White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Thursday said that President Biden still believes that President-elect Trump is an ‘existential threat’ to democracy.

But when confronted by a reporter about Biden’s relative silence on the ‘threat’ he thinks Trump poses since the election, Jean-Pierre replied, ‘We are now in a different place.’ 

‘There was an election and the American people spoke. The will of the American people were very clear,’ she told reporters at the daily White House press briefing.

Biden met with Trump at the White House last week and committed to a ‘smooth transition’ as the 45th and soon to be 47th president prepares to return to office in January.

Their cordial meeting stood in stark contrast to the heated rhetoric used before Election Day, when Biden and Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris each called Trump a ‘fascist’ and repeatedly warned that American democracy would be in danger if he prevailed.

‘Politics is tough and in many cases it’s not a very nice world, but it is a nice world today,’ a smiling Trump said after Biden shook his hand and welcomed him back to the White House.

Jean-Pierre said Thursday that Biden’s shift in tone reflects an effort to ‘lead by example’ to make sure the peaceful transfer of power takes place.

‘He feels like he is obligated. What he said still stands, but we are now in a different place. We are— the American people spoke. They deserve a peaceful transfer of power,’ she said. 

She reiterated that Biden’s beliefs about Trump have ‘not changed.’ 

Biden’s offer to Trump to visit the White House was an invitation he himself was never accorded.

Four years ago, in the wake of his election defeat at the hands of Biden, Trump refused to concede and tried unsuccessfully to overturn the results.

Breaking with long-standing tradition, Trump didn’t invite Biden to the White House. And two weeks after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters aiming to upend congressional certification of Biden’s Electoral College victory, Trump left Washington ahead of the presidential inauguration of his successor, becoming the first sitting president in a century and a half to skip out on a successor’s inauguration.

The meeting was the first between Biden and Trump since they faced off in Atlanta on June 27 in their one and only debate, a contest most viewers determined Biden decidedly lost. He withdrew from the 2024 election and endorsed Harris a month later. 

Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman and Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

Pennsylvania Democrat Sen. Bob Casey on Thursday announced he has conceded the race to Republican candidate Dave McCormick, putting an end to a lengthy automatic recount in the Keystone State more than two weeks after Election Day. 

Casey said in a statement that he called McCormick to congratulate him. McCormick’s campaign also independently confirmed the news to Fox News Digital. 

‘I just called Dave McCormick to congratulate him on his election to represent Pennsylvania in the United States Senate,’ Casey said in the statement. ‘As the first count of ballots is completed, Pennsylvanians can move forward with the knowledge that their voices were heard, whether their vote was the first to be counted or the last.’

‘This race was one of the closest in our Commonwealth’s history, decided by less than a quarter of a point. I am grateful to the thousands of people who worked to make sure every eligible vote cast could be counted, including election officials in all 67 counties.’

The news comes after McCormick edged out Casey by just 17,000 votes to win the Senate seat, according to the most recent unofficial data from the Department of State – putting Casey well within the 0.5% margin of error required under Pennsylvania law to trigger an automatic recount. 

That recount began Monday and was slated to end Nov. 26.

The Republican Party blasted Democrats this week for Casey’s refusal to concede the U.S. Senate race in Pennsylvania, taking aim at the three-term incumbent for moving ahead with a costly recount effort, despite their assessment that Casey lacked any achievable path to victory.

They have also criticized the cost, noting that the recount will cost taxpayers an estimated $1 million. 

In his statement Thursday, Casey praised the democratic process and voters who turned out in the Keystone State.

‘When a Pennsylvanian takes the time to cast a legal vote, often waiting in long lines and taking time away from their work and family, they deserve to know that their vote will count,’ Casey said. ‘That’s democracy.’

Some House Republicans are embracing the idea of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., leading a new congressional subcommittee dedicated to cutting down on government waste.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., is planning to commission a new panel under his purview called the Delivering on Government Efficiency subcommittee, Fox News Digital first learned on Thursday.

And multiple Republican lawmakers have already told Fox News Digital they hope to join the panel.

‘Marjorie would take no prisoners,’ said Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., who said he’s already texted Greene about the subcommittee. ‘I would love to be on it.’

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., who is also aiming for a spot on the committee, said, ‘good for her’ when asked about Greene leading the panel.

‘I think she’ll be a basically an immovable object on some of the spending cuts that we need,’ Luna said.

As to her own bid for a spot, she said, ‘We’re going to make a push right now.’

It comes after Trump announced the creation of an advisory panel called the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which he tapped Vivek Ramaswamy and Elon Musk to lead.

Trump said the panel would help his administration ‘slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures and restructure Federal Agencies.’

Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., a member of the newly created DOGE Caucus, said that whoever were to lead the subcommittee should be ‘hawkish’ on fiscal matters.

‘I’d definitely be interested in it,’ Mills said. ‘ I always talk about three things, which is repealing programs and departments that no longer serve the intended purposes; reforming certain areas where we understand that, just the way times change, the requirements and needs change as well; and then also re-energize in certain areas to make sure that Americans know what’s accessible to them as far as assets or resources.’

Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., who serves on Comer’s Oversight Committee, did not feel strongly one way or another about joining the DOGE subcommittee but praised Greene’s ascension to the chair.

‘One thing about Marjorie is that she’s, you know, she’s locked in on details, and so she’s going to want to be very helpful to Elon and Vivek,’ Donalds said. ‘And obviously, we’re breaking new ground here.’

He also suggested that Rep. Michael Cloud, R-Texas, would be ‘very good’ on the subcommittee.

Cloud did show interest when asked by Fox News Digital, and he similarly praised Greene.

‘Reining in the federal government and restoring accountability is one of the most important tasks we face in this next Congress. These efforts are essential if we are to support the mandate President Trump has been given by the American people, and I am eager to contribute to this effort in any capacity,’ Cloud said in a statement. 

‘Congresswoman Greene has shown she’s the right person to challenge the norms and drive the kind of change Washington desperately needs.’

House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris, R-Md., did not weigh in directly on Greene but said he ‘would hope’ some fiscal hawks in his conservative group would be considered for positions.

Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

Two U.S. officials confirmed to Fox News Thursday that a Russian ‘experimental intermediate-range ballistic missile’ (IRBM) launched at Ukraine was not hypersonic.

Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed the attack Thursday evening in an address to the nation and said it was in direct response to the U.S. and the U.K. jointly approving Ukraine’s use of Western-supplied long-range missiles to target Russia.

Putin and U.S. sources have since confirmed the strike was not an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), but the Kremlin chief also claimed the weapon used poses a significant challenge for Western nations.

Deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh confirmed to reporters during a press briefing Thursday that Russia had launched an IRBM based on one of Russia’s ICBM models. She sometimes called the IRBM ‘experimental,’ explaining it was the first time the missile had been used on the battlefield.

‘This was a new type of lethal capability that was employed on the battlefield, so that’s certainly a concern to us,’ Singh said.

She also said the U.S. was notified briefly before the launch through nuclear or risk reduction channels.

Still, Singh told reporters the Department of Defense has not seen any adjustment in Russia’s nuclear posture, nor has the U.S. made any changes to its own.

Putin said, according to a translation, that the missile attacked targets at a speed of Mach 10.

‘That’s 2.5 miles per second,’ Putin said. ‘The world’s current air defense systems and the missile defense systems developed by the Americans in Europe do not intercept such missiles.’

Despite Putin’s claim, two U.S. defense officials told Fox News the missile was not hypersonic, which, according to NASA, is a speed greater than 3,000 mph and faster than Mach 5.

Singh told reporters the only escalation in the war between Russia and Ukraine is that the former invaded a sovereign border country and turned to North Korea to bring about 11,000 soldiers to fight against Ukraine.

Following President Biden’s position reversal this week to allow Ukraine to use U.S.-supplied long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) against the Russian homeland, Kyiv immediately levied strikes against a military arsenal in the Russian region of Bryansk, more than 70 miles from Ukraine’s border. 

While Ukrainian troops officially fired the sophisticated missiles, the weapons system still relies on U.S. satellites to hit its target, an issue Putin touched on in his unannounced speech Thursday. 

‘We are testing the Oreshnik missile systems in combat conditions in response to NATO countries’ aggressive actions against Russia. We will decide on the further deployment of intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles depending on the actions of the U.S. and its satellites,’ he said.

Putin claimed Russia will alert Ukrainian citizens of an impending attack like the strike he carried out on Thursday, though it remains unclear if he issued a warning to the Ukrainians living in Dnipro. 

The Kremlin chief said the ‘defense industry’ was targeted, though images released by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense showed what appeared to be civilian infrastructure caught in the fray. 

Fox News Digital’s Caitlin McFall contributed to this report.

The Pentagon said it rejects the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) decision to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Thursday.

Deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters during a press briefing on Thursday that the U.S. ‘fundamentally rejects’ the ICC’s decision to issue the arrest warrants.

‘We remain concerned by the prosecutor’s rush to seek arrest warrants, and, you know, some of the processes that have played out,’ Singh said. ‘And again, we’ve been very clear that the ICC does not have jurisdiction over this matter.’

The ICC charged Netanyahu and Gallant with ‘crimes against humanity and war crimes,’ including the use of starvation as a method of warfare and targeting civilians.

President Biden blasted the court’s decision to issue arrest warrants against the two senior Israeli officials.

‘The ICC issuance of arrest warrants against Israeli leaders is outrageous,’ Biden said. ‘Let me be clear once again: whatever the ICC might imply, there is no equivalence – none – between Israel and Hamas. We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security.’

Israeli President Isaac Herzog condemned the court’s actions in a statement on Thursday.

‘Taken in bad faith, the outrageous decision at the ICC has turned universal justice into a universal laughingstock,’ Herzog wrote. ‘It makes a mockery of the sacrifice of all those who fight for justice – from the Allied victory over the Nazis till today.’

Herzog argued that the ICC’s decision ignores Hamas’ use of human shields and its Oct. 7, 2023, terror attacks that started the war, as well as the Israeli hostages remaining in Gaza.

Israel made several efforts to block the ICC from approving the arrest warrants. They first argued that the ICC has no jurisdiction over Israel, but the court said it could issue the arrest warrants as part of the ‘territorial jurisdiction of Palestine.’

Israel also made other procedural challenges, but they were rejected.

The ICC’s move comes just days after Senate Majority Leader-elect John Thune threatened to hit the court with sanctions if it moved forward with the arrest warrants.

The U.S. does not officially recognize the ICC’s authority, but it is not the first time Washington has looked to halt the court’s actions.

In 2020, the Trump administration opposed attempts by the ICC to investigate U.S. soldiers and the CIA involved in alleged war crimes between 2003-2004 ‘in secret detention facilities in Afghanistan,’ and issued sanctions against ICC prosecutors.

Biden’s administration undid those sanctions shortly after entering office.

Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz’s withdrawal as President-elect Trump’s nominee for attorney general amid growing fallout over sex trafficking allegations may prove problematic for Trump’s other controversial picks for top administration positions.

Gaetz took his name out of consideration Thursday as Pete Hegseth, Trump’s choice to serve as defense secretary, was wrapping up meetings on Capitol Hill with senators. 

Hegseth, who was joined by Vice President-elect JD Vance, is also facing sexual misconduct allegations from a 2017 encounter. Scrutiny increased late Wednesday night after police in Monterey, California, released a report about the allegations.

‘The matter was fully investigated, and I was completely cleared,’ Hegseth told reporters on Capitol Hill Thursday. Through his attorney, he has also acknowledged the sexual encounter but has said it was consensual.

Trump’s transition team spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt called Hegseth ‘a highly-respected combat veteran who will honorably serve our country when he is confirmed as the next secretary of defense.’ 

But with Gaetz now out of the firing line, Hegseth, an Army National Guard officer who deployed to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and who, until earlier this month, was a high-profile Fox News host, is likely to face more attention from the media and from senators.

Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, taking questions from reporters after Gaetz announced he was dropping out of consideration, was asked about the allegations against Hegseth.

‘It’s a pretty big problem given that we have … a sexual assault problem in our military,’ Cramer said.

The senator added he’s ‘not going to prejudge,’ but that ‘it’s a pretty concerning accusation.’

Trump’s transition team on Thursday afternoon blasted out an email titled, ‘Pete Hegseth Earns Strong Support On Capitol Hill,’ which spotlighted positive quotes from 11 GOP senators, including a snippet from Cramer.

And a source close to Trump’s transition team told Fox News ‘the transition team doesn’t think the issues Gaetz faced are a wider problem.’

But scrutiny will likely also increase for Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, Trump’s picks for Health and Human Services secretary and director of national intelligence, as they both face potential blowback for past controversial comments.

‘I would be more worried if I was them,’ a different source in Trump’s political orbit told Fox News when asked about Hegseth, Kennedy and Gabbard.

Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina said there are ‘some things’ Kennedy should ‘get ahead of’ before courting senators on Capitol Hill.

But a Republican strategist who has advised Republican senators pointed to Gaetz as a sacrificial lamb.

‘There’s always one’ that goes down who ‘gives cover to the others,’ the source, who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely, said.

The strategist said Hegseth, Gabbard and Kennedy ‘all have their work cut out for them,’ but that ‘the [GOP] conference is going to be much happier now going forward. … Gaetz was the only one that was a non-starter.’

Fox News Kelly Phares and Meghan Tome contributed to this report