• China has been trying to get its people to be more vigilant for foreign spies this year.
• The government has pushed warnings for things to beware of, like weird pens and strangers.
• Xi urged officials last year to adopt "worst-case-scenario thinking" for national security.

It's been a busy year for the front-facing team of China's State Security Ministry.

They've been following up on a nationwide push by Chinese leader Xi Jinping to maximize public awareness of foreign espionage.

Xi told officials in June 2023 that the country's national security issues had risen significantly, and that they should adopt "worst-case-scenario thinking" to prepare for potential "perilous, stormy seas" ahead.

That mandate has, in part, taken shape in 2024 through a series of posts on government accounts on WeChat, or China's version of Facebook.

Those include cautionary anecdotes of military documents being found in recycling plants, tour guides uncovering spies, and students getting duped by agencies promising entry into good colleges.

But they also contain clear warnings for things that could seem innocent, such as beautiful women offering "love traps" or drones disguised as dragonflies.

Funny-looking lighters, pens, and dragonflies

Spy gadgets aren't just a movie concept, the State Security Ministry said in August.

"In real life, some inconspicuous daily necessities around us may also contain mysteries," it wrote in a post about "hidden gadgets."

It told the story of an unnamed businessman bidding on an overseas project who discovered microphones in a box of napkins.

The ministry added that pens can be cameras, lighters can be listening devices, and insect-like drones could be used to gather intelligence.

'Good-hearted people' with cash to spare

The same month, the ministry told the tale of Little Wei, a senior university student who grew up orphaned in a poor mountainous region.

It warned that Wei, a budding, top-scoring student, had come across a generous donor named "Teacher L" who offered to subsidize him until he graduated from college. In return, Wei would have to help with research projects and field surveys, for which he would be paid even more money.

The ministry said Wei later found a job that gave him access to confidential information, which he passed to Teacher L at the latter's behest.

The ministry dubbed such people "wolves in sheep's clothing."

"Their methods are despicable and have no bottom line. They often disguise themselves as 'good-hearted people,' 'passionate people,' and 'caring people' around young people," it added.

Job offers

Young students have been a recurring concern in the ministry's messaging this year.

It wrote in September that it had found foreign spy agencies trying to recruit students with market research or science-related jobs touting "small efforts and high returns."

Officials said that eventually, the spies would ask the students to start "collecting and compiling internal scientific research and academic materials, photographing military sensitive areas."

'Handsome men or beautiful women'

Online dating could also be teeming with danger, the ministry warned in the same September post.

Foreign spies may "even disguise themselves as 'handsome men' or 'beautiful women' and pretend to be close friends and drag young students into a false 'love' trap," it wrote.

The ministry urged young people making friends online to be "highly vigilant and clear-headed."

Express delivery

Authorities have also released statements about courier deliveries, which are especially cheap and widely used in China.

"In recent years, foreign espionage and intelligence agencies have been increasingly rampant in stealing secrets through delivery channels," the ministry wrote in August.

It said it had found a case where a "foreign institution" had sent a hazardous powder to a Chinese research center. The ministry also said it had uncovered shipments of non-native animal species, sent to disrupt the local ecology, like "red-eared sliders, alligator snapping turtles, American bullfrogs, fall armyworms, and red fire ants."

Telling your date you work in the military

In November, the Chinese navy told its personnel in the "internet generation" — or millennials and Gen Z sailors — not to post their military status online.

"A military profession is of a political, confidential, and disciplinary nature. Resolve not to reveal your military identity online," the navy said in its post.

It warned especially of young officers and seamen who are "eager for love" and might try to snag dates by displaying their military status.

"If you expose your military identity to gain attention, it's very easy to become the focus of criminals," the navy wrote.

Rock music

The South China Morning Post reported in September that a new foundational textbook for college students warned of rock music and pop culture as "covers" for color revolutions.

Color revolutions generally refer to the Arab Spring and anti-government protests in post-Soviet states. For years, Beijing has accused the US of orchestrating them.

The textbook is likely to be made mandatory reading in at least some schools. State media has called it the "first unified textbook" of all of the principles and ideals that a core committee answering to Xi has tried to promote in the last 10 years.

The part left unsaid

Notably, China rarely says who these "foreign spies" work for, though these messages have come against the backdrop of frosty tensions between Washington and Beijing.

The US Justice Department, on its part, has been regularly charging people this year accused of spying for China and trying to manipulate local politics in Beijing's favor.

"Part of this is inevitable," Dylan Loh, a professor at the Public Policy and Global Affairs program at Singapore's National Technological University, told Business Insider. "As China grows, the amount of national security concerns and interests will certainly increase."

"The other part is reflective of geopolitics today, especially in the context of US-China competition," he said.

Overall, Loh said, it's indicative of a bigger push by China to group more issues into the domain of national security.

Ian Ja Chong, a professor of political science at the National University of Singapore, said it's not clear how effective China's messaging is, but that its strategy seems to rely on repetition.

"Even if a vast majority of people ignore or become desensitized to such claims, there may be some among the public for whom these ideas of danger become a source of motivation," he said.

The danger could lie in this suspicion growing into nationalism, he said.

"There remain allegations that attacks on Japanese schools in Suzhou and Shenzhen earlier this year, as well as an attack on US teachers in Jilin, resulted from a growing sense of foreign threat in the PRC," Chong said, referring to China by its formal name.

Xi's drive goes beyond social media messaging. BI's Huileng Tan reported in May 2023 about China's sweeping updates to its anti-espionage law that broadened the definition of spying and the transfer of important information.

Since the original law passed in 2014, China has detained and charged dozens of foreign businesspeople with espionage. One of the most recent cases involves a Japanese employee of Astellas Pharma, a Tokyo-based pharmaceutical firm, accused by China of spying. According to Japanese media, he was the 17th Japanese citizen to be detained under suspicion of espionage in China, and his trial opened in November.

The White House is concerned that Iran’s weakened position will prompt the regime to pursue a nuclear weapon, and national security adviser Jake Sullivan is coordinating with the Trump team on this concern. 

Iran has suffered a year of setbacks amid Israeli assaults on its proxy forces and a pull-out from Syria amid the takeover by Sunni Muslim forces, hostile to Iran's Shiite government. 

Israeli strikes on Iranian facilities, including missile factories and air defenses, have reduced Iran’s conventional military capabilities, Sullivan told CNN on Sunday. 

"What I found over the last four years is that when good things happen, like Iran being weaker than it was before, there are frequently bad things lurking around the corner," Sullivan said.

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"If you’re Iran right now and you’re looking around at the fact that your conventional capability has been reduced, your proxies have been reduced, your main client state has been eliminated, Assad has fallen, it’s no wonder there are voices saying: ‘Hey, maybe we need to go for a nuclear weapon right now,'" the outgoing national security official said. 

"They’re saying it publicly, in fact. They’re saying: Maybe we have to revisit our nuclear doctrine. A doctrine that has said: We’ll have a civilian nuclear program and certain capabilities, but we’re not going for a nuke," he added. "It’s a risk we’re trying to be vigilant about now."

While Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful, but it has expanded uranium enrichment since the last Trump administration to 60% purity, a short step away from the 90% needed for a nuclear weapon. 

Last week the United Kingdom, Germany and France publicly called on Iran to "reverse its nuclear escalation," arguing there is no "credible civilian justification" to stockpile 60% uranium.

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Sullivan said there was a risk Iran would abandon its promise not to build nuclear weapons.

"It's a risk we are trying to be vigilant about now. It's a risk that I'm personally briefing the incoming team on," Sullivan said, adding that he was consulting with Israel too. 

Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, could bring back his "maximum pressure" policy to cripple Iran’s oil financing.

Sullivan held out hope Trump could come in and use Iran’s weakened position to get them to agree to a new nuclear deal. 

"Maybe he can come around this time, with the situation Iran finds itself in, and actually deliver a nuclear deal that curbs Iran's nuclear ambitions for the long term," he said.

Trump's team is currently weighing its options to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, including preventive airstrikes. 

EXCLUSIVE: House China Committee Chairman John Moolenaar told Fox News Digital that President-elect Donald Trump is the "perfect leader" to negotiate and deliver the "deal of the century" to keep TikTok available in the U.S.

The Supreme Court is expected to hear oral arguments on Jan. 10, 2025 on the law that requires a divestment of TikTok from foreign adversary control. TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a company based in Beijing and connected to the Chinese Communist Party. 

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That legislation, which was signed into law in the spring, requires a sale of TikTok from ByteDance by Jan. 19. If ByteDance does not divest by the deadline, Google and Apple are no longer able to feature TikTok in their app stores in the U.S.

Supreme Court Justices said they will hold a special session on Jan. 10 to hear oral arguments in the case -- an expedited timeline that will allow them to consider the case just nine days before the Jan. 19 ban is slated to take effect. The law allows the president to extend the deadline by up to 90 days if ByteDance is in the process of divesting. 

In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, Moolenaar, R-Mich., said he has been meeting with top investors, and that he has "full confidence" that Trump "will be able to make a great deal for America." 

"It will be the deal of the century," Moolenaar said, noting that the divestment "could happen in phases." 

"First with a buyout and then a massive IPO—probably the largest IPO in history," he said. "And I believe President Trump is the perfect leader to negotiate and deliver this win." 

He added: "President Trump has the opportunity to make the deal of the century because of the leverage of the TikTok legislation passed by Congress." 

SUPREME COURT TO TAKE UP CHALLENGE TO TIKTOK BAN

Moolenaar predicted that the sale of TikTok could be completed quickly after it exhausts its appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court decides the case. He said a "massive" IPO could occur "later, as one piece of the solution." 

"I think TikTok and ByteDance have been dragging their feet," Moolenaar said. "Once they realize they’re required to follow U.S. law, I believe this will move forward fairly quickly." 

TikTok and ByteDance filed an emergency application to the high court earlier this month asking justices to temporarily block the law from being enforced while it appealed a decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. 

Lawyers for TikTok have argued that the law passed earlier this year is a First Amendment violation, noting in their Supreme Court request that "Congress's unprecedented attempt to single out applicants and bar them from operating one of the most significant speech platforms in this nation" and "presents grave constitutional problems that this court likely will not allow to stand."

But Moolenaar warned that without divestment, the CCP could attempt to "manipulate perceptions in the United States," and said they have "access to Americans’ data" through TikTok. 

"It is very profitable, very popular, and it is a major inroad for the CCP to influence American culture," said Moolenaar.

But as for CCP access to the data of U.S. citizens, TikTok created its "Project Texas" initiative, which is dedicated to addressing concerns about U.S. national security. 

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew says "Project Texas" creates a stand-alone version of the TikTok platform for the U.S. isolated on servers in Oracle’s U.S. cloud environment. It was developed by CFIUS and cost the company approximately $1.5 billion to implement.

Chew has argued that TikTok is not beholden to any one country, though executives in the past have admitted that Chinese officials had access to Americans' data even when U.S.-based TikTok officials did not.

TikTok claims that the new initiative keeps U.S. user data safe, and told Fox News Digital that data is managed "by Americans, in America."

But Moolenaar says that even "Project Texas" "really is not enough." 

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"When you consider that ByteDance is affiliated with the CCP, and they call the shots for TikTok, the TikTok algorithm is very different in the U.S. than it is in China," he explained. "There needs to be a divestment, and we need to know either an American company or a company affiliated with like-minded nations, friendly nations, not adversarial nations, is in charge of this app." 

He added: "Only that will satisfy the law and protect our national security." 

Moolenaar said that, until now, the Chinese Communist Party "didn’t have a reason to allow the sale of TikTok." 

"But that has changed, and President Trump knows from experience that the only language the CCP speaks is hardball," Moolenaar said. "He is an incredible negotiator, and our legislation is giving him the leverage he needs to make this historic deal." 

Yet, Trump has signaled support for TikTok. Earlier this month, he met with Chew at Mar-a-Lago, telling reporters during a press conference ahead of the meeting that his incoming administration will "take a look at TikTok" and the looming U.S. ban.

"I have a warm spot in my heart for TikTok," Trump told reporters.

Cybersecurity has been a major subject of discussion in recent years, with purported Chinese spy balloons floating overhead, a major Appalachian oil pipeline hacked with ransomware and questions about mysterious drones over New Jersey skies. 

But one overlooked area of focus in this regard is agriculture, several prominent figures have said — especially with America’s ag states primed to lend their top political leaders to Washington in the new year.

Dakota State University President Jose-Marie Griffiths told Fox News Digital how important the heartland has become geopolitically, with several Dakotans gaining leadership or cabinet roles in the new year — including Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., chairing the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Cybersecurity.

"I said quite a lot in the past and in [congressional] testimony about my concerns about agriculture and food production’s critical infrastructure, which came rather late to the cybersecurity critical infrastructure table," Griffiths said.

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"People [will] start to realize the agricultural vehicles they're using increasingly are autonomous and connecting to broadband [via] satellite — and other ways that these become vulnerable. And for people who wish to do us harm, they're exploiting vulnerabilities as much as they can."

Residents across the heartland pay much more attention to the threats China and other rivals pose to the U.S. agriculture sector, she said. 

With advancements in technology, hackers can now find their way into harvesters, granaries and the nation’s freight-train network, Griffiths and Rounds said separately.

Whether the cash crop is Pennsylvania potatoes, Florida oranges or Dakotan wheat, all are crucial to the U.S. economy and supply chain, and all can be subject to cyberthreats, Griffiths suggested.

Rounds told Fox News Digital he has studied for some time the potential vulnerabilities of the American agriculture sector when it comes to foreign actors and cybersecurity.

"It’s more than just the vehicles and so forth," he said.

"A lot of it has to do with the infrastructure that we rely on. A good example is your water systems; your electrical systems... All of those right now are connected and they all have cyber-points-of-entry. 

"And so, we have been, for an extended period of time, looking at threats that could come from overseas by adversaries that would like to infiltrate not only the water supplies, but also the electrical systems… and in some cases, sewer systems."

Rounds said he and other lawmakers have been focused on where malign actors can proverbially "shoot the arrows at us," and figure out who they are and how to stop them.

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He said the Chinese firm Huawei had been selling cheap hardware to rural telecom entities and could be able to infiltrate communications systems.

"Once we found out that that was in there… that they could be putting in latent materials that could be activated at a later date, we've gotten most of them pulled out. But that's just one example of the ways in which rural areas can be a way into the rest of our communication systems," he said.

Rounds said drones are becoming increasingly used in agriculture, and they, too, have the danger of being hacked.

Vehicles like harvesters and tractors have also greatly advanced technologically in the near term and face similar challenges.

"A lot of that right now is done with GPS. You get into your tractor, you plug it in and basically it'll drive it for you. We leave people in those tractors, but at some stage of the game, some of those might very well become autonomous as well — and they're subject to cyber-intervention…" he said.

Grain elevators also can be interfered with, which stymies marketing and transportation, and endangers the greater supply chain and the ability for a farmer to sell on the open market, Rounds said.

Asked if he preferred today’s agriculture sector to the era before automation, Rounds said it’s not about what he thinks, but what is going to happen in the future.

"We will have more and more autonomous vehicles being used in farming. And the reason is we don't have the manpower — and we replace it with machinery. The machinery is going to get bigger. It's going to become more sophisticated, and we're going to be expected to do more things with fewer people actually operating them.," he said.

"The supply chain is so critical. We rely on autonomy in many cases for a lot of the delivery of our resources, both to the farmer, but also back out from the farmer in terms of a commodity that he wants to market."

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If that new technologically-advanced system malfunctions or is hacked, it will greatly disrupt the ability to provide the raw materials to the people and companies "actually making the bread" and such.

Amit Yoran, CEO of exposure management firm Tenable, recently testified before the House Homeland Security Committee and spoke at length about cyber threats to critical U.S. infrastructure.

Asked about cybersecurity in the agriculture realm, Yoran told Fox News Digital recently that there is "no singular defense paradigm that could effectively be applied across all sectors."

"Some critical infrastructure providers have a high degree of cybersecurity preparedness, strong risk understanding and risk management practices, and very strong security programs. Others are woefully ill-prepared," said Yoran, whose company is based in Howard County, Maryland.

The U.S. on Wednesday issued fresh sanctions against several Russian-linked entities and individuals involved in the building of Nord Stream 2, the massive undersea gas pipeline linking Russia to Germany.

The State Department said it has re-imposed financial penalties against entities and individuals involved in the construction of Nord Stream 2, including project operator, Nord Stream 2 AG, and a Russian-based insurer that worked with companies involved in the pipeline's construction. 

Others included in the sanctions were a Russian-owned maritime rescue service, a Russian-based water transport logistics company, and more than a dozen vessel owners that were either formerly under sanctions designations or were being sanctioned for the first time.

State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters Wednesday that the U.S. remains opposed to Nord Stream 2 as well as any efforts to revive it.

'WRONG-HEADED': ENERGY INDUSTRY LEADERS BLAST BIDEN ADMIN REPORT ON NATURAL GAS EXPORTS

Officials also cited Russia’s ongoing efforts to weaponize its energy resources, including throttling its piped gas supplies to Europe shortly after the start of its war in Ukraine in 2022.

"We're going to continue to work and ensure that Russia is never able to weaponize its energy resources and its energy positioning for political gain," Patel said of the new sanctions.

News of the new sanctions designations comes after both the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines linking Russia to Europe were hit by a series of explosions in late September 2022. 

To date, no one has taken responsibility for the blasts, which U.S. and other Western leaders have described as an act of potential "sabotage." 

Russia has dismissed suggestions that it would blow up its own pipeline, with Russian President Vladimir Putin describing such a move as "idiotic."

PENTAGON ANNOUNCES NEW COUNTER-DRONE STRATEGY AS UNMANNED ATTACKS ON US INTERESTS SKYROCKET

Though neither pipeline was operational at the time, both lines were filled with gas under pressure.

Prior to Russia's war in Ukraine, the Nord Stream 1 pipeline had supplied roughly 35% of the European Union’s total Russian gas imports before Moscow halted supplies indefinitely citing "maintenance" needs. Nord Stream 2 was expected to double that capacity.

In the years since Russia’s war in Ukraine began, the EU has scrambled to offset its reliance on Russian energy supplies, including by purchasing more liquefied natural gas from the U.S. and other suppliers, by devoting more resources toward nuclear power and by building more regasification terminals, among other things.

The FBI field office in Newark urged New Jersey residents this week not to shoot down drones or point lasers at manned aircraft, taking to social media to warn against the dangerous — and possibly deadly — activity, which comes amid an uptick in reported drone sightings along the U.S. East Coast.

The drone sightings have prompted a collective sense of panic among residents, who have taken to social media to share photos and videos of believed drones captured in the darkened U.S. skies. The shared sense of fear-mongering has also prompted some vigilante-like responses, with some social media users documenting efforts to take matters into their own hands, including via laser beam. 

In the statement, released by the FBI and New Jersey State Police, authorities expressly warned against such activities, citing an increase in pilots of manned aircraft in the area who have been hit in the eyes with lasers after being misidentified as a drone by someone on the ground. 

'DRONE' SIGHTINGS IN THE NORTHEAST SPARK 'UNFOUNDED' PANIC, SAYS EXPERT

Officials said there is also a concern that people on the ground could also mistakenly fire weapons at what they believe to be an Unmanned Aircraft Systems, or UAS, but is in fact a manned aircraft.

"FBI Newark, NJSP, and dozens of other agencies and law enforcement partners have been out every night for several weeks to legally track down operators acting illegally or with nefarious intent and using every available tool and piece of equipment to find the answers the public is seeking," the authorities said in the statement. "However, there could be dangerous and possibly deadly consequences if manned aircraft are targeted mistakenly as UAS."

They also noted how easy it can be for an individual on the ground to mistake a manned aircraft for a UAS. 

"Misidentification often occurs when UAS are mistaken for more familiar objects such as manned aircraft, low-orbit satellites, or celestial bodies like planets or stars," they said. 

"To improve accuracy and prevent false sightings, a variety of tools and techniques can be used to assist with the visual identification of suspected UAS. Accurate identification is critical for maintaining safety and ensuring appropriate responses to UAS activity."

MORE THAN 20 DAYS INTO PHENOMENON, PENTAGON STILL HAS NO ANSWERS ABOUT ORIGINS OF MYSTERIOUS NJ DRONES

The statement from the FBI field office and state police comes as New Jersey residents and lawmakers have voiced frustrations about the uptick in drone sightings and what they view as a lack of answers they have been given by the federal government in response.

Still, U.S. officials have sought to emphasize that the aircraft in question are not, in fact, a national security threat. Maj. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, stressed to reporters during a briefing Tuesday that the drones are any sort of government asset, and ruled out the notion that they were any part of "experimental program" being tested by the U.S.

In a joint statement Monday, the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Defense said that, while they "recognize the concern" from the general public, there is no evidence that the drones are "anomalous" or a threat to public safety or to U.S. national security.

Separately, senior officials from the CIA, FBI, and DOD traveled to Capitol Hill Tuesday afternoon to brief lawmakers on the House Intelligence Committee on the uptick in drone sightings.

It is unclear, however, how far these efforts have gone to thwart the rise in public concerns.

The FBI said Monday that it has received more than 5,000 reports of alleged drone sightings in the last "few weeks" — reflecting the rise in panic from some residents, including many who have taken to social media to document their sightings on social media. 

Connecticut Rep. Jim Himes, R-Conn., used an interview on "Fox News Sunday" to call on more federal agencies — including the Federal Aviation Administration — to share more information about the drone sightings with the public.

"The FAA in particular, which is the agency of jurisdiction through the domestic skies, ought to be out Saturday morning saying, ‘Let’s show you a picture at the number of aircraft, commercial and private and military, that go over New Jersey in any 24-hour period,’" Himes said.

"Just putting information out there to fill that vacuum would be helpful," he added.

As unknown airborne craft traverse the night skies in parts of the United States, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called upon the Department of Homeland Security to deploy 360-degree radar systems capable of detecting drones to the New York and New Jersey region. 

"Our local people who have questions about these drones should not have to shake an eight ball to get an answer," Schumer said, holding up a magic eight ball toy in one hand and an image of a drone in another. 

"They want real answers, and the Robin can supply those answers, and that's why we want them here," Schumer said, likely referencing the Dutch company Robin Radar Systems, which produces such systems.

NJ DRONE SIGHTINGS COULD BE A ‘CLASSIFIED EXERCISE’: FORMER CIA OFFICER

The website of Robin Radar Systems notes, "Bird, bat, or drone, our 360° radar systems log thousands of observations, scanning every second to track and classify with precision."

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement on Sunday, "In response to my calls for additional resources, our federal partners are deploying a state-of-the-art drone detection system to New York State." 

Fox News Digital reached out to DHS, Hochul's office, and Schumer's office for comment. 

DRONE MYSTERY CONTINUES IN NEW JERSEY AS EXPERTS OFFER NEW THEORIES ABOUT SIGHTINGS

"DHS responds to Congressional inquiries directly via official channels, and the Department will continue to respond appropriately to Congressional oversight," a DHS spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

Department of Homeland Security Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas said during an appearance on ABC's "This Week" that some of the sightings have been drones while "some are manned-aircraft that are commonly mistaken for drones."

He said "we know of no foreign involvement" related to "the sightings in the north-east." 

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"Mystery Drone sightings all over the Country. Can this really be happening without our government’s knowledge. I don’t think so!" President-elect Donald Trump declared last week in a post on Truth Social. "Let the public know, and now. Otherwise, shoot them down!!!"

EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Carlos Gimenez, a member of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), said China is the "greatest threat" to the United States and that President-elect Donald Trump will bring "peace through strength, not peace through appeasement." 

Gimenez, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital the CCP is the "adversary we have to watch, both militarily and economically." 

"China is making great strides around the world," Gimenez said, pointing to its capacity in production, specifically with defense materials and weapons. "It surpasses that of the United States’ and we have seen that we are lacking." 

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Gimenez said the Russian-Ukraine war has "demonstrated to us that our defense capacity has been degraded over the decades."

"It shows we could run out of munitions fairly quickly if we had a prolonged fight with China," he said, warning that China also "has the ability to produce many more ships than we do." 

Gimenez said the U.S. is "trying to do catch-up." 

"We have to update how we do things at the Pentagon, we have to be more nimble, we have to get the private sector involved, and we have to eliminate bureaucracy that has hampered our ability to protect ourselves," he said. 

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But as for the approach to the China threat, Gimenez blasted the Biden administration, specifically President Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

"I think China, with Biden and Blinken, thought they could do just about anything they wanted or thought they could fool them," he said. "The Biden administration was always exhibiting weakness and trying to appease our enemies, whereas Trump knows exactly who our friends are, who our enemies are and is going to put the security of America first."

Gimenez added, "He understands that the security of America lies in peace through strength, not peace through appeasement."

As for confronting the threat in the coming months, Gimenez pointed to the importance of the U.S. being energy independent.

Gimenez said he wants to "make America the energy spigot of the world, where the world goes to get energy is America." 

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"It would help our financial situation, our balance sheet, and give us the ability to help our friends and weaken our enemies," he said.

"We could use our energy dominance as an economic weapon against our enemies, helping our friends and hurting our enemies," he continued. "We can substitute Iranian and Venezuelan oil with American oil, Russian oil with American oil, and then starve those countries which are allied with China of their greatest source of revenue and then impede their ability to help China."

"If China finds itself isolated in the world, I think that’s the best way we can contain this threat," he said. "But we have to project strength and the willingness to confront aggression by the CCP."

As for the House Select Committee on the CCP, he said they have "much more work to do." 

"The China threat is increasing," he said, noting that the committee is bipartisan in its nature and that members on both sides of the aisle have "bought into that China is the threat and that China will be the threat."

"It’s not climate change, it’s China," he said. "And we have to confront that threat or live in a world that is dominated by the Chinese Communist Party."

"And Trump is going to project strength and back those words with action."

An uptick in alleged drone sightings along the East Coast touched off a flurry of panicked calls for investigation on Friday from residents and state lawmakers, even as public officials stress the aircraft in question are, in fact, being flown lawfully, and a retired port authority aviation expert tells Fox News Digital that fears are overblown.

The drone complaints began pouring in last month in New Jersey, where witnesses and residents first began reporting drone sightings off of coastal areas, including off of Cape May, a scenic town located outside of Atlantic City.

More recently, lawmakers in New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Maryland have reported new alleged drone sightings in their home states, with some witnesses alleging the aircraft in question have been the "size of cars" or seen flying above sensitive infrastructure or in restricted airspace.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, told reporters on Friday he had written to President Biden to share his concerns about the fresh reports of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) sightings in New Jersey airspace, and called for more federal resources to investigate the issue.

"It has become apparent that more resources are needed to fully understand what is behind this activity," Murphy wrote in the letter.

DRONE MYSTERY: NEW JERSEY HOMEOWNERS THREATEN TO TAKE MATTERS INTO THEIR OWN HANDS IF GOVERNMENT DOESN'T ACT

Other lawmakers in the state have gone even further, calling for the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI to join in their investigations into the unmanned aircraft, with one Garden State lawmaker urging the objects be "shot down" if necessary.

​​"We are literally being invaded by drones," Pequannock Mayor Ryan Herbwe told reporters on Wednesday night following a town hall meeting in New Jersey. 

"We have no idea who is doing [this] and where they're coming from." 

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., issued a statement on Friday citing concerns "about the potential for these unmanned aerial vehicles — many of which are as large as a car — to disrupt air traffic and, more alarmingly, to be used maliciously to threaten national security."

These remarks have added to a growing collective sense of panic — but a panic that many in the law enforcement community say is both unfounded and unnecessary. 

White House national security communications adviser John Kirby sought to assuage these fears, stressing during a press briefing Thursday that there is "no evidence at this time that the reported drone sightings pose a national security or a public safety threat, or have a foreign nexus." 

Others in the law enforcement community also echoed this sentiment. Retired Port Authority Police Detective Lt. John Ryan told Fox News Digital in an interview Friday that the uptick in activity is likely due to two things.

HOMEOWNERS THREATEN TO TAKE MATTERS INTO THEIR OWN HANDS IF GOVERNMENT DOESN’T ACT

The first, he said, is that drones are a fast-evolving technology that has seen a boom in both recreational and commercial use in the U.S. in the last 10 years. Federal data on drone registration reflects this sharp uptick in use, most if not all of which is legal. As of October of this year, there were more than 790,000 drones registered with the Federal Aviation Association (FAA), and nearly 400,000 registered commercial drones. 

That's "just to give you an idea" of the magnitude of the number of legal drones in the U.S., said Ryan, whose extensive police career included serving for a decade as the emergency service special operations commander at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, and then later, the chief officer of the Port Authority, whose role includes oversight of all transportation facilities, including Kennedy, LaGuardia and all other airports and ports in the area.

SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH REQUIRED TO SUBMIT TRUMP FINDINGS TO DOJ BEFORE LEAVING. WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

The second mistake, Ryan said, is that the individuals in question are asking the wrong authorities for help.

"The mistake I see people making is that they're going to the wrong agencies and asking these questions," he added.

The FAA is the federal body tasked with registering drones and other U.S. aircraft. It’s also the one tasked with monitoring recreational and commercial drone use in the U.S.

"In New Jersey, they've been asking the FBI, they've been asking the Department of Homeland Security — they've been asking everybody except the people that they should be asking," said Ryan.

The Pentagon also reiterated this view, noting that an initial assessment had shown the drones were not from another country, and were not shot down because they were not deemed a threat to national security.

Kirby echoed this sentiment on Thursday. Asked whether the U.S. would consider banning drone use in U.S. airspace, he told reporters, "I don't know that we're at a stage right now where we're considering that" as a policy option.

President-elect Donald Trump is gearing up for his second White House term just weeks after the abrupt toppling of Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria— a pivotal moment that could test Trump's long-held promises to end U.S. involvement in so-called "forever wars" in the Middle East or putting more American boots on the ground in these countries.

With roughly six weeks to go before he takes office, Trump does not appear to be backing down on his promises of pursuing a foreign policy agenda directed toward prioritizing issues at home and avoiding entanglements overseas.

However, Trump's promises about ending U.S. military commitments abroad could be tested in Syria, where conditions in the country are now vastly different from Trump's first term — creating a government seen as ripe for exploitation by other foreign powers, including governments or terrorist groups.

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"This is not our fight. Let it play out. Do not get involved," Trump said on Truth Social over the weekend, as rebel-backed fighters advanced into Damascus, forcing Assad to flee to Moscow for safe haven. 

Trump, for his part, has acknowledged the foreign policy situation he stands to inherit in 2025 could be more complex than he saw in his first term, especially in the Middle East. 

It "certainly seems like the world is going a little crazy right now," Trump told leaders earlier this week in Paris, where he attended a grand reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral. 

Here is a rundown of what Trump did in Syria in 2019 and how his actions could be insufficient today.

In Syria, the speed at which rebel forces successfully wrested back control of major cities and forced Assad to flee to Moscow for safe haven took many by surprise, including analysts and diplomats with years of experience in the region. 

It is currently an "open question" who is currently in charge in Syria, White House National Security communications advisor John Kirby told reporters earlier this week. 

However, the rebel-led group that ousted Assad is currently designated as a terrorist organization in the U.S., raising fresh uncertainty over whether Trump might see their rise to power as a threat to U.S. national security and whether he might move to position U.S. troops in response.

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The conditions are also ripe for exploration by other governments and adversaries, which could seize on the many power vacuums created by the collapse of Assad's regime. 

In the days following Assad's flight to Moscow, senior Biden administration officials stressed that the U.S. will act only in a supporting capacity, telling reporters, "We are not coming up with a blueprint from Washington for the future of Syria."

"This is written by Syrians. The fall of Assad was delivered by Syrians," the administration official said. 

Still, this person added, "I think it’s very clear that the United States can provide a helping hand, and we are very much prepared to do so." It's unclear whether Trump will see the situation the same.

In October 2019, Trump announced the decision to withdraw U.S. troops from northeastern Syria, news that came under sharp criticism by some diplomats and foreign policy analysts, who cited fears that the decision risked destabilizing one of the only remaining stable parts of Syria and injecting further volatility and uncertainty into the war-torn nation. 

However, at the time, that part of the country was stable. U.S. troops were stationed there alongside British and French troops, who worked alongside the Syrian Defense Force to protect against a resurgence of Islamic State activity. However, the situation is different now, something that Trump's team does not appear to be disputing, for its part.

Additionally, while seeking the presidency in 2024, Trump continued his "America first" posture that many believe helped him win the election in 2016 — vowing to crack down on border security, job creation, and U.S. oil and gas production, among other things — incoming Trump administration officials have stressed the degree to which they've worked alongside the Biden administration to ensure a smooth handover when it comes to geopolitical issues.

Unlike his first White House transition, Trump's preparations for a second presidential term have been remarkably detailed, efficient and policy oriented. That includes announcing nominations for most Cabinet positions and diplomats, and releasing policy blueprints for how the administration plans to govern over the next four years.  

"For our adversaries out there that think this is a time of opportunity that they can play one administration off the other, they’re wrong, and we… we are hand in glove," Trump's pick for national security adviser, Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., told Fox News in an interview following Trump's election in November. "We are one team with the United States in this transition."

A New Jersey lawmaker says he "can't believe" how the government is wording its investigation into recent drone sightings across northeast America.

State Assemblyman Paul Kanitra joined "Fox News @ Night" on Thursday to discuss the bipartisan outrage at how the government is handling the drone sightings.

"We're a polarized society, but I can tell you when we were in ‘The Rock,’ our security building in New Jersey, and we had a hundred state legislators from across the political spectrum – upper house, lower house – everyone was equally angry at this situation," Kanitra said.

NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR RECEIVING BACKLASH FOR LACK OF CLARITY ON DRONE SIGHTINGS

The first drone sighting took place in New Jersey on Nov. 18, the Federal Aviation Administration said earlier this month, prompting the agency to issue two temporary flight restrictions.

Kanitra said he learned during an intelligence briefing for state legislators on Wednesday that there have been confirmed drone sightings "every night since then."

In a Facebook post, Kanitra said he implored the Department of Homeland Security during that briefing to "take swift and decisive action" against the drones, describing the situation as "infuriating."

NJ LAWMAKER FIRES BACK AFTER PENTAGON DISMISSES CLAIM DRONES MAY BE LINKED TO IRAN: 'WEAKNESS AND STUPIDITY'

On Thursday, the White House said an investigation is in its beginning stages, but nothing, thus far, has revealed malicious or criminal intent, or a national security threat.

"If these are foreign adversaries with these drones, and we're a month into this already and we haven't done nearly enough, I can't believe that our government is wording this the way that they are," he said on "Fox News @ Night."

Kanitra took a picture from a distance of apparent drones in the New Jersey sky on Thursday night.

He said "these are not hobbyist drones" and the military should have the technology needed to get quality photos.

China is denying a new report linking it to four bases in Cuba that a think tank says allows the CCP to spy on the U.S. 

The Washington, D.C.-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) released a report last week detailing facilities in Cuba that it claims China may be using to gather signal intelligence (SIGINT) on the U.S. 

"The cooperation between China and Cuba is aboveboard, not targeting any third party, and does not allow any malicious slander from third parties," Chinese foreign minister Mao Ning told reporters on Wednesday. 

Cuban foreign minister Carlos de Cossio claimed reports of Chinese spying hubs in Cuba originate from "Cuba’s enemies" in the U.S. "as a way of justifying the criminal policy of economic aggression. It is absolutely false."

CSIS analyzed over a dozen "sites of interest" in Cuba and four stuck out as most likely to be supporting China and its spying ambitions. 

"These sites have undergone observable upgrades in recent years, even as Cuba has faced increasingly dire economic prospects that have drawn it closer to China," the report's authors said. 

Each of the four sites had "observable SIGINT instrumentation," clear physical security infrastructure and other signs of intelligence collection. 

One such station located on a hill overlooking Havana, Bejucal, has been suspected of ties to Chinese intelligence for years. The complex gained notoriety for housing Soviet missiles during the Cuban missile crisis. 

REPUBLICANS LOOKING FOR NEW WAYS TO FORCE THROUGH CHINA CRACKDOWNS LEFT OUT OF YEARLY DEFENSE BILL

During the 2016 presidential debates, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., called on Cuba to "[kick] out this Chinese listening station in Bejucal."

According to CSIS findings, satellite imagery shows that the site was active as of March 2024 and had been for some time. There are at least five entrances to underground facilities at the base, but what the facilities contain could not be discerned by satellite imagery. Antennas dot the ground, including satellite antennas used for intercepting satellite communications. 

With Havana situated just 100 miles off the coast of Florida, the site could potentially be used to collect data on U.S. rocket launches from Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. 

BIDEN FINALIZES CRACKDOWN ON US MILITARY TECH INVESTMENTS IN CHINA WITH ONE WEEK TO LAME DUCK SESSION

The U.S. and China are locked in a space race and rocket launches that deliver U.S. satellites to space will likely garner a high level of interest within the CCP. 

On another site on the opposite side of the island, east of the city of Santiago de Cuba, a large radio signal finding technology project is under construction, one capable of detecting signals between 3,000 and 8,000 nautical miles away. 

Cuba has a history of allowing U.S. adversaries to use its soil to snoop on U.S. communications. During the Cold War, the Soviet Union operated a SIGINT facility at the Lourdes Signals Intelligence Complex near Havana. That site monitored U.S. satellites and intercepted sensitive military and commercial telecommunications. 

In recent decades, the alliance between China and Cuba has grown – and China has provided around $7.8 billion in development financing to the island nation. 

With the fall of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad over the weekend and a new White House on the horizon, Iranian resistance leaders and U.S. lawmakers alike have begun expressing hope that Iran will topple its own leadership in a similar fashion, with U.S. help. 

"There’s a real chance for regime change right now, that’s the only way you’re going to stop a nuclear weapon," Sam Brownback, former U.S. ambassador for International Religious Freedom, told Fox News Digital at a Senate panel on Iran on Wednesday. 

"It’s not just now or never, it's now or nuclear," he said, as Iran enriches uranium to near-nuclear-capable levels. 

A bipartisan group of senators spoke in support of toppling the Iranian Ayatollah Ali Khameini – both through a return to former President Trump’s "maximum pressure" campaign through sanctions and supporting the Iranian resistance movement – a piece that was missing during the first Trump administration. 

Khameini has ruled Iran for 35 years. 

THE RISE AND FALL OF BASHAR AND ASMA ASSAD

"We have an obligation to stand together with allies in making sure this regime’s suppression will come to an end," said Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., at the event, which was hosted by the Organization for Iranian American Communities. 

"Iran is projecting only weakness," said Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H. "Now is the time to think about how we invest more in the core values that we all share: democracy, human rights, justice for everyone."

"I have, for a long time, been willing to call quite unequivocally for regime change in Iran," said Sen. Ted Cruz, R–Texas. 

It was a stronger message than has often recently been heard in Washington, D.C. circles, where there has been little appetite for getting further involved in the Middle East.

"The ayatollah will fall, the mullahs will fall, and we will see free and democratic elections in Iran. Change is coming and it’s coming very soon," the Texas Republican predicted.  

"We will return to a maximum pressure policy," he added, "cut the cruel regime from resources from every direction possible – we are going to shut down nuclear research facilities, we are going to cut off their oil." 

ISRAEL'S UN AMBASSADOR INSISTS NATION IS 'NOT GETTING INVOLVED' IN SYRIAN REGIME CHANGE

"There is a cottage industry in Washington to promote the goals and objectives of this regime," said Marc Ginsberg, former U.S. ambassador to Morocco. "You saw here there were Democratic senators to say to you, ‘We don’t buy this. We can make this a bipartisan effort.'"

The Biden administration has issued Iran sanctions waivers in hopes of future nuclear negotiations, and has expressed no interest in helping to topple the ayatollah. On Wednesday, Biden renewed a sanctions waiver granting Iran access to $10 billion in payments for energy from Iraq. 

And asked if he would like to see Iran change its ruling system, Trump told Iranian American producer Patrick Bet David in October: "We can't get totally involved in all that. We can't run ourselves, let's face it."

"I would like to see Iran be very successful. The only thing is, they can't have a nuclear weapon," he also said. 

But Brownback, a Trump appointee, insisted the U.S. must involve itself in regime change through supporting Iran’s opposition.

"I think we need to support politically the opposition inside of Iran," he said. "Provide them equipment, provide them information… the regime is not just going to walk away. You’ve got to force them out." 

And Iran watchers believe the fall of Assad, who was heavily backed by Iran and its proxy force Hezbollah, is the perfect moment to do that. 

"The tectonic shift in the Syrian government… should mean to the people of Iran that change is in fact possible in the Middle East," said Gen. James Jones, former White House national security adviser and supreme allied commander of Europe. 

"The change in administration has already caused tectonic shifts in geographic alignments," he went on. "Appeasement does not work. Iranian regime does not do nuance."

Maryam Rajavi is president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, the main resistance group in Iran.

"The people, who are deeply discontented and angry, along with the resistance units, who are part of the Army of Freedom and the main force of change in Iran, they are preparing an organized uprising," she told the panel. 

Rajavi and her political group have a 10-point plan for regime change that calls for rebuilding an Iranian government based on separation of religion and state, gender equality, abolition of the death penalty and denuclearization. 

"Our goal is not to seize power but to restore it to its rightful owners, the people of Iran and their vote."  

Unlike the first Trump administration, Iran is now facing military attacks on other fronts through its proxies Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. It's unclear whether this weakened position would prompt them to bow to U.S. pressure or lash out even further. But one thing is clear: U.S. support for regime change would be a massive escalation in tensions between Washington and Tehran with unknown consequences. 

The House voted Wednesday to pass its yearly defense bill that would give junior enlisted troops a significant pay bump and work to eliminate DEI programs at the Pentagon.

It passed 281-140, with 16 Republicans voting no. Only 81 Democrats voted yes – 124 voting no – a much larger margin than in years passed when the legislation typically enjoyed bipartisan support. 

Many Democrats opposed a provision of the bill that restricts coverage of transgender treatments for minors. 

The legislation now heads to the Senate for passage before heading to President Joe Biden’s desk for signature. 

The 1,800-page bill known as the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), details how $895.2 billion allocated toward defense and national security will be spent. It will be voted on more than two months after the start of the fiscal year. 

The $895.2 billion represents a 1% increase over last year’s budget, a smaller number than some defense hawks would have liked. 

A significant portion of the legislation focused on quality-of-life improvements for service members amid record recruitment issues, a focus of much bipartisan discussion over the last year. That includes a 14.5% pay increase for junior enlisted troops and increasing access to child care for service members while also providing job support to military spouses.

The measure authorizes a 4.5% across-the-board pay raise for all service members starting Jan. 1. 

The NDAA typically enjoys wide bipartisan support, but this year’s focus on eliminating "woke" policies could be hard for Democrats to stomach.

PENTAGON ANNOUNCES NEW COUNTER-DRONE STRATEGY AS UNMANNED ATTACKS ON US INTERESTS SKYROCKET

The policy proposal to prohibit Tricare, the military's health care provider, from covering transgender services for the minor dependents of service members has raised concerns, prompting the leading Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. Adam Smith of Washington, to reconsider his support for the bill.

"Blanketly denying health care to people who clearly need it, just because of a biased notion against transgender people, is wrong," he said in a statement. "This provision injected a level of partisanship not traditionally seen in defense bills."

The goal of that provision is to prevent any "medical interventions that could result in sterilization" of minors.

Other provisions, like a blanket ban on funding for gender transition surgeries for adults, did not make their way into the bill, neither did a ban on requiring masks to prevent the spread of diseases. 

The bill also supports deploying the National Guard to the southern border to help with illegal immigrant apprehensions and drug flow. 

Another provision opens the door to allowing airmen and Space Force personnel to grow facial hair; it directs the secretary of the Air Force to brief lawmakers on "the feasibility and advisability" of establishing a pilot program to test out allowing beards. 

HERE IS WHO IS VYING FOR POWER IN SYRIA AFTER THE FALL OF BASHAR AL-ASSAD

Democrats are also upset the bill did not include a provision expanding access to IVF for service members. Currently, military health care only covers IVF for troops whose infertility is linked to service-related illness or injury.

But the bill did not include an amendment to walk back a provision allowing the Pentagon to reimburse service members who have to travel out of state to get an abortion.

The bill extends a hiring freeze on DEI-related roles and stops all such recruitment until "an investigation of the Pentagon’s DEI programs" can be completed.

It also bans the Defense Department from contracting with advertising companies "that blacklist conservative news sources," according to an internal GOP memo.

The memo said the NDAA also guts funding for the Biden administration’s "Countering Extremist Activity Working Group" dedicated to rooting out extremism in the military’s ranks. The annual defense policy bill also does not authorize "any climate change programs" and prohibits the Pentagon from issuing climate impact-based guidance on weapons systems.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., touted $31 billion in savings in the legislation that would come from cutting "inefficient programs, obsolete weapons, and bloated Pentagon bureaucracy."

The compromise NDAA bill, negotiated between Republican and Democrat leadership, sets policy for the nation's largest government agency, but a separate defense spending bill must be passed to allocate funds for such programs.

After a number of key legislative priorities related to cracking down on China failed to make it into the yearly defense bill, Republicans are working on ways to get them signed into law before the end of the year. 

On Wednesday, the House will vote on the sprawling 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which sets policy plans for the Pentagon’s $895 billion budget. That legislation was negotiated between Republican and Democratic leadership in both the House and Senate and typically enjoys wide bipartisan support. 

And while the package will not advance legislation aimed at cracking down on U.S. dollars flowing toward Chinese Communist Party-affiliated companies, Republicans will push to include those provisions, which are a key priority for House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., in other must-pass legislation.

With a government funding deadline in 10 days, those measures could be included in a continuing resolution (CR), which would punt the funding deadline down the road and keep budgets at FY 2024 levels, multiple sources familiar with negotiations confirmed to Fox News Digital. 

"During the course of negotiations on the annual defense bill, significant progress was made towards achieving consensus on provisions to counter China and strengthen our economic security. That momentum remains and more time is needed to get that important work done with the goal of passage before the end of the year," Johnson said in a statement. 

One provision that was left out would prevent the U.S. from investing in the development of military technologies, a way to codify a rule put forward by President Biden’s Treasury Department.

The rule prohibits U.S. financing of some China-based ventures and requires Americans to notify the government of their involvement in others. 

BIDEN FINALIZES CRACKDOWN ON US MILITARY TECH INVESTMENTS IN CHINA WITH ONE WEEK TO LAME DUCK SESSION

It restricts and monitors U.S. investments in artificial intelligence, computer chips and quantum computing, all of which have a dual use in the defense and commercial sectors. 

The rule seeks to limit the access "countries of concern," like China, including Hong Kong and Macao, have to U.S. dollars to fund the development of high-level technologies like next-generation missile systems and fighter jets they could then utilize for their own military. It's set to take effect Jan. 2.  

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., demanded that outbound investments piece not be included in the negotiated NDAA, three sources familiar with the negotiations confirmed. 

Some mused that Democrats put up a fight over China provisions because they were frustrated with another provision Republicans insisted on including: a ban on military health care providers from paying for transgender operations like sex changes for dependent minors if it would leave them sterile.

Politico was first to report about the back-and-forth. 

Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, said he would not vote for the legislation – which includes big pay raises for junior troops – over the transgender provision. 

And in a relief for Chinese biotechnology companies, the Biosecure Act, which prohibits the U.S. government from contracting with companies that do business with a "biotechnology company of concern," has been left out of the NDAA. 

Three sources familiar with the negotiations told Fox News Digital that Reps. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., and Jamie Raskin, D-Md., stood in the way of the legislation’s inclusion in the negotiated defense bill.

Raskin could not be reached for comment on his opposition. 

McGovern opposed the bill when it came up for a stand-alone vote in the House. 

"The Biosecure Act, is a weak bill, and as written, it could actually make the problem even worse," he said in a statement. 

"First, naming specific companies will create a ‘whack-a-mole’ situation where entities can change their name and reincorporate to evade sanctions," he went on. "Second, it’s totally wrong to call out specific companies without any formal investigation or interagency process – that might be how they do things in the [People's Republic of China], but this is the United States of America where we ought to have a thorough, independent investigation."

CHINESE MILITARY COMPANY'S MACHINERY IN USE AT NATION'S TOP SECRET RESEARCH LAB, OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE SAYS

In September, Fox News Digital reported that lawmakers were aware of a machine operated by a Chinese military company in use at the nation’s most secretive government laboratories. 

The machine operated by Chinese biotech company BGI is in use at the Los Alamos lab in New Mexico. 

BGI, among other companies, is included in a ban in the Biosecure Act. 

Also among them is WuXi Biologics, a company that planned to build a $300 million biomedical plant in McGovern’s district. 

Attaching the China outbound investment provision and the Biosecure Act to must-pass legislation would ensure it doesn’t die in the Democratic-led Senate the way House GOP-led bills often do. 

The Pentagon unveiled a new counter-drone strategy after a spate of incursions near U.S. bases prompted concerns over a lack of an action plan for the increasing threat of unmanned aerial vehicles. 

Though much of the strategy remains classified, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will implement a new counter-drone office within the Pentagon – Joint Counter-Small UAS Office – and a new Warfighter Senior Integration Group, according to a new memo. 

The Pentagon will also begin work on a second Replicator initiative, but it will be up to the incoming Trump administration to decide whether to fund this plan. The first Replicator initiative worked to field inexpensive, dispensable drones to thwart drone attacks by adversarial groups across the Middle East and elsewhere.  

The memo warned that the increased use of unmanned systems must reshape U.S. tactics, as they make it easier for adversaries to "surveil, disrupt and attack our forces … potentially without attribution." 

US SCRAMBLES AS DRONES SHAPE THE LANDSCAPE OF WAR: 'THE FUTURE IS HERE'

The plan outlines a five-pronged approach: deepening understanding of enemy drones, launching offensive campaigns to thwart their ability to build such systems, improving "active and passive" defenses to such attacks, rapid increase of production of counter-drone systems and making counter-drone focus a top priority for future force development. 

For the past year, Iran-backed Houthi rebels have been using small, one-way unmanned aerial systems to strike western shipping routes in the Red Sea. 

That has led to perilous waters along a trade route that typically sees some $1 trillion in goods pass through it, as well as shipments of aid to war-torn Sudan and the Yemeni people. 

Some experts have deemed the U.S. response inadequate in deterring the Houthis from inflicting billions of dollars worth of damage to the global economy. 

Additionally, the cost of U.S. response to such attacks is disproportionate. While the Houthi drones are estimated to cost around $2,000 each, the naval missiles the U.S. fires back can run around $2 million a shot. 

In September, Houthis took out two U.S. Reaper drones in a week, machinery that costs around $30 million a piece. 

Deadly drone strikes have also been launched by both sides in Russia's war on Ukraine. 

"Unmanned systems pose both an urgent and enduring threat to U.S. personnel, facilities, and assets overseas," the Pentagon said in a statement on Thursday announcing the strategy. 

"By producing a singular Strategy for Countering Unmanned Systems, the Secretary and the Department are orienting around a common understanding of the challenge and a shared approach to addressing it."

Three U.S. service members were killed in a drone strike in January in Jordan. Experts warned the U.S. lacks a clear counter-drone procedure after 17 unmanned vehicles traipsed into restricted airspace over Langley Air Force Base in Virginia last December. 

IRAN HIDING MISSILE, DRONE PROGRAMS UNDER GUISE OF COMMERCIAL FRONT TO EVADE SANCTIONS

The mystery drones swarmed for more than two weeks. Lack of a standard protocol for such incursions left Langley officials unsure of what to do – other than allow the 20-foot-long drones to hover near their classified facilities. 

Langley is home to some of the nation’s most vital top secret facilities and the F-22 Raptor stealth fighters. 

Two months prior to Langley, in October 2023, five drones flew over the Energy Department’s Nevada National Security Site, used for nuclear weapons experiments. U.S. authorities were not sure who was behind those drones either. 

A Chinese surveillance balloon traversed over the U.S. for a week last year before the Air Force shot it down off the coast.

The Air Force’s Plant 42 in California, home to highly classified aerospace development, has also seen a slew of unidentified drone incursions in 2024, prompting flight restrictions around the facility.

First on Fox: Hundreds of veterans across the nation are offering their unequivocal support to former Democrat Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence under President-elect Donald Trump’s second administration, Fox News Digital has learned. 

"President Donald Trump’s selection of Tulsi Gabbard reflects a profound recognition of her steadfast dedication to our nation and her unwavering commitment to safeguarding the American people. While most Americans know Tulsi as a fearless and principled Congresswoman who stood up to entrenched political systems, we know her as a fellow veteran—one whose worldview was forged through the crucible of serving in combat zones and a lifelong devotion to service," reads a letter, "American Veterans for Tulsi Gabbard," which was published Monday and obtained by Fox News Digital. 

More than 250 veterans signed the letter, including high-profile and nationally known names such as retired Gen. Michael Flynn, former acting Secretary of Defense Chris Miller, Arizona Rep. Rep. Eli Crane, Florida Rep. Brian Mast and political commentator Jack Posobiec. 

"Because of the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks, Tulsi answered the call of duty, enlisted in the Army, and stepped away from her position as a Hawaii State Representative when she volunteered to deploy to Iraq with her unit. Instead of using her political status to avoid deployment, Tulsi volunteered to serve in a medical unit in Iraq, directly facing the harsh realities, costs, and traumas of war," the letter continues.

TRUMP APPOINTS TULSI GABBARD AS DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: ‘FEARLESS SPIRIT’

"Her commitment to service did not end there," it added, before pointing to Gabbard’s 22 years of standing "shoulder-to-shoulder with her fellow servicemembers," including when she served in the House. 

TULSI GABBARD SAYS TRUMP ‘LISTENS’ AND ‘RECOGNIZES’ CHALLENGES AMERICANS FACE

"As a Member of Congress and as a civilian, Tulsi has been a stalwart advocate for veterans' health concerning toxic exposures and cancer care as a result of our fellow veterans' military service. Tulsi’s life exemplifies a rare blend of selflessness, courage, and leadership—qualities desperately needed to reform and strengthen our intelligence community," the letter says. 

Nearly 70% of the veterans who signed the letter worked in special operations and/or intelligence, while about 54% of the signatories are retired service members, and the vast majority of signers overall saw combat while in the military, Fox News Digital learned. 

Trump nominated Gabbard just days after his election win over Democrat Vice President Harris last month, arguing Gabbard will bring a "fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our Intelligence Community, championing our Constitutional Rights, and securing Peace through Strength." The director of national intelligence leads the U.S. intelligence community, which includes overseeing the National Intelligence Program and advising the president on security matters. 

TULSI GABBARD 'GRATEFUL AND HONORED' TO BE OFFERED DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE POSITION

Gabbard has served as a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserves since 2021, after previously serving in the Hawaii Army National Guard for about 17 years. 

She was elected to the U.S. House representing Hawaii during the 2012 election cycle, serving as a Democrat until 2021. She did not seek re-election to that office after throwing her hat in the 2020 White House race. 

Gabbard left the Democratic Party in 2022, registering as an independent, before becoming a member of the GOP this year and offering her full endorsement of Trump amid his presidential campaign. 

She is anticipated to head to Capitol Hill this week to speak with members of the Senate Intelligence Committee and GOP leadership to rally support for her confirmation proceedings. Critics have attempted to paint Gabbard as a national security risk who is sympathetic to U.S. adversaries, a narrative the veterans combated in the letter. 

"The U.S. intelligence community has identified her as having troubling relationships with America’s foes, and so my worry is that she couldn’t pass a background check," Democrat Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, for example, recently said of Gabbard. 

DEMOCRATS TRASH TULSI GABBARD AFTER TRUMP TAPS HER FOR DNI POST

The veterans hit back at such critics, saying they are spreading "baseless lies" because they are "unable and unwilling to challenge the substance of her views."

WASSERMAN SCHULTZ SPARKS BACKLASH FOR CLAIMING TULSI GABBARD IS A RUSSIAN ASSET

"We are appalled by the baseless attacks questioning Tulsi’s loyalty to our great nation. For over 20 years and across multiple combat deployments, Tulsi has risked her life to defend the safety, security and freedom of the American people. These attacks insult not only her, but every one of us Veterans who have served our country," the letter reads. 

"Tulsi’s patriotism, shaped on the battlefield, mirrors the values and aspirations of the American people far more than the failed policies of so called ‘experts’ in Washington, who have been part of the problem for too long."

Gabbard has been outspoken against creating new wars, declaring in her speech in October during Trump’s historic Madison Square Garden rally that a vote for Harris was a vote for "war."

"I've served now for over 21 years. I've deployed to different war zones three times over that period, and I've seen the cost of war for my brothers and sisters who paid the ultimate price. I carry their memories and their sacrifice in my heart every day. So, this choice that we have before us as Americans is critical. It's important to us. It's important to those of us who serve, who have volunteered to put our lives on the line for the safety, security and freedom of our country and our people," she said.

GOV KRISTI NOEM REFLECTS ON TRUMP WIN, SAYS DEMOCRATS 'TRY TO PUT WOMEN IN A BOX'

"A vote for Kamala Harris is a vote for Dick Cheney. And it's a vote for war, more war, likely World War III and nuclear war. A vote for Donald Trump is a vote for a man who wants to end wars, not start them, and who has demonstrated already that he has the courage and strength to stand up and fight for peace," she continued.

DEMOCRATS 'CARE SO LITTLE FOR OUR DEMOCRACY,' SAYS TULSI GABBARD

The veterans in their letter celebrated that Trump and his upcoming administration have "a clear mandate to enhance national security without engaging in needless wars or infringing on civil liberties" and that Gabbard will "carry out that mandate" if confirmed. 

"We are deeply grateful to President Trump for appointing Tulsi Gabbard to this critical role and proud to stand beside her – a leader whose courage and convictions we know firsthand. A warrior whose vote cannot be bought, and whose integrity cannot be folded. We are honored to call her one of our own," they wrote.

In the waning days of the Biden administration, President-elect Trump is bucking his predecessor's "don't" doctrine as a deterrent to foreign adversaries, instead issuing tough warnings before even taking office. 

"If the hostages are not released prior to January 20, 2025, the date that I proudly assume Office as President of the United States, there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against Humanity," Trump warned Hamas on his Truth Social account Monday. 

"Everybody is talking about the hostages who are being held so violently, inhumanely, and against the will of the entire World, in the Middle East – But it’s all talk, and no action!" Trump added. 

War broke out in the Middle East on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel. Terrorists killed more than 1,100 people and kidnapped more than 200, with Hamas still holding 101 hostages, including seven Americans, in Gaza more than a year after the war began. 

BIDEN SAYING 'DON'T' AND OTHER THREATS SEEMINGLY FAIL TO DETER IRAN AS MORE US MIDEAST BASES HIT

The White House and Israeli government have worked for months to secure a hostage release deal, but have been unsuccessful. 

Trump's tough language against Hamas, which included warning those responsible for holding the hostages that they "will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied History of the United States of America," stands in stark contrast to President Biden's "don't" doctrine regarding the war in Israel. 

After the war began last year, Biden delivered remarks from Israel where he warned adversaries of Israel and the U.S. "don't" attack Israel. 

REPUBLICANS SLAM BIDEN’S ‘DON’T’ DETERRENCE: ‘EVERY TIME HE SAYS DON’T, THEY DO’

"And my message to any state or any other hostile actor thinking about attacking Israel remains the same as it was a week ago: Don’t. Don’t. Don’t," he said. 

War continued despite the warning, including from Iranian proxies against Israel. 

This year, Biden doubled down on his warning of "don't" aimed at Iran. When asked by reporters about Iran's expectation to attack Israel in April, he said his message to Tehran is: "Don't." 

"We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed," he added. 

Again in August, Biden warned Iran against attacking Israel with the one-word threat.  

TRUMP PROMISES 'HELL TO PAY' IN MIDDLE EAST IF HOSTAGES ARE NOT RELEASED BEFORE HE TAKES OFFICE

Biden's common response to deter foreign adversaries from attacking Israel is viewed as a failed policy, with conservative security experts and others slamming the message as weak. 

"The Administration keeps saying 'don't' to Iran – but then does nothing to impose costs. This weakness means the risk from Iran continues to grow," former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted in August. 

"Well, he said, ‘Don’t’ multiple times, and ‘Don’t’ isn’t a national security policy," Pompeo added later in a comment to Fox News. "It’s not even a deterrent.

"So much for President Biden telling bad guys ‘Don’t’ actually being an effective deterrent. Every time he says 'Don’t,' they do," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., wrote in a post in April, after Iran launched more than 300 missiles and drones at Israel. 

‘WAR FOLLOWED US’: A SYRIAN FAMILY FLED BEIRUT AFTER ISRAELI BOMBARDMENT TO FACE REPRESSION, BOMBING AT HOME 

"Biden's approach with Iran and the Middle East is backwards," Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., wrote on X. "Now as we risk entering WWIII, the US must stand by Israel's commitment to democracy. The president must stand firm, and stop coddling Iran immediately."

"I guess Biden's speechwriters have him down to one word now. At least he can remember it. Worse when referring to the hospital carnage he calls Hamas the other team," Fox News' Greg Gutfeld quipped after the war in Israel broke out last year, mocking Biden's use of the word "don't." 

Trump had campaigned on ending the wars in both Ukraine and Israel, both of which began under the Biden administration, and claimed that neither war would have been launched if he had been president. 

"The Ukraine situation is so horrible, the Israeli situation is so horrible. We are going to get them solved very fast," Trump said on the campaign trail in January. 

Israeli officials celebrated Trump's tough stance against terrorists in the Middle East and his demand for hostages to be released by next month. 

"Thank you and bless you Mr. President-elect," President Isaac Herzog of Israel said in a post on social media. "We all pray for the moment we see our sisters and brothers back home!"

The nation's finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, added, "How refreshing it is to hear clear and morally sound statements that do not create a false equivalence or call for addressing ‘both sides.’ This is the way to bring back the hostages: by increasing the pressure and the costs for Hamas and its supporters, and defeating them, rather than giving in to their absurd demands."

Trump will be inaugurated as the nation's 47th president on Jan. 20, with his team celebrating that he's already following through on his campaign promises. 

"President Trump is working towards international peace. In anticipation of the incoming Trump administration, Iran has called off its reprisal attack on Israel and negotiations to end the war in Gaza and Russia's war in Ukraine have accelerated. One former NATO Supreme Allied Commander says America's enemies are 'concerned, they're nervous – [and] they ought to be,'" the Trump War Room said in an email this week titled "Promises Kept – And President Trump Hasn't Even Been Inaugurated Yet."

President-elect Trump has nominated a Vietnam War veteran and retired general for a potential new post focused on ending the Russia-Ukraine war.

Trump has created the position of special envoy for the Ukraine conflict, according to Reuters, and picked Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg for the post.

Kellogg served as former Vice President Mike Pence’s national security adviser and was spotted at the president-elect’s Mar-a-Lago club on Tuesday, according to the New York Post.

KELLOGG ON ISRAEL'S ‘STUNNING’ ERADICATION OF TERROR LEADERS

""I am very pleased to nominate General Keith Kellogg to serve as Assistant to the President and Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia," Trump posted on his Truth Social platform. "Keith has led a distinguished Military and Business career, including serving in highly sensitive National Security roles in my first Administration. He was with me right from the beginning! Together, we will secure PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH, and Make America, and the World, SAFE AGAIN!"

Three sources familiar told Reuters that Kellogg presented Trump with a plan to end the conflict, and in April co-authored a research document that presented the idea of using weapons supplied to Ukraine as leverage for armistice negotiations with Russia.

Kellogg is currently the co-chair of the Center for American Security at the America First Policy Institute (AFPI), which is led by several now-nominees within the new Trump administration.

AFPI’s chairwoman-of-the-board is Education Secretary-designate Linda McMahon and its president is Agriculture Secretary-designate Brooke Rollins.

THIS CONFLICT SHOULD'VE BEEN SOLVED YEARS AGO: KELLOGG

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Fox News Digital reached out to Kellogg via AFPI for comment.