1 00:00:00,090 --> 00:00:02,257 First of all , I , I think our message 2 00:00:02,257 --> 00:00:04,368 is clear . It's been consistent for a 3 00:00:04,368 --> 00:00:06,479 year and a half , for President Trump 4 00:00:06,479 --> 00:00:08,090 it's been consistent for two 5 00:00:08,090 --> 00:00:10,146 administrations . Uh , NATO's got to 6 00:00:10,146 --> 00:00:12,423 step up to be a real military alliance . 7 00:00:12,449 --> 00:00:14,671 America's done its part for a very long 8 00:00:14,671 --> 00:00:16,893 time . NATO 3.0 is all about looking at 9 00:00:16,893 --> 00:00:19,729 our friends . Being honest , saying 10 00:00:19,729 --> 00:00:21,729 you've got to step up and spend and 11 00:00:21,729 --> 00:00:23,840 spend more on , on your defense . Get 12 00:00:23,840 --> 00:00:25,618 to that commitment of 5% . Uh , 13 00:00:25,618 --> 00:00:27,618 President Trump at the Hague summit 14 00:00:27,930 --> 00:00:30,097 demanded it . Now we're going to be in 15 00:00:30,097 --> 00:00:32,263 Ankara in a couple of weeks where he's 16 00:00:32,263 --> 00:00:32,130 gonna have a chance to hear these 17 00:00:32,130 --> 00:00:34,241 countries , how much progress they've 18 00:00:34,241 --> 00:00:36,352 made , and , and that's been , that's 19 00:00:36,352 --> 00:00:38,519 been consistent across the board . And 20 00:00:38,519 --> 00:00:40,741 I was honest also that at the outset of 21 00:00:40,741 --> 00:00:42,963 epic fury , uh , there were some allies 22 00:00:42,963 --> 00:00:45,186 that didn't provide the kind of support 23 00:00:45,186 --> 00:00:47,352 they should have . And we're honest in 24 00:00:47,352 --> 00:00:49,519 public . We're honest in private about 25 00:00:49,519 --> 00:00:51,574 it . We need to be able to ensure we 26 00:00:51,574 --> 00:00:53,686 have access facing an overflight when 27 00:00:53,686 --> 00:00:55,630 when it matters in the middle of a 28 00:00:55,630 --> 00:00:57,686 contingency . And so the review that 29 00:00:57,686 --> 00:00:59,979 we're undertaking , the NATO 3.0 . It's 30 00:00:59,979 --> 00:01:02,090 simply that , uh , where is the right 31 00:01:02,090 --> 00:01:04,146 place for basing ? Where can we make 32 00:01:04,146 --> 00:01:06,368 sure we have access and overflight when 33 00:01:06,368 --> 00:01:08,423 we need it , uh , so that America is 34 00:01:08,423 --> 00:01:10,590 properly postured on the continent and 35 00:01:10,590 --> 00:01:12,590 around the world . It's a , it's an 36 00:01:12,590 --> 00:01:14,757 earnest review that we look forward to 37 00:01:14,757 --> 00:01:16,535 undertaking , uh , working with 38 00:01:16,535 --> 00:01:16,300 Congress , working with our allies , 39 00:01:16,660 --> 00:01:18,716 working with General Brikowicz , the 40 00:01:18,716 --> 00:01:20,827 commander of European Command , who's 41 00:01:20,827 --> 00:01:22,993 fantastic , and our policy shop , uh , 42 00:01:22,993 --> 00:01:25,104 and we'll get to work on it . Right . 43 00:01:25,104 --> 00:01:27,104 Thanks for coming along and we look 44 00:01:27,104 --> 00:01:29,216 forward to getting back to . A couple 45 00:01:29,216 --> 00:01:31,438 of quick questions . It appears there's 46 00:01:31,438 --> 00:01:33,438 unprecedented cooperation from NATO 47 00:01:33,438 --> 00:01:35,855 leadership today , but what about the 48 00:01:35,855 --> 00:01:38,077 countries that have been lagging in the 49 00:01:38,077 --> 00:01:40,889 overfly and all the other issues . Do 50 00:01:40,889 --> 00:01:43,222 you think they felt the impact of today ? 51 00:01:43,222 --> 00:01:45,400 I , I know they felt the impact . Uh , 52 00:01:45,410 --> 00:01:47,889 we were clear , uh , publicly and 53 00:01:47,889 --> 00:01:49,945 privately . We're not going to allow 54 00:01:49,945 --> 00:01:51,945 freeloading anymore . Excuses don't 55 00:01:51,945 --> 00:01:54,730 count anymore . Our dues , our NATO 56 00:01:54,730 --> 00:01:57,209 dues are contingent upon other 57 00:01:57,209 --> 00:01:59,320 countries stepping up . This is not a 58 00:01:59,320 --> 00:02:01,431 one-way street . And , and so this is 59 00:02:01,431 --> 00:02:03,487 not as if this is a new message from 60 00:02:03,487 --> 00:02:05,709 President Trump or from me , and that's 61 00:02:05,709 --> 00:02:07,598 why most countries are responding 62 00:02:07,629 --> 00:02:10,410 positively . Uh , both publicly and 63 00:02:10,410 --> 00:02:12,521 behind closed doors , it was great to 64 00:02:12,521 --> 00:02:14,577 hear country after country say we're 65 00:02:14,577 --> 00:02:14,559 going to meet our target , we're going 66 00:02:14,559 --> 00:02:16,726 to meet our target . There are still a 67 00:02:16,726 --> 00:02:18,670 few outliers , uh , and we will be 68 00:02:18,670 --> 00:02:20,670 clear with them , and as we do this 69 00:02:20,670 --> 00:02:22,837 review , uh , we'll change how we look 70 00:02:22,837 --> 00:02:24,948 at the continent , uh , as a result . 71 00:02:27,250 --> 00:02:29,820 Any other questions ? to demine 72 00:02:29,820 --> 00:02:31,960 straight that discussed today . 73 00:02:34,410 --> 00:02:36,466 an idea of a time frame of what they 74 00:02:36,466 --> 00:02:39,289 can bring in . The time frame 75 00:02:40,240 --> 00:02:43,550 Getting it back up to conflict . There 76 00:02:43,550 --> 00:02:45,494 are , there are European countries 77 00:02:45,494 --> 00:02:47,550 prepared to step up , and we welcome 78 00:02:47,550 --> 00:02:49,606 that . Obviously many mines that are 79 00:02:49,606 --> 00:02:51,939 there need to be identified and removed , 80 00:02:51,939 --> 00:02:53,994 and Iran should be fully compliant , 81 00:02:53,994 --> 00:02:56,217 cooperative in that sense , but it's an 82 00:02:56,217 --> 00:02:58,383 international waterway . And frankly , 83 00:02:58,419 --> 00:03:00,586 European countries and Asian countries 84 00:03:00,586 --> 00:03:02,641 use it a lot more than we do . We've 85 00:03:02,641 --> 00:03:04,752 got energy independence and resources 86 00:03:04,752 --> 00:03:06,808 in our hemisphere that are bountiful 87 00:03:06,808 --> 00:03:08,863 and will change , I think the energy 88 00:03:08,863 --> 00:03:11,030 energy architecture for a generation . 89 00:03:11,089 --> 00:03:13,200 European countries ought to be at the 90 00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:15,256 front . There are a number that have 91 00:03:15,256 --> 00:03:17,478 stepped up , uh , and we welcome that , 92 00:03:17,490 --> 00:03:19,657 and they'll do it in coordination with 93 00:03:19,657 --> 00:03:21,879 CENTCOM and Admiral Cooper to make sure 94 00:03:21,879 --> 00:03:24,101 that that waterway is open and commerce 95 00:03:24,101 --> 00:03:26,101 is moving as the president intended 96 00:03:26,101 --> 00:03:28,268 right away . Secretary , the agreement 97 00:03:28,268 --> 00:03:30,379 with Iran calls for the withdrawal of 98 00:03:30,379 --> 00:03:32,657 US forces from the . Areas around Iran , 99 00:03:32,657 --> 00:03:34,823 can you explain to us what that really 100 00:03:34,823 --> 00:03:36,879 means in practical terms , and could 101 00:03:36,879 --> 00:03:38,879 you address your thoughts about the 102 00:03:38,879 --> 00:03:40,879 agreement and critics in Israel and 103 00:03:40,879 --> 00:03:43,046 elsewhere who say that it's giving too 104 00:03:43,046 --> 00:03:45,300 much to Iran ? I would say one key 105 00:03:45,300 --> 00:03:47,244 difference you've got to point out 106 00:03:47,244 --> 00:03:49,300 between this agreement and others is 107 00:03:49,300 --> 00:03:51,809 this was born of strength . Of American 108 00:03:51,809 --> 00:03:55,529 action . JCPOA came from a bunch of 109 00:03:55,910 --> 00:03:58,589 begging and talking . This agreement 110 00:03:58,589 --> 00:04:01,389 came after months of bombing and a 111 00:04:01,389 --> 00:04:03,820 blockade that was impenetrable . Iran 112 00:04:03,820 --> 00:04:06,042 was put in a position where they had to 113 00:04:06,042 --> 00:04:08,209 come to the table and undertake this , 114 00:04:08,209 --> 00:04:10,710 and , and what President Trump has been 115 00:04:10,710 --> 00:04:12,877 clear about from the beginning and the 116 00:04:12,877 --> 00:04:14,988 War Department is clear about is Iran 117 00:04:14,988 --> 00:04:14,889 cannot have a nuclear weapon . Full 118 00:04:14,889 --> 00:04:17,000 stop , cannot have a nuclear weapon . 119 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:19,339 Everybody knows it . And so our 120 00:04:19,339 --> 00:04:23,100 military actions and any negotiations 121 00:04:23,260 --> 00:04:25,204 will be centered on that . And the 122 00:04:25,204 --> 00:04:27,500 president has pointed out that we will 123 00:04:27,500 --> 00:04:30,179 be prepared to recommence if underneath 124 00:04:30,179 --> 00:04:32,779 the timeline of these talks , Iran does 125 00:04:32,779 --> 00:04:34,946 not do what it says it's going to do , 126 00:04:34,946 --> 00:04:37,168 which is give up nuclear weapons , give 127 00:04:37,168 --> 00:04:39,335 up nuclear ambitions , give away their 128 00:04:39,335 --> 00:04:41,168 nuclear material , close nuclear 129 00:04:41,168 --> 00:04:43,390 facilities , then the War Department is 130 00:04:43,390 --> 00:04:45,612 here and prepared to restart if we need 131 00:04:45,612 --> 00:04:47,557 to . We prefer not to . But we are 132 00:04:47,557 --> 00:04:49,668 prepared and postured to it . When it 133 00:04:49,668 --> 00:04:51,899 comes to our our our alignment or 134 00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:54,216 posture in the region , we'll review 135 00:04:54,216 --> 00:04:56,382 what capabilities we need . You know , 136 00:04:56,382 --> 00:04:58,493 when the blockade opens fully , we'll 137 00:04:58,493 --> 00:05:00,660 step back and allow commerce to flow . 138 00:05:00,660 --> 00:05:02,882 But if Iran doesn't comply , then we're 139 00:05:02,882 --> 00:05:05,829 more than able to reimpose an ironclad 140 00:05:05,829 --> 00:05:07,829 blockade . We've had basing in that 141 00:05:07,829 --> 00:05:09,996 region for a long time . A lot of that 142 00:05:09,996 --> 00:05:11,996 will stay just as it is , and we'll 143 00:05:11,996 --> 00:05:14,051 look at . Many troops we need in the 144 00:05:14,051 --> 00:05:16,382 area and calibrate accordingly , but 145 00:05:16,382 --> 00:05:18,743 we're going to be the big stick behind 146 00:05:18,743 --> 00:05:20,743 the negotiations that never existed 147 00:05:20,903 --> 00:05:23,181 under President Obama . We just didn't . 148 00:05:23,181 --> 00:05:25,463 It was a paper tiger hoping that they 149 00:05:25,463 --> 00:05:28,092 agreed . We have put a military 150 00:05:28,092 --> 00:05:30,403 operation in place that set the 151 00:05:30,403 --> 00:05:32,703 conditions , not to mention President 152 00:05:32,703 --> 00:05:34,870 Trump killing Qasem Soleimani , not to 153 00:05:34,870 --> 00:05:36,703 mention Midnight Hammer , not to 154 00:05:36,703 --> 00:05:38,425 mention not just the offensive 155 00:05:38,425 --> 00:05:41,015 operations of . Fury , but the blockade , 156 00:05:41,055 --> 00:05:43,111 which they haven't been able to have 157 00:05:43,111 --> 00:05:45,277 any answer for , and Project Freedom , 158 00:05:45,277 --> 00:05:47,166 which ran hundreds of millions of 159 00:05:47,166 --> 00:05:49,222 barrels of oil through , we have set 160 00:05:49,222 --> 00:05:51,333 the terms and so our military posture 161 00:05:51,333 --> 00:05:53,444 will continue to ensure Iran does the 162 00:05:53,444 --> 00:05:55,666 right thing at the table with this deal 163 00:05:55,696 --> 00:05:58,816 and the belief is that from this MOU 164 00:05:58,816 --> 00:06:01,376 going forward they will have every 165 00:06:01,376 --> 00:06:03,615 opportunity to do just that to ensure 166 00:06:03,615 --> 00:06:05,504 Iran never has a nuclear weapon . 167 00:06:10,899 --> 00:06:13,121 Uh , it was a good meeting with the new 168 00:06:13,121 --> 00:06:15,232 counterpart of the UK . Obviously the 169 00:06:15,232 --> 00:06:18,540 US British Defense alliance is an 170 00:06:18,540 --> 00:06:20,540 important one . My message to him , 171 00:06:21,179 --> 00:06:23,401 he's actually a fellow service member , 172 00:06:23,640 --> 00:06:25,529 a just a couple of majors getting 173 00:06:25,529 --> 00:06:27,751 together talking about defense of their 174 00:06:27,751 --> 00:06:29,973 nation . I love the fact that he's been 175 00:06:29,973 --> 00:06:31,973 in the combat zone . We , we talked 176 00:06:31,973 --> 00:06:34,140 about the similarities we have there , 177 00:06:34,140 --> 00:06:36,473 but the message was the same . Hey , uh , 178 00:06:36,473 --> 00:06:38,529 we need you guys to step up . And do 179 00:06:38,529 --> 00:06:40,751 even more , spend even more . And if we 180 00:06:40,751 --> 00:06:42,973 need access and basin , whether it's in 181 00:06:42,973 --> 00:06:45,269 the UK or say at Diego Garcia , we 182 00:06:45,269 --> 00:06:47,158 can't live in a world where other 183 00:06:47,158 --> 00:06:49,325 countries are standing at the end of a 184 00:06:49,325 --> 00:06:49,029 runway with a clipboard trying to 185 00:06:49,029 --> 00:06:51,085 decide what flies and what doesn't . 186 00:06:51,170 --> 00:06:53,392 It's not , it's not gonna work for us . 187 00:06:53,392 --> 00:06:55,559 It's not good in contingencies , and I 188 00:06:55,559 --> 00:06:57,781 don't think it's what he wants either . 189 00:06:57,781 --> 00:07:00,003 So as the Minister of Defense level , I 190 00:07:00,003 --> 00:06:59,790 think it's the start of a continued 191 00:06:59,790 --> 00:07:02,500 really good relationship . The more the 192 00:07:02,500 --> 00:07:05,160 UK spends on defense . The , the , the 193 00:07:05,160 --> 00:07:06,959 stronger NATO is gonna be , the 194 00:07:06,959 --> 00:07:09,359 stronger Western civilization is , and 195 00:07:09,359 --> 00:07:11,359 that's a good thing . So I , I , I 196 00:07:11,359 --> 00:07:13,415 think a good start to a relationship 197 00:07:13,415 --> 00:07:15,630 that we need to renew even more . Last 198 00:07:15,630 --> 00:07:17,574 question real quick . Yes . On the 199 00:07:17,574 --> 00:07:19,686 force posture change , how quickly do 200 00:07:19,686 --> 00:07:21,686 you think that we'll see a tangible 201 00:07:21,686 --> 00:07:25,010 change of the US presence ? Uh , it'll 202 00:07:25,010 --> 00:07:27,410 be , it's all conditions-based . Uh , 203 00:07:27,450 --> 00:07:29,730 it's all based , uh , again on , on the 204 00:07:29,730 --> 00:07:32,220 responsiveness and , and 205 00:07:32,890 --> 00:07:35,989 Benchmarks met and things that just 206 00:07:35,989 --> 00:07:37,950 like this talk about resources and 207 00:07:37,950 --> 00:07:40,079 money , it's based on performance . 208 00:07:40,230 --> 00:07:42,286 Everything is based on performance . 209 00:07:42,286 --> 00:07:44,750 This is not a trust and don't verify 210 00:07:44,750 --> 00:07:46,972 like the Obama deal . This is , there's 211 00:07:46,972 --> 00:07:49,139 not a lot of trust here and everything 212 00:07:49,139 --> 00:07:51,306 we're going to do is verify , verify , 213 00:07:51,306 --> 00:07:53,529 verify . And so at every step , whether 214 00:07:53,529 --> 00:07:56,459 it's our military posture or it's the 215 00:07:56,459 --> 00:07:58,614 car . That exist to ensure Iran never 216 00:07:58,614 --> 00:08:01,464 has a nuclear weapon . All performance 217 00:08:01,864 --> 00:08:03,864 based . There's no giveaways here . 218 00:08:03,885 --> 00:08:05,718 There's no trust here . It's all 219 00:08:05,718 --> 00:08:07,829 verification , and the War Department 220 00:08:07,829 --> 00:08:10,052 stands behind it all , as the president 221 00:08:10,052 --> 00:08:12,274 has said , prepared to devastatingly do 222 00:08:12,274 --> 00:08:14,441 what we've done already . Iran's never 223 00:08:14,441 --> 00:08:16,663 seen the kind of military campaign that 224 00:08:16,663 --> 00:08:18,718 the United States launched on them , 225 00:08:18,718 --> 00:08:20,663 full stop , regardless of what the 226 00:08:20,663 --> 00:08:22,829 American media wants to say . Peddling 227 00:08:22,829 --> 00:08:26,250 Iranian state television , Iran's been 228 00:08:26,250 --> 00:08:29,450 devastated militarily on so many fronts 229 00:08:29,450 --> 00:08:31,617 by these strikes which brought them to 230 00:08:31,617 --> 00:08:33,450 this position , not to mention a 231 00:08:33,450 --> 00:08:35,561 blockade they can't do anything about 232 00:08:35,561 --> 00:08:35,400 because they don't have a conventional 233 00:08:35,400 --> 00:08:37,450 navy . And then we were willing to 234 00:08:37,450 --> 00:08:40,234 re-strike a couple of . Nights , which 235 00:08:40,234 --> 00:08:42,290 again set them back even more in the 236 00:08:42,290 --> 00:08:44,512 Strait of Hormuz , showing that we will 237 00:08:44,512 --> 00:08:46,678 restart if we have to . So our posture 238 00:08:46,678 --> 00:08:48,734 is one of strength . Iran's going to 239 00:08:48,734 --> 00:08:50,901 have every opportunity to cut the kind 240 00:08:50,901 --> 00:08:53,067 of deal they should at the table , and 241 00:08:53,067 --> 00:08:52,794 if they don't , the War Department will 242 00:08:52,794 --> 00:08:54,914 be right here ready to go . Thank you 243 00:08:54,914 --> 00:08:57,081 all for coming . Appreciate it . We'll 244 00:08:57,081 --> 00:08:56,655 see you on the plane .