| | | | |  | | By Robbie Gramer and Paul McLeary | |  Laura Cooper, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Charles Q. Brown Jr. participate in a virtual meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at the Pentagon on May 20, 2024 in Arlington, Virginia. | Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images | By Robbie Gramer and Paul McLeary With help from Phelim Kine, John Sakellariadis, Jack Detsch and Joe Gould Subscribe here | Email Robbie | Email Eric A key player in coordinating U.S. military aid and marshaling international support for Ukraine has left the Pentagon just days before DONALD TRUMP takes the White House and puts its own imprint on the war. LAURA COOPER, a career civil servant who led the Russia and Ukraine office since the first Trump administration, stepped down from her post just after the new year, according to one former and three current officials, as our own PAUL MCLEARY and your lead NatSec Daily author report (for Pros!). Cooper, who spent more than two decades at the Pentagon, is probably best known for testifying to Congress over the objections of department leadership as part of Trump’s Ukraine-related impeachment trial. The Defense Department didn’t say why Cooper left, but given her testimony and the uncertainty over Ukraine policy, the Pentagon might have proven an uncomfortable place for her under the new president. Her departure reflects a growing sense of anxiety within the Defense Department over the incoming administration and how it plans to treat the ranks of career civil servants and military flag officers, particularly amid expectations Trump will downsize the federal workforce. Cooper played an outsized role in coordinating the massive shipments of U.S. military aid to Ukraine since Russia first invaded in 2022. But Pentagon and State Department officials who worked closely with her said they feared she would have a target on her back under Trump for her testimony and ties to Biden-era Ukraine policy. We granted all of them anonymity to discuss the matter candidly. Cooper was part of a class of federal officials who serve in administrations of both parties and are seen as the institutional brain behind massive bureaucracies. Unlike political appointees, civil servants are not expected to leave with a change of political leadership. She is heading to a teaching position at the National Defense University in Washington and could not be reached for comment. Cooper first made headlines in 2019 when she was called to testify in Congress on efforts by then-president Trump to pressure Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden, his rival in the 2020 presidential election. Trump also faced allegations that he withheld hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine as part of that push. The Senate acquitted Trump of those charges on mostly party-line votes. Cooper testified in a closed-door deposition before congressional committees despite a White House letter warning her not to appear. She also repeated her testimony during a public hearing. Her deposition, according to a transcript, was limited to discussing the holdup in providing Ukraine with $400 million in military aid that Congress had allocated for training. She told lawmakers that the money was "held without explanation," and U.S. officials "began to raise concerns about how this could be done in a legal fashion.” Cooper developed a good rapport with many in the Ukrainian government while coordinating aid, and some of them would stop by her office at the Pentagon when visiting Washington, according to multiple Ukrainian officials. She is widely regarded in Kyiv as an honest broker in negotiations. Cooper has been replaced on a temporary basis by STEVEN SCHLEIEN, who also runs the Defense Continuity and Mission Assurance office, which ensures continuity of the U.S. government in crisis situations.
|  | The Inbox | | | TRUMP TALKS NATSEC PRIORITIES IN NEW INTERVIEW: In an interview with conservative radio talk show host HUGH HEWITT out today, Trump issued a fresh warning to Hamas when asked about the conflict between Israel and the militant group in Gaza, which still holds around 100 hostages including seven American citizens. “If those hostages aren’t released by the time I get to office, there will be hell to pay,” Trump told Hewitt. The president-elect didn’t elaborate on what exactly that hell would entail. On Sunday, Reuters’ NIDAL AL-MUGHRABI reported that Hamas approved a list of 34 Israeli hostages to be returned as part of a potential cease-fire deal, citing an unnamed Hamas official. But Israel said Hamas has provided it with no such list in response. Months of grueling negotiations between Israel and Hamas, brokered by the United States and other regional powers, have yet to yield any breakthroughs. Also in the interview with Hewitt, Trump hinted at new plans to expand U.S. naval shipbuilding. “We don’t build ships anymore. We want to get that started. And maybe we’ll use allies, also, in terms of building ships. We might have to,” he said. As our own JACK DETSCH reports (for Pros!), Trump’s stance is sure to alarm the U.S. shipbuilding industry and its advocates in Washington, along with organized labor. But it may also be seen as a pragmatic step as China’s fleet expands and as the U.S. Navy’s suppliers struggle to replace its aging fleet on time and on schedule. BLINKEN’S SEOUL WOES: Efforts by Secretary of State ANTONY BLINKEN and South Korean Foreign Minister CHO TAE-YUL to project U.S.-South Korean unity took hits at a press briefing in Seoul today, PHELIM KINE writes in. Blinken danced around multiple questions about what the impeachment of President YOON SUK YEOL — and his refusal to surrender to authorities — said about the strength of South Korean democracy and the future of Seoul’s partnership with the U.S. The Biden administration has “serious concerns” about Yoon’s conduct but maintains “tremendous confidence in the resilience of South Korea’s democracy,” Blinken said. Blinken had other challenges in Seoul– namely North Korea’s decision to test-launch an intermediate-range ballistic missile just as he was sitting down to meetings with Cho and other senior South Korean officials. Blinken told reporters that Pyongyang’s threat to the region will likely only increase due to its tightening embrace with Russia. “We have reason to believe that Moscow intends to share advanced space and satellite technology with Pyongyang, and that Putin may be close to reversing a decades-long policy by Russia and accepting DPRK’s nuclear weapons program,” Blinken said. TRUDEAU STEPPING DOWN: Canadian Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU is poised to resign as leader of the Liberal party, paving the way for him to step down as prime minister. As our own SUE ALLAN and NICK TAYLOR-VAISEY report, Trudeau’s announcement unleashes a fury of uncertainties for Canada’s political future amid growing anxiety about Donald Trump’s return to the White House. Trump has said that his Day 1 to-do list includes slapping Canada with 25 percent tariffs. IT’S MONDAY (AND 2025): Thanks for tuning in to NatSec Daily and hope all our Washington readers are staying warm in the winter storm! This space is reserved for the top U.S. and foreign officials, the lawmakers, the lobbyists, the experts and the people like you who care about how the natsec sausage gets made. Aim your tips and comments at rgramer@politico.com and ebazail@politico.com, and follow Robbie and Eric on X @RobbieGramer and @ebazaileimil. While you’re at it, follow the rest of POLITICO’s global security team: @dave_brown24, @HeidiVogt, @jessicameyers, @RosiePerper, @nahaltoosi, @PhelimKine, @connorobrienNH, @paulmcleary, @reporterjoe, @JackDetsch, @samuelskove, @magmill95, and @johnnysaks130.
| | TRUMP’S BARRAGE OF NEW PERSONNEL ANNOUNCEMENTS CONTINUES: Trump over the long holiday break announced a raft of new picks for senior foreign policy posts. If you logged off and need to catch up, we have you covered with some of the big names: Trump picked TAMMY BRUCE, a longtime Fox News contributor, to be the next State Department spokesperson, as our own Nahal Toosi reports. On the ambassador front, Trump picked Estonian-born lawyer ROMAN PIPKO as his ambassador to the small Baltic NATO ally, healthcare executive BENJAMIN LEON Jr. as his ambassador to Spain and investment financier JOE POPOLO to be his ambassador to the Netherlands. He also picked former State Department spokesperson MORGAN ORTAGUS to be his deputy special presidential envoy for Middle East peace — but as our colleague Paul reports, did so in an unusual statement that made it seem like he made the move reluctantly
| | | Keystrokes | | SANCTION SLAP-BACK: The U.S. Treasury Department has sanctioned China’s Integrity Technology Group over alleged cyberattacks, which Beijing denies, claiming the punishment is meant to “defame and smear China.” The announcement comes a week after Treasury announced that Chinese-backed hackers infiltrated Treasury workstations in a new cybersecurity breach — the latest in an escalating series of cyberattacks on U.S. infrastructure by China-linked groups.
| | | The Complex | | | AND SPEAKING OF SLAP-BACKS: The Department of Defense updated a list of firms it says works with the Chinese military, putting these companies in the crosshairs of government scrutiny and preventing DOD or its contractors from working with them. The new additions to the “Section 1260H List” — named after the Congressional defense policy bill section that mandates it — include video game production giant Tencent Holdings Ltd, drone manufacturer Shenzhen DJI Innovation Technology Co., Ltd. (commonly known as DJI) and the lithium-ion battery producer Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd., or CATL. The Pentagon’s classification of those firms as military will hammer their already floundering corporate reputations in the U.S. and could spark future Treasury Department sanctions. The Chinese embassy didn’t respond to a request for comment.
| | FIRST IN NATSEC DAILY — SSCI GETS NEW STAFF DIRECTOR: RYAN TULLY, a veteran Hill and national security council staffer, is set to be the next staff director of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, our colleagues JOHN SAKELLARIADIS and Jack write in. Tully, a former Navy intel officer, most recently served in government as the lead staffer on the Strategic Forces Subcommittee of the House Armed Services panel. Prior to that, he worked three years on Trump’s National Security Council, focusing on Russia and Europe, and for several years as the principal adviser and SSCI staff designee to Sens. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Jim Risch (R-ID). Cotton is the incoming chair of the committee. Cotton confirmed the move in a statement to NatSec Daily. “Ryan will play a key role in recommitting the intelligence community to their core mission of stealing secrets to protect American lives and interests,” he wrote. SNOW DAY PAUSES TULSI’S CAMPAIGN: Winter Storm Blair didn’t disrupt Congress’s certification of the 2024 vote, but it has thrown off TULSI GABBARD’s plans to woo key senators in her path to becoming the next head of the U.S. intelligence community. The former Democrat was supposed to meet on Monday with Sen. MARK WARNER (D-Va.), the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and other key Senators regarding her nomination as Trump’s pick to be the next Director of National Intelligence. But the winter storm scuttled those plans, according to spokespeople for Gabbard and Warner. One small boost for Tulsi: Earlier Monday, relatives of two former U.S. hostages once held in Syria and one of the hostages themselves penned a letter in support of Gabbard. THEO PADNOS, an American journalist, was held hostage by a Syrian rebel group with ties to Al Qaeda before being released in 2014. KAYLA MUELLER, an American human rights activist, died while being held by ISIS in Syria in 2015. Padnos, his family and the family of Mueller write in the letter that Gabbard’s deployment to Iraq with the Hawaii National Guard has given her an understanding of terrorist groups that “other policy makers simply do not have.”
| | | Broadsides | | | THOSE DAMN OLD TWEETS: Bruce, Trump’s pick for State Department spokesperson, may need to do some diplomatic work of her own in terms of smoothing relations with her likely new boss, Secretary of State-nominee MARCO RUBIO, who she has repeatedly criticized on social media, our DANIEL LIPPMAN writes in. Bruce, echoing Trump’s past denigration of Rubio, in at least seven instances called him “Little Marco” in old posts on X during the 2016 presidential primary and also mocked him in other ways, including calling him a “kid waving frantically in the back of room trying to prove relevance.” She also accused him in 2015 of being a tool of the establishment, criticized how he had tried to make an immigration deal with Democrats in 2016, and said in 2014 that he was an “inexperienced senator who’s never run a thing in his life.” And while a State Department spokesperson is all about amplifying the Secretary of State’s voice and getting their message out, Bruce in early 2016 said she “had to mute Marco. ” Bruce said in a statement to NatSec Daily that it is “a pleasure to serve in President Trump's administration and I am thrilled to work with Senator Rubio who has been one of the president’s strongest allies when it comes to the America First agenda.” She added that she looked forward to his “swift and speedy confirmation.” A spokesperson for Rubio declined to comment, while the Trump transition didn’t respond to a request for comment.
| | — The White House’s top cybersecurity official, ANNE NEUBERGER, plans to depart her post a few days before Trump takes office, as our own JOHN SAKELLARIADIS reports (for Pros!). That news counters speculation swirling around Washington’s cybersecurity circles that she was angling to try and join the Trump administration. — LESLIE SHEDD, the president of public relations firm Rising Communications, has joined the board of the Special Operations Association of America. Shedd was previously communications director and senior adviser for the House Foreign Affairs Committee under Rep. MICHAEL MCCAUL (R-Texas). — MICHAEL SOBOLIK has joined the Hudson Institute think tank as a senior fellow. Sobolik previously worked at the American Foreign Policy Council and as an aide to Sen. TED CRUZ (R-Texas).
| | — LUKE MULLINS, POLITICO: What really happened with the first officer suicide after Jan. 6 — JEFF STEIN, Washington Post: Trump aides ready ‘universal’ tariff plans — with one key change — ELIOT CHEN, The Wire China: Does Washington have China groupthink?
| | Tomorrow Today | | — Foundation for Defense of Democracies, 10 a.m.: Cyber Strategies and Successes: A Conversation with National Cyber Director Harry Coker, Jr. — Center for Strategic and International Studies, 1 p.m.: The future of irregular warfare Thanks to our editor, Heidi Vogt, who is facing mounting pressure to step down as leader of her political party. Thanks to our producer, Gregory Svirnovskiy, who we would always trust with our political future. | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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