Republicans are counting on the president to be generous and think about someone other than himself. Become a member to share 10 free articles a month. Welcome to this week's edition of the Surge, Slate's politics newsletter that has no time for a joke right here because we have important business to discuss. Starting next week, the Surge is going to look different: sleeker and fresher but still phenomenally trenchant. Alongside a refreshed design, the Surge will break down the news of the week into three categories: What you need to pay attention to now, what you need to keep an eye on, and which story is a bunch of nonsense you should ignore.

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U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll says defense companies can now test drones, counter-drone systems and long-range fires at military proving grounds within 30 days via an online portal.

Army infantry drone operators successfully test the bunker rupture and kinetic explosive round, delivered by an unmanned aerial system, during a live-fire demonstration at Redstone Arsenal, Ala., March 26, 2026. Get your news from a source that's not owned and controlled by oligarchs. The US Army announced this week that it has successfully 3D-printed a drone-based warhead prototype, and successfully used that weapon to make something explode. In a press release, the military called the weapon "a lightweight, powerful, and lethal warhead that could be deployed from a small, agile drone." In a video posted April 21 and captioned only "Multi-Purpose," a drone blows up a makeshift bunker on a military testing site.

Senior Pentagon officials have arrived in Ukraine to discuss efforts to end the war with Russia, the US military has said. The team, led by US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, is expected to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Thursday when he returns from a trip to Turkey. Reports began surfacing on Wednesday that the US and Russia had prepared a new peace plan, containing major concessions from Ukraine. Neither Washington nor Moscow has officially confirmed the plan. Earlier in the day, at least 26 people were killed in a Russian missile and drone attack on Ukraine's western city of Ternopil, officials there said.

Army Secretary Dan Driscoll says the Army is developing small drones based on Ukraine lessons, envisioning every infantryman having a drone for future missions.

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Former U.S. Army Intel and Special Ops soldier Brett Velicovich joins'America's Newsroom' to discuss the Defense Department's push to increase military drone production and Ukraine's drone strike on Russia. EXCLUSIVE: Army Secretary Dan Driscoll said U.S. soldiers are improvising with government credit cards to buy and test battlefield gear as they adapt to the exploding drone threat -- as the Army shifts its long-term posture toward countering China in the Indo-Pacific. In an interview with Fox News Digital, Driscoll described how elite units like the 75th Ranger Regiment are bypassing the Pentagon's cumbersome procurement system to test new drones, sensors and weapons in real time. At the same time, he said the Army is aligning with the Pentagon's assessment of China as the nation's "pacing threat," building a force optimized for the Indo-Pacific but still capable of deploying worldwide at a moment's notice. After a visit with the regiment at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, Georgia, on Tuesday, Driscoll said Rangers "basically just use their corporate credit card to go online and purchase things to test, and they will find what works."

Just before 3 a.m. one night this month, Scott Slumpff was awakened by the ding of a text message. "An ALERTCalifornia anomaly has been confirmed in your area of interest," the message said. Slumpff, a battalion chief with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, sprang into action. The message meant the agency's new artificial intelligence system had identified signs of a wildfire with a remote mountaintop camera in San Diego County. Within minutes, crews were dispatched to the burgeoning blaze on Mount Laguna -- squelching it before it grew any larger than a 10-foot-by-10-foot spot.

Cal Fire and other agencies use a network of over 1,000 cameras statewide to track wildfires before, during and after. The public can now access the network, too. Wildfire season is almost here, and there's a new way you can help firefighters -- from anywhere. The University of California San Diego and state fire agencies have partnered to launch a public website for people to watch live camera feeds across the state. The program called ALERTCalifornia also helps firefighters fight fires by using a network of more than 1,000 live camera sensors to track the fires before, during and after.