Red Sea
Wall Street Journal: Two Ships Desperately Tried to Fight Off Houthi Attacks. Help Never Arrived.
AP: Israel says Iran could reach enriched uranium at a nuclear site hit by US
The War Zone: GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator’s Results from Iran Strike Will Inform Its Future: Defense Officials
AP: Satellite photos suggest Iran attack on Qatar air base hit geodesic dome used for US communications
NBC News: U.S. diplomats brace for layoffs after months in limbo
Wall Street Journal: France, UK Suggest Nuclear Protection Could Extend to European Allies
New York Times: China Surveys Seabeds Where Naval Rivals May One Day Clash
Air & Space Forces Magazine: SOCOM Halves OA-1K Armed Overwatch Buy for 2026
Breaking Defense: UK Closes in on Build of First E-7 Wedgetail, Keeps Faith in Program amid US Air Force Cancellation
Defense One: Pentagon to Become Rare-Earth Mining Company’s Largest Stockholder
Air Force Times: DARPA Ends Cargo Seaplane Program, Eyes New Uses for Tech
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Air Force Senior Statesmen Make the Case for E-7, F-35, and Air Superiority
Defense News: France Asks FCAS Partners to ‘Rethink’ Work Share on Fighter Project
Air & Space Forces Magazine: STARCOM ‘on a Good Path’ to Build Up New Training Environment
Air & Space Forces Magazine: Eyelash Extensions, Low Boots Nixed in New Air Force Standards
AP: A British F35 fighter jet stranded in India may finally fly back home after inspiring memes
THE CALENDAR:
FRIDAY | JULY 11
11:30 a.m. — Hudson Institute virtual discussion: “The Iranian Regime Under Pressure: What’s Next?” with Mariam Memarsadeghi, senior fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute; Ladan Baroumand, co-founder of the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights; and Zineb Riboua, research fellow at the Hudson Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East https://www.hudson.org/events/iranian-regime-under-pressure-whats-next
2 p.m. 1201 Pennsylvania Ave. NW — Hudson Institute discussion: “The Han Kuang Exercise and the Taiwanese Military’s Road to Readiness,” with Brent Sadler, senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation; retired Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery, senior fellow, Foundation for Defense of Democracies; and Bryan Clark, director, Hudson Center for Defense Concepts and Technology https://www.hudson.org/events/han-kuang-exercise
TUESDAY | JULY 15
8:45 a.m. 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW — Center for Strategic and International Studies fireside chat: “U.S. soft power and competition with China,” with Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), ranking member, Senate Foreign Relations Committee; John Hamre, CSIS President and CEO; Michael Schiffer, former USAID assistant administrator, Asia Bureau; James Richardson, former USAID transformation task team coordinator, and former director of the office of foreign assistance, U.S. Department of State; Victor Cha, president, CSIS Geopolitics and Foreign Policy Department and Korea Chair; Enoh Ebong, president, CSIS Global Development Department; and Henrietta Levin, senior fellow, CSIS Freeman Chair in China Studies https://docs.google.com/forms
10 a.m. 419 Dirksen — Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the nominations of Michael Waltz to be U.S. representative to the U.N. and the U.S. representative in the Security Council of the U.N. and the U.S. representative to the sessions of the General Assembly of the U.N.; John Arrigo to be U.S. ambassador to Portugal; and Christine Toretti to be U.S. ambassador to Sweden 1 http://foreign.senate.gov
10 a.m. 2172 Rayburn — House Foreign Affairs East Asia and Pacific Subcommittee hearing: “Breaking China’s Chokehold on Critical Mineral Supply Chains,” with testimony from former Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources Frank Fannon, managing director of Fannon Global Advisors; former Sen. Joseph Manchin (D-WV); and Jose Fernandez, former undersecretary of state for economic growth, energy and the environment http://foreignaffairs.house.gov
10 a.m. 310 Cannon — House Homeland Security Transportation and Maritime Security Subcommittee hearing: “Surveillance, Sabotage, and Strikes: Industry Perspectives on How Drone Warfare Abroad Is Transforming Threats at Home,” with testimony from Tom Walker, founder and CEO of DroneUP, LLC.; Brett Feddersen, vice president for strategy and government affairs at D-Fend Solutions; and Church Hutton, chief growth officer of AeroVironment, Inc. http://homeland.house.gov
2 p.m. 2172 Rayburn — House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing: “F.Y. 2026 State Department Posture: Management and Resources,” with testimony from Michael Rigas, deputy secretary of state for management and resources http://foreignaffairs.house.gov
WEDNESDAY | JULY 16
10 a.m. 419 Dirksen — Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing: “Reforming the State Department to Compete in the 21st Century,”with testimony from Michael Rigas, deputy secretary of state for management and resources http://foreign.senate.gov
THURSDAY | JULY 17
3 p.m. — Defennse Priorities virtual discussion: “A new war next door? The case against U.S. military strikes in Mexico,” with Aileen Teague, assistant professor, Texas A&M Bush School of Government and Public Service; Dan DePetris, fellow, Defense Priorities; Colin Clarke; director of research, The Soufan Group; and Jennifer Kavanagh; senior fellow and director of military analysis, Defense Priorities https://www.defensepriorities.org/events/a-new-war-next-door
THURSDAY | JULY 24
6:30 a.m. — Association of the U.S. Army’ Coffee Series discussion: “Army’s $197.4 billion fiscal year 2026 budget request,” with Maj. Gen. Mark Bennett, director of the Army budget https://www.ausa.org/events/coffee-series/mg-bennett