It’s been a dramatic reduction, and it may not be a coincidence. The number of Chinese military warplane flights around Taiwan has dropped significantly leading up to the high-stakes meeting between Mr. Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

National Security Correspondent Bill Gertz has more on this story, including revelations from Taiwan military officials that no incursions by Chinese jets or drones had been recorded over nine of the last 10 days. In total, only two People’s Liberation Army aircraft have been spotted near the island since Feb. 28.

During the first two months of 2025, PLA aircraft conducted at least 86 flights near Taiwan. According to data from Taiwan’s Defense Ministry, there was a 42% drop in the first two months of this year.

Mr. Trump is set to visit Beijing on March 31. Mr. Xi may have ordered a significant cut in the number of Chinese flights around Taiwan to avoid ratcheting up regional tensions ahead of Mr. Trump’s trip. 

The Russian economy showed real signs of strain amid heavy economic sanctions and other pressure tools unleashed by the U.S. and its Western allies. But the U.S. war on Iran could suddenly jump-start the Russian economy, as Moscow finds itself in a position to fill the supply gap for major customers such as India and China. 

Russian oil doesn’t have to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, meaning the conflict in Iran won’t directly slow most of its fuel exports. And with global energy markets in turmoil because of the war, the Trump administration appears compelled to take action that would benefit Moscow.

For example, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent issued a 30-day waiver allowing Indian refiners to purchase Russian oil. That reverses, at least temporarily, the administration’s previous approach of imposing a 25% tariff on India for buying Russian crude oil, part of a U.S.-led strategy to squeeze Moscow and force it to agree to a peace deal in Ukraine.

Several well-armed Kurdish militias appear poised to move ahead with their own plans to attack Iran as the Islamic republic launches more missile and drone attacks on Kurdish groups in neighboring Iraq. And those militias are ready to do so despite Mr. Trump saying he has ruled out backing them.

Special Correspondent Joseph Hammond has a deep dive into the potential introduction of a new faction into the already deadly and destructive conflict. The Kurds have their own long-standing grievances against Iran’s ruling clerics. Adding to that, Iran has directed at least 196 attacks against the Kurdish region of Iraq since the war began. The attacks targeted Kurdish camps and American personnel and facilities using suicide drones, ballistic missiles and rockets.

Mr. Trump said he doesn’t want the Kurds to go in because he does not want them “hurt or killed” during ground combat with the Iranian military. Still, it seems possible that Mr. Trump’s public comments may be designed to keep the Iranians guessing. 

Iran has launched drone-and-missile attacks across the Mideast and South Asia. On the surface, it may seem like indiscriminate lashing out amid the U.S.-Israeli bombing campaign against the Islamic republic. But in at least one instance, Tehran could be trying to sabotage a major peace deal negotiated by Mr. Trump

Efgan Nifti, CEO of the Caspian Policy Center, explains why Iran is trying to upend the fragile truce between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Mr. Trump brought the leaders of those two countries together last year and laid the groundwork for what Mr. Nifti called a “historic reconciliation.”

And now Iran may be eager to undermine U.S. power and influence wherever it can.

“Tehran’s recent drone attack on Azerbaijan was not simply another flare-up in a distant region. It was a deliberate act of aggression aimed at destabilizing the South Caucasus and sabotaging the fragile peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan, encouraged by President Trump,” Mr. Nifti writes in a column in The Washington Times. “Iran’s escalation should therefore be viewed not as an isolated provocation but rather as part of a broader effort to sabotage a rare opportunity for peace.”

The Russian people deserve the truth about their nation’s war in Ukraine. And if they hear it, it could spark domestic opposition to the conflict, according to Threat Status contributor Joseph R. DeTrani.

Mr. DeTrani argues in a Times op-ed that the U.S. must take a page from President Reagan, who used Radio Free Europe and other outlets to deliver truth to a Soviet population that otherwise was mostly fed Kremlin propaganda. Today’s geopolitical environment is much different, of course, but many Russians appear unaware of the scale of death their own military has suffered in more than four years of war in Ukraine.

“The Russian government will continue to do its best to deny this information to the people, knowing that the power of information on the war in Ukraine will have an impact on the political end of the fighting and suffering in Ukraine,” writes Mr. DeTrani, former associate director of national intelligence.

• March 11 —  Mobilize: How to Reboot the American Industrial Base and Stop World War III, Hudson Institute 

• March 12 —  Between Ally and Adversary: Turkey’s Strategic Calculus in the Iran War, Foundation for Defense of Democracies

• March 13 —  Ukraine’s Human Capital and the Foundations of Recovery and Long-term Security, Atlantic Council

• March 17 —  Boosting U.S. Quantum Supply Chains for Enduring Advantage, Center for a New American Security 

• March 17 —  Hearing on 2026 Annual Worldwide Threats Assessment, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence

• March 18 —  Implementing a U.S. Cyber Force: A Conversation with Rep. Pat Fallon, Texas Republican, Center for Strategic and International Studies

• March 19 —  Ukraine on the Mental Map of Europe, Brookings Institution 

• March 19 —  Poland, Northeastern Europe and the Future of the Transatlantic Partnership, American Enterprise Institute

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