INTERNACIONAL
Iran talks with Europeans set for Friday; White House sees ‘substantial chance’ for renewed negotiations
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After a week of intense speculation about whether President Donald Trump will launch a strike on Iran in support of Israel’s efforts to eliminate the country’s nuclear weapons program, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced there is a «substantial chance» for renewed negotiations.
This comes as Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is reportedly scheduled to meet with European leaders in Geneva Friday.
Speaking with reporters in the White House press briefing room Thursday, Leavitt confirmed U.S. and Iranian officials have engaged in six rounds of direct and indirect negotiations during the conflict with Israel, which broke out June 13.
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Leavitt, however, did not say whether U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, who has been leading the president’s negotiations with Iran, would be present for the meetings in Geneva.
Asked by Senior White House Correspondent Jacqui Heinrich whether the fact that Iranian officials had found a way to get to Geneva meant they could also get to the White House to engage in negotiations, Leavitt responded: «I am not going to get into hypotheticals, but as you heard from the president yesterday, they have expressed interest in doing so.»
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, left, speaks with an unidentified Omani official upon his arrival at Muscat, Oman, April 25, 2025, a day before negotiations with U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff. (AP)
Addressing the possibility of the U.S. becoming directly involved in the conflict, Leavitt read a message from the president saying, «Based on the fact that there’s a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks.»
While she said Trump is hoping to find a diplomatic solution to the conflict, she said he has simultaneously been very «direct and clear» that the terms of any deal with the country must include no enrichment of uranium, which would contribute to the Iranian nuclear program the president has long opposed.
A massive plume of smoke rises from an oil refinery in southern Tehran after reports of an overnight Israeli strike targeting the site June 15, 2025. (Atta Kenare/AFP)
She stressed the U.S. faces a serious threat due to Iran’s nuclear program, saying, «Iran has never been closer to obtaining a nuclear weapon.»
«Iran has all that it needs to achieve a nuclear weapon. All they need is a decision from the supreme leader to do that,» said Leavitt. «And it would take a couple of weeks to complete the production of that weapon, which would, of course, pose an existential threat not just to Israel, but to the United States and to the entire world.»
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Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei addresses the media during elections in Tehran, Iran, May 10, 2024. (Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Nonetheless, Leavitt said, «Iran is absolutely not able to achieve a nuclear weapon. The president has been very clear about that. And, by the way, the deal that Special Envoy Witkoff proposed to the Iranians was both realistic and acceptable within its terms, and that’s why the president sent that deal to them.»
Leavitt emphasized Trump’s stance that Iran «can and should make a deal» to end the conflict or «they will face grave consequences.»
«Iran is in a very weak and vulnerable position because of the strikes and the attacks from Israel,» she said. «We sent a deal to them that was practical, that was realistic.»
According to French outlet RFI, the talks Friday with the Iranians will include French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul and European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas.
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A map shows where Iran’s most important nuclear sites are situated. (Fox News/FDD)
The outlet reported Barrot saying, «France, Britain and Germany stand ready to bring our competence and experience on this matter» and «we are ready to take part in negotiations aimed at obtaining from Iran a lasting rollback of its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.»
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U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Lammy Thursday. According to a statement by State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce, the two discussed the Israeli-Iran conflict and «agreed Iran can never develop or acquire a nuclear weapon.
In response to additional questions about potential U.S. negotiations with Iran, a representative for the White House directed Fox News Digital to Leavitt’s comments in the briefing room.
INTERNACIONAL
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Honores militares
El Mayor Ben Tracey, capitán de la Guardia de Honor, junto al rey y el presidente ucraniano. Foto: Reuters
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La Cumbre de Buena Voluntad
Starmer recibe a Zelenski en Londres. Foto: AP
Sen. Lankford proposes bill to avoid government shutdowns
Fox News senior congressional correspondent Chad Pergram and Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., join ‘The Faulkner Focus’ to discuss the failed vote to pay federal workers amid the government shutdown as they enter their first week without pay.
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Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has canceled votes in the House of Representatives for a fourth straight week as the government shutdown shows no signs of ending.
Johnson’s move is a part of his continued pressure strategy on Senate Democrats and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who have sunk the GOP’s federal funding plan 12 times since Sept. 19, when the House passed the measure.
Sept. 19 was also the last day the House was in session, meaning lawmakers have been largely in their home districts for over a month.
Republicans are pushing a short-term extension of fiscal year (FY) 2025 spending levels through Nov. 21 — called a continuing resolution (CR) — aimed at giving congressional negotiators time to strike a longer-term deal for FY2026.
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House Speaker Mike Johnson, right, is canceling House votes to pressure Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, left, for refusing to agree to a GOP-led plan to avert a government shutdown. (Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
Democrats, furious at being sidelined in federal funding discussions, have been withholding their support for any spending bill that does not also extend COVID-19 pandemic-era enhanced Obamacare subsidies that are due to expire at the end of this year.
Johnson’s decision was made public on Friday afternoon during a brief pro forma session in the House. Under rules dictated by the Constitution, the chamber must meet for brief periods every few days called «pro forma» sessions to ensure continuity, even if there are no formal legislative matters at hand.
Pro forma sessions can also be opportunities for lawmakers to give brief speeches or introduce legislation that they otherwise would not have.
Democrats have criticized Johnson’s decision, with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., telling reporters that House Republicans have been «on vacation for the last four weeks.»
The government is in a shutdown after Congress failed to reach an agreement on federal funding. (Getty Images)
Republicans, however, have largely stayed united behind Johnson as the shutdown continues.
«I mean, if all of a sudden the Senate wants to pass a clean CR, I would imagine there are some options on the table that we can pursue to get things back on track,» said Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Neb., who presided over the House chamber on Friday.
«I would defer, ultimately, to [leadership’s] decisions for the schedule. But right now, I don’t see any sign that we need to change what has been on the counter.»
But there have been several notable defections. Both Reps. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., and Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., have made their criticism of Johnson’s strategy known publicly for weeks.
«I believe very strongly that it’s the wrong decision,» Kiley told MSNBC earlier this week, adding House lawmakers were not «doing all the things we’re supposed to be doing» aside from figuring out how to end the shutdown.
BATTLEGROUND REPUBLICANS HOLD THE LINE AS JOHNSON PRESSURES DEMS ON SHUTDOWN
Rep. Kevin Kiley, seen in August 2023, has been critical of Johnson’s shutdown strategy. (Scott Strazzante-Pool/Getty Images)
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Multiple House lawmakers have also raised concerns about being out of session on private weekly calls that Johnson holds with members of the GOP conference.
Rep. Beth Van Duyne, R-Texas, was the most recent House Republican to suggest the GOP could be in a stronger position if they were back in Washington, Fox News Digital was told.
«I think the longer that we are out, the messaging is starting to get old,» Van Duyne told fellow House Republicans on their Tuesday call.
house of representatives politics,mike johnson,politics,chuck schumer
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The Trump administration has ordered the deployment of the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group in the Western Hemisphere as the U.S. continues to target suspected drug smuggling vessels in the Caribbean.
«In support of the President’s directive to dismantle Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs) and counter narco-terrorism in defense of the Homeland, the Secretary of War has directed the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group and embarked carrier air wing to the U.S. Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) area of responsibility (AOR),» chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement Friday.
«The enhanced U.S. force presence in the USSOUTHCOM AOR will bolster U.S. capacity to detect, monitor, and disrupt illicit actors and activities that compromise the safety and prosperity of the United States homeland and our security in the Western Hemisphere,» he added. «These forces will enhance and augment existing capabilities to disrupt narcotics trafficking and degrade and dismantle TCOs.»
The Trump administration has ordered a number of strikes in the Caribbean aimed at dismatling and disrupting drug cartels in the region.
Most recently, War Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on Thursday that a strike on a vessel allegedly operated by members of Tren de Aragua (TdA), a Designated Terrorist Organization (DTO), killed six alleged narco-terrorists.
This story is breaking. Please check back for updates.
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