European officials pitch new idea to shore up defenses with Trump’s return
As NATO member states struggle to meet their defense spending goals and war rages on Europe’s eastern front, officials are struggling to agree on a plan to shore up hundreds of billions of dollars to bolster defenses. Eight NATO countries did not meet their 2% target for defense spending in 2024. And as many member states struggle with chronically stressed budgets, calls to meet those goals are not being heeded quickly. The European Commission estimates about 500 billion euros, the equivalent of $524 billion in investments, are needed in the coming decade to defend Europe against evolving threats. NATO LEADERS PREDICT ERA OF 2% DEFENSE SPENDING ‘PROBABLY HISTORY’ AS TRUMP REPORTEDLY FLOATS HIGHER TARGET The EU’s budget cannot be used to fund defense directly, and some European officials and NATO experts are proposing a global defense bank to dole out funds for military modernization. A defense, security and resilience (DSR) bank would issue bonds backed by AAA ratings for financially strapped countries to upgrade their defenses and would provide guarantees for commercial banks to offer credit to defense suppliers. “This is not a substitute to raising defense spending in each of these countries. I think it should be a supplemental tool,” Giedrimas Jeglinskas, chairman of the national security committee in the Lithuanian parliament and a former NATO official, told Fox News Digital. His remarks echo those of incoming President Trump, who has long threatened to pull the U.S. out of NATO due to the number of nations missing the mark on the 2% goal for defense spending. “I think we have to look at it also as an opportunity for the U.S. as well,” Jeglinskas added. “I understand the skepticism by Donald Trump of the World Bank and then the IMF [International Monetary Fund] and IFC [International Finance Corporation] and other institutions. I think there’s been a lot of capital deployed and a lot of investments that these banks or institutions do. The real impact is, at best, questionable. So, I think we have to have very clear KPIs [key performance indicators]. We need to build defense.” The United States’ $824 billion defense budget in 2023 equaled half of total defense spending by all NATO member states combined at $1.47 trillion. PUTIN SAYS RUSSIA READY TO COMPROMISE WITH TRUMP ON UKRAINE WAR The return of Trump to the White House, coupled with a U.S. push to refocus on China, has left Europeans wondering whether the U.S. will have less of an appetite to defend Europe in years to come. More EU defense chiefs and foreign ministers have pitched the idea of issuing joint debt through bonds to finance military projects. But some countries like Germany have voiced concerns about maintaining their own sovereignty and a disproportionate financial burden on some countries. The DSR bank idea is explained at length in a new Atlantic Council report by defense fellow Rob Murray. “For allies across both the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific regions, the bank could go beyond offering low-interest loans for defense modernization to facilitating equipment leasing, currency hedging, and supporting critical infrastructure and rebuilding efforts in conflict zones like Ukraine,” Murray wrote. “An additional critical function of the DSR bank would be to underwrite the risk for commercial banks, enabling them to extend financing to defense companies across the supply chain.” The goal would be to offer financing to small and medium-sized defense companies that often struggle with access to funds. “By providing loans with extended maturities, the bank would offer predictable and sustainable funding for defence modernisation. Its governance structures would align funding with collective security goals, such as upgrading arsenals and investing in emerging technologies,” Jeglinskas wrote in a recent op-ed for the Financial Times. Asked how the DSR bank would get countries to agree on defense funding priorities, Jeglinskas likened the idea to the U.K.-led Joint Expeditionary Force, a military alliance that includes Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. Jeglinskas noted the 33 trillion euros in European assets under management across the continent. “There’s really no political will, no risk appetite to move them anywhere besides the kind of bond markets where they rest now,” he said. “But several nations need to build that initial capital, and then, by using the sovereign rating to get to hopefully AAA in capital markets, raise that money from bond markets and to start funding defense programs.” The European Investment Bank has doled out long-term loans and guarantees to European nations’ projects that align with EU policy goals. “But even they are struggling with kind of shifting their mandate towards more dual-use technologies is still not allowed in their funding package,” said Jeglinskas. “Of course, every other bank in Europe is looking at EIB for their signals. That signaling hasn’t been there yet. So, that’s the point. We need to create some sort of mechanism, and that kind of global defense bank would be one of the tools that we could use to rally the capital and really direct it toward defense. So, it’s really creating another multilateral lending institution.”
Billionaires cozy up to Trump with seven-figure inaugural donations after past feuds with incoming president
Companies that previously feuded with President-elect Trump are now making seven-figure donations to his 2025 inauguration. Trump has butted heads with several Fortune 500 company executives over the years, but following his presidential election victory in November, some of those same big-business leaders are dropping major cash on the incoming president’s exclusive inaugural festivities. “In the first term, everyone was fighting me. This time, everyone wants to be my friend,” Trump recently said at Mar-a-Lago, according to The Washington Post. Meta, the world’s largest social media network headed by Mark Zuckerberg, suspended Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts in 2021 after the events of Jan. 6 — which Trump called an “insult” to his voters. In his new book, titled “Save America,” Trump accused Zuckerberg of “plotting” against him in 2020. DOJ SEEKS TO BLOCK JAN. 6 DEFENDANTS FROM ATTENDING TRUMP INAUGURATION “He told me there was nobody like Trump on Facebook. But at the same time, and for whatever reason, steered it against me,” Trump wrote. “We are watching him closely, and if he does anything illegal this time he will spend the rest of his life in prison — as will others who cheat in the 2024 Presidential Election.” Trump, in his book, also accused Zuckerberg of “always plotting to install shameful Lock Boxes in a true PLOT AGAINST THE PRESIDENT.” However, the relationship appeared to change course as the election drew nearer. After Trump’s Butler, Pennsylvania, assassination attempt in July, Zuckerberg said Trump’s fist pump in the air after suffering a bullet wound to the ear was “one of the most bada– things I’ve ever seen in my life.” Shortly after Trump won the election in November, Zuckerberg met with the incoming president at Mar-a-Lago. Just weeks later, Meta donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund. JOHNSON ALLIES URGE TRUMP TO INTERVENE AS MESSY SPEAKER BATTLE THREATENS TO DELAY 2024 CERTIFICATION “Mark Zuckerberg has been very clear about his desire to be a supporter of and a participant in this change that we’re seeing all around America, all around the world with this reform movement that Donald Trump is leading,” Trump adviser Stephen Miller said during an appearance on “The Ingraham Angle.” Despite a yearlong clash between Amazon’s billionaire founder, Jeff Bezos — who also owns The Washington Post — and the incoming president, the e-commerce company recently pledged to donate $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund. After Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity in 2016 that Amazon was “getting away with murder, tax-wise,” Bezos fired back at the then-presidential candidate. Bezos, appearing at a technology conference, said that Trump’s comments were “not an appropriate way for a presidential candidate to behave.” “Washington Post employees want to go on strike because Bezos isn’t paying them enough. I think a really long strike would be a great idea,” Trump wrote in another hit at the billionaire on X, then Twitter, in June 2018. “Employees would get more money and we would get rid of Fake News for an extended period of time! Is @WaPo a registered lobbyist?” The mood appeared to have shifted following the 2024 election, when Bezos said he was “very optimistic” about Trump’s regulatory agenda. “I’m very hopeful — he seems to have a lot of energy around reducing regulation,” Bezos said at the New York Times DealBook Summit. “My point of view is, if I can help him do that, I’m going to help him.” When Ford agreed to make a deal to meet California’s efficiency standards, the company defied then-President Trump’s plans to push back on the state setting its own green energy standards for automakers. Trump voiced his opposition to the auto giant’s decision, saying that Henry Ford, the company’s founder, would be “very disappointed if he saw his modern-day descendants wanting to build a much more expensive car that is far less safe and doesn’t work as well, because execs don’t want to fight California regulators.” Ford, one of the world’s largest automakers, recently announced it will be making a seven-figure donation to Trump’s inauguration in January. Other major automakers, such as GM and Toyota, will also make individual donations of $1 million to Trump. Trump will also receive a $1 million inauguration donation from Intuit, whose stock recently dropped in November after it was reported that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was considering creating a free tax-filing app.
State attorneys general ask SCOTUS to uphold TikTok divest-or-ban law amid Trump request to pause ban
The Republican attorneys general of Virginia and Montana recently filed an amicus brief asking the Supreme Court to require TikTok to sever its ties with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as the fate of the social media platform in the U.S. remains uncertain. The amicus brief, filed Friday, came the same day President-elect Trump filed an amicus brief of his own, asking the Supreme Court to pause the TikTok ban and allow him to make executive decisions about TikTok once he is inaugurated. In an announcement, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares said he, along with Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen and other state legal officials, had recently petitioned the Supreme Court to uphold the divest-or-ban law against TikTok. The social media company has been intensely scrutinized over its parent company, ByteDance, which is connected to the CCP. In his brief, Miyares argued whistleblower reports prove ByteDance has shared sensitive information with the CCP, including Americans’ browsing habits and facial recognition data. TRUMP NOMINATES PAIR TO HELP LEAD DOJ, ANNOUNCES FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION PICK “Allowing TikTok to operate in the United States without severing its ties to the Chinese Communist Party exposes Americans to the undeniable risks of having their data accessed and exploited by the Chinese Communist Party,” Miyares said in a statement. “Virginians deserve a government that stands firm in protecting their privacy and security. “The Supreme Court now has the chance to affirm Congress’s authority to protect Americans from foreign threats while ensuring that the First Amendment doesn’t become a tool to defend foreign adversaries’ exploitative practices.” GET TO KNOW DONALD TRUMP’S CABINET: WHO HAS THE PRESIDENT-ELECT PICKED SO FAR? Trump’s brief said it was “supporting neither party” and argued the future president has the right to make decisions about TikTok’s fate. Steven Cheung, Trump’s spokesman and the incoming White House communications director, told Fox News Digital Trump’s decision-making would “preserve American national security.” “[The brief asked] the court to extend the deadline that would cause TikTok’s imminent shutdown and allow President Trump the opportunity to resolve the issue in a way that saves TikTok and preserves American national security once he resumes office as president of the United States on Jan. 20, 2025,” Cheung said. Trump’s brief notes he “has a unique interest in the First Amendment issues raised in this case” and that the case “presents an unprecedented, novel, and difficult tension between free-speech rights on one side, and foreign policy and national-security concerns on the other.” “As the incoming Chief Executive, President Trump has a particularly powerful interest in and responsibility for those national-security and foreign-policy questions, and he is the right constitutional actor to resolve the dispute through political means,” Trump’s brief said. Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
Biden still regrets dropping out of 2024 presidential race, believes he could have beaten Trump: report
President Biden still regrets dropping out of the 2024 presidential race last summer after mounting pressure from Democrats to step aside, according to a report. The president recently told people that he still believes he could have beaten Trump in the November election, despite his rough debate performance in June and his low approval numbers that forced him to leave the race, according to the Washington Post, citing people familiar with the conversations. Following the June 27 debate, more and more Democrats began to call for him to drop out every day, so another person could run in his place. The president also saw much of his funding dry up last summer as donors began to doubt his chances of beating Trump. DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSMAN WHO RAN AGAINST BIDEN CITING ‘PHYSICAL DECLINE’ DEFENDS HIS DECISION: ‘VINDICATION’ Biden left the race on July 21, and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, who had just over three months to campaign before the election. Trump beat Harris by 2.2 million votes. Biden has been careful not to blame Harris while insisting to aides that he could have won, the Post reported. TRUMP TEASES DAY ONE ORDERS TO CANCEL ‘INSANE’ BIDEN POLICIES Even when he dropped out, Biden still believed he could beat Trump – whom he defeated for his first term in 2020, according to the New York Times in September. Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., may disagree. Clyburn, who met with Biden earlier this year, told the Post that he had told the president, “Your style does not lend itself well to the environment we’re currently in,” while speaking of style versus substance. Biden national security advisor Jake Sullivan told the Post: “How to govern at this moment to set the U.S. up for long-term success has one answer, and how to govern to deal with midterm and presidential elections in the very short-term might have a different answer. The president went with doing the things that really put America in a strong position.” Among acknowledgments of other mistakes – including his debate performance – Biden has also said that he regrets picking Merrick Garland as attorney general, the Post reported. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Convinced to do so by aides who said that Garland would be a consensus pick, Biden has privately said that he feels Garland moved too slowly on prosecuting Trump, while also claiming his son Hunter had been prosecuted too aggressively. Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.
Trump says he is a ‘believer’ in H-1B visas for skilled migrant workers as right spars on immigration: report
President-elect Trump appeared to agree with Elon Musk in support of H-1B visas for skilled workers in the U.S., as the right spars on the ongoing immigration debate. “I’ve always liked the visas, I have always been in favor of the visas. That’s why we have them,” Trump told the New York Post Saturday. Trump said that he recognizes the visas on his properties, saying, “I’ve been a believer in H-1B. I have used it many times. It’s a great program.” MUSK INFLAMES X WITH PROFANE MOVIE QUOTE IN DEFENSE OF H1-B VISA Trump’s comments come as the right clashes over immigration and the place of foreign workers in the U.S. labor market. Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, who have been tapped by Trump to lead his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), argued earlier this week that American culture has not prioritized education enough, and therefore that foreign workers are needed for tech companies like Musk’s SpaceX and Tesla. Many tech companies have embraced the H-1B visa program, which allows U.S. companies to hire foreign workers in specialty occupations, but critics of the program say H-1B holders are often chosen over U.S. citizens for jobs. One such critic, Laura Loomer, set off a firestorm on X when criticizing Trump’s selection of Sriram Krishnan, an Indian American venture capitalist, to be an adviser on artificial intelligence policy. MUSK AND RAMASWAMY IGNITE MAGA WAR OVER SKILLED IMMIGRATION AND AMERICAN ‘MEDIOCRITY’ In a post, she said she was concerned that Krishnan, a U.S. citizen, would have an influence on the Trump administration’s immigration policies. “It’s alarming to see the number of career leftists who are now being appointed to serve in Trump’s admin when they share views that are in direct opposition to Trump’s America First agenda,” she wrote. Musk has doubled-down on his position, taking to X on Friday to blast a user who showed a video of him discussing SpaceX processes to go after the billionaire’s stance on the visa program. “The reason I’m in America along with so many critical people who built SpaceX, Tesla and hundreds of other companies that made America strong is because of H1B,” Musk wrote on X. He then went on to quote the 2008 action-comedy movie, “Tropic Thunder,” which was a box office hit. “Take a big step back and F— YOURSELF in the face,” Musk railed. Ramaswamy has similarly been pro-H-1B visa, writing: “American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence.” Fox News Digital has reached out to the Trump Transition Team for comment. Fox News Digital’s Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.
Michelle Obama sparks backlash after posting ‘Happy Holidays’ video
Michelle Obama provoked a wave of online criticism Friday after she shared a New Year’s message with her followers on Instagram. The former first lady posted a video wishing her followers “Happy Holidays” and highlighting the work of the Obama Presidential Center as 2024 comes to a close. But critics noted with disapproval that her video begins on a sour note. “Happy holidays, everyone. I know it’s been a difficult few months for so many of us, and that folks are feeling a little bit anxious and uncertain,” Obama says in the video. “But even during these tough times, there are plenty of reasons to stay hopeful,” she adds, before mentioning programs operated by the Obama Foundation. ‘GREATER RECKONING’: OBAMA’S SPOT IN THE DEMOCRATIC SUN FADING AFTER HARRIS LOSS Hundreds of Instagram users commented on Obama’s video within hours after it went live. While many thanked her for the message and showed support for the Obama Foundation, several supporters of President-elect Trump read into Obama’s comments. Their takeaway was that she had Trump’s victory in mind when she spoke about “a difficult few months,” and they made their objections known. “Michelle, America is excited about what’s to come: a new horizon and prosperity for the nation. 2025-2029! No anxiety here,” one user replied. “A difficult few years from the damage the Biden administration has caused!” wrote another commenter. “Things have never looked better since Trum won the election! The people have the power! Not even all those celebrities could change that!” “We are certain it won’t be worse than your husband’s administration or the Biden administration,” said a third. “That we are CERTAIN.” STEPHEN A SMITH BLASTS OPRAH WINFREY, MICHELLE OBAMA FOR ‘ALIENATING’ VOTERS Obama’s supporters, on the other hand, expressed gratitude for her video and shared heart emojis and other positive comments. “Thank you for your message of hope,” one user replied. “It is so much needed.” The Obamas were top surrogates for Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris during the 2024 campaign. Michelle Obama spoke at several rallies for Harris and delivered a speech in Pennsylvania three days before the election, alluding to Trump as a “skilled con man” who has poured gasoline “on other people’s genuine pain and anger and fear.” TRUMP HAS MESSAGE OF UNITY FOR ‘GREAT DIVIDER’ OBAMA “We don’t always get it right, but here in America, we rise more than we fall,” Obama said in Norristown, Penn., on Nov. 2. In dark and difficult times, she said the country needs leaders who will “connect with people’s pain and address the systemic issues at their root, not leaders who stoke our fears and focus our fury on one another.” But after the election, the Obamas released a joint statement that congratulated Trump on his victory while acknowledging, “this is obviously not the outcome we hoped for.” “In a country as big and diverse as ours, we won’t always see eye-to-eye on everything,” the Obamas said. “But progress requires us to extend good faith and grace – even to people with whom we deeply disagree.”
Race to succeed Rep. Elise Stefanik in upstate New York heats up with new challenger
New York State Sen. Dan Stec, a Republican and Navy veteran, is running for Congress. Stec has tossed his hat in the ring to succeed Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., who will vacate her seat in the House of Representatives to become the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. A special election for New York’s 21st Congressional District will take place once Stefanik officially leaves Congress. “At the end of the day, it’s about representing the district, and for the last 12 years in Albany, I know what it means to represent the district and if I can do that in Albany I am certain I can do that in Washington,” Stec told WWNY in an interview on Dec. 24. BLUE STATE CEO WHO PUT UP 100-FOOT PRO-TRUMP SIGN TO SPEND $2.6 MILLION ON CAMPAIGN FOR CONGRESS The North Country native, whose state senate district lies within Stefanik’s congressional district, argued he is the best candidate to win the seat for Republicans because he has the highest name recognition there. “My argument is that I am the most electable. If we are concerned about holding this seat and the Republican majority in the House of Representatives, you want to put your most likely-to-win candidate forward and no one can compare the numbers like I do with how much of the district I already represent,” Stec told the outlet. PRO-TRUMP TECH CEO MULLING CONGRESSIONAL RUN TO FILL STEFANIK’S SEAT IDENTIFIES NEW YORK’S ‘BIGGEST PROBLEM’ He pointed to his record in the New York legislature and the 104,000 votes he won in the previous election for state senate, which is nearly half of the total Stefanik won in her bid for re-election, in support of his argument that he’s best positioned to defeat the Democratic candidate in the special election. “I am proud of my track record, my resume, and my principles. I don’t have any votes that I am embarrassed that I would have to explain like maybe someone from the other side of the aisle I have worked with would have to explain,” Stec said. WHO COULD RUN TO REPLACE STEFANIK IN THE HOUSE? Stefanik won a sixth term to represent the district which encompasses North County, New York, but President-elect Donald Trump chose her in November to fill the U.N. ambassadorship in his new cabinet. In the campaign to be the Republican nominee to succeed Stefanik, Stec joins Sticker Mule CEO Anthony Constantino, a political outsider whose claim to fame is a 100 ft. “Vote for Trump” sign he installed in upstate New York. Constantino is self-funding his campaign and has pledged $2.6 million to the effort. Other Republicans mentioned as possible candidates include state Assemblymen Robert Smullen and Christopher Tague; and Rensselaer County Executive Steven McLaughlin, according to WWNY. Possible Democratic candidates include Assemblyman Billy Jones, whose state district falls just east of St. Lawrence County, as well as past unsuccessful challengers to Stefanik such as Matt Castelli and Paula Collins. There will not be a traditional Republican primary for the special election. Instead, both the GOP and Democratic nominees will be chosen by party chairs in the district.
Top political gaffes of 2024
The presidential election generated numerous high-profile political gaffes this year, including President Biden’s widely-panned debate performance and him calling Trump supporters “garbage” in the closing days of Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign. Here are six of the biggest political gaffes of 2024: A disastrous performance by President Biden during his debate with former President Trump on June 27 appeared to be the beginning of the end for Biden’s 2024 re-election campaign. He struggled with a raspy voice and delivered rambling answers during the debate in Atlanta, sparking doubts about his viability at the top of the Democratic Party’s presidential ticket. KARINE JEAN-PIERRE’S MOST MEMORABLE MOMENTS OF 2024 Biden’s campaign blamed the hoarse voice on a cold and the 81-year-old admitted a week later that he “screwed up” and “had a bad night,” yet that didn’t stop a chorus of Democrats from making calls for him to drop out of the race. In a shocking move, Biden then pulled the plug on his campaign on July 21 and endorsed Harris, who would go on to lose to Trump in November. Biden appeared to galvanize Republicans when he called Trump supporters “garbage” less than a week before Election Day. Trump’s rally in Madison Square Garden in New York City on Oct. 27 made headlines when a comedian mocked different ethnic groups, calling Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.” Then, during a conference call with the Voto Latino group on Oct. 30, Biden said, “The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters.” Biden and the White House then tried to clean up his words in the days afterward. However, the remark was quickly likened to Hillary Clinton’s labeling of half of Trump supporters as belonging in “a basket of deplorables” in 2016, a comment that was widely seen as undermining her campaign. Vice President Kamala Harris’ answer to a question during an Oct. 8 appearance on “The View” may have been a turning point in the 2024 presidential election. Co-host Sunny Hostin asked Harris, “If anything, would you have done something differently than President Biden during the past four years?” Harris paused for a moment and then said, “There is not a thing that comes to mind in terms of — and I’ve been a part of most of the decisions that have had impact.” TOP POLITICAL COURTROOM MOMENTS OF 2024 Hostin had given Harris a clear opportunity to differentiate herself from Biden, but Harris instead effectively cut an ad for Trump’s campaign by allowing it to tie her directly to an unpopular administration. Harris’ running mate Tim Walz raised eyebrows during his vice presidential debate with Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, on Oct. 1, when he declared he had “become friends with school shooters.” The poorly timed mishap occurred when the Minnesota governor was asked about changing positions on banning assault weapons. “I sat in that office with those Sandy Hook parents. I’ve become friends with school shooters. I’ve seen it,” Walz said. Walz presumably meant he had become friendly with parents who lost children during horrific school shootings. Trump appeared to confuse then-Republican presidential primary opponent Nikki Haley with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during a rally in New Hampshire on Jan. 20. Speaking in Concord, Trump said that Haley, his former ambassador to the United Nations, had been responsible for the collapse of Capitol Hill security during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot. Trump has previously blamed Pelosi for turning down National Guard support before the riot. “You know, by the way, they never report the crowd on January 6, you know, Nikki Haley. Nikki Haley, Nikki Haley, you know, they — did you know they destroyed all the information and all of the evidence. Everything. Deleted and destroyed all of it, all of it, because of lots of things, like Nikki Haley is in charge of security. We offered 10,000 people, soldiers, National Guard. So whatever they want, they turned it down. They don’t want to talk about that. These are very dishonest people,” Trump said. Harris found herself in the headlines repeatedly this year for making confusing verbal statements. “I grew up understanding the children of the community are the children of the community, and we should all have a vested interest in ensuring that children can go grow up with the resources that they need to achieve their God-given potential,” the vice president once said in September. “We are here because we are fighting for a democracy. Fighting for a democracy. And understand the difference here, understand the difference here, moving forward, moving forward, understand the difference here,” she then said at a campaign event in November. The remarks drew criticism and ridicule from conservatives online. President Biden mistakenly introduced Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as “President Putin” during a NATO conference in Washington, D.C., in July. “And now I want to hand it over to the president of Ukraine, who has as much courage as he has determination,” Biden said, before starting to leave the podium. “Ladies and gentlemen, President Putin.” “He’s going to beat President Putin. President Zelenskyy. I’m so focused on beating Putin,” Biden then said, appearing to realize the verbal stumble. “We got to worry about it. Anyway, Mr. President.” Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser, Joseph A. Wulfsohn, Jacqui Heinrich, Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, David Rutz, Brian Flood and Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.
White House says 9th telecoms company has been hacked as part of Chinese espionage campaign
The White House said Friday that a ninth U.S. telecommunications company has been hacked as part of a Chinese espionage campaign that gave the country’s officials access to private texts and phone conversations of Americans. The Biden administration said earlier this month that at least eight telecommunications companies and dozens of nations had been impacted by the Chinese hacking operation known as Salt Typhoon. On Friday, deputy national security adviser Anne Neuberger told reporters that a ninth victim had been identified after the administration released guidance to companies about how to locate Chinese hackers in their networks. The hackers compromised the networks of telecommunications companies to gather customer call records and access the private communications of a limited number of people, officials said. CHINA WARNS US TO STOP ARMING TAIWAN AFTER BIDEN APPROVES $571M IN MILITARY AID The FBI has not publicly identified any of the victims, but officials believe senior U.S. government officials and prominent political figures are among the victims whose communications were accessed. Neuberger said officials did not yet have a precise sense of how many Americans overall were targeted by Salt Typhoon, in part because the hackers were careful about their methods, but she said that a “large number” of the victims were in Washington, D.C., and Virginia. TRUMP SAYS FATE OF TIKTOK SHOULD BE IN HIS HANDS WHEN HE RETURNS TO WHITE HOUSE Officials said they believe the hackers wanted to identify who owned the devices and spy on their texts and phone calls if they were “government targets of interest,” Neuberger said. Most of the victims are “primarily involved in government or political activity,” the FBI said. Neuberger said the hacking showed the need for required cybersecurity practices in the telecommunications industry, which the Federal Communications Commission is set to look at during a meeting next month. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP She also said, without offering details, that the government was planning further action in the coming weeks in response to the hacking campaign, though she did not say what they were. “We know that voluntary cybersecurity practices are inadequate to protect against China, Russia and Iran hacking of our critical infrastructure,” she said. The Chinese government has denied responsibility for the hacking campaign.
Former Trump ambassador eyes Senate return, potentially setting up key swing state campaign rematch
RYE, N.H. – EXCLUSIVE – Scott Brown is on the move. The former senator from neighboring Massachusetts and 2014 Republican Senate nominee in New Hampshire, who later served four years as U.S. ambassador to New Zealand in President-elect Trump’s first administration, is seriously considering a 2026 run to return to Congress. If Brown moves ahead and launches a campaign in the months ahead, it would potentially set up a high-profile rematch with Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, in what would likely be a competitive and expensive Senate clash in a key swing state. The 65-year-old Brown, who competed in nine triathlons this year and who on average performs around 40–50 gigs a year as lead singer and guitarist with the rock band Scott Brown and the Diplomats, is doing more than just thinking about running to return to the Senate. TIM SCOTT AIMS TO EXPAND THE GOP SENATE MAJORITY IN THE 2026 MIDTERMS He’s been meeting in recent weeks with various Republican and conservative groups in New Hampshire. Brown, in a national exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, said he’s doing his “due diligence, meeting with anybody and everybody. So you’ll be seeing me a lot around, whether it’s parades, triathlons, my rock band, meeting and getting out and really learning.” DEMOCRATS’ HOUSE CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE CHAIR REVEALS PLAN TO WIN BACK MAJORITY IN 2026 And Brown is taking aim at New Hampshire’s all-Democrat congressional delegation. “The thing that really ticks me off is how they’ve basically covered up for [President] Joe Biden for the last four years, what they’ve done or not done on the border, what they’ve done and not done in inflation, and they’re just completely out of touch with what we want here in New Hampshire. And the more I think about it, I think we can do better,” Brown argued. Brown made headlines in 2010 as the then-state senator in blue-state Massachusetts won a special U.S. Senate election to serve the remainder of the term of the late longtime Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy. After losing re-election in 2012 to now-Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Brown eventually moved to New Hampshire, the state where he had spent the first years of his childhood and where his family had roots dating back to the colonial era. He launched a Senate campaign months later and narrowly lost to Shaheen in the 2014 election. After hosting nearly all the Republican presidential candidates in the 2016 cycle at speaking events he termed “No BS backyard BBQs,” Brown eventually endorsed Trump in the weeks ahead of New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary. After Trump was elected president, he nominated Brown as U.S. ambassador to New Zealand, where the former senator served for four years. HOUSE GOP CAMPAIGN CHAIR TOUTS HOMEFIELD ADVANTAGE Returning to New Hampshire at the end of the first Trump administration, Brown supported his wife Gail, a former television news reporter and anchor, as she ran for Congress in 2022. And the Browns also stayed politically active in other ways, once again hosting many of the Republican presidential candidates, as well as Robert F. Kennedy Jr., at their “Backyard BBQs” during the 2024 presidential cycle. Asked in May 2023 if he’d consider another Senate run, Brown told Fox News Digital “of course.” Now, as Brown considers another Senate run, time isn’t working against him. Brown jumped in late in the 2014 campaign, just seven months before Election Day. BROWN HOSTS 2024 GOP PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES This time around, he emphasized, “I have a long runway. I didn’t have that obviously the first time, and I’m going to do what I have been doing for almost a decade now, going around, meeting with people participating in the process.” During his first Senate run, which came months after he changed his residency to New Hampshire, he repeatedly faced carpetbagger accusations. Last week, a progressive group in New Hampshire took aim at Brown. Amplify NH claimed in a release that “the gentleman from Massachusetts is clawing for another chance at power, framing himself once again as a Senate candidate for New Hampshire.” Brown says he’s not concerned. “We’ve had a house here for over three decades, and we’ve been fully engaged full-time here for over a decade. So now I think that’s old news.” And he argued that New Hampshire’s congressional delegation “votes 100% with Massachusetts.” While Shaheen cruised to re-election in 2020, winning by roughly 16 points, and Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan won re-election in 2022 by nearly nine points, Senate Republicans are eyeing New Hampshire in 2026 as they aim to expand their incoming 53-47 majority in the chamber. New Hampshire, along with Georgia and Michigan, will likely be heavily targeted by Senate Republicans. Trump lost New Hampshire last month, but he cut his deficit to just three points in his face-off with Vice President Kamala Harris, down from a seven-point loss to President Biden in the Granite State in 2020. VANCE TO LIKELY BE 2028 GOP PRESIDENTIAL FRONT-RUNNER, BUT RNC CHAIR ALSO LIKES PARTY’S ‘BENCH’ And the GOP kept an open gubernatorial seat in party hands – former Sen. Kelly Ayotte succeeded longtime Gov. Chris Sununu – while expanding their majorities in the New Hampshire state House and Senate. Asked if he’d like Trump to join him on the Granite State campaign trail if he decides to run, Brown said “if he’s got the time, of course.” And pointing to Trump, Brown said “not only did he help obviously, nationally, he helped here in New Hampshire.” Shaheen has yet to announce if she’ll seek another term in the Senate. That decision will likely come early in the new year. But Shaheen, a former three-term New Hampshire governor, is taking over next month as the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the first woman to hold one of the top two positions on the powerful panel. Shaheen also turns 78 next month. Asked if age would be a factor in a potential Shaheen-Brown rematch, Brown said he likes Shaheen and really appreciated her support