Across America, seemingly grassroots movements are emerging to block new data centers, the massive complexes needed to power AI models and modern tech. But what’s truly driving the opposition? 

National Security Correspondent Bill Gertz dives into one very troubling answer: The opposition is being funded in part by a China-based American tycoon who is funneling millions of dollars to the U.S. communist group Party for Socialism and Liberation, which in turn is running a sophisticated influence campaign to drum up anti-data center sentiment.

The bombshell claims about Neville Roy Singham, who lives in Shanghai, come from a new report by the Bitcoin Policy Institute. You can read the full report here. But one of the biggest takeaways is that the scheme seems to be working.

The joint efforts of Mr. Singham’s funding and PSL action have led to about $23.6 billion in delayed or blocked funding for data centers. Four data center projects were dropped, 10 local governments imposed construction moratoria, and one data center was permanently banned, according to the report.

The Threat Status podcast recently examined whether companies could realistically put data centers in orbit, or even on the moon, as a response to the growing backlash against the complexes here on Earth. Key military insiders warn that blocking data centers could harm U.S. national security and put the nation at a disadvantage in the 21st-century tech race — which explains why China-linked figures may want to stop their construction.

Conflicting signals are coming out of Doha, Qatar, where U.S. and Iranian negotiators are on the ground but are not meeting face-to-face. 

Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Mr. Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner met with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, according to a senior administration official. The official said the U.S. and Iranian delegations were expected to meet separately with mediators from Qatar and Pakistan on Wednesday.

Iranian officials said they remain concerned about fighting in Lebanon, and they even berated the U.S. over the treatment of the Iranian national soccer team at the World Cup.

A lack of direct meetings between the two nations seems like a step backward. But Mr. Trump insisted Wednesday morning the U.S. and Iran are getting along. 

The Trump administration’s “commercial first” strategy on military technology is a bid to reverse a trend where the Pentagon spent too much money and fielded new capabilities far too slowly for 21st-century threats.

That was the explanation from Justin Fanelli, the Department of the Navy’s chief technology officer. At a recent naval forum in Washington, he detailed why the Pentagon — and specifically the Navy — decided to look to the commercial world to get badly needed tools into the hands of America’s warfighters more quickly.

“As the pendulum needed to swing, it needed to swing a lot. We had too few suppliers. And really, if we don’t have a whole-of-nation [approach], with many sectors contributing to this, we’re not in the spot we need to be in,” he said. 

Mr. Fanelli’s conversation with Mr. Wolfgang, featured on the latest episode of the Threat Status podcast, was recorded at last week’s IndoPac 2026 | Naval Dominance: Shipbuilding, Autonomy & C2. The event was hosted by the Threat Status national security team at the U.S. Navy Memorial in downtown Washington.

You can also watch the full video of that discussion.

There was another major development Tuesday in the long-running saga over journalists’ access to the Pentagon under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. A federal judge issued an injunction barring the Pentagon from requiring journalists to have an escort to enter the building, saying Mr. Hegseth’s attempt to impose restrictions was retaliatory.

The judge said requiring an escort would chill reporters’ ability to carry out their journalistic duties under the First Amendment. It removes the chance for organic conversations with sources, the judge said, and forces reporters to spend a chunk of their day waiting for Defense Department officials to provide an escort into the building. Washington Times Reporter Stephen Dinan offers a recap of all the twists and turns in what has been a complex, and often contentious, legal battle between reporters and the Defense Department.

The question is whether reporters’ access to the Pentagon will ever be the same again, regardless of the court’s decision. The Trump administration has already closed the “Correspondents’ Corridor” workspace that for years was used by reporters covering the military.

Threat Status contributor Clifford D. May argues it’s past time to consider why Iran, despite its poor track record of winning wars, never seems to lose when it comes to negotiations and dealmaking.

“One reason Iran’s rulers consistently win negotiations: They are adept at weaponizing hostage-taking,” writes Mr. May, the founder and president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. In his op-ed for The Times, Mr. May lists a host of examples from the taking of U.S. hostages in 1979 through Iran’s ongoing use of the Strait of Hormuz as a key leverage point in talks with the Trump administration.

“Iran’s rulers, who have never lost a negotiation, are betting that the current occupant of the White House is as beatable as his predecessors. Mr. Trump knows what is required to prove them wrong. He has already told us,” Mr. May writes.

• July 2 — The Eurasian Heartland Arrives: Kyrgyzstan’s Seat on the U.N. Security Council, Hudson Institute

• July 6 — A Rebalancing NATO Gathers in Ankara, Brookings Institution 

• July 7 — Sixteenth Annual South China Sea Conference, Center for Strategic and International Studies

• July 7 — Was the Iran War Worth It? Assessing Costs, Benefits and U.S. Interests, Stimson Center

• July 8 — Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Proposers Day: Lightweight Universal Codec Program, DARPA

• July 8-9 — Military Robotics and Autonomous Systems USA Conference, SAE Media Group

• July 10 — Taiwan’s Institutional Defense: Countering Chinese Communist Party Infiltration and Transnational Repression, Hudson Institute

• July 14-17 — Aspen Security Forum, Aspen Strategy Group