A key House committee says DeepSeek is a profound threat to U.S. national security and a highly dangerous tool in the arsenal of the Chinese Communist Party.

A sweeping new report from the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party found that not only is the artificial intelligence chatbot stealing Americans’ personal data, but that information also is being covertly funneled to the CCP and used to manipulate information on the platform so it aligns with propaganda.

National Security Correspondent Bill Gertz is tracking this story. The report lays out a host of specific dangers posed by DeepSeek, but here’s one more: Investigators who studied DeepSeek activities found that 85% of the app’s responses to chatbot queries were manipulated to block or alter content related to democracy, Taiwan, Hong Kong and human rights.

In other words, anyone who uses DeepSeek not only has their data sent directly back to the CCP, but also will only get Beijing’s preferred narratives on key historical events and geopolitical issues. 

Mr. Trump’s Golden Dome is already shaping up to be the most advanced missile shield in human history, with an array of space-based interceptors combined with ground-based systems and other capabilities to effectively protect the U.S. from virtually all missile threats.

And there’s more to come. On the latest episode of the Threat Status weekly podcast, Tory Bruno, president and CEO of the United Launch Alliance, explains that American missile defense ultimately will need even more advanced capabilities to deal with super-fast hypersonic weapons fielded by China or Russia.

“What’s faster than hypersonic? Speed of light,” he said. “A space-based platform could defend the entire continental United States with a directed energy weapon.”

This is a can’t-miss interview for anyone who wants a deep dive into how the Golden Dome system will actually work. 

And one more quick footnote on the Golden Dome: Reuters, citing six anonymous sources, reports that Elon Musk’s SpaceX, Anduril and Palantir are the front-runners to win key Golden Dome contracts. 

Nuclear negotiations between the U.S. and Iran are set to continue this weekend. Ahead of that meeting, top officials from Iran huddled with their Russian allies in Moscow on Thursday — and delivered a letter from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with Mr. Putin and other Russian leaders early Thursday to deliver the letter and to conduct high-level talks. He did not disclose what was in the letter, but it’s worth noting a few things: Both nations are in the midst of negotiations with the Trump administration, even if the U.S.-Russia talks on Ukraine seem to be falling apart.

And they’re close partners, militarily, economically and politically. Mr. Araghchi, who will meet with U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff in Rome this weekend, hailed the Iran-Russia relationship during his visit to Moscow. 

U.S. Central Command on Thursday said the latest round of American strikes in Yemen targeted the Ras Isa fuel port, which the Houthis rely on to sustain their military operations.

Military Correspondent Mike Glenn has more details on the latest round of strikes, which differ from past attacks in that the U.S. did not just go after the Houthis’ military capabilities. The U.S. is now directly targeting the economic power of the Iran-backed rebels, with the theory being that cutting off their money will cripple their ability to buy new missiles or drones with which to target commercial ships in and around the Red Sea.

A lengthy CENTCOM statement offered a warning to the Houthis’ “Iranian masters.” The Houthis say 74 people were killed in the attack, which would make it the deadliest strike under Mr. Trump’s presidency.

The Trump administration took other steps Thursday to go after the Houthis’ money. The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned the International Bank of Yemen and several of its top officials for financially backing the Houthis. 

Some of America’s partnerships are coming under strain amid, among other things, Mr. Trump’s push for new tariffs on foreign imports and his administration’s insistence that Europe contribute more to its own defense. But behind the scenes, CIA officers are playing a key role in making sure those relationships stay strong. 

Former high-level CIA officer and Threat Status contributor Daniel N. Hoffman takes us behind the scenes of one of the spy agency’s most important but perhaps sometimes overlooked roles: Making sure that foreign intelligence partners around the globe are not caught in the crossfire of increasingly acerbic diplomatic relations. 

If there’s a silver lining in ongoing diplomatic spats, he writes, “it’s that we can comfortably rely on our intelligence professionals to cultivate invaluable relationships with their foreign counterparts to the maximum benefit of our nation’s security.”

• April 22 — Ally to Adversary? The United States and Europe in Trump’s Second Term, Brookings Institution

• April 28-May 1 — RSAC 2025, RSA Conference 

• April 29 — The Stakes of Sino-American AI Competition, Center for a New American Security

• April 29-May 1 — Modern Day Marine Convention

• April 30 — The Hill & Valley Forum

• April 30 — Robins Air Force Base Tech Expo, NCSI