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The fighting in Sudan has gotten so bad that the U.S. is positioning troops in Djibouti ahead of a possible military evacuation mission, Alex, LARA SELIGMAN and ERIN BANCO report.

The two rival generals — Gen. ABDEL-FATTAH BURHAN, in charge of the nation’s armed forces, and Gen. MOHAMMED HAMDAN DAGALO, who leads the Rapid Support Forces military group — are warring for control of the country. The battle in Khartoum and surrounding cities has left many stranded, including embassy staff in the capital who are sheltering in place at the compound eight miles from the international airport.

President JOE BIDEN is getting updates on the crisis and ordered the troop movement, but he has yet to make a decision on sending troops into Sudan to evacuate U.S. embassy personnel, National Security Council spokesperson JOHN KIRBY told reporters Thursday.

A Defense Department spokesperson confirmed that the U.S. was prepositioning troops, but stopped short of saying they were heading to Djibouti.

WENDY SHERMAN, the deputy secretary of State, specifically told lawmakers in a classified briefing Wednesday that additional U.S. troops were moving to Djibouti, home to Camp Lemonnier, providing Biden with a military-evacuation option, should he choose it. Sherman stressed that the mission would whisk only embassy staff to safety and that there won’t be a military-led general evacuation of American citizens.

VEDANT PATEL, a spokesperson for the State Department, said in a Thursday news briefing that all embassy staff are currently accounted for and safe.

A military evacuation seems increasingly likely. The airport, located in central Khartoum, is closed but would be inoperable even if it reopened due to damage from bombardment and fighting. The roughly 70 U.S. staff at the embassy have no options to leave Sudan on their own without immense risk to their safety.

Also on Wednesday, MOLLY PHEE, the top State Department official for African affairs, told congressional staffers that it was too late to issue an ordered departure of the mission because of the deteriorating security situation, which has already led to around 300 deaths and about 3,000 more wounded.

Questions are beginning to swirl in Washington about why the administration didn’t move personnel to safety sooner, especially as both Sudanese forces were moving equipment toward the capital in a sign that violence was imminent.

A U.S. official familiar with the planning, who like the first two people was granted anonymity to detail discussions about a sensitive military operation, said papers had been drawn up at the State Department for an evacuation order. The official added that State Department leadership held a call with embassy staff Thursday morning to discuss options, including a ground evacuation. But the assessment, per the official, was that travel by road was currently more dangerous than by air.

Read the full story.

NATO CHIEF IN UKRAINE: The Kremlin reasserted its opposition to Ukraine joining NATO as JENS STOLTENBERG, the bloc’s chief, made his first visit to Kyiv since the war began.

Stoltenberg’s trip to the region on Thursday is likely an attempt to irk Russia, which sees NATO as encroaching on its territory and has long opposed Ukraine’s accession to the military alliance, Reuters’ GLEB GARANICH reports. Kyiv’s “rightful place” is in NATO, he told reporters, pledging more support for its war efforts.

Shortly before the chief’s symbolic visit, it was revealed that Canadian Prime Minister JUSTIN TRUDEAU privately told NATO leaders that his country will never meet the bloc’s spending targets, the Washington Post’s AMANDA COLETTA reports, citing leaked Pentagon documents.

Trudeau cited “enduring” shortfalls that caused the Canadian military to conclude that it “could not conduct a major operation while simultaneously maintaining its NATO battle group leadership [in Latvia] and aid to Ukraine,” per a February assessment. The report also shows that Germany is concerned about the Canadian military’s ability to support Ukraine while meeting NATO targets, and Turkey and Haiti are “disappointed” and “frustrated” by Ottawa’s reluctance to respond to crises in those nations.

ABOUT THAT WARGAME: The House China Committee held its tabletop exercise Wednesday night and we’ve gotten a readout about how it all went down.

As a reminder: In the scenario, set in 2027, a political crisis moved Taiwan’s leadership to more seriously consider itself an independent country. In response, Chinese paramount leader XI JINPING launched an invasion to force unification of the self-governing democracy with the Communist mainland.

So what did the lawmakers learn? Per a Republican staffer on the committee, members were convinced of the need for deterring China from even considering an invasion of Taiwan. The basing of U.S. troops in the region will help minimize losses and having long-range missiles will make America more effective in case of a fight — requiring a significant uptick in production of those weapons. It’d also be prudent to clear the $19 billion backlog in weapons for Taiwan so it can be armed ahead of a potential war.

Meanwhile, the U.S. needs to prepare for a collapse of the global economy during such a war. In the exercise, China was cut off from SWIFT and supply chains were in tatters, roiling and plunging world markets.

“Yesterday’s wargame stressed the need to take action to deter CCP aggression and arm Taiwan to the teeth before any crisis begins,” Rep. MIKE GALLAGHER (R-Wisc.), the panel’s chair, told NatSec Daily. “Deterring war is the only path to peace and stability.”

Rep. RAJA KRISHNAMOORTHI, the committee’s top Democrat, added: “Every one of us walked out of that exercise more committed than ever to deterring and preventing a conflict with the CCP. That not only means ensuring that Taiwan has the tools it needs for a robust self-defense, it means working together in Congress to strengthen our diplomatic and economic efforts to keep the peace and send a clear message to the CCP that nobody wins if they decide to attack Taiwan.”

YELLEN: NEED ‘CONSTRUCTIVE’ CHINA RELATIONSHIP: Treasury Secretary JANET YELLEN is hoping the U.S. and China can work together on economic and other issues even as they compete, offering a softer tone from the administration toward its top geopolitical rival.

“We seek a constructive and fair economic relationship with China. Both countries need to be able to frankly discuss difficult issues. And we should work together, when possible, for the benefit of our countries and the world,” she told an audience Thursday at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

She said that the national security actions taken against certain Chinese businesses, like restricting their access to semiconductors and putting telecommunications firms on a trade blacklist, were done for the benefit of the American interest, not solely to punish Beijing.

It’s as clear a sign as any that the administration is trying to cool tensions with China following the “transit” of Taiwan’s president through the United States and the flyover of a Chinese spy balloon across the U.S.

WHAT AUSTIN FACES: No one should envy Defense Secretary LLOYD AUSTIN as he heads to Germany this week. As he hosts a meeting of his global counterparts, the Pentagon chief has to convince Kyiv that U.S. confidence in Ukraine is unbroken even after its secret doubts spilled into the open, Lara reports.

During Friday’s meeting at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, the defense secretary will need to show that the U.S. is confident in and committed to Ukraine, after the leaked documents appeared to show pessimistic assessments about Kyiv’s ability to win the war this year as well as concerns over the country’s dwindling weapons stockpiles.

Austin’s other challenge will be assuring allies that the Defense Department is doing more to safeguard classified materials, particularly those related to foreign partners. He must also relay to his counterparts that those measures will not hamper their own access to the Pentagon’s plans for Ukraine, or other international cooperation.

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SCOTT’S BORDER PROMISE: Sen. TIM SCOTT (R-S.C.) said troops should be deployed to deal with Mexican cartels at the southern border, joining a chorus of Republicans calling for military action to deal with the crisis.

“We have to make sure that we allow the greatest, most lethal entity on God’s green earth — the United States military — if necessary, to deal with Mexican cartels that are transporting enough fentanyl to kill 70,000 Americans,” said Scott, who announced his presidential exploratory committee last week, during a speech at the Heritage Foundation on Thursday.

FUNDING UKRAINE ‘IN THE INTEREST OF FREEDOM’: Likely 2024 contender former Vice President MIKE PENCE called for America to continue to deliver financial support to Ukraine, the Los Angeles Times’ SEEMA MEHTA reported Wednesday.

“The war in Ukraine is not our war, but freedom is our fight,” Pence said in front of more than 200 people on Wednesday at the Nixon Presidential Library in southern California.

“I believe we must continue to give the Ukrainian military the means to repel the Russian invasion and reclaim their sovereignty. It is in the interest of freedom — theirs and ours. We must make it clear that we will not tolerate naked aggression.”

The comments contrast with former President DONALD TRUMP, who announced his 2024 campaign to win back the White House, and Florida Gov. RON DeSANTIS. Both have criticized the amount of aid Washington has provided to Ukraine.

NEW TERRAIN: A recent North Korean cyberattack that has drawn comparisons to Russia’s SolarWinds campaign involved not one but two compromises of the software supply chain, our own JOHN SAKELLARIADIS reports (for Pros!).

That’s according to research out Thursday from incident response firm Mandiant, which sheds new light on the skill and determination of Pyongyang’s cyber forces, even though the effort ultimately fell flat.

“This is the first time that we’ve ever observed multiple connected software supply chain attacks,” CHARLES CARMAKAL, the firm’s chief technology officer, told reporters in a briefing ahead of the report’s release. “It just demonstrates an increased level of cyber offensive capability by North Korean threat actors.”

TANK YOU, AGAIN: Denmark and the Netherlands will jointly donate 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, our own WILHELMINE PREUSSEN reports.

The pair will “jointly acquire, refurbish and donate” the tanks, the countries’ defense ministers said in a joint statement. Dutch Defense Minister KAJSA OLLONGREN said Ukrainians’ determination to continue fighting Russia is a “strong motivation” for the Netherlands to continue its military support.

The Leopards will be bought for $180 million, which will be “equally divided” between Denmark and the Netherlands. They’re expected to be delivered in early 2024.

END ‘UNRESTRAINED’ SUPPORT FOR UKRAINE: Nearly 30 Republican lawmakers sent a letter to President JOE BIDEN demanding he cease unfettered aid to Ukraine and instead delineate a pathway to end the war.

“A proxy war with Russia in Ukraine is not in the strategic interest of the United States and risks an escalation that could spiral out of control,” reads the letter led by Sens. MIKE LEE (R-Utah), RAND PAUL (R-Ky.) and J.D. VANCE (R-Ohio). “Unrestrained U.S. aid for Ukraine must come to an end, and we will adamantly oppose all future aid packages unless they are linked to a clear diplomatic strategy designed to bring this war to a rapid conclusion.”

The 29 members of the Senate and House remain a small faction of the Republican Party which is generally aboard with the administration’s weapons-transfers plan. But the letter does show that as the 2024 election heats up, and as Trump and potentially other candidates express skepticism for continued support for Ukraine, they will have staunch backers in Congress.

TAKE IT EASY: House Armed Services Chair MIKE ROGERS (R-Ala.) said he has considered splitting the committee’s markup of the annual National Defense Authorization Act, set for late May, into two days rather than one long one, our own CONNOR O’BRIEN reports (for Pros!).

“We thought about it. I don’t think we’re gonna be able to pull it off this year,” Rogers said of a two-day markup. “That was what I was wanting to do.”

This year, Republican leadership aims to bring the bill to the House floor the week after the Armed Services Committee approves it. Breaking the markup into two days may not give leaders and staff enough time to get the bill ready for the next step, which is floor debate, Rogers said.

“I plan to do it next year if I get them to give me at least a week between the time we come out of committee and the floor,” he said.

‘GOBBLEDYGOOK’: Senators on both sides of the aisle exited a private briefing on Wednesday evening with more questions than answers about the recent leak of a trove of sensitive Pentagon documents, NBC News’ LIZ BROWN-KAISER and ZOË RICHARDS reported Wednesday night.

“I would, by and large, typify it as bureaucratic gobbledygook,” Sen. RON JOHNSON (R-Wis.), a member of the Homeland Security Committee told reporters. Sen. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-Conn.) chimed in as well, and said he remains “deeply unhappy and unsatisfied with the structure and procedures of access.”

— LAUREN GILLIS is now chief of staff to State Department Counselor DEREK CHOLLET, DANIEL LIPPMAN has learned. She most recently was senior policy adviser to U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations LINDA THOMAS-GREENFIELD.

— PHIL McDANIEL has joined the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research as a senior adviser. He was previously the foreign policy adviser to former Rep. TOM MALINOWSKI (D-N.J.).

— JUSTIN LYNCH, Foreign Policy: In Sudan, U.S. policies paved the way for war

— BEN SMITH, The Atlantic: After all that, I would still publish the dossier

— Department of Homeland Security: The third quadrennial homeland security review

— U.S. Department of Defense, 4 a.m.: Defense Secretary LLOYD AUSTIN delivers remarks to the Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Germany

— The Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association International, 7:15 a.m.: “Breakfast with DHS!” event to discuss technology issues in the Homeland Security Department

— The Global Interdependence Center, 8:30 a.m.: Discussion on “Cryptocurrency and the Future of Global Finance” featuring commander of the Air Combat Command HERBERT CARLISLE and Australian Ambassador to the U.S. KEVIN RUDD

— The Council on Foreign Relations, 9 a.m.: Tackling an Evolving Threat Landscape: Homeland Security in 2023

— The Middle East Policy Council, 10 a.m.: 112th Capitol Hill Conference on The Future of Security in the Middle East

— The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies, 1 p.m.: Understanding the Military Dynamics of a U.S.-China Conflict

Thanks to our editor, Heidi Vogt, who wants our reign over this newsletter to end in the interest of her freedom.

We also thank our producer, Gregory Svirnovskiy, who is the human equivalent of a rock, flag and eagle.