At Pentagon, Trump Announces Plans to Expand Missile Defenses
William Broad and Annie Karni | New York Times
President Trump called on Thursday for an update of America’s decades-old missile defense system that he said would protect the United States from emerging threats — adopting a Cold War stance while also promoting futuristic ambitions with his much-touted Space Force. Announcing the results of a missile defense review at the Pentagon, Mr. Trump said the strategy would help deter hostile states — including Iran, which he said “is a much different country” now than when he took office. “Our goal is simple: to ensure that we can detect and destroy any missile launched against the United States anywhere, any time, any place,” Mr. Trump said.
U.S. to Begin Nuclear Treaty Pullout Next Month After Russia Missile Talks Fail
Julian Borger | Guardian
The U.S. has rejected Moscow’s offer to inspect a new Russian missile suspected of violating a key cold war-era nuclear weapons treaty, and warned that it would suspend observance of the agreement on 2 February, giving six-months’ notice of a complete withdrawal. The under secretary of state for arms control and international security, Andrea Thompson, confirmed the U.S. intention to withdraw from the treaty after a meeting with a Russian delegation in Geneva, which both sides described as a failure.
White House Sought Options to Strike Iran
Dion Nissenbaum | Wall Street Journal
President Trump’s National Security Council asked the Pentagon to provide the White House with military options to strike Iran last year, generating concern at the Pentagon and State Department, current and former U.S. officials said. The request, which hasn’t been previously reported, came after militants fired three mortars into Baghdad’s sprawling diplomatic quarter, home to the U.S. Embassy, on a warm night in early September. The shells—launched by a group aligned with Iran—landed in an open lot and harmed no one. But they triggered unusual alarm in Washington, where Mr. Trump’s national security team led by John Bolton conducted a series of meetings to discuss a forceful U.S. response, including what many saw as the unusual request for options to strike Iran.
North Korean Spy Chief’s Visit to Washington Shrouded in Mystery
Josh Rogin | Washington Post
On Thursday night, North Korea’s spy chief will arrive in Washington for his planned meetings with President Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, according to South Korean news reports and administration sources. But although everyone’s talking about it, the Trump administration has been silent. The South Korean press has been reporting since Tuesday that top North Korean official Kim Yong Chol is en route to Washington to deliver another letter to Trump from Kim Jong Un and to finalize details for the second Trump-Kim summit. Multiple official sources confirmed this to me, as well as South Korean reports that U.S. special envoy Stephen Beigun will travel to Stockholm for a planned meeting with North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-Hui, who is attending an international conference there.
Pentagon Sees China Seeking Nuclear Bomber to Compete With U.S.
Anthony Capaccio | Bloomberg
China is likely developing a long-range bomber capable of delivering nuclear weapons and a space-based early warning system it could use to more quickly respond to an attack, according to a new report from the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency. The development of the bomber, when combined with China’s land-based nuclear weapons program and a deployed submarine with intercontinental ballistic missile technology, would give Beijing a “triad” of nuclear delivery systems similar to the U.S. and Russia, according to the report published Tuesday.
China to Help Plug UK Nuclear Power Gap as Japanese Plans Falter
Susanna Twidale | Reuters
China’s General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN) will bring forward plans to build a nuclear plant in Britain, it said on Thursday, helping plug a gap left by the failure of two Japanese projects. Japan’s Hitachi Ltd confirmed on Thursday it had frozen plans for a plant in Wales, while Toshiba Corp scrapped its British NuGen project last year. The British government said it offered a package of financial support to Hitachi after it requested more help, but the firm said the economics still did not add up. Hitachi said Britain’s impending departure from the European Union did not play a role in its decision. Britain wants to build a fleet of new nuclear plants to help replace aging coal and nuclear sites set to close in the 2020s. High up-front costs have delayed construction.