While Hegseth stopped short of explicitly committing the U.S. to defend Taiwan in the event of an invasion or blockade by the Chinese military, he vowed that President Donald Trump would not allow it to happen. President Trump has also said that Communist China will not invade Taiwan on his watch. “So, our goal is to prevent war, to make the costs too high, and peace the only option,” Hegseth said. “But if deterrence fails, and if called upon by my commander in chief, we are prepared to do what the Department of Defense does best — fight and win — decisively.” ‘ALLIES AND PARTNERS MUST DO THEIR PART’: Hegseth’s message to Asian Pacific allies was the same as the Trump administration’s to its European allies: increase defense spending and military capabilities. “We ask — and indeed, we insist — that our allies and partners do their part on defense. Sometimes, that means having uncomfortable and tough conversations,” Hegseth said, arguing that only a strong, united defense will deter China from acting. “President Trump does not seek war. We do not seek to dominate or strangle China. To encircle or provoke. We do not seek regime change, nor will we instigate or disrespect a proud and historic culture,” Hegseth said. At the same time, he warned that China aims to become “a hegemonic power” hoping “to dominate and control” the Indo-Pacific. “Through its massive military buildup and growing willingness to use military force to achieve its goals, including grey zone tactics and hybrid warfare, China has demonstrated that it wants to fundamentally alter the region’s status quo.” “China’s behavior towards its neighbors and the world is a wake-up call, and an urgent one,” he said. “We cannot look away, and we cannot ignore it.” “I urge all our allies and partners to seize this moment with us. Our defense spending must reflect the dangers and threats that we face today. Because deterrence doesn’t come on the cheap, just ask the American taxpayer.” TOUTS ‘TRILLION DOLLAR BUDGET’: “We are preparing for war in order to deter war — to achieve peace through strength,” Hegseth said. “We’re equipping American warfighters with the most advanced capabilities so that we remain the strongest and most lethal fighting force in the world.” “President Trump is spending — for the first time ever — over $1 trillion next year to do this. A 13% increase in American defense spending. The Golden Dome for America, our new sixth-generation fighter — the F-47, our new stealth bomber — the B-21, new submarines, destroyers, hypersonics, drones, you name it. It’s all part of it. The best military equipment in the world.” “When our opponents know that our military is armed with the most capable weapons systems, wielded by skilled warriors with the will to prevail, they are less likely to challenge us on the battlefield — which is the point,” he said. Hegseth concluded his remarks by saying, “And we look out in this room, and we look to you — to our allies and to our partners — to join us in this important work. Our time is now. The threats we face will not wait. And nor can we.” Good Friday morning and welcome to Jamie McIntyre’s Daily on Defense, written and compiled by Washington Examiner National Security Senior Writer Jamie McIntyre (@jamiejmcintyre) and edited by Christopher Tremoglie. Email here with tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. Sign up or read current and back issues at DailyonDefense.com. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email and we’ll add you to our list. And be sure to follow me on Threads and/or on X @jamiejmcintyre. HAPPENING TODAY: RUSSA-UKRAINE PEACE TALKS: Expectations could hardly be lower for today’s second round of peace talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations meeting in Istanbul today. The two sides are expected to trade memoranda outlining their respective terms for peace, but Moscow has so far shown no interest in ending the war anytime soon. Russian President Vladimir Putin spurned a request from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for a face-to-face meeting in Turkey. “The Ukrainian proposal we presented to the Russians is logical and realistic,” Zelensky said last night on the eve of the talks. “The Russians have not shared their ‘memorandum’ with anyone. We don’t have it, the Turkish side doesn’t have it, and the American side doesn’t have the Russian document either.” The Ukrainian delegation is led by Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, while the Russian delegation is headed by Vladimir Medinsky, an aide to Putin, who Zelensky said appears to have no authority to make any decisions. “Despite this, we will attempt to achieve at least some progress on the path toward peace,” he said. “Russia is attempting to delay negotiations and prolong the war in order to make additional battlefield gains,” the Institute for the Study of War concluded in its latest battlefield assessment, noting that Russia has amassed 125,000 personnel to the borders of Sumy and Kharkiv oblasts, an indication that Russian territorial ambitions extend beyond the four oblasts it has already claimed to have annexed. ‘A BRILLIANT OPERATION’: Meanwhile, in an audacious and sophisticated drone attack Sunday, Ukraine delivered an impressive tactical and psychological blow to Russia’s air forces, destroying more than 40 Russian planes as they sat on the ground deep in Russian territory. “A brilliant operation was carried out,” Zelensky said in his nightly video address. “It took place on enemy territory and was aimed exclusively at military targets — specifically, the equipment used in strikes against Ukraine. Russia suffered truly significant losses, entirely justified and deserved.” Zelensky said the operation was launched from inside Russian territory, utilized 117 drones, and damaged or destroyed 34% of Russia’s “strategic cruise missile carriers.” “Our personnel operated across multiple Russian regions, in three different time zones,” Zelensky said. “And the people who assisted us were withdrawn from Russian territory before the operation. They are now safe. It is genuinely satisfying when something I authorized a year and six months ago comes to fruition and deprives Russians of over forty units of strategic aviation.” “Russia will likely struggle to replace the aircraft that Ukrainian forces damaged and destroyed,” the ISW assessed, and the loss will, at least, “temporarily constrain Russia’s ability” to conduct long-range drone and missile strikes into Ukraine. “The Ukrainian drone operation will force Russian officials to consider redistributing Russia’s air defense systems to cover a much wider range of territory and possibly deploying mobile air defense groups that can more quickly react to possible similar Ukrainian drone strikes in the future.” ‘MAGA GIRL’ FIRED AFTER SHARPLY CRITICIZING HEGSETH’S MEDIA RESTRICTIONS: Self-proclaimed “MAGA girl,” Gabrielle Cuccia — who, until she was fired Friday was chief Pentagon correspondent at One America News — apparently lost her job for complaining too vigorously about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s restrictions on the media. In a lengthy post on her Substack page, Cuccia — who served in the White House in 2017 and 2018 — took Hegseth to task for failing to hold briefings, locking reporters out of the briefing room, and restructuring their movements in the building. “If you want the best case study for the death of the MAGA movement — look no further than the Department of Defense,” she wrote. “If there’s any place where we should be asking questions, demanding transparency, and applying pressure — it’s here.” “I was asked to turn in my Pentagon badge to my bureau chief,” Cuccia told CNN, and was subsequently fired. It’s not clear if OAN acted on its own or after complaints from the Pentagon. Cuccia stressed in her opinion piece that she remained staunchly pro-Trump and made clear he held some of her Pentagon reporters colleagues in low regard. “Don’t go calling me deep state,” she wrote. “It’s pretty obvious how I feel about fake news outlets like CNN, MSNBC, CBS, and ABC.” But she also bristled at Hegseth’s latest directive restricting reporters’ access to the building’s hallways, arguing that the practice — which dates back to World War II — threatened national security. “The Pentagon wants to paint a picture that journalists are freely roaming classified spaces, sneaking into SCIFs, and leaking top-secret information,” Cuccia wrote. “And that is simply not true. There are security cameras everywhere, protocols in place, and quite frankly, it would be painfully obvious if a reporter was in a space they didn’t belong.” “The Pentagon’s press protocol forces you to trust your government — and you shouldn’t,” Cuccia wrote on X after her firing. “I Love My Country, Not My Government,” she wrote. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t want my government to succeed.” THE RUNDOWN: Washington Examiner: Ukraine destroys Russian strategic bombers in massive drone attack day before ceasefire talks Washington Examiner: Trump to meet with Germany’s Merz at White House next week Washington Examiner: Suspect identified in terrorist attack at pro-Israel event in Boulder, Colorado Washington Examiner: China warns US ‘must never play with fire’ on Taiwan in rebuke of Hegseth speech Washington Examiner: Dozens of American universities maintain partnerships with Chinese military-linked entities Washington Examiner: Pete Hegseth praises Israel, Poland, Gulf and Baltic states as ‘model allies’ Washington Examiner: Over 30 Palestinians killed on way to Israeli-backed aid site as witnesses blame IDF Washington Examiner: Palestinian mobs raiding food storages show collapse of Hamas power in Gaza Washington Examiner: Witkoff blasts Hamas response to ceasefire proposal as ‘totally unacceptable’ Washington Examiner: US submits nuclear deal proposal after Iran increases uranium enrichment Washington Examiner: Pete Hegseth’s war on the Pentagon press corps Washington Examiner: US strategy toward African partners switches to ’empowerment’ as challenges remain Washington Examiner: ‘Unbelievable’ Marco Rubio becomes the tip of Trump’s spear Washington Examiner: Stephen Miller ‘eviscerated’ ICE officials in private meeting for low deportation numbers Washington Examiner: Adam Schiff ‘horrified’ by Trump’s ‘military vanity’ parade Washington Examiner: Opinion: Israeli settlement expansions in West Bank undermine US interests Washington Examiner: Opinion: CPAC Hungary: The age of Chinese Communist Party collaborators is here Bloomberg: US Navy to Field ‘Game-Changer’ Anti-Ship Tomahawk by September Air & Space Forces Magazine: Trump’s Budget Boosts USAF, Cuts Space Force Spending Miltary.com: Navy Orders Forcewide Housing Inspections After Secretary ‘Appalled’ by Guam Barracks Conditions Military.com: Air Force Wants Private Company to Take Over its On-Base Hotels Task & Purpose: Veterans Receiving Disability Payments Might Have Been Underpaid, IG Finds Air & Space Forces Magazine: US Has Doubled Its Airstrikes in Somalia, Surpassing 2024 Levels Breaking Defense: Russia’s New Cosmos Satellite Orbiting Near US Sat Piques ASAT Fears Air & Space Forces Magazine: Space Force, SpaceX Launch GPS Satellite in Record Time The War Zone: F-15E Armed With Drone Killing Laser-Guided Rockets Appears In Middle East Air & Space Forces Magazine: Former Thunderbirds Pilots Applaud ‘Wonderful’ New Netflix Documentary THE CALENDAR: MONDAY | JUNE 2 10:30 a.m. Washington Convention Center — Exchange on Innovation and National Security with Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll; Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George; Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine; Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin; Chief of Space Operations Gen. B. Chance Saltzman; Assistant Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Christopher Mahoney; and Vice Commander, U.S. Special Operations Command Lt. Gen. Frank Donovan https://www.scsp.ai/exchange/ 1:30 p.m. 1400 L St. NW — Atlantic Council book discussion: “Decolonizing Ukraine: The Indigenous People of Crimea and Pathways to Freedom,” with author Greta Uehling, professor at the University of Michigan; and Milda Mataciunaite-Boyce, director of fellowships and coalitions at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/decolonizing-ukraine 5:30 p.m. — Senate votes on a motion to invoke cloture on the nomination of Michael Duffey to be undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment. http://www.senate.gov TUESDAY | JUNE 3 9 a.m. Warsaw, Poland — Atlantic Council Europe Center virtual discussion: “Securing Europe – With or Without the U.S.?” as part of Warsaw Week 2025: Retooling the Transatlantic Alliance for an Era of Uncertainty,” with Joris Geeven, head of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs NATO Summit Content Team; Justyna Gotkowska, deputy director, Center for Eastern Studies; and Marcin Kazmierski, director, Polish Ministry of National Defense International Security Policy Department https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/warsaw-week-2025 9 a.m. — Center for a New American Security virtual 2025 National Security Conference” “America’s Edge,” with Lt. Gen. Joseph Ryan, deputy chief of staff for the Army; German Ambassador to the U.S. Andreas Michaelis; Bogdan Klich, head of mission for the Embassy of the Republic of Poland; Rep. Maggie Goodlander (D-NH); Rep. Pat Ryan (D-NY); Gen. David Allvin, chief of staff of the Air Force; House Intelligence ranking member Jim Himes (D-CN); Rep. John Moolenaar (R-MI); and Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) https://conference.cnas.org/ 2 p.m. 1775 Massachusetts Ave. NW — Brookings Institution discussion: “The U.S., China, and the War in Ukraine,” with Nicholas Burns, professor of the practice of diplomacy and international relations at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, former U.S. Ambassador to China and former U.S. Ambassador to NATO; Patricia Kim, fellow in the Brookings Foreign Policy Program, the Brookings Center for Asia Policy Studies and the Brookings China Center; Suzanne Maloney, vice president and director, Brookings Foreign Policy Program; and Jonathan Czin, Brookings chair in foreign policy studies and fellow in the Brookings Foreign Policy Program and Brookings China Center https://www.brookings.edu/events/the-united-states-china-and-the-war-in-ukraine 4:30 p.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies virtual discussion: “South Korea’s New President,” with Victor Cha, president of the CSIS Geopolitics and Foreign Policy Department; Ramon Pacheco Pardo, CSIS nonresident adjunct fellow; and Sydney Seiler, CSIS nonresident senior adviser https://www.csis.org/events/impossible-state-live-podcast WEDNESDAY | JUNE 4 9 a.m Warsaw, Poland — Atlantic Council Europe Center virtual discussion: “Future Directions for Transatlantic Economic Relations,” with Michal Baranowski, undersecretary of state, Polish Ministry of Development and Technology https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/warsaw-week 10 a.m. 2118 Rayburn — House Armed Services Committee hearing: “Department of the Army FY2026 Posture,” with testimony from Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll, and Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George http://www.armedservices.house.gov 10 a.m. 2200 Rayburn — House Foreign Affairs Europe Subcommittee hearing: “Assessing the Challenges Facing NATO,” with testimony from retired Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery, CCTI senior director and senior fellow, Foundation for Defense of Democracies; Nile Gardiner, director, Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom and Bernard and fellow in the Heritage Foundation; and Julianne Smith, former U.S. permanent representative to NATO http://foreignaffairs.house.gov 10 a.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies virtual discussion: “America’s ‘Golden Dome’ Explained,” with Tom Karako, director, CSIS Missile Defense Project; Heather Williams, director, CSIS Project on Nuclear Issues; and Kari Bingen, director, CSIS Aerospace Security Project https://www.csis.org/events/americas-golden-dome-explained 10 a.m. 1201 South Joyce St., Arlington, Virginia — Air & Space Forces Association discussion “Insights from recent expedition to the ISS, “with Space Force Col. Nick Hague https://www.afa.org/events/warfighters-in-action-col-nick-hague/ 10 a.m. 1775 Massachusetts Ave. NW — Brookings Institution discussion: “The End of the Imperial Republic and the Future of the Trans-Atlantic Alliance,” with Camille Grand, policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations; Mara Karlin, visiting fellow at the Brookings Foreign Policy Program and Brookings Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology; Peter Rough, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and director, Hudson Institute’s Center on Europe and Eurasia; and Constanza Steizenmuller, director, Brookings Center on the U.S. and Europe, senior fellow in the Brookings Foreign Policy Program and Brookings Center on the U.S. and Europe and Brookings chair on Germany and Trans-Atlantic relations https://www.brookings.edu/events/the-end-of-the-imperial-republic 1 p.m. — Center for Strategic and International Studies virtual discussion: “Combating State Hostage Taking and Wrongful Detention,” with Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Response Adam Boehler, founder and managing partner of Rubicon Founders; former State Department Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs Roger Carstens; Danielle Gilbert, assistant professor at Northwestern University; Sarah (Levinson) Moriarty, principal at R.A. Levinson & Associates; Diane Foley, president and founder, James W. Foley Legacy Foundation; and former White House National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien, co-chair, CSIS Commission on Hostage Taking and Wrongful Detention https://www.csis.org/events/combatting-state-hostage-taking-and-wrongful-detention 2 p.m. House Triangle, U.S. Capitol — House Committee on Strategic Competition Between the U.S. and the Chinese Communist Party news conference to commemorate the legacy of Tiananmen Square and “highlight the courage of dissidents and pro-democracy advocates in China today.” [email protected] 4 p.m. 1201 Pennsylvania Ave. NW — Hudson Institute discussion: “The Future of U.S. Foreign Policy in the Middle East,” with Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Jim Risch (R-ID) https://www.hudson.org/events/future-us-foreign-policy-middle-east-senator-james-risch THURSDAY | JUNE 5 9:30 a.m. 2200 Rayburn — Senate Armed Services Committee hearing: “The Posture of the Department of the Army in review of the Defense Authorization Request for FY2026 and the Future Years Defense Program,” with testimony from Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll, and Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George http://www.armed-services.senate.gov 10 a.m. 2118 Rayburn — House Armed Services Committee hearing: “Department of the Air Force FY2026 Posture,” with testimony from Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin; Air Force Secretary Troy Meink; and Space Force Chief of Space Operations Gen. B. Chance Saltzman http://www.armedservices.house.gov 2 p.m. 310 Cannon — House Homeland Security Counterterrorism and Intelligence Subcommittee hearing “Among Us: Evaluating Sleeper Cell Activity and Other Subversion and Sabotage Threats” http://homeland.house.gov 2 p.m. 1333 H St. NW — Center for American Progress discussion: “America’s Role in the World,” with Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT); and Neera Tanden, president and CEO, Center for American Progress https://rsvp2.americanprogress.org/americasroleintheworld