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‘This represents hope’

Oct. 14 (UPI) — News organizations on Tuesday broadly rejected new rules from the Pentagon demanding journalists only report approved information or risk losing their press credentials.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth unveiled the new rules last month requiring journalists to sign a pledge stating they would neither access nor report any information that had not been signed off by the Pentagon – even if it was unclassified. The Department of Defense threatened to revoke the press credentials of journalists, barring them from accessing facilities, if they refused to sign.

Press organizations immediately blasted the rules, calling them an affront to the First Amendment and independent reporting on the military and national security. Now, many national media outlets have refused the ultimatum.

ABC News, CBS News, CNN, FOX News Media and NBC News issued a joint statement indicating declined to agree to the new requirements.

“The policy is without precedent and threatens core journalistic protections,” the outlets said in the statement. “We will continue to cover the U.S. military as each of our organizations has done for many decades, upholding the principles of a free and independent press.”

Hegseth has had a contentious relationship with the media, blaming the press after he came under scrutiny for sharing sensitive military information on the Signal app. The former Fox News personality has previously issued a series of rules restricting press activities within the Pentagon to prevent inadvertent leaks.

The Pentagon Press Association also issued a statement Tuesday saying the latest rule contradicted Hegseth’s pledge to improve transparency at the department. The association called it an “entirely one-sided move” that would cut the public off from reporting on issues of sexual assault in the military, conflicts of interest, corruption, as well as the well-being of service members.

“The Pentagon certainly has the right to make its own policies, within the constraints of the law,” the association said. “There is no need or justification, however, for it to require reporters to affirm their understanding of vague, likely unconstitutional policies as a precondition to reporting from Pentagon facilities.”

Hegseth on Tuesday downplayed the rules, writing on X that the “Pentagon now has same rules as every U.S military installation.”

Other outlets that refused to sign the pledge include The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Atlantic.

Hegseth responded on X with an emoji waving goodbye.

President Trump said Friday that he has reached a deal with China to keep the popular social video app TikTok running in the U.S.

Trump said on his social media platform Truth Social that he had a “very productive call” Friday morning with China’s President Xi Jinping. TikTok is owned by Chinese tech company ByteDance, a fact that prompted national security concerns over data protection from U.S. politicians.

He suggested that Xi had approved the planned takeover of TikTok in the U.S., but did not provide details on what the leader’s sign-off entailed.

“We made progress on many very important issues including Trade, Fentanyl, the need to bring the War between Russia and Ukraine to an end, and the approval of the TikTok Deal,” Trump wrote on Friday.

He added: “The call was a very good one, we will be speaking again by phone, appreciate the TikTok approval, and both look forward to meeting at APEC!”

Trump had signaled earlier this week that an agreement was coming. For months, TikTok’s future had been uncertain in the U.S., due to national security worries about the app’s ties to China. Trump in his social media post did not reveal much detail about the deal, but said earlier this week that TikTok’s operations would be owned by American investors.

“TikTok has tremendous value,” Trump said at a news conference on Thursday, adding the U.S. will be getting a “fee-plus” for making the deal. “I’d rather reap the benefits. The kind of money we are talking about is very substantial. It will be owned by all American investors.”

The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that under terms of the deal, TikTok’s U.S. users would migrate to a new version of the app with technology licensed from ByteDance. U.S. user data would be managed in Texas by cloud computing company Oracle, the Journal reported, adding that details of the deal could change as it was still being discussed.

About 80% of a new company running TikTok’s U.S. operations would be owned by American investors, with the remaining amount owned by Chinese shareholders, according to the Journal.

Oracle’s Chairman and Chief Technology Officer Larry Ellison is a Trump ally and the world’s second richest person with an estimated net worth of more than $360 billion, according to Forbes. Ellison is also preparing a bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, the media company that owns HBO, TNT and CNN, after already completing a takeover of Paramount, one of Hollywood’s original studios.

The White House did not immediately return a request for comment on the terms of the agreement.

Reports cited a Chinese news agency, which quoted Xi as saying the Chinese government “respects the wishes of companies and welcomes them to conduct commercial negotiations based on market rules and reach solutions that comply with Chinese laws and regulations and balance interests.”

The deal paves a path for TikTok to continue operating in the U.S. after President Joe Biden signed a law that would require ByteDance to divest ownership in the U.S. operations of the app or have TikTok banned in the nation due to security concerns. TikTok denies sharing user data with the Chinese government and says it has not been asked by Beijing to provide such sensitive information.

ByteDance on Friday thanked Xi and Trump “for their efforts to preserve TikTok in the United States.”

“ByteDance will work in accordance with applicable laws to ensure TikTok remains available to American users through TikTok U.S.,” the company said.

The law had initially gave ByteDance a deadline of Jan. 19, but Trump has extended that deadline several times, most recently to Dec. 16.

TikTok has more than 170 million users in the U.S. and is a home for video content creators and businesses. Fans of the app enjoy scrolling through feeds of entertaining short videos.

Some industry observers were skeptical over whether the deal will adequately address Congress’ security concerns.

“There’s just too many loose ends and too many things that could go awry,” said Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond School of Law.

The TikTok agreement comes as the U.S. and China have been dealing with trade talks amid a tariff war.

On Thursday, Trump credited TikTok with helping him win the 2024 presidential election. He had campaigned to try to keep TikTok operational in an appeal to younger voters. He reversed his stance from his first term, in which the Trump administration made moves that could ban the app.

Daniel Keum, an associate professor of management at Columbia Business School, said he doesn’t think much will change after a deal is made. Many creators have already posted their content in other places such as Instagram and YouTube in light of TikTok’s uncertain future, Keum said.

“Even before, as there was so much uncertainty around the fate of TikTok, a lot of other platforms like YouTube and Facebook were co-opting the short reel format, so creators were distributing their content across other platforms,” he said.

The Trump administration must release billions of dollars in foreign aid approved by Congress, including money that President Trump said last week he would not spend, a federal judge has ordered.

U.S. District Judge Amir Ali in Washington ruled Wednesday that the Republican administration’s decision to withhold the funding was likely illegal. He issued a preliminary injunction ordering the release of $11.5 billion that is set to expire at the end of the month.

“To be clear, no one disputes that Defendants have significant discretion in how to spend the funds at issue, and the Court is not directing Defendants to make payments to any particular recipients,” wrote Ali, who was nominated by Democratic President Biden. “But Defendants do not have any discretion as to whether to spend the funds.”

The administration filed a notice of appeal Thursday.

“President Trump has the executive authority to ensure that all foreign aid is accountable to taxpayers and aligns with the America First priorities people voted for,” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement.

Elisha Dunn-Georgiou, president and chief executive of Global Health Council, one of the groups in the case, said in a statement the decision was a victory for “the rule of law” and reaffirmed that “only Congress controls the power of the purse.”

Trump told House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) in a letter on Aug. 28 that he would not spend $4.9 billion in congressionally approved foreign aid, effectively cutting the budget without going through the legislative branch.

He used what’s known as a pocket rescission, in which a president submits a request to Congress toward the end of the budget year to not spend the approved money. The late notice means Congress cannot act on the request in the required 45-day window and the money goes unspent. It’s the first time in nearly 50 years that a president has used the tactic. The fiscal year draws to a close at the end of September.

Ali said Congress would have to approve the rescission proposal for the administration to withhold the money.

The law is “explicit that it is congressional action — not the President’s transmission of a special message — that triggers rescission of the earlier appropriations,” he wrote.

The money at issue includes nearly $4 billion for the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, to spend on global health programs and more than $6 billion for HIV and AIDS programs. Trump has portrayed the funding as wasteful spending that does not align with his foreign policy goals, and in January, he issued an executive order directing the State Department and USAID to freeze spending on foreign aid.

Nonprofit organizations that sued the government said the freeze shut down funding for urgent lifesaving programs abroad.

A divided panel of appeals court judges ruled last month that the administration could suspend the money. The judges later revised that opinion, reviving the lawsuit before Ali.

In his ruling, Ali said he understood that his decision would not be the last word in the case, adding that “definitive higher court guidance now will be instructive.”

“This case raises questions of immense legal and practical importance, including whether there is any avenue to test the executive branch’s decision not to spend congressionally appropriated funds,” he wrote.

Thanawala writes for the Associated Press. AP writer Thalia Beaty in New York contributed to this report.

Backed by a hefty list of prominent endorsers, Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis has officially kicked off her bid for a southeast L.A. County congressional seat, should new district maps be approved by California voters in November.

“I’ve been standing up for the people — and against Trump — as a Supervisor, and now it’s time to campaign for the House and fight for the people and democracy in the Congress,” Solis said in a statement Friday.

The former secretary of Labor, 67, previously served in Congress and the statehouse before becoming a county supervisor.

Solis’ campaign launch included endorsements from five sitting members of Congress, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and civil rights leader Dolores Huerta, among others.

The heavyweight list speaks to the legislator’s deep backing in local Democratic politics. It also doubles as a warning to other potential candidates about the establishment firepower behind Solis’ nascent campaign, despite the seat she’s angling for not actually existing yet.

Solis would run in the redrawn 38th District, which is currently represented by Rep. Linda Sánchez (D-Whittier). Should the maps pass, Sánchez is likely planning to run in the redrawn 41st District, which will include her home of Whittier, leaving the new 38th District without an incumbent candidate. Both districts will be heavily Democratic.

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s push to redraw California’s district maps to favor Democrats will be decided by voters in a Nov. 4 special election — a decision that could potentially determine the balance of power in the Congress in 2026. The plan punches back at President Trump’s drive for more GOP House seats in Texas and other states.

The Times reported this month that Solis was lining up support for a potential candidacy even before the new maps were finalized. At least one California lawmaker told The Times that Solis referred to the district as “my seat” when asking for backing — a reference to the seat she once held, even though the new district doesn’t yet exist. Solis confirmed her candidacy to the San Gabriel Valley Tribune on Thursday.

Along with Sanchez, former Obama administration staffer TJ Adams-Falconer has also filed campaign fundraising paperwork in the district.

White House seeks to run out the clock on funding after already slashing billions in aid in move decried as overreach.

United States President Donald Trump has sought to cut another $5bn in foreign aid already approved by Congress.

The move is the latest effort by Trump to gut the funding the US provides to humanitarian projects and international organisations. It is also the latest attempt to test the limits of Trump’s presidential power.

While Trump had previously obtained congressional approval to cancel $9bn in foreign aid and public media funding in legislation passed in July, the latest move seeks to use an obscure tactic to bypass the legislative branch entirely.

Under the US Constitution, Congress controls federal spending. But in a letter posted online late Thursday, Trump notified House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson that he planned to unilaterally withhold the $4.9bn in approved foreign spending.

The tactic, known as a “pocket rescission”, would see Trump invoke a law that allows him to pause the spending for 45 days. That would, in turn, take the funding beyond the end of the September 30 fiscal year, causing it to expire.

The White House has said the tactic was last used in 1977, more than 50 years ago.

A court document filed on Friday said the money was earmarked for foreign aid, United Nations peacekeeping operations, and so-called “democracy promotion” efforts overseas.

Most of it was meant to be overseen by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which Trump has largely dismantled and reorganised under US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

‘Triage of human survival’

The move comes as the United Nations and aid organisations have increasingly warned of the devastating fallout of US cuts.

In June, the United Nations announced sweeping programme shrinkages, amid what the humanitarian office described as “the deepest funding cuts ever to hit the international humanitarian sector”.

At the time, UN aid chief Tom Fletcher said the cuts meant the humanitarian community has been “forced into a triage of human survival”. In July, the UN also predicted a surge in HIV/AIDS deaths by 2029 due to the funding withdrawals.

The knock-on effects have been felt sharply in regions across the world, particularly in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Africa.

In July, Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, reported that at least 652 malnourished children had died at its facilities in northern Nigeria in the first half of 2025 due to a lack of timely care.

Earlier this week, Save the Children warned that Nigeria, Kenya, Somalia and South Sudan were expected to run out of so-called “ready-to-use therapeutic food” (RUTF) over the next three months.

Meanwhile, at least one Republican lawmaker has challenged Trump’s move as an illegal overreach of presidential power.

“Instead of this attempt to undermine the law, the appropriate way is to identify ways to reduce excessive spending through the bipartisan, annual appropriations process,” Senator Susan Collins said in a statement.