Author: NOVA Corp

President Donald Trump is arriving at the Turkey-held NATO summit with fresh frustration toward several European allies for their responses to the U.S.-led operations against Iran, opening a new front in his long-running campaign to pressure the alliance over burden-sharing.

The summit, which takes place Tuesday and Wednesday in Ankara, Turkey, is expected to focus on defense spending, Ukraine and NATO’s long-term strategy toward Russia. 

But it will bring Trump face to face with some of his biggest foes in NATO, including Spain, whose Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has called the U.S. war in Iran “illegal, absurd and cruel.”

U.S. Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker said Wednesday that Trump remains “disappointed” by allies that declined to allow U.S. forces to use military bases or overflight rights during the operation, as well as by political statements criticizing the strikes.

WHY NATO’S DEFENSE SPENDING IMBALANCE LASTED FOR DECADES

“The president has expressed disappointment in both a couple of our allies’ unwillingness to support us using our bases in their countries,” Whitaker said. “And, as importantly, he’s also incredibly disappointed in the political statements that came out around the time of the launch of Epic Fury.” 

The disagreements are expected to loom over a summit where Trump will once again press allies to increase defense spending, while also raising broader questions about whether NATO members are prepared to back the United States during conflicts beyond the alliance’s traditional focus on Europe.

Trump’s frustration has been evident publicly as well. 

Ahead of the summit, he said he was attending largely because of his relationship with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, while again criticizing some NATO allies over defense spending and questioning their commitment to the alliance.

“Except for the fact that it was being held in Turkey by President Erdogan, I don’t think I would have gone to it,” Trump told reporters at the White House June 24.

During the same appearance, he renewed criticism of Spain and other NATO allies over their refusal to support U.S. operations against Iran, declaring, “There’s a problem with Spain.”

Whitaker said the operation also highlighted disparities in military capabilities across the alliance, noting that while some NATO members possess “exquisite capabilities,” others lack the capacity to contribute meaningfully to a large-scale U.S.-led military operation.

The administration’s frustration stems from a series of decisions by European allies during Operation Epic Fury. 

The United Kingdom initially declined to allow U.S. forces to launch strikes against Iran from British bases before later reversing course after Iranian attacks escalated. Spain denied the use of its territory and airspace for combat operations while Sánchez publicly criticized the U.S.-led campaign.

Italy also sought to distance itself from the operation, insisting U.S. flights from bases on Italian soil were limited to logistical support rather than combat missions, while Germany served as a key logistics hub but stopped short of publicly endorsing the military campaign.

European governments defended their positions by citing domestic legal constraints and concerns about being drawn into a wider Middle East conflict. Britain later allowed U.S. strikes after initially withholding approval, while Spain continued opposing the campaign, Italy restricted its support to noncombat operations and Germany limited its role to logistics.

EUROPE’S $116B FIGHTER JET ‘FAILURE’ RAISES FRESH DOUBTS ABOUT ABILITY TO DEFEND ITSELF WITHOUT US

Several allies later agreed to support maritime security operations aimed at restoring commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, but administration officials say the initial reluctance to back the U.S. campaign continues to shape Trump’s view heading into the summit.

While the Middle East is not expected to dominate the formal agenda, they underscore broader questions Trump is bringing to Turkey about burden-sharing and whether NATO allies are prepared to back the United States beyond the alliance’s traditional focus on Europe.

The tensions over Iran build on years of Trump’s criticism of NATO, which he has repeatedly accused of relying too heavily on the U.S. During both his first and second terms, Trump has questioned whether Washington should continue defending allies that fail to meet spending commitments and has at times floated withdrawing from the alliance altogether.

“If they don’t pay, I’m not going to defend them,” Trump said March 6. “If the United States was in trouble and we called them … you think they’re going to come and protect us? They’re supposed to. I’m not so sure.”

Trump is expected to use the summit to press allies to meet NATO’s new benchmark of spending 5% of GDP on defense.

“The United States spends more money on NATO than any other country, by far, to protect them, without getting any benefit from so doing,” he wrote on Truth Social Thursday.

Whitaker suggested the administration increasingly views burden-sharing as extending beyond defense budgets alone.

“We believe that those that are doing more should get benefits from doing more,” he said.

Whitaker confirmed the administration was considering countermeasures for allies that don’t meet defense spending goals. He added that countries contributing more could receive advantages ranging from priority in defense procurement to greater engagement with U.S. leaders.

While the summit is expected to focus publicly on defense spending, Ukraine and NATO’s long-term strategy toward Russia, analysts say the fallout from Operation Epic Fury is likely to shape private conversations between Trump and several European leaders.

Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Ian Brzezinski said during a press briefing the recent conflict has created “two scorecards on the table” for the summit— NATO’s traditional priorities of strengthening deterrence against Russia and Trump’s assessment of which allies proved most supportive of the United States during the Iran conflict.

“We have low expectations because of the issues not on the agenda, but that are driving the atmospherics,” Torey Taussig, director of the Transatlantic Security Initiative at the Atlantic Council, said.

A far-left activist who previously helped organize youth support for Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and volunteered for Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s, D-Mass, presidential campaign appeared in an Iranian state media interview praising the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, calling him the “greatest anti-imperialist leader” of her lifetime.

Calla Walsh, who describes herself as a journalist from the U.S. working in Lebanon, made the remarks in an interview aired by Iranian state media PressTV during the outlet’s coverage of Khamenei’s funeral. Walsh was previously profiled by Boston Magazine as a young organizer who helped form Students for Markey and “played a pivotal role” in Sen. Markey’s 2020 primary win over then-Rep. Joe Kennedy III, after first volunteering for Sen. Warren’s presidential campaign.

“He was a leader to all people in the world who struggle against imperialism, against arrogance, against Zionism, against genocide,” Walsh said in the interview. “To me, he was the greatest anti-imperialist leader to live during my lifetime.”

IRANIANS CHANT ‘DEATH TO AMERICA’ AMID FUNERAL FOR LATE AYATOLLAH KHAMENEI

Her comments came with an Iranian flag seen in the backdrop.

Public profiles have traced Walsh’s political work through several Massachusetts progressive campaigns. Boston Magazine reported that Walsh later served as communications director for Jordan Meehan, a left-wing Massachusetts state House candidate, and was organizing with Act on Mass while doing digital media work for Boston City Councilor Julia Mejia’s re-election campaign in 2021. 

The conservative Capital Research Center’s InfluenceWatch, citing Walsh’s LinkedIn, also reported that Walsh was a regional organizer and strategist for Act on Mass from November 2020 to September 2021 and worked as digital director for Mejia in 2021.

Walsh has been tied to Michelle Wu’s Boston mayoral bid as well. A New York Times profile identified Walsh as part of the “Markeyverse” network and showed her canvassing for then-Boston mayoral candidate Wu.

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Meanwhile, Walsh has previously appeared in Fox News Digital reporting on far-left protest networks. In January, Fox News Digital reported that Walsh shared video of unrest in Minneapolis after the fatal Border Patrol shooting of Alex Pretti and bragged that protesters had trapped “ICE Gestapo” at the scene.

The same report noted that Walsh had previously been filmed in Iran shouting, “Death to America! Death to Israel!”

The interview from Iran’s state media about the Supreme Leader’s funeral was published under the headline, “Ayatollah Khamenei’s message of resistance was truly universal: American activist.” Press TV summarized Walsh’s remarks as arguing that Khamenei’s legacy extended beyond Iran and the Muslim world and that the massive funeral crowds represented “not only grief but a march of victory.”

Walsh also framed the recent conflict as a defeat for the United States, saying, “It’s still fair to say that the U.S. has been more humiliated than it has ever been before in its history and has signed away huge concessions to Iran.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Walsh, as well as to the high-profile Democrats she has worked or campaigned for, but did not receive a response in time for publication.

Democrats swiftly turned on Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner on Monday after a rape allegation triggered a full-on revolt among his most prominent supporters, with calls pouring in from across the party for him to suspend his campaign.

The mounting defections came after Maine resident Jenny Racicot, 41, accused Platner of rape in interviews with Politico and CNN, alleging the Senate hopeful entered her home uninvited while intoxicated nearly five years ago and forced himself on her despite repeated attempts to get him to stop.

Racicot, who was seeing Platner on and off at the time, told Politico she immediately cut ties with him after he forced her to engage in unprotected sex, saying, “I remember the specific moment where I thought to myself, like, ‘This is no longer my choice.’”

She also told CNN that the alleged encounter was the “dictionary definition” of rape.

PLATNER’S LATEST ACCUSER CLAIMS THE DEMOCRATIC SENATE CANDIDATE ‘ABSOLUTELY’ RAPED HER

Platner immediately issued a statement denying Racicot’s account and said he was “taking the time to reflect on the best path forward” for his imploding campaign.

The vast majority of Democrats signaled Monday they were unwilling to give Platner that opportunity, with many lawmakers racing to issue statements calling on the Senate hopeful to immediately end his campaign.

The pleas stretched from Platner’s most fervent progressive champions to the party’s establishment wing, most of whom had only recently rallied behind Platner after he won the Democratic primary nomination in June.

“There can be no tolerance for sexual assault,” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., one of Platner’s most prominent supporters, said in a statement rescinding her endorsement. “With so much at stake, the best path forward is for Graham Platner to step aside as the Democratic nominee and address these serious allegations outside this Senate race.”

Meanwhile, Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., who had closely aligned himself with Platner, also withdrew his endorsement and called on him to exit the race after news of the rape allegation circulated.

Sens. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., and Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., also pulled their support Monday, with Gallego stopping short of calling on Platner to suspend his campaign.

FOX NEWS POLL: MAINE SENATE RACE IS TIGHT, WITH CONCERNS ABOUT BOTH CANDIDATES

The progressive lawmakers continued to support Platner after Lyndsey Fifield, a former Platner girlfriend, accused the Maine Democrat of abuse in June — an allegation Platner has repeatedly denied as false and politically motivated.

Khanna notably traveled to Maine to campaign with Platner the following day after The New York Times first reported Fifield’s accusation.

Khanna previously said in multiple interviews that he would disavow Platner if a sexual assault allegation emerged, but told Fox News Digital that the Senate hopeful was “taking accountability” for his past and argued Platner was deserving of redemption.

The reaction among establishment Democrats was equally swift, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chair Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., publicly demanding that Platner “immediately” suspend his campaign to give the party time to put forward a new nominee.

The senior Democrats had only recently endorsed Platner following his June primary win after their preferred pick, Gov. Janet Mills, D-Maine, ended her campaign amid fundraising struggles.

“The DSCC will not invest in the Maine Senate race if Platner remains on the ballot,” the pair wrote in a joint statement Monday.

The Schumer-aligned Senate Majority PAC, a top outside spending group focused on electing Democrats to the Senate, also said Monday that it would redirect resources away from Maine as long as Platner remained in the race.

TOP PLATNER ALLY TURNS ON HIM AFTER BOMBSHELL RAPE ALLEGATION ROCKS CAMPAIGN: ‘RED LINE’

The warning comes as Democrats are up against a fast-approaching deadline to replace Platner as the party’s nominee. Under Maine law, Platner can be replaced on the ballot if he withdraws by 5 p.m. on July 13, with the state party allowed to put forward a replacement by July 27.

Democrats view Maine as a top flip opportunity to retake Senate control during November’s midterm elections, but Platner’s rapidly unraveling campaign could derail those plans.

His plethora of scandals — from a former Nazi-linked tattoo to infidelity during his marriage — has sharply divided Democrats as the party seeks to unseat longtime Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine.

Collins on Monday issued a statement calling the rape accusation “appalling” but declined to weigh in on whether Platner should continue in the race.

DEM SENATE HOPEFUL UNDER FIRE FOR RESURFACED COMMENTS CALLING COPS ‘OPPORTUNISTIC COWARDS’

Other lawmakers hailing from the party’s centrist flank, including Sens. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., and Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., also publicly urged Platner to end his campaign. Neither had formally endorsed Platner before Monday’s rape allegation broke.

Many prominent Maine Democrats also called on Platner to drop his Senate bid on Monday, including Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine and her daughter, former State House Speaker Hannah Pingree, D-Maine, who is the Democratic gubernatorial nominee to succeed Mills.

Former Maine public health official Nirav Shah and State Sen. Troy Jackson, D-Maine, who both ran for the open gubernatorial seat and have been floated as potential Platner replacements, also said Monday that he should withdraw his candidacy. Jackson, who campaigned with Platner, was among the candidates that the Senate hopeful endorsed to succeed Mills.

A vast swath of left-wing organizations also pulled their support of Platner on Monday.

“The allegations reported today are profoundly disturbing and disqualifying,” Tiffany Muller, president of the Democratic-affiliated group End Citizen United, said in a statement. “The conduct described is fundamentally inconsistent with the standards we expect from the candidates we support.”

VoteVets, an organization that works to elect Democratic veterans, also withdrew its endorsement of Platner, who served in multiple overseas deployments. Meanwhile, Our Revolution, a leftist organization founded by former Sanders campaign staffers, called on Platner to leave the race while demanding that his successor share his far-left policy views.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., one of Platner’s few remaining progressive supporters, had not weighed in on the sexual assault allegation as of late Monday evening.

A spokesperson for Sanders did not respond to a request for comment.

Far-left Twitch streamer Hasan Piker also broke with Platner on Monday, saying “the accusations — they are as credible as it is going to get.”

“This is beyond red flags. This is irredeemable,” Piker added during his livestream.

As NATO allies prepare to meet in Turkey, at the top of their agenda will be drone warfare and Russia’s testing of the NATO alliance.

Using its shadow fleet of old sanction-busting ships, Russia appears to have launched drones at European military bases and airports to test the reaction time of NATO allies and their air defenses, according to a new report published by the International Institute of Strategic Studies, or IISS.

Between August 2024 and February 2026, 144 suspected drones were recorded near sensitive military and nuclear sites in Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, the UK, and Denmark, and over American air bases in the UK in November 2024.

UKRAINE’S BATTLEFIELD IS TRANSFORMING THE FUTURE OF NATO

“There’s no doubt in my mind that the Russians are using the shadow fleet vessels as a platform to get different types of drones in closer to various European countries,” said Ret. Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, who served as the commanding general of US Army Europe until 2018. 

In Germany there were more than 1,000 suspicious drone sightings in 2025, over German defense companies and military bases where Ukrainian soldiers were training in Germany.

“Whoever is doing it is testing the reaction of the authorities, is testing how the public will respond, will they panic, will they blame their politicians and the authorities,” asked Elisabeth Braw of the Atlantic Council. “Also they are testing perhaps to see how we as European countries or how European countries might react in a real crisis there.”

This spate of unmanned aerial vehicles occurred in air space over a dozen NATO states and Ireland, the report states, “forcing repeated closures of major commercial aviation hubs, disrupting military operations and penetrating the perimeters of some of Europe’s most sensitive defence installations.”

In 2025, mystery drones targeted military bases in the Netherlands and Belgium where the US is thought to base its B61-12 nuclear gravity bombs and France’s ballistic-missile submarine base at Île Longue.

“It’s a combination of espionage,” Hodges said. “But also psychologically to create a lot of anxiety in populations to scare them so that they would put pressure on their governments not to support Ukraine.” 

RUSSIAN GENERALS’ ASSASSINATIONS EXPOSE GROWING RIFT INSIDE PUTIN’S SECURITY APPARATUS

The Russian drone campaign appears designed to probe the response times and decision-making thresholds of allied air defense and civil-military command structures. 

It also seeks to identify vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure, including dual-use civilian facilities, military logistics hubs supporting Ukraine, and sites associated with the Alliance’s nuclear deterrence. 

Additionally, the campaign aims to impose economic and psychological costs on European societies by disrupting civilian aviation, undermining public confidence in airspace security, and fostering distrust and panic. Finally, it appears intended to normalize low-level airspace violations that remain below the threshold likely to trigger a direct Allied military response.

Those sightings peaked in late 2025, and forced the temporary closure of several European airports, including in Germany, Spain and Denmark.

Sweden is the only European country to accuse Moscow directly after a drone launched at sea from a Russian spy ship flew near a French aircraft carrier.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied accusations of Russian sabotage and surveillance across Europe.

“What’s the point of all this,” Putin asked of reporters recently. “Name even one proven fact.”

AMERICA’S POWER GRID, FOOD SUPPLY AND MORE ARE UNDER THREAT FROM DRONES

But IISS tracked the locations of Russia’s shadow fleet of ships used to evade sanctions and linked them to recent high-profile drone incidents, concluding that Russia could use the ships as a platform to launch the drones while creating deniability. Drones often don’t trigger radar.

On Jan. 3, 2025, a Russian shadow fleet vessel, the Arctica, sailed along the Danish coast, while 20 drones flew over the port of Koege, Denmark, before disappearing at sea.

On Sept. 22, drone sightings led to the closure of Copenhagen Airport. The IISS found several shadow ships were in the area at the time, including the Arctica and the Boracay.

And it is not just in Europe. Dozens of unexplained drone sightings also have taken place in the U.S. in the past several years.

In December 2023 at Virginia’s Joint Base Langley-Eustis unauthorized aircraft appeared in the skies above the base for 17 days straight, evading military tracking and forcing the Pentagon to bring in specialized assets — including a NASA WB-57 high-altitude jet — to investigate.

In March drones flew near Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, home of the B- 52 H Stratofortress bomber, where drones came in a pattern to suggest they were attempting to avoid the operator or operators being located. Lights on the drones suggested the operators may be testing security responses at the base.

Panicked sightings of drones near critical infrastructure along the East Coast of the United States in late 2024 led to the Trump administration ordering the declassification of these investigations shortly after the inauguration to ease public concern, concluding the drones were mostly those of hobbyists and that there was no evidence of a foreign threat related to the majority of reported sightings.

The IISS says these are no hobbyists threatening NATO allies in Europe, with the most likely culprit launching the drones from shadow vessels at sea.

Support for embattled Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner is cratering among Democrats, with one of his most prominent supporters calling on him to exit the race following a harrowing rape allegation.

Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., rescinded his endorsement and called on Platner to suspend his campaign following a bombshell Politico report detailing a rape allegation by Maine resident Jenny Racicot, 41, who previously dated the scandal-plagued candidate.

Platner immediately denied Racicot’s account — which alleges that he barged into her home in 2021 and forced her to have unprotected sex — but has said his campaign is determining its next steps.

“I’ve been very clear that sexual assault or violence against women is a red line,” Khanna said in a post on social media Monday evening. “These allegations are very serious and credible. Graham Platner should drop out from the race. I am withdrawing my endorsement.”

DEMOCRATS BREAK WITH SCANDAL-PLAGUED GRAHAM PLATNER, WARN OF ‘CIVIL WAR’ IN PARTY

The blistering statement comes as Khanna, a far-left populist with likely presidential ambitions, had embraced Platner’s insurgent Senate campaign for months amid a patchwork of controversies.

Khanna personally campaigned with the Maine Senate hopeful in June shortly before Platner won the Democratic primary nomination. The campaign stop came just one day after Lyndsey Fifield, a former Platner girlfriend, accused Platner of abuse — an allegation first reported by The New York Times that Platner has fiercely denied.

By that point, Platner was also facing scrutiny for sending sexually explicit messages to at least half a dozen women while married, making a plethora of offensive online statements over the period of a decade and getting a Nazi-linked tattoo that he wore for most of his adult life.

Khanna previously appeared to dismiss the severity of Fifield’s account alongside many Democratic lawmakers, who seized on her background in Republican politics. He also argued that Platner, a combat veteran who has struggled with PTSD, had overcome a dark past and was deserving of redemption.

“Here you have a case of someone who had a dark chapter in his life, was in toxic relationships, was ashamed about it, who served this country, and the Maine voters are saying, ‘Look, let’s give him some grace, and his focus is stopping these wars, and it’s getting national health insurance, and it’s taking on economic inequality,” Khanna told CBS News in an interview.

WATCH: DEM SENATORS EXCUSE PLATNER’S CONDUCT AT CRISIS HUDDLE WITH EMBATTLED MAINE CANDIDATE

And Khanna told Fox News’ Martha MacCallum in June that he asked Platner if there were any credible allegations of sexual assault that had yet to be revealed. He said Platner denied it.

“I made it clear that, for me, is a red line,” the California lawmaker said. “And he said, no, there is not.”

“Now, obviously, he had texts that were allegedly consensual, and while he was married, And that’s a matter for him and his wife. And his wife came out and said that she forgave him. And so that is a different matter for me than abuse or assault or what people did in the Epstein class. It’s a very different matter.”

Khanna was not the only prominent Platner supporter to disavow the Senate hopeful following Monday’s rape allegation.

Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., rescinded his endorsement Monday evening, but stopped short of calling on Platner to exit the race.

Gallego, a former ally of disgraced ex-Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., has faced scrutiny over his past treatment of women. The Senate Ethics Committee recently dismissed a complaint brought by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., in a bipartisan manner.

Far-left Twitch streamer Hasan Piker, who has championed socialist candidates across the country, also distanced himself from Platner on Monday.

“This is beyond red flags. This is irredeemable ,” Piker said during his livestream.

Fox News Digital reached out to Platner’s campaign for comment.

China publicly announced it launched a ballistic missile from a nuclear-powered submarine into the Pacific Ocean Monday — a rare acknowledgment of its sea-based nuclear capabilities that came as U.S. allies deepen security ties in the Indo-Pacific and NATO leaders prepare to meet amid growing concerns over Beijing’s military ambitions.

China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy said the missile, carrying a dummy warhead, was fired from a Type 094 Jin-class ballistic missile submarine during what Beijing described as a routine annual training exercise.

The launch highlights one of the Pentagon’s biggest long-term concerns: China’s ability to field a more survivable nuclear force capable of threatening the U.S. and its allies from the sea. Unlike land-based missile launches, a ballistic missile fired from a submerged nuclear submarine demonstrates one of the most survivable elements of a country’s nuclear arsenal because the vessels are significantly harder to detect and destroy before they can launch a retaliatory strike.

The growing capability also means China could eventually threaten the U.S. homeland from a wider range of patrol areas, reducing the need for its submarines to venture into more vulnerable waters.

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Chinese officials said the launch landed in a designated area of the Pacific Ocean and was conducted in accordance with international law.

“It is a routine arrangement in China’s annual military training program. It is consistent with international law and customary international practice and is not directed at any specific country or target,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said at a news conference Monday.

“The whole process was safe, standard and professional. We hope relevant countries will not read too much into it.”

TRUMP BETS ON FORMER NATO TROUBLEMAKER AS TURKEY’S STRATEGIC VALUE SURGES

The launch came on the eve of NATO’s summit in Ankara, Turkey, where alliance leaders are expected to focus primarily on the war in Ukraine, defense spending and collective security, while also addressing the growing strategic challenge posed by China. In recent years, NATO has expanded its engagement with Indo-Pacific partners including Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea, reflecting concerns that security in Europe and the Pacific is increasingly interconnected.

It was the first such test since 2024, according to Chinese state media, occurring at noon local time Monday.

New Zealand, which had just signed a defense pact with Fiji, claimed the missile landed in the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone, where testing atomic weapons is prohibited.

China said the missile carried a dummy rather than a nuclear warhead, and New Zealand did not accuse Beijing of violating the Treaty of Rarotonga, which establishes the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone and prohibits nuclear explosive devices within the region. Instead, officials criticized the launch as inconsistent with the spirit of maintaining the Pacific as a nuclear-free region.

Australia’s foreign minister, Penny Wong, said China had informed Australia ahead of the test but added, “Australia has been clear with China that we regard this as destabilizing to the region.”

China’s rapid military buildup added to the concern, according to Wong, who described it as “lacking in the transparency and reassurance as to intent that the region expect.”

In a joint cabinet statement, Japan raised “serious concern over the intensification of China’s military activities and strongly urged China to reconsider its actions.”

The Pentagon has repeatedly warned that China is rapidly modernizing and expanding its nuclear forces, projecting that Beijing will continue increasing the size, sophistication and survivability of its arsenal through the next decade. China’s military has also expanded naval patrols beyond the first island chain while increasing military pressure on Taiwan and asserting territorial claims in the South China Sea.

The Pentagon projects China will field more than 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030, up from an estimated stockpile in the low 600s through 2024.

Officials say Beijing is expanding all three legs of its nuclear triad — land-based missiles, strategic bombers and nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines — while improving its ability to survive a first strike and retaliate.

At the same time, the People’s Liberation Army Navy is the world’s largest by number of battle force ships, while it has fielded advanced hypersonic weapons, expanded long-range missile forces and invested heavily in artificial intelligence, cyber capabilities and space-based systems that U.S. officials say are designed to challenge American military advantages in the Indo-Pacific.

U.S. defense officials have also warned that China continues to refine the capabilities needed for a potential conflict over Taiwan, including joint operations involving naval, air, missile and amphibious forces. 

Annual military exercises around Taiwan have grown larger and more complex, reflecting Beijing’s efforts to increase military pressure while rehearsing operations that could support a blockade or invasion.

The U.S. has maintained a sea-based nuclear deterrent for decades through its fleet of Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines, which routinely conduct operational deterrent patrols and periodic test launches of Trident II D5 ballistic missiles. The Navy is now replacing those submarines with the next-generation Columbia class, which is expected to begin entering service later this decade.

Unlike China, however, the U.S. regularly publicizes scheduled Trident missile tests and has long operated a mature fleet of ballistic missile submarines that defense officials consider the most survivable leg of America’s nuclear triad.

The Pentagon and U.S. Indo-Pacific Command could not immediately be reached for comment.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced that it had carried out 20 federal warrants and 10 arrests last Wednesday in connection with sex trafficking operations in Los Angeles by the Hoover Criminals Gang (HCG), a group known for its human exploitation.

Officials identified 51 victims in connection with the arrests, some of whom were as young as 14.

“[Homeland Security Investigations] remains steadfast in our mission to protect victims and pursue justice against human traffickers,” Special Agent Eddy Wang said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

DOJ SAYS 11 MIGRANTS INDICTED IN MULTI-STATE SEX TRAFFICKING, DRUG, FIREARMS CASE

The arrests are a part of Operation Broken Blade, an effort to target trafficking in Los Angeles’ Figueroa Corridor, a strip of neighborhoods south of the city, according to the agency. They also highlight the continued threats law enforcement face, even as illegal border crossings have plummeted during the second Trump administration.

Since the end of 2024, border crossings have fallen precipitously, going from over 144,000 encounters in December 2024 to just 13,500 in May — a 90% reduction.

Even so, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and other federal agencies remain engaged in intercepting more organized smuggling operations that threaten to bring drugs, weapons and people illegally into the country.

In April, for example, CBP announced it had prevented a car carrying a rocket-propelled grenade launcher, 16 AK rifles, 24 rifle magazines, 16 rifle stocks, 20 pistol grips, and other weapon parts from crossing the border.

As a part of those continued efforts, Acting Assistant DHS Secretary of Public Affairs Lauren Bis said that DHS has made disrupting sex trafficking rings a priority.

“Under President Trump and Secretary Mullin, DHS is dismantling human and sex trafficking rings,” Bis told Fox News Digital.

MEXICAN NATIONAL SENTENCED IN BORDER CHILD SMUGGLING CASE INVOLVING THC-LACED CANDY

Bis noted that the suspects arrested last week will also face charges that go well beyond their human exploitation.

“This operation in Los Angeles resulted in the arrest of ten gang members, who now face federal racketeering charges including sex trafficking, money laundering, firearms offenses and narcotics offenses,” Bis said.

The agency described many of the suspects as “career criminals” with histories that include robbery, kidnapping and burglary.

Wednesday’s operation is the second round of arrests made under Broken Blade, an initiative originally launched in August 2025 by Homeland Security Investigations Los Angeles in cooperation with CBP, the Los Angeles Police Department and the California Highway Patrol.

FEDS DISMANTLE ALLEGED GUN TRAFFICKING RING THAT FUNNELED DOZENS OF FIREARMS FROM GEORGIA TO CHICAGO GANGS

The 10 suspects are expected to stand trial in March 2027, according to DHS.

“The actions taken today by HSI are another decisive blow against those who have exploited the vulnerable people of our community, and they will now face the consequences of those actions,” Wang said.

Former Vice President Mike Pence publicly praised President Donald Trump on Monday for successfully securing the release of pastor Ezra Jin Mingri, a prominent underground Christian leader detained by Chinese authorities.

In a post on X, Pence said Trump “should be commended” for raising the case directly with Chinese President Xi Jinping during a state visit to Beijing, adding it was “Truly Treasure in Heaven to see this godly man of faith set free.”

Pence also called on Beijing to release jailed Hong Kong activist Jimmy Lai, adding, “#FreeJimmyLai.”

PRESIDENT TRUMP REVEALS XI JINPING’S RESPONSE TO POSSIBLY RELEASING IMPRISONED CHINESE CRITIC JIMMY LAI

Jin, the leader of Beijing’s unregistered Zion Church, was detained in October along with 17 other church leaders.

He safely arrived in Los Angeles to reunite with his family, less than two months after Trump pressed Xi on his detention, according to Frances Hui of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation.

PRESIDENT TRUMP MUST PUT AMERICAN HOSTAGES FIRST IN HIGH-STAKES BEIJING SUMMIT

In a statement to the Associated Press, Jin’s family thanked Trump and acknowledged the swift release would not have been possible without Xi’s intervention.

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., took to X to thank Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, echoing Pence’s call for Lai’s release.

“Great news! Thank you @POTUS and @SecRubio for your leadership in securing Pastor Ezra Jin’s freedom,” Scott wrote in the post. “Still, we cannot stop fighting to hold COMMUNIST CHINA accountable for ALL of their crimes.”

“My friend Jimmy Lai remains unjustly imprisoned simply because he stood up for freedom,” Scott continued. “Jimmy Lai is 78 with diabetes and has been in solitary confinement for YEARS. I will never stop fighting for Jimmy Lai and I won’t give up until Jimmy is out of prison.”

Rumors are swirling on social media about the future of Democratic Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner after several of his events were canceled and a report from Politico accused the candidate of sexual assault ahead of a key deadline in the race. 

Maine resident Jenny Racicot, 41, told Politico over the course of three interviews that Platner forced her to have sex five years ago, a claim that Platner denied in the story. Additionally, the report says that a man Raciot dated afterward confirmed she had told him about the incident, which was also corroborated by emails between Racicot and her therapist. 

“I remember him grabbing my pelvis and being really forceful of me,” Racicot told the outlet about the incident, which allegedly took place while the two were intoxicated. “I remember the specific moment where I thought to myself, like, ‘This is no longer my choice.’”

In a statement to Politico, Platner said, “These allegations are troubling, serious, and false. Any accusation of non-consensual behavior is categorically untrue.”

‘HE HATED WOMEN’: EXPLOSIVE ABUSE, NEW NAZI TATTOO ALLEGATIONS FROM EXES ROCK PLATNER’S CAMPAIGN

The Platner campaign posted a video on X shortly after the Politico story published where Platner again called the allegations “false” and that he was going to “reflect” on the best path forward. 

“So, regardless of the inaccuracy of the reporting, but mindful the political reality it will inflict, we are taking the time to reflect on the best path forward for the state that I love, the people that I love, the movement I belong to, and the goal of defeating Susan Collins,” Platner says in the vide. “Those were the goals when we launched this campaign, and they remain my goals today.”

Over the last few days, multiple Platner events over the 4th of July holiday weekend and Monday were canceled without an official explanation or comment from the campaign, Bangor Daily News reported on Monday, other than one event organizer saying that an event in Gorman was canceled due to Platner “not feeling well.”

The news of the canceled events led conservative outlets and pundits to speculate whether there is an underlying reason for the cancellations.

“Graham Platner cancels MULTIPLE scheduled town hall events as progressive allies tease another scandal is about to hit his campaign,” the Maine Wire news outlet posted on X. “Augusta town hall for last night – CANCELED Gorham town hall tonight – CANCELED Sanford town hall tonight – CANCELED. There are no other upcoming events listed on his FB page, or on Mobilize.”

“Graham Platner no-showed Fourth of July celebrations across Maine,” the National Republican Senatorial Committee posted on X in response to the Maine Wire post. “Now, he’s canceling everything else. We wouldn’t want to be seen in public either… “

“A well-placed source told us that Graham Platner is dropping out of the Maine Senate race this week,” the Washington Reporter posted on X. “Note that Platner has yet to release his Q2 fundraising totals, a sign he may have underperformed expectations. “

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Fox News Digital reached out to the Platner campaign for comment on both the canceled events and the Politico report. 

In addition to the online rumors, predictions on the online prediction market Polymarket surged over the weekend, with users betting that Platner would drop out before the midterms.

Platner has been at the center of multiple controversies since launching his campaign, including infidelity, alleged physical abuse of an ex-girlfriend, a Nazi-linked tattoo, disparaging comments about the military, referring to himself as a “communist”, scrutiny over his working-class bonafides, and a variety of inflammatory posts on a deleted Reddit account.

Despite the controversies, Platner has held a polling lead on incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins, although a recent Fox News Poll showed only 44% of respondents believing he has “good character” while 47% said he is “too extreme” for the state.

Now that Platner has won the Democratic primary, the next key date is 5 p.m. on Monday, July 13. Under Maine law, if Platner formally withdraws as the Democratic nominee by that deadline, the Maine Democratic Party can replace him on the general election ballot by selecting a new nominee through its party process, with the replacement required to be chosen by July 27.

If he remains the nominee past the July 13 deadline, the party generally loses its ability to substitute another candidate through the normal replacement process, except in limited circumstances defined under state law.

Seattle socialist mayor Katie Wilson is facing protests ahead of today’s U.S. World Cup match in her city as members of the local Chinese and Vietnamese communities are accusing her of abandoning their neighborhoods to crime and open air drug dealing.

One organizer went so far as to accuse progressive Wilson of treating Seattle’s Chinatown International District (CID) as a “human dumping ground” for homeless and drug addicts.

While Seattle has hosted some of the World Cup’s biggest matches, including today’s U.S. versus Belgium match, residents and business owners in the CID and “Little Saigon” say their neighborhoods are missing out on the economic benefits due to safety concerns leading people to avoid the area, according to local outlet KIRO 7.

Business owners are reporting a significant decline in foot traffic and business despite being less than a mile from Lumen Field. As frustrations mount, many are blaming Wilson’s leadership and taking to the streets to protest against her in front of World Cup crowds.

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At one rally, Gary Lee, a CID advocate, said into a microphone that “Wilson claims to be an advocate for marginalized communities of color, but all she did was turn the CID into a human dumping ground and we’ve had enough,” KIRO 7 reported.

In an interview with the outlet, Lee said, “When I look at the TV, I see that the waterfront is jampacked, Pioneer Square is jampacked. When I go over to Chinatown, it’s just like dead.”

“I hate to say it, but it feels like a ghost town,” he said of the CID.

Fox News Digital reached out to Wilson for comment, however, the mayor did not respond by the time of publication.

SEATTLE’S SOCIALIST MAYOR KATIE WILSON SLAMMED FOR CUTTING SHORT INTERVIEW OVER BASIC PUBLIC SAFETY QUESTION

When CID residents started venting their frustrations, Wilson responded, “We’ve definitely seen, like, a lot of energy was put into trying to make sure that as visitors are coming, they are, you know, venturing out of that downtown corridor.”

In a statement sent to KIRO 7, Wilson’s office said that “crime and disorder issues in the CID have gone unaddressed for far too long. We continue to work with the CID community to address their concerns and ensure it is a safe, active, and vibrant neighborhood.”

Meanwhile, Fox 13 Seattle reported that community activist and former city council member Tanya Woo said many businesses in the district are seeing a 10-20% decline in sales.

Woo called on community members to join her in walking to the stadium area on Monday to “personally invite fans to eat, shop, and experience the Chinatown-International District.”

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“Many businesses in the Chinatown-International District are reporting sales declines compared to this time last year. Although thousands of FIFA fans are coming to Seattle, our neighborhood has largely become a rideshare pickup and drop-off zone,” she wrote.

In another post, Woo wrote that “Seattle’s Chinatown International District should be benefiting from the FIFA World Cup, not being left behind.”