President Donald Trump is expected to approve a proposed deal this week that would ensure TikTok in the United States is majority-owned by American investors and keep user data in a ‘trusted’ cloud in the U.S., a senior White House official told Fox News Digital.

The White House official said that under the new deal, U.S. operations will be run by a new joint-venture company, with its current parent company, ByteDance, holding less than 20% of the stock, as required by law.

‘The administration looks forward to finalizing this deal with all stakeholders,’ the official told Fox News Digital. ‘President Trump is expected to sign an Executive Order later this week to approve the proposed deal.’

The new U.S.-based joint-venture company is expected to be majority-owned by American investors and operate in the United States by a board of directors with national security and cybersecurity credentials.

The board of directors is expected to consist of seven members— a majority of which must be U.S. citizens based in America. A senior White House official told Fox News Digital that one member, who would not be eligible to serve on the data security committee or as board chairman, will be appointed to the board by ByteDance.

The official told Fox News Digital that, under the deal, Oracle, one of the nation’s leading technology companies, will be TikTok’s trusted security provider in partnership with the United States government.

Oracle would work to independently monitor and assure the safety of all TikTok operations in the United States—specifically regarding data security across the TikTok platform.

The official told Fox News Digital that Oracle’s data security would include source code review, algorithm retaining, application development and deployment, and more.

The official also stressed that Americans’ data will be securely stored in the United States without any access for China.

Americans’ user data will be stored in a trusted, secure, and purpose-built cloud environment in the U.S., run by Oracle, according to the official.

Under the deal, Oracle will create a secure cloud with perimeter controls and gateways to protect and house all U.S. user data. Officials said data flows will be controlled by machine learning and other technologies.

‘Foreign powers, like China, will not be able to access U.S. user data,’ the official said.

As for TikTok’s algorithm, the official told Fox News Digital that it would be ‘secured, retrained, and operated in the United States outside of ByteDance’s control.’

The senior White House official said that the TikTok algorithm in the United States will be separate from ByteDance’s control and will be controlled entirely by the new joint-venture.

‘The algorithm will be retrained from the ground up and protected by Oracle to ensure Americans’ data is safeguarded and foreign influence is removed,’ a senior administration official told Fox News Digital.

The official said ByteDance will first create a duplicate copy of the TikTok algorithm and then lease it to the joint-venture. Oracle is then expected to operate, retrain, and continuously monitor the U.S. algorithm to ensure content is free from improper manipulation or surveillance.

‘By leasing the duplicate algorithm, TikTok will be able to continue operating in the United States without disruption to users,’ the official said. 

Meanwhile, TikTok will remain a globally interoperable platform for U.S. users. The deal preserves the interoperability of TikTok, which ensures U.S. users can safely view TikTok content from around the world ‘with the confidence that their user data is secure in the United States.’

‘The deal will not interrupt the user experience,’ the official said.

As for harmful content on the platform, the U.S. joint-venture will operate independently of TikTok in other nations and will police harmful content through its terms of service.

The Trump administration is touting the new deal, saying ‘all Americans will be able to safely enjoy the same global TikTok experience and view content from around the world with the confidence that their data is secure in the United States.’

The official told Fox News Digital that preserving TikTok’s business will generate $178 billion in economic activity in the United States over the next four years and will sustain ‘thousands of U.S. jobs and businesses.’

As for the timing of the joint-venture, the president is expected to sign an executive order to finalize the deal later this week. That order will delay enforcement of the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act for up to 120 days.

The deal comes after months of negotiations after Congress, last year, enacted a law signed by then-President Joe Biden that banned TikTok and other apps controlled by foreign adversaries. After it survived a Supreme Court challenge, the law took effect on Jan. 19, 2025, though it allowed a 90-day extension.

The app was banned amid national security concerns over the Chinese government’s access to user data and its ability to serve as a platform for foreign influence operations.

TikTok’s China-based parent company, ByteDance, refused to sell the social media platform and after President Trump took office, he issued an initial 75-day delay in enforcing the law.

Trump then provided another 75-day extension in April – when a dispute over tariffs derailed a pending deal on TikTok’s divestment – followed by a 90-day delay in June that was due to expire last week.

‘He has to run because she can’t.’ 

‘She’ was Vice President Kamala Harris. ‘He’ was President Joe Biden. The message was clear: Biden had to run because his team didn’t believe she could. 

‘Then why did you pick her in the first place?’ I asked as I sank back into my seat on Brightstar, the first lady’s plane.   

Silence. Deflection. Business as usual. 

We were instructed to parrot one line — ‘No one runs for president for four years.’ That was the strategy. 

Harris’s forthcoming book, according to recently released excerpts, says what insiders whispered for years: the Biden bubble was full of bullies. The former vice president is finally saying the quiet part out loud. 

Biden won the most votes of anyone for president in our country’s history. But he never won the hearts and minds of the American people, and especially not of his own party. That fragile foundation collapsed fast.  

The Biden White House was filled with its share of cartoonist characters out of a badly cast high school version of ‘West Side Story.’ They thought they were a ‘BFD’ because they had worked in a previous administration or because our campaign defied the odds and beat expectations. But they had no instincts for the shifting media and political landscape — and no instinct for politics as it is now lived and practiced in the age of Donald Trump.  

Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi was more direct, ‘I’ve never been that impressed with his political operation,’ referring to Biden’s team.  

There was no pragmatic truth-teller, because no one admitted that we weren’t a movement. We swaggered like we’d won President Barack Obama’s mandate or his congressional majorities. We hadn’t. We lost 13 Democratic House seats on our way in. From the moment Biden won the nomination, no one ever wanted to admit the obvious: Democrats felt stuck with us, not inspired by us. 

Inside the White House, the Regina Georges of Biden’s circle ruled like mean girls and policed loyalty. Staff weren’t serving a president and first lady — they were serving a cult. You never knew when Regina was in charge or when the Bidens were. It was all blurred. 

Joe and Jill Biden were warm, decent, empathetic. But they enabled some of the nastiest and most mean-spirted people I’ve ever encountered in politics. That contradiction defines the Biden era.  

I believed in Joe Biden once. After hearing him and Jill deliver barnburner speeches at the 2018 Human Rights Campaign gala, I was convinced he was the champion to take on Trump. As someone who endured relentless bullying growing up, Biden’s words about standing up for LGBT youth resonated. I left determined to join his effort. 

One year later, Biden was in the race, and I was chief spokesperson to his very influential and active spouse.

In the summer of 2020, Jill reintroduced herself to the country while launching ‘Joey,’ her children’s book about young Joe Biden — a natural leader who stood up to bullies. 

‘School was where the bullies were.’ He stood up for himself and ‘also defended others from bullies,’ Jill wrote. 

Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi was more direct, ‘I’ve never been that impressed with his political operation,’ referring to Biden’s team. 

‘We were expected to stand up to bullies,’ Valerie Biden Owens wrote in her memoir, ‘Growing Up Biden.’ 

Biden’s final mission, he said, was to save the country from Trump — who Democrats consider to be the ultimate bully. 

But bullies are everywhere, even among Democrats, and despite his brand — even around Biden. 

When I entered the fraught world of part-time punditry, there were times I questioned the strategic direction of the Biden reelection effort. When the economic message was ‘Bidenomics is working,’ I explained why it was an error and pushed alternatives. When the polls were bad, I said so. How could I say the sky is red when we all know it’s blue?  

‘It will always feel like friendly fire to them,’ MSNBC television host Nicolle Wallace warned me. ‘But all you have is your credibility,’ she emphasized.  

I wanted to be taken seriously, not just another robot regurgitating thoughtless talking points. I balanced my love for and personal loyalty to the Biden family with candid and thoughtful analysis. 

But the president’s bullies didn’t see it that way. To them, I had taken off the team jersey by pointing out missed opportunities and mistakes, so they came for me.    

The example they tried to make of me was meant to serve as a warning to any Democrat who raised concerns ahead of 2024. The same bullies who claimed to serve a president who despised bullies were sending me a message: shut up or we’ll humiliate you. 

In time, however, the roots of their insecurity would be revealed to the entire world on a debate stage, one tragic June night in Atlanta. Biden’s bullies and their intimidation tactics would crumble over the course of four long, hot, summer weeks — along with their credibility.  

Bullies don’t win. They implode.  

Biden’s bullies dragged him down — and tried to drag Harris with him. Now, they’re out for her — again.   

Recently, we saw a glimpse of that vindictiveness when a few of my former teammates reacted with ugly, and of course, blind quotes to the release of Harris’s book excerpts. 

Inside the White House, the Regina Georges of Biden’s circle ruled like mean girls and policed loyalty.

But so far, Harris isn’t bending. Not this time. She sees what I saw. What we all eventually saw. And she is standing up to them. 

As she launches her book tour on MSNBC’s ‘Rachel Maddow,’ I hope she continues to speak with unfiltered candor about her experience.  

Take it from this Democrat. She’ll sleep better at night. 

President Donald Trump spent the bulk of the week in the U.K. where he inked a new tech deal, and closed out the week gearing up to attend the memorial service of conservative activist Charlie Kirk in Arizona. 

During the trip abroad, Trump and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer unveiled a new $350 billion tech investment plan, which is expected to generate 15,000 jobs across the U.K. and up to 2,500 jobs in the U.S. 

Specific details of the ‘Tech Prosperity Deal’ are sparse, but officials said that the plan will invest in the development of 12 advanced nuclear reactors and that energy will go toward supplying energy needs for the U.K. and the U.S. 

‘It’s a blueprint to win this new era together. Shape it according to our shared values, and seize the incredible opportunities that are on offer,’ Starmer said. ‘We have huge new investments from Nvidia N scale, Open AI, Google, Salesforce and many more backing cutting-edge British jobs for years to come.’

The plan will accumulate $50 billion in economic value and will deliver power to as many as 1.5 million homes, according to Trump. 

Trump also touted the close relationship between the U.S. and the U.K. during a state dinner at Windsor Castle with members of the U.K.’s royal family, including King Charles III. 

‘His Majesty spoke eloquently about the bond which inspired Sir Winston Churchill — the bust is in the Oval Office right now — the beautiful bust of Winston Churchill, to coin the phrase ‘special relationship,’ but seen from American eyes, the word ‘special’ does not begin to do it justice,’ Trump said Wednesday. ‘We’re joined by history and fate, by love and language and by transcendent ties of culture, tradition, ancestry and destiny.’

Trump arrived back in Washington later Thursday and will leave for Kirk’s memorial service Sunday at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. The venue holds 63,400 people and has the capacity for up to 73,000 for ‘mega-events,’ according to its website.

Kirk, 31, was killed during a stop on his American Comeback Tour Sept. 10 at Utah Valley University. Kirk’s death has also raised questions about Trump’s own security, amid two assassination attempts on Trump’s life in 2024. 

A senior administration official confirmed to Fox News Digital Friday that federal law enforcement agencies like the Department of Homeland Security released a report Thursday cautioning that they are monitoring ‘several threats of unknown credibility’ against Trump, Vice President JD Vance and others expected to attend Kirk’s memorial service. 

The assessment asserts that the memorial may be an attractive target for violent extremists or lone wolf actors due to the significant media coverage it’s expected to attract.

Meanwhile, Trump said he likely will share some remarks during the memorial service. 

‘It’s going to be big,’ Trump told reporters Monday. ‘I’m going to be at the stadium, and I guess I’ll say a few words. I don’t know, but I guess I will, but I knew him very well. He was an amazing guy. He was all about young people and getting them started.’

Fox News’ Caitlin McFall contributed to this report. 

AI browsers are no longer just an idea; they’re already here. Microsoft has built Copilot into Edge, OpenAI is testing a sandboxed browser in agent mode and Perplexity’s Comet is one of the first to fully embrace the concept of browsing for you.

This is agentic AI stepping into our daily routines, from searching and reading to shopping and clicking. Instead of simply assisting us, these tools are beginning to replace us.

But with this shift comes a new era of digital deception. AI-powered browsers may promise convenience by handling shopping, emails and other tasks, yet research shows they can stumble into scams faster than humans ever could. This dangerous mix of speed and trust is what experts call Scamlexity, a complex, AI-driven scam landscape where your agent gets tricked, and you pay the price.

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Falling for the same old tricks

AI browsers are not immune to classic scams. In fact, they can fall for them even faster. When researchers at Guardio Labs told an AI browser to buy an Apple Watch, it confidently completed the purchase on a fake Walmart store set up in minutes. It autofilled personal and payment details without hesitation. The scammer got the money, while the human never saw the red flags.

Handling phishing emails from ‘your bank’

Old phishing tactics also remain effective. In testing, researchers at Guardio Labs sent a fake Wells Fargo email to the AI browser. The browser clicked the malicious link with no verification and even helped the user fill out login credentials on the phishing page. By removing human intuition from the loop, the AI created a perfect trust chain that scammers could exploit.

PromptFix: A modern AI injection scam

The real danger comes from attacks designed specifically for AI. Researchers at Guardio Labs created PromptFix, a scam disguised as a CAPTCHA page. While humans would only see a checkbox, the AI agent read hidden malicious instructions in the page code. Believing it was ‘helping,’ the AI clicked the button, triggering a download that could have been malware. This type of prompt injection bypasses human awareness and targets the AI’s decision-making directly. Once compromised, the AI can send emails, share files or execute harmful tasks without the user ever knowing.

The growing risks of AI browsers

As agentic AI becomes mainstream, scams will scale at an alarming speed. Instead of fooling millions of people individually, attackers need only to compromise one AI model to reach millions at once. Security experts warn this is a structural risk, not just a phishing problem.

Tips to protect yourself from AI browser scams

AI browsers can save time, but they can also put you at risk if you rely on them too much. Use these practical steps to stay in control and reduce your chances of becoming a victim.

1) Stay in control of your AI

Always double-check sensitive actions like purchases, downloads or logins. Keep final approval in your hands instead of letting the AI complete tasks on its own. This way, you prevent scammers from sneaking past your awareness.

2) Use a personal data removal service

Scammers rely on exposed personal details to make their tricks more convincing. A trusted data removal service can help scrub your information from broker sites, reducing the chance that your AI agent hands over details that are already floating around online. While no service can guarantee the complete removal of your data from the internet, a data removal service is really a smart choice. They aren’t cheap, and neither is your privacy. 

These services do all the work for you by actively monitoring and systematically erasing your personal information from hundreds of websites. It’s what gives me peace of mind and has proven to be the most effective way to erase your personal data from the internet. By limiting the information available, you reduce the risk of scammers cross-referencing data from breaches with information they might find on the dark web, making it harder for them to target you.

Check out my top picks for data removal services and get a free scan to find out if your personal information is already out on the web by visiting Cyberguy.com.

Get a free scan to find out if your personal information is already out on the web: Cyberguy.com.

3) Use strong antivirus software

Install and keep strong antivirus software updated. It adds an extra line of defense that can catch threats your AI browser may miss, including malicious files and unsafe downloads. The best way to safeguard yourself from malicious links that install malware, potentially accessing your private information, is to have strong antivirus software installed on all your devices. This protection can also alert you to phishing emails and ransomware scams, keeping your personal information and digital assets safe.

Get my picks for the best 2025 antivirus protection winners for your Windows, Mac, Android and iOS devices at Cyberguy.com.

4) Consider using a password manager

A trusted password manager helps you generate and store strong, unique passwords. It can also alert you if the AI agent tries to reuse weak or compromised passwords when logging into sites.

Next, see if your email has been exposed in past breaches. Our No. 1 password manager pick includes a built-in breach scanner that checks whether your email address or passwords have appeared in known leaks. If you discover a match, immediately change any reused passwords and secure those accounts with new, unique credentials. 

Check out the best expert-reviewed password managers of 2025 at Cyberguy.com.

5) Watch your accounts closely

Review your bank and credit card statements often. If your AI agent shops or manages accounts for you, always cross-check receipts and login records. Quick action on suspicious charges can stop a scam from spreading further.

6) Beware of hidden AI instructions

Scammers hide malicious instructions in the code your AI reads, and the agent may follow them without question. If something feels wrong, stop the task and handle it manually.

Kurt’s key takeaways

AI browsers bring convenience, but they also bring risk. By removing human judgment from critical tasks, they expose a wider scam surface than ever before. Scamlexity is a wake-up call: The AI you trust could be tricked in ways you never see coming. Staying safe means staying alert and demanding stronger guardrails in every AI tool you use.

Would you trust an AI browser to handle your banking and shopping, or is the risk of Scamlexity too high? Let us know by writing to us at Cyberguy.com.

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Copyright 2025 CyberGuy.com.  All rights reserved.

After facing intense criticism from Democrats during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing this week, embattled FBI Director Kash Patel remained defiant, saying that he is ‘proud’ to lead the nation’s premier investigations agency.  

Speaking with reporters after the hearing, Patel, who was confirmed to the role by the Senate in late February, touted its historic recruiting efforts, saying that the agency ‘has the most applicants to become FBI agents and intel analysts in the history of the FBI.’

One of the major criticisms he received from Democratic senators during the hearing was for initially misstating on social media that conservative leader Charlie Kirk’s alleged killer was in custody.

Patel has conceded that he could have worded his social media post better, but that he does not regret it because he issued it in the name of transparency.

Speaking after the hearing, Patel added that ‘the American people are seeing and hearing what the FBI is doing on a daily basis, crushing violent crime and defending the homeland.’

‘So, I’m proud to be the director of the FBI that has seen the most significant, expansive application pool in history,’ he said.

In his opening statement to the committee, Patel listed a series of accomplishments the agency has achieved since President Donald Trump took office, including tens of thousands of arrests, a realignment of the agency and an emphasis on cracking down on illicit drugs.

Patel acknowledged the growing criticism over his direction of the FBI and challenged lawmakers on the panel to come after him, saying, ‘I’m not going anywhere’ and ‘if you want to criticize my 16 years of service, please bring it on.’ 

Patel was also scrutinized over a wave of firings at the FBI, which some have alleged were politically motivated.  

Ranking member Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., criticized Patel’s deference to Trump, saying the director ‘installed MAGA loyalists’ to key positions and initiated internal ‘loyalty tests,’ including polygraph tests. Durbin claimed that some FBI officials who failed those tests needed waivers to continue working at the bureau.

Durbin also noted that Patel has little experience working in law enforcement, calling his inexperience ‘staggering’ and accusing him of fast-tracking similarly unqualified recruits to fill the FBI’s open jobs.

Patel was also grilled by Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, for requiring FBI field agents to perform push-ups as part of their physical fitness standards.

Hirono expressed concerns that female agents may be negatively impacted by the push-up requirement, saying, ‘There are concerns about whether or not being able to do these kinds of harsh pull-ups is really required of FBI agents.’

Patel responded, ‘If you want to chase down a bad guy, excuse me, and put him in handcuffs, you had better be able to do a pull-up.’

In a particularly tense exchange, Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., drilled into Patel, saying, ‘I think you’re not going to be around long’ and ‘I think this might be your last oversight hearing, because as much as you supplicate yourself to the will of Donald Trump and not the Constitution of the United States of America, Donald Trump has shown us in his first term, and in this term, he is not loyal to people like you.’

Patel shot back that Booker’s ‘rant of false information does not bring this country together,’ before adding, ‘It’s my time, not yours.’

Fox News Digital’s Jasmine Baehr, Ashley Oliver and Alex Miller contributed to this report.

More than 100,000 heavy hearts are set to converge on Arizona’s State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., today to commemorate the life of Charlie Kirk — the fiery young activist who ignited fierce loyalty, sharp, yet civil debate, and whose shocking assassination has left a movement in mourning.

Those in attendance at Kirk’s service, which begins at 11 a.m. local time in Glendale, will hear from Republican political heavyweights including President Trump and Vice President JD Vance, close allies, and family members who will pay tribute to the 31-year-old founder of Turning Point USA. 

Kirk’s widow, Erika, will speak about his legacy and her new role at the helm of the powerful national organization he built. The service is anticipated to be both a moment of mourning and a declaration of continuity, signaling how his movement intends to carry forward without its founder.

Kirk was assassinated on Sept. 10 during an outdoor event at Utah Valley University. The gathering was the first stop on TPUSA’s planned ‘American Comeback Tour,’ and, at first, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. 

The charismatic Kirk, known for his signature debates on college campuses, sat beneath a white tent emblazoned with the slogan ‘Prove Me Wrong,’ taking open-mic questions from a crowd of thousands. Moments later, a single shot ended his life.

In the wake of his death, many Americans are learning for the first time of the unlikely rise of the young activist who vaulted from obscurity in suburban Illinois to become a defining voice for a generation of conservatives and one of the movement’s most formidable power brokers.

At 18, Kirk dropped out of community college to co-found Turning Point USA. By his mid-20s, he became the youngest speaker at the Republican National Convention in 2016 and a household name in conservative circles. By 31, he commanded a $95 million political empire, galvanized millions of followers online and established a direct line to Trump.

His death leaves behind an energetic movement that indisputably reshaped conservative youth politics.

With backing from Republican donors like Foster Friess, Kirk turned the scrappy campus operation into one of the fastest-growing conservative nonprofits in America. Today, it’s a political juggernaut — its revenue, according to tax filings, soared from just $2 million in 2015 to $85 million in 2024.

Add in revenue from its political action arm, Turning Point Action, and the haul climbs well above $95 million.

After his death, TPUSA has seen a massive surge in inquiries for new college chapters as the organization works to advance Kirk’s vision.

Andrew Kolvet, executive producer of ‘The Charlie Kirk Show,’ said the organization has received more than 54,000 requests to establish new campus chapters in the week since the assassination — a surge that would add to its existing network of 900 nationwide.

He also told Fox News Digital that he has ‘personally received hundreds of offers to work’ for TPUSA. 

Kirk’s widow, recently tapped to head the organization, vowed to carry on her husband’s mission in her first public comments since his death.

‘To everyone listening tonight across America, the movement my husband built will not die,’ Kirk said on Sept. 12. ‘I refuse to let that happen. No one will ever forget my husband’s name. And I will make sure of it. It will become stronger. Bolder. Louder and greater than ever,’ she added.

Kirk said that TPUSA’s annual ‘AmericaFest’ conference in Phoenix this December will continue as scheduled.

NATO has been on high alert since Russia invaded Ukraine more than three and a half years ago, but a recent spike in the alliance’s airspace violations has security experts increasingly concerned that warnings of war with Moscow are no longer theoretical, but inevitable.

President Donald Trump on Thursday said the U.S. could ‘end up in World War III’ over Russia’s war in Ukraine and conceded that Russian President Vladimir Putin has ‘let him down’ over his refusal to end his military campaign. 

One day later, Russia sent three fighter jets over Estonia’s capital city of Tallinn in a direct and clear violation of its airspace, prompting another NATO member to spark Article 4 for the second time in as many weeks.

‘Russia is testing NATO again— dozens of drones in Poland last week, drones in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and now fighter jets in Estonian skies. These are deliberate provocations,’ Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovile Sakaliene told Fox News Digital. ‘They are deliberate tests—tests of our readiness, our resolve, and of the limits of our deterrence.’

Sakaliene said the Friday violation was just the latest in ‘an escalating pattern of pressure by Russia.’

‘For Estonia, for Poland, for Lithuania, for all of NATO’s eastern flank, this is a direct threat—not just to territorial integrity, but to citizen safety,’ she added.

The Lithuanian defense minister warned that the biggest line of defense NATO holds right now, apart from its actual military readiness, is showing a united front to dissuade Moscow from taking direct action against a NATO member and prompting what could become a global war. 

‘Our biggest risk currently is miscalculation by Russia,’ Sakaliene said. ‘Does Russia believe that NATO will not allow violations of its territory? Does Russia believe that Europe is going to strike back together with [the] United States?

‘That’s now the last line of defense between if and when [war with Russia happens],’ she added.

Concern over direct NATO conflict with Moscow escalated earlier this month after a swarm of at least 19 Russian drones not only flew over Polish airspace, but forced a multi-nation response when NATO, for the first time since the war began, fired upon Russian assets and brought down as many as four drones that posed a threat.

While Trump suggested that the drone swarm could have been a mistake, Poland refuted this and said it was ‘deliberate’ and a ‘planned provocation.’ 

Drone strikes have long been a favored wartime tool of Russia’s in its operation against Ukraine, with the number of strikes peaking in July with some 6,297 long-range drones fired across the country. 

That figure dipped to 4,216 drones fired in August. Though notably, the majority of those UAVs were fired between Aug. 16th and the 31st, when some 3,001 drones were deployed beginning the day after Trump met with Putin in Alaska on Aug. 15.

An American company, which sat less than 30 miles from two other NATO nations, Hungary and Slovakia, was also hit with ‘several’ cruise missiles in late August. 

‘The scope of air attacks from Russia to Ukraine is really rising. They are using more drones, more rockets, and they are still expected to rise,’ Sakaliene said.

‘We have to admit and adapt to this new reality. High intensity war by Russia against Ukraine is ongoing,’ the defense minister said. ‘That means that more and more UAVs are going to wander off into the territories of the bordering countries, and even further.’

Russia has increasingly turned to gray-zone tactics, which involve incidents that fall below the threshold of open warfare, but which allow Russia to test NATO’s resolve and response capabilities.

Over the last month, Poland saw three separate incidents in which its airspace was violated by Russian drones, including UAVs carrying explosive components that crossed into its airspace from both Ukraine and Belarus. 

Just three days after the drone swarm bombarded Polish air defense systems, a Russian drone crossed into Romanian airspace and prompted a French fighter jet and Polish helicopter to respond under NATO’s Operation Eastern Sentry – a defensive posture the alliance launched just one day prior. 

These events came after Lithuania in late July was forced to sound the alarm following two separate incidents in which Russian Gerber drones violated its borders, including one which was carrying explosives.

But these tactics are not the only threats that security experts in recent weeks have flagged as concerning behavior from Moscow. 

Earlier this month, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) based in Washington, D.C. drew attention to an op-ed published by former Russian president and current Security Council chair Dmitry Medvedev on Sept. 8 in the state-sponsored news outlet TASS, which used language that directly mirrored rhetoric by the Kremlin in the lead up to its invasion of Ukraine. 

In his article, Medvedev accused Finland of being ‘Russophobic’ and claimed, ‘the thirst for profit at the expense of Russia was installed in Finnish minds back in the days of Hitler.’ 

He further claimed that Helsinki has attempted to erase the ‘historical and cultural identity’ of ethnic Russians and said joined NATO under the ‘guise’ of defense, but in actuality, was covertly preparing for war against Russia, reported the ISW.

Medvedev’s comments were not stand-alone threats. Multiple Kremlin officials, including Putin who said ‘there will be problems’ after Finland joined NATO, have claimed the alliance will use Finland as a ‘springboard’ to attack Russia. 

‘Russia has been steadily setting conditions to attack NATO over the past several years: Moscow is standing up new divisions and optimizing its command and control headquarters on NATO’s eastern flank,’ George Barros, Senior Russia Analyst with ISW told Fox News Digital. ‘The Kremlin information warfare apparatus is fabricating claims and justifications for why Finland, the Baltic States, and Poland are not real countries. 

‘These are the prerequisite preparations for future war that Moscow is preparing,’ he warned. 

Sakaliene echoed these concerns and additionally pointed to Russia’s use of ‘soft power,’ often employed through social media and traditional media, to influence public perception, which she warned is ‘alarmingly effective.’

‘We see a picture of a very aggressive country which is investing a disproportionate amount of its funds into their military capacity,’ the defense minister said. ‘Despite heavy losses every week, every month, they are moving forward in Ukraine, and at the same time, they are expanding their capabilities. 

‘It raises considerable doubts if all that mass of military power is being accumulated only for Ukraine,’ Sakaliene said. 

The House of Representatives adopted a resolution to honor the ‘life and legacy’ of late conservative activist Charlie Kirk on Friday, just over a week after he was shot and killed during a college campus speaking event in Utah.

The measure got bipartisan support in a 310-58 vote, with both Democrats and Republicans having quickly risen to condemn political violence in the wake of Kirk’s assassination.

The vote divided Democrats, however, with 95 lawmakers voting to adopt the resolution, 58 voting against it and 22 not voting at all.

Thirty-eight Democrats also voted ‘present’ on the resolution. The top three House Democrats – Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., and Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar, D-Calif. – all voted in favor of the measure.

House Democratic leadership did not expressly tell their caucus how to vote on the resolution but communicated that they would support it, according to two sources familiar with discussions.

The measure to honor Kirk, led by Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., lauded the Turning Point USA founder as ‘one of the most prominent voices in America, engaging in respectful, civil discourse across college campuses, media platforms and national forums, always seeking to elevate truth, foster understanding and strengthen the Republic.’

It also said Kirk’s ‘commitment to civil discussion and debate stood as a model for young Americans across the political spectrum, and he worked tirelessly to promote unity without compromising on conviction.’ 

It called his killing ‘a sobering reminder of the growing threat posed by political extremism and hatred in our society’ and ‘calls upon all Americans—regardless of race, party affiliation, or creed—to reject political violence, recommit to respectful debate, uphold American values, and respect one another as fellow Americans.’

The resolution also invoked Kirk’s Christian faith, affirming that the House ‘honors the life, leadership, and legacy of Charlie Kirk, whose steadfast dedication to the Constitution, civil discourse, and biblical truth inspired a generation to cherish and defend the blessings of liberty.’

Despite lawmakers on both sides quickly coming out to condemn Kirk’s killing and political violence as a whole, subsequent days have seen partisan divisions skyrocket over the case.

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., was among the Democrats targeted by the right for her response to Kirk’s death, both in an interview on progressive outlet Zeteo News and in reposting a social media video that criticized Kirk’s allies’ responses to his killing.

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., led a failed bid to censure Omar over her reaction, which was tabled when four Republicans, three of whom cited First Amendment protections, voted to block the measure.

Senate Republicans’ bid to pass a short-term government funding extension was foiled by Senate Democrats as the deadline to fund the government fast approaches.

While the proposal easily glided through the House with little drama, it hit a brick wall in the Senate and failed 44-48. Only one lawmaker, Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., crossed the aisle to support the Republican plan. Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, also voted against the bill.

Their failure to send the House GOP’s continuing resolution (CR) to President Donald Trump’s desk came on the heels of Democrats’ failed attempt to advance their own counter-proposal to the Republicans’ plan.

It also comes as lawmakers gear up to leave Washington, D.C., for a week to observe the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah. They’re expected to return with just two working days left before the deadline to fund the government on Sept. 30.

‘The House has acted,’ said Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. ‘The president’s ready to sign the bill. We’ve got the appropriations committee and a lot of senators who are ready to go to work to pass bipartisan appropriations bills to fund the government by allowing these additional weeks into November. In order to do that, Democrats have to take ‘yes’ for an answer.’

The CR would have kept the government open until Nov. 21, and it included tens of millions for increased security for lawmakers and the judicial and executive branches.

Senate Democrats have dug in against the GOP’s proposal, not so much because of what’s in the bill, but what’s not in it. They have also hung the possibility of a government shutdown on Trump, who demanded that Republicans cut Democrats out of the process.

Thune charged that if Democrats were ‘serious’ about funding the government, they wouldn’t have ‘put out the most partisan piece of legislation you possibly could.’

‘I mean, it’s kind of mind-boggling,’ he said.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has also accused Thune of not negotiating with him — a point Thune has pushed back against and noted throughout the week that his office is less than 25 yards from Schumer’s.  

‘We have two weeks. They should sit down and talk to us, and we maybe can get a good proposal,’ Schumer said. ‘Let’s see. But when they don’t talk to us, there’s no hope of getting a good proposal. And that makes no sense.’

‘And again, when Donald Trump says don’t negotiate with Democrats, because he doesn’t know what the Senate is like, or he doesn’t know how to count, because without Democrats, they’re going to end up shutting down the government,’ he continued.

However, the demands Schumer and Democrats laid out in their counter are a bridge too far for Republicans.

Included in the bill were a permanent extension to COVID-19 pandemic-era Obamacare subsidies, which are set to expire at the end of the year, efforts to repeal the Medicaid cuts in Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill,’ and a clawback of canceled NPR and PBS funding.

Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., told Fox News Digital that the legislation was a ‘Trojan horse by the Democrats.’

‘It’s to me, it’s a preview of what they’re going to want to do,’ he said.

‘Schumer has to play to the far-left fringe that is actually running the Democrat Party right now,’ Barrasso continued.

Senate Democrats are adamant that the Obamacare credits, in particular, need to be dealt with now rather than near the deadline. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., told Fox News Digital that lawmakers ‘have to do it now.’

‘All the [insurance rate] notices go out Oct. 1, so you have to have it now,’ Peters said.

However, Republicans argue that including an extension to the tax credits to a short-term extension isn’t germane to the bill, especially one geared toward trying to give Congress time to fund the government with spending bills. And Thune has said that the credits would be ‘addressed’ after a shutdown was averted.

But for now, the issue at hand still boils down to communication between Thune and Schumer.

‘I mean, these are the leaders of the U.S. Senate,’ Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said. ‘I expect them to step up. And if one’s not actually reaching out, the other one should at least demonstrate that they are — they’re trying to negotiate in good faith. If they don’t, then they get what they get.’ 

Senate Democrats’ counteroffer to congressional Republicans’ short-term government funding extension was torpedoed by the GOP on Friday.

The bill, which varies drastically from the House’s proposal that passed earlier in the day, was filled with Democratic priorities that they say are the only sweeteners that would convince them to keep the government open. But the provisions were a bridge too far for Senate Republicans.  

The Democrats’ bill, which was unveiled late Wednesday night, failed 47-45 along party lines. However, the GOP’s CR will be voted on right after. The fate of that bill is in the air, given that Democrats have vowed to oppose it throughout the week.

The deadline to pass a government funding extension, known as a continuing resolution (CR), is Sept. 30, and lawmakers are expected to leave Washington, D.C., Friday night for a weeklong recess to observe the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah.

House Republicans unveiled their CR on Tuesday and have lauded the bill as a ‘clean’ funding extension until Nov. 21. While it doesn’t include partisan policy riders, it does include tens of millions to beef up security measures for lawmakers.

However, Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., opted to go with their own version of a CR, not because they disliked what was in Republicans’ bill, but what was not in it. They’ve also dug in against President Donald Trump’s demand that Republicans cut Democrats out of the process. 

Their plan would have kept the government open until Oct. 31, permanently extended expiring Obamacare premium subsidies, undoing the ‘big, beautiful bill’s’ Medicaid cuts, and clawing back the canceled funding for NPR and PBS.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., panned the bill and argued that the Republicans’ legislation was everything Democrats had pushed when they controlled the Senate under former President Joe Biden.

‘It’s not clean – it’s filthy,’ Thune said. ‘It’s packed full of partisan policies and measures designed to appeal to Democrats’ leftist base.’

However, Schumer has accused Thune of not coming to the negotiating table and directly engaging with him to find a path forward to avert a government shutdown.

Democrats particularly want a deal on the expiring Obamacare subsidies, along with some assurances on future rescissions and impoundments.

‘We’ll sit down and negotiate, if they will sit down and negotiate,’ Schumer said. ‘We don’t have a red line, but we know we have to help the American people.’