The mysterious group of suspected Iranian hackers known as “Robert” again claims to have sensitive material from top aides to President Trump, including White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.

The FBI said it is investigating a potential data breach linked to the group, which first rose to prominence during the 2024 presidential election cycle when it sought to distribute information from Mr. Trump’s inner circle to various media outlets. This time around, Robert told Reuters it had about 100 gigabytes of emails from the accounts of key administration figures and was open to selling that content. 

U.S. officials have warned that Iranian hackers, or pro-Iran actors, could retaliate in the form of cyberattacks after American airstrikes last month that hit three key Iranian nuclear facilities.

Key administration officials say they’re “looking at” the creator of the ICEBlock app, which gives anonymous users a platform to share the locations and general descriptions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents with other users.

The app has skyrocketed in popularity recently amid high-profile ICE illegal immigration raids and major demonstrations across the country in opposition to those raids. The developer of the app, Joshua Aaron, said that he is in no way encouraging users of the app to interfere with law enforcement.

But Attorney General Pam Bondi said that even providing early warnings is out of bounds.

“He’s giving a message to criminals where our federal officers are, and he cannot do that,” Ms. Bondi told Fox News this week.

The Air Force’s Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon has suffered several failures during its test phase, but it could see a major new investment.

National Security Correspondent Bill Gertz takes us inside the Air Force’s $387 million budget request to fund the ARRW, pronounced “arrow.” It will be a conventionally armed strike glider that will travel at speeds of between Mach 6.5 and Mach 8 — about 6,138 mph — with maneuver capability. Its range will be about 1,000 miles.

Officials said they considered canceling the program last year after numerous test failures. But the service is now doubling down on the ARRW amid major advances in hypersonics by both China and Russia.

It might sound far-fetched: Artificial intelligence programs so advanced and adept that they could do as good a job as human beings — if not better — at running for political office.

But Brian Athey, chief creative officer at Push AI, argues the idea isn’t as wild as it may sound.

“If the American political system is built on recognition, resonance and repetition, who’s to say a well-trained AI couldn’t run a successful campaign and win an election?” Mr. Athey writes in a new op-ed.

“With the ability to analyze every dataset, track every voter behavior and adjust in real time to feedback loops, a sentient AI wouldn’t just follow polling. It could anticipate it,” he says. “It wouldn’t just message effectively. It could shape the Overton window itself, all without ego, without sleep and, eventually, without human oversight.”

America’s growing economy, expanding artificial intelligence infrastructure and national security priorities demand an abundant power source. And nuclear energy is poised to meet the need — but only if policymakers adjust an outdated regulatory structure.

John C. Wagner, director of the Idaho National Laboratory, and Sen. Mike Crapo, Idaho Republican, explain in a piece for The Washington Times that a number of actions that can and should be taken quickly, including streamlining environmental reviews and extending nuclear reactor licenses from 40 to 60 years.

“We face a simple choice: Reform our nuclear regulatory process to match today’s urgency, or watch as other nations capture the economic and security benefits of advanced nuclear leadership,” Mr. Wagner and Mr. Crapo write.

• July 7 — The Power Behind Israel’s Economic Strength in War, The Heritage Foundation

• July 8 — Surveillance, Sabotage and Strikes: Industry Perspectives on How Drone Warfare Abroad is Transforming Threats at Home, House Homeland Security Committee

• July 10 — Federal IT Efficiency Summit, GovCIO Media & Research

• July 11 — The Han Kuang Exercise and the Taiwanese Military’s Road to Readiness, Hudson Institute

• July 13-17 — GenAI Summit, GenAI Week

• July 15-18 — Aspen Security Forum, Aspen Institute

• July 16 — Global Swing States and the New Great Power Competition, Center for a New American Security