2025 – Page 256 – Texas Weekly Online

Syria’s interim President al-Sharaa expected to meet with Trump in first visit by Syrian leader to White House

Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa is expected to visit Washington, D.C., and meet with President Donald Trump next week, the first official visit by a Syrian president to the U.S. capital. A White House official confirmed to Fox News Digital that the meeting was planned for Nov. 10. News of the meeting was first reported by Axios. Trump and al-Sharaa met for the first time in May on the sidelines of the president’s trip to Saudi Arabia. “Young, attractive guy, tough guy,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One after meeting al-Sharaa, who is a former al Qaeda leader. “Strong past, very strong past — fighter. He’s got a real shot at holding it together.” SAUDI ARABIA’S 40-YEAR-OLD DISRUPTOR: HOW MBS REWIRED THE KINGDOM IN 10 SHORT YEARS Al-Sharaa, formerly known by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, led the rebel offensive in December that toppled former Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad’s regime. His group, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, was designated by the U.S. State Department as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced in June that the Trump administration would remove the label amid the president’s efforts to reset U.S.-Syria ties. “This FTO revocation is an important step in fulfilling President Trump’s vision of a stable, unified, and peaceful Syria,” Rubio said in a statement. TRUMP TAPS DETROIT ENTREPRENEUR MARK SAVAYA, WHO BOOSTED MUSLIM TURNOUT, AS SPECIAL ENVOY TO IRAQ Trump received a standing ovation in Riyadh after announcing his administration would order the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to “give them a chance at greatness.” “Oh, what I do for the crown prince,” he joked, referring to Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader, Mohammed bin-Salman, who pushed Trump to meet with Syria’s new leader. Efforts to lift the Caesar sanctions, the strongest sanctions on Syria, have faced procedural delays in Congress. A U.S. State Department spokesperson told Reuters on Friday that the Trump administration supports repealing the Caesar sanctions through the National Defense Authorization Act bill, which is under discussion by U.S. lawmakers. The bill, which was named after a Syrian army defector who smuggled thousands of images documenting torture and executions in Bashar al-Assad’s prisons, targeted entities and individuals who provided support to Assad’s regime.

Trump taps massive war chest to energize MAGA voters in final 2025 election push

President Donald Trump is making a final multimillion-dollar investment in Tuesday’s statewide elections in New Jersey and Virginia, in an effort to turn out MAGA voters who tend to sit out off-year elections when Trump isn’t on the ballot. Trump’s political team is making a withdrawal from the president’s massive political war chest, with New Jersey and Virginia each receiving roughly $1 million for get-out-the-vote microtargeting efforts, Fox News confirmed this weekend. “What you’ve seen just in the last couple of days is the president and all of our Republican forces have put even more money behind our efforts to turn out our votes because that’s what it’s gonna come down to,” Joe Gruters, chairman of the Trump-aligned Republican National Committee (RNC) said Saturday on Fox News’ “The Big Weekend Show.” While Trump lost New Jersey and Virginia in last year’s presidential election, he made major gains in both states. TRUMP NOT ON BALLOT, BUT PRESIDENT FRONT AND CENTER IN 2025 ELECTIONS New Jersey and Virginia are the only two states to hold gubernatorial contests the year after a presidential election, and the two contests typically receive outsized national attention. The elections are also seen as a key barometer ahead of next year’s midterms, when the GOP will be defending its slim House and Senate majorities. This year’s elections are also seen as the first major ballot box test of Trump’s unprecedented and explosive agenda. The new infusion of cash from Trump’s political coffers, which was first reported by Axios, is fueling the RNC’s 72-hour program aimed at turning out GOP voters in the final stretch leading up to Election Day. FIVE RACES TO WATCH ON ELECTION DAY 2025 Republican operatives are tracking down low-propensity GOP voters, and then reaching out to those voters through phone-banking efforts, or through digital and social media targeting ads. “We have to have Republicans show up on Election Day if our candidates are gonna have a chance,” Gruters said. While Trump hasn’t made any campaign stops in New Jersey or Virginia, he reached out to supporters in both states. Trump held a tele-rally Thursday evening with term-limited Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin of Virginia, to boost GOP turnout in the state’s races for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general. Last weekend, on the eve of the kick-off of early voting in New Jersey, Trump headlined a tele-rally with GOP gubernatorial nominee Jack Ciattarelli. Trump is likely to headline another tele-rally for Ciattarelli ahead of Tuesday’s election, sources told Fox News Digital. DNC CHAIR PREDICTS WINS IN KEY GOVERNOR RACES AS TRUMP AGENDA FACES FIRST TEST Meanwhile, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) has dished out over $7 million – a party record – for get-out-the-vote and organizing efforts this summer and autumn in New Jersey, Virginia and Pennsylvania, where Democrats are fighting to retain three state Supreme Court seats. “I’ve always taken the position that every election matters, whether it’s an on-year, off-year, whether it’s a local election, a federal election, every inch of ground that we gain here adds up,” DNC chair Ken Martin said last week in a Fox News Digital interview. The latest public opinion polls indicate former Democratic Rep. Abigail Spanberger has a solid lead over Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears in Virginia’s gubernatorial race. Surveys point to Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey with a slight edge over Ciattarelli in the race to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy. “I do expect that we’ll win those elections in New Jersey and Virginia,” Martin said. “We feel pretty bullish about our chances.” Fox News’ Bryan Llenas contributed to this report

DNC chair downplays socialist–moderate rift as Mamdani’s rise has some Dems rattled

Zohran Mamdani appears to be on the verge of becoming the next mayor of the nation’s most populous city. And a victory by the 34-year-old democratic socialist state lawmaker from New York City would capsulize the rise of the far left in the Democratic Party. While plenty of Democrats are fearful of the political consequences and how it would fuel Republican efforts to make a Mayor Mamdani the face of a Democratic Party aiming to usher in socialism, Ken Martin isn’t concerned. “What it shows is the great breadth of our party,” the chair of the Democratic National Committee said in a one-on-one interview with Fox News Digital this week in Philadelphia as he crisscrossed the 2025 campaign trail. FIVE KEY RACES TO WATCH IN NEXT WEEK’S ELECTIONS A likely Mamdani win in New York City, where he holds a double-digit lead in the polls, may be coupled with potential victories by moderate Democrats Rep. Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey and former Rep. Abigail Spanberger of Virginia in the only two states this year to hold gubernatorial elections. “We have conservative Democrats, we have centrist Democrats, we have progressives and we have leftists. And I’ve always said that you win elections through addition, not subtraction. You win by bringing people into your coalition and growing your party,” Martin touted. ‘DEMOCRATS ARE NERVOUS’ ABOUT POTENTIAL ZOHRAN MAMDANI VICTORY, NEW REPORT WARNS Martin acknowledged that Democrats “don’t agree on everything. There’s a lot of different ideas on how to accomplish our goals, but we’re unified around those goals. We’re unified around making sure that people’s lives are more affordable and that we can create an economy that works for everyone in this country. We’re unified in stopping Donald Trump in his authoritarian margin, his shredding of our Constitution.” As Democrats work to escape the political wilderness after last year’s stunning election setbacks, when the party lost control of the White House and Senate and failed to win back the House majority, Republicans portray their rivals as a leaderless party being held hostage by the far left. But Martin spotlighted his party’s diversity, saying, “Whether you’re a far-left Democrat or a conservative Democrat, or anything in between, everyone’s welcome into this big tent party of ours.” The Republican National Committee took issue with the Democrats’ big tent. “Ken Martin’s so-called ‘big tent’ Party includes communists, antisemites, and illegal aliens, while apparently the only people who aren’t welcome are hardworking American families. The inmates are now running the asylum in the Democrat Party, which is why the DNC is broke and proudly backing a communist for mayor of New York City,” RNC national press secretary Kiersten Pels claimed in a statement to Fox News Digital. Martin, pointing to the Republican Party, argued that they “basically have one ideology and do not allow for any dissent.” HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING AND ANALYSIS ON THE 2025 ELECTIONS Martin was interviewed a few days after a new center-left group named “Welcome,” in their inaugural report, argued that left-leaning ideas and rhetoric have badly weakened the Democratic Party. And the group urged Democrats to jettison some of the party’s progressive language about race and LGBTQ issues. The news was first reported by Semafor. Asked for his take, Martin said he had yet to read the report, but he did emphasize that “the Democratic Party can walk and chew gum at the same time.” “We can both focus on a core economic message that gives people in this country a sense that we’re going to fight for their economic future, that they’ll have an opportunity to get ahead… and also, at the same time, stand up and fight for our values. Make sure that no one gets left behind. Make sure that… people who are being harassed or bullied or pushed out of the conversation are protected.” “We are the Democratic Party. We’ve fought for the working class and the poor, and we’ve always fought against bigotry and discrimination, and we’ll continue to do both,” he pledged.

US, China agree to open direct military hotline after Xi-Trump summit

The United States and China plan to establish military-to-military communications channels “to deconflict and deescalate” potential problems, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said Saturday after talking with his Chinese counterpart. In a post on X, Hegseth said he had a “positive meeting” with Adm. Dong Jun, China’s minister of national defense, in the wake of President Donald Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. During their talk, the two defense leaders agreed that the best path forward for the U.S. and China involves “peace, stability, and good relations.” “Admiral Dong and I also agreed that we should set up military-to-military channels to deconflict and deescalate any problems that arise. We have more meetings on that coming soon. God bless both China and the USA!” Hegseth wrote, in part. TRUMP TOUTS ‘12 OUT OF 10’ MEETING WITH XI, DOWNPLAYS REPORTS OF VENEZUELA STRIKES Earlier Saturday, Hegseth attended a separate meeting in Malaysia with defense leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), where he urged them to push back against Beijing’s aggressive actions in the South China Sea. “China’s sweeping territorial and maritime claims in the South China Sea fly in the face of their commitments to resolve disputes peacefully,” Hegseth said at the meeting, according to The Associated Press. “We seek peace. We do not seek conflict. But we must ensure that China is not seeking to dominate you or anybody else,” he added. OPINION: TRUMP SCORES FOUR BIG WINS WITH XI, BUT HAS ONE BIG MISS The South China Sea remains volatile with Beijing, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei all claiming overlapping territories. China’s maritime fleet has frequently clashed with the Philippines in the disputed waters, with Chinese officials recently describing the country as a “troublemaker” for staging naval and air drills with the U.S., Australia and New Zealand. Hegseth defended the U.S. ally during the Saturday meeting by saying Beijing’s designation of the Scarborough Shoal – a territory seized from the Philippines in 2012 – as a “nature reserve” was “yet another attempt to coerce new and expanded territorial and maritime claims at your expense.” The war secretary then urged ASEAN to finalize the Code of Conduct with China and proposed creating a “shared maritime domain awareness” network and rapid-response systems to deter provocations – measures he said would ensure that any member facing “aggression and provocation is not alone.” Hegseth also welcomed plans for an ASEAN-U.S. maritime exercise in December aimed at strengthening coordination and safeguarding freedom of navigation.

US military kills three in another strike on Caribbean vessel

BREAKINGBREAKING, Defence secretary says the strike was carried out on Trump’s orders and targeted ‘narco-terrorists’. Published On 2 Nov 20252 Nov 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth says that US troops have carried out another strike on a ship in the Caribbean, killing at least three men on board the vessel. In a post on X late on Saturday, Hegseth said the attack was carried out on the orders of President Donald Trump and targeted a vessel that “was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling”. He said no US forces were harmed in the strike. Adblock test (Why?)

Messi, Inter Miami beaten as Nashville level MLS Cup playoffs

Nashville snapped a two-and-a-half-year winless streak against Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami and forced a decisive Game 3. By News Agencies Published On 2 Nov 20252 Nov 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share An 89th-minute goal from Lionel Messi was too little, too late as Nashville SC defeated Inter Miami 2-1 on Saturday to stay alive in their Major League Soccer (MLS) Cup round one playoff series. It was Nashville’s first win over Inter Miami since May 2023, snapping a 10-match winless streak. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list First-half goals from Sam Surridge and Josh Bauer put Nashville in control at a rainy Geodis Park in Tennessee, and the Miami side, led by Argentinian superstar Messi, could not find a way to respond. Surridge converted a penalty in the ninth minute to put the hosts on top, slotting a low shot to the right of diving Miami goalkeeper Rocco Rios Novo. Nashville were awarded the spot kick after Rios Novo hesitated coming off his line against a charging Surridge. Bauer put Nashville up 2-0 on the stroke of half-time, sliding in a left-footed shot off a corner floated in by Hany Mukhtar. Miami opened the second half in determined style, but Luis Suarez’s close-range shot in the 66th minute was parried by Nashville goalkeeper Joe Willis. Miami regained control of the ball, but Ian Fray’s quick attempt from inside the area was blocked. Messi stepped it up in the waning minutes, his awkwardly angled shot from the right in the 85th minute blocked, and a blast from the centre of the box saved in the 86th before he found the back of the net in the 89th. Rodrigo De Paul found Messi at the top right corner of the box, and the newly crowned MLS Golden Boot winner wrong-footed his defender and fired a left-footed shot into the top right corner to cut the deficit to one. Advertisement Miami had seized control of the series with a 3-1 Game 1 win, fuelled by a Messi brace, but now they will have to host a decisive third game in Florida on Saturday. It is an unwelcome reminder of last year, when Miami went into the playoffs, having posted the best record in the regular season, and won their opening game against Atlanta United, only for Atlanta to win the next two and send them packing. The winner of the series will play either Columbus or Cincinnati. Cincinnati take a 1-0 series lead into their Game 2 on Sunday. Nashville forward Sam Surridge, left, scores a goal on a penalty kick in the ninth minute of Game 2 against Inter Miami goalkeeper Rocco Rios Novo [George Walker IV/AP] Adblock test (Why?)

US, China agree to set up military-to-military channels, Hegseth says

The United States and China have agreed to set up military-to-military channels to “deconflict and deescalate any problems” following the “historic” meeting between the countries’ leaders, Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, according to the US defence secretary. In a statement on X on Saturday, Pete Hegseth said he and his Chinese counterpart, Minister of National Defence Dong Jun, made the decision following a phone call the night before. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list There was no immediate comment from Beijing. Hegseth said the pair, who also met in Malaysia following the Trump-Xi summit in South Korea, “agree that peace, stability, and good relations are the best part for our two great and strong countries”. “Admiral Dong and I also agreed that we should set up military-to-military channels to deconflict and deescalate any problems that arise,” he added. Experts have long advocated direct military contacts between the two superpowers, whose navies operate extensively in the Asia Pacific, saying the hotlines were the best way to avoid unintentional escalation. However, such contacts have remained irregular as tensions between the two nations ebb and rise. The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a US-based think tank, said in May that most of the more than 90 communications channels between the US and Chinese governments went dormant during Trump’s first term as US president, from 2017 to 2021. China went on to cut the few links with the US military in 2022, under the administration of the US’s then-president, Joe Biden, when the then-speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, visited Taiwan, the self-governed island that Beijing claims as its province. Advertisement The development was followed by a series of close encounters between the Chinese and US militaries in the contested South China Sea as well as in the Taiwan Strait. These included the US military accusing a Chinese fighter jet of crossing in front of a US surveillance flight over the South China Sea in May 2023, in what it called an “unnecessarily aggressive maneuver”. Days later, in June that year, the US military said a Chinese Navy destroyer sailed across the path of a US destroyer in another “unsafe” manoeuvre. Beijing, at the time, said the US was to blame, and accused its rival of deliberately “provoking risk” by sending vessels near its shores. The tensions eased following a meeting between Biden and Xi in November 2023, with the two leaders also agreeing to resume high-level military-to-military communications. The CSIS said in May that such communications have been “limited” since Trump’s return to office in January this year. It also noted that the US and China have no crisis management channels, further increasing the risk of escalation, as Trump also ratcheted up a trade war against Beijing. Trump and Xi, in their meeting in South Korea on October 30, took several steps to lower the temperature, including the US president easing the tariff rate on Chinese goods from 57 percent to 47 percent. Trump also said that China had agreed to keep the supply of rare earth metals flowing. However, no deal was announced on the sale of TikTok to US investors or on possible plans to sell Nvidia’s advanced semiconductor chips. Trump also announced that he would travel to China in April, and said Xi would come to the US soon after. Hegseth met Dong, the Chinese defence minister, the day after the Trump-Xi summit, on the sidelines of the summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Malaysia. “I highlighted the importance of maintaining a balance of power in the Indo-Pacific and emphasized U.S. concerns about China’s activities in the South China Sea, around Taiwan, and towards U.S. allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific,” he said in a post on X following the meeting. The “United States does not seek conflict, it will continue to stoutly defend its interests and ensure it has the capabilities in the region to do so”, he added. The Chinese Ministry of National Defence said that Dong had told Hegseth that the reunification of China and Taiwan is an “unstoppable historical trend” and urged the US to exercise caution in both words and actions on the Taiwan issue. Advertisement It quoted Dong as saying that China was committed to peaceful development while resolutely safeguarding its national security interests. “It possesses the full capability to respond calmly to any infringements or provocations,” the statement added. Adblock test (Why?)

Year: 2025