President-elect Donald Trump spoke on the phone with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg Friday. Stoltenberg “congratulated the President-elect on his election victory and said that he was looking forward to working with him and his national security team,” according to a NATO press release. Both men also “underlined NATO’s enduring importance” and discussed security matters, including plans to combat terrorism. Earlier this year, Trump surprised many in the US and Europe by making statements dismissive of the NATO Alliance during the presidential campaign. Trump criticized European allies at the time for spending too little on defense while the US carried the cost burden for NATO. In their first conversation since Trump’s election on Nov. 8, he and Stoltenberg “agreed that progress has been made on fairer burden-sharing, but that there is more to do.” (See also Stoltenberg: NATO Alliance Needed More Than Ever.)
The Air Force displayed all the firepower it has amassed on Okinawa in an unusually diverse show of force this week. IIn a May 6 “Elephant Walk,” Kadena Air Base showcased 24 F-35A Lightning II stealth fighters, eight F-15E Strike Eagles; two U.S. Army Patriot anti-missile batteries near the runway; and…