Taiwan President Lai Ching-te (C) inspects reservists operating a Hummer 2 Drone during a training session at Loung Te Industrial Parks Service Center, in Yilan County on December 2, 2025. (Photo by I-Hwa Cheng / AFP via Getty Images)
The conference version of the fiscal 2026 National Defense Authorization Act would require the Pentagon to try to set up a new joint program with Taiwanese officials.
U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth (R) looks on as U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting of his Cabinet in the Cabinet Room of the White House on December 02, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Questions have swirled about what the administration's Taiwan policy will look like, as the White House pushes for an "America First" diplomatic approach.
A team of Department of Defense drone operators and experts test the technical capabilities of various Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UAS) during a Defense Innovation Unit led prize challenge to identify platforms, components, and capabilities for Blue UAS, which clears and validates flying platforms are safe to fly, cyber-secure, and meet DOD requirements, at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, California, on Nov. 2-6, 2024. (DOD photo by Devon Bistarkey, Defense Innovation Unit)
The Albatross II attack and surveillance unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) drone developed by the National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) and its American partner, is on display at the Taipei Aerospace & Defense Technology Exhibition 2025 (TADTE), in Taipei, Taiwan, on September 19, 2025. (Photo by Daniel Ceng/Anadolu via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 20: U.S. President Donald Trump calls on reporters during a meeting with Prime Minister of Australia Anthony Albanese (L), Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles during a bilateral meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House on October 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. Albanese is visiting the U.S. Capital to meet with President Trump and later visit the Pentagon. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Officials said that five Chinese entities were placed on the list “based on information indicating that around October 7, 2023, Israel Defense Forces recovered numerous weaponized unmanned…
A CS-5000T drone is seen during a military parade marking the 80th anniversary of victory over Japan and the end of World War II, in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square on September 3, 2025. (Photo by PEDRO PARDO/AFP via Getty Images)
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth looks on during a meeting with President of the Philippines Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos at the Pentagon in Washington, DC on July 21, 2025. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP)
The order comes after an eye-opening investigation revealed Microsoft had been relying on China-based engineers to support DOD cloud computing systems.
