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SO LONG INF: The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, signed in 1987 by President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev, is heading to the proverbial scrapheap of history. The Trump administration believes the landmark Cold War-era treaty has outlived its usefulness, considering Russia is violating it and China is not a party to it. An announcement that the U.S. is withdrawing from the treaty is expected from the White House today.

For three decades the INF treaty has been a cornerstone of European security, the first arms control measure to ban an entire class of weapons: land-based cruise and ballistic missiles with a range between 310 miles and 3,100 miles.

Tomorrow is the deadline for Moscow to return to compliance, but Russian President Vladimir Putin is adamant that his newest ground-launched cruise missile does not violate the treaty. Once the U.S. formally withdraws tomorrow, the INF will technically remain in effect for six more months, until it dies Aug. 2, 2019.

“Russia has violated the INF treaty for at least ten years. In that time, presidents of both parties have urged them to return to compliance, Congress has admonished them, the United States has imposed sanctions against them, and the president has threatened to withdraw from the treaty,” said Rep. Mac Thornberry R-Texas, ranking member on the House Armed Services Committee, in a statement yesterday. “None of these actions has convinced Russia to return to compliance. Instead, they have spent a decade developing a capability to which we cannot respond. Other adversaries, like China, are developing similar weapons to capitalize on America’s one-sided disadvantage.”

ARMS CONTROL ADVOCATES LAMENT IT PASSING: “The only ones applauding the decision to tear up the INF Treaty are the nuclear weapons manufacturers, eagerly anticipating the kickoff of Cold War II,” said Beatrice Fihn, executive director of ICAN, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. “Trump last week began building new nuclear missiles, and Putin has said he will do the same, so we now have a six-month window before the treaty officially dies.”

“If this administration doesn’t want Russia to build INF-banned weapons, it’s hard to imagine a worse approach than suspending the agreement. At best, the White House has let Russia off the hook and shifted blame for the diplomatic breakdown to the United States; at worst, they’re running headlong into an avoidable arms race that nobody wants or can afford,” said Derek Johnson, executive director of Global Zero, another group working to eliminate nuclear weapons.

“Negotiations should continue and any reasonable solution that eliminates Russia’s alleged violations should be acceptable. The alternative is untenable,” Johnson argued. “One round of failed talks is not enough: our diplomats need to get back in the room and exhaust every opportunity to resolve this dispute.”

NOT SO FAST: In what appears to be a rebuke to President Trump’s plans to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria and Afghanistan, the Senate voted 68-to-23 to back Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s amendment that declares al-Qaeda and ISIS a global threat and warns against the withdrawal of forces in the ongoing fight.

“I believe the threats remain. ISIS and al-Qaeda have yet to be defeated, and American national security interests require continued commitment to our mission there,” McConnell, R-Ky., said before the vote. A majority of Republicans voted for the measure, which does not have the force of law but puts the Senate on record as opposing Trump’s pullout plans.

IT’S ALL GOOD, MAN: After excoriating his intelligence chiefs for their unvarnished testimony before the Senate Tuesday, President Trump tweeted out a photo of Director of National Security Dan Coats and CIA Director Gina Haspel in his office. The president insisted after confronting them face to face it was all a misunderstanding based on misreporting and “fake news.”

“Just concluded a great meeting with my Intel team in the Oval Office who told me that what they said on Tuesday at the Senate Hearing was mischaracterized by the media – and we are very much in agreement on Iran, ISIS, North Korea, etc. Their testimony was distorted press… Trump tweeted. “I would suggest you read the COMPLETE testimony from Tuesday. A false narrative is so bad for our Country. I value our intelligence community. Happily, we had a very good meeting, and we are all on the same page!”

With no sense of irony, Trump admitted to reporters yesterday that he hadn’t actually read the report on worldwide threats, produced by the intelligence community. “I didn’t see the report from the intelligence,” Trump said before his Oval Office meeting. “When you read it, it’s a lot different than it was, covered on — in the news.”

After the meeting, Trump said Coats and Haspel told him he had the wrong idea from watching the media coverage. “They said that they were totally misquoted and they were totally — it was taken out of context,” Trump said. “They said it was fake news, so — which, frankly, didn’t surprise me.”

ONE SENATOR’S REBUTTAL: “This reminds me of the old country song,” said Sen. Angus King I-Maine, on MSNBC. “Who you going to believe, me or your own lying eyes?”

“I mean, the testimony is there. I was there. I asked Gina Haspel very directly, is Iran in compliance with the nuclear agreement and she hemmed around a little bit but then she said, ‘Yes it is,’” King said. “As far as North Korea,” King added “You don’t have to read the transcript. They filed a 42-page report as part of their testimony, and it says, ‘We continue to assess that North Korea is unlikely to give up all of its nuclear weapons and production capabilities.’”

King added, “And what bothered me, was the president coming after them and today he says, ‘Well, they didn’t say that.’ Well, maybe he should have figured that out before he issued a tweet telling him the whole intelligence community should go back to school.”

BAD AT MATH: President Trump continues to add a year to America’s longest war. Yesterday he did it again, saying “We’re going into close to 19 years in being in Afghanistan.”

For the record, the U.S. entered Afghanistan in October 2001, less than a month after the September 11 attacks. Last October was the 17-year mark, and next October, if U.S troops are still there it will be 18 years, with the beginning of the 19th.

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 David Mark (@DavidMarkDC). Email us here for tips, suggestions, calendar items and anything else. If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up, click here. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email and we’ll add you to our list. And be sure to follow us on Twitter @dailyondefense.