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.
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."
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.
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.
President-elect Trump tangled with a reporter who asked him Monday if he would entertain the idea of preemptive strikes on Iran.
Trump, following remarks at Mar-a-Lago, took questions from the media, and one reporter asked if he would target Iran’s nuclear facilities,
"Well I can’t tell you that. I mean, it's a wonderful question, but how can I – am I going to do preemptive strikes? Why would I say that?" the president-elect responded.
"Can you imagine if I said yes or no? You would say, ‘That was strange that he answered that way.’ Am I going to do preemptive strikes on Iran? Is that a serious question? How could I answer a question like that?" Trump continued.
"How could I tell you a thing like that now?" Trump responded. "You don't talk about that before something may or may not happen. I don't want to insult you, I just think it's just not something that I would ever answer. Having to do with there or any other place in the world."
"We're trying to help very strongly and getting the hostages back, as you know, with Israel and the Middle East," Trump added Monday.
"We're working very much on that. We're trying to get the war stopped, that horrible, horrible war that's going on in Ukraine with Russia. We're going to, we've got a little progress. It's a tough one. It's a nasty one. It's nasty," he also said.
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.
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."
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."
Trump added: "Too many lives are being so needlessly wasted, too many families destroyed, and if it keeps going, it can turn into something much bigger, and far worse. I know Vladimir well. This is his time to act. China can help. The World is waiting!"
Assad, who used chemical weapons multiple times on his population, and his British-born wife, Asma al-Assad, fled with their three children, according to Syrian television reports, although it was not known where they were headed.
A video statement from a group of men on Syrian state TV said that Assad had been overthrown and that all prisoners had been released.
The man who read a statement said the Operations Room to Conquer Damascus is calling on all opposition fighters and citizens to preserve state institutions of "the free Syrian state."
"Long live the free Syrian state that is to all Syrians and all" their sects and ethnic groups, the statement said.
Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali said early Sunday he did not know where Assad was.
Crowds of Syrians gathered in the central squares of Damascus to celebrate Assad's departure.
Syria has been embroiled in a bloody, nearly 14-year civil war as Islamist rebels sought to overthrow Assad and end more than 50 years of Assad family rule over the Syrian Arabian Republic.
President 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.
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."
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.
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.
"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.
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.
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.
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.
