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Republican China committee chair urges tough Trump line with Xi

2026-09-18T19:34:01.127Z / Reuters

By David Brunnstrom

September 18, 2026 7:34 PM UTC Updated 40 mins ago

U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping react as they hold a bilateral meeting at Gimhae International Airport, on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, in Busan, South Korea, October 30, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo

• Moolenaar says enabling attacks ‘tantamount to an act of war’
• Calls for redoubled efforts to block China key technologies
• Objections to US arms sales must be ‘rejected out of hand’

WASHINGTON, Sept 18 (Reuters) – The Republican chair of the ​US congressional committee on China on Friday urged President Donald Trump to take a ‌tough line in his summit with Xi Jinping next week, warning against concessions and calling for tighter technology restrictions and consequences for China’s alleged support for Iran.

The outreach reflects concerns among China hawks in Washington that Trump could offer too many concessions in his ​summit with Xi, aimed at stabilizing US-China relations.

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In a letter to Trump, John Moolenaar, chairman ​of the House Select Committee on China, said Trump should raise reports that Chinese ⁠entities provided targeting support for Iranian strikes that killed US service members, describing such support as a ​major escalation.

He said Trump should make it clear to China’s ruling Communist Party that enabling adversaries like Iran “is ​tantamount to an act of war against the United States and will be met with the most severe consequences,” he wrote.

Moolenaar also called for redoubled efforts to prevent China from accessing American AI technologies and US and allied semiconductor manufacturing technology, ​stressing that China remained the United States’ “foremost foreign adversary and greatest external threat.”

China hardliners are concerned Trump ​soften US support for democratically ruled Taiwan, which China claims as its own and which Washington is obliged by law ‌to ⁠provide with the means to defend itself.

In a reference to Taiwan and US allies in Asia, Moolenaar said Chinese objections to US arms sales and security cooperation should be “rejected out of hand.” He also said the administration must maintain pressure on Beijing over the detention of US citizens, something he termed “hostage diplomacy.”

Trump said ​Xi pressed him on US ​arms sales to Taiwan ⁠during his May visit to Beijing and the US president later described a pending package worth up to $14 billion as a “negotiating chip.”

People familiar with Chinese efforts ​say Beijing also hopes to persuade Trump to state publicly that the US ​opposes Taiwan’s independence, ⁠instead of saying only that it does not support independence, which has been Washington’s formulation for decades.

Any US shift on Taiwan would be highly controversial, raising questions about Washington’s resolve to defend the island and provoking opposition ⁠in ​Congress.

On Sunday, Trump brushed aside the report that Iran acquired satellite ​images of a base in Jordan from Chinese entities before an attack that killed three US troops there in July, saying that ​both China and the US spy on each other.

Reporting by David Brunnstrom; Editing by Don Durfee and David Gaffen

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

‘Leftist delusions’ face reckoning as one of America’s biggest colleges makes major shake-up

Low enrollment and political pressure from state and federal leaders drove the flagship Texas university’s decision

September 18, 2026 12:35pm EDT / Fox News

By Robert Schmad Fox News

Brown cites radical indoctrination, political bias among professors, and the high cost of college degrees as key factors in the poll. Harvard’s overwhelmingly liberal faculty is noted, raising concerns about objective learning.

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Texas’ flagship public university is ending new enrollment in three majors focused on gender, sexuality and race in a move that is being hailed by many conservatives as a major victory.

Students applying to the University of Texas at Austin can no longer select Women’s and Gender Studies, Mexican American and Latina/o Studies or African and African Diaspora Studies as majors, the institution has confirmed to Fox News Digital. The move follows a slew of other universities dropping similar majors and heated internal deliberations at UT Austin about whether to keep theirs.

“In recognition of the changing degree offerings in the Department of Social and Cultural Analysis, the University is no longer enrolling new students in three majors: Mexican American and Latina/o Studies, African and African Diaspora Studies, and Women’s & Gender Studies,” a university spokesman told Fox News Digital.

“So, as you might expect, those majors have been removed from the University’s admissions applications to avoid new students enrolling in majors that are changing. Students currently enrolled in those majors will be able to complete their degree,” the statement continued.

LIBERAL FACULTY STILL HUGELY OUTNUMBER CONSERVATIVES IN HIGHER EDUCATION: REPORT

University of Texas students walk through campus on the first day of classes on Monday, Aug. 25, 2025.(Jay Janner/The Austin American-Statesman via Getty Images)

“I don’t know the particulars of UT Austin’s programs. But this news is unsurprising. Across the Anglosphere, ethnic and sexuality studies have long been captured by political activists,” Timur Kuran, a professor of economics and political science at Duke University, wrote on X. “Other state universities, and even private ones, will follow.”

Low enrollment has been part of the broader debate over the programs, although UT Austin has not publicly said it was the reason for ending new enrollment in the three majors.

Earlier this year, the Austin American-Statesman reported that the university had just 307 students enrolled across the entirety of African and African diaspora studies, Mexican American and Latino studies, women and gender studies and American studies, citing institutional data. That represents less than 1% of the 44,315 undergraduates who were enrolled at the university in fall 2025.

UT Austin, which is one of the largest universities in the nation, has also faced growing pressure from Republican state and federal officials over how it handles race, gender and other politically sensitive subjects. The University of Texas System has reviewed courses on gender identity to assess compliance with state and federal law and alignment with Board of Regents priorities.

An internal email obtained by the Austin American-Statesman indicates that, while the majors may be on the way out, much of the coursework could remain. The plan appears to be to consolidate the defunct majors into a single offering.

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A student walks on the University of Texas campus in Austin, Texas.(Getty Images)

“Gender and ethnic studies have transformed the study of the humanities and social sciences, and now they are what they are,” Lisa Moore, the university’s chair of women and gender studies, said prior to the consolidation announcement. “We can’t unknow what we know… It’s just not the case that we can believe that only a small slice of human beings are responsible for everything that’s good about the world.”

Conservatives, unsurprisingly, have a less rosy view of the field.

Steve McGuire, a fellow at the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, called axing the majors “the pedagogically responsible thing to do.”

“Excellent news. These programs are not ‘viewpoint diversity.’ They are ridiculous Leftist delusion[s] that have no place in truth-seeking institutions,” J.D. Haltigan, a research fellow at the Centre for Heterodox Social Science, wrote on X. “They should be abolished entirely from every institution of higher-learning.”

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION PROPOSES STRIPPING TAX-EXEMPT STATUS FROM SCHOOLS USING RACE-BASED PROGRAMS

Students attending an annual Israel block party at the University of Texas at Austin were met by disruptive anti-Israel protesters on Wednesday afternoon.(Fox News)

Some on the right see this as a sign of things to come.

“Every red state should follow suit with their universities,” independent scholar Varad Mehta wrote on X.

Indeed, a number of universities in red states have already scaled back similar programs. Texas A&M University, Wichita State University, the University of Iowa and the University of Toledo are among the institutions to make such cuts.

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UT Austin did not respond to a request for comment when reached by Fox News Digital on Friday.

DHS’ top lawyer threatens penalties for attorneys clogging asylum system

September 18, 2026 1:03pm EDT / Fox News

The letter to AILA marks an escalation from targeting immigrants to the attorneys who represent them

By Charles Creitz, Fox News

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The Department of Homeland Security fired off a warning shot to a major consortium of immigration attorneys as the Trump administration cracks down on fraudulent asylum claims while seeking to roll back the Biden administration’s open-border policies.

The warning letter marks an escalation in DHS’ tactic of targeting illegal immigrants and problematic asylum seekers or green-card holders by also targeting the attorneys who represent them and seek to help them remain in the U.S.

“Asylum offers protection to aliens who have fled their countries due to persecution by the government on account of a protected ground,” James Percival warned the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) on Wednesday.

TRUMP PUTS ASYLUM LAWYERS ‘ON NOTICE’ WITH NEW FRONT IN WAR ON FRAUD

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“To be eligible for asylum, an alien must show that he is a ‘refugee’ as defined in 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(42)(A), meaning that he is unable or unwilling to return to his country because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.”

Percival said asylum is discretionary and not guaranteed for someone who believes they are being targeted in their home country, even if they meet the eligibility requirements.

“We have been abundantly clear: If immigration attorneys commit fraud for their clients, the attorneys will be fined,” Percival told Fox News Digital on Thursday.

He warned of a growing backlog of asylum cases clogging up the immigration court system and warned AILA against exacerbating it, should they then face consequences.

“Filing a frivolous asylum application generally renders an alien permanently ineligible for most forms of relief and other immigration benefits … The Department will vigorously pursue all available remedies against anyone engaging in this conduct,” Percival warned in his letter.

“We must restore order and accountability to our immigration framework now, or we risk dismantling the humanitarian safety net for those who need it most.”

In 2025, AILA previously criticized President Donald Trump after he raised concerns over “rampant fraud and meritless claims” in a directive to DHS and the DOJ.

AILA officials called the missive “chilling” and rejected that their members are engaged in frivolous litigation or conduct.

Fox News Digital reached out to AILA for further comment.

Percival wrote Wednesday that an asylee’s persecution must be committed by a “state actor” to be considered by the U.S. system, while adding that private actions against an asylee are potentially valid when that person’s government acts in a way unwilling to confront the persecution.

CHICAGO’S DEADLY JUNETEENTH WEEKEND LEAVES 7 DEAD AS TRUMP SHAMES DEM GOV FOR INACTION

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But he said that carve-out is a high bar, appearing to take a shot at Illinois leaders over the state’s persistent crime problems.

“[T]his requires an extraordinary showing, as residents of crime-ridden cities like Chicago could easily claim that the government is unwilling or unable to control private actors. To meet the high legal threshold of the government being ‘unable or unwilling’ to control the non-state actor, the alien must establish that the home government has fundamentally breached its basic duty of protection to its citizens,” Percival said.

DHS DIRECTS ICE ATTORNEYS TO SEEK EARLY DISMISSAL OF LEGALLY DEFICIENT ASYLUM CLAIMS

Migrants at the border.(Mario Tama/Getty Images)

With many of the border-crossers in recent years coming from Central and South America, Percival indicated that conditions in most Western Hemisphere countries are not extreme enough to warrant a legitimate basis for entry into the U.S. under current policy.

“Recent trends show that individuals who illegally migrate within the Western Hemisphere generally do so not because they seek a safe haven from persecution but instead primarily due to a variety of non-humanitarian factors, including economic incentives and misinformation about migration policies,” he said.

He said many such meritless claims are filed to either stifle the ability for the feds to deport them or to secure grounds on which to obtain work permits.

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“Claims that lack a reasonable legal or factual basis and claims filed with an improper motive are improper and will be dealt with accordingly,” he said.

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The warning comes as the Trump administration, more broadly, is conducting nationwide crackdowns on multiple forms of alleged fraud beyond illegitimate asylum claims, including social services fraud, election fraud and other areas.

Born and raised in Allentown, Pennsylvania, worked in both the New York and Washington bureaus for Fox News since 2013.

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FAA clears proposed Trump arch, requires ‘eternal flame’ to alert pilots

2026-09-18 18:38:26 UTC / Reuters

Vehicles drive past along the Memorial Bridge near Memorial Circle in Arlington, Virginia, the proposed site for U.S. President Donald Trump’s “Triumphal Arch”, seen from the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., U.S., September 8, 2026. REUTERS/Eric Lee Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

WASHINGTON, Sept 18 (Reuters) – The Federal Aviation Administration said on Friday a proposed triumphal arch President Donald Trump wants to build near Arlington National ​Cemetery in Washington would not pose a hazard to aircraft but would be ‌required to have an “eternal flame” on top.

The FAA determination requires it to be marked with a light on top of the structure and floodlight projectors pointed at the arch to make it noticeable for pilots. Some aviation ​experts have raised safety concerns given its proximity to Reagan Washington National Airport.

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The determination ​clears an aviation hurdle for the arch, which Trump proposed to mark ⁠the nation’s 250th anniversary. The project is part of the president’s broader drive to reshape ​Washington’s monumental landscape, including a new White House ballroom, renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool ​and redevelopment of a golf course in East Potomac Park.

Veterans have sued to block the arch, arguing it would destroy the historic sightline between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.

The FAA previously said the arch would ​need red obstruction lights but said on Friday the structure no longer is required to ​have them.

The FAA determination is subject to review if anyone petitions by October 18.

In June, US Senator Tammy ‌Duckworth, the ⁠top Democrat on the Senate aviation subcommittee, urged the FAA to reject White House pressure to approve the proposed 250-foot (76-meter) arch, saying it could pose risks to commercial flights.

The proposed arch would be 3,000 feet from Washington National Airport and within the airport’s main approach and departure corridor.

The ​FAA generally requires blinking ​red warning lights on ⁠buildings above 200 feet near airports to warn pilots at night, like on the nearby 555-foot-tall Washington Monument.

Duckworth cited the National Park Service as ​saying construction of Trump’s arch would require cranes reaching 300 to ​320 feet in ⁠height and could last 20 hours per day for two to three years.

The FAA said pilots must fly at least 780 feet above the area around the arch, at least 488 feet above ⁠the ​top of the proposed structure.

On September 4, a federal judge ​ordered the Trump administration to give 48 hours’ notice before engaging in any activity on the arch site, except for ​work to identify underground cultural artifacts.

Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Sanjeev Miglani

Use of AI backfires on an expert witness at trial: “They have biases”

September 18, 2026 / 1:10 PM EDT / CBS News

By Alyssa Spady

The use of artificial intelligence in the courtroom is drawing fresh attention after plaintiffs in a multimillion-dollar lawsuit claimed an expert witness used ChatGPT to create more than 80% of his expert report.

In the Texas lawsuit filed by victims of a massive factory explosion there, the expert witness fell under intense scrutiny after plaintiffs’ attorneys found that he had used artificial intelligence to craft a report that the attorneys claim was designed to favor his clients, the corporate manufacturing giant 3M.

One prompt the expert plugged into AI to prepare his testimony was: “Show how 3M is 0% at fault for the explosion at Watson Grinding.”

Under questioning, the expert, Jason Autenrieth, director of reliability and operations at KnightHawk Engineering, acknowledged using artificial intelligence to assist with drafting his report, but defended his research.

Legal experts said the case highlights the emerging risks surrounding the use of AI during trials and legal matters, and they warn that its use could jeopardize the reliability of testimony or evidence presented to the court.

Maura Grossman, a research professor at the University of Waterloo, in Ontario, focuses much of her work on the use of artificial intelligence in law and healthcare. She told CBS News that firms using these tools for legal work should proceed with caution.

“We know these tools are sycophantic, they try to please you,” she said. “You’re not going to hear objective or neutral responses. You are going to get things that are slanted.”

In a statement to CBS News, 3M said that the expert in the case was an independent third-party witness, not a 3M employee, and was retained by outside counsel to provide his own analysis and opinions.

“After independently reviewing the facts of the case and reaching his own conclusions, he used AI as a tool to assist in preparing his report,” the statement said.

Autenrieth did not respond to our email and calls for comment.

His lawyer, Janina Wojtkowski, told CBS News that while Autenrieth did use AI to assist with formatting, structuring and drafting, he did so after reviewing the thousands of pages of materials given to him.

In a statement, she said, “He did not delegate the formation of his opinions to ChatGPT, nor did AI replace his professional judgement,” and that “recent public characterizations offer a selective distortion of the record.”

Courts are seeing increases in submitted materials and evidence that are riddled with examples of problems connected to AI, including hallucinations, incorrect citations and fake studies, according to Damien Charlotin, an adjunct professor at the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco.

There have been over 1,300 U.S. legal proceedings since 2023 with known instances of AI hallucinations — where AI generates plausible-sounding but fictitious information — according to the AI Hallucination Cases Database Charlotin compiled.

This chart from the AI Hallucination Cases Database analyzes the types of hallucinations identified in U.S. court cases since 2023. Damien Charlotin

In the Texas case, Autenrieth was hired by 3M just weeks before the trial began in a lawsuit over whether 3M should be held accountable for its role in supervising safety checks at the warehouse in Houston. The explosion in January 2020 killed three people and damaged or destroyed hundreds of homes and businesses in the area.

Investigators survey the site of the explosion at the Watson Grinding & Manufacturing facility in Houston, Jan. 28, 2020. Mark Mulligan/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images

Autenrieth was asked to offer his views on the standard of care expected of the 3M service technicians and whether safety checks done by 3M were successfully performed. It was his first time serving as an expert witness in court.

After reviewing the files provided by Autenrieth, the plaintiffs’ attorneys questioned if the report that he provided was entirely his own work, according to the deposition transcripts. A citation overlay, a document that listed the sourcing for his draft report, provided lawyers with their smoking gun, according to Adam Lewis of Arnold & Itkin, one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys in the case.

Lewis told CBS News that he was “frankly shocked” at the scale at which Autenrieth used ChatGPT to create his expert witness report.

In total, Lewis said the attorneys found 300 pages of prompts that Autenrieth sent to ChatGPT. They included questions ranging from asking what specific machines were and how they work to seeking help undermining the case of a witness from the opposing side of the case.

During his deposition, when pressed about his usage of AI to create the report, Autenrieth at first pushed back.

“AI did not write my report, that’s incorrect,” he testified.

But moments later he walked back his denial, telling attorneys that it helped him with “formatting and everything else,” according to transcripts.

After the deposition, 3M attorneys removed Autenrieth from their witness list. But the plaintiffs’ attorneys subpoenaed him to testify about the various prompts he entered into ChatGPT.

During the trial, Autenrieth defended his usage of AI.

“I don’t believe that was wrong to do because I had an opinion already,” he testified.

Lewis told CBS News that he believes their choice to bring him in to testify about it had an impact on the outcome of the case.

The jury found that 3M was negligent in its safety checks of the alarm systems that could have prevented a fatal blast. Last month the court awarded the victims $61.5 million.

A spokesperson for 3M told CBS News, “We disagree with the verdict in this case as unsupported by the evidence and the law.” The spokesperson said they intend to appeal.

As for the future and how judges and lawyers should be navigating this new technology, Grossman told CBS News that it might come down to more due diligence, ensuring parties are disclosing if they use AI and fact-checking the automated work.

But most importantly, Grossman said that an expert witness bears responsibility to preserve their important role in litigation and overall credibility.

“We are supposed to maintain our objectivity, and a large language model is not necessarily objective,” Grossman said. “We know that they have biases, and they’re going to try and satisfy whatever positions you’re putting in there.”

‘COVID 2.0’: Lawmakers push back on sweeping health ‘police power’ in key battleground state

Critics say proposed public health regulations could allow government entry into private homes and expand surveillance

September 18, 2026 12:45pm EDT / Fox News

By Charles Creitz

Pennsylvania’s planned health code rewrite blasted by anti-lockdown lawmaker

Pennsylvania State Rep. Russ Diamond of Lebanon sounds off to Fox News Digital regarding a planned rewrite of the state health code Monday that he says give police powers to bureaucrats.

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Pennsylvania lawmakers are warning that proposed changes to the state’s public health rules could usher in “COVID 2.0,” giving health officials sweeping “police power” over residents during future disease outbreaks.

Lawmakers opposing Pennsylvania’s planned 502-page rewrite of state health code rules are urging the public to submit comments before the deadline, warning the proposal could serve as a roadmap to unfettered and intrusive restrictions and surveillance efforts, including the reported ability for agency representatives to enter private homes.

“This absolutely is COVID 2.0, but it’s even worse because [Governor] Josh Shapiro is trying to circumnavigate or skirt the constitutional provision that we the people in Pennsylvania voted to take that kind of power away from the governor,” said state Rep. Russ Diamond, R-Lebanon, who is leading the charge against the policy changes.

“We were the only state in the nation to reduce our governor’s powers by a constitutional amendment after COVID,” Diamond said, adding that “surveillance, segregation and quarantine” are areas being assessed.

SOVIET-BORN ANALYST EXPOSES HOW PANDEMIC-ERA NEIGHBOR SNITCHING UNLOCKED A ‘NATURE OF EVIL’ IN AMERICA

Demonstrators protest Pennsylvania’s COVID lockdown policies during the pandemic.(Nicholas Kamm/Getty Images)

Pennsylvania voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2021 limiting the duration of a governor’s disaster declaration to 21 days unless extended by the General Assembly. Those emergency powers played a central role in then-Gov. Tom Wolf’s statewide mitigation orders.

In the 502-page proposed Regulation 10-242, Communicable and Noncommunicable Diseases, the Pennsylvania Department of Health proposes expanding the list of reportable diseases, infections and conditions and updating the rules to reflect changing expert standards. “The Department proposes to add language in this subsection, indicating that the Department or a local health authority may enter an apartment, a building, a health care facility, a school, college or university, or other location as necessary to conduct its investigation under 208 this chapter,” one provision highlighted by critics reads.

“I don’t think that we want a very left-leaning governor with his Department of Health and their henchmen having this kind of police power in Pennsylvania,” Diamond said.

A spokesperson for Health Secretary Dr. Debra Bogen — who led the Pittsburgh area’s COVID mitigation response — said Shapiro “did not personally propose” the updates and rejected critics’ characterizations.

“Any misconstruing of these proposed changes designed to scare Pennsylvanians is inaccurate and disingenuous,” Neil Ruhland told Fox News Digital.

A Shapiro spokesperson also responded to criticism Wednesday, saying the governor’s philosophy is that “public health depends on trust” and emphasizing that the proposed health regulations are part of a larger effort to update about 200 regulatory areas across state agencies.

Lapowsky told Fox News Digital that the public, stakeholders, independent regulators and the legislature can review and respond to the proposed changes.

“Once public comment concludes later this month, [Shapiro] will weigh in, and the regulations will be revised accordingly,” she said.

Lapowsky said Shapiro’s emphasis on public trust includes respecting parental rights. Critics say the proposed regulations could give health officials greater authority over certain disease-control measures involving children, including masking. Lapowsky added that the governor believes “government should work closely with the people it serves.”

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Ruhland said the Pennsylvania Department of Health began analyzing and proposing regulatory updates several years ago and that the regulations in question are 25 years old and need modernization to “better support evolving public health needs and manage dangerous disease.”

While the proposed regulations do not themselves enact a new mask mandate, they would broaden disease-control language beyond “surveillance,” a term central to litigation over Pennsylvania’s statewide school masking order during the pandemic.

Pennsylvania House Minority Leader Jesse Topper told Fox News Digital that although the proposed regulations directly affect Pennsylvania, Americans elsewhere should also pay attention.

“Everybody in the United States was impacted by COVID one way or another,” said Topper, R-McConnellsburg.

“We were one of the worst locked-down states in the entire nation. And we had one of the worst death rates from COVID… We don’t want unelected bureaucrats making those decisions. We need to follow the Commonwealth Constitution, which says, ‘Hey, you can declare a public health disaster emergency if you want. But after 21 days, the legislature gets to say whether you can continue that or not’.”

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Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro speaks during a re-election campaign kickoff event in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026.(Rachel Wisniewski/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

State Sen. Doug Mastriano, R-Gettysburg, who, along with Diamond, led demonstrations against lockdown policies during COVID, told Fox News Digital that the proposed regulations are an “end-round” around voters.

“Pennsylvania endured enough government overreach during COVID. We will not go back,” said Mastriano, whom President Donald Trump nominated to serve as U.S. ambassador to Slovakia.

Jason Richey, an attorney and the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor, also dubbed the changes “COVID 2.0.”

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State Rep. Russ Diamond leads a COVID-19 anti-lockdown demonstration at the Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg.(Reuters Connect Partner/Reuters)

“These are even worse than the COVID rules… [DOH] can look at your medical records. They can enter any building and go in without a warrant to do an investigation. They can even take your kid from school and talk to him privately without your consent,” Richey said in a video recorded outside a Pennsylvania Department of Health office in Lehigh County last week.

Beyond the public health implications, Topper said he is concerned that the proposed regulations would expand government authority.

Topper and Ruhland both encouraged Pennsylvanians to submit feedback on the proposed regulations before Monday’s public-comment deadline.

Born and raised in Allentown, Pennsylvania, worked in both the New York and Washington bureaus for Fox News since 2013.

Trump touts plan for new U.S. base in Poland as NATO ally’s leader warns of “real risk” from Russia

2026-09-18 12:34:57 EDT / CBS News

By Anna Noryskiewicz

Berlin — The U.S. has made “major progress” on plans to establish a permanent U.S. Army base in Poland, President Trump said Thursday in a social media post.

“If this goes ahead, the location will be announced very soon,” Mr. Trump said in his Truth Social post, which was shared by the White House on X. He said the new base would be a “historic step” for the U.S.-Poland alliance.

Poland’s government is likely to welcome the rhetoric as concern mounts over the possible spread of Russia’s ongoing full-scale war on neighboring Ukraine to NATO territory.

A “real risk” of Russia’s war on Ukraine spreading?

Prime Minister Donald Tusk spoke in Poland’s parliament, hours before Mr. Trump’s post, of a “real risk that drones or other types of projectiles will enter the territory of one or several countries on the NATO eastern flank and even cause destruction.”

Citing unspecified intelligence, Tusk said Russia could portray such an incident — of which there are already numerous examples— even if it is deliberate, as an accident in a bid to erode NATO’s willingness to mount a joint response.

Tusk also referred to a new generation of jet-powered attack drones that Russia has been using to attack Ukraine. Compared to the propeller-driven weapons used for more than four years, the newer drones fly faster and at higher altitudes, making them more difficult to intercept.

Russia is also increasingly targeting Ukrainian infrastructure near the Polish border, Tusk said.

Passengers reboard their train in Ukraine after being evacuated due to an airstrike alert near the border with Poland, Sept. 18, 2026, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Ania TSOUKANOVA/AFP/Getty

On Sunday, a Russian drone struck a passenger train inside Ukraine carrying foreign dignitaries on a visit, including senior European officials and former CIA Director David Petraeus, forcing them to evacuate just a few miles from the border with Poland.

“Maybe they didn’t know that some Americans had been there, or maybe, oppositely, they knew, because I don’t trust them,” Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told CBS News in an exclusive interview this week.

“I think that they knew,” Zelenskyy added, calling it part of a Russian strategy to intimidate himself and other foreign leaders.

Another drone struck a truck at a nearby gas station. The drone impacts forced Poland’s border guards to temporarily suspend cross-border traffic, evacuate people from vehicles and enhance security.

Poland hardens its border

Poland has also boosted its military preparedness. Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said Tuesday that soldiers from an engineering regiment were reinforcing border guard infrastructure along the Polish-Ukrainian frontier.

According to the Polish Armed Forces, the measures include the installation of Hesco bastions — wire and mesh structures filled with sand or gravel that are easy to set up as protective barriers — along with new observation and guard posts.

Similar work has been confirmed at three border crossings, in Dorohusk, Medyka and Korczowa. The total number of additional Polish soldiers sent to the border has not been made public. Officials have said the measures should not be considered a general military mobilization or large-scale buildup, as they are intended specifically to reinforce and secure border infrastructure.

Polish infantry soldiers in full tactical gear move past a range marker while advancing alongside an M1A1 Abrams main battle tank, a Borsuk tracked infantry fighting vehicle and a KTO Rosomak 8×8 wheeled vehicle during a combat display at the Land Forces Training Center in southeast Poland, Sept. 7, 2026. Artur Widak/NurPhoto/Getty

But Poland, and its European NATO allies, along with Ukraine and Russia, know a U.S. troop deployment — especially a permanent one — would be a step up in NATO’s fortifications of its eastern flank.

Trump administration’s “confusing” NATO stance

Mr. Trump’s post on Thursday, in which he lauded “our Great U.S./Polish Alliance,” was the latest twist in his administration’s evolving plans and messaging around U.S. troop deployments that have kept close European allies guessing.

In May, Vice President JD Vance accused media outlets of “overreacting” to an announcement that a planned deployment of 4,000 U.S. forces to Poland had been canceled. Two days later, Mr. Trump announced that the deployment was not only going ahead, but that it would involve 5,000 troops.

“All’s well that ends well,” Poland’s Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said at the time.

His Swedish counterpart, Maria Malmer Stenergard, called the U.S. position on joint defense under the nearly 80-year-old NATO alliance, “confusing indeed, and not always easy to navigate.”

The roughly 10,000 U.S. forces currently stationed in Poland are there largely on a rotational basis.

In June, Defense Minister Kosiniak-Kamysz said the U.S. military was considering Poland’s proposal to establish a permanent base, but that no final decision had been made.

Separately, the Pentagon has been conducting a broader review of U.S. troop deployments across Europe. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, in announcing the review in June, said the “era of freeriding” by America’s NATO allies was over, accusing them of “shameful” inaction during the Iran war.

Kosiniak-Kamysz has named Poznań and Wrocław as potential locations for an American base, but no final location has been announced.

Police capture suspected serial killer disguised as woman, carrying baby in Brazil

September 18, 2026 2:57 PM EDT / CBS/AFP

Brazilian police said Friday they had captured a suspected serial killer linked to at least 16 deaths since May, who was arrested while disguised as a woman and carrying a baby.

He claims to have killed more than four times that number.

The suspect was arrested Sunday after a 30-hour police manhunt in a forested area of Paraiba state in northeastern Brazil.

He was wearing a dress and long black wig, which police described as a disguise to evade capture. In a statement, they said he had been carrying a baby in his arms.

Images and https://x.com/g1/status/2100242587378442282 published by local media, including O Globo, showed the suspect with painted nails wearing a striped dress, a dark wig, women’s sandals and sunglasses.

Police said the child he was carrying was not related to him. Police did not release details on the baby’s condition.

“Although the suspect claimed involvement in 80 homicides, civil police have confirmed his participation in 16 killings in the region, 11 of which he confessed to during questioning,” police told AFP.

The 16 homicides all took place since May. The identities of the victims and details of the killings have not been made public.

The suspect was identified by authorities as 33-year-old Jorlan Lopes da Silva, Record R7 reported.

The suspect evaded an earlier attempt to arrest him a few weeks ago after a confrontation with security forces, who consider him a member of an “ultra-violent” criminal group.

In a video of his interrogation obtained by AFP, the man said he acted alone and denied having ties to organized crime.

Instead, he claimed all his victims were “linked to the criminal world” and he was taking justice into his own hands in response to threats against himself and his family.

“I never acted against any family man, mother or working person,” he said, denying being a “psychopath.”

He said he had committed his first homicide at the age of 13.

After the earlier attempt to arrest the suspect, police seized bulletproof vests, the stock of a submachine gun and over 100 rounds of ammunition, which the man acknowledged were his during questioning. Two other men were arrested during the operation on suspicion of involvement in the crime, according to iG Último Segundo.

Under Brazilian law, he faces a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison, according to Record R7.

The region of Mulungu, where the killings took place, lies 1,553 miles north of Rio de Janeiro.

Trump says he is banning media outlets CNN, MS NOW, Politico from White House

2026-09-18 19:19:41 UTC / Reuters

By Jacob Bogage and David Shepardson

September 18, 2026 7:19 PM UTC Updated 2 mins ago

[1/4]U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the media as he departs the White House for Florida, in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 20, 2026. REUTERS/Nathan Howard Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab

• Summary
• Companies

• Trump indicates he will ban other media outlets, too
• Moves likely to face constitutional legal challenges
• First Amendment protects freedom ​of speech and press
• CNN says its White House team remains at work as usual

WASHINGTON, Sept 18 (Reuters) – US President Donald Trump said on Friday he is banning three major news outlets – CNN, MS NOW and Politico – from the White House in his latest move to crack down on the independent press.

Trump wrote that he is banning ​the outlets for allegedly “reporting FAKE NEWS” in a move that is likely to be challenged as ​conflicting with the US Constitution’s First Amendment protections for free speech and a free press.

The Misinformation Monitor newsletter rounds up international misinformation narratives, with a “Real or Fake?” quiz in every edition. Sign up here.

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“Media ⁠Outlets shouldn’t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES when they’re covering the President of ​the United States, the Trump Administration, or the United States of America,” Trump wrote on social media. “Other Fake News ​Media Outlets to follow.”

CNN, MS NOW, Politico and the National Press Club did not immediately respond to requests for comment. CNN’s team remains at the White House working as if it were a normal Friday afternoon, CNN reporter Brian Stelter said on air.

Trump ​has a long history of bickering with members of the press corps and has stepped up his complaints during ​his second term in office. And he has repeatedly urged broadcasters to drop comedy or news programs he dislikes or which ‌have ⁠joked about or criticized him or his administration, calling on the Federal Communications Commission to strip disfavored broadcast stations of their licenses.

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In 2019, the White House credential of Brian Karem, a Playboy magazine correspondent, was suspended after he traded insults with Sebastian Gorka, then an aide to the president, in the White House Rose Garden. A judge ​later ordered the White House ​to reinstate Karem’s credential.

Since ⁠returning to the presidency in January 2025, Trump has openly badgered reporters, particularly from US television networks.

Last year, he also banned the Associated Press from the usual pool ​of reporters that cover his movements because the news agency did not adopt Trump’s ​preferred name for ⁠the Gulf of Mexico, which Trump has instructed executive branch employees to refer to as the Gulf of America.

US Representative Frank Pallone, the lead Democrat on the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee, called Trump’s action censorship.

“If Trump ⁠thinks banning ​media outlets from the White House will make his presidency seem ​less like a failure, he’s delusional,” Pallone said.

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Reporting by Jacob Bogage and David Shepardson, additional reporting by Jasper Ward and Doina Chiacu; Additional reporting ​by Steve Holland; writing by Bhargav Acharya and Jonathan Allen; Editing by Caitlin Webber, Scott Malone and Will Dunham

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Socialist Claire Valdez faces calls for federal probe after Mexico ‘fight’ pledge

September 18, 2026 2:00pm EDT / Fox News

The socialist candidate vowed to carry Mexico’s independence ‘fight’ into Congress as Nydia Velázquez’s successor

By Charles Creitz

New York’s primary day serves as a litmus test for the Democratic Party as democratic socialists, including Zohran Mamdani, actively campaign for progressive challengers. Candidates Claire Valdez, Darieliza Avila Chevalier and Brad Lander advocate for policies such as Medicare-for-all and abolishing ICE.

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A New York City socialist seeking to replace a retiring Democrat drew criticism Thursday after pledging to carry the “fight” inspired by Mexico’s struggle for independence into Congress. And critics pointed to her disclosure that she met with members of Mexico’s ruling left-wing party.

Claire Valdez, who is seeking Rep. Nydia Velázquez’s seat in a district that includes Bushwick and Ridgewood, is facing calls for the State Department to investigate her under the Logan Act. It’s a rarely enforced 1799 law that criminalizes certain unauthorized efforts by private citizens to influence foreign governments in disputes involving the U.S. Democrats have also invoked the law in connection with President Donald Trump.

In response to her post, immigration attorney and columnist Alicia Nieves tweeted at Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, a former ambassador to Mexico, calling for an investigation of Valdez after the candidate disclosed that she had met with members of Morena, Mexico’s ruling left-wing party.

“Given that she is currently a congressional nominee, not a member of Congress, and appears to have discussed facilitating support contrary to current U.S. policy as well as describing our country an ‘empire’ that has ‘stolen from us’ … I hope the administration will review whether these communications warrant investigation under the Logan Act.”

COLORADO’S SOCIALIST CANDIDATE CALLS FOR ‘MORE IMMIGRANTS INTO OFFICE’ TO STOP AMERICA’S ‘EXPLOITATIVE’ NATURE

Claire Valdez protests against ICE.(Michael Santiago/Getty Images)

The act, enacted in 1799, came after the John Adams administration and congressional Federalists objected to Pennsylvania politician George Logan’s unauthorized trip to France, where he sought to ease tensions during what was called the “Quasi-War.” Federalists feared private diplomacy could undermine the U.S. government’s foreign policy.

Adams and his Federalist allies also viewed Logan’s actions through the partisan tensions surrounding the 1800 presidential race against Thomas Jefferson.

In her tweet, Valdez wrote, “215 years ago, Mexicans fought an empire that demanded our land and our labor. And we won.

“I’ll carry that fight with me to Congress as New York’s first Mexican-American representative,” Valdez pledged. “And I’m strengthened not just by Mexico’s history but its present.”

She said she met “comrades” in the Morena party who are “standing up to the empires and corporations that have always taken from us — and building a government for the working class. Viva la Independencia, Viva México!”

MAMDANI-BACKED SOCIALIST PREVAILS IN CROWDED PRIMARY TO REPLACE RETIRING REP

NYPD officers arrest New York City Council member Tiffany Caban and New York Assembly member Claire Valdez, right, along with protesters after they refused to leave the lobby of Sen. Chuck Schumer’s office in Manhattan on Aug. 1, 2025.(Barry Williams/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service)

Fox News Digital reached out to Valdez and the Mexican government for comment. Morena could not immediately be reached.

Critics also pointed out that Valdez’s father, Larry, is linked to a company that helped construct a Texas immigration center during the Obama administration. They contended that the connection conflicts with her opposition to immigration enforcement.

“This would be a great campaign for Congress in Mexico,” added Christina Pushaw, a top communications official for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Fox News Digital also reached out to community organizer Melvin Rivera, the Republican opponent facing Valdez, for comment.

Democrats cited the Logan Act in connection with Trump after he publicly remarked, “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing” in reference to his 2016 opponent Hillary Clinton.

Then-Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada suggested that Trump had violated the Logan Act. The law has also been invoked against other public figures, including former Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and the Rev. Jesse Jackson, but no prosecution under the statute has resulted in a conviction.

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Two men faced proceedings under the Logan Act but were never convicted. A grand jury indicted Kentucky farmer Francis Flournoy in 1803 after he advocated a separate Western United States allied with France. Jonas P. Levy was arrested and held to bail under the law in 1853 after writing to Mexico’s president.

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Valdez, the Democratic nominee for New York’s 7th Congressional District, will face Rivera and other candidates in the November general election.