The term “forever” could conjure up memories of the “forever wars” in the Middle East that Mr. Trump vowed to avoid. But from a purely military perspective, the president says the U.S. has enough ammunition to keep up the fight against Iran indefinitely.

Mr. Trump’s comments contrast with concerns raised by key national security insiders. Sen. Mark R. Warner, Virginia Democrat and ranking member on the Senate Intelligence Committee, told NPR that “many of our munitions are actually at a relatively low level at this point.”

The danger appears most serious for Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, systems and Patriot missile interceptors. Stockpiles of those crucial systems seem most at risk of running low given the conflict’s frantic pace. Draining the munitions of the U.S. and its allies is surely part of Tehran’s broader calculus as it fires off missiles all across the region. 

The Trump administration has made it a top priority to replenish U.S. munitions stockpiles that dwindled after years of heavy U.S. support for allies Israel and Ukraine. The administration has taken significant steps to ramp up production of solid rocket motors, key components of advanced missile systems, and other crucial pieces of America’s munitions inventory.

The mainstream view is that a military move by Communist China against Taiwan would center on a major amphibious invasion. But could Beijing be rethinking that strategy? Have the recent “decapitation strikes” in Venezuela and Iran changed the thinking among China’s top military strategists?

Asia Editor Andrew Salmon unpacks that high-stakes question and how the recent events in South America and the Middle East could impact defensive planning in Taipei. Some experts have already warned that Taiwan’s president and vice president should never appear in the same place together, due to the potential for a Chinese strike to kill both.

Charles Lyon Jones, of the Lowy Institute, an Australian think tank, said Taiwan must take immediate steps to guard against a Chinese operation that seeks to decapitate its government. He wrote in an analysis this week that Taiwan must immediately prioritize “counter-espionage and intelligence, continuity of government processes and the hardening of leadership compounds.”

Threat Status Special Correspondent Joseph Hammond has the latest on a major development in Poland, where officials say they discovered four tunnels under the border with neighboring Russian ally Belarus being used to bring immigrants into Poland illegally. They say it’s part of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s hybrid war against Europe.

What’s more, Mr. Hammond talked to experts who say Polish authorities have evidence connecting the tunnels to Gaza and the underground network Hamas constructed there. Mr. Hammond spoke to John Campbell, a former sapper with the Royal Engineers, who said the images he’s seen of tunnels underneath Poland “showed signs of similar work” to the tunnel networks beneath the Gaza Strip.

In December, Poland discovered a particularly large tunnel that at least 180 migrants used to breach the border near the village of Narewka in eastern Poland. Most of the migrants captured after using the tunnel were from Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The loss of cheap crude oil shipments that have helped power its economy, and the end of a critical foothold in the Middle East from which to project power in the region and undermine U.S. interests: Those are just a few ways the unfolding U.S. military campaign against Iran could impact Communist China.

Both Iran and China are considered members of the “axis of authoritarians,” a collection of nations seeking to undermine an America-led global order and chip away at the power of democracies abroad.

For China, the fallout from the Iran war could be swift and long-lasting, with oil being the most immediate issue. China has few domestic oil sources and heavily depends on foreign imports to fuel its economy.

China buys about 90% of Iran’s crude oil at low prices. The fuel is shipped on a fleet of ghost tankers designed to evade U.S. sanctions. Beijing already seems to be losing Venezuela as an oil source after the U.S. military operation in Caracas in January, meaning the loss of Iran would compound the effect on China’s economy.

The Trump administration has launched a whole-of-government pressure campaign against drug cartels. That same kind of coordinated effort can target international fraud rings, which steal many millions of dollars from American citizens.

Former White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney explains in an op-ed for The Washington Times why international scammers, including those engaged in sophisticated identity theft crimes, are becoming a greater threat and require a strong response.

“Technology is exacerbating the scam problem, and fast,” writes Mr. Mulvaney, also the former director of the White House’s Office of Management and Budget. “Artificial intelligence now allows scammers to convincingly fake voices and faces, all while impersonating family members, police officers, doctors or government officials. Authorities warn that these tools make scams quicker to execute, more believable and far harder to detect.”

In his op-ed, Mr. Mulvaney lays out a multipronged approach through which the U.S., in coordination with its international partners, can dismantle the dangerous criminal networks. 

• March 4 — Surveying Foreign Influence in Artificial Intelligence Tools, Foundation for Defense of Democracies

• March 4 — Securing America’s Critical Mineral Supply Chain: A Conversation with Congressman Rob Wittman, Virginia Republican, Hudson Institute

• March 5 — U.S.–Israel Strikes on Iran: What Next for the Middle East? Chatham House

• March 5 — Navigating a New Era in Syria: Strategic Opportunities for the U.S. and Turkey, Atlantic Council

• March 10 — European Strategic Readiness in Turbulent Times, Royal United Services Institute 

• March 11 —  The Remaking of International Security: Arms Transfer Trends in a Changing Global Order, Stimson Center

• March 24-26 — Global Force Symposium & Exposition, Association of the U.S. Army