Republican senators move to block Somalia funding until allies pay 'fair share'
FIRST ON FOX : Fox News Digital has learned that the U.S. could withhold funding for the war against Islamist terror in Somalia until Europe, the African Union (A.U.) and the United Nations (U.N.) pay more of their "fair" share toward the cost of striking out and keeping the peace in the conflict-torn country.
These plans to "prohibit" the use of U.S. funds are key details, shown first to Fox News Digital, of a new bill to be introduced by three prominent Republican senators.
In line with President Donald Trump's administration's widespread moves to tighten fiscal controls in the U.S. and overseas, Sens. Jim Risch, R-Idaho., Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., are to introduce "the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) Funding Restriction Act of 2025."
This is "to safeguard U.S. taxpayer funds and hold the U.N. and A.U. accountable in African peace operations," Risch told Fox News Digital.
The bill also seeks to mandate the U.S. to oppose any U.N. Security Council action which enables such funding.
The East African country of Somalia has been wracked for decades by attacks and insurgency from Islamist terrorists, both from ISIS and the al Qaeda-linked al-Shabab. In just the past five weeks, U.S. Africa Command reported that it has carried out four airstrikes; three against ISIS terrorists and one against al-Shabaab. At least one of these strikes, the command stated, was against multiple targets.
Chairman Risch told Fox News Digital, "The Trump Administration has taken decisive action to counterterrorist groups across Africa, and I'm very supportive."
However, officials from the European Union, according to Risch, plan to skew payments for the AUSSOM peacekeeping and stablization operation more toward the U.S.; in other words, make the U.S. pay more than it should, he said.
"At the U.N., our European partners are looking to skirt their financial commitments to AUSSOM in Somalia by switching to a new imbalanced funding mechanism that pushes the burden on Americans," he stated.
"We can't let that stand," Risch continued. "This bill will prohibit U.S. contributions to AUSSOM under this new funding scheme, until the A.U. and the U.N. can prove that they are using the funds they have responsibly, and prevent Americans from being locked into perpetually funding a broken system."
Risch said, "President Trump has ushered in a new era of American foreign policy where American taxpayer dollars will be used only to secure a safe and prosperous America. For far too long, our allies have taken America for a ride, and profited off of America paying the lion's share for global security. Europe must continue to shoulder this burden."
The other two senators sponsoring the bill, Cruz and Scott, also serve on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Scott told Fox News Digital, "The United States will not allow our tax dollars to be exploited by the U.N. while our partners refuse to pay their fair share, much less for a mission that fails to spend these dollars responsibly or transparently. I am proud to join my colleagues on the AUSSOM Funding Restriction Act to ensure Americans' interests are put first, and their tax dollars spent wisely."
The specific aims of the bill that have been shown to Fox News Digital are:
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USA Today
36 minutes ago
- USA Today
Former Biden press secretary is ready to tell Americans the truth? Give me a break.
Former Biden press secretary is ready to tell Americans the truth? Give me a break. | Opinion The knives are now out inside the Democratic Party. And the party is bleeding, not only Americans' support and trust but also its last remaining drops of honesty and truth. Show Caption Hide Caption Karine Jean-Pierre talks exit from Democratic party in new book Former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre talks about leaving the Democratic party in her upcoming book slated for release in October. The Democratic Party continues to self-destruct, and I am here for it. Former White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has teased a tell-all memoir about former President Joe Biden and the administration she served for nearly three years. 'Independent: A Look Inside a Broken White House, Outside the Party Lines' is stoking claims that Jean-Pierre is a grifter, profiting off her time in the administration by trashing the former president and the political party that gave her prominence. Knives are out among Democrats for one of their own who has now betrayed them. Like other books that have recently exposed details about Biden's poor health, Jean-Pierre's book raises questions about the White House cover-up that attempted to hide the president's mental and physical decline from voters. It also calls into question Jean-Pierre's honesty: Why did she wait until now, when she can profit from it, to tell the truth about the former commander in chief? Former White House colleagues turn on former Biden press secretary Democrats are now a minority party in America. The GOP controls the White House, the Senate and the U.S. House along with a majority of governor's offices and state legislatures. The Democratic Party has lost Americans' trust because of its leaders' penchant for gaslighting, not just about Biden's health but also on issues like immigration, border security and the economy. Jean-Pierre, who now claims to be an independent, certainly isn't helping her former colleagues rebuild that lost trust. Details from the book are still sketchy, but Jean-Pierre should provide readers with an inside look at what happened after Biden's disastrous debate with Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump a year ago this month. Jean-Pierre's coworkers have already reacted to the book with contempt. "Former colleagues expressed confusion at how Jean-Pierre seemingly intends to paint Biden as a victim while pinning her own decision to leave the party on his 'broken' White House," Politico reported, citing multiple former Biden administration officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. Opinion: Biden's cancer diagnosis raises the question: Was he ever in good enough health? Caitlin Legacki, a Democratic strategist who worked on the Commerce Department's communications team during Biden's presidency, took umbrage with Jean-Pierre's assertion that the Democratic Party betrayed Biden. 'Kamala Harris and the entire Biden/Harris campaign did hero's work to avoid losing 400 electoral votes and giving Republicans a supermajority in Congress, which is what would have happened if he stayed on the ticket,' Legacki told Politico. 'It's more productive to focus on that, and thank Biden for doing the responsible thing by stepping aside, than it is to pretend this was an unwarranted act of betrayal.' But party insiders continuing to squabble over whether a now former president was or was not betrayed by fellow Democrats entirely misses the larger point. Opinion: Guess who Americans want to run the economy? Hint − it's not Democrats. Far too many Democrats, Jean-Pierre included, worked hard to deceive Americans. Their willful lack of self-awareness about their gaslighting and dishonesty is why the party has shown no signs of recovering from the last disastrous election cycle. Karine Jean-Pierre's book about Biden isn't the first Jean-Pierre's book will be far from the first to address the deception at the heart of the Biden White House. On May 20, journalists Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson released "Original Sin," which describes in detail Biden's cognitive decline and the mind-boggling efforts with which his inner circle and the Democratic Party tried to hide the truth from Americans. Opinion: Texas woman's death would have been prevented if Biden had secured the border Conservatives had long been suspicious about Biden's health, but journalists with White House access failed to ask tough questions then. Now that it's too late to make a real difference, those who were silent when it mattered most are more than ready to profit from belated exposés about the former president's failing health. The knives are now out inside the Democratic Party. And the party is bleeding, not only Americans' support and trust but also its last remaining drops of honesty and truth. Nicole Russell is an opinion columnist with USA TODAY. She lives in Texas with her four kids. Sign up for her newsletter, The Right Track, and get it delivered to your inbox.
Yahoo
42 minutes ago
- Yahoo
LA Clashes Escalate as Trump, Newsom Spar Over National Guard
(Bloomberg) -- Tensions flared in Los Angeles on the third day of anti-deportation protests, as demonstrators clashed with law enforcement while President Donald Trump and California Governor Gavin Newsom exchanged blame over the unrest and responsibility for restoring order. Next Stop: Rancho Cucamonga! Where Public Transit Systems Are Bouncing Back Around the World Trump Said He Fired the National Portrait Gallery Director. She's Still There. ICE Moves to DNA-Test Families Targeted for Deportation with New Contract US Housing Agency Vulnerable to Fraud After DOGE Cuts, Documents Warn The arrival of National Guard troops deployed by Trump over the weekend inflamed residents protesting the sweeping deportation policies of the administration, local officials said. Clashes escalated Sunday evening, with some committing vandalism and violence, including burning cars. The heightened federal response over the objections of state and city officials led to growing friction between local leaders and the Trump administration. Newsom said he formally requested the White House rescind the 'unlawful' deployment and return the troops to his command, warning it would only ramp up tensions. The governor also said Sunday that he planned to sue the administration over the action. LA Police Chief Jim McDonnell said Sunday evening many of the earlier protests around the city had been peaceful, but that conditions deteriorated as people committing vandalism and violence replaced daytime demonstrators. 'This violence that I've seen is disgusting,' McDonnell said at a press conference. 'What we saw the first night was was bad. What we've seen subsequent to that is getting increasingly worse and more violent.' In a series of Truth Social posts late Sunday, Trump described the unrest as an attack on immigration enforcement efforts. 'A once great American City, Los Angeles, has been invaded and occupied by illegal aliens and criminals,' he wrote. Trump called the demonstrations 'migrant riots' and said federal agencies were directed to take 'all such action necessary' to restore order and continue deportation operations. He later urged law enforcement to escalate their response, including arresting people wearing face masks. Meanwhile, Newsom urged protesters to remain peaceful, an admonition some demonstrators ignored as crowds blocked a major roadway through downtown and people set fire to several self-driving ride-hailing vehicles nearby. Newsom met Sunday evening with law enforcement leaders in Los Angeles, he posted on X. 'We're here to keep the peace — not play into Trump's political games,' he wrote. According to LAPD officials, nearly 30 people were arrested Saturday. At least 10 arrests were made Sunday and three officers were injured. The California Highway Patrol made 17 arrests and the LAPD said more are likely as the immigration raids continue and the violence that's already taken place is investigated. Federal law enforcement officials clashed briefly with a smaller group of demonstrators earlier on Sunday when a crowd gathered outside a federal building in downtown LA. The LAPD declared the gathering an unlawful assembly, using less than lethal munitions, like tear gas and batons to chase the crowd back. The LAPD said some people in the crowd threw bottles, chunks of concrete and other objects. The ICE raids are sending a sense of fear and chaos into the city, LA Mayor Karen Bass said during a press conference late Sunday afternoon, adding that people who want to protest should do so peacefully. The First Amendment grants a right to peaceful protest 'but it does not give you the right to be violent to create chaos, or to vandalize property, and that will not be tolerated,' she said. National Guard The tense demonstration follows two days of protests sparked by sweeping US immigration raids across the region. Trump directed US Northern Command to assume control of the National Guard and dispatch 2,000 soldiers to the area 'for 60 days or at the discretion of the Secretary of Defense,' the White House said in a statement. About 300 soldiers from the California National Guard's 79th Infantry Brigade Combat Team have been deployed to three locations in greater LA, according to US Northern Command. The Guard is focused on 'safety and protection of federal property and personnel,' the command said in a post on X. The 79th IBCT is primarily a combat unit, though it has previously been called up to support civilian authorities, and a unit most recently responded to the LA-area wildfires earlier this year. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that Marines could be sent next if protests intensify. Newsom called Hegseth's suggestion of deploying the Marines from nearby Camp Pendleton 'deranged.' Hegseth on Sunday countered that Newsom had allowed violence to get out of hand. 'Deranged = allowing your city to burn & law enforcement to be attacked,' Hegseth said in a post on X. 'There is plenty of room for peaceful protest, but ZERO tolerance for attacking federal agents who are doing their job. The National Guard, and Marines if need be, stand with ICE.' Facing mounting pressure from the White House, ICE has ramped up arrests in recent weeks, averaging about 2,000 detentions per day nationwide — still falling short of the administration's goal of at least 3,000 daily arrests. The stepped-up enforcement is part of Trump's vow to carry out the largest deportation campaign in US history. In the LA area, ICE reported 118 arrests this week, though the agency has not released updated figures as of Sunday morning. The protests were triggered in part by federal immigration raids that swept through the city from late Friday. Demonstrators gathered outside the federal building downtown, including outside a detention center. Other protests broke out in Compton and in Paramount, south of the city, where a crowd formed near a Home Depot as raids were reportedly underway. Tensions escalated when some protesters threw objects at officers, prompting the LAPD to declare an unlawful assembly and order the crowd to disperse, according to local media reports. Riot police used tear gas and flash-bang grenades. US Representative Nanette Barragan, a Democrat whose district includes Paramount and other parts of Los Angeles County, accused the Trump administration of using federal troops to suppress dissent. By the time the more violent skirmishes broke out Saturday night, the original protesters had already cleared out and the 'unruly folks' had arrived, she said. 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The law doesn't apply to state-controlled National Guard forces. --With assistance from María Paula Mijares Torres, Catherine Lucey, Isabela Fleischmann, Virginia Van Natta, Kevin Whitelaw and Kara Wetzel. (Updates with additional details of protests, law enforcement response. An earlier version was corrected to remove a video that included an erroneous description of Trump's comments on Marines.) The SEC Pinned Its Hack on a Few Hapless Day Traders. The Full Story Is Far More Troubling Cavs Owner Dan Gilbert Wants to Donate His Billions—and Walk Again Is Elon Musk's Political Capital Spent? What Does Musk-Trump Split Mean for a 'Big, Beautiful Bill'? Cuts to US Aid Imperil the World's Largest HIV Treatment Program ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Newsweek
an hour ago
- Newsweek
US States Seek To Ban Chinese Citizens From Buying Land, Property
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Some U.S. states are attempting to ban Chinese citizens from buying land and property, amid souring diplomatic relations between the countries. By 2024, more than two thirds of states had enacted or considered laws limiting or barring foreign land ownership including states that specifically mention China by name, according to POLITICO. According to the non-profit membership organization the Committee of 100, in total 27 states have considered this kind of legislation. However, the group has not shared a list of those states. Newsweek has rounded up a non-exhaustive list of states that have been involved in this kind of legislation, based on publicly available information. Some states do not name China explicitly, but name foreign nations that would likely include China. A number of US stakes have advanced legislation to ban some land sales by foreign nationals and so-called "foreign adversaries." A number of US stakes have advanced legislation to ban some land sales by foreign nationals and so-called "foreign adversaries." Flourish Why It Matters There has been a wave of concern over Chinese land purchases in the United States, some of which have taken place close to military bases. This comes amid soaring tensions between the U.S. and China including trade clashes between the two giants and national security concerns. However, as of USDA data accurate to 2023, Chinese investors own land in the U.S. equivalent to roughly twice the size of the footprint of New York City. What To Know A number of states have considered legislation on the issue. In May, the Texas legislature passed a bill to ban people tied to the governments of China, North Korea, Russia and Iran from purchasing land in the state. In January, Republican senators in Arkansas introduced the Not One More Inch or Acre Act which would prohibit any Chinese citizen, entity or foreign person acting on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from purchasing public or private real estate in the U.S. On Tuesday, Arizona's Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs vetoed a bill to prevent the People's Republic of China from buying a 30 percent stake or more in land near military bases and other strategic assets. Meanwhile, Florida passed a bill to prohibit citizens from China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, and Syria from owning agricultural land or property near military sites in 2023. Similar legislation has been passed in South Dakota, North Dakota, Indiana, Nebraska, Virginia, Utah, Iowa, West Virginia and Montana. Other states are considering legislation or bills regarding foreign nations' ability to purchase land including Ohio, Michigan and Georgia. What People Are Saying Speaking to Newsweek, Michael McFaul, who served as the U.S. ambassador to Russia from 2012 to 2014, said: "Not every Chinese citizen is an agent of the Communist Party of China. Many of China's most successful entrepreneurs, engineers, and academics—especially those living and working in the United States—loathe the Chinese Communist Party. U.S. government officials must develop more sophisticated policies for decreasing the influence of the Chinese Communist Party in the United States that do not treat all Chinese citizens as enemies of America." Cole Hefner, a Texas Republican state representative, said of Texas' bill: "Senate Bill 17 will counter this threat and make Texas a leader in state security. We cannot, we will not, allow oppressive regimes who actively seek to do harm to cease control and dictate their terms over our economy, our supply chains, our daily lives, our critical infrastructure for our food supply." Advocacy group Asian Texans for Justice opposed the Texas bill, saying it revives "a shameful chapter in American history—when Asian immigrants were banned from owning land." What Happens Next Texas' bill will now go to the state's governor, who has indicated he will support it. The success of other bills as well as whether other states will advance legislation pertaining to the issue remains to be seen.
