- CF: The Frank
- Posts
- 🔵 China Warns US
🔵 China Warns US
Citizen Frank
March 05, 2025
Good evening. It’s Wednesday, March 5.
China has said it is “ready for war” with America as it raises defence spending and imposes retaliatory tariffs on US imports.
In a direct threat to Donald Trump, China’s representatives in America said: “If war is what the US wants, be it a tariff war, a trade war or any other type of war, we’re ready to fight until the end.”
Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, in turn said the US is “prepared” to go to war.
The Trump administration has engaged in direct talks with Hamas in an attempt to secure the release of hostages, two sources familiar with the matter confirmed to The Jerusalem Post.
The negotiations are being handled via US special envoy for hostage affairs Adam Boehler, with a focus on the American-Israeli captives. There are 59 hostages being held captive in Gaza.
Boehler met with senior Hamas officials in Doha, Qatar, several times. These meetings, first reported by Barak Ravid on Axios, mark the first known direct dialogue between Hamas and the US administration since the US designated Hamas as a terrorist organization in 1997.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday denied the Trump administration’s request to block a lower court’s order for the administration to pay nearly $2 billion in foreign aid money, delivering a near-term reprieve to international aid groups and contractors seeking payment for previously completed projects.
In a 5-4 ruling, the justices said that the Feb. 26 deadline imposed by a lower court for the Trump administration to pay the funds had already expired and directed the case back to the district court to clarify any additional details on payment.
“Given that the deadline in the challenged order has now passed, and in light of the ongoing preliminary injunction proceedings, the District Court should clarify what obligations the Government must fulfill to ensure compliance with the temporary restraining order, with due regard for the feasibility of any compliance timelines,” the Court said.
A board that reviews the firings of federal employees on Friday ordered the U.S. Department of Agriculture to temporarily reinstate thousands of workers who lost their jobs as part of President Donald Trump’s layoffs of the federal workforce.
Cathy Harris, a member of the U.S. Merit System Protection Board, in a written order blocked the USDA from firing probationary employees, who typically have less than one year of service, for 45 days while a challenge to the terminations plays out.
The decision was issued a day after a federal judge blocked Trump from firing Harris, a Democrat, and removing her from her position with the board without cause before her term expires in three years.
The Trump administration appears to have ordered at least a partial halt to the crucial intelligence that the United States shares with Ukraine to defend against the Russian invasion, according to a US military official and public remarks made by top Trump administration officials.
Statements from national security adviser Mike Waltz and CIA Director John Ratcliffe on Wednesday morning indicated that a pause in intelligence sharing is in place but the extent of the limitations was not clear. Both officials also suggested that the pause may be short-lived if the president can be satisfied that Ukraine has taken steps towards negotiations to end the war – a controversial effort that appeared to be derailed after Friday’s fiery Oval Office meeting between President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“We are pausing, assessing, looking at everything across our security relationship,” national security adviser Mike Waltz told CBS News, asked directly about intelligence-sharing with Kyiv. The Trump administration had already announced a freeze in weapons deliveries to Ukraine, part of the White House effort to attempt to pressure Kyiv into a swift end to a war it didn’t start.
Hayden Haynes, the chief of staff to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and one of the most powerful aides on Capitol Hill, was arrested after President Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress for drunken driving after his car struck a Capitol vehicle, two law enforcement sources told NBC News. Johnson’s office also confirmed the incident.
One of the sources told NBC News that a police report indicated that Haynes hit a Capitol vehicle around midnight and was arrested and released with a citation to appear in court. The arrest came after Trump’s speech Tuesday night, when Johnson presided over the House floor and sat just behind the president’s left shoulder.
“A driver backed into a parked vehicle last night around 11:40 p.m.,” the U.S. Capitol Police said in a statement to NBC News. “We responded and arrested them for DUI.”
The Trump administration is granting automakers a one-month exemption from tariffs against Canada and Mexico, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced Wednesday.
“We spoke with the big three auto dealers. We are going to give a one-month exemption on any autos coming through [the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement] USMCA,” Leavitt said, reading off a statement from President Trump.
“Reciprocal tariffs will still go into effect on April 2, but at the request of the companies associated with USMCA, the president is giving them an exemption for one month, so they are not at an economic disadvantage,” she further explained.
The House will vote this week on a resolution from Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) to censure Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) for his outburst at President Trump’s speech to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday.
Newhouse introduced the resolution and moved to force a vote on it Wednesday, less than 24 hours after Green’s disruptive protest. Because the resolution is privileged, leadership has two legislative days to move on the formal reprimand, and the House is scheduled to leave town after Thursday.
The resolution reads: “Whereas, the conduct of the Representative from Texas disrupted the proceedings of the joint address and was a breach of proper conduct; and whereas, after numerous disruptions the representative from Texas had to be removed from the chamber by the Sergeant-at-arms; Now, therefore, be it resolved that Representative Al Green be censured.”
Reply