The national security and tech worlds are watching for what could be a seismic move by Mr. Trump: tariffs of up to 100% on advanced microchips made by Taiwan-based companies. The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) has what critics say is a monopoly on the production of the semiconductor chips that power smartphones and are indispensable for market-leading companies such as Apple and Nvidia.

Threat Status has a deep dive on the issue, explaining the numerous national security concerns swirling around Taiwan as the epicenter of global semiconductor chip production, including fears that a military move against Taiwan by communist China could cut off America’s access to those vital chips.

Under President Biden, the U.S. offered major financial incentives to TSMC to bring some of its production to American shores, including $6.6 billion to build an advanced semiconductor fabrication plant in Arizona. But Mr. Trump said the company doesn’t need money from American taxpayers, and the prospect of prohibitive tariffs is a better way.

“They didn’t need money. They needed an incentive. And the incentive is going to be they’re not going to want to pay a 25, 50 or even a 100% tax,” Mr. Trump told congressional Republicans recently.

He could formally announce the tariffs within days. 

Mr. Trump’s plan to downsize and remake the federal government got a major boost late Wednesday when a federal judge in Boston denied a workers’ union request to block the White House’s massive buyout offer for federal workers. The ruling clears the way — for now at least — for the Trump administration to proceed with its buyout offer for up to 2 million federal employees.

The move could have serious ramifications across the Defense Department and other key arms of the government with a direct role in the intersection of technology and national security. About 65,000 federal employees accepted the buyout offer, which provides eight months of pay and benefits to those who take it.

The buyout plan is a central component of the push by Mr. Trump and Mr. Musk to dramatically reshape the U.S. federal government by cutting the workforce, slashing budgets and shrinking agencies. The president told reporters on Wednesday he is working closely with the DOGE team, led by Mr. Musk and a dozen workers whom the president called “12 geniuses,” to cut wasteful federal spending. 

Anduril and Microsoft are poised to take over a key Army program that could help turn soldiers into superheroes.

The two companies announced they will oversee the Pentagon’s Integrated Visual Augmentation System program. The multibillion-dollar IVAS initiative is meant to give soldiers new wearable systems combining augmented and virtual reality tools to increase combat effectiveness, survivability against drones and accelerate command of unmanned systems.

Anduril founder Palmer Lucky went into more detail in a blog post. 

“The IVAS program — one of the most important programs to the Army — represents just the beginnings of a new path in human augmentation, one that will allow America’s warfighters to surpass the limitations of human form and cognition, seamlessly teaming enhanced humans with large packs of robotic and biologic teammates,” he wrote. 

We have new details about the price the U.S. paid to get American teacher Marc Fogel back home. A senior Trump administration official confirmed to The Washington Times that the Trump administration traded Russian cybercrime kingpin Alexander Vinnik for Mr. Fogel’s release.

The Times’ Jeff Mordock and Mallory Wilson have more details here about the deal itself, which Mr. Trump described as “very fair.” As part of the agreement, Vinnik will leave behind $100 million worth of digital assets.

Vinnik was arrested in Greece in 2017 and ultimately extradited to the U.S. to stand trial on charges of money laundering and fraud. He pleaded guilty to “money laundering conspiracy” last May, according to the Justice Department.

The charges stem from his time heading BTC-e, a cryptocurrency exchange that he led from 2011 to 2017 that handled over $9 billion in transactions. Vinnik didn’t register BTC-e as a money service business despite having a large U.S. clientele, authorities said. The Justice Department used his case as an example of the efforts to combat cryptocurrency fraud across the globe. In its May press release, federal prosecutors said that Vinnik “operated BTC-e with the intent to promote these unlawful activities and was responsible for a loss amount of at least $121 million.”

To keep pace with adversaries such as China, the U.S. needs a new “sovereign technology fund and agency” funded by major corporations to invest in new technologies and infrastructure. 

That’s the argument from Andrew King, a managing partner at Bastille Venture who advises the House Select Committee on China, in a new op-ed for The Times. Mr. King writes that the “bold yet necessary step” would put the U.S. in a much stronger position by changing the incentive structure for long-term investments critical to national security.

“The proposed Sovereign Tech Fund addresses the critical issue of investment horizons. Private investors are constrained by the need for quick returns, but strategic industries require patience and long-term commitment,” he writes. “By accepting longer payback periods, the fund can invest in transformative projects that private capital overlooks. This approach is essential for regaining leadership in semiconductors — a $550 billion global industry — as well as advancing in space exploration and artificial intelligence.”

• Feb. 14-16 — Munich Security Conference, MSC 2025

• Feb. 17-21 — International Defense Exhibition and Conference (IDEX) 2025, United Arab Emirates

• Feb. 18 — The role of AI in transforming Saudi Arabia’s economic landscape, Atlantic Council 

• Feb. 19 — Globalizing perspectives on AI safety, Brookings Institution

• Feb. 26 — 2025 Defense Software & Data Summit, Govini