The Biden administration says it’s closely watching the unfolding chaos in Haiti, where Prime Minister Ariel Henry says he’ll resign amid widespread gang violence that some analysts say now resembles a low-scale civil war. Administration officials say that the U.S., the largest donor to Haiti’s embattled national police force, is working to ensure authorities there have the equipment they need to contain the violence.

But what comes next is anybody’s guess. “This is a crucial moment in Haiti,” a State Department official told reporters on a conference call late Tuesday. “The humanitarian crisis and the security crisis in Haiti is as great as any other crisis around the world.”

Mr. Henry is already out of the country, U.S. officials say.

Threat Status is tracking another warning about communist China’s rapidly expanding military capabilities. This time, the threat centers on Beijing’s growing arsenal of lightning-fast hypersonic weapons that are capable of hitting American targets.

National Security Correspondent Bill Gertz tracked a key hearing on Capitol Hill Tuesday during which U.S. officials said China now boasts the world’s largest arsenal of hypersonic missiles, missiles that can hit the U.S. with both nuclear and conventional warheads. Russia also has deployed three types of the ultra-high-speed maneuvering weapons and has already fired the first hypersonic weapon in combat against civilian targets in Ukraine.

The rapid advancements by both China and Russia have fueled fears that the U.S. has fallen behind its two most potent adversaries in a critical facet of the modern arms race, Mr. Gertz reports.

If there were any doubt that Russian President Vladimir Putin is willing to use his most devastating weaponry against the West, he seemed to put those doubts to rest in an interview with Russian state media Wednesday. Mr. Putin said he’ll use nuclear weapons if he feels Russia’s sovereignty is under threat by Ukraine or its Western allies. He made the comments just days before Russian elections in which he’s expected to cruise to an easy victory, with no viable political opponents in his way.

But it’s not all good news for Mr. Putin: Shadowy pro-Ukraine forces claimed to capture a key Russian town just over the Ukrainian border on Tuesday, Mr. Wolfgang reports, while Ukrainian drones also reportedly hit two oil facilities deeper inside Russia. Those developments could complicate Mr. Putin’s longstanding narrative that the Russia-Ukraine war has had no tangible negative blowback for his nation.

Mr. Putin has boasted of his military’s gains in eastern Ukraine, where they’ve captured territory and put Ukrainian forces on their heels. The Pentagon, seeking to halt Russian momentum, announced another $300 million in Ukraine aid on Tuesday. A much bigger Ukraine aid package is held up in Congress, but White House and Defense Department officials say they scraped together the $300 million from modest cost savings on cheaper-than-expected previous contracts.

In Europe, the leaders of France, Germany and Poland are set to meet Friday to discuss the situation in Ukraine. In Washington on Tuesday, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said Europe as a whole must recognize the reality of an emboldened Russia attacking its neighbors. Military Correspondent Mike Glenn was in the room with Mr. Sikorski and reports on the push in Europe for nations to spend more on defense.

The issue of European defense spending, a key U.S. priority across multiple administrations of both parties, was also a central issue of the latest episode of the Threat Status Podcast.

It’s set: President Biden will face former President Donald Trump this November in a historic rematch. But both men are seeing their power challenged by rank-and-file lawmakers in Congress on key national security issues.

The House late Tuesday passed a resolution condemning Mr. Biden’s immigration policies Tuesday — with the votes of 14 Democrats. In that resolution, Mr. Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas are denounced for what the resolution calls a refusal to use executive powers to control the chaos on the border.

Mr. Trump has his own political challenges in Congress. House Republican allies of Mr. Trump ignored his plea Wednesday to vote against legislation that could ban China-owned TikTok in the U.S. if the American subsidiary doesn’t get new owners. Mr. Trump argues a TikTok ban would only make Facebook owner Meta more powerful.

The GOP is also still navigating deep divisions on Ukraine aid. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell appeared irritated Tuesday as he lobbied his House counterpart, Speaker Mike Johnson, to allow a vote on a bipartisan funding bill for Ukraine and Israel. “We don’t have time for all of this,” Mr. McConnell said.

The widespread use of TikTok is a key piece of “China’s infiltration of the United States,” and “probably the most successful psychological warfare operation in history.” That’s according to Michael McKenna, Washington Times columnist, who examines the GOP divisions around a potential TikTok ban or forced sale — and the financial considerations that could be fueling them.