For decades, the United States has fought the war on drugs as if it were exclusively a law enforcement issue. It never was. It has always had national security implications. 

After years of inaction, drugs now kill more Americans each year than every modern war combined. Fentanyl alone claimed more than 100,000 lives in 2021, a number that continues to rise despite billions spent on interdiction, prevention and policing. That is not a criminal nuisance. That is a sustained mass-casualty event inside the homeland.

President Donald Trump’s new approach finally treats the crisis for what it is. By designating major drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations and authorizing the use of military force against them, his administration has drawn a clear line between criminality and warfare. 

The cartels are not ordinary traffickers. They are transnational powers that control territory, wield military-grade arsenals and use terror as a tool of governance. In Trump’s words, they are ‘the ISIS of the Western Hemisphere.’

The numbers already justify the policy. In the first weeks of operations, the new Homeland Security Task Force has arrested more than 3,200 gang and cartel members, seized 91 tons of narcotics and captured over 1,000 illegal weapons. Those seizures represent tens of thousands of American lives saved. Every boat stopped and every shipment intercepted means fewer overdose deaths, fewer funerals, and fewer communities shattered by addiction and violence.

For too long, Washington treated the cartels as criminals who could be prosecuted rather than enemies who had to be defeated. That approach failed. The cartels wage war on America for profit. They assassinate, extort and kidnap while basking in riches captured through intimidation and terror.  They destabilize our neighbors and corrupt governments from Mexico to Venezuela. If America had the right to strike al Qaeda and ISIS abroad for killing Americans, it has an equal right to strike the cartels that kill Americans at home. 

The legal foundation is clear. In February 2025, the State Department designated Tren de Aragua, Sinaloa, Jalisco Nueva Generación, MS-13 and others as Foreign Terrorist Organizations. A presidential determination in September formally declared that the United States is in a non-international armed conflict with these groups. 

No court has challenged the policy because it aligns with both domestic and international law. When foreign networks deliberately kill American citizens, the president has not only the authority but the obligation to act.

The ethical case is equally strong. The Just War tradition requires a just cause, competent authority, proportionality and last resort. Every criterion has been met. The cause could not be more just when drug overdoses in the United States claimed more than 100,000 lives for a third consecutive year by 2023. 

Years of law enforcement, education campaigns and international coordination have not slowed the killing. When nonviolent means have failed, the duty of a government is to protect its citizens by every lawful means available.

Each go-fast boat in the Caribbean and each semi-submersible in the Pacific carries more than cocaine or methamphetamine. It carries a body count of Americans. These are not fishing vessels. They are militarized smuggling platforms crewed by combatants in a foreign network that profits from death. To treat them as anything less is to deny reality. The era of denial is over.

Critics argue that military strikes risk escalation. The cartels crossed this line long ago when they began murdering, intimidating and corrupting their way into power. These transnational criminal enterprises now operate as shadow governments. To continue treating them as mere criminal syndicates would be absurd.  In truth, it would be to accept defeat. 

Trump’s use of force is not about vengeance. It is about national defense. The Department of War, the CIA, the intelligence community, the DEA, FBI and Coast Guard are now unified in a single mission to dismantle the cartels’ capacity to kill Americans. 

Every strike on a drug boat denies the enemy profit and saves lives. As Secretary Pete Hegseth said, each destroyed vessel represents roughly 25,000 Americans who will not die from the poison it carried.

The cartels’ economic reach rivals that of small nations, generating hundreds of billions annually. They corrupt officials, weaponize migration and flood American streets with narcotics. This is not commerce. It is organized war for profit.

A government that fails to confront such an enemy is unworthy of the people it serves. Trump’s use of military force against the cartels is justified both legally and morally. It is long overdue. The United States has every right to defend its borders, its citizens and its sovereignty against a foreign network that profits from American death.

For decades, America fought this war with hesitation and half-measures. Now it is being fought with purpose. This is not a new war. It is the same one that has been killing Americans for generations. The difference is that, at last, America is fighting to win.

– Progressive stars Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., are teaming up with New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani Sunday night for a ‘New York is not for sale’ rally at Forest Hills Stadium in Queens, New York City.

The high-profile campaign event comes nearly one week before Election Day, as New Yorkers head to the polls for the first weekend of early voting, closing out a contentious mayoral battle where Mamdani’s unanticipated success has landed him on the national stage.

‘Zohran Mamdani is modeling a different kind of politics,’ Sanders, the former Democratic presidential candidate and longtime progressive leader, said in a statement ahead of the rally. 

The trio of self-identified Democratic socialists have invigorated the Democratic Party’s progressive base at a time when Democrats are still grappling with devastating losses in 2024 amid growing discontent with President Donald Trump’s sweeping, second-term agenda.

When Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez teamed up for the ‘Fighting Oligarchy’ tour earlier this year, they sparked sizable buzz, firing up thousands of Democrats at rallies across the United States who had been left without a clear party leader.

‘As mayor, he will not run a top-down, billionaire-funded, consultant-driven administration. Instead, Zohran will be a champion for the working people of New York,’ Sanders said.

Both Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez have campaigned alongside Mamdani in his bid to lead the nation’s most populous city. 

On Friday night, Sanders appeared for a virtual ‘Get Out the Vote’ event with Mamdani. Last month, Sanders and Mamdani teamed up for a ‘Fighting Oligarchy’ town hall in Brooklyn. 

Ahead of the Brooklyn town hall event, the two progressive leaders marched alongside union members in Manhattan’s Labor Day parade. That afternoon, Mamdani posed for a photo with Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez in Astoria, Queens, amassing millions of views.

Sanders, a two-time Democratic presidential nominee runner-up, was an early endorser of Mamdani’s primary campaign, along with Ocasio-Cortez. Their endorsements helped Mamdani consolidate progressive support in the 11-candidate field during the final weeks of the primary race.

Mamdani’s primary upset triggered a political earthquake as the democratic socialist handily defeated former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who was widely expected to secure the Democratic nomination.

Mamdani’s cross-endorsement with fellow progressive New York City Comptroller Brad Lander cleared the path for Mamdani to consolidate support against Cuomo through ranked-choice voting. 

Cuomo has since launched an independent campaign, teeing up a competitive and contentious general election battle. 

Since Mamdani secured the Democratic nomination, Trump has labeled him a ‘100% Communist Lunatic,’ and ‘my little communist,’ ushering Mamdani onto the national political stage. Mamdani has rejected the moniker, maintaining that he identifies as a democratic socialist, like Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez. 

As Trump began criticizing Mamdani, New York Democrats chose to withhold their endorsements of the socialist candidate, who has made a slew of ambitious campaign promises, like fast and free buses, city-run grocery stores and free childcare, all of which he plans to pay for by raising taxes on corporations and the top 1% of New Yorkers. 

After months of withholding their endorsements, Gov. Kathy Hochul finally endorsed Mamdani last month and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries finally affirmed his support in a statement Friday. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has still yet to endorse. 

Pressure had been mounting since Mamdani won the Democratic primary in June for Mayor Eric Adams, who was also running as an independent, or Cuomo to drop out of the race to consolidate support against Mamdani. Adams dropped out of the race and endorsed Cuomo on Thursday. 

That pressure reached a boiling point last week as billionaires, including Red Apple Media CEO John Catsimatidis and hedge fund CEO Bill Ackman, called on Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa to drop out of the race in order to clear a pathway to victory for Cuomo.

The latest Fox News survey, conducted Oct. 10-14, ahead of the first general election debate last week, revealed that Mamdani has a substantial lead in the race. According to the poll, Mamdani has a 21-point lead among New York City registered voters with 49% of voters backing Mamdani, while 28% go for Cuomo and 13% favor Sliwa.

Mamdani also rose above the 50% threshold among likely voters, garnering 52% support, while Cuomo picked up 28%, and Sliwa received just 14%.

There appears to be no end in sight to the current government shutdown, with Democrats and Republicans still far from striking a federal spending deal nearly a month into fiscal year (FY) 2026.

Hundreds of thousands of federal workers have been furloughed and thousands have been laid off. Certain federal services have also paused due to lack of funding.

It is not the first time such a standoff has paused all or some government operations. Below is a list of the top five longest government shutdowns in U.S. history, and how they were resolved.

December 2018–January 2019: 35 Days

The longest government shutdown in history happened during the first Trump administration and lasted five weeks.

Funding for President Donald Trump’s border wall was at the heart of that dispute. Trump had refused to sign a federal spending deal that did not include money for the project, and a standalone bill with $5.7 billion was blocked by a Senate Democrat-led filibuster.

Trump eventually backed a short-term federal funding measure to reopen the government on Jan. 25, 2019, and a few weeks later, Congress approved $1.375 billion for 55 miles of border fencing between the U.S. and Mexico.

It was a partial shutdown, meaning lawmakers managed to strike a deal on five of 12 appropriations bills before their clock ran out.

Oct. 1, 2025–current: 26 Days and Counting

The current government shutdown is now the second-longest in history, and the longest-ever full shutdown.

That means Congress was unable to strike a federal funding deal on any appropriations bills before the end of FY 2025 on Sept. 30.

Republicans, who control the House and Senate, had offered a seven-week extension of FY 2025 spending levels to give lawmakers more time to hash out next fiscal year’s numbers. 

It passed the House on Sept. 19, with support from one Democrat, but has stalled in the Senate 12 separate times.

Democrats are demanding that any federal funding plan also include an extension of COVID-19 pandemic-era enhanced Obamacare subsidies, which are set to expire at the end of this year without congressional action.

As of the most recent tally, at least five more Senate Democrats are needed to overcome a filibuster and pass the measure in the Senate.

Republican leaders have shown no signs of giving in, however, accusing Democrats of trying to jam an unrelated issue into the yearly funding process.

December 1995–January 1996: 21 Days

The second of two government shutdowns under former President Bill Clinton lasted three weeks, breaking a record at the time for the longest shutdown in U.S. history.

Republicans had taken control of both the House and Senate in the 1994 midterm elections, leading Clinton on a collision course with then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga.

Gingrich pursued significant cuts to the federal budget after being emboldened by the 1994 red wave in the House following his ‘Contract with America.’

Clinton, who also pushed for a balanced budget, disagreed with the spending cuts sought by Republicans in Congress.

That was also a partial shutdown, with the departments of energy, defense and agriculture among those funded before the impasse began.

Republicans moved to end that shutdown amid mounting negative public polling for the GOP, NPR reported.

Sept. 30, 1978–Oct. 18, 1978: 18 Days

The longest shutdown of former President Jimmy Carter’s four-year term in the White House lasted 18 days, at a time when Democrats controlled all levers of power in Washington.

Carter had vetoed Congress’ bills on defense spending and public works that he thought wasted federal dollars, according to the Washington Post. That included funding for a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier that Carter opposed.

There was also a dispute over abortion in the funding bill for the now-defunct Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.

Congress wound up stripping the funding that Carter opposed from the defense and public works bills, while a compromise was reached on the latter issue.

Oct. 1, 2013–Oct. 17, 2013: 16 Days

Much like the current standoff, the 2013 government shutdown also centered on Obamacare — also known as the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

It is the second-longest full shutdown in history behind today’s. At the time, Republicans controlled the House while Democrats held the Senate.

The GOP had insisted on spending bills that rolled back significant portions of Obamacare, then only about three years old.

Senate Democrats rejected such measures passed by the Republican-controlled House, however.

Congress eventually agreed to a short-term spending patch to end the shutdown, and Republicans relented on pushing funding bills with Obamacare cuts.

President Donald Trump danced alongside Malaysian performers as he was greeted on the first leg of his Asia tour.

The White House dubbed his moves, ‘TRUMP DANCE MALAYSIA VERSION’ on social media. The performance was part of a greeting for Trump laid out by Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

The five-day trip will see Trump meet with newly-elected Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in Tokyo as well as Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea.

Trump also oversaw the signing of a peace agreement between Cambodia and Thailand on Sunday.

The president watched as Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul signed the expanded ceasefire at the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

The agreement requires Thailand to release 18 Cambodian soldiers held prisoner and for both countries to begin removing heavy weapons from the border.

‘We did something that a lot of people said couldn’t be done,’ Trump said. 

Cambodia’s prime minister called it a ‘historic day,’ and the Thai prime minister said the agreement establishes ‘the building blocks for a lasting peace.’

Ibrahim praised the agreement between Thailand and Cambodia, saying during opening remarks at the summit that ‘it reminds us that reconciliation is not concession, but an act of courage.’

After the expanded ceasefire agreement was signed, Trump reached separate economic deals with Cambodia and Thailand.

Trump also signed agreements with Malaysia involving trade and critical minerals. The U.S. has been working to expand its supply chains to reduce reliance on China, as Beijing has limited exports of key components in technology manufacturing.

Fox News’ Landon Mion and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un should make a ‘bold decision’ to meet during the American president’s upcoming trip to Asia, South Korea’s unification minister declared Friday.

Chung Dong-young made the remark as Trump is set to leave Friday night for a five-day trip to Malaysia, Japan and South Korea, Reuters reported.

‘The leaders of North Korea and the U.S. must not miss this chance,’ Chung was quoted by Reuters as telling South Korea’s Yonhap news agency. ‘They need to make a bold decision.’

‘It would help North Korea’s international standing and improve its people’s lives … and for that, peace and stability need to be guaranteed and that’s only possible by meeting President Trump,’ Chung reportedly added.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.

The last time Trump and Kim met was on June 30, 2019, at the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea.

Earlier this month, a White House official told Fox News Digital that, ‘President Trump remains open to talking with Kim Jong Un, without any preconditions.’

‘President Trump in his first term held three historic summits with North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un that stabilized the Korean Peninsula. U.S. policy on North Korea has not changed,’ the official added.

In late September, Kim said he has ‘good personal memories’ of Trump from their first meetings and there is ‘no reason not to’ resume dialogue with the U.S. if it ‘abandons its delusional obsession with denuclearization,’ according to The Associated Press.

North Korea later test-fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles on Wednesday ahead of Trump’s departure to Asia.

Fox News Digital’s Jasmine Baehr, Morgan Phillips and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The Trump administration took a shot at former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton after she rallied Americans to reject President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom construction project, accusing the former first lady of stealing furniture from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. in 2001. 

‘Failed presidential candidate and former First Lady Crooked Hillary Clinton stole furniture from the White House on her way out until she was forced to return it,’ White House spokesman Davis Ingle told Fox News Digital Wednesday. ‘Crooked Hillary is shameless and a total disgrace.’ 

‘Meanwhile, President Trump is restoring the White House to its proper glory for Americans to enjoy for generations to come — at no expense to the taxpayer — something we should all celebrate,’ Ingle added. 

Clinton took to social media earlier in October to rally support against Trump’s ballroom construction at the White House — a privately-funded project to install a 90,000-square-foot entertaining space at the iconic residence. 

‘It’s not his house,’ Hillary Clinton wrote on X Tuesday morning. ‘It’s your house. And he’s destroying it.’ 

Clinton’s comment was quickly mocked, as conservatives rehashed a 2001 controversy when former President Bill Clinton and his wife took household items from the White House that were legally designated as White House property, according to The Washington Post at the time. 

The Clintons took, and then returned, an estimated $28,000 in White House furnishings provided by donors, and paid $86,000 to the federal government for other gifts they received in 2001, after Clinton’s tenure in the Oval Office came to a close, The Washington Post reported at the time. The former first couple denied wrongdoing while addressing the ‘catalogoing error.’ 

‘Gifts did not leave the White House without the approval of the White House usher’s and curator’s offices,’ the Clintons said in a 2001 statement. ‘Of course, if the White House now determines that a cataloging error occurred … any item in question will be returned.’

Conservatives, including lawmakers and social media influencers, knocked Clinton over the 2001 controversy in response to her comments against the ballroom construction. 

‘At least he didn’t steal the silverware,’ Texas Sen. Ted Cruz posted to X Tuesday lambasting Clinton.  

‘Hi Hillary, Remind us, wasn’t it you who walked off with $28,000 in White House furniture when you moved out?’ conservative influencer Benny Johnson posted to X. ‘And your husband who defiled the Oval Office during his presidency? President Trump’s funding a beautiful new ballroom out of his own pocket.’ 

‘A Clinton would never defile the White House,’ former White House staffer Alex Pfeiffer shot back in response. 

Fox News Digital reached out to Clinton’s office multiple times for additional comment on her anti-ballroom remarks and subsequent mockery of the 2001 controversy but did not receive replies. 

Trump announced Monday that construction for the ballroom had begun. 

‘I am pleased to announce that ground has been broken on the White House grounds to build the new, big, beautiful White House Ballroom,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social. ‘Completely separate from the White House itself, the East Wing is being fully modernized as part of this process, and will be more beautiful than ever when it is complete!’ 

‘For more than 150 years, every President has dreamt about having a Ballroom at the White House to accommodate people for grand parties, State Visits, etc. I am honored to be the first President to finally get this much-needed project underway — with zero cost to the American Taxpayer!’ he continued. ‘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!’

The White House pushed back on reports claiming President Donald Trump will likely name the upcoming White House ballroom after himself, saying any name designation for the event space will come directly from the president. 

‘Any announcement made on the name of the ballroom will come directly from President Trump himself, and not through anonymous and unnamed sources,’ White House spokesman Davis Ingle told Fox News Digital Friday. 

Reports spread like wildfire Friday afternoon that Trump planned to name the ballroom after himself, with ABC News publishing a report that administration officials were reportedly already calling the project ‘The President Donald J. Trump Ballroom.’

‘I won’t get into that now,’ Trump told ABC News Thursday when asked about a potential name, the outlet noted. 

Trump announced Monday that construction had begun on the ballroom, after months of Trump touting the upcoming project to modernize the White House. The project does not cost taxpayers and is privately funded, the administration has repeatedly said. 

‘For more than 150 years, every President has dreamt about having a Ballroom at the White House to accommodate people for grand parties, State Visits, etc. I am honored to be the first President to finally get this much-needed project underway — with zero cost to the American Taxpayer!’ Trump posted to Truth Social on Monday. ‘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!’

The ballroom’s official construction set off a firestorm of criticisms among Democrats who have characterized Trump as destroying the iconic American residence. 

‘Oh you’re trying to say the cost of living is skyrocketing? Donald Trump can’t hear you over the sound of bulldozers demolishing a wing of the White House to build a new grand ballroom,’ Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren posted to X in response to Trump’s Monday announcement.

‘The White House became my home when I was twelve years old. I always understood that it wasn’t my ‘house’; it was The People’s House,’ former first daughter Chelsea Clinton posted to X. ‘The erasure of the East Wing isn’t just about marble or plaster — it’s about President Trump again taking a wrecking ball to our heritage, while targeting our democracy, and the rule-of-law.’

‘I wanted to share this photo of my family standing by a historic part of the White House that was just torn down today by Trump,’ New Jersey Sen. Andy Kim posted to X Monday. ‘We didn’t need a billionaire-funded ballroom to celebrate America. Disgusting what Trump is doing.’

The Trump administration has repeatedly hit back at the criticisms, including White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying on Fox News that presidents historically have wanted a large entertaining space at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. 

‘Nearly every single president who’s lived in this beautiful White House behind me has made modernizations and renovations of their own,’ Leavitt said on Fox News’ ‘Jesse Watters Primetime’ Tuesday. ‘In fact, presidents for decades — in modern times — have joked about how they wished they had a larger event space here at the White House, something that could hold hundreds more people than the current East Room and State Dining Room.’

‘President Obama even complained that, during his tenure, he had to hold a state dinner on the South Lawn and rent a very expensive tent.’

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, announced after a contentious nomination hearing Thursday that he would not support the Trump administration’s pick for ambassador to Kuwait.

Among other areas of concern, Cruz expressed alarm over Amer Ghalib’s refusal to outright condemn the Muslim Brotherhood, a group Cruz believes works against the geopolitical interests of the United States.

‘The Muslim Brotherhood is a global terrorist organization,’ Cruz said in a post on X. ‘Amer Ghalib refers to them as an inspiration. That is in opposition to President Trump and is disqualifying. I cannot support his confirmation for the Ambassador to Kuwait.’ 

Ghalib, the mayor of Hamtramck, Mich., sparred with Cruz and other members of the Senate earlier that day, clashing with several lawmakers over issues like the United States’ relationship with Israel, comments he had made about the war in Gaza and more.

According to the Department of State, Ghalib was born and raised in Yemen before coming to the United States at age 17. After working full-time in an auto parts factory, he attended the Ross University School of Medicine from 2006-2011 and went on to work as a healthcare professional at the Hamtramck Medical Group until his entry into politics. 

Ghalib made news when he was elected as mayor in 2021, becoming the first Muslim to fill the role. In that capacity, he endorsed Donald Trump for president in 2023.

‘Mr. Ghalib’s journey began as a farmer in Yemen, then as an autoworker in the United States, a healthcare professional, and then as an elected mayor of his city. His multicultural experience, deep regional knowledge and demonstrated success as a politician, leader and community organizer, make him a well-qualified candidate to serve as U.S. Ambassador to the State of Kuwait,’ the State Department wrote in its summary of the administration’s nominee. 

On Thursday, when asked by Cruz if he still considered Saddam Hussein, the former president of Iraq, a martyr, Ghalib initially skirted the question.

‘I was a private citizen in 2020,’ Ghalib answered, referring to the timing of a social media post when he had given that description.

‘I’m just asking your views. I asked you about today. Do you continue to believe that Saddam Hussein is a martyr today?’ Cruz asked again.

‘I don’t think that — there’s no doubt that Saddam was a dictator. I mean, I can say no. It wouldn’t matter. He’s in God’s hands; he’s going to get the treatment he deserves,’ Ghalib said. 

Hussein served as president from 1979 until his government was overthrown in the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq. In the aftermath, an Iraqi tribunal found him guilty of willful killing, illegal imprisonment, deportation and torture, among other abuses. He was hanged on Dec. 30, 2006.

Ghalib and the Hamtramck City Council entered the spotlight in 2024 when the city voted unanimously to approve a resolution that, in response to the war in Gaza, required the city to avoid investing in Israeli companies. Citing that resolution, Cruz and other senators expressed reservations that Ghalib would be able to faithfully carry out positions held by the administration. especially if it were to designate the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organization or other policy issues that could conflict with Ghalib’s personal views on the Middle East. 

Those hesitations stretched across the aisle.

‘You liked a Facebook comment comparing Jews to monkeys,’ Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., said. ‘You characterized leaders you don’t like as becoming ‘Jewish.’ As mayor, you failed to comment after one of your political appointees called the Holocaust ‘advance punishment’ for the War in Gaza, and you denied that Hamas used sexual violence as a weapon of war on Oct. 7.’ 

Ghalib did not deny authoring the posts. Instead, he defended himself by arguing that his comments had been taken out of context or that lawmakers had selectively misconstrued his actions. In response to Rosen’s remarks about liking a post comparing Jewish people to monkeys, Ghalib said that he had made it a practice to interact with all social media comments left on his page as a form of acknowledgment. He said those views did not reflect his positions. 

‘I think a lot of my posts were written in Arabic and mistranslated,’ Ghalib said in response to further questioning about some of the posts he had made himself.

The State Department and Ghalib’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Rosen and other senators did not seem moved by Ghalib’s explanations.

‘That is beyond the pale. I will not be supporting your nomination,’ Rosen said. ‘And if you are confirmed — I want you to remember this, sir: You will be an ambassador for the United States of America. And, thus, as ambassador, we must show respect to everyone. We will be watching to see if that happens.’ 

No date has been set for a final vote on Ghalib’s nomination. 

President Donald Trump is heading off to Asia Friday evening, not long after North Korea fired off a ballistic missile for the first time in months and as questions loom regarding trade negotiations with China.

The White House confirmed that Trump will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping Thursday during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit.

The meeting comes amid escalated tensions between the two countries on trade after Beijing announced Oct. 9 it would impose export controls on rare-earth magnets, which are used in a host of products ranging from electric cars to F-35 fighter jets. In response, Trump announced the U.S. would impose a new 100% tariff on all Chinese goods, which is slated to take effect Nov. 1.

Even so, Trump sought to diffuse tensions and has routinely touted his relationship with Xi in recent weeks. Additionally, he has voiced confidence both parties will walk away from the summit pleased and that a deal will be made.

‘I think we are going to come out very well, and everyone’s going to be very happy,’ Trump said Thursday.

The summit between Trump and Xi will mark the first time they’ve met in person since Trump took office in January. The two previously met in person in June 2019 in Japan.

Trump’s meeting with Xi will come on the tail end of a larger trip to the region. Trump is first headed to Malaysia to meet with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim Sunday afternoon before participating in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) dinner in the evening.

While in Malaysia, he will also meet with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul.

Trump will then head to Tokyo Monday and is slated to meet on Tuesday with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who was just elected earlier in October. Takaichi is the first woman to serve as the prime minister of Japan.

Trump will then close out his trip heading to South Korea, where he will meet with the South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and will deliver keynote remarks at the APEC CEO lunch.

Trump is scheduled to return to Washington Thursday.

Meanwhile, North Korea has upped its aggression in recent days, firing off multiple short-range ballistic missiles Wednesday, the first one Pyongyang has launched since May. Meanwhile, North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un showed off a new intercontinental ballistic missile at a military parade in front of Chinese, Russian and other top officials Oct. 10.

‘We are aware of the DPRK’s multiple ballistic missile launches and are consulting closely with the Republic of Korea and Japan, as well as other regional allies and partners,’ U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) said in a statement on Wednesday.

‘The United States condemns these actions and calls on the DPRK to refrain from further unlawful and destabilizing acts,’ INDOPACOM said. ‘While we have assessed that this event does not pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel, or territory or to our allies, we continue to monitor the situation.’

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., on Friday accused President Donald Trump of ‘skipping town’ for a trip to Asia during the ongoing government shutdown.

Trump departed for Asia Friday night for a weeklong trip that will include stops in Malaysia, Japan and South Korea. Republicans and Democrats remain divided on negotiations to end the shutdown that began earlier this month, with each side blaming the other as the GOP controls the White House and both chambers of Congress.

‘In the midst of the longest full government shutdown in American history — a crisis of his own making — President Trump’s priorities are severely misplaced,’ Schumer said in a statement.

‘While Americans are struggling to make ends meet, federal workers are going without pay, and millions of families are bracing for soaring health care costs, the President is leaving the country,’ he continued.

Schumer added: ‘America is shut down and the President is skipping town.’

The senator said Democrats have sought to meet with Trump, but that the president is ‘abandoning’ his responsibilities.

‘Democrats have asked, again and again, for President Trump to meet with us to negotiate a bipartisan deal that would address the healthcare crisis, and find a path forward to reopen the government. But instead of doing his job, President Trump is abandoning it,’ Schumer said.

Schumer also called on GOP lawmakers in Congress to work across the aisle to reach a deal to end the shutdown.

‘With the President out of the country, the responsibility falls squarely on Congressional Republicans to act — to come to the table, to do their jobs, and to deliver an agreement that reopens the government and protects Americans from another health care disaster,’ he said.

‘Americans deserve a government that works as hard as they do— not a leader that flies away from responsibility at the time they need one most,’ the top Senate Democrat added.

While in Asia, Trump is expected to meet with regional allies about trade, including the trade war with China, as well as Beijing’s tightening of export controls on rare-earth minerals critical for certain technologies. 

The president is also expected to address security in the region and affirm America’s commitment to supporting its allies.