Mr. Trump, during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday, said NATO countries should shoot down Russian aircraft entering their airspace. However, when pressed about whether the U.S. would support NATO allies who take such action, Mr. Trump was more ambiguous, saying it “depends on the circumstances.” He did not elaborate.

Russia has increasingly engaged in violations of airspace over NATO member nations, breaching the skies over Poland and Romania with drones and Estonia with fighter jets. Danish authorities say a “skilled pilot” flew two or three large drones over the Copenhagen Airport on Monday night, disrupting an estimated 100 flights. Germany and Sweden scrambled fighter jets on Sunday to monitor a Russian surveillance plane that they said flew over the Baltic Sea with no radio contact.

NATO issued its own strong warning Tuesday that it would use “all necessary military and non-military tools” to defend against future Russian incursions. Mr. Trump, meanwhile, said he believes Ukraine can win against Russia. The Kremlin pushed back on Wednesday, announcing that it has “no alternative” but to continue waging war. 

The U.S. Secret Service and Department of Homeland Security dismantled a malicious telecommunications network at sites in and around New York City. Officials say 300 SIM servers and 100,000 SIM cards were found across five sites, posing a potential threat to leaders and diplomats at the U.N.’s annual gathering.

The sites could have been used to disable cellphone towers, disrupt communications among first responders by launching denial of service attacks, eavesdrop on private conversations and send anonymous threatening messages. Officials reported that the network’s SIM cards were connected to at least one foreign power and parties known to U.S. law enforcement, including members of drug cartels and human trafficking organizations.

Investigators found miscellaneous cellphones and computers, firearms and 80 grams of cocaine at one of the sites, implying a connection between the network and international drug cartels. One former U.S. intelligence community official told Threat Status that drug cartels may have used the sites to intercept law enforcement or federal government agency communications in the area, suggesting that the network had nothing to do with the world leaders attending the General Assembly.

Threat Status contributor and Washington Times opinion columnist Daniel N. Hoffman, meanwhile, said the New York sites could have given foreign intelligence networks an opportunity to gauge the response of U.S. law enforcement. “China, North Korea, Russia would certainly want to demonstrate to us that they have this capability to make things go bad for us,” said Mr. Hoffman, a former CIA Clandestine Services officer.

The Pentagon’s most senior intelligence official was dismissed last month for his handling of cases involving victims of the mysterious brain disorder known as Havana syndrome, according to House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Rick Crawford.

The Arkansas Republican disclosed during a recent hearing that Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Kruse, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, was dismissed over his handling of cases involving DIA officials who suffered from what the government calls “anomalous health incidents.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired Gen. Kruse on Aug. 22 for what the Pentagon said was an unspecified “loss of confidence.” It was widely reported that the three-star general was removed after a leaked DIA analysis of the June U.S. bombing raid on Iran’s nuclear facilities said the strikes caused limited damage and had set back the Iranian nuclear program by only a few months.

Mr. Crawford made public the information about Gen. Kruse’s role in the handling of Havana syndrome cases during an Intelligence Committee debate on Sept. 10. The panel was preparing to vote on a proposed Democratic-sponsored amendment that would have required the federal government to inform Congress of any firings of intelligence agency leaders. National Security Correspondent Bill Gertz offers a deep dive on the development, including an exclusive statement from Mr. Crawford.

Pentagon officials say a new task force, dubbed the Rapid Employment Joint Task Force, will focus on coordinating innovation efforts on “capability, software and tech diplomacy” to find new and efficient ways to deliver emerging technology.

“This is about getting new warfighting capabilities into the hands of our skilled warfighters faster,” U.S. Central Command Commander Navy Adm. Brad Cooper said in a statement. CENTCOM Chief Technology Officer Joy Shanaberger will lead the task force with a collection of experts in the fields of information systems, data integration, logistics and warfighter integration. The task force aims to deliver viable technology to soldiers in the field within 60 days.

The task force’s goals are in line with Mr. Hegseth’s initiatives aimed at improving efficiency at the Pentagon. In July, Mr. Hegseth released a memo aimed at bolstering U.S. drone production and speeding up the delivery of low-cost drones to U.S. soldiers.

The Kuwaiti government is engaged in a “tilt toward Beijing, reinforced by China’s growing stake in Kuwait’s energy sector,” according to retired U.S. Army Col. David Trotter, who writes that “when Kuwait stiff-arms U.S. firms while embracing Chinese partnerships, it is choosing sides, whether it chooses to admit it or not.”

“Kuwait this month inaugurated the ‘Kuwait-China Friendship Club,’ pledged deeper military cooperation with Beijing and was preparing to open a Chinese-built ammunition plant,” Mr. Trotter writes in an op-ed for The Times. “These moves signal that a country liberated and defended for decades by American forces is now edging into China’s orbit,” he writes. “Compounding the problem is that Kuwait seems to be refusing to pay its bills to the United States, consistent with Beijing’s model of sidelining Western firms and privileging its own.”

• Sept. 24 — Air, Space & Cyber Conference 2025, Air & Space Forces Association

• Sept. 24-25 — National Cyber Summit

• Sept. 24-30 — U.N. General Assembly High-level Week 2025, United Nations

• Sept. 25 — Building the Space Force We Need, and the Intelligence to Support It, Intelligence Studies Project

• Sept. 25 — Counterforce in Contemporary U.S. Nuclear Strategy, Advanced Nuclear Weapons Alliance