National Security Advisor Mike Waltz said Ukraine needs to "tone down" its criticism of President Donald Trump and its leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy needs to "come back to the table" to work out an economic deal with the U.S.

Waltz spoke on "Fox & Friends" a day after Zelenskyy suggested Trump is in a "disinformation space" regarding peace talks with Russia. Trump responded by calling Zelenskyy "A Dictator without Elections," writing in a Truth Social post that "Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left." 

"Why we are getting this pushback and certainly this kind of – as the vice president said, badmouthing in the press -- for all the administration has done in his first term as well and all the United States has done for Ukraine is just unacceptable. They need to tone it down and take a hard look and sign that deal," Waltz said about Ukraine on Thursday. 

He later told reporters at the White House Press Briefing that Zelenskyy "needs to come back to the table, and we're going to continue to have discussions about where that deal is going."

TRUMP CALLS UKRAINE’S ZELENSKYY A ‘DICTATOR WITHOUT ELECTIONS’ AS RIFT WIDENS 

The United States has sent billions of dollars in military aid to Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion nearly three years ago.  

The Trump administration is now seeking to recoup the cost of aid sent to the war-torn country by gaining access to rare earth minerals like titanium, iron and uranium. 

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent gave Zelenskyy a document when they met last week that reportedly proposed the United States being granted 50% ownership of Ukraine’s rare earth minerals. However, Zelenskyy declined to sign the proposed agreement, telling the Associated Press in Munich that it didn't provide enough security guarantees for his country. 

Waltz said Thursday that "the president thinks this is an opportunity for Ukraine going forward" and that "There can be, in my view, nothing better for Ukraine's future and for their security than to have the United States invested in their prosperity long term."

REPUBLICAN SENATORS BACK TRUMP’S DEMAND FOR UKRAINE ELECTIONS, BUT WON’T CALL ZELENSKYY ‘DICTATOR’ 

Zelenskyy said Thursday that he had a "productive meeting" with Keith Kellogg, the U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Russia and Ukraine, in Kyiv.

"I am grateful to the United States for all the assistance and bipartisan support for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people," Zelenskyy wrote on X, adding that "We had a detailed conversation about the battlefield situation, how to return our prisoners of war, and effective security guarantees."

Waltz said a "key part" of Kellogg's conversation with Zelenskyy on Thursday was "helping President Zelensky understand this war needs to come to an end."

He added that it isn't in America's interest for "this war to grind on forever and ever."

"This kind of open-ended mantra that we've had under the Biden administration, that's over. And I think a lot of people are having a hard time accepting that," Waltz also said.

Waltz, speaking earlier on "Fox & Friends" about recent comments Trump and Zelenskyy have made about each other, said "There is obviously a lot of frustration here.

"Vice President Vance was very frustrated leaving [last week’s] Munich Security Conference. Our Secretary of Treasury who traveled all the way to Kyiv is also frustrated, all on top of the president, obviously, who makes his frustration well known and that is because we presented the Ukrainians really an incredible and historic opportunity to have the United States of America co-invest in Ukraine, invest in its economy, invest in its natural resources, and really become a partner in Ukraine’s future in a way that is sustainable, but also would be I think the best security guarantee they could ever hope for, much more than another pallet of ammunition." 

"The president also said how much he loves the Ukrainian people," Waltz said Thursday. "He was the first to arm them back in his first term, we have done a lot for the security of Ukraine and to say that we are going to change the nature of our aid going forward, I don’t think should offend anyone." 

Fox News’ Ashley Carnahan contributed to this report. 

Nearly one year past the expiration of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's first five-year term, the U.S. and Russia are in agreement that Ukrainians must go to the polls and decide whether to keep their head of state. 

Russia has insisted it will not sign a peace agreement until Ukraine agrees to hold elections, and the U.S. is now "floating" the idea of a three-stage plan: ceasefire, then Ukrainian elections, then inking of a peace deal. 

Zelenskyy’s term in office was supposed to end last May, with elections originally slated for April 2024. But the president's aides have said elections will not be held until six months after the end of martial law. The Ukrainian constitution prohibits holding elections under martial law. 

With his popularity having plummeted nearly 40% since the war's outbreak, Zelenskyy's future could be in jeopardy if peace is reached and elections are triggered. 

US, RUSSIAN OFFICIALS PROPOSE PEACE PLAN, LAY 'GROUNDWORK FOR COOPERATION' IN RIYADH

Earlier this month, Trump’s envoy for Russia and Ukraine Keith Kellogg said Washington wants Kyiv to hold elections, possibly by the end of the year, as soon as a peace deal is brokered. 

Zelenskyy shot back that Ukrainians were alarmed by such statements.

"It is very important for Kellogg to come to Ukraine. Then he would understand the people and all our circumstances," Zelenskyy said, in comments to The Guardian. 

Other U.S. politicians called for Ukraine to have its elections on schedule last year. 

AMERICAN DETAINED IN RUSSIA RELEASED AS OFFICIALS WORK TO SET UP POTENTIAL TRUMP-PUTIN MEETING

Ukraine advocates say post-war elections would be a far better option, but elections offer Russia an opportunity to sow chaos. 

"The only person that benefits from elections before there's a durable peace deal is Putin," said Andrew D’Anieri, fellow at the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center. "The Kremlin loves elections, not in their own country, but elsewhere, because it provides an opportunity to destabilize things."

Ukraine’s former President Petro Poroshenko also claimed that Ukrainian authorities would have an election before the end of the year. "Write it down – Oct. 26 this year," he said in a recent interview. 

But Davyd Arakhamia, the parliamentary leader of Zelenskyy's Servant of the People party, denied Poroshenko’s claim in a Telegram post. 

"During martial law, elections are impossible to hold [...] The leaders of all parties have agreed that elections will not be held until at least six months after the end of martial law," Arakhamia said.

Poroshenko, Ukraine’s president from 2014 to 2019 who amassed his fortunes in the confectionary business, lost out to Zelenskyy in his bid for a second term. Seen as a possible contender for a rematch, Poroshenko previously opposed holding elections before the war’s conclusion, arguing Putin would use propaganda to undermine them. 

But some have begun to question whether Zelenskyy could survive a re-election campaign. 

Zelenskyy saw approval rates soar to 90% at the onset of the war in 2022, but took a dip to around 50%, according to a Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) poll of 2,000 respondents in December. 

"Zelenskyy's prospects to win the elections are contingent upon the exact terms of the ceasefire, namely, the public perception of them as a ‘victory,’ ‘honorable draw’ or ‘defeat,’" said Ivan Gomza, public policy professor at the Kyiv School of Economics. "The cessation of hostilities are hardly plausible in 2025. Moreover, elections require preparations… elections are very unlikely until at least 2026. 

"Zelensky is unlikely to win the elections, if they were to be held in Ukraine, because his popularity dropped significantly at the end of 2024," said Russian-born U.S. intelligence expert Rebekah Koffler. "Ukrainians are exhausted by the war and many have come to the realization that it’s unwinnable for Ukraine." 

"The Russians, in turn, will almost certainly run clandestine operations to influence the elections in order to elect a pro-Russian candidate," Koffler added. 

Zelenskyy has also lost his main benefactor from the first election, Ihor Kolomoyski, who was indicted in both the U.S. and Ukraine on charges of money laundering and bank fraud. 

Zelenskyy’s main opponent is expected to be Valerii Zaluzhnyi, a four-star general and the current ambassador to the United Kingdom. Zelenskyy fired Zaluzhnyi as head of the armed forces last year in a major – and politically unpopular – shakeup. Zaluzhny had claimed the war with Russia had reached a stalemate in late 2023. 

PUTIN VIEWED AS ‘GREAT COMPETITOR’ BUT STILL A US ‘ADVERSARY’ AS UKRAINE NEGOTIATIONS LOOM, LEAVITT SAYS

Russia, though it insists on elections as part of negotiations, is not likely to win a more favorable, pro-Russia Ukrainian government in any outcome of an election.

"All the frontrunners in the election will be pro-Western, pro-European candidates who want to defend the country against Russia and probably agree on most matters, including on foreign affairs and defense, but have their own kind of domestic political issues where they differ," said D’Anieri. 

"The only people that come anywhere close to Zelenskyy in the polls are people like General Zaluzhnyi, with really established, patriotic credentials in Ukraine," said Henry Hale, professor at George Washington University who specializes in public opinion in Ukraine. "Any of the pro-Russian forces don't really have much standing there." 

Zelenskyy banned 11 political parties over ties to Russia in 2022. Many of the nation's pro-Russia lawmakers have fled over the border – and four MPs were stripped of their Ukrainian citizenship over ties to Russia in 2023. 

Some lawmakers who belonged to the outlawed political groups simply switched party affiliations. And faced with a dwindling coalition without elections to replace members of parliament who switch jobs or join the military, Zelenskyy has since been forced to rely on members of parliament who were previously part of the now-banned pro-Russia parties for votes. 

Hale predicted that if an election were held before a peace deal had been inked, it would boost Zelenskyy’s chances of re-election. 

"Even though there are a lot of people in Ukraine who don't think that he's done the best job managing the war effort, there's still a very strong push in the population to rally support around him as the symbol of the resistance.

"A lot of people who are actually critical of him would still vote for him, just so as not to risk changing horses in midstream," Hale went on. "If you get a peace deal, it has credible security guarantees in it, then, yeah, afterwards they have elections, and you might see some real strong competition. 

"And I think at that point it becomes a very open question whether or not Zelenskyy would win." 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Saudi Arabian officials Monday ahead of planned talks in the country between United States diplomats and their Russian counterparts meant to negotiate an end to the Ukraine war. 

Rubio was joined by U.S. National Security Advisor Michael Waltz and Steve Witkoff, the U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, in a meeting with Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman at his palace in the capital city of Riyadh. Rubio also met with Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan al-Saud earlier Monday after traveling to Riyadh from Israel during his first trip to the Middle East as secretary of state.

Talks are scheduled for Tuesday in Saudi Arabia between the U.S. and Russia. Ukrainian officials are notably expected to be absent from the negotiating table. 

Rubio, Waltz and Witkoff will meet the Russian delegation, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said.

NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR SAYS PUTIN, ZELENSKYY AGREE 'ONLY PRESIDENT TRUMP COULD GET THEM TO THE TABLE'

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Putin's foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov set off for the Saudi capital on Monday, according to Russian state TV.  

Addressing reporters in Moscow on Monday, Lavrov said he looked forward to putting an "absolutely abnormal period" of estrangement between the U.S. and Russia behind them, according to the Washington Post. 

"We want to listen to our partners," Lavrov reportedly said. 

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the talks will be primarily focused on "restoring the entire range of U.S.-Russian relations, as well as preparing possible talks on the Ukrainian settlement and organizing a meeting of the two presidents." 

Bruce said the meeting is aimed at determining how serious the Russians are about wanting peace and whether detailed negotiations can be started.

"I think the goal, obviously, for everyone is to determine if this is something that can move forward," she told reporters traveling with Rubio in Riyadh, according to the Associated Press.

Bruce said that even though Ukraine would not be at the table for Tuesday’s talks, actual peace negotiations would only take place with Ukraine’s involvement. 

Tuesday's talks are expected to lay the groundwork for the summit between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump said he spoke to Putin on the phone last week and they "agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately." The call upended years of U.S. policy, ending the isolation of Moscow over its Feb. 24, 2022, invasion of Ukraine. Trump phoned Zelenskyy afterward to inform him about their conversation.

Trump on Sunday told reporters that Zelenskyy "will be involved" but did not elaborate. 

ZELENSKYY NOT YET SIGNING US ECONOMIC AGREEMENT 'SHORT-SIGHTED,' WHITE HOUSE OFFICIAL SAYS

Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron is convening an emergency meeting between the main European powers in Paris on Monday to discuss the Russia-Ukraine conflict. 

Speaking on Fox News’ "Sunday Morning Futures," Witkoff said he and Waltz will be "having meetings at the direction of the president," and hope to make "some really good progress with regard to Russia-Ukraine."

Witkoff didn’t directly respond to a question about whether Ukraine would have to give up a "significant portion" of its territory as part of any negotiated settlement. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said last week that NATO membership for Ukraine was unrealistic and suggested Kyiv should abandon hopes of winning all its territory back from Russia. 

The Ukrainian president said Monday his country had not been invited to the upcoming talks and won’t accept the outcome if Kyiv doesn’t take part. The U.S.-Russia talks would "yield no results," given the absence of any Ukrainian officials, Zelenskyy said on a conference call with journalists from the United Arab Emirates, according to the AP. Zelenskyy said he would travel to Turkey on Monday and to Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, but that his trip was unrelated to the U.S.-Russia talks.

In an appearance on "Fox News Sunday," Waltz rejected the notion that European allies are not being consulted on negotiating an end to the Russia-Ukraine war, noting how Rubio, Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent spent last week in Europe meeting with allies. Bessent, in particular, traveled to Kyiv, while Vance met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. 

Waltz said one of the key tenants in negotiating a peace deal would be ensuring "a permanent end to the war," describing how the conflict has devolved "into a World War I-style meat grinder of human beings." He said long-term military security guarantees have to be European-led, criticizing how a third of NATO countries are not contributing what they agreed upon a decade ago. 

As for the billions in U.S. aid sent to Ukraine during the Biden administration, Waltz said the American people "deserve to be recouped, deserve to have some type of payback for the billions they have invested in this war." 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

FIRST ON FOX: Europe must reinstate harsh United Nations sanctions on Iran, U.S. lawmakers insisted in a new resolution that accused Tehran of repeated violations of the 2015 nuclear deal brokered by the Obama administration.  

The bipartisan legislation calls on the U.K., France and Germany to invoke "snapback" sanctions on Iran through the UN Security Council immediately – and follow the U.S.’s lead under President Donald Trump’s "maximum pressure" executive order to isolate Iran over its nuclear activity. 

"Iran is the leading state sponsor of terrorism, and their actions have led to the murder of American servicemembers," said Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., the number two Republican on Senate Foreign Relations Committee and lead sponsor of the bill, which has 11 cosponsors in the Senate. 

"Iran’s possession of a nuclear weapon would threaten our security and the security of our allies. Snapback sanctions are key to ensuring that President Trump’s maximum pressure campaign is successful." 

IRAN'S COVERT NUCLEAR AGENCY FOUND OPERATING OUT OF TOP SPACE PROGRAM LAUNCH SITES

Reps. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., and Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., issued companion legislation in the House. 

Under the 2015 Iran deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran evaded U.N., U.S. and E.U. sanctions in exchange for promises not to pursue a nuclear weapon. But Iran eventually cut off independent inspectors' access to its sites and resumed nuclear activities. 

A "snapback" provision of the agreement said that any of the nations privy to the deal – China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, U.S. or Germany – could demand the export controls, travel bans and asset freezes be reimposed. 

But the U.S. pulled out of the nuclear deal entirely under President Donald Trump’s first administration and imposed its own "maximum pressure" sanctions regime. The Biden administration subsequently issued sanctions waivers and toyed with the idea of returning to a nuclear deal with Iran, but ultimately those efforts faltered.

Tenney urged the European nations to invoke the snapback sanctions before the deal expires in October 2025. 

"Invoking snapback sanctions will restore all the UN sanctions on Iran that were lifted by the Obama administration’s failed Iran nuclear deal," she said. 

Iran is "dramatically" accelerating enrichment of uranium to up to 60% purity, below the 90% needed for a nuclear weapon, according to U.N. nuclear watchdog Rafael Grossi. Western states have said there is no civilian use for 60% uranium. 

TRUMP REINSTATES ‘MAXIMUM PRESSURE’ CAMPAIGN AGAINST IRAN

Britain, France and Germany told the U.N. Security Council in December they were ready to trigger the snapback of all international sanctions on Iran if necessary. 

Trump himself said he was "torn" over a recent executive order that triggered harsh sanctions on Iran’s oil sector, adding that he was "unhappy to do it."

"Hopefully, we're not going to have to use it very much," Trump told reporters.

But he reiterated, "We're not going to let them get a nuclear weapon."

Trump suggested first trying a "verified nuclear peace agreement" over military escalation. "I would much rather do a deal that’s not gonna hurt them," the president told Fox News on Monday, adding that "I’d love to make a deal with them without bombing them."

Iran viewed the president’s remarks as a threat and took negotiations off the table. 

​​"No problem will be solved by negotiating with America," said Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khameni, citing past "experience." 

He called for the country to further develop its military capabilities. 

"We cannot be satisfied," Khamenei said. "Say that we previously set a limit for the accuracy of our missiles, but we now feel this limit is no longer enough. We have to go forward."

"Today, our defensive power is well known, our enemies are afraid of this. This is very important for our country," he said.

Russian missiles struck Kyiv in the early hours of Wednesday, killing at least one civilian, Ukrainian officials said. 

The barrage of ballistic missiles hit hours before Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent visited the Ukrainian capital, the first Cabinet-level Trump official to do so, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy aide Andriy Yermak wrote on Telegram. 

Bessent is visiting the city to meet with Zelenskyy and discuss President Donald Trump's demand for access to $500 billion worth of rare Earth minerals as payment for U.S. military aid to Ukraine. He is also expected to talk about energy, having promised to ramp up sanctions on Russia’s oil sector. 

JD VANCE, TREASURY SEC SCOTT BESSENT TO MEET WITH ZELENSKYY AS TRUMP TEAM SETS SIGHTS ON RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR

Zelenskyy said the recent attack proved Russian President Vladimir Putin is not interested in pursuing peace. 

Reporters from the French newswire AFP heard explosions ring out early Wednesday before discovering the body of one person killed, covered with a black plastic sheet. Zelenskyy said at least one person was killed, and four others were wounded – including a child. He said the attack damaged apartments and office buildings.

Russia's defense ministry claimed it had conducted a "group missile strike" on Ukrainian sites producing drones and added that all targets were hit. 

Trump’s special envoy to Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, is expected to visit Kyiv next week as he hashes out a plan for peace with Russia. 

‘LET’S DO A DEAL’: ZELENSKYY CALLS TRUMP’S TERMS ACCEPTABLE FOR SECURITY PARTNERSHIP

Kellogg, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth are all traveling to Europe for the Munich Security Conference this week, when they will discuss peace options with Ukrainian and European officials.

In the region north of Kyiv, Chernihiv, local Gov. Vyacheslav Chaus said Russians had targeted critical infrastructure and at least two were wounded. 

The Ukrainian air force said it shot down six missiles and 71 of 123 drones, which included Iranian-designed Shahed attack vehicles.

Egypt announced on Sunday it will host a summit of Arab leaders on Feb. 27 to discuss the future of the Gaza Strip after President Donald Trump signaled he wants the U.S. to own it. 

Trump’s stunning declaration, made last week after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and reiterated over the weekend, rankled key U.S. allies in the Middle East, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. 

Egypt’s foreign ministry said the meeting in Cairo would include discussions on "the state of Palestine that asked to hold the summit in order to discuss new and dangerous developments for the Palestinian cause."

Gaza’s Arab neighbors also dismissed Trump’s calls for them to take in the 1.8 million Palestinians still living in the Strip. 

TRUMP'S GAZA 'TAKEOVER' RANKLES AMERICA FIRST CONSERVATIVES, ALLIES SUGGEST NEGOTIATOR-IN-CHIEF IS AT WORK

While many of Trump’s allies surmised the bold suggestion was a negotiating tactic, Trump reasserted to reporters Sunday night as he was leaving the Super Bowl that he was committed to "buying and owning" Gaza. 

"I'm committed to buying and owning Gaza. As far as us rebuilding it, we may give it to other states in the Middle East to build sections of it. Other people may do it through our auspices. But we're committed to owning it, taking it, and making sure that Hamas doesn't move back," he said. 

"There's nothing to move back in to. The place is a demolition site... The remainder will be demolished," he added. "But we'll make it into a very good site for future development by somebody."

The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, agreed to in January and partially brokered by Trump's team, calls for a three- to five-year reconstruction phase, but Trump officials now insist it will take more like 10 to 15 years to rebuild the 139-square-mile territory that has been leveled by Israel’s offensive against Hamas.

Trump insisted Palestinians do not want to go back to Gaza.

"We're going to make sure they live beautifully and in harmony and peace and that they're not murdered," he said. "They don't want to go back to Gaza. They only go back because they have no alternative."

TRUMP REMAINS COMMITTED TO US OWNING GAZA, SAYS MIDDLE EAST STATES COULD HELP REBUILD WAR-TORN AREA

Jordan’s King Abdullah II is due to meet with Trump at the White House on Tuesday, and Trump is expected to hold talks with Egyptian President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the coming days.

The Palestinian terror group Hamas on Sunday called Trump’s latest comments "absurd." 

"Gaza is not a property that can be bought and sold, and it is an integral part of our occupied Palestinian land," Izzat al-Risheq, a member of the Hamas political bureau, wrote on Telegram. 

"Dealing with the Palestinian issue with the mentality of a real estate dealer is a recipe for failure," al-Risheq added.

ARAB AMERICANS FOR TRUMP GROUP CHANGES NAME AFTER PRESIDENT'S GAZA TAKEOVER PROPOSAL

"Our Palestinian people will thwart all displacement and deportation plans. Gaza belongs to its people."

Also on Sunday, Israel began withdrawing from the Netzarim corridor in Gaza as Palestinians return to their homes there – both sides honoring a tenuous ceasefire that is expected to return home Israel's remaining hostages. 

However, negotiations for the mid- and long-term future are ongoing. Hamas wants all Israeli troops out of Gaza, while Israel wants Hamas eliminated. 

Last week, White House national security adviser Mike Waltz suggested Trump's comments would turn up the heat on the Middle East to find its own solutions. 

"I think it's going to bring the entire region to come with their own solutions," Waltz mused about the comments on CBS on Wednesday.

Waltz went on, adding, "He's not seeing any realistic solutions on how those miles and miles and miles of debris are going to be clear, how those essentially unexploded bombs are going to be removed, how these people are physically going to live there for at least a decade, if not longer, it's going to take to do this." 

• It's never pleasant, but it happens sometimes: You find yourself in conflict with someone at work.
• How do you best address it?
• Experts shared with BI their tips for tactfully handling disagreements with coworkers.

It's an uncomfortable situation: having a conflict at work.

How do you handle it?

There's not always an easy solution, but there are steps you can take to try to defuse difficult situations.

When emotions are running high, remember to "take a deep breath and pause for a moment," says Lisa Richey of The American Academy of Etiquette.

"So many of us are so quick to react," she told BI. "Take time to understand why the other person may be bringing up a particular issue. The only thing that we can control is the way we react to it in the moment. You have to be fully responsible for yourself."

It can also be a good idea to keep your discussions out of earshot or view of people not involved in the situation.

"Address it later, one-on-one with the person," Richey said. "Do not get into these heated conversations and battles within the conference room as a group."

Arden Clise of Clise Etiquette also emphasized having a "calm, respectful conversation."

Consider sticking with "I" statements, which express your perspective or feelings about something, versus "you" statements, which can carry an accusatory or combative intonation — and if you're at fault for something, apologize.

John Eliot, organizational psychology professor at Texas A&M University, writes in his forthcoming book "How to Get Along With Anyone" that many people fall into one of five personality styles regarding how they behave in conflicts.

"If you take a few minutes to really understand yourself, then you're equipped to know what types of office conflict you'll naturally be good at and what you'll struggle at, and that's half the battle," he said. "The other half of the battle is take some time to figure out the style of the people you're working with."

In a conflict, Eliot suggests considering the other person's conflict style and what it is they're looking for.

"We don't have to agree, we don't have to solve the problem, we don't even have to have the same opinions on things," he said. "But if I know one or two things they're looking for, I can brainstorm a way to give them one of those things so that we can diffuse emotion. Once the emotion is diffused, then you can get back to having a more rational conversation with one another."

Practicing active listening in a disagreement can help "bring people together even if we disagree," says Eliot.

"We all have a need to feel heard and feel understood," he said. "Make sure you're understanding what they're saying and then feed some of that back a little bit. That's an active way to let them know, 'This person really is listening to me.'"

If an argument is getting heated, try setting a calmer tone yourself, and the other person may follow, Eliot said.

Simply slowing down the pace of your discussion can also help defuse tensions.

"Just taking a second to slow down in the way you talk, that will slow down an interaction," says Eliot. "In basketball, we take a 30-second timeout with our kids, and it brings emotions down. If what you are going to say would normally take you two seconds, and you take 15 seconds instead of two, then you're infusing the spirit of a timeout into a conversation."

And sometimes, there's no satisfactory win-win or compromise to a conflict at work. In those cases, sometimes you just have to pick your battles. Because at the end of the day, they'll still be your coworkers tomorrow.

So if being the bigger person means you have to lose the battle (but hopefully win the war of working together harmoniously longterm), "just remember that we are working together," says Clise.

"We need to maintain good relationships with the people we are working with."

President Donald Trump’s comments about the U.S. "taking over" Gaza sent shock waves through Washington – but allies suggest the negotiator-in-chief is using the suggestion as a tactic to apply pressure on the region and find workable solutions to the Israel-Palestinian conflict. 

"The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it, too," Trump said Tuesday in remarks that set off a media firestorm. "We'll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous, unexplored bombs and other weapons on the site."

He suggested that Palestinians be cleared out of Gaza and taken in by neighboring nations like Egypt and Jordan – an idea Arab leaders have roundly rejected. 

Trump's proposal would be a momentous departure from current policy – and run afoul with America First conservatives who want to see the U.S. less involved in the Middle East, not more. 

ARAB AMERICANS FOR TRUMP GROUP CHANGES NAME AFTER PRESIDENT'S GAZA TAKEOVER PROPOSAL

"I thought we voted for America First," Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., wrote back to the president’s suggestion on X. "We have no business contemplating yet another occupation to doom our treasure and spill our soldiers’ blood."

The idea of a U.S. takeover of Gaza originated with Trump himself, who questioned why Palestinians would want to live among the rubble, and was not formally mapped out by his aides before he announced it next to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House.

Sources told the New York Times that Trump had been toying with the suggestion for weeks, and his thinking was reaffirmed when Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff returned from Gaza and described the dismal conditions there. 

ISRAELI DEFENSE MINISTER ORDERS IDF TO PLAN FOR GAZANS TO LEAVE IN LINE WITH TRUMP'S CONTROVERSIAL PROPOSAL

Taking over ownership of Gaza would suggest U.S. forces on the ground to ensure security – and require Congress to get on board with appropriating funds to rebuild the territory. 

Trump explained his idea further in a Truth Social post Thursday morning. 

"The Gaza Strip would be turned over to the United States by Israel at the conclusion of fighting. The Palestinians, people like Chuck Schumer, would have already been resettled in far safer and more beautiful communities, with new and modern homes, in the region," he wrote, calling out the Senate's Jewish Democratic leader. 

"They would actually have a chance to be happy, safe, and free. The U.S., working with great development teams from all over the World, would slowly and carefully begin the construction of what would become one of the greatest and most spectacular developments of its kind on Earth. No soldiers by the U.S. would be needed! Stability for the region would reign!!!"

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also sought to quiet fears from the briefing podium. 

"I would reject the premise of your question that this forces the United States to be entangled in conflicts abroad," she told a reporter on Wednesday. "The president has not committed to putting boots on the ground in Gaza. He has also said that the United States is not going to pay for the rebuilding of Gaza."

"This is an out-of-the-box idea. That's who President Trump is. That's why the American people elected him. And his goal is lasting peace in the Middle East for all people in the region."

Sen. John Fetterman, a Pennsylvania Democrat who typically finds little common cause with Trump, told Puck News his idea is a "provocative" way to "to kind of shake things up and to start a very more honest conversation of Gaza."

"Trump is speaking the language of the Middle East," Simone Ledeen, deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East during Trump's first term, told Fox News Digital. 

"Middle East negotiations, they often happen in public, and public posturing is kind of part of the process. This is not President Trump's messaging to the U.S., he is messaging to the Middle East… [that] the paradigm has failed, and so we need new ideas."

"I think it's going to bring the entire region to come with their own solutions," national security advisor Mike Waltz mused about the comments on CBS on Wednesday.

Waltz went on: "He's not seeing any realistic solutions on how those miles and miles and miles of debris are going to be clear, how those essentially unexploded bombs are going to be removed, how these people are physically going to live there for at least a decade, if not longer, it's going to take to do this." 

More than 46,000 Palestinians had been killed in the war between Israel and Hamas, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry as of last month. Nearly 2 million have been displaced from their homes. 

TRUMP SAYS US WILL ‘TAKE OVER’ GAZA STRIP, REBUILD IT TO STABILIZE MIDDLE EAST

An Israeli official suggested that Trump’s idea may not actually be met with opposition by Gaza’s neighbors. 

"Egypt and Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates that in the end of the day are threatened by Hamas would not shed a tear to see that the United States is actually taking control over the Gaza strip, because they don't really want to do that," Avi Melamed, a former Israeli intelligence official and Arab affairs adviser for Jerusalem, told Fox News Digital. 

"They will not, of course, express formally, because it will be breaking the cause of unity in the Arab world." 

"Trump is being presented right now a construct of a ceasefire deal that is headed for a train wreck," said Rich Goldberg, president of Foundation for Defense of Democracies, adding that there is a "fundamental disconnect" between what Israelis will accept and what Hamas will accept. 

"So he’s moving the Overton window, changing the strategic paradigm."

Goldberg said the first priority was convincing other Muslim nations in the region to take in Palestinians. 

"The Egyptians and the Jordanians should be honest with the world. We don't want the Gaza population. We're afraid of the Gaza population. We think they may be radicalized. We think they might bring down our government. Or we don't want to give up the political weapon against Israel." He suggested Trump could leverage U.S. relationships with Middle Eastern countries – offering those who accept Palestinians major-non-NATO status and threatening to revoke such a status for countries who don’t. "The status itself is gravitized in the world." 

President Donald Trump suggested Ukraine begin offering critical minerals to the U.S. in exchange for military aid, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy seemingly welcomed the idea. 

"We’re putting in hundreds of billions of dollars. They have great rare earths. And I want security of the rare earth, and they’re willing to do (that)," Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday, in a sign that he may be open to continuing aid to the war-ravaged country. 

Zelenskyy told reporters Tuesday that Ukraine was open to an "investment" from "partners who help us defend our land and push the enemy back with their weapons, their presence, and sanctions packages." 

"And this is absolutely fair," he added. 

ZELENSKYY WARNS PEACE TALKS WITHOUT UKRAINE 'DANGEROUS' AFTER TRUMP CLAIMS MEETINGS WITH RUSSIA 'GOING WELL'

Zelenskyy had been trying to develop the untapped resources, offering tax breaks and investment rights to outside entities looking to mine the minerals in 2021, before the start of the war. The Ukrainian leader pitched the mining of such minerals as part of the victory plan he drew up last year and pitched to U.S. lawmakers. 

Ukraine has strategic reserves of titanium, lithium, graphite and uranium, but much of its critical minerals are in areas currently under occupation by Russia. Donetsk, Luhansk and Dnipropetrovsk are all some of the most mineral-rich regions, meaning Ukraine would need to take back territory to get them out. 

Zelenskyy revealed Ukrainian leaders have had contact with U.S. officials, including Keith Kellogg, the U.S. special envoy for Ukraine and Russia, and are nailing down a time for them to visit. 

ZELENSKYY PRAISES TRUMP FOR 'JUST AND FAIR' RHETORIC TOWARD RUSSIA: 'EXACTLY WHAT PUTIN IS AFRAID OF'

"We have working dates when the American team will come. The dates and composition are being coordinated right now. We are waiting for the team and will work together," Zelenskyy said.

Congress has approved around $175 billion in aid for Ukraine – consisting of military and economic assistance – since Russia’s invasion in February 2022.

Russia framed the Trump idea as proof the U.S. no longer wanted to give free aid to Ukraine – but suggested they’d rather the U.S. did not offer any aid to Ukraine. 

"If we call things as they are, this is a proposal to buy help — in other words, not to give it unconditionally, or for some other reasons, but specifically to provide it on a commercial basis," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters Tuesday.

"It would be better, of course, for the assistance to not be provided at all, as that would contribute to the end of this conflict," he added.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called Trump’s suggestion "very egotistic, very self-centered," and said Ukraine would need its resources to finance postwar rebuilding. 

China is by far the biggest producer of rare earth minerals, used in smartphones, electric vehicles, household appliances and even cancer drugs. It accounts for around 70% of global production.

U.S. and Philippine fighter aircraft staged a joint patrol and training Tuesday over a disputed South China Sea shoal where Chinese fighter jets fired flares last year to drive away a Philippine aircraft, Philippine officials said.

The joint patrol and air-intercept drills over the hotly disputed Scarborough Shoal off the northwestern Philippines were the first by the longtime treaty allies since President Donald Trump took office again.

It comes as the Trump administration has promised to deliver a foreign policy that centers on "America First." 

Two U.S. Air Force B-1 bomber aircraft and three Philippine Air Force FA-50 fighter jets joined the brief patrol and training, which involved practicing how to intercept a hostile aircraft, Philippine air force spokesperson Maria Consuelo Castillo said at a press conference. It was not immediately known if the joint patrol encountered any challenge from Chinese forces guarding the Scarborough Shoal.

'THIS IS ABOUT FENTANYL': TARIFFS ARE CRUCIAL TO COMBATING 'DRUG WAR,' TRUMP AND CABINET OFFICIALS SAY

"The exercises focused on enhancing operational coordination, improving air domain awareness and reinforcing agile combat employment capabilities between the two air forces," the Philippine Air Force said.

On Tuesday, the Chinese military's Southern Theater Command said its units would maintain a "high degree of alert, resolutely defend China's territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests, and control any military activities that disrupt the South China Sea," alleging the Philippines participated in joint patrols organized by other foreign countries to "undermine peace and stability in the South China Sea," according to Reuters. 

The Philippine Navy said at a press conference on Tuesday that it was "closely monitoring" three Chinese navy vessels within Manila's maritime zones, including a Jiangkai-class guided missile frigate.

"The presence of People's Liberation Army-Navy reflects the People's Republic of China's complete disregard for international law and undermines the peace and stability in the region," Philippine Navy spokesperson John Percie Alcos said, according to Reuters.  

In August last year, two Chinese air force aircraft flew close then fired flares in the path of a Philippine air force plane on routine patrol over the Scarborough Shoal in actions that were strongly condemned and protested by the Philippine government, military officials said. All those aboard the Philippine air force NC-212i turbo-prop transport plane were unharmed, the Philippine military said.

The Southern Theater Command of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army said then that a Philippine air force aircraft "illegally" entered the airspace above the shoal and disrupted training activities by Chinese forces. It warned the Philippines to "stop its infringement, provocation, distortion and hyping-up."

SECRETARY OF STATE RUBIO CONFIRMS BECOMING ACTING USAID CHIEF

The Philippine military chief, Gen. Romeo Brawner, said at the time that the incident "posed a threat to Philippine air force aircraft and its crew, interfered with lawful flight operations in airspace within Philippine sovereignty and jurisdiction and contravened international law and regulations governing safety of aviation."

China and the Philippines have had increasingly alarming face-offs in the shoal, which is called Bajo de Masinloc by the Philippines and Huangyan Island by China.

"We are always prepared for any contingency, it’s part of the training," Castillo said Tuesday when asked if the allied forces had prepared to address any challenge by Chinese aircraft.

"It already happened before and, as I have said, whatever the coercive, aggressive actions of any foreign party, the Philippine air force will not be deterred to perform its mandate," Castillo said.

The U.S. military has reported encountering such dangerous maneuvers by Chinese air force planes in the past over the disputed waters, where it has deployed fighter jets and navy ships to promote freedom of navigation and overflight.

China has bristled at U.S. military deployments in the disputed region, saying these have endangered regional security.

Aside from China and the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan have overlapping territorial claims in the busy sea passage, a key global trade and security route, but hostilities have particularly flared in the past two years between Chinese and Philippine coast guard and navy forces in the Scarborough Shoal and another fiercely contested atoll, the Second Thomas Shoal.

Washington has repeatedly warned that it’s obligated to defend the Philippines, its oldest treaty ally in Asia, if Philippine forces, ships and aircraft come under an armed attack, including in the South China Sea.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

President-elect Donald Trump's former chief strategist, Steve Bannon, reportedly is warning of an impending world conflict that could equate to "Trump's Vietnam." 

The "War Room" host has been using his daily radio show and podcast to advocate that Trump make an announcement on "Day One" that he will end the war in Ukraine quickly. 

In an interview with Politico, Bannon said he is aggressively urging that Trump do so in his Inauguration Day speech, warning that the soon-to-be 47th president could be entrapped by the U.S. defense industry, the Europeans and even some of Bannon’s own friends, who he says have teamed up to push the United States to continue sending military aid to Ukraine. That includes Keith Kellogg, a retired U.S. general who Trump tapped to become special envoy to Ukraine and Russia. 

Though friends, Bannon says Kellogg is misguided in pushing that the U.S. continue sending aid to Ukraine while an agreement is sorted that includes security guarantees that make certain Russia will not launch another invasion. 

A further delay in ending the three-year conflict, Bannon countered, risks the United States being pulled deeper into a war that cannot be won and runs counter to American national interests.

RUSSIA, IRAN TO SEAL PARTNERSHIP TREATY DAYS BEFORE TRUMP TAKES OFFICE

"If we aren’t careful, it will turn into Trump’s Vietnam," Bannon said. "That’s what happened to Richard Nixon. He ended up owning the war, and it went down as his war, not Lyndon Johnson’s." 

"I’m going nuts right now to make sure there’s something on Monday, an announcement," he added. "Because you have Kellogg saying it will take 100 days, the old foreign policy establishment are saying six months." 

Bannon reportedly said Trump must communicate to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that "there’s a new sheriff in town, and we’re going to get a deal done, and we’re going to get it done quickly." 

He added that Zelenskyy ought to pay attention to how Trump pressured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu into accepting the terms of a cease-fire and hostage release deal with Hamas before the president-elect takes office.

Bannon lamented to Politico how he views NATO as having morphed into more of an American protectorate than an alliance. 

BIDEN THANKS TROOPS FOR ‘STRENGTH' AND ‘INTEGRITY' IN UNPRECEDENTED TIMES AT FAREWELL ADDRESS TO MILITARY

"If you look at NATO, I don’t think it can put together two combat divisions of Europeans that are ready to fight," Bannon said. "Europe has gotten away with early retirement and full health care because they don’t pay for their own defense." 

As for Russian leader Vladimir Putin, Bannon continued, "Putin’s a bad guy. He’s a very bad guy. The KGB are bad guys. But I don’t stay up at night worrying about Russian influence on Europe." 

"Number 1, their military hasn’t even got to Kyiv. In three years, they couldn’t get there," Bannon said. "They haven’t taken Kharkiv even. You know why I don’t stay awake at night? Because the Europeans don’t stay awake at night. They don’t consider Russia a real threat. If they did, they would throw a lot more money and troops into the game." 

Bannon, who said he supports Trump's proposals for the U.S. to gain control of Greenland and the Panama Canal, both in his eyes crucial to U.S. national security, then turned back to Europe. 

He called former British Conservative leader Boris Johnson a "war criminal," adding that he believes too many European leaders consider themselves the Winston Churchill of their day. "The Ukraine war is the central screw-up of Europe over the last couple of years," Bannon told Politico. "You have a million dead or wounded Ukrainians. And we’re going to end up, best case, we’re going to end up exactly where this thing started, as I said three years ago. And it’s because you have Boris Johnson and [French President Emmanuel] Macron, all these fantasists that won’t pay for their own defense. They want to be big shots. They all want to be Winston Churchill with other people’s money and other people’s lives." 

China has warned the U.S. that it is making "dangerous moves" by providing Taiwan with an additional $571 million in defense materials, which was authorized by President Biden on Saturday.

In addition to the $571 million approved by Biden, the U.S. Department of Defense announced Friday that $295 million in military sales had been approved for the self-ruled island of Taiwan.

The sales and assistance from the U.S. are intended to help Taiwan defend itself, and possibly deter China from launching an attack.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry released a statement urging the U.S. to stop arming Taiwan and to cease what it referred to as "dangerous moves that undermine peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait," according to a report from The Associated Press.

TRUMP CABINET PICKS DELIGHT TAIWAN, SEND STRONG SIGNAL TO CHINA

Biden’s approved $571 million in military assistance includes DoD materials and services along with military education and training for Taiwan. The funds are in addition to another $567 million that the president approved for the same purposes in September.

The $295 million in military sales includes about $265 million for about 300 tactical radio systems and $30 million for 16 gun mounts.

Taiwan’s foreign ministry said in a post on X that the two sales reaffirmed the U.S. government’s "commitment to our defense."

PHILIPPINES WARNS OF ‘RED LINE’ WITH BEIJING AMID HEIGHTENED TENSIONS IN SOUTH CHINA SEA

Earlier this month, Taiwan defense officials raised concerns about a substantial deployment of Chinese naval ships and military planes, saying the build-up could eventually lead to war as tensions continue to rise in the region.

Officials said China had sent about a dozen ships and 47 military planes to regional waters around the Taiwan Strait, as the nation braced for military drills following Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te’s recent overseas trip that included visits to Hawaii and Guam, an American territory.

Lai, who has been in office since May, spoke with U.S. congressional leaders by phone while in Guam. 

CHINESE MILITARY MAKES MASSIVE DEPLOYMENT AROUND TAIWAN TO SEND ‘VERY SIMPLE’ MESSAGE

Lai’s visit came weeks after the U.S. approved a potential $2 billion arms sale package to Taiwan, including the delivery of an advanced air defense missile system battle tested in Ukraine and radar systems. The potential package included three National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) and related equipment valued at up to $1.16 billion, according to the State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs.

The Chinese communist government has pledged to annex Taiwan, through military force if necessary, and sends ships and military planes near the island almost daily.

The U.S. has repeatedly signaled its support for Taiwan through military deals, operations and diplomatic interactions with Taiwanese officials.

Fox News Digital’s Michael Dorgan and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Aaron Rodgers’ flirtation with politics was addressed in the second episode of his three-part Netflix documentary, "Enigma."

The New York Jets quarterback was floated as a possible running mate to Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. earlier this year before the independent presidential candidate eventually dropped out of the race and endorsed Donald Trump.

Rodgers and Kennedy went on a hike, and the four-time NFL MVP admitted to Kennedy that John F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1963 initially piqued his interest in politics.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

"I mean, I got into politics back when I was a sophomore in high school. I mean, the idea, all around, honestly, your uncle’s death, and that was my first entrance into pulling the veil back, as I call it, on, like, what’s actually going on because I read the Warren Commission’s report about it. I remember it hit me going, ‘This is what they said happened?’ This can’t be real," he said.

"And then I went to Berkeley, which is a crazy political environment. It’s super leftist, and I grew up in a really conservative, small-town environment. So, that was fun to have, like, my ideologies tested. But, I mean, it’s … I’ve just been disheartened forever, that there’s a two-party system that’s really one party. The one party that's ruling is the people with the money. So, I really didn’t have any hope in politics until, really, you announced your candidacy."

EAGLES' JALEN HURTS BENEFITING FROM 'PRETTY PRIVILEGE,' ESPN NFL ANALYST SAYS

Rodgers later confirmed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. asked him to be his running mate. However, he chose to continue playing football with the Jets.

"Retire and go into politics or play two or three more years," he said. "I definitely envisioned a life without football, and it wasn’t scary. I felt comfort in being able to move on at some point. But I love football. I want to keep playing. And I hated the way last year went. There’s still some unfinished business in New Jersey."

Amid the drama that came with the possibility of Rodgers being Kennedy’s running mate was a report that claimed he allegedly shared conspiracy theories about the Sandy Hook shooting.

Rodgers denied the allegations at the time and in the episode he seemed shocked that someone would paint him that way.

"Misrepresentation is a trigger for sure. Trauma, trigger, whatever," Rodgers said.

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

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. 

ISRAEL EYES IRAN NUKE SITES AMID REPORTS TRUMP MULLS MOVES TO BLOC TEHRAN ATOMIC PROGRAM 

The reporter then asked if Trump would be in support of Israel striking Iran. 

"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." 

CHRISTIAN LEADER IN LEBANON URGES US, ALLIES TO INTERVENE TO STOP HEZBOLLAH 

"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. 

A top Israeli diplomat insisted his nation is "not getting involved" in Syria’s domestic politics after the nation launched an aggressive campaign of airstrikes and seized control of a buffer zone in Syria.

"We are not getting involved in what's happening domestically inside Syria. But we have concerns about our border," Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, told Fox News Digital. 

"It’s been a quiet border, relatively, but we hope it will continue to be the same." 

Israel has launched an assault on military and chemical weapons sites within Syria, fearing they could fall into the wrong hands after the toppling of President Bashar al-Assad and his government over the weekend. 

The ouster left a power vacuum that leaves Israel and the U.S. to wonder which forces may seize dominance in the nation and how friendly they might be. 

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

In that vacuum, Israel moved troops into the Golan buffer zone for the first time since it was established after the 1973 Mideast war. 

Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia have condemned the Israeli incursion, accusing it of exploiting the situation. 

Danon seemed hopeful the next Syrian government would not be under the thumb of Iran but warned "bad actors" had been involved in the overthrow of Assad.

"Iran was heavily invested in Syria. And I'm sure that today it will change, and the Iranians will not be welcome anymore in Syria. So, on that front, I think it's an achievement. But, at the same day, we have to look what's happening on other fronts," said Danon. 

"We have to remember that it's not like a peaceful revolution. You know, they walked with al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations. So, we have to pay attention to that."

NETANYAHU KNOCKS OBAMA, JOHN KERRY IN FIRST APPEARANCE AT CORRUPTION TRIAL

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) was the key faction behind the fall of Damascus and the fleeing of Assad and now controls the capital city. But the Islamist militant group was founded as an offshoot of al Qaeda, and its leader has a $10 million bounty on his head. 

The group in recent years has worked to soften its image and lobbied to be delisted as a terrorist organization by the U.S.

Israel has also taken control of Mount Hermon, the highest point on the border between the two countries and a blind spot in its defenses that Iran had been exploiting to send low-flying drones. 

"That was a defensive, temporary act," said Danon. "We want to see what’s happening there." 

The ambassador said Israel hopes Syria will have a "better future," but its only goal is to "not allow terrorists to be on the fence." 

"For more than 50 years, the Assad family tortured the Syrian people, massacred hundreds of thousands of civilians. So, we are the one humanitarian point of view. We do hope that they will have a better life."

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."

SYRIAN DICTATOR BASHAR ASSAD FLEES INTO EXILE AS ISLAMIST REBELS CONQUER COUNTRY

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.

ISLAMIST REBELS IN SYRIA CATCH ASSAD, PUTIN, IRAN REGIMES OFF GUARD GIVING US NEW MIDEAST HEADACHE

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.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

President Biden announced Tuesday that Israel has reached a ceasefire agreement with Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon that would end nearly 14 months of fighting, and while some U.S. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle congratulated efforts to reach a stop to the conflict, others suggest this is nothing but a political football.

While speaking from the White House Rose Garden, Biden said Israel and Lebanon agreed to the deal, adding that Israel retains the right to defend itself should Hezbollah break the pact.

"Let's be clear. Israel did not launch this war. The Lebanese people did not seek that war either. Nor did the United States," Biden said. "Security for the people of Israel and Lebanon cannot be achieved only on the battlefield. And that's why I directed my team to work with the governments of Israel and Lebanon, to forge a cease-fire, to bring a conflict between Israel and Hezbollah to a close."

Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder was asked about a potential cease-fire deal during a press briefing on Tuesday and said the Department of Defense (DoD) was "very supportive" of the ceasefire. He also said the DoD plays an important role in working with partners in the Middle East region to prevent a wider conflict.

BIDEN ANNOUNCES CEASE-FIRE PLAN BETWEEN ISRAEL AND HEZBOLLAH ENDING 14 MONTHS OF FIGHTING

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., who serves as the chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence called the agreement "a welcome development for the region."

"This agreement to end the war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, which has killed thousands of people, is a welcome development for the region and should increase pressure on Hamas to reach a ceasefire agreement to end the fighting and destruction in the Gaza Strip, which has already claimed so many innocent lives," Warner said. "I applaud diplomatic efforts by the Biden administration and other international partners over many months in helping to reach this point."

THUNE THREATENS INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT WITH SANCTIONS IF IT DOESN'T DROP NETANYAHU WARRANT FOR ARREST

Also weighing in on the deal was Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who said he was pleased to hear the agreement between Israel and Hezbollah had been reached.

"Well done to all those involved in reaching this agreement," he said. "I appreciate the hard work of the Biden Administration, supported by President Trump, to make this ceasefire a reality. This ceasefire will protect Israel from another October 7th and will give the people of Lebanon a break from the fighting.

"My hope is that we can soon achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and allow peaceful solutions to replace endless conflict," he added.

ISRAEL 'MOVING FORWARD' ON POSSIBLE HEZBOLLAH CEASE-FIRE, OFFICIAL SAYS

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, on the other hand, was not so quick to congratulate the Biden administration’s efforts in reaching a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

He said Israeli allies accomplished enormous military successes over the past year against Hezbollah, resulting in the death of thousands of Hezbollah terrorists and eliminating the entire command of the Iranian-backed terrorist group.

"These actions have directly contributed to vital American national security interests, including directly by liquidating terrorist leaders who had the blood of hundreds of American on their hands," Cruz said. "Indeed, the U.S.-Israel relationship is at the core of U.S. interests in the Middle East, and American policy should be to provide unequivocal military and diplomatic support to our Israeli allies to fully ensure their security."

He then turned to the Biden administration’s tactics and timing in conjunction with President-elect Trump’s return to the White House.

TRUMP, CONGRESS LOOKING TO PUT SUFFOCATING SANCTIONS ON 'KANGAROO' ICC OVER NETANYAHU ARREST WARRANT

"The Biden administration has spent the last four years pathologically obsessed with undermining Israel and boosting Iran, including by coercing our Israeli allies to cede maritime territory to Hezbollah," Cruz noted. "They are now using the transition period to the Trump administration and a Republican Congress to try to lock in those efforts — and to constrain the incoming administration — by establishing what they believe to be irreversible diplomatic, legal, and military policies. However, these and similar international policies are not irreversible."

Cruz and 10 other senators signed a letter saying the U.S. will re-evaluate its relationship with the United Nations and with Palestinians if Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas fulfills a pledge he made to secure the expulsion of Israel from the U.N. General Assembly.

Cruz also said he joined his colleagues in vowing to act against the International Criminal Court for undermining American and Israeli interests by issuing arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and said everyone involved in the decision should face American sanctions.

He then accused Obama-Biden officials for pressuring Israeli allies into accepting the ceasefire by withholding weapons necessary to defend themselves against Hezbollah, while also threatening to facilitate a binding international arms embargo through the U.N.

"Obama-Biden officials are already trying to use Israel's acceptance of this cease-fire to ensure that Hezbollah and other Iranian terrorist groups remain intact across Lebanon, and to limit Israel's future freedom of action and self-defense," Cruz claimed. "Administration officials, including Secretary of State Blinken, today even downplayed Israel's right under the cease-fire to strike terrorist groups in Lebanon when those groups pose imminent threats.

"These constraints have been rejected by our Israeli allies. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that under the cease-fire Israel retains full freedom of action to counter Hezbollah if the group attacks Israel or tries to rebuild its terrorist infrastructure," he added. "The United States should allow and assist Israel in doing so, and I am committed to working closely with the Trump administration and my colleagues in the incoming Congress to ensure they are able to do."

Fox News Digital’s Luis Casiano contributed to this report.

The Biden administration is expected to announce a $275 million weapons package for Ukraine this week, a U.S. official tells Fox News.

The package is from the presidential drawdown authority (PDA) money, meaning the weapons will come from U.S. stockpiles and will be delivered to Ukraine quicker than a Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) package.

The weapons package will include the High Mobility Artillery Rocket (HIMAR) system, but not HIMAR ammunition, and 155 mm artillery shells, drones and Javelin surface-to-air missiles, the official said.

Once the announcement on the weapons package is made, the U.S. will have a remaining $6.9 billion in PDA funding and $2.21 billion in USAI funding for Ukraine.

UKRAINE FIRES FIRST BARRAGE OF US-MADE LONG-RANGE MISSILES INTO RUSSIA, KREMLIN SAYS

Last month, the U.S. provided Ukraine with an additional $425 million in supplies and weapons using PDA money to help Ukraine meet its most urgent needs at the time in terms of air defense, air-to-ground weapons, rocket systems, artillery munitions, armored vehicles and anti-tank weapons.

The latest package comes in a timely fashion as just two days ago President Biden approved Ukraine to use American long-range missiles on Russian soil. Russian President Vladimir Putin previously indicated that any such act would be considered an act of war.

On Tuesday, Moscow said Ukrainian forces took advantage of Biden’s green light and launched six U.S.-made Army Tactical Missile Systems, or simply ATACMS, into Russian territory.

TRUMP'S FIRST CABINET PICKS DECIDEDLY NOT ISOLATIONISTS: UKRAINE, ISRAEL BREATHE SIGH OF RELIEF

Russia claims it shot down five of the missiles while damaging a sixth. It added that debris landed in the area of a Russian military facility and that there were no casualties or damage beyond a small fire.

Fox News received confirmation of the overnight strike from a U.S. official.

Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters during a briefing on Tuesday that Russia escalated the war with Ukraine by bringing in more than 11,000 soldiers from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), or North Korea, to fight alongside Russian soldiers in the Kursk region.

DOCUMENTS REVEAL RUSSIA'S INITIAL 'PEACE DEAL' EQUATED TO THE SURRENDER OF UKRAINE: REPORT

She also said the Biden administration has a commitment to continue arming Ukraine with what it needs on the battlefield.

"We don't see that as escalatory," Singh said. "We see that as a commitment that we set out from the very beginning of this administration."

When asked if the Department of Defense (DOD) has reason to believe that more North Korean troops are headed to Russia, she said the DOD thinks it could certainly see more moving into the area but that there are more than 11,000 DPRK soldiers already embedded with Russian forces.

"I mean, they’re moving into the … Kursk region for a very specific region, which is clearly to engage Ukrainian forces," Singh said.

Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.