Biden says Israel, Lebanon agree to ceasefire designed to be permanent end to fighting
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(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that Israel and Lebanon have agreed to a deal brokered by the U.S. “to end the devastating conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.”
“This has been the deadliest conflict between Israel and Hezbollah in decades,” Biden said in remarks from the Rose Garden.
Biden said the agreement reached will go into effect early Wednesday.
“At 4 a.m. tomorrow local time, the fighting across the Lebanese-Israeli border will end. Will end,” Biden said. “This is designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — Pete Hegseth’s attorney has threatened legal action against a woman who accused President-elect Donald Trump’s selection for defense secretary of sexual assault — if she repeats what he calls “false” claims and his client ultimately fails to get confirmed.
Tim Parlatore said in an interview on CNN Thursday night that a confidentiality agreement covering both her and Hegseth, part of a 2020 settlement with the former Fox News host, is no longer in effect, and that the unidentified woman, who filed a police report in 2017 alleging Hegseth sexually assaulted her in a hotel, is now free to speak publicly about the case.
However, Parlatore said he would consider a lawsuit against the woman for civil extortion or defamation if she made what he called false claims that jeopardized his client’s future in the Trump administration or “his future employment opportunities.”
“If she doesn’t tell the truth, if she repeats these false statements, then she will be subject to a defamation lawsuit. But now that she — and she’s well aware of that, her attorney was well aware that because of the breach of the agreement that is no longer in any force, in effect, she is free to speak if she wants,” the attorney said.
Connecticut Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee that would hold Hegseth’s confirmation hearings, told CNN Thursday that the threat to potentially sue Hegseth’s accuser is meant to intimidate her and is “reprehensible.”
“What they’re doing, essentially, is threatening or intimidating a potential witness,” he said.
Details of her allegations about the October 2017 incident were compiled in a Monterey Police Department report released last month. At the time, the woman told investigators that she encountered Hegseth at an event afterparty at a California hotel where both had been drinking.
The woman claimed she did not recall how she ended up in Hegseth’s room later and said he sexually assaulted her, according to the report. Hegseth “took her phone from her hands” and, when she attempted to leave, “blocked the door with his body,” according to what she told investigators.
Hegseth told investigators the sexual encounter was consensual. No charges were brought. However in December 2020, Hegseth paid the woman an undisclosed sum as part of a settlement because he feared his career would suffer if her allegations were made public, according to Parlatore.
Hegseth has repeatedly reiterated that he was not charged and has denied the assault allegations.
He has come under heavy fire over the last few weeks over news reports about the incident and other allegations of heavy drinking, mismanagement, extramarital affairs and other controversies.
Trump has stood by his selection and Hegseth has dismissed questions about whether he would withdraw.
(WASHINGTON) — The Senate, in an extremely narrow vote, confirmed Pete Hegseth, President Donald Trump’s embattled pick to serve as secretary of defense.
The vote was initially 50-50, with Vice President JD Vance then casting the tie-breaking vote.
Former GOP leader Mitch McConnell, of Kentucky, voted no. He joined Sens. Susan Collins, of Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, of Alaska, along with all Democrats in voting against Hegseth’s nomination.
Hegseth, a former “Fox and Friends” television anchor, was nominated by Trump in November to lead the Defense Department. In the time since his nomination was announced, Hegseth has been scrutinized for a number of accusations made against him, including those of sexual assault and financial mismanagement of two different veterans organizations.
Hegseth has fiercely denied the allegations. He appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee for a public hearing earlier this month, where he asserted to the panel that he was a “changed man.”
“I am not a perfect person, but redemption is real,” he told the panel.
Speaking to reporters while on a visit to Los Angeles, President Donald Trump said he was “very happy” with the vote, and said he was not aware of McConnell’s vote.
In a statement released while the vote was still going on, McConnell said that Hegseth’s desire to be a “change agent” was not enough to qualify him for the role of secretary of defense.
“Effective management of nearly 3 million military and civilian personnel, an annual budget of nearly $1 trillion, and alliances and partnerships around the world is a daily test with staggering consequences for the security of the American people and our global interests,” McConnell said in the statement. “Mr. Hegseth has failed, as yet, to demonstrate that he will pass this test. But as he assumes office, the consequences of failure are as high as they have ever been.”
Hegseth was confirmed by one of the narrowest Senate margins of any defense secretary in modern history. Most defense secretaries have been confirmed with broad bipartisan votes.
Lloyd Austin, former President Joe Biden’s pick for defense secretary, was confirmed in a 93-2 vote and Trump’s first pick for defense secretary in his first term, James Mattis, was confirmed in a 98-1 vote.
Before the vote, Hegseth arrived at the Capitol with his wife and children to watch the proceedings in person, a rare move for a Cabinet nominee.
With the Senate’s vote Friday, Hegseth becomes the third member of Trump’s team to be confirmed by the Senate, following Marco Rubio as secretary of state and John Ratcliffe, as CIA director.
During the same hearing, he affirmed his promise to restore the “warfighting ethos” of the DOD, touting his experience in the National Guard.
It was enough to win over the support of most Republicans in the Senate, including several of those who were initially skeptical.
“He articulated a clear vision of the Pentagon, and it was clear to anyone who listened that he is going to bring energy and fresh ideas to shake up the department’s stagnant bureaucracy,” Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a floor speech endorsing Hegseth on Thursday. “He will restore a warfighting ethos and relentlessly focused on the military’s core mission: to deter conflict and, if necessary, to win a war.”
The Senate Armed Services Committee advanced his nomination on a party-line vote on Monday. Then, in a closely watched moment on Thursday, Hegseth’s nomination passed a key test vote that set the table for Friday’s vote of final passage.
The nomination only required a simple majority in the Senate to advance, and it cleared the threshold narrowly, with only GOP backing.
Collins and Murkowski also voted no on that occasion.
In a statement, Murkowski explained that she could not support Hegseth due to concerns about this character and lack of experience.
“I believe that character is the defining trait required of the Secretary of Defense and must be prioritized without compromise,” Murkowski said in the post. “The leader of the Department of Defense must demonstrate and model the standards of behavior and character we expect of all servicemembers, and Mr. Hegseth’s nomination to the role poses significant concerns that I cannot overlook.”
Collins took issue with comments Hegseth made in the past about his belief that women should not serve in combat roles in the military. Though Hegseth has since changed his tune on that, Collins said she was unconvinced.
“I am also concerned about multiple statements, including some in the months just before he was nominated, that Mr. Hegseth has made about women serving in the military,” Collins said. “He and I had a candid conversation in December about his past statements and apparently evolving views. I am not convinced that his position on women serving in combat roles has changed.”
Trump expressed confidence in Hegseth ahead of the vote on Friday, though he added, “You’ll never know what’s going to happen.”
McConnell, the former GOP leader, and North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, ultimately cast votes in favor of advancing Hegseth’s nomination in the earlier test vote, although the president questioned whether McConnell will vote no on Hegseth Friday morning.
Tillis said he was still considering the most recent slate of allegations against Hegseth, leveled in an affidavit from Hegseth’s former sister-in-law Danielle Hegseth. In that affidavit, which ABC News obtained, Danielle Hegseth attested that Pete Hegseth’s ex-wife Samantha told her she “once hid in her closet from Hegseth because she feared for her personal safety” in the home they shared during their marriage. It also detailed episodes of binge drinking by Pete Hegseth.
An attorney for Pete Hegseth denied these allegations, and allegations of abuse were also rejected by his ex-wife.
Tillis said he so far has not found credible evidence to back many of the allegations that have be levied against Pete Hegseth but that he’s still doing his vetting on these most recent developments.
“I am in the process of completing due diligence on what appears to be the last allegation. All the other ones I couldn’t conclude had validity,” Tillis said Thursday. “So I’m talking to people that can give me data inputs. It all goes back to the same thing — first-hand, eye-witness, corroborated account.”
(WASHINGTON) — President-elect Donald Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on Canada, China and Mexico on the first day of his administration could dramatically raise prices for Americans on everything from cars to clothes to oil.
It could also blow up a trade deal between the United States, Canada and Mexico (USMCA) that went into effect in 2020 after extensive and intense negotiations by Trump’s own administration.
Trump late Monday said he would charge Mexico and Canada with a 25% tariff on all products coming into the United States until action is taken by those country to stem illegal immigration and overflow of drugs across the border.
For China, Trump said that he’d impose an additional 10% tariff on products coming to the U.S.
Mexico, Canada and China are America’s top three trading partners, meaning Trump’s tariff plan would impact nearly every aspect of the U.S. economy.
While it could very well be a negotiating tactic, similar to how Trump threatened tariffs in his first administration, experts say it won’t be as effective this time around because countries know what’s coming.
“This is more likely a play designed to put pressure on our closest trading partners,” said Raymond Robertson, professor for trade, economics and public policy at Texas A&M University. “But this is the same playbook done the second time around. If you’re on the football field and you call the same play twice, it’s not going to be as effective the second time.
Robertson added that countries know this would be “disruptive” and a “disaster” but they’ve “seen how this game works.”
Trading partners could seek closer ties to Europe and other countries and rely less on the United States, “which means higher prices for us,” Robertson said. He added the plan would also likely push Mexico and China closer together.
“Trump ran on this whole campaign that inflation is too high, but now he’s going to put a tax on everything you buy,” Robertson said.
Most economists agree that tariffs are inflationary, by passing the higher cost of inputs to consumers. The Peterson Institute for International Economics estimates that Trump’s proposed tariffs from the campaign trail would cost US households more than $2,600 a year.
What is the current trade agreement between the U.S., Canada and Mexico?
The USMCA was signed by Trump as an update to North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA.
It allowed for mostly duty-free trade between the three countries. Trump’s threat of tariffs would seem to violate the terms.
Trump said on the campaign trail this year he wanted to renegotiate the USMCA by taking advantage of a window that allows for a review six years after signing. But that opportunity to renegotiate wouldn’t come until 2026.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he spoke with Trump on Monday night and “it was a good call.”
“We obviously talked about laying out the facts, talking about how the intense and effective connections between our two countries flow back and forth,” Trudeau said. “We talked about some of the challenges that we can work on together.”
Mexico’s president, meanwhile, fired back at Trump and warned him not to start a trade war.
“President Trump, it is not with threats nor with tariffs that migration and drug consumption in the U.S. will be dealt with. These great challenges require cooperation and mutual understanding,” President Claudia Sheinbaum said at her daily press conference as she read aloud a letter her administration is sending Trump later Tuesday.
The USMCA was a big deal for Trump — a 2016 campaign promise he delivered and a major bipartisan achievement for his administration.
During his first run for the White House he pledged to negotiate a better NAFTA, calling it one of the worst trade deals ever made.
It took most of his term but he got a deal with the United States’ neighbors to the north and south. And he signed it with great fanfare at the White House on Jan. 29, 2020, surrounded by Americans in uniforms, hard hats and cowboy hats.
“Everybody said this was a deal that could not be done — too complicated, too big, couldn’t be done. We got it done,” Trump said that day.
