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.
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."
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.
President-elect Trump tangled with a reporter who asked him Monday if he would entertain the idea of preemptive strikes on Iran.
Trump, following remarks at Mar-a-Lago, took questions from the media, and one reporter asked if he would target Iran’s nuclear facilities,
"Well I can’t tell you that. I mean, it's a wonderful question, but how can I – am I going to do preemptive strikes? Why would I say that?" the president-elect responded.
"Can you imagine if I said yes or no? You would say, ‘That was strange that he answered that way.’ Am I going to do preemptive strikes on Iran? Is that a serious question? How could I answer a question like that?" Trump continued.
"How could I tell you a thing like that now?" Trump responded. "You don't talk about that before something may or may not happen. I don't want to insult you, I just think it's just not something that I would ever answer. Having to do with there or any other place in the world."
"We're trying to help very strongly and getting the hostages back, as you know, with Israel and the Middle East," Trump added Monday.
"We're working very much on that. We're trying to get the war stopped, that horrible, horrible war that's going on in Ukraine with Russia. We're going to, we've got a little progress. It's a tough one. It's a nasty one. It's nasty," he also said.
President Biden said during a Sunday afternoon press conference that the U.S. will support Syria's neighboring nations and help bolster stability in the region after dictator Bashar al-Assad fled the country amid an ongoing civil war.
"At long last, the Assad regime has fallen. This regime brutalized and tortured and killed literally hundreds of thousands of innocent Syrians. A fall of the regime is a fundamental act of justice. It's a moment of historic opportunity for the long-suffering people of Syria to build a better future for their proud country. It's also a moment of risk and uncertainty," Biden said Sunday during a press conference from the White House.
Biden detailed that following Assad's departure in the face of rebel forces, the U.S. will support Syria's neighboring countries – such as Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Israel – "should any threat arise from Syria during this period of transition." Biden said this effort will include senior administration officials meeting with world leaders, and the president also speaking directly with leaders in the neighboring nations.
"Second, we will help stability, ensure stability in eastern Syria. Protecting any personnel, our personnel, against any threats, and will remain our mission against ISIS will be maintained, including security of detention facilities where ISIS fighters are being held as prisoners," Biden continued of the U.S. plan of action after the collapse of the Assad regime. "….Third, we will engage with all Syrian groups, including within the process led by the United Nations to establish a transition away from the Assad regime toward an independent sovereign" Syria.
Bashar al-Assad fled Syria after rebels stormed the capital city of Damascus on Saturday. Assad, whose government used chemical weapons repeatedly on its residents, reportedly fled with his wife and children.
Biden said the U.S. did not have confirmation on Assad's whereabouts, noting that "there's word that he's in Moscow."
Syria has been in the midst of a nearly 14-year civil war as Islamist rebels attempted to overthrow Assad and his family's dynasty, which had ruled the country for the last 50 years.
"The United States will do whatever we can to support [Syrians], including through humanitarian relief, to help restore Syria after more than a decade of war and generations of brutality by the Assad family," Biden said.
"And finally, we will remain vigilant. Make no mistake, some of the rebel groups that took down Assad have their own grim record of terrorism and human rights abuses. We've taken note of statements by the leaders of these rebel groups in recent days. And they're saying the right things now, but as they take on greater responsibility, we will assess not just their words, but their actions," Biden continued Sunday.
The president noted that the U.S. will also continue efforts to secure American journalist Austin Tice, who has been missing in Syria for more than a decade.
"We are mindful that there are Americans in Syria, including those who reside there, as well as Austin Tice, who was taken captive more than 12 years ago. We remain committed to returning him to his family," Biden said.
Ahead of reports of Assad fleeing, President-elect Trump warned that the U.S. should not get involved in the civil war.
"Syria is a mess, but is not our friend, & THE UNITED STATES SHOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT. LET IT PLAY OUT. DO NOT GET INVOLVED!" he wrote.
Trump added on Truth Social early Sunday morning: "Assad is gone. He has fled his country. His protector, Russia, Russia, Russia, led by Vladimir Putin, was not interested in protecting him any longer. There was no reason for Russia to be there in the first place. They lost all interest in Syria because of Ukraine, where close to 600,000 Russian soldiers lay wounded or dead, in a war that should never have started, and could go on forever."
"Russia and Iran are in a weakened state right now, one because of Ukraine and a bad economy, the other because of Israel and its fighting success," his post continued. "Likewise, Zelenskyy and Ukraine would like to make a deal and stop the madness. They have ridiculously lost 400,000 soldiers, and many more civilians. There should be an immediate ceasefire and negotiations should begin."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu touted the fall of Assad's regime on Sunday, saying it was a "direct result" of Israel's attacks on Iran and Hezbollah, while noting the situation overall is "fraught with significant dangers." Israel is in the midst of a more than year-long war after Hamas launched attacks on the nation on Oct. 7, 2023.
"This is a historic day for the Middle East. The collapse of the Assad regime, the tyranny in Damascus, offers great opportunity but also is fraught with significant dangers. This collapse is the direct result of our forceful action against Hezbollah and Iran, Assad's main supporters. It set off a chain reaction of all those who want to free themselves from this tyranny and its oppression," Netanyahu said Sunday.
"We send a hand of peace to all those beyond our border in Syria: to the Druze, to the Kurds, to the Christians, and to the Muslims who want to live in peace with Israel. We're going to follow events very carefully. If we can establish neighborly relations and peaceful relations with the new forces emerging in Syria, that's our desire. But if we do not, we will do whatever it takes to defend the State of Israel and the border of Israel," Netanyahu added.
Fox News Digital's Michael Lee and Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the fall of Bashar Assad's regime in Syria on Sunday and argued that it was a "direct result" of Israeli attacks on Iran and Hezbollah.
Netanyahu made the remarks in a public address shortly after news broke that Assad had fled Damascus on Saturday night with his family. Islamist rebels took over the city on Sunday. Netanyahu cautioned that the fall of the Assad regime is nevertheless "fraught with significant dangers."
"This is a historic day for the Middle East. The collapse of the Assad regime, the tyranny in Damascus, offers great opportunity but also is fraught with significant dangers. This collapse is the direct result of our forceful action against Hezbollah and Iran, Assad's main supporters. It set off a chain reaction of all those who want to free themselves from this tyranny and its oppression," Netanyahu said.
The Israeli leader also noted that the fall of the Syrian regime also prompted action by the Israel Defense Forces, who were forced to take positions abandoned by the Syrian Army near the border with Israel.
"But it also means that we have to take action against possible threats. One of them is the collapse of the Separation of Forces Agreement from 1974 between Israel and Syria. This agreement held for 50 years. Last night, it collapsed," he continued. "The Syrian army abandoned its positions. We gave the Israeli army the order to take over these positions to ensure that no hostile force embeds itself right next to the border of Israel. This is a temporary defensive position until a suitable arrangement is found."
Netanyahu closed by offering a "hand of peace" to people in Syria, including to "Muslims who want to live in peace with Israel."
"Equally, we send a hand of peace to all those beyond our border in Syria: to the Druze, to the Kurds, to the Christians, and to the Muslims who want to live in peace with Israel. We're going to follow events very carefully. If we can establish neighborly relations and peaceful relations with the new forces emerging in Syria, that's our desire. But if we do not, we will do whatever it takes to defend the State of Israel and the border of Israel," Netanyahu finished.
President-elect Trump reacted Sunday morning to the news that Syrian dictator Bashar Assad had fled Syria after rebels stormed the capital city of Damascus.
"Assad is gone," Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social. "He has fled his country. His protector, Russia, Russia, Russia, led by Vladimir Putin, was not interested in protecting him any longer. There was no reason for Russia to be there in the first place. They lost all interest in Syria because of Ukraine, where close to 600,000 Russian soldiers lay wounded or dead, in a war that should never have started, and could go on forever."
"Russia and Iran are in a weakened state right now, one because of Ukraine and a bad economy, the other because of Israel and its fighting success," his post continued. "Likewise, Zelenskyy and Ukraine would like to make a deal and stop the madness. They have ridiculously lost 400,000 soldiers, and many more civilians. There should be an immediate ceasefire and negotiations should begin."
Trump added: "Too many lives are being so needlessly wasted, too many families destroyed, and if it keeps going, it can turn into something much bigger, and far worse. I know Vladimir well. This is his time to act. China can help. The World is waiting!"
Assad, who used chemical weapons multiple times on his population, and his British-born wife, Asma al-Assad, fled with their three children, according to Syrian television reports, although it was not known where they were headed.
A video statement from a group of men on Syrian state TV said that Assad had been overthrown and that all prisoners had been released.
The man who read a statement said the Operations Room to Conquer Damascus is calling on all opposition fighters and citizens to preserve state institutions of "the free Syrian state."
"Long live the free Syrian state that is to all Syrians and all" their sects and ethnic groups, the statement said.
Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali said early Sunday he did not know where Assad was.
Crowds of Syrians gathered in the central squares of Damascus to celebrate Assad's departure.
Syria has been embroiled in a bloody, nearly 14-year civil war as Islamist rebels sought to overthrow Assad and end more than 50 years of Assad family rule over the Syrian Arabian Republic.
President-elect Trump says he had a "very productive meeting" with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at his Mar-a-Lago club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Friday.
Trudeau jetted into Mar-a-Lago unannounced on Friday just days after Trump threatened to impose sweeping tariffs on Canadian products. Trump is threatening to impose 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico over failures by both nations to curb the flow of illegal immigrants and illicit drugs from those countries into the U.S.
"We discussed many important topics that will require both countries to work together to address, like the fentanyl and drug crisis that has decimated so many lives as a result of illegal immigration, fair trade deals that do not jeopardize American workers and the massive trade deficit the U.S. has with Canada," Trump wrote on Truth Social Saturday.
"I made it very clear that the United States will no longer sit idly by as our citizens become victims to the scourge of this drug epidemic, caused mainly by the drug cartels, and fentanyl pouring in from China. Too much death and hardship!"
Trump wrote that Trudeau, who has been serving as prime minister of Canada since 2015, made a commitment to work with the U.S. to "end this terrible devastation of U.S. families."
U.S. customs agents seized 43 pounds of fentanyl at the Canadian border last fiscal year, compared with 21,100 pounds at the Mexican border. On immigration, Border Patrol made 56,530 arrests at the Mexican border in October alone and 23,721 arrests at the Canadian border between October 2023 and September 2024 — and Canadian officials say they are ready to make new investments in border security.
Trump said the pair also spoke about many other important topics, including energy, trade and the Arctic, although he did not go into further detail.
"All are vital issues that I will be addressing on my first days back in office, and before," Trump concluded, without saying whether tariffs were still on or off the table.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, after speaking with Trump on the telephone, said Thursday she was confident a tariff war with Washington would be averted.
Sen.-elect Dave McCormick, R-Pa., posted a picture to X late Friday showing him at a Mar-a-Lago dinner table along with President-elect Trump, Trudeau, and Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick, among others. The ritzy club has been a hive of activity since President-elect Trump’s historic election win over Vice President Harris earlier this month as the 45th president co-ordinates his transition back to the Oval Office.
Tech billionaires Elon Musk and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg have also met Trump at the famous location, along with many of those nominated for top roles in the incoming administration. Trump selected Musk to lead an outside advisory panel known as the "Department of Government Efficiency" to slash waste in the federal government.
As he was leaving his West Palm Beach hotel, Trudeau stopped briefly to answer a reporter’s question about the dinner meeting, saying it had been "an excellent conversation."
An official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said it had been a "positive, wide-ranging dinner that lasted three hours."
The official said other topics included defense, Ukraine, NATO, China, the Middle East and pipelines, as well as the Group of Seven meeting in Canada next year.
Fox News’ Louis Casiano and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Two companies have severed ties with UFC fighter Conor McGregor after an Irish court found him liable for assault following a sexual encounter with a woman who accused him of sexually assaulting her in 2018.
Proximo Spirits, the owner of Irish whiskey brand Proper No. 12, which McGregor became the face of, told the Irish Independent in a statement on Tuesday that it will no longer use McGregor’s name or likeness following last week’s ruling.
"Since 2021, Proximo Spirits has been the 100pc owner of Proper No 12 Irish Whiskey," the statement read. "Going forward, we do not plan to use Mr McGregor’s name and likeness in the marketing of the brand."
According to ESPN, McGregor helped found the company in 2018 but sold his stake in 2021.
IO Interactive, a video game developer, also announced in a statement on social media that it would no longer collaborate with McGregor in their game "Hitman."
"In light of the recent court ruling regarding Conor McGregor, IO Interactive has made the decision to cease its collaboration with the athlete, effective immediately," the statement posted to X on Monday read.
"We take this matter very seriously and cannot ignore its implications. Consequently, we will begin removing all content featuring Mr. McGregor from our storefronts starting today."
McGregor, 35, was ordered to pay Nikita Hand nearly $257,000 by a civil court jury in Dublin last week after being found liable for assault stemming from an encounter on Dec. 9, 2018. Hand alleged that McGregor had "brutally raped and battered" her, but McGregor does not face any criminal charges related to the case.
McGregor has staunchly denied the allegations of sexual assault. He testified that he never forced the woman to do anything against her will and said she fabricated the allegations after the two had consensual sex.
An effort by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., to block certain U.S. weapons sales to Israel was overwhelmingly rejected by the U.S. Senate Wednesday evening.
Sanders' joint resolution of disapproval, which was supported by Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md.; Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore.; and Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., intended to stop the White House's latest arms sales to the Israeli military. An effort to block the sales of tank rounds to Israel was voted down 79-18, and a measure intending to block mortar round shipments was rejected 78-19.
Speaking on the Senate floor, Sanders claimed the Israeli government is controlled "not only by right-wing extremists, but by religious zealots."
"It is time to tell the Netanyahu government that they cannot use U.S. taxpayer dollars and American weapons in violation of U.S. and international law and our moral values despite receiving $18 billion from U.S. taxpayers in the last year," Sanders said.
"And being the largest historical recipient of U.S. foreign aid, the Netanyahu government has completely ignored the repeated requests of President Biden and the U.S. government."
The 83-year-old politician also decried living conditions in Gaza during his speech.
"Right now, there is raw sewage running through the streets of Gaza, and it is very difficult for the people there to obtain clean drinking water," Sanders said. "Every one of Gaza's 12 universities has been bombed … as have many hundreds of schools. For 13 months, there has been no electricity in Gaza.
"As I have said many, many times, Israel had the absolute right to respond to that horrific Hamas attack as any other country would," Sanders concluded. "I don't think anybody here in the United States Senate disagrees with that. But Prime Minister Netanyahu's extremist government has not simply waged war against Hamas. It has waged an all-out war against the Palestinian people."
Despite the vote, Sanders' effort was not wholly unpopular. Earlier this week, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., signaled support for the Vermont Independent's proposal.
"The failure by the Biden administration to follow U.S. law and to suspend arms shipments is a grave mistake that undermines American credibility worldwide," Warren said in a statement to The Guardian.
"If this administration will not act, Congress must step up to enforce U.S. law and hold the Netanyahu government accountable through a joint resolution of disapproval."
Fox News Digital's Jessica Sonkin and Alec Schemmel contributed to this report.
