President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday aimed at bolstering U.S. artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives as it unveiled its new ‘Genesis Mission’ to accelerate AI use for scientific purposes. 

The ‘Genesis Mission’ will direct the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and their national labs to work with private companies to share federal data sets, advanced supercomputing capabilities, and scientific facilities. 

‘The private sector has launched artificial intelligence at huge scale, but with a little bit different focus – on language, on business, on processes, on consumer services,’ Secretary of Energy Chris Wright told reporters Monday. ‘What we’re doing here is just pivoting those efforts to focus on scientific discovery, engineering advancements. And to do that, you need the data sets that are contained across our national labs.’ 

Additionally, the executive order instructs the Department of Energy and national labs to create an integrated platform aimed at expediting scientific discovery, in an attempt to connect AI capability with scientists, engineers, technical staff, and the labs’ scientific instruments, according to a White House official.

Trump hinted an effort like this was in the works during the U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum Wednesday in Washington, where he said the U.S. would work ‘to build the largest, most powerful, most innovative AI ecosystem in the world.’

The effort comes after Trump issued an AI policy document called ‘Winning the Race: America’s AI Action Plan’ in July. The document laid out a framework focused on accelerating AI innovation, ensuring the U.S. is the leader in international AI diplomacy and security, and using the private sector to help build up and operate AI infrastructure. 

Meanwhile, the Trump administration is also currently considering other executive orders pertaining to AI, and more executive orders could be on the horizon. 

For example, Fox News Digital previously reported that the White House was gearing up an executive order instructing the Justice Department to sue states that adopt their own laws regulating AI. 

Trump appeared to address the initiative at the U.S-Saudi Investment Forum as well, claiming that a series of AI regulations imposed at the state level would prove a ‘disaster.’

‘And we are going to work it so that you’ll have a one approval process to not have to go through 50 states,’ Trump said. 

Fox News’ Amanda Macias and Dennis Collins contributed to this report. 

The Club for Growth says it has President Donald Trump’s back as the president pushes Republican-controlled states to redraw congressional maps in order to create more right-leaning districts to help defend the GOP’s fragile House majority in next year’s midterm elections.

‘We’re all in on helping Republicans do redistricting,’ David McIntosh, longtime president of the deep-pocketed and influential conservative group, said in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital.

McIntosh highlighted that the Club for Growth’s seven-figure efforts ‘give Republicans a better shot at winning those extra districts.’

The push by the Club is the latest example of its strong support for the president and his policies, just two years after the group worked to prevent Trump from winning the 2024 Republican presidential nomination amid a bitter feud.

Trump and his political team are aiming to pad the GOP’s razor-thin House majority to keep control of the chamber in next year’s midterms, when the party in power traditionally faces political headwinds and loses seats.

Trump is trying to prevent what happened during his first term in the White House when Democrats reclaimed the House majority in the 2018 midterm elections.

Texas was the first Republican-controlled state to pass rare but not-unheard-of mid-decade congressional redistricting, although a ruling by two federal judges threatens to overturn the redrawn map. Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio have also drawn new maps as part of the president’s push.

Indiana, where McIntosh served three terms as a congressman 25 years ago, is the latest battlefield in the high-stakes redistricting showdown pitting Trump and Republicans versus Democrats to shape the 2026 midterm landscape in the fight for the House majority.

‘Democrats for years have gerrymandered and Republicans have not, and now it’s time so we can have Republicans in Congress for states like my home state of Indiana, step up to the plate, draw the district, so Republicans can be represented,’ McIntosh argued.

Trump has threatened to back primary challenges against Republican state lawmakers in Indiana who are reluctant to pass redistricting.

‘I was delighted to see President Trump calling them to do it. And you know, he said, we’re going to start endorsing against you if you don’t do what’s right for the Republican Party and for the nation. Club for Growth will be there to back up his endorsements,’ McIntosh said.

And the Club’s political arm, the Club for Growth Action super PAC, which is one of the biggest spenders in Republican primary showdowns thanks to the support of top-dollar conservative donors, is running ads to support the president’s push in right-leaning states across the country.

‘We’re way over seven figures when you put together all the different states. And what we’re doing is running ads. We have a new ad today that talks about the need for redistricting,’ McIntosh revealed. ‘We have a program that brings constituent calls into the Senate members, and so they get to hear directly from their voters that they want them to do this.’

It’s not just redistricting.

The Club is spending seven figures in next week’s hotly contested special election for a Republican-controlled vacant House seat in a solidly red congressional district in Tennessee.

‘Matt Epps is going to win,’ McIntosh said as he pointed to the Trump-endorsed GOP nominee in the race to succeed former Republican Rep. Mark Green, who resigned from office in June to take a private sector job.

‘It’s going to be a hard race. They all are, but he’s going to win that race because he’s more in line with Tennessee,’ McIntosh said of Van Epps. ‘I’m confident of him, and we’re going to help him do it.’

And looking ahead to next year’s midterms, McIntosh shared that the Club has ‘already started raising a $40 million fund to keep the House majority, and we’re about 25 million into it.’

‘I’m going to keep going, and then we’ll deploy that to make sure Republicans can keep the majority,’ he emphasized.

And as they’ve done in the past, the Club, which pushes a fiscally conservative agenda, including a focus on tax cuts and other economic issues, will once again play an influential role in GOP primaries.

‘We’re interviewing a lot of candidates now. We’re going to look for the strongest conservative candidate, somebody who wants to continue the economic progress, less regulation, lower taxes, balance the budget, the things that will make America great,’ McIntosh said. ‘And then when we endorse them, we’ll come in with our funding to pay for ads. We’ll recruit and help them raise money. It’s important we get the right Republicans in these primaries, and there are a lot of open seats.’

Democrats are energized coming out of their party’s sweeping victories earlier this month in the 2026 elections.

‘Democrats have racked up wins this year by running on affordability and lowering costs, and headed into 2026 our momentum continues to build,’ CJ Warnke, communications director for the Democrat-aligned House Majority PAC told Fox News Digital.

Warnke predicted, ‘As Trump’s poll numbers on the economy continue to plummet and voters see him prioritizing the elite over lowering prices, his broken promises will sink House Republicans. No Republican-held seat is safe, and HMP will do whatever it takes to win the House in 2026.’

McIntosh sees the 2025 elections as ‘a warning sign, a wake-up call for two things.’

‘One, we got to get our voters out, and that’s the job of the party and Club for Growth and groups like us,’ McIntosh noted.

But he added that ‘the party has to explain how our agenda makes life more affordable, how we can lower your insurance costs by forcing the insurance industry to tell you how much they’re charging. We can lower housing by getting rid of all sorts of regulation.’

McIntosh and the Club have had an up-and-down relationship with the president. They opposed Trump as he ran for the White House in 2016 before embracing him as an ally. In the 2022 cycle, Trump and the Club teamed up in some high-profile GOP primaries but clashed over combustible Senate nomination battles in Alabama, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

The Club was on the outs with Trump as the 2024 Republican presidential nomination race got underway. Trump repeatedly criticized McIntosh and the Club, referring to them as ‘The Club for NO Growth,’ and claimed they were ‘an assemblage of political misfits, globalists, and losers.’

However, Trump and McIntosh made peace in early 2024, with Trump saying as he was wrapping up the GOP presidential nomination, that they were ‘back in love’ after the protracted falling out.

Asked about the Club’s relationship with Trump, McIntosh said, ‘We’re right there with the President, especially in these races … Club for Growth is very aligned with President Trump, and we’re especially in these contested races, we’re going to help him win.’

One Senate Republican proved that it’s still possible to bridge the chasm between the aisles after brokering an end to the longest government shutdown in history.

The 43-day impasse in Congress may have ended in the House, but it was in the Senate that Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., worked to build an old-fashioned bipartisan coalition to jump-start the stalled chamber.

It took several weeks, numerous conversations and reconstructing broken trust between Senate Republicans and Democrats to pull off what would become a bipartisan package to reopen the government.

And it was something that Britt, in an interview with Fox News Digital, contended she was uniquely positioned to do.

She was chief of staff for former Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., and knew how the sausage was made in the upper chamber. She also had longstanding relationships with some of the key Democratic negotiators, like Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., who ultimately joined most Republicans to reopen the government.

For Britt, who chairs the Homeland Security Appropriations Committee, the key to reopening the government was funding the government through spending bills.

‘I’m very grateful for those on the other side of the aisle that had the courage to step forward and say, you know, we’re not going to allow everyday Americans to suffer as a result of keeping this government closed,’ she said. ‘I do think what we saw was a lot of people that were listening to their political consultants instead of the actual constituency that they serve.’

‘Because clearly, I think a lot of people had lost sight of the fact that we were in this place because we hadn’t passed appropriations bills,’ Britt continued.

During the last session of Congress, the chambers were split. Republicans held a tenuous grip on the House while Schumer and Senate Democrats controlled the Senate. Many of the spending bills produced by the House were often partisan, while the bipartisan bills crafted in the Senate never made it to the floor.

‘If you look back over Senator Schumer’s tenure as leader and over the last two years, he didn’t even put one bill on the floor last year, which is what led us to this posture of a CR to start with,’ she said.

Britt believed that at least moving a trio of spending bills could perhaps unstick the gears in the Senate and get lawmakers closer to ending the shutdown. Whether that package of bills could end up attached to legislation to reopen the government, however, remained elusive.

While she lauded both Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., for their roles in ensuring the funding process actually worked, her role as de facto arbiter began roughly three weeks before the shutdown ended.

One of the main issues before and throughout the shutdown was a lack of trust that Senate Democrats had in Republicans, an issue that was reaffirmed when the GOP voted to claw back billions in congressionally approved funding earlier in the year.

That trust issue was further solidified due to a lack of commitments from Republicans to prevent the Trump administration from continuing to carve away at federal funding with impoundments and rescissions.

And the key moment that saw the wheels begin to move in the direction of reopening came when Senate Democrats blocked the Defense appropriations bill, which would have paid service members among a plethora of other things.

‘The question that I had for each of them, you know, why? This came out of committee in a bipartisan way, and it was clear, they wanted greater conversation around how we were planning on moving these things forward,’ she said.

It was from those informal talks that she leaned into speaking with more Democratic lawmakers to try and assuage their concerns about what would happen during and after the spending bills were passed. Those conversations brought her all the way to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on whether he would approve of the appropriations process moving forward.

‘Taking a cue from that is why I really leaned into conversations, both with people that I believed were gettable in finding a pathway forward on reopening the government and those who were not,’ she said. ‘You know, just saying, like, ‘Look, guys, here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to work to fund these three bills. And if we do that, you know, here will be the ultimate result of it.’’

But, as with any successful legislation, there’s always a numbers game.

Not every Senate Republican was in favor of reopening the government, or at least the vehicle to do so, a point Britt reiterated often. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., had consistently voted against the House-passed bill until that point.

So that meant she needed to find the numbers elsewhere across the aisle. Shaheen, who was leading negotiations for Senate Democrats, largely had her numbers in check, but there was one more that needed an extra nudge: Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va.

Over the course of 48 hours, the weekend of the penultimate vote to seal the deal in the Senate, Kaine went from being against the package to supporting it. Britt acted as a liaison to the White House, bringing Kaine’s demands that the administration roll back firings carried out during the shutdown and provide protections to federal workers, which the administration ultimately agreed to.

But ending the shutdown was the first hurdle. Lawmakers now have until Jan. 30, 2026, to fund the government. Britt said she would keep doing what she’s been doing: talking to the other side.

‘I am hopeful that people will remember what we’re supposed to be doing, and that is working to pass these bills,’ she said. ‘And I am sure that there will be challenges in front of us, but you know, having dialogue and working to break the logjam will be essential when it does occur to keep America moving.’

Four years into Russia’s full-scale invasion, the war in Ukraine has settled into a grinding conflict defined by high casualties and incremental territorial shifts. Russia still controls roughly one-fifth of Ukrainian territory, while Kyiv has recently clawed back limited ground in counteroffensives. Military estimates put Russian losses at about 1.2 million casualties since 2022, with Ukrainian losses between 500,000 and 600,000, underscoring the scale of attrition on both sides.

Diplomacy has intensified alongside the fighting. President Donald Trump met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska last August for high-stakes talks aimed at advancing negotiations. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has traveled to Washington multiple times since Trump returned to office, including a contentious Oval Office meeting in Feb. 2025 and a follow-up visit later in the year.

The most recent U.S. engagement with both sides came during trilateral negotiations in Abu Dhabi earlier this year and more taking place in Geneva on Feb. 17–18, where special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russian and Ukrainian delegations as part of ongoing efforts to broker a settlement.

As the war enters its fifth year, former officials and analysts say the next phase could unfold along three possible paths: prolonged stalemate, shifting Ukrainian momentum, or a dangerous erosion of Western resolve.

Scenario one: Prolonged stalemate

The most immediate trajectory is continuation. The war remains defined by attrition, with neither side delivering a decisive blow and negotiations producing little progress.

Ret. U.S. Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove, former NATO supreme allied commander of Europe, said Moscow is not winning despite its territorial hold, ‘There isn’t a winner right now.’

‘Russia, supposedly a world superpower with one of the world’s probably top three world armies and top four world air forces, in 12 years has gained about 20% of Ukraine. And they have lost some, say, over 1.2 million in the conflict so far. It’s a conflict that Ukraine is working hard to manage. It’s also a conflict that Russia is not, I repeat, not winning,’ he said.

Scenario two: Ukrainian momentum reshapes diplomacy

Recent battlefield developments suggest another possibility. Breedlove pointed to rapid Ukrainian gains following disruptions in Russia’s command-and-control systems.

‘In the last three or four days, because of the loss of the Starlink command and control system, Ukraine launched an offensive, and they have snatched back months of Russian gains in three days, three-pronged push, hundreds of square miles regained, and Russia is backing up in several places right now.’

Carrie Filipetti, executive director of the Vandenberg Coalition, said such advances could shift leverage at the negotiating table. ‘Ukraine’s recent advances to recapture its territory is yet another signal that Putin’s war machine is continuing to atrophy as the world marks the fourth year of Russia’s full-scale invasion. Russia’s latest territorial losses shows that far from being invincible, Putin and his army are beginning to experience real failures in terms of capability and resources.’

She added that momentum matters. ‘Not only is this the most significant Ukrainian advance on the battlefield in more than two years, its importance may be felt even more concretely at the diplomatic table. Finding a lasting and equitable peace deal through negotiation is often about momentum – and right now the Ukrainians have it.’

If sustained, such gains could alter Moscow’s calculations and give Kyiv a stronger footing in negotiations as long as Ukraine has strong U.S. support, Breedlove argues, ‘The first thing and the most important thing Ukraine needs is a declaratory statement by the West and specifically by the United States that we are not going to allow Russia to win in Ukraine, and we will give Ukraine what it needs to stop Russia… where Putin hears it loud and clear and where the people of Russia hear it loud and clear that is a game changer. And I think that’s when Mr. Putin is going to have to make some tough decisions.’

Scenario three: Escalation or Western fatigue

A third path worries some Western strategists: that inconsistent support could prolong or tilt the conflict in Russia’s favor.

Heather Nauert, who served as spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State from 2017 to 2019, framed the war as more than a territorial dispute. ‘As we now enter the fifth year of Putin’s war in Ukraine, we’re reminded that this conflict has never been only about territory — it’s about identity, faith, and the future of a free nation. Russia has destroyed more than 600 churches, persecuted millions of Ukrainian Christians under occupation, and abducted more than 19,000 children in an effort to break Ukraine’s spirit. President Trump’s push for a lasting peace must be backed by strength and accountability – one that protects innocent lives, defends religious freedom and brings stolen children home.’

Ret. Lt. Gen. Richard Newton said deterrence remains central. ‘Four years into this horrific war, the fundamental lesson remains unchanged: Peace is only possible when strength shapes the terms. Putin will continue to savagely test our resolve until the costs of his aggression outweigh any possible gain.’

‘What Ukraine needs isn’t gestures from the world, but instead, unwavering support from the U.S. and Europe that convinces Moscow further advances carry unacceptable consequences,’ he argued. ‘Russia must not prevail against Ukraine and the West. What are needed are credible security guarantees, robust offensive and defensive capabilities and a unified, long-term commitment by the West to ensure deterrence isn’t an elusive goal, but a lasting reality.’

Breedlove warned that negotiations alone will not shift the balance. ‘The most dangerous scenario is that we do not do what we should do in Ukraine and Russia takes over Ukraine because they’re not done.We have a policy of peace through strength and we’re using it in Iran. We’ve used it in Venezuela. We’re using it with oil tankers around the world… But when it comes to Putin and Ukraine, we are peace through weakness.’

‘Mr. Putin is making a point that he’s in charge in Ukraine, not the West and certainly not America. And so we need to change that dynamic. You got good guys and you got bad guys. And right now the bad guys have told America to take a hike. So now, rather than telling them what to do, we are going to the good guys and saying, you have to give up more because the bad guys are not playing well in the sandbox. That’s peace through weakness, not peace through strength,’ Breedlove concluded.

A new feature on Elon Musk’s X is exposing the truth behind social media accounts across the political spectrum, with account owners apparently misleading followers about where they are posting from.

The new feature allows all X users to inspect where a given account is based, usually listing a country or region. Many popular accounts posing as American ‘patriots’ or ‘constitutionalists’ have been exposed as being run from foreign countries since the update rolled out on Friday.

One account with the handle ‘@1776General_’ boasts over 140,000 followers and has a user biography describing the owner as a ‘constitutionalist, patriot and ethnically American.’ The biography claims the account is based in the U.S., but X’s new feature reveals it is actually based in Turkey.

‘I work in international business. I’m currently working in Turkey on a contract,’ the owner of the account posted after the new feature was released.

Another account, ‘@AmericanVoice__’ had over 200,000 followers before the update rolled out. The new feature exposed that it was being run from South Asia, and the owners simply deleted the account.

X head of product Nikita Bier says the new feature should help X users sift out misinformation from their feeds.

‘When you read content on X, you should be able to verify its authenticity. This is critical for staying informed about important issues happening in the world. Part of this is showing new information in accounts, including the country an account is located in, among other things,’ Bier wrote.

The phenomenon is not limited to American politics, however. Many accounts claiming to have been reporting on alleged Israeli war crimes in Gaza also appear to be misleading users.

One user, Motasm A Dalloul, uses the handle ‘@AbujomaaGaza’ and claims to be a ‘Gaza-based journalist.’ His account has over 197,000 followers, but X says the owner is actually posting from Poland.

Dalloul has pushed back on claims that he is lying to his followers, however, posting a video on Saturday that appeared to show him on the ground in Gaza. Many users have argued about whether the video was digitally altered.

Another Palestinian-related account, the Quds News Network or @QudsNen, describes itself as the ‘largest independent Palestinian youth news network’ and has over 600,000 followers.

The account lists its location as ‘Palestine,’ but X says the account is actually based out of Egypt – unlike other accounts that X does list as being based in ‘Palestine,’ such as American-Palestinian journalist Mariam Barghouti.

A similar account under the name Times of Gaza/@Timesofgaza has nearly one million followers. It claims to provide the ‘latest news updates and top stories from occupied Palestine.’ The account is based in ‘East Asia and the Pacific,’ according to X.

X representatives have said its new feature could be partially spoofed by using a VPN to mask a user’s true location. In such cases where a VPN was detected, X added a warning next to the listed location.

Norwegian police are investigating an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Oslo that caused no injuries and only minor damage.

Amid the war on Iran, the Norwegian Justice Minister Astri Aas-Hansen is deploying ‘considerable resources’ to search for potential multiple perpetrators.

‘This is an unacceptable incident that we are taking very seriously,’ she told Norwegian press agency NTB.

A ‘loud bang’ was reported at the U.S. embassy in Oslo early Sunday morning at 1 a.m. local time (Saturday 7 p.m. ET), according to police, and eyewitnesses told Reuters that they saw thick smoke by the entrance of the consular section.

‘There was a very thick layer of smoke on the street,’ said Sebastian Toerstad, 18, a high school student who drove past the embassy at the time of the explosion.

‘There was some damage to the entrance.’

No explosive devices had been found in the area, according to police.

‘Investigations have been carried out at the scene with the aid of dogs, drones and a helicopter, searching for one or more potential perpetrators,’ the Oslo police department said in a statement.

PST, the Norwegian police security service, called in additional personnel following the incident but has not changed the country’s terror threat level, according to communication adviser Martin Bernsen.

PST operations manager Mikael Dellemyr does not ‘connect’ the attack to U.S. bombings in the Middle East or terrorist or Iranian retaliation.

‘It is far too early’ in the investigation, he told Oslo’s TV 2.

Fox News Digital reached out to the State Department for comment, but they did not immediately respond.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

A former TV anchor-turned entrepreneur convicted of stealing millions of dollars in a COVID-era fraud scheme will spend the next decade behind bars at the same Texas prison camp as infamous sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell. 

Earlier this year, a federal grand jury found Stephanie Hockridge, 42, guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. On Friday, Hockridge was sentenced to 10 years in lockup at a Federal Prison Camp in Bryan, Texas, the New York Post reported. She was also ordered to pay over $63 million in restitution.

Hockridge was convicted ‘in a scheme to fraudulently obtain over $63 million in Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans guaranteed by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act,’ according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

Hockridge co-founded lender service provider Blueacorn in April 2020, ostensibly to help small businesses and individuals secure PPP loans during the COVID-19 pandemic, the DOJ said. She previously worked as a TV news anchor for KNXV in Phoenix, the Post wrote.

Screenshots of internal messages within Blueacorn show Hockdridge instructing staff to prioritize what were known as ‘VIPPP’ clients over regular PPP borrowers.

‘To get larger loans for certain PPP applicants, Hockridge and her co-conspirators fabricated documents, including payroll records, tax documentation and bank statements,’ the DOJ wrote in a press release. ‘Hockridge and her co-conspirators charged borrowers kickbacks based on a percentage of the funds received.’

Hockridge, however, claimed Blueacorn was a ‘sincere effort to support small businesses’ during the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Post. 

The PPP was implemented to provide small businesses with funds to keep their workers on payroll, hire back employees who may have been laid off and cover applicable expenses like rent, utilities and mortgage interest during the pandemic. 

Maxwell is serving her 20-year sentence at the same prison camp in Bryan for her role in a scheme to sexually exploit and abuse multiple minor girls with Jeffrey Epstein over the course of a decade.

Theranos fraudster Elizabeth Holmes and former ‘The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City’ star Jennifer Shah are also serving time at the same facility.

Neither Hockridge’s attorney nor the Federal Bureau of Prisons immediately returned Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday that discussions over ending the war in Ukraine have entered a productive phase, while claiming ‘a tremendous amount of progress’ had been made.

Following a round of talks with a Ukrainian delegation in Geneva, Switzerland, Rubio told reporters negotiators had ‘a very good day today.’

‘We had a very good day today. I think we made a tremendous amount of progress, even from the last time I spoke to you,’ Rubio said.

‘We began almost three weeks ago with a foundational document that we socialized and ran by both sides, and with input from both sides,’ he said.

Rubio described how negotiators had been refining the 28-point peace framework that outlines potential conditions for a ceasefire and long-term settlement for Ukraine and Russia.

‘Over the last 96 hours or more, there’s been extensive engagement with the Ukrainian side including our Secretary of the Army and others, being on the ground in Kyiv, meeting with relevant stakeholders across the Ukrainian political spectrum in the legislative branch and the executive branch, and the military and others to further sort of narrow these points.’

‘We arrived here today with one goal: to take what – it’s 28 points or 26 points, depending on which version, as it continued to evolve and try to narrow the ones that were open items. And we have achieved that today in a very substantial way,’ he said.

The weekend talks centered on a 28-point plan, which is a framework drafted by the U.S. outlining steps for a possible ceasefire and political settlement.

The document is said to cover security guarantees, territorial control, reconstruction mechanisms, and Ukraine’s long-term relationship with NATO and the EU.

The plan has reportedly evolved through several iterations, narrowing disputes point by point as both sides weigh concessions.

‘Now, obviously, like any final agreement, it’ll have to be agreed upon by the presidents, and there are a couple of issues that we need to continue to work on,’ Rubio clarified.

While declining to specify unresolved issues, Rubio described the moment as ‘delicate.’

‘This is a very delicate moment, and it’s important – like I said, there’s not agreement on those yet.  Some of it is semantics or language; others require higher-level decisions and consultation; others, I think, just need more time to work through,’ he said before touching on some issues.

‘There were some that involved equities or the role of the EU or of NATO or so forth, and those we kind of segregated out because we just met with the national security advisors for various European countries, and those are things we’ll have to discuss with them because it involves them.’

‘I don’t want to declare victory or finality here. There’s still some work to be done,’ he added.

Suggesting there is intent to ensure Ukraine’s security, Rubio said that they all ‘recognize that part of getting a final end to this war will require for Ukraine to feel as if it is safe, and it is never going to be invaded or attacked again.’

‘I honestly believe we’ll get there,’ he said, and when asked about next steps, Rubio said a possible call between Presidents Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy could happen, adding, ‘I don’t know. It’s possible. I’m not sure.’

‘The deadline is we want to get this done as soon as possible. Obviously, we’d love it to be Thursday,’ he added.

Rep. Eugene Vindman, D-Va., is demanding that President Donald Trump release a 2019 call with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, saying the American people ‘deserve to know what was said’ in the aftermath of Jamal Khashoggi’s murder.

Vindman, a retired Army colonel who once served on Trump’s National Security Council, said the call was one of two that deeply concerned him — the other being the 2019 conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that triggered Trump’s first impeachment. 

Standing beside Hanan Elatr Khashoggi, the slain journalist’s widow, Vindman said Trump ‘sidelined his own intelligence community to shield a foreign leader’ and that transparency is owed to both the Khashoggi family and the country.

‘The Khashoggi family and the American people deserve to know what was said on that call,’ Vindman said Friday. ‘Our intelligence agencies concluded that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the murder of Mr. Khashoggi’s husband. When the president sidelined his own intelligence community to shield a foreign leader, America’s credibility was at stake.’

Vindman’s name already is polarizing in Trump-era politics. 

He and his twin brother, Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, became central figures in the first impeachment attempt against Trump, when their internal reporting of Trump’s Ukraine call led to accusations from conservatives that they had undermined an elected president. To Trump’s allies, Eugene Vindman’s demand to release the 2019 Saudi call feels like a replay of that fight — another attempt by a former National Security Council insider to damage the president under the banner of transparency.

Still, his comments land at a revealing moment. Washington’s embrace of bin Salman underscores a familiar trade-off in U.S. foreign policy: strategic security and economic interests over accountability and human rights.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said: ‘The U.S.-Saudi friendship is now a partnership for the future. President Trump’s historic agreements with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, from defense to investment, will create quality jobs for Americans and will grow our economy. No virtue-signaling. No lecturing. Only results for the American people.’

White House relations

Trump’s latest visit with bin Salman brought sweeping defense and investment deals, even as questions over 9/11 and Khashoggi’s murder continue to test that balance. The United States granted Saudi Arabia major non-NATO ally status, formally elevating the kingdom’s defense and intelligence partnership with Washington and clearing the way for expedited arms sales and joint military programs.

Bin Salman also pledged nearly $1 trillion in new Saudi investments across U.S. industries, including infrastructure, artificial intelligence and clean energy. The commitments were announced alongside a Strategic Defense Agreement that includes purchases of F-35 fighter jets, roughly 300 Abrams tanks and new missile defense systems, as well as joint ventures to expand manufacturing inside Saudi Arabia.

Administration officials said the initiatives would create tens of thousands of American jobs and strengthen the U.S. industrial base.

During his appearance with Trump at the White House, reporters shouted questions about Saudi Arabia’s alleged role in the Sept. 11 attacks and the 2018 killing of Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul — marking a rare moment of public pressure on the crown prince, who typically avoids unscripted exchanges with the press.

Trump accused the press of trying to ’embarrass’ his guest, but the crown prince offered what sounded like regret for the killing of Khashoggi, even as he denied involvement.

‘A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about,’ Trump said. ‘Whether you like him or don’t like him, things happen, but he knew nothing about it … We can leave it at that. You don’t have to embarrass our guest by asking a question like that.’

ABC reporter Mary Bruce had told bin Salman that U.S. intelligence determined he’d signed off on the killing and that 9/11 families were ‘furious’ about his presence in the White House. ‘Why should Americans trust you?’

‘It’s been painful for us in Saudi Arabia,’ bin Salman said of the killing, calling it ‘a huge mistake.’ ‘We’ve improved our system to be sure that nothing happens like that again,’ he added.

A 2021 report by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence stated: ‘We assess that Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved an operation in Istanbul, Turkey, to capture or kill Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.’ 

Bin Salman has repeatedly denied approving the killing, though he said in 2019, ‘It happened under my watch, I take full responsibility as a leader.’

Sept. 11, 2001

The question of Saudi Arabia’s involvement in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks remains one of the most sensitive and unresolved issues in the U.S.-Saudi relationship. While 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi nationals, the U.S. government has never concluded that the Saudi state or senior Saudi officials had prior knowledge of or directed the attacks.

Families of 9/11 victims condemned bin Salman after he invoked Osama bin Laden during his White House remarks, saying the al-Qaeda leader used Saudi nationals to drive a wedge between Washington and Riyadh.

‘We have to focus on reality,’ the crown prince said. ‘Reality is that Osama bin Laden used Saudi people in that event for one main purpose: to destroy the American–Saudi relationship. That’s the purpose of 9/11.’

‘The Saudi crown prince invoking Osama bin Laden this afternoon in the White House does not change the fact that a federal judge in New York ruled a few short months ago that Saudi Arabia must stand trial for its role in the 9/11 terrorist attacks that murdered 3,000 of our loved ones,’ said Brett Eagleson, president of 9/11 Justice, a group representing victims’ families.

In August 2025, U.S. District Judge George B. Daniels issued a landmark ruling bringing Saudi Arabia under U.S. federal jurisdiction for a 9/11 trial. The court found evidence of a network of Saudi officials inside the U.S. who allegedly provided logistical support to the hijackers, citing ‘prior planning’ and ‘constant coordination.’ 

Among the materials described in the ruling was a drawing seized from a Saudi government operative showing an airplane with flight-path equations — evidence prosecutors said suggested advance knowledge of the attacks.

Saudi Arabia has denied any role, calling the allegations ‘categorically false.’ 

But for bin Salman, who came to Washington seeking to highlight new security and economic ties, the families’ sharp rebuke was a reminder that the 9/11 case still looms large in the public eye, even as the Trump administration deepens its partnership with Riyadh.

As President Donald Trump aims to build a ballroom at the White House, federal Judge Richard Leon on Thursday reportedly asked Justice Department lawyers to point to what authority allows the president to engage in a construction project at the White House.

‘Where do you see the authority for the president to tear down the East Wing and build something in its place?’ the judge asked, according to The Washington Post. 

While the outlet reported that Leon said he could issue a decision next month, NBC News reported that the judge promised that he would issue a decision in February.

Attorney Thad Heuer, who represents the National Trust for Historic Preservation, contended that the president lacks the constitutional power to rip down the East Wing and build a ballroom, according to NBC News, which quoted Heuer as saying, ‘He’s not the owner.’

The outlet reported that the judge seemed to be leaning in the direction of pausing the project.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House on Friday.

‘The president didn’t want $400 million in taxpayer money to be used for this,’ Justice Department attorney Yaakov Roth said, according to NBC News. 

‘He wanted to use donations,’ Roth noted.

The project began last year at the behest of Trump, but he has asserted that it is being funded by private donations, not taxpayer dollars.

‘I am honored to be the first President to finally get this much-needed project underway — with zero cost to the American Taxpayer!’ Trump declared in an October Truth Social post. ‘The White House Ballroom is being privately funded by many generous Patriots, Great American Companies, and, yours truly. This Ballroom will be happily used for Generations to come!’