The Trump-Netanyahu meeting comes against the backdrop of a fresh wave of violence in and around Yemen, which could escalate through the Mideast, threaten hopes for a Gaza ceasefire and draw the U.S. back into conflict.

British authorities said the crew of the bulk carrier Magic Seas in the Red Sea was forced to abandon the vessel after it came under attack from “multiple small vessels” and attackers armed with “small arms and self-propelled grenades.” The Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed responsibility for the attack, the first on a commercial ship in the region since December.

The Houthis also reportedly fired a rocket at Israel on Sunday, which was intercepted by Israeli military forces. Israel responded with airstrikes on key Houthi targets on Monday.

A resumption of Houthi attacks on commercial ships could compel the U.S. to resume its air campaign in Yemen, which Mr. Trump ended in May after saying his administration struck a deal with the rebels. 

National Security Correspondent Bill Gertz explains exactly where the Air Force will get the roughly $400 million needed to refurbish the Qatari 747 jet that Mr. Trump wants to use as an Air Force One replacement: leftover money from the service’s Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile program.

Mr. Gertz tracked the recent testimony before Congress from Air Force Secretary Troy Meink, who said the Sentinel program had excess money in its fiscal 2024 budget. The Sentinel missiles will replace aging Minuteman III missiles, but the Sentinel program has been over budget and behind schedule. 

Last month, the Air Force announced the new ICBMs will not be deployed in current Minuteman III silos and an entire new system of silos must be constructed, increasing costs and time. 

The Marine Corps wants a 6% budget boost over last year. Commandant Gen. Eric Smith recently told lawmakers that the extra money would help the service buy new aircraft, drones, advanced weapons and military technology for its readiness in the Indo-Pacific.

U.S. Marines are a crucial component of the nation’s broader military posture around the world. But perhaps nowhere are they more important than the Pacific. In a posture statement to the Senate Armed Services Committee that was recently made public, Gen. Smith said the 33,000 Marines deployed in the western Pacific are the nation’s “expeditionary shock troops” that provide rapid and flexible military power to meet the threats of an unpredictable security environment, with China the main danger.

Growing threats from China have prompted the Corps to speed up its modernization and integration of new weapons and technology systems, he said.

The U.S. and South Korea have been key allies for 75 years. And no amount of domestic political turbulence will shake that alliance.

That’s the argument made by Hakjo Kim, public affairs minister for the South Korean Embassy in Washington, who writes in a new piece for The Washington Times that recent claims by critics that the alliance is in peril — partly due to alleged Chinese interference in Seoul’s recent presidential election and political chaos in Seoul — are unfounded.

“Speculative claims that the alliance is in peril or that the new South Korean leadership is unreliable misrepresent the political reality and risk sowing unnecessary doubt,” he writes. “Such rhetoric overlooks the long-standing bipartisan support in both our countries and the continued cooperation at all levels of government.”

Whether it’s countering the threat posed by Iran’s nuclear program or blunting China’s economic reach through the region, Israel has been and will continue to be America’s greatest partner and strategically vital ally in the Mideast.

In a new op-ed, Ohad Tal, a member of Israel’s Knesset and the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, writes that “America needs friends who aren’t freeloaders.” Israel, he argues, helps advance U.S. strategic interests on a host of fronts.

“No other partner is willing or able to take the initiative, act decisively and serve as the West’s first line of defense,” he writes. “Israel removes the Iranian nuclear threat against America and its allies, dismantles Iran’s terrorist proxies, protects the Gulf States and blocks China’s strategic ambitions, all without requiring American boots on the ground.”

• 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