A new addition to the Democrat side on a key Senate committee could bolster U.S. support for Israel as the country's war against terror group Hamas continues in Gaza.
Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., is assigned to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations (SFRC) in the new Congress, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced Thursday.
The Nevada Democrat, who was re-elected in November by a narrow margin in the state that President-elect Donald Trump flipped, is notably the third Jewish woman to ever serve in the U.S. Senate. Rosen is also the co-chair and co-founder of the Senate Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Anti-Semitism alongside Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla.
During her time in federal office, Rosen has supported Israel's right to self-defense, especially amid the ongoing war against Hamas.
"At a time when America’s adversaries are looking to upend our global leadership and destabilize our alliances, I’m joining the Senate Foreign Relations Committee to be a strong voice supporting our allies and fighting for freedom, democracy, and justice around the globe," Rosen said in a statement.
"I’ll continue working with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to strengthen U.S. global partnerships and counter threats from Iran, Russia, and China. As a member of the committee, I’ll also make sure the United States’ commitment to supporting our democratic ally Israel remains unwavering and unconditional."
Outgoing SFRC Chair Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., has long supported Israel, and his departure from the committee would normally leave the Democrat side somewhat unbalanced as several other members have been more critical of the U.S. ally.
Current Democrat committee members include Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., Chris Coons, D-Del., Chris Murphy, D-Conn., Tim Kaine, D-Va., Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., Cory Booker, D-N.J., Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., and Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill.
Six of the nine current Democrat members recently voted in favor of resolutions aimed at blocking weapon transfers to Israel. Incoming SFRC ranking member Shaheen, Merkley, Schatz, Van Hollen, Kaine and Murphy were among 19 Democrats who favored some or all of the three measures to do this on the Senate floor in November.
One of Former President Jimmy Carter'sdefining moments was being the president who managed to broker the first peace agreement in the Middle East, successfully ushering in peace between Israel and Egypt after 30 years of war.
With the Camp David Accords of 1978, Carter was able to stand out from his predecessors by notching a success in an area where they had failed.
The feat became particularly notable amid a presidency known for various economic and foreign affairs shortcomings.
According to Martin Indyk, the Lowy distinguished fellow in U.S.-Middle East diplomacy at the Council on Foreign Relations, "Arab-Israeli peace has always been the kind of Holy Grail for American diplomacy."
"There have been other agreements, but none of them so important, as the peace treaty that Jimmy Carter brokered between Israel and Egypt. It was the first, and it was the most important," Indyk, who was once special envoy for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations under former President Obama, continued.
The Camp David Accords were signed by then-President Carter, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin in September 1978, and signaled peace between the two countries. Egypt was considered the largest and most powerful Arab nation at the time.
Negotiations had begun years earlier, in 1973, and were led by former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. The start of discussions was prompted by the Yom Kippur War, which had proven an expensive conflict for both Israel and Egypt, as well as the Arab countries it led.
Kissinger had managed to negotiate a ceasefire and disengagement pact, leading to Isreal withdrawing a third of its military forces from the Sinai Peninsula.
Carter first sought to finalize a deal in November 1977, when Sadat historically traveled to Jerusalem and gave remarks on his desire for peace between the countries.
Indyk described those inital talks very difficult and noted they were ultimately unsuccessful.
"So you had this… moment of great hope created by Sadat's initiative, to go into the enemy's den as it were, into Jerusalem and to speak of peace. But that proved very difficult to achieve agreement," he said. "And that's when Carter took the risky decision to bring both leaders to Camp David to try to broker a peace agreement between them."
The high-risk meeting with both leaders at Camp David was confidential and lasted 12 days.
"They had no certainty at all that they would be able to bridge the gaps," Indyk said of the meeting's sensitive nature.
Carter faced an important question during the meeting: What would happen to the Palestinian people?
"The Palestinian cause was a national cause for the Arabs and so Sadat felt he could not simply abandon them. That he had to have some understanding about what would happen for the Palestinians once he made peace with Israel," Indyk explained.
Indyk attributed Carter's decision to focus solely on Israel and Egypt to the former president's "genius."
"They had a kind of loose framework for what would happen on the Palestinian front, but essentially, the deal that he did, that he persuaded president Sadat of Egypt to do, was a standalone peace treaty between Israel and Egypt. That's what he succeeded in negotiating that Camp David," he said.
But this result was contrary to what aides for Carter and Sadat both had advised, per Indyk.
"This was Carter’s decision. Against the advice of his advisers and against the advice of Sadat's advisers, it was his decision to go for the separate peace between Israel and Egypt."
The agreement with Sadat went on to become a foreign policy hallmark of Carter's presidency and also earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.
"He was an embattled president," Indyk said. "Nothing else was really going well for him. There were other things he achieved, but this was the most important one."
Former President Jimmy Carter, who served from 1977 to 1981, has died at age 100.
The 39th president of the United States was widely admired for his global humanitarian work.
Carter won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. He was the son of a peanut farmer from Georgia.
Former President Jimmy Carter, who rose from humble beginnings in rural Georgia to the White House and was renowned for his global charity work, has died at age 100.
He died Sunday in his Plains, Georgia home, The Carter Center — the former president's nonprofit organization — confirmed in a statement posted to social media.
"My father was a hero, not only to me but to everyone who believes in peace, human rights, and unselfish love," said Chip Carter, the former president's son, said in the statement released by the Carter Center. "My brothers, sister, and I shared him with the rest of the world through these common beliefs. The world is our family because of the way he brought people together, and we thank you for honoring his memory by continuing to live these shared beliefs."
President Joe Biden in an address to the nation said a major service for former president Carter would be hosted in Washington DC.
"Jimmy Carter lived a life measured not by words, but by his deeds," Biden said. "On behalf of the world, and the whole nation, we send our whole heartfelt sympathies and our gratitude for sharing President Carter for so many years."
The Carter Center in February 2023 announced that the former president would enter hospice care to "spend his remaining time at home with his family" following several hospital stays. After almost a year and a half in hospice, Carter's grandson, Jason, said the former president was "coming to the end."
Carter had previously been treated for brain and liver cancer, was hospitalized after a fall in 2019, and had surgery the same year to relieve a buildup of pressure around his brain.
Presidents often fade into the background after they leave the White House, but Carter — the 39th president of the United States — was in many ways a more popular, impactful figure after his single tumultuous term from 1977 to 1981.
He came to be admired for his amiable demeanor and lifelong dedication to public service and humanitarianism. Carter was a US Navy veteran and a Nobel laureate.
He was preceded in death by his wife of 77 years, Rosalynn Carter, who died in November 2023 at age 96. He is survived by his four children, 11 grandchildren, and 14 great-grandchildren.
Carter with, from left, former President George H.W. Bush, then-President-elect Barack Obama, then-President George W. Bush, and former President Bill Clinton at the White House in 2009.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
The peanut farmer who became president
Carter, whose full name was James Earl Carter Jr., was born October 1, 1924, in Plains, Georgia. His father was a peanut farmer who'd served in the Georgia state legislature. His mother, Lillian Gordy Carter, served as a nurse, civil- and women's-rights activist, and Peace Corps volunteer in India at the age of 68 in 1966. The Carters were deeply tied to their Baptist faith.
Carter graduated from the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, in 1946. He served in the Navy for seven years before returning to Georgia to take over his family's peanut farm after his father died.
In a photograph from September 1966, then-Georgia state Sen. Jimmy Carter hugs his wife, Rosalynn, at his Atlanta campaign headquarters.
Horace Cort/Associated Press
'I'll never tell a lie'
Carter entered state politics as a Democrat in the early 1960s and in 1970 was elected to the Georgia governorship. In 1974, he announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for president.
Initially, Carter was pegged as a long shot given his lack of political connections and the fact he was relatively unknown nationally.
But Carter painted himself as an honest outsider with strong morals at a time when many Americans were disillusioned with Washington over the Watergate scandal, and his campaign gradually gained momentum.
He repeatedly told voters, "I'll never tell a lie."
Carter's longtime embrace of civil rights was also crucial to his victory.
After being elected governor, Carter declared during his inaugural address, "I say to you quite frankly that the time for racial discrimination is over."
Carter, then Georgia's governor, announcing his Democratic candidacy for the US presidency in Atlanta.
AP
He carried these sentiments into his presidential campaign and allied himself with key Black members of Congress. Carter received overwhelming support from Black voters, especially in the South, which propelled him to the White House.
Carter won the Democratic nomination in July 1976, choosing then-Sen. Walter Mondale of Minnesota as his running mate against President Gerald Ford, the Republican incumbent. Carter defeated Ford in November of that year, winning 50.1% of the popular vote and capturing 297 electoral votes to Ford's 240.
The Georgian swept the Deep South, the last Democrat to do so on the presidential level, while also carrying important battlegrounds like Ohio and Pennsylvania.
The informal president
As president, Carter sought to portray himself as a man of the people and make the presidency more accessible.
After he was sworn in, Carter and his wife walked to the White House, launching an informal tradition followed by subsequent presidents at their inaugurations.
He also spoke and dressed in a less formal manner and held frequent press conferences.
Carter with his wife, Rosalynn, and their daughter, Amy. The Carters started a tradition by walking the parade route from the Capitol to the White House following his inauguration.
Suzanne Vlamis/AP
Carter entered office as a popular figure pushing for ambitious programs to address the country's myriad social and economic woes. His administration had a historically large number of women, Black, and Latino members and staff.
Though Carter's image as an "outsider" seemed to be advantageous during his campaign, it hurt him with Congress once he was in the White House. He struggled to get lawmakers on board with his bold proposals for reform, and his approval ratings tanked as he struggled to push his proposals through the legislative branch.
A scandal in the summer of 1977 didn't help matters. At the time, Bert Lance, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, was accused of being involved in dubious financial activities as a Georgia banker. Carter at first defended Lance, whom he saw as a close friend, but ultimately called on him to resign.
In 1979, amid an energy crisis and recession, Carter delivered his infamous "crisis in confidence" speech, contending that the nation needed to restore its faith in itself. The speech was well-received at first but was ultimately not a particularly successful selling point.
Carter with Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh at Buckingham Palace.
PA Images via Getty Images
Carter's biggest accomplishments were in foreign policy
Despite the many challenges Carter faced, his presidency wasn't without major accomplishments.
On the domestic front, his achievements included establishing the Department of Education and the Department of Energy and expanding the national parks system. His actions helped lay the framework for future administrations to tackle America's educational and energy needs.
But Carter's biggest accomplishments as president came in the foreign-policy arena.
He facilitated the first peace treaty between Israel and Egypt, known as the Camp David Accords. Carter also established full diplomatic relations between the US and China and orchestrated two important treaties between the US and Panama.
Carter with Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin on the North Lawn of the White House as they finished signing the Camp David Accords.
Bob Daugherty/AP
Carter also stood up to the Soviet Union on human rights and completed negotiation of the SALT II nuclear-limitation treaty (though the treaty ultimately fell through with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan).
The Iranian hostage crisis and Carter's downfall
Carter's progress in the realm of foreign policy was in many ways overshadowed by the 1979 Iran hostage crisis.
Amid a revolution in Iran that saw a pro-US government ousted, a mob of students stormed the US Embassy in Tehran and took the staff members as hostages. The revolutionary Iranian government, led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, supported the actions of the students. The US Embassy staff members were ultimately held hostage for hundreds of days.
The timing of the crisis and Carter's perceived failure to secure the release of the hostages, which included a disastrous military operation that failed to rescue them, was deeply damaging to his image domestically.
Combined with an economy in turmoil, the hostage crisis was a large part of the reason Carter lost reelection in a landslide to former Gov. Ronald Reagan of California in 1980. In that race, Carter's support had diminished across the South and in the Midwestern and Northeastern states that boosted his first presidential bid; he earned 49 electoral votes to Reagan's 489.
Carter's administration negotiated the release of the hostages during his final days in office, and they were freed the same day as Reagan's inauguration.
The post-presidency peacemaker
Carter spent most of his postpresidential years championing human rights and pushing for peace in various corners of the world. He founded The Carter Center to focus on such issues in 1982 and played an active role with Habitat for Humanity until the end of his life.
Jimmy Carter, Rosalynn Carter, and former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan concluding a visit to a polling center in South Sudan.
Pete Muller/AP
As a private citizen, Carter worked for peace everywhere from North Korea to Haiti. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for what the Norwegian Nobel Committee described as his "decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development."
Staying humble
After he left the White House, Carter moved back to Plains, Georgia.
Carter favored a humble lifestyle. He was known to fly on commercial airliners, unlike other past presidents who preferred private jets, and was filmed walking up and down the aisle to shake the hands of other passengers.
He also cost US taxpayers far less per year than any other former president, according to the General Services Administration, in large part because he avoided extravagances.
Carter was a former president longer than anyone else in US history.
Staying true to principles
In 1954, the chief of police and a Baptist minister in Plains asked Carter to join the local White Citizens' Council, a pro-segregation organization.
The peanut farmer said no, and a few days later the men came back to tell Carter he was the only white man in the community who hadn't joined. Carter told them he didn't care.
The police chief and minister returned a third time and said they would pay the $5 membership fee for Carter if that's what was holding him back. He was also warned that his peanut business would face a boycott if he didn't join.
In response, Carter told them: "I've got $5. And I'd flush it down the toilet before I'd give it to you."
Throughout Carter's long life, he frequently proved unafraid to stray from the pack, even if it made him at times unpopular.
President-elect Donald Trump suggested on Wednesday that the U.S. could take control of Canada, Greenland and the Panama Canal—an unexpected Christmas Day message that has sparked concerns among world leaders in recent days as they scramble to prepare for Trump's second White House term.
In a Wednesday post on the platform Truth Social, Trump wished a "Merry Christmas to all," including to the "wonderful soldiers of China, who are lovingly, but illegally, operating the Panama Canal," before moving on to take aim at Canada and Greenland as well, which he suggested again could be better off under U.S. governance.
Trump reiterated his claim that U.S. shippers are being forced to pay "ridiculous" and "exorbitant" prices to navigate the Panama Canal—an artificial, 51-mile waterway that connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. He has suggested, without evidence, that Chinese interests are gaining outsize influence over the waterway, something Panamanian leaders have steadfastly denied.
In his Truth Social post Wednesday, Trump also mockingly referred to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as "governor" reiterating his recent suggestion that Canada should be turned into a U.S. state.
"If Canada was to become our 51st state, their taxes would be cut by more than 60%, their businesses would immediately double in size, and they would be militarily protected like no other country anywhere in the world," Trump said.
Finally, the president-elect turned his attention to Greenland; an autonomous, geographically important Arctic location rife with natural resources, including rare earth minerals.
The U.S., Trump said on Wednesday, "feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity" for reasons of national security and "global freedom.'
Bigger picture
Trump’s lengthy Truth Social post did little to assuage the concerns of some world leaders, who have carefully watched Trump's actions and his statements in recent weeks for clues as to how he might govern in a second term.
The remarks also appear to be at odds with the "America First" policies long espoused by Trump, which seek to prioritize domestic policy rather than expansion or U.S. presence abroad.
Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., echoed Trump's concerns in an interview Thursday, describing China's influence in the Panama Canal, and the higher prices incurred by shippers, as a "shot across the bow."
"Remember, we have China and Cuba," Zinke said on "Mornings with Maria." "We have Maduro in Venezuela. We have had Russian ships there. And the Panama Canal is critical to our national security. And at present, it is being run by the Chinese Communist Party. So it's a concern—absolutely."
To be sure, it is not the first time Trump has indicated interest in Greenland, a mineral-rich, geographically important territory.
In 2019, then-President Trump told reporters he was "interested" in purchasing Greenland, which he described at the time as "essentially" a "large real estate deal." The 2019 effort never gained traction, however; and this week, Greenland Prime Minister Mute Egede immediately poured cold water on the idea that their territory could be sold to the U.S.
"Greenland is ours," Greenland Prime Minister Mute Egede said this week, in response to Trump's suggestion.
"We are not for sale and will never be for sale," he said. "We must not lose our long struggle for freedom."
Meanwhile, Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino also disputed the notion that U.S. vessels have been singled out or paid higher fees to traverse the Panama Canal—as well as the notion that the U.S., which phased out its ownership beginning in the 1970s, has any right to reassert control over the shipping waypoint.
In a video posted to social media earlier this week, Mulino reassured his country's people that the "sovereignty and independence of our country is non-negotiable."
The Panama Canal is one of the largest and most strategically important commodity shipping waterways in the world. It handles roughly 5% of all global maritime trade and roughly 40% of U.S. container ship traffic.
Recent higher prices are primarily the result of drought and more competition, which sent water levels plummeting last year to their lowest point on record. Though water levels have since rebounded, operators of the canal were forced to temporarily limit vessel traffic and increase costs for ships using the waypoint.
Other factors have also played a role in higher maritime shipping prices.
A series of attacks on vessels in the Red Sea late last year prompted many major commodities shippers, including BP and Equinor, to pause or reroute their shipments away from the Suez Canal. Some opted to reroute supplies via the Cape of Good Hope, adding weeks of additional time to their trips.
The Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, incorrectly claimed on social media last week that the Panama Canal cost U.S. taxpayers $15.7 billion. In fact, the higher costs are shouldered by the ships that pass through the waterway, in the form of tolls. The U.S. government does not subsidize the canal.
Panamanian authorities have stressed that the prices are not the result of "unfair" treatment, or capitulation to China or any other nation-state influence.
"The canal has no direct or indirect control from China, nor the European Union, nor the United States or any other power," Mulino said in his remarks. "As a Panamanian, I reject any manifestation that misrepresents this reality."
Still, Trump does not appear to be backing down on expansion claims.
"The Panama Canal is considered a VITAL National Asset for the United States, due to its critical role to America’s Economy and National Security," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Sunday. "A secure Panama Canal is crucial for U.S. Commerce, and rapid deployment of the Navy, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and drastically cuts shipping times to U.S. ports."
"We’re not going to stand for it," he said. "So, to the officials of Panama, please be guided accordingly."
Donald Trump says it is "an absolute necessity" for our country to own Greenland.
He says the U.S. should take back the Panama Canal unless the "ridiculous" shipping fees are lowered.
He threatened that any Republican who opposed him on the bill to avoid a government shutdown can and should be primaried.
The president-elect is earning his reputation as a disruptor, with enough influence over what is now his party to blow up carefully negotiated bipartisan compromises. Let’s look at each of these.
Trump tried in his first term to buy Greenland, which is controlled by Denmark but under home rule. That went nowhere, though it created a diplomatic crisis with Danish officials.
While the U.S. built the Panama Canal in the early 20th century, it was turned over to Panama under a treaty approved by both countries. Panamanian President Jose Raul Mulino says "every square meter of the Panama Canal and its adjacent zone is Panama’s and will continue to be so. The sovereignty and independence of our country are not negotiable."
That didn’t stop Trump from posting an AI image of an American flag flying over a waterway presumed to be the canal.
The incoming president has certainly demonstrated the ability to engineer primary challenges to those who cross him. But three dozen conservative Republicans voted against him on the government shutdown bill, including on final passage, which dropped his demand to eliminate the debt ceiling during his term. Would he really gin up primaries against all of them?
So the overwhelming likelihood is that the status of Greenland, the Panama Canal and rebellious Republicans won’t change in the second term.
The reason Trump does this is that it reinforces his role as a disruptor, someone taking on the decrepit Washington establishment, even though a president, by definition, is the new establishment.
Beyond that, whether he’s making outrageous demands or not, Trump shapes, and often dominates, the news agenda. As the 47th president has acknowledged to me, he sometimes crosses the line because he knows it will provoke a strong media reaction. As Trump sees it, even negative coverage is good coverage because the press is playing on his turf.
And sometimes these are just negotiating positions to win concessions, as with the threatened 25% tariffs against Canada and Mexico.
Remember, most people outside the media-political complex aren’t breathlessly following these developments. Since the government didn’t actually close down, they don’t see it as a setback for Trump that he didn’t get most of what he wanted. They probably don’t recall that he tried to buy Greenland before.
What Trump clearly has the power to do is to blow up carefully crafted bipartisan agreements. He did it after Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. – whose own future is in doubt because, like Kevin McCarthy before him, he didn’t have the votes – let the bill grow into a Christmas tree monstrosity.
And he did it during the campaign when both parties agreed on a tough border enforcement deal, which was then trashed by Trump’s objections.
But there are clearly limits to Trump’s ability to shape events, especially with the country. For three dozen Republicans to defy him on as fundamental a matter as the debt ceiling shows that he can only push his party so far.
Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., a Trump supporter who voted against him on final passage, told me on Sunday’s "Media Buzz" that was because she wants to keep the debt ceiling.
But with the GOP clinging to a 1-vote House margin, for now, the cauldron of campaign rhetoric is running up against the cold, hard math of getting to the number 218.
Democrats have to wonder if it’s worth negotiating with the other party if they’re just creating a target for Trump’s demolition derby.
It was Elon Musk who first tweeted about how bad the original bill was – at Trump’s suggestion – and after 70-plus tweets (including some falsehoods), the new president was drawn into the fight.
Over the weekend, Trump denied that he had surrendered his presidential powers to his billionaire buddy, and half-mockingly said Musk could never be president:
"You know why? He wasn’t born in this country. Hahaha."
A favorite media parlor game is whether the two strong-willed men will eventually have a falling out.
For now, though, Trump’s tough talk about Greenland and the Panama Canal shows that he’s most comfortable playing offense, even if nothing much comes of it.
In other news:
--The House Ethics report says Matt Gaetz "regularly" paid women for sex, including with an underage girl, and used illegal drugs.
In 2017, the former attorney general nominee "engaged in sexual activity with a 17-year-old girl," who was also paid.
Gaetz used or had possession of such illegal drugs as cocaine and Ecstasy "on multiple occasions," and also accepted lucrative gifts, such as transportation and lodging in the Bahamas.
"Many of the women interviewed by the committee were clear that there was a general expectation of sex," with one woman telling the committee Gaetz paid her more than $5,000 and that sex was involved "99 percent of the time."
The panel said Gaetz was "uncooperative" and that he "knowingly and willfully sought to impede and obstruct the committee’s investigation of his conduct." The Justice Department investigated but brought no charges.
Gaetz also misused House resources when he had his chief of staff "assist a woman with whom he engaged in sexual activity in obtaining a passport, falsely indicating to the U.S. Department of State that she was a constituent…
"There was substantial evidence that Representative Gaetz violated House Rules, state and federal laws, and other standards of conduct prohibiting prostitution, statutory rape, illicit drug use, acceptance of impermissible gifts, the provision of special favors and privileges, and obstruction of Congress."
If Gaetz was still in the running for AG, this would have blown him out of the water.
Says Gaetz: "I was charged with nothing: FULLY EXONERATED. Not even a campaign finance violation. And the people investigating me hated me. Then, the very 'witnesses' DOJ deemed not-credible were assembled by House Ethics to repeat their claims absent any cross-examination or challenge from me or my attorneys. I’ve had no chance to ever confront any accusers. I’ve never been charged. I’ve never been sued." He says he even sent money to women he wasn’t dating.
--A dogged reporter for the Dallas Express discovered what happened to Texas Rep. Kay Granger, who went "missing" months ago. He found her, and got on-the-record confirmation, at a nursing facility that specializes in dementia and other memory problems. She put out a statement about health challenges that utterly missed the point: How could she not tell her constituents about this? Why did she insist on hiding it? There would have been enormous sympathy for her. Instead, the congresswoman kept it all shrouded in secrecy.
--Actress Blake Lively was the target of an online smear campaign, as laid out in texts and emails that blatantly discuss planting stories to ruin her reputation, while cautioning that this must remain secret because they can’t very well admit that they are trying to "bury" her. "You know we can bury anyone."
Lively obtained these documents through legal action against her co-star and director, Justin Baldoni, and reviewed by the New York Times. She is alleging sexual harassment, saying Baldoni and others routinely came into her trailer unannounced when she was topless, such as having body makeup removed, or breast-feeding.
The Wayfarer studio said the company and its PR people "did nothing proactive or retaliatory" against the actress, accusing her of "another desperate attempt to ‘fix’ her negative reputation."
Lively says Baldoni tried to add unneeded sex scenes, had improvised unwanted kissing and discussed his sex life, including instances in which he may not have gotten consent. Another member of the team showed her a video of his wife naked.
The sad thing is that this sort of thing goes on all the time. We just happened to get the goods this time, with Lively being portrayed as difficult, tone-deaf and a bully.
--The Daily Mail reported that Jeff Bezos was going to marry his fiancé Lauren Sanchez this weekend in a $600 million extravaganza in Aspen.
The Amazon founder, who owns the Washington Post, says that’s a crock:
"This whole thing is completely false — none of this is happening…
"The old adage ‘don’t believe everything you read’ is even more true today than it ever has been. Now lies can get ALL the way around the world before the truth can get its pants on. So be careful out there folks and don’t be gullible."
Good for Jeff for punching back against a crappy story.
As President-elect Donald Trump prepares to return to the White House next month, what sort of foreign policy can Americans expect during his second stint in the Oval Office?
Trump will pursue an "America first foreign policy," J. Michael Waller, senior analyst for strategy at the Center for Security Policy, suggested during an interview with Fox News Digital, describing Biden's approach as "America last."
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is advocating for the soon-to-be commander in chief to significantly increase military spending in a bid to build up the nation's "hard power."
The long-serving lawmaker is also warning against an isolationist approach to foreign policy, asserting in a piece on Foreign Affairs that "the response to four years of weakness must not be four years of isolation."
"Trump would be wise to build his foreign policy on the enduring cornerstone of U.S. leadership: hard power. To reverse the neglect of military strength, his administration must commit to a significant and sustained increase in defense spending, generational investments in the defense industrial base, and urgent reforms to speed the United States’ development of new capabilities and to expand allies’ and partners’ access to them," McConnell contended.
"To pretend that the United States can focus on just one threat at a time, that its credibility is divisible, or that it can afford to shrug off faraway chaos as irrelevant is to ignore its global interests and its adversaries’ global designs," he argued.
Waller, who authored the book "Big Intel," explained that America-first foreign policy does not mean isolationism.
"It means for the United States to define its national interests very strictly," without suggesting that every crisis around the globe is "of vital, existential interest to our country," he noted.
Waller opined that in Foreign Affairs McConnell was seeking to "maintain the uniparty consensus for the United States' present global commitments that are stretching us beyond our means … without even stepping back to reassess what is really in our national interests and how can we best marshal our resources to ensure them."
Fox News Digital attempted to reach out to request comment from McConnell, but did not receive a response.
Trump has tapped Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., for secretary of state, a choice Waller graded as a "really good pick."
Regarding the ongoing Ukraine-Russia conflict, Rubio has said that the U.S. is funding a "stalemate war."
Trump has called for a ceasefire.
"There should be an immediate ceasefire and negotiations should begin. 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," he declared in a post on Truth Social.
Trump has also called for the release of hostages in the Middle East, warning in a post on Truth Social that if they are not released by when he assumes office, "there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against Humanity. Those responsible will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied History of the United States of America," he declared.
President-elect Donald Trump is gearing up for his second White House term just weeks after the abrupt toppling of Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria— a pivotal moment that could test Trump's long-held promises to end U.S. involvement in so-called "forever wars" in the Middle East or putting more American boots on the ground in these countries.
With roughly six weeks to go before he takes office, Trump does not appear to be backing down on his promises of pursuing a foreign policy agenda directed toward prioritizing issues at home and avoiding entanglements overseas.
However, Trump's promises about ending U.S. military commitments abroad could be tested in Syria, where conditions in the country are now vastly different from Trump's first term — creating a government seen as ripe for exploitation by other foreign powers, including governments or terrorist groups.
"This is not our fight. Let it play out. Do not get involved," Trump said on Truth Social over the weekend, as rebel-backed fighters advanced into Damascus, forcing Assad to flee to Moscow for safe haven.
Trump, for his part, has acknowledged the foreign policy situation he stands to inherit in 2025 could be more complex than he saw in his first term, especially in the Middle East.
It "certainly seems like the world is going a little crazy right now," Trump told leaders earlier this week in Paris, where he attended a grand reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral.
Here is a rundown of what Trump did in Syria in 2019 and how his actions could be insufficient today.
In Syria, the speed at which rebel forces successfully wrested back control of major cities and forced Assad to flee to Moscow for safe haven took many by surprise, including analysts and diplomats with years of experience in the region.
It is currently an "open question" who is currently in charge in Syria, White House National Security communications advisor John Kirby told reporters earlier this week.
However, the rebel-led group that ousted Assad is currently designated as a terrorist organization in the U.S., raising fresh uncertainty over whether Trump might see their rise to power as a threat to U.S. national security and whether he might move to position U.S. troops in response.
The conditions are also ripe for exploration by other governments and adversaries, which could seize on the many power vacuums created by the collapse of Assad's regime.
In the days following Assad's flight to Moscow, senior Biden administration officials stressed that the U.S. will act only in a supporting capacity, telling reporters, "We are not coming up with a blueprint from Washington for the future of Syria."
"This is written by Syrians. The fall of Assad was delivered by Syrians," the administration official said.
Still, this person added, "I think it’s very clear that the United States can provide a helping hand, and we are very much prepared to do so." It's unclear whether Trump will see the situation the same.
In October 2019, Trump announced the decision to withdraw U.S. troops from northeastern Syria, news that came under sharp criticism by some diplomats and foreign policy analysts, who cited fears that the decision risked destabilizing one of the only remaining stable parts of Syria and injecting further volatility and uncertainty into the war-torn nation.
However, at the time, that part of the country was stable. U.S. troops were stationed there alongside British and French troops, who worked alongside the Syrian Defense Force to protect against a resurgence of Islamic State activity. However, the situation is different now, something that Trump's team does not appear to be disputing, for its part.
Additionally, while seeking the presidency in 2024, Trump continued his "America first" posture that many believe helped him win the election in 2016 — vowing to crack down on border security, job creation, and U.S. oil and gas production, among other things — incoming Trump administration officials have stressed the degree to which they've worked alongside the Biden administration to ensure a smooth handover when it comes to geopolitical issues.
Unlike his first White House transition, Trump's preparations for a second presidential term have been remarkably detailed, efficient and policy oriented. That includes announcing nominations for most Cabinet positions and diplomats, and releasing policy blueprints for how the administration plans to govern over the next four years.
"For our adversaries out there that think this is a time of opportunity that they can play one administration off the other, they’re wrong, and we… we are hand in glove," Trump's pick for national security adviser, Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., told Fox News in an interview following Trump's election in November. "We are one team with the United States in this transition."
The Biden administration has renewed a controversial sanctions waiver that will allow Iran access to some $10 billion in payments from Iraq – an action that came just two days after President-elect Trump emerged victorious on Election Day.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken again extended the waiver for humanitarian trade, which permits Iran to access accounts in Iraq and Oman. However, Republican critics have said that allowing the Iranian regime access to these funds frees up money Iran can use to support terrorism in the Middle East or advance its nuclear program.
"On November 7th, the department did renew Iraq's electricity waiver for the 23rd time since 2018. It was done so for an additional 120 days," State Department spokesman Vedant Patel confirmed last week.
"We remain committed to reducing Iran's malign influence in the region. Our viewpoint is that a stable, sovereign and secure Iraq is critical to these efforts," he added, pointing out that this sanctions waiver began in 2018 during the first Trump administration.
Congress has passed several sanctions targeting Iran that give the president authority to temporarily suspend, or "waive" the sanctions if the president determines doing so is in the interests of U.S. national security.
The waiver is set to expire after Trump takes office in January. It is unclear whether the Trump administration would again extend the sanctions relief. The Trump transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, argued Tuesday that the sanctions waiver allows Iran to fund proxy terror groups that have attacked U.S. forces in the Middle East.
"The House voted to eliminate these waiver authorities — twice. But the Biden administration is still waiving the sanctions, putting more money in the Iranian regime’s pockets to fund its terrorist proxies and nuclear weapons program," McCaul posted on X.
"The U.S. should not be subsidizing Iran’s malign activities."
In the waning days of the Biden administration, President-elect Trump is bucking his predecessor's "don't" doctrine as a deterrent to foreign adversaries, instead issuing tough warnings before even taking office.
"If the hostages are not released prior to January 20, 2025, the date that I proudly assume Office as President of the United States, there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against Humanity," Trump warned Hamas on his Truth Social account Monday.
"Everybody is talking about the hostages who are being held so violently, inhumanely, and against the will of the entire World, in the Middle East – But it’s all talk, and no action!" Trump added.
War broke out in the Middle East on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel. Terrorists killed more than 1,100 people and kidnapped more than 200, with Hamas still holding 101 hostages, including seven Americans, in Gaza more than a year after the war began.
The White House and Israeli government have worked for months to secure a hostage release deal, but have been unsuccessful.
Trump's tough language against Hamas, which included warning those responsible for holding the hostages that they "will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied History of the United States of America," stands in stark contrast to President Biden's "don't" doctrine regarding the war in Israel.
"And my message to any state or any other hostile actor thinking about attacking Israel remains the same as it was a week ago: Don’t. Don’t. Don’t," he said.
War continued despite the warning, including from Iranian proxies against Israel.
This year, Biden doubled down on his warning of "don't" aimed at Iran. When asked by reporters about Iran's expectation to attack Israel in April, he said his message to Tehran is: "Don't."
"We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed," he added.
Again in August, Biden warned Iran against attacking Israel with the one-word threat.
Biden's common response to deter foreign adversaries from attacking Israel is viewed as a failed policy, with conservative security experts and others slamming the message as weak.
"The Administration keeps saying 'don't' to Iran – but then does nothing to impose costs. This weakness means the risk from Iran continues to grow," former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted in August.
"Well, he said, ‘Don’t’ multiple times, and ‘Don’t’ isn’t a national security policy," Pompeo added later in a comment to Fox News. "It’s not even a deterrent.
"So much for President Biden telling bad guys ‘Don’t’ actually being an effective deterrent. Every time he says 'Don’t,' they do," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., wrote in a post in April, after Iran launched more than 300 missiles and drones at Israel.
"Biden's approach with Iran and the Middle East is backwards," Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., wrote on X. "Now as we risk entering WWIII, the US must stand by Israel's commitment to democracy. The president must stand firm, and stop coddling Iran immediately."
"I guess Biden's speechwriters have him down to one word now. At least he can remember it. Worse when referring to the hospital carnage he calls Hamas the other team," Fox News' Greg Gutfeld quipped after the war in Israel broke out last year, mocking Biden's use of the word "don't."
Trump had campaigned on ending the wars in both Ukraine and Israel, both of which began under the Biden administration, and claimed that neither war would have been launched if he had been president.
"The Ukraine situation is so horrible, the Israeli situation is so horrible. We are going to get them solved very fast," Trump said on the campaign trail in January.
Israeli officials celebrated Trump's tough stance against terrorists in the Middle East and his demand for hostages to be released by next month.
"Thank you and bless you Mr. President-elect," President Isaac Herzog of Israel said in a post on social media. "We all pray for the moment we see our sisters and brothers back home!"
The nation's finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, added, "How refreshing it is to hear clear and morally sound statements that do not create a false equivalence or call for addressing ‘both sides.’ This is the way to bring back the hostages: by increasing the pressure and the costs for Hamas and its supporters, and defeating them, rather than giving in to their absurd demands."
"President Trump is working towards international peace. In anticipation of the incoming Trump administration, Iran has called off its reprisal attack on Israel and negotiations to end the war in Gaza and Russia's war in Ukraine have accelerated. One former NATO Supreme Allied Commander says America's enemies are 'concerned, they're nervous – [and] they ought to be,'" the Trump War Room said in an email this week titled "Promises Kept – And President Trump Hasn't Even Been Inaugurated Yet."
EXCLUSIVE: A group of former United Nations officials fed up with its inefficiency launched "DOGE-UN," an investigative effort that will highlight waste by the world body.
The effort, similar to Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), will culminate in a report online ahead of the 2026 secretary-general selection, in hopes that the next leader will prioritize making the agency run more efficiently.
"Why stop at this country’s federal agencies?" said Hugh Dugan, a longtime member of the U.S. delegation to the U.N. and former National Security Council adviser on international organizations.
"We need to centralize our understanding of our cash flow to and from the U.N. and the results we'd like to see from our participation in international organizations," he told Fox News Digital.
Dugan is working with a group of former presidents of the U.N. General Assembly who meet regularly to discuss agency issues. He’s recruited "insiders and outsiders who used to be insiders" to identify where the U.N. is ineffective at its mission and where funds are going to waste.
"Unfortunately, the mindset there over the years prefers to look at outputs over outcomes," said Dugan. "How many meetings did we hold, how many pencils did we buy, instead of outcomes. Like, was there an opportunity to get peace underway more quickly in conflict settings, or to what extent are we ameliorating the rate of hunger in the world?"
Dugan says his team will ask two questions: "Is the U.N. working?" and "Is it working for us?"
The U.N. has an Office of Internal Oversight Services, but unlike the inspectors general for other government agencies, that office is internal, not independent, Dugan pointed out.
Last month, a former high-ranking U.N. official was ordered to pay back $59 million the agency lost in deals he made with a British businessman who gave him interest-free loans, a Mercedes and other gifts for his sons.
"Usually, there is no consequence for bad behavior, and that's a rare thing that they caught this one," said Dugan.
He recalled the U.N.’s oil-for-food program, where former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein siphoned off more than $10 billion through illegal oil smuggling, according to a 2004 CIA report.
"I'm hoping this will serve to really crack open this dark chamber there that seems to just perpetuate itself on the goodwill of the charter, but actual performance is not serving the peoples of the world."
Founded with a mission to promote global peace, development and respect for human rights after World War II, the U.N. relies on the U.S. for about a third of its budget. President Biden increased U.S. financial contributions to the U.N. and its sister agencies, boosting it from $11.6 billion in 2020 to $18.1 billion in 2022.
The U.S. gave about three times as much that year as the next-highest contributors, Germany, at $6.8 billion and Japan, at $2.7 billion.
That amount of funding gives a new administration wiggle room to withhold funds to the U.N. if its global interests do not align with those of the U.S., a notion some Republicans have already pushed for.
President-elect Trump will be in office when the international body elects its next secretary-general in 2026, and the U.S. will have veto power over any candidate.
The U.N. particularly relies on the U.S. for global aid programs.
In 2022, it provided half of all contributions to the World Food Programme, and about a third of all contributions to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), and the International Organization for Migration.
Dugan said his report would also highlight ways to prevent China from "hijacking" the U.N. "deep state" to divert aid for its own Belt and Road Initiative.
China doubled the number of its nationals employed at the U.N. to nearly 15,000 from 2009 to 2021.
Musk and Ramaswamy outlined their efforts for DOGE in a Nov. 20 Wall Street Journal op-ed: "The DOGE Plan to Reform Government."
They said they would focus on driving change through "executive action based on existing legislation" rather than "passing new laws." They would work to claw back regulations put forth by government agencies that were never passed by Congress, backed by newfound authority under the Supreme Court’s West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency (2022), which stated agencies can’t impose regulations that touch on major economic or policy questions unless Congress allows them to do so.
Former Secretary of State John Kerry claimed that there is a "climate emergency," and suggested that Africans without electricity must select "the right kinds of electricity," likely referring to green energy production, and that the U.S. must help them to afford it.
Kerry made the comments at a speaking event at the Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics on Thursday.
The Democrat suggested there will be a need to "declare a climate emergency, which is what we really have. And we need to get people to behave as if this really is a major transitional challenge to the whole planet."
He noted that the U.S. has the biggest economy on earth, with China in second place.
Kerry, a former senator and the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee who lost to incumbent Republican President George W. Bush, went on to serve as secretary of state during a portion of President Obama's White House tenure.
He has also previously served as special presidential envoy for climate under President Biden.
A Texas Democrat believes President-elect Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on Mexico will get the country to come to the table "so we can solve the problem about immigration and fentanyl."
Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas’ 28th Congressional District – which borders Mexico in the southern part of the state – made the comment Tuesday during an interview on NewsNation.
"If it means a 25 percent tariff to potentially fix the border, would you favor that?" Cuellar was asked.
"Well, let me put it this way: Laredo’s the largest port; we handle 40 percent of all the trade between the U.S. and Mexico. I know this is a way to negotiate, get some leverage. I know that Mexico will come to the table," he responded.
"But nobody wants a 25 percent tariff on them, and the Mexicans are threatening to do the same thing, and we don’t want to get into that," Cuellar added. "But I think this will definitely get Mexico to the table so we can solve the problem about immigration and fentanyl."
Trump has vowed to impose tariffs on Mexico when he returns to the White House in January.
"As everyone is aware, thousands of people are pouring through Mexico and Canada, bringing Crime and Drugs at levels never seen before," Trump wrote Monday on Truth Social. "Right now a Caravan coming from Mexico, composed of thousands of people, seems to be unstoppable in its quest to come through our currently Open Border."
"On January 20th, as one of my many first Executive Orders, I will sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders. This Tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!" Trump continued.
"Both Mexico and Canada have the absolute right and power to easily solve this long simmering problem," he declared. "We hereby demand that they use this power, and until such time that they do, it is time for them to pay a very big price!"
A source told Reuters that Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had a "good discussion" with Trump regarding trade and border security following that Truth Social post.
Trump also said Monday, "I have had many talks with China about the massive amounts of drugs, in particular Fentanyl, being sent into the United States – But to no avail."
"Until such time as they stop, we will be charging China an additional 10% Tariff, above any additional Tariffs, on all of their many products coming into the United States of America," he added.
In response to that, the China Daily newspaper – which is run by the Chinese Communist Party – published an editorial Tuesday saying, "The excuse the president-elect has given to justify his threat of additional tariffs on imports from China is far-fetched," according to Reuters.
The editorial added: "There are no winners in tariff wars. If the U.S. continues to politicize economic and trade issues by weaponizing tariffs, it will leave no party unscathed,"
