What We’re Watching: Trump reverses position on Ukraine, Thailand gets a new government, the US to use AI to restrain bioweapons

Zelensky curries Trump’s favor at the UN

On Tuesday, President Donald Trumpposted on Truth Social that Ukraine can “fight and WIN all of Ukraine back in its original form,” a dramatic reversal from his past suggestions that Kyiv consider ceding territory to end the war—and a prediction that would require Ukraine to drive Russia from nearly 20% of its land. He later urged NATO to shoot down drones violating its airspace. After their meeting, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters they he came away understanding that "[Trump] will give Ukraine security guarantees after this war will end," but that he didn't have specific details.

Thailand swears in a new government, again.

Perhaps this time’s the charm as Thailand on Wednesday swore in its third government in under two years. Prime Minister Anutin Charnivirakil, a pragmatic business tycoonand former health minister, takes charge of one of Southeast Asia’s major economies following the recent removal of his predecessor Paetongtarn Shinawatra over ethics violations. Anutin’s small party will need to govern with larger partners at a moment of political upheaval and economic uncertainty. What’s more, he must call national elections within four months, giving him precious little time to right a listing ship.

Can AI restrain bioweapons?

Amid all the hoopla around Trump’s UN remarks, this line flew largely under the radar: “I'm announcing today that my administration will lead an international effort to enforce biological weapons convention … by pioneering an AI verification system that everyone can trust.” Those two concepts — biological weapons and AI — have previously been combined in a very different sense: that AI might enable bad actors to more easily design novel bioweapons. This new aspiration begs myriad questions; answers might emerge before the UN’s biological weapons workshop in December.