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Rapper Snoop Dogg is showing his support for President-elect Trump.

The ‘Gin and Juice’ rapper took the stage at the Crypto Ball, a pre-iauguration event, and got the crowd on its feet dancing to several hit songs.

From Journey’s ‘Don’t Stop Believin’’ to Bob Marley’s ‘Three Little Birds (Don’t Worry About a Thing),’ Snoop hyped up Trump supporters as the DJ and sent a positive yet inspirational message through the music. He also performed a few of his own hits, including, ‘Drop It Like It’s Hot.’

Videos of the prolific rapper surfaced on social media of a care-free Snoop in Washington, D.C., wearing a black jacket with gold buttons and a bowtie. He completed his look with matching gold-rimmed sunglasses.

Other high-profiled guests included rapper Rick Ross and UFC star Colby Covington, who both posted about hanging with Snoop.

‘Nuthin’ but a ‘G’ Thang,’ Covington shared on X.

The ‘Young, Wild and Free’ rapper performed after he recently changed his tune about President-elect Trump.

Years after Snoop appeared on ‘The Apprentice’ in 2007, he called Trump a clown and mocked him in a music video. In his video for his song ‘Lavender’ in 2017, Snoop depicted Trump as a clown and shot the president in the head.

Snoop also delivered laughs during a Trump roast in 2011.

In 2020, during an appearance on Big Boy’s radio show, Snoop argued Trump shouldn’t be in office.

‘I ain’t never voted a day in my life, but this year I think I’m going to get out and vote because I can’t stand to see this punk in office one more year,’ the rapper said on ‘Big Boy’s Neighborhood on Real 92.3.’

The 53-year-old rapper explained he didn’t believe he was allowed to vote at the time due to his criminal record. Snoop was convicted of a felony in 1990 and 2007.

XXL Magazine shared a video clip on social media of the rapper ripping Trump and his followers, saying ‘Donald Trump is a f—ing weirdo. If you voted for him, I don’t have no problem with that. But if you’re still with him, f— you.’

However, after a long history of condemning the President-elect and his supporters, Snoop praised Trump in January 2024.

‘Donald Trump? … He ain’t done nothing wrong to me. He has done only great things for me. He pardoned Michael Harris,’ Snoop told The Sunday Times.

‘So, I have nothing but love and respect for Donald Trump.’

Michael ‘Harry-O’ Harris, an associate of Death Row Records co-founder Suge Knight and the founder of the label’s parent company, Godfather Entertainment, was pardoned in 2021 as one of Trump’s final decisions before leaving office. Snoop Dogg was famously signed by the label only to leave later in his career. Snoop acquired Death Row Records in 2022.

Harris was imprisoned on charges of conspiracy and attempted murder for over three decades. Snoop Dogg praised Trump at the time for his commutation of Harris.

President-elect Trump will be sworn in as the 47th president of the United States Monday, Jan. 20.

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Politics

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to what snowball fights have to do with moving the inauguration inside

Fox News has learned that House and Senate offices are growing increasingly frustrated about who may be allowed to attend President-elect Trump’s inauguration inside the Capitol Rotunda Monday.

Fox is told that member offices were asked to ‘resubmit’ paperwork about whether a lawmaker wants to attend and if the lawmaker’s spouse wants to attend. However, there are no ‘plus-ones.’ And Fox was told the attendance of spouses could be ‘iffy.’

One lawmaker said members were trying to get governors or other state officials into the Capitol Rotunda. But it was far from clear if officials could accommodate those requests.

There is an effort to get a small group of people into the Capitol Rotunda who were slated to be seated down in front but were not House and Senate members. One official refused to identify to Fox who those with ‘special status’ could be.

This likely means very few dignitaries or others are allowed inside for the inauguration. One Trump-supporting lawmaker was ‘happy’ it was moving inside so the lawmaker didn’t have to sit outside in the cold ‘for an hour-and-a-half.’ The lawmaker also noted that House members would likely have had the most uncomfortable experience had the inauguration been outside. That’s because of the way the wind blows across the platform and where House members were to be seated on the West Front.

One lawmaker told Fox about having 700 people traveling to Washington for the inauguration, and now none of them would be seated anywhere. But the lawmaker had ‘not heard one complaint’ from people traveling to see the inauguration in person who now can’t.

President Reagan’s 1985 inauguration, moved inside because of extreme cold and a temperature of 7 degrees, accommodated a crowd of 1,000 in the Capitol Rotunda. Fox colleague Aishah Hasnie reports the grand total allowed inside the Capitol Rotunda for this inauguration will likely be 600. In addition, Fox is told that ‘600 is pushing it’ due to fire concerns. One source says the figure may be closer to 500 before all is said and done.

Fox is told that there were concrete plans for inaugurations in 2017 and 2021 to move ceremonies indoors. Officials even rehearsed those scenarios. In addition, Fox is told there was serious discussion about moving the 2017 inauguration inside because of rain and concern about umbrellas.

While the weather is the primary reason for moving the inauguration indoors, multiple sources close to the planning of the event have expressed concerns about security.

‘My Spidey senses are up,’ said one lawmaker who asked not to be identified and is steeped in the planning of this event. But when Fox pressed various lawmakers and other sources, no one could identify a specific threat.

That said, more than one lawmaker contacted by Fox noted there were multiple outdoor events with the President-elect prior to the July assassination attempt, and every other event since has been indoors.

Fox is told that security officials will erect what was described as a ‘geo-fence’ around the Capitol to interfere and jam nefarious communications and/or drones. At one point, there was talk of shutting off all cell communications during the time period when President-elect Trump was on the platform.

That said, a forecast of about four inches of snow in Washington Sunday night began to change thinking around this year’s inauguration. There is genuine concern about thousands of people on the National Mall standing in cold, fresh snow for hours. There was worry about emergency personnel being able to reach those who may have medical emergencies while on the National Mall because of the inclement weather. Another issue is how snow that melted today could refreeze, creating significantly slick surfaces around the Capitol.

And then there is another factor: snowball fights.

One senior source tells Fox there was actual discussion about snowball fights interfering with the event if Washington got a fresh coating of snow. One source said planners worried it could ‘get out of hand’ and could contribute to injuries.

Inside or out, this could be the snowiest inauguration since the swearing-in day was moved to Jan. 20 in 1937. The previous record for snow on inauguration day came in 1961, for the swearing-in of President John F. Kennedy. Washington received seven-tenths of an inch of snow that day.

And considering the weather, perhaps it was only appropriate that the poet Robert Frost spoke at JFK’s inauguration.

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Politics

JOE CONCHA: My top five ‘Cringe’ Jean-Pierre moments

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

Now that power is about to be peacefully transferred, Americans can all expect to hear from a president who actually speaks for himself. A novel concept, for sure.

The public rarely heard from President Joe Biden unaided by a teleprompter. Press conferences became foreign concepts. Here’s a juxtaposition: In Donald Trump’s final year in office, he held 35 solo press conferences. In Biden’s final year, he held exactly zero solo pressers. His handlers wouldn’t even let him do one on the way out the door.

So, with the absentee president being shielded from the public, or off on another long weekend in Delaware, the face of the administration became Karine Jean-Pierre in the final two-and-a-half years after taking over for the pious Jen Psaki, who ran off to the very friendly confines of MSNBC.

Let’s be fair: Defending Biden, who exits the Oval Office with a 36% approval rating, is an almost-impossible task, especially after his brain appeared to turn into applesauce. But at least Psaki could lie, er, think on her feet, when the questions got tough from Fox News Channel’s Peter Doocy and Jacqui Heinrich. KJP possessed no such ability, leading to these dubious moments in our Top Five Cringe Moments for the outgoing White House Press Secretary.

5. ‘Right? Right?’

After Biden argued that the way to bring down inflation is to make corporations pay their fair share in taxes, Doocy asked, ‘How does raising taxes on corporations lower the cost of gas, the cost of a used car, the cost of food, for everyday Americans?’

What followed was like listening to a college sophomore putting together a stream of consciousness in order to achieve a mandatory word count on a verbal book report. Here was the answer verbatim, per the official White House transcript.

‘So, look, I think we encourage those who have done very well — right?’ Jean-Pierre began. ‘Especially those who care about climate change, to support a fairer tax — tax code that doesn’t change — that doesn’t charge manufacturers’ workers, cops, builders, a higher percentage of their earnings; that the most fortunate people in our nation — and not let the — that stand in the way of reducing energy costs and fighting this existential problem, if you think about that as an example, and to support basic collective bargaining rights as well, right? That’s also important. But look, it is — you know, by not — if — without having a fairer tax code, which is what I’m talking about, then all — every — like manufacturing workers, cops — you know, it’s not fair for them to have to pay higher taxes than the folks that — who are — who are — who are not paying taxes at all or barely have.’

No matter how many times she injected ‘right?’ into her Kamala-esque word salad, we still couldn’t find an answer in there to the question about how raising taxes on corporations lowers inflation.

4. Election denier

We’ve been warned by Democrats that denying election results is a chilling threat to democracy itself. So it was odd to see KJP chosen to be White House press secretary, because she’s an election denier herself.

‘Stolen election … welcome to the world of #unpresidented Trump,’ she tweeted after the 2016 election.

‘Trump always finds a way to take it to the lowest of lows. Not only is he a petulant dotard but also a deplorable illegitimate president,’ was her sentiment in 2017.

‘Reminder: Brian Kemp stole the gubernatorial election from Georgians and Stacey Abrams,’ she said of Abrams’s gubernatorial loss to Republican Brian Kemp in 2018.

That’s arctic chilling stuff. When Doocy noted KJP’s objections to Donald Trump’s complaints about the 2020 election and noted these tweets, she became the dictionary definition of ‘defensive.’

‘Let’s be really clear. That comparison that you made is just ridiculous,’ Jean-Pierre replied. ‘I was talking specifically at the time about what was happening with voting rights, and what was in danger of voting rights.’

Let’s be clear: No you weren’t, Karine.

3. ‘I can square that’

After Trump’s victory on Nov. 5, Heinrich asked Jean-Pierre a solid question around pre-election fearmongering vs. post-election assurances:

‘This administration messaged to millions of Americans that they’re going to wake up the day after the election if Trump won and have their rights stripped away, that democracy would crumble. And the president said today, ‘We’re going to be okay.’ So how do you square that?’ Heinrich asked the press secretary.

‘I can square that,’ Jean-Pierre said. ‘I’m going to square that in a way that hopefully makes sense, because I’ve been answering this question multiple times (author’s note: she hadn’t answered the question multiple times to that point).

‘The American people made the decision,’ she continued. ‘There was an election two nights ago. There was! And it was a free and fair election, and we respect the election process. We do. And Americans spoke.’

‘What is the message to people who are fearful based on what the messaging was about [Trump]?’ asked Heinrich.

‘Well, now you’re just twisting everything around, and that’s really unfair,’ a flustered KJP responded. ‘Jackie, it’s unfair because I’ve been standing here trying to be very respectful to what happened the last two nights, two nights ago. Being respectful. I’ve been standing here saying that we respect the decision that the American people made.’

Instead of squaring Biden’s statements, KJP just talked in circles.

2. ‘Shouted questions’

When asked in 2023 if the people around Biden were trying to ‘protect’ the aging president from the press by not allowing him to answer direct questions, Jean-Pierre began spinning at ludicrous speed.

‘The President many times has stood in front of all of you, has taken questions on his own, because he wanted to see what was on — on your minds, he wanted to see what the questions you all were going to ask him, and he wanted to answer them directly,’ she claimed before eventually adding, ‘I’ll say this: It is also unprecedented that a president takes as many shouted questions as this president has. And he has.’

Oh, please. Whenever reporters are invited into the Biden Oval Office, they were screamed out of the room by the president’s handlers at what would normally be Q&A time. And ‘shouted questions’ are the ones Biden never answered as he shuffled away.

1. ‘No, no, no, no, no, you can’t’

When Doocy challenged the KJP in September, 2023, on her outlandish claim that the border was under control, she tried to blame the Republicans.

‘What do you call it here at the White House when 10,000 people illegally cross the border in a single day?’ Doocy asked.

‘So what do you call it, Peter, when [the] GOP puts forth a … wait, no, no, no, no, no, you can’t,’ Jean-Pierre responded as Doocy attempted to redirect the press secretary back to reality.

‘You’re answering my question with a question,’ Doocy noted.

‘OK, we’re going to move on,’ Jean-Pierre said, without any explanation as to why.

After the briefing, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) called out the White House for its apathy.

‘Joe Biden doesn’t seem to care. Karine Jean-Pierre doesn’t seem to care. And I know [Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas] doesn’t care because we’ve asked him tons of questions, asked for information and data that he refuses to get to us,’ Jordan argued.

‘So this is the state of this administration. And it’s frankly, why I think the approval ratings of Joe Biden are so darn low, because they see what a pathetic job this administration has done,’ he added.

Karoline Leavitt will be the next White House press secretary. At 27, she will be the youngest to ever hold the position. Leavitt has promised to allow more access to non-traditional reporters and bloggers and even potentially podcasters in an effort to end the White House Correspondents Association’s monopoly on the James S. Brady Briefing Room.

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Politics

Israel Defense Forces will receive hostages Sunday with equipped camper trailers and comforting supplies

The Israel Defense Forces, in coordination with the Health Ministry, additional government ministries and security authorities, completed final preparations Saturday to receive the first of the hostages being released by Hamas from the Gaza Strip Sunday.

The preparations included home-like conditions inside trailers for the hostages to sleep before they head to hospitals to be looked over and all the comforts of home, including baskets of toiletries and fresh clothes.

Inside the trailers, the hostages will have couches and potted plants for a bit of décor. Outside, they can sit on outdoor patio furniture accented with colorful oversize pillows.

The receiving locations also have necessary medical provisions.

From there, the hostages will be taken to hospitals, where they will be reunited with their families.

The IDF said it requests ‘patience and sensitivity’ from the public as the hostages return.

‘We ask everyone to respect the privacy of the hostages and their families,’ the IDF said. ‘The public is requested only to refer to official updates and announcements and refrain from sharing unverified information.’

The hostages have been held by Hamas for nearly 500 days since Hamas’ unprovoked attack on Israel Oct. 7, 2023.

Three hostages are expected to be released first on Sunday after a cease-fire agreement was reached between Israel and Hamas Wednesday.

The first hostages released are expected to be female.

In all, 33 hostages will be released, including two Americans. More than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners will be returned by the Israelis.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday Israel wouldn’t move forward with the outline of the deal until it receives a list of the hostages to be released. That was agreed upon after the names didn’t arrive from Qatar as expected Saturday.

‘Israel will not tolerate violations of the agreement,’ he said. ‘The sole responsibility is on Hamas.

‘In the … war, we make it clear to our enemies — we make it clear to the whole world — that when the people of Israel stand together, there is no force that can break us.

‘To date, we have brought home 157 of our abductees, of which 117 are alive. In the agreement now approved, we will bring home 33 more of our brothers and sisters, most of them alive.’

He also credited both President Biden and President-elect Trump with helping reach a cease-fire deal.

‘As soon as he was elected, President Trump joined the mission of freeing the hostages,’ Netanyahu said. ‘He talked to me on Wednesday night. He welcomed the agreement, and he rightly emphasized that the first step of the agreement is a temporary cease-fire. That’s what he said, ‘temporary cease-fire.’’

Netanyahu said Biden and Trump ‘gave full backing to Israel’s right to return to fighting if Israel comes to the conclusion that negotiations on Phase B are futile.’

Netanyahu also said he appreciated Trump’s decision to ‘remove all remaining restrictions on the supply of essential weapons and armaments to the State of Israel.’

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Politics

Trump inauguration: Who is expected to attend, and who is boycotting?

Former presidents, politicians, tech giants, world leaders and others will convene in Washington, D.C., on Monday for President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration – while a few key figures will skip the event altogether.

Traditionally, most departing presidents do attend the inauguration of those taking over the White House. Outgoing President Biden told MeidasTouch network last month he would attend Trump’s second inauguration – even though Trump didn’t show up to Biden’s inauguration four years ago. Additionally, the White House confirmed first lady Jill Biden will attend.

Likewise, all three living former presidents, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, confirmed they will partake in the inauguration festivities, the Associated Press reports. Former first ladies Laura Bush and Hillary Clinton will also join their spouses for Trump’s second inauguration.

But some prominent Democrats will not appear at the inauguration. Former first lady Michelle Obama and former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced this week that they will skip the event.

A spokesperson for the Obamas did not provide additional information to the AP regarding Michelle Obama’s absence, although the former first lady also did not attend former President Jimmy Carter’s funeral earlier this month.

Likewise, tech giants including Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and TikTok CEO Shou Chew will attend and sit up front on the dais alongside other VIP guests.

A source familiar with the plans told Fox News Digital Chew received an invitation from the Inaugural Committee. The New York Times broke the news that Chew would attend.

Trump also extended invites to several world leaders – including Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Incoming White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told ‘Fox & Friends’ in December that Xi had received an invitation after Trump said that he would ‘love to have’ the Chinese leader there at the inauguration.

‘This is an example of President Trump creating an open dialogue with leaders of countries that are not just our allies but our adversaries and our competitors, too. We saw this in the first term, before,’ Leavitt said. ‘He is willing to talk to anyone, and he will always put America’s interests first.’

Although Jinping will not attend, China’s Foreign Ministry announced on Friday that Chinese Vice President Han Zheng would visit Washington for the occasion.

The AP also reported that Trump had invited Javier Milei, the president of Argentina, and Nayib Bukele, the president of El Salvador. Likewise, CBS first reported that Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was invited to the inauguration, but Hungarian media reported he would not make the trip, according to Politico.

However, Milei is expected to attend, as is Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Politico reports.

Such appearances are unique. The AP previously reported that no foreign leaders have attended any U.S. inaugurations, according to State Department historical records.

Musical performances by Carrie Underwood, the Village People and Lee Greenwood are also scheduled for the inauguration. Underwood is slated to perform ‘America the Beautiful’ during the swearing-in ceremony for Trump and President-elect JD Vance, a Trump Transition spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

Trump and former first lady Melania Trump skipped Biden’s inauguration in 2021. Other presidents have also missed their successors’ inaugurations. Six other former presidents, dating back to John Adams, also skipped inaugurations for the incoming president, according to the White House Historical Association.

Fox News’ Michael Dorgan, Brooke Singman, and Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.

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Politics

Trump wants to visit China again after he takes office: report

President-elect Trump is discussing the possibility of visiting China again as president with aides, according to a report.

The incoming president, who takes office on Monday, visited Beijing during his first term in 2017, and spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping over the phone on Friday.

Trump has been threatening China with tariffs but has told advisers that he wants to strengthen ties with the communist country with the visit, possibly even traveling there within his first 100 days in office, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.

‘I just spoke to Chairman Xi Jinping of China. The call was a very good one for both China and the U.S.A.,’ Trump wrote on Friday on Truth Social. ‘It is my expectation that we will solve many problems together, and starting immediately. We discussed balancing Trade, Fentanyl, TikTok, and many other subjects. President Xi and I will do everything possible to make the World more peaceful and safe!’

He didn’t say if they had spoken about a visit.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Trump transition team for comment.

It is also possible Xi could come to the White House for a visit, the Journal reported.

Xi also met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Florida in 2017.

Xi was invited to Trump’s Monday inauguration – no senior Chinese official has ever attended a U.S. presidential inauguration – but Chinese Vice President Han Zheng will be attending instead, in a first.

Trump and Xi plan to establish a strategic communication channel, China said of their Friday phone call, adding that Trump said he was ‘looking forward to meeting with President Xi as soon as possible.’

Trump has also mentioned the possibility of going to India to aides, the Journal reported.

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World News

Trump holds ‘very good’ phone call with China’s President Xi

Donald Trump said he held a “very good” phone call with China’s President Xi Jinping, as the US-president elect prepares to return to the White House next week.

“I just spoke to Chairman Xi Jinping of China,” Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social. “It is my expectation that we will solve many problems together, and starting immediately.”

Trump said the pair discussed trade, fentanyl, TikTok and other subjects, and that the call was “very good” for both countries.

“President Xi and I will do everything possible to make the World more peaceful and safe!” he wrote.

In a readout from China’s Foreign Ministry, Xi said he and Trump “attach great importance to mutual interactions,” and “hope for a good start of the China-US relationship” during Trump’s second term.

The phone call, believed to be the first between the pair since Trump left office after his first term, comes during a tense moment in Washington-Beijing relations.

Swiftly after the call, the US Supreme Court ruled that a controversial ban on TikTok can take effect on Sunday, rejecting an appeal from the popular app that claimed the ban violated the First Amendment.

Earlier, China’s Foreign Ministry said that Xi would skip Trump’s inauguration on Monday. Instead, Vice President Han Zheng will attend the ceremony in Washington, DC, as Xi’s special representative.

Xi sent Trump a message of congratulations after his reelection in November, telling him that the US and China “stand to gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation,” and said he hoped the two countries could find a way ‘to get along with each other.”

In an interview with NBC following his reelection, Trump said he got along “very well” with Xi during his time in office.

But Trump’s rhetoric has not always been so amicable. As a candidate, Trump pledged to slap 60% tariffs on all goods coming in from China. As president-elect, he has tempered his claims, threatening to raise tariffs on Chinese goods by an additional 10% until Beijing prevents the flow of illegal drugs to the US.

Trump’s cabinet picks also comprise several prominent China hawks, including Marco Rubio, tapped for secretary of state and currently sanctioned by Beijing, and Pete Hegseth, the former Fox News host tapped for defense secretary who has warned China is bent on defeating the US and achieving global domination.

A complicating factor, however, is Elon Musk, the billionaire founder of the electric vehicle giant Tesla, which makes more than half its cars in China. Musk is often invited to meet Chinese officials on his trips there.

Echoing some of Beijing’s talking points, Musk has previously said the two countries can maintain a “win-win” relationship, in a sharp break from Trump’s more zero-sum attitude.

Despite pointing to the prospects for cooperation, Xi told Trump that it is “natural for two big countries with different national conditions to have some disagreements,” singling out “the Taiwan question.”

Beijing has repeatedly stressed that it views Taiwan as a breakaway territory that must be “unified” with the mainland, and that it is willing to use force if necessary.

Trump was seen as a friend to Taiwan during his first term, but his rhetoric has since hardened. On the campaign trail, Trump claimed the self-ruling democracy should pay the US more for “protection” and that it had “stolen” America’s chip business.

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World News

Chinese President Xi Jinping will skip Trump’s inauguration, sending a special representative in his place

Chinese President Xi Jinping will not attend President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, but he is sending Vice President Han Zheng as his special representative.

The decision, announced Friday in China by the foreign ministry, came more than a month after Trump extended the unusual invitation to Xi, a break from tradition since no heads of state have previously made an official visit to the US for the inauguration.

“We stand ready to work with the new US government to enhance dialogue and communication, properly manage differences, expand mutually beneficial cooperation, jointly pursue a stable, healthy and sustainable China-US relations and find the right way for the two countries to get along with each other,” the ministry’s spokesperson said when announcing the decision.

Other foreign leaders have spoken about being invited to Trump’s inauguration, including Argentinian President Javier Milei and Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni. The offices of Ecuadorean President Daniel Noboa and Paraguayan President Santiago Peña have also said they were invited and were planning to attend.

Sun Yun, director of the China program at the Washington-based think tank Stimson Center, said the move by Xi means “China is willing to forego protocol and cater to what Trump wants.”

“It indicates that China is willing to talk, negotiate and make efforts to reach deals,” Sun wrote.

Danny Russel, vice president for international security and diplomacy at the Asia Society Policy Institute, said Beijing is hedging by sending Han instead of Xi.

“Zero chance that Xi Jinping would allow himself to be potted plant at Donald Trump’s triumphal coronation. At the same time, ensuring that China extends enough courtesy to avoid bruising Trump’s ego,” Russel wrote. Han’s mission, the former American diplomat said, is “symbolic, not substantive.”

The dispatch of Han comes as the US-China rivalry is set to intensify. Several of Trump’s nominees for key Cabinet positions are known China hawks, including Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who’s nominated as secretary of state. Rubio called China “the most potent, dangerous and near-peer adversary this nation has ever confronted” during his confirmation hearing on Wednesday, when members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee urged Rubio to make countering China a top priority.

Beijing prefers leader-level talks, which it believes could help guide the bilateral relations, while Trump likes to deal with world leaders directly.

As president, Xi has traveled abroad for state visits and summits. But he did not attend the coronation of King Charles III, nor did he go to the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II or the memorial service for Nelson Mandela. Instead, he sent vice presidents. Han was his special representative for King Charles III’s coronation. When Trump invited Xi to the inauguration in December, it was widely believed that Xi was unlikely to come.

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World News

Israel approves ceasefire and hostage release deal with Hamas, beginning Sunday

Israel’s government approved a ceasefire and hostage release deal with Hamas, paving the way for the agreement to take effect Sunday and potentially signalling a new chapter in a bloody 15-month conflict that has enflamed the Middle East.

The 33-member cabinet deliberated for more than seven hours into early Saturday before green-lighting the agreement, according to a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.

Approved earlier by Israel’s smaller security cabinet after being thrashed out by negotiators in Doha, the deal will pause the fighting in Gaza, and lead to the release of dozens of Israeli hostages and hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

It also offers an opportunity for humanitarian workers to shuttle much-needed aid into the battered enclave, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are starving, according to the United Nations, and living conditions are dire.

Sunday’s ceasefire will take effect at 8:30 a.m. local time (1:30 a.m. ET), a spokesperson for the Qatari foreign ministry Majed Al Ansari said in a statement on X. Qatar has been one of the key mediators in brokering the deal.

It will be the second ceasefire since the war started on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants launched an attack on Israel, killing more than 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli authorities. The military offensive launched by Israel in response has killed more than 46,000 Palestinians and injured more than 110,000 in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its figures.

Though Israel’s Supreme Court will still hear appeals by Israelis opposing freedom for any Palestinian prisoners slated for release, that process is not expected to delay the start of the ceasefire.

Three female Israeli civilian hostages held in Gaza are expected to be released on the first day, according to two US officials. Ninety-five Palestinian prisoners are set to be released Sunday beginning after 4 p.m. local time Sunday, Israel’s Ministry of Justice said.

Hamas and its allies still hold 94 people taken from Israel 15 months ago. At least 34 of them are dead, according to the Israeli government, though the true number is expected to be higher.

All but 10 of the 94 hostages are Israeli or dual citizens, while eight are from Thailand, one is from Nepal, and one is from Tanzania, according to the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office.

Negotiations for the second and third phases of the ceasefire will begin on the 16th day of the implementation of the deal, according to an Israeli official.

A joint operations room will be established in Cairo to monitor the implementation of the deal and will include representatives from Egypt, Qatar, the United States, Israel, and Palestinian officials, according to Egypt’s state-affiliated Al Qahera News, citing a senior Egyptian official.

Humanitarian relief

Under the deal, humanitarian aid into Gaza will be ramped up to 600 trucks per day, a significant increase from the 614 truckloads of aid that entered Gaza in the first two weeks of January, according to data from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Hundreds of aid trucks carrying food, clothing, medical supplies and other relief materials, are lined up at the Rafah border crossing in anticipation of the deal going into effect Sunday, Al Qahera News reported. The trucks came from various areas of the Egyptian region of North Sinai, and some have been waiting for months, the news outlet said.

However, the United Nations warned Thursday the increased aid allotment would be “only a start” in addressing the catastrophic humanitarian crisis in the enclave.

The breakthrough in talks has inspired fresh – yet cautious – hope among the families of Israeli hostages still trapped in Gaza, many of whom do not know if their relatives are dead or alive.

The start of the ceasefire Sunday will be a reprieve for Gazans who have endured 15 months of relentless Israeli strikes, which have reduced much of the enclave to rubble.

Scenes of jubilation emerged across Gaza shortly after mediator Qatar announced Wednesday that Israel and Hamas had come to the agreement, though Israel’s bombardment has ramped up in the days since.

Israeli strikes have killed more than 100 people since the ceasefire deal was announced, including 30 children, according to Gaza’s Civil Defense.

The first ceasefire, in November 2023, lasted about a week. In that period, 105 hostages being held by Hamas – primarily women, children and elderly people – were released, while Israel released about 240 Palestinian prisoners from its jails.

Netanyahu faced major political fallout ahead of the cabinet meeting to approve the deal, with two far-right parties threatening to quit the government if the deal went through – a move that could cause the prime minister to lose his majority in the Knesset, or parliament.

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World News

Israel’s approval of the Gaza deal unmasks deep schisms that could threaten the ceasefire and Netanyahu’s political future

Don’t let Israel’s approval of the Gaza ceasefire fool you: There are deep schisms in Israeli politics that could threaten the longevity of the deal.

The ceasefire as agreed to in Qatar is set to last 42 days. Over that period, 33 hostages are expected to be freed in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, there will be a slow withdrawal of the Israeli military from urban centers in Gaza and a surge of humanitarian aid.

But it is very much not a permanent end to the war, nor does it guarantee freedom for the 65 hostages who would remain in Gaza at the end of this first phase – many of whom are likely dead. That is yet to be negotiated, starting by day 16 of the truce.

Whether any of it comes to pass may be dictated by the vagaries of Israeli politics. The deal to which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed is remarkably similar to a proposal he railed against for almost a year.

“We haven’t committed to any of the delusional demands of Hamas,” the Israeli prime minister said in February last year. “I told (US Secretary of State) Antony Blinken we are nearly there with complete victory.”

The proposal he was criticizing would have seen a multi-stage ceasefire, the phased withdrawal of Israeli troops, and the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. That happens to be the exact thing to which Netanyahu has now agreed.

Though Hamas is undeniably weakened, Israel has not achieved the “complete victory” that Netanyahu long promised. “We assess that Hamas has recruited almost as many new militants as it is lost,” Blinken said this week.

Netanyahu’s extremist allies in government are confused by his sudden about-face.

“I love Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and will make sure that he continues to be prime minister,” Itamar Ben Gvir, the national security minister, said in a statement Friday morning. “But I will leave (government) because the deal that was signed is disastrous.”

Ben Gvir has said that his Jewish Power party will withdraw from the governing coalition if the ceasefire and hostage deal goes through. His departure would not by itself be enough to topple the government. And he could well return – it will be hard to step away from power for a man who not long ago was on the very fringes of politics, having been convicted of inciting terrorism and considered so extreme that the Israeli military rejected him from service.

But what could topple the government is if Ben Gvir is joined by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich in withdrawing from Netanyahu’s coalition. Smotrich, also an extreme right-wing nationalist, wants to make sure that the peace in Gaza is not permanent, and that Israel goes back to war after the 42-day ceasefire that is expected to see 33 hostages released.

While Smotrich’s departure would break Netanyahu’s coalition, his government could be saved by his rival, Yair Lapid of the opposition Yesh Atid party, who has offered a political lifeline to the prime minister by supporting him in the legislature. That means that Lapid would hold a sword over Netanyahu’s neck, could collapse the government and bring about an election whenever he chooses – a threat the prime minister will surely do anything to avoid.

It is unclear whether Netanyahu has given Smotrich any promises to secure his support – solving today’s crisis is more important than solving tomorrow’s. He is clearly keen for it, having met with Smotrich twice in the hours leading up to the ceasefire announcement in Qatar. President Biden said Wednesday “the plan says if negotiations take longer than six weeks, the ceasefire will continue, as long as the negotiations continue.” But were Israel to begin bombing on day 43, the agreement would collapse.

In the hours after the Qatari prime minister announced the agreement on Wednesday, Netanyahu’s office sent a cascade of press releases accusing Hamas of reneging on promises to give Israel a veto over some Palestinian prisoners due to be released.

The statements made clear that he was being tough by telling his team to stand firm. Those 11th-hour hitches may have been real – though Hamas denies it. But the very public chest-beating crediting the prime minister’s “firm stance” was surely intended to placate the domestic, far-right audience. Once the differences were bridged, the cabinet appeared to fast-track its approval – moving a planned Saturday meeting to the final hours of Friday.

Another factor may also be at the center of Netanyahu’s capitulation to this initial ceasefire: incoming American president Donald Trump.

His self-styled image as the American president who ends foreign wars will surely bring an enormous amount of pressure on Netanyahu to stay with the agreement, for which Trump has taken credit and dubbed “EPIC.”

Netanyahu was able to ignore President Joe Biden’s overtures, confident that he had an even more steadfast ally, Trump, waiting in the wings.

Now he has no such luxury.

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