Trump threatens migrants if they throw rocks Presented by Northrop Grumman

With Eleanor Mueller, Connor O’Brien and Wesley Morgan

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TODAY: White House and Pentagon officials discuss the administration’s Defense Industrial Base Report with the U.S. Chamber

TOP NEWS: Trump says asylum-seeking migrants throwing rocks will be treated as armed

ON POLITICO: DIA readying its next phase of is database replacement effort

‘CONSIDER IT A RIFLE’ — TRUMP THREATENS MIGRANTS IF THEY THROW ROCKS: “President Donald Trump announced Thursday that the U.S. military will treat any rocks or stones being thrown by asylum-seeking migrants slowly heading to the U.S.-Mexico border as firearms,” report POLITICO’s Andrew Restuccia and Ted Hesson.

“‘I will tell you, anybody throwing stones, rocks, like they did to Mexico and the Mexican military, Mexican police, where they badly hurt police and soldiers of Mexico, we will consider that a firearm,’ Trump said during an announcement that his administration next week would release a ‘comprehensive’ executive action on immigration that will include changes to the asylum-seeking process.”

THE MILITARY PREPS FOR ANOTHER THREAT — UNREGULATED MILITIAS: “As President Donald Trump directs thousands of troops to the U.S.-Mexico border in a show of military force against an approaching caravan of migrants from Central America, preliminary intelligence assessments are preparing for encounters with a litany of groups from unregulated militias to transcontinental criminal organizations, according to documents obtained by Newsweek. ...

“The assessment underscored news reports that combatant commanders might encounter unregulated militia members along the southern border in alleged support of U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents.”

And the Trump administration was told before the massive troop deployment that “only small percentage” of the migrant caravan will reach the border, also via Newsweek.

INHOFE AND REED ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF TRUMP’S BORDER DEPLOYMENT: The Republican and Democrat leaders of the Senate Armed Services Committee issued contrasting statements Thursday on the president’s decision to deploy thousands of active-duty troops to the U.S.-Mexico border, potentially foreshadowing a friction point when the Senate returns after Tuesday’s midterm elections.

SASC Chairman Jim Inhofe supports the president's decision to deploy thousands of active-duty troops to the border, reports our colleague Connor O’Brien.

The Oklahoma Republican also outlined legislation intended to pay for the president's signature border wall. The move comes as Trump has pledged to send 10,000 to 15,000 troops to the southern border as a large group of Central American immigrants head toward the U.S. through Mexico.

But Ranking Democrat Jack Reed criticized the president’s plan as “politically motivated” and “unwise,” via your Morning D correspondent.

“This is not a military problem; it does not warrant a military solution,” the Rhode Island senator said in a letter to Trump.

IN THE HOUSE, SMITH JOINS FELLOW DEMOCRATS TO DEMAND ANSWERS: House Armed Services ranking Democrat Adam Smith of Washington state has joined 107 other House Democrats in demanding answers from Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on the border deployment.

The lawmakers ask Mattis in a letter how much the deployment will cost, how long the deployment will last, and what the rules of engagement will be.

“This is another example of the president using fear-mongering tactics over a humanitarian issue,” the lawmakers write. “This use of military personnel and resources for functions outside of core mission areas warrants additional Congressional oversight.”

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WHITE HOUSE AND PENTAGON OFFICIALS TALK INDUSTRIAL BASE WITH U.S. CHAMBER: White House Director of Trade and Industrial Policy Peter Navarro and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Policy Eric Chewning participate in a discussion this morning on the administration’s Defense Industrial Base Report with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Defense and Aerospace Export Council.

The U.S. manufacturing and defense industrial base “faces an unprecedented set of challenges” that threaten the military’s readiness for war, the Pentagon report concluded.

In particular, the report called out “aggressive” Russian and Chinese industrial policies that have led to “surprisingly high foreign dependence” on those competitors, sequestration, “the decline of critical markets and suppliers,” unintentional blowback from the U.S. government’s own slow acquisition processes and the changing mix of skills in the American workforce.

Since the report’s release, Mattis has moved protect the defense supply chain from rivals’ theft, reports Bloomberg: “Mattis has named a task force to recommend ways to protect critical technologies from theft by China, Russia or other adversaries.

“‘Working with our partners in the defense industry and research enterprise, we must ensure the integrity of our classified information, controlled unclassified information and key data,’ Mattis said in the memo dated Oct. 24.”

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TOM COLE WARNS THE PENTAGON COULD FEEL THE FREEZE: House appropriator Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) told our colleagues at the Budget & Appropriations Brief he doesn’t think the White House’s call to shrink the size of the budget will fly next year, no matter who controls Congress.

Still, Cole acknowledged it may be time to talk about holding the Pentagon’s budget steady for the next few years.

But there’s no way Congress’ defense hawks would agree to an outright cut, he added.

“I don’t think those guys are likely to come back and be anxious to take $30 billion out,” Cole said. “Why would they all of a sudden start unraveling what they worked really hard to achieve?”

DIA READYING NEXT PHASE OF DATABASE REPLACEMENT EFFORT: “The Defense Intelligence Agency is preparing to start the next phase of a multiyear effort to replace its central repository of global military intelligence information, a senior official told POLITICO this week," reports our colleague Martin Matishak.

“The Pentagon’s intelligence arm earlier this year kicked off the initiative to replace its aging Modernized Integrated Database (MIDB) — last re-engineered in 1996 — with a modern data environment capable of ingesting and analyzing vast quantities of classified and unclassified data.”

Additionally, a Pentagon official added to speculation that the NSA and U.S. Cyber Command could eventually separate, writes the Fifth Domain.

Here's how the new White House and Pentagon cyber strategies change U.S. operations, adds the Fifth Domain.

And the NSA’s top lawyer calls for action on digital privacy, also via Martin.



POMPEO: ‘UNFORTUNATE’ IF TURKEY DECIDES TO LEAVE NATO: “Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan should resist any temptation to leave NATO in pursuit of Russian friendship, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday,” via the Washington Examiner.

“‘It would be unfortunate for NATO; it’d be unfortunate for the United States, and I think even more unfortunate for the people of Turkey if that were to become the case,’ Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told radio show host Tony Katz.”

In the latest announcement related to its domestic defense industry, Turkey’s Defence Industry Directorate says it’s has signed a deal with missile manufacturer Roketsan for the mass production of the country’s first marine missiles, reports Reuters.

Meanwhile, in Syria, U.S. and Turkish troops begin joint patrols of Manbij, reports The Associated Press.

And Trump and Turkey’s president discuss Syria as tensions thaw, writes The Wall Street Journal.



POMPEO: ‘HANDFUL MORE WEEKS’ BEFORE RESPONSE TO KHASHOGGI KILLING: “Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Thursday it would be a ‘handful more weeks’ before the United States had enough evidence to impose sanctions in response to the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul,” via Reuters.

“Pompeo, in an interview with KMOX radio in St. Louis, said President Donald Trump had made it clear Washington would respond to the killing. He said the administration is ‘reviewing putting sanctions on the individuals that we have been able to identify to date that ... were engaged in that murder.’”

CROWN PRINCE DESCRIBED KHASHOGGI TO WHITE HOUSE AS A DANGEROUS ISLAMIST: “Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman described slain journalist Jamal Khashoggi as a dangerous Islamist days after his disappearance in a phone call with President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and national security adviser John Bolton, according to people familiar with the discussion,” reports The Washington Post.

“In the call, which occurred before the kingdom publicly acknowledged killing Khashoggi, the crown prince urged Kushner and Bolton to preserve the U.S.-Saudi alliance and said the journalist was a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, a group long opposed by Bolton and other senior Trump officials.”

Turkey’s justice minister wants to know where Khashoggi’s body is, adds Reuters.

And the minister renews his call on Saudi Arabia to cooperate in its probe, saying “no one can escape responsibility,” via the AP.

Still, even with the stigma of Khashoggi’s killing, the Saudi crown prince is seen as retaining power, writes The New York Times.

CENTCOM APOLOGIZES FOR MANUAL USING THE PHRASE ‘NEGRO BLOOD’: “U.S. Central Command issued an apology Thursday after it was discovered that offensive language including the phrase ‘Negro blood’ had found its way into a welcome guide for military personnel deployed to Saudi Arabia,” reports Stars and Stripes.

“‘We regret that inappropriate material was posted to our website without a more fulsome review and apologize to anyone who took offense,’ CENTCOM spokesman Capt. Bill Urban said in a statement. ‘We removed the document as soon as we were notified of the content, and it was returned to the originating office for revision.’”



A BLOODY STALEMATE IN YEMEN: “Houthi officials say they have studied the Viet Cong’s tactics, and routinely refer to the war as the quagmire that will bring down the House of Saud. ‘We expect this war to be very long,’ I was told by the de facto Houthi foreign minister, Hussain al-Ezzi. ‘It is a war of bone-breaking — they break us or we break them,’” writes the NYT’s Magazine.

Yet, Yemenis welcome new U.S. calls for a truce, but obstacles loom, adds the AP.



TRUMP EXPECTED TO NOMINATE STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESWOMAN AS U.N. AMBASSADOR: “President Trump is expected to nominate Heather Nauert as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, a senior administration official said,” via the WSJ.

“Ms. Nauert, a former Fox News correspondent, joined the Trump administration last year and is currently the chief communications official at the State Department.”

THREE SENIOR PENTAGON OFFICIALS LEAVE IN QUICK SUCCESSION: “The U.S. Defense Department’s top Africa policy official stepped down last month, in the third departure among the department’s senior civilian leaders in recent weeks amid speculation that Defense Secretary James Mattis will also be leaving his post after the midterm elections,” reports Foreign Policy.

“Alan Patterson, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for African affairs, departed his post in October, Pentagon spokeswoman Cmdr. Candice Tresch confirmed to Foreign Policy.”



— Racial bias is probed at the Coast Guard Academy: AP

— The wartime control of U.S. and South Korean troops on the peninsula is evolving: Defense News

— Chinese President Xi Jinping hopes to see U.S. and North Korea advance denuclearization, state media says: Reuters

— With a new indictment, the U.S. launches aggressive campaign to thwart China’s economic attacks: The Washington Post

— Xi and President Donald Trump say momentum is building toward a face-to-face meeting at the G-20: The Washington Post

— Europe is not moving fast enough on military mobility, a top NATO general says: Defense News

— Estonia offers the West many lessons in battling Russian spies: The Washington Post

— Republican hawks to Trump: You're going soft on Iran: POLITICO

— Iran-ally Hezbollah pays Syrian rebels to switch sides: WSJ

— Islamic militant attacks are up overall, but ISIS incidents are down in Africa: Stars and Stripes

— The U.S. vows a tough approach to Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba: AP

Follow us on Twitter Dave Brown @dave_brown24



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Jacqueline Feldscher @jacqklimas



Lara Seligman @laraseligman