The United States and China plan to establish military-to-military communications channels ‘to deconflict and deescalate’ potential problems, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said Saturday after talking with his Chinese counterpart.

In a post on X, Hegseth said he had a ‘positive meeting’ with Admiral Dong Jun, China’s Minister of National Defense, in the wake of President Donald Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

During their talk, the two defense leaders agreed that the best path forward for the U.S. and China involves ‘peace, stability, and good relations.’

‘Admiral Dong and I also agreed that we should set up military-to-military channels to deconflict and deescalate any problems that arise. We have more meetings on that coming soon. God bless both China and the USA!’ Hegseth wrote, in part.

Earlier Saturday, Hegseth attended a separate meeting in Malaysia with defense leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), where he urged them to push back against Beijing’s aggressive actions in the South China Sea.

‘China’s sweeping territorial and maritime claims in the South China Sea fly in the face of their commitments to resolve disputes peacefully,’ Hegseth said at the meeting, according to The Associated Press. 

‘We seek peace. We do not seek conflict. But we must ensure that China is not seeking to dominate you or anybody else,’ he added.

The South China Sea remains volatile with Beijing, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei all claiming overlapping territories. 

China’s maritime fleet has frequently clashed with the Philippines in the disputed waters, with Chinese officials recently describing the country as a ‘troublemaker’ for staging naval and air drills with the U.S., Australia and New Zealand.

Hegseth defended the U.S. ally during the Saturday meeting by saying Beijing’s designation of the Scarborough Shoal – a territory seized from the Philippines in 2012 – as a ‘nature reserve’ ‘yet another attempt to coerce new and expanded territorial and maritime claims at your expense.’

The War Secretary then urged ASEAN to finalize the Code of Conduct with China and proposed creating a ‘shared maritime domain awareness’ network and rapid-response systems to deter provocations – measures he said would ensure that any member facing ‘aggression and provocation is not alone.’

Hegseth also welcomed plans for an ASEAN-U.S. maritime exercise in December aimed at strengthening coordination and safeguarding freedom of navigation.

Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa is expected to visit Washington, D.C., and meet with President Donald Trump next week, the first-ever official visit by a Syrian president to the U.S. capital.

A White House official confirmed to Fox News Digital that the meeting was planned for Nov. 10. News of the meeting was first reported by Axios.

Trump and al-Sharaa met for the first time in May on the sidelines of the president’s trip to Saudi Arabia.

‘Young, attractive guy, tough guy,’ Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One after meeting al-Sharaa, who is a former Al-Qaeda leader. ‘Strong past, very strong past — fighter. He’s got a real shot at holding it together.’

Al-Sharaa, formerly known by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, led the rebel offensive in December that toppled former Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

His group, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, was designated by the U.S. State Department as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced in June that the Trump administration would remove the label amid the president’s efforts to reset U.S.-Syria ties.

‘This FTO revocation is an important step in fulfilling President Trump’s vision of a stable, unified, and peaceful Syria,’ Rubio said in a statement.

Trump received a standing ovation in Riyadh after announcing his administration would order the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to ‘give them a chance at greatness.’

‘Oh, what I do for the crown prince,’ he joked, referring to Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader, Mohammed bin-Salman, who pushed Trump to meet with Syria’s new leader.

Efforts to lift the Caesar sanctions, the strongest sanctions on Syria, have faced procedural delays in Congress.

A U.S. State Department spokesperson told Reuters on Friday that the Trump administration supports repealing the Caesar sanctions through the National Defense Authorization Act bill, which is under discussion by U.S. lawmakers.

The bill, which was named after a Syrian Army defector who smuggled thousands of images documenting torture and executions in Bashar al-Assad’s prisons, targeted entities and individuals who provided support to Assad’s regime.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

NEWARK, N.J. – Enthusiasm was high among New Jersey Democratic voters who flocked to a community college campus Saturday evening to hear from former President Barack Obama as he rallied support for Rep. Mikie Sherrill in her campaign for the governorship.

‘I heard Barack Obama was gonna be here. And I love Barack Obama, so I really came out here for that,’ one voter, Alexis from South Jersey, told Fox Digital. ‘But I do support Mikie, as well.’ 

‘I want to hear Obama,’ Robert, from Spring Lake, told Fox Digital. ‘I think a lot of people want to hear Obama. Wouldn’t it be great to have a message of hope at this point in time?’ 

Hundreds of supporters wrapped around multiple blocks surrounding the Essex County College’s gymnasium on Saturday to hear from Obama and Sherrill as the New Jersey election comes down to its final days. The packed auditorium hit capacity before the ‘Get Out the Vote’ rally officially kicked off, with supporters also watching the rally from an overflow parking lot. 

Prominent rally speakers and attendees alike celebrated hearing from Obama on Saturday, but also repeatedly spoke about President Donald Trump, slamming him for efforts to deport illegal aliens, and pinning blame for the ongoing federal government shutdown on Trump and Republicans. 

A handful of voters who spoke to Fox Digital relayed that their ballot was not one solely focused on Sherrill, but also a vote against Trump and his administration.  

‘Well, the top issue is Trump,’ said Robert from Spring Lake. ‘There’s nothing else other than that. … Trump is absolutely the worst,’ he added, citing that Trump is allegedly ‘anti-science’ and against education. 

‘To get Trump out of office, number one’ one female voter from South Jersey told Fox Digital of why she came out to the rally and her top voting concerns this election. 

‘I am voting for Mikie Sherrill because she actually understands all the people. She is not a minion for Trump,’ another South Jersey voter added. 

Obama also leaned into slamming Trump during his remarks to the crowd, claiming the current economy has benefited ‘Trump’s billionaire friends,’ while ‘ordinary families’ pay increased prices at check-out lines due to Trump’s ‘shambolic tariff policy.’ 

‘Let’s face it, our country and our politics are in a pretty dark place right now,’ Obama told the audience on Saturday. ‘It’s hard to know where to start, because every day this White House offers up a fresh batch of lawlessness and carelessness and mean spiritedness. And just plain old craziness.’

Comments targeting Trump and his administration extended to attacks on Ciattarelli, as well, with Obama casting him as the president’s toady and a ‘suck up’ to the Republican Party. 

Trump made inroads with New Jersey voters just a year ago, in his decisive general election win over former Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump cut his 2020 loss from 16 points in the Garden State to six in 2024, and flipped five counties to the GOP, invigorating Republicans in the state to keep the momentum going as GOP gubernatorial candidate Ciattarelli launched his bid for Drumthwacket. 

‘Please go out and vote,’ Irvington Councilwoman Charnette Frederic told Fox Digital. ‘And I’m hoping Obama is the last push to remind you.’

Frederic has served as an Irvington councilwoman since 2012, and said that Obama’s presence in the state for past campaign rallies spurred an influx of voters, remarking she’s hopeful the same will unfold ahead of Tuesday. 

‘I am an immigrant, and I believe in treating people with respect and dignity,’ Frederic said. ‘Whatever I’m seeing right now, this is not the kind of opportunity that we want for our people,’ adding that Sherrill will ‘stand for the people’ against the White House’s stances on immigration and other policies. 

Sherrill, DNC chair Ken Martin, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, and other local Democrats took the stage of the auditorium to rally support for Sherrill, while also criticizing the Trump administration as top voter concern. 

‘But my fight doesn’t and can’t end at the border of New Jersey. We’ve got to take on all those hits coming from Trump and Washington, D.C. Because right now the president is running a worldwide extortion racket. You pay more for everything from the coffee you drink in the morning to the groceries you’re cooking dinner with at night as Trump pockets billions. His energy plan is designed for just one audience. The fossil fuel industry,’ Sherrill claimed. 

2025 is an off-year election cycle, with just New Jersey and Virginia holding gubernatorial elections, while other jurisdictions such as New York City are holding mayoral races and other local races. 

As the government shutdown stretches over a month, one left-wing figure has emerged as House Republicans’ most-cited political boogeyman — and it’s not either of the top two Democrats in Congress.

Instead, it’s Zohran Mamdani, a New York State assemblyman and self-proclaimed democratic socialist who is running for mayor more than 200 miles away in New York City.

‘You’ve seen their party get pulled further to the socialist left, and it started when [Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.] beat Joe Crowley. And ever since then, Democrats have been afraid of that kind of emerging wing of their party,’ House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., told Fox News Digital when asked why GOP leaders are invoking Mamdani so often.

‘Today, they are the center of the Democrat Party. They are running the Democrat Party, and you can see it, Mamdani is the one that they’re all scared of and they’re all listening to.’

He pointed to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and his recent endorsement of Mamdani.

‘It’s changed how they run their whole party operation, because they’re afraid of the left base of the party, which is really headed by Mamdani now,’ Scalise said.

House GOP leaders or speakers at their daily shutdown press conferences brought up Mamdani both directly and indirectly at every one of their press conferences last week.

At his Thursday press conference, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., accused the media of criticizing his frequent commentary on the New York City socialist.

‘Amazingly, the media is criticizing Republicans for fixating on Mamdani. I read some of that yesterday. This socialist uprising is something that we have a responsibility to call out and sound the alarms. That’s what elected representatives of the people are supposed to do,’ Johnson said.

‘And we take that responsibility seriously. And obviously, Mamdani is a big issue here in the halls of Congress. Why? Because the second-highest ranked Democrat in the country, Leader Jeffries, endorsed him.’

Republicans have also taken to calling him ‘commie Mamdani’ recently, a nickname debuted by House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., during a shutdown press conference where House GOP leaders invited Republicans in New York’s congressional delegation to speak.

Mamdani himself criticized Johnson at one point for his focus on him earlier this month.

‘Speaker Johnson should be seating members of Congress, as opposed to using his time to try and attack our campaign,’ Mamdani fired back from Manhattan on Monday.

‘But I understand if I was one of the leaders of the Republican Party that had led a campaign that promised Americans a lower cost of living and cheaper groceries, and all I could deliver for them was a government shutdown, then I, too, would be looking to distract in any way that I could from those lack of results.’

NEWARK, N.J. – Enthusiasm was high among New Jersey Democratic voters who flocked to a community college campus Saturday evening to hear from former President Barack Obama as he rallied support for Rep. Mikie Sherrill in her campaign for the governorship.

‘I heard Barack Obama was gonna be here. And I love Barack Obama, so I really came out here for that,’ one voter, Alexis from South Jersey, told Fox Digital. ‘But I do support Mikie, as well.’ 

‘I want to hear Obama,’ Robert, from Spring Lake, told Fox Digital. ‘I think a lot of people want to hear Obama. Wouldn’t it be great to have a message of hope at this point in time?’ 

Hundreds of supporters wrapped around multiple blocks surrounding the Essex County College’s gymnasium on Saturday to hear from Obama and Sherrill as the New Jersey election comes down to its final days. The packed auditorium hit capacity before the ‘Get Out the Vote’ rally officially kicked off, with supporters also watching the rally from an overflow parking lot. 

Prominent rally speakers and attendees alike celebrated hearing from Obama on Saturday, but also repeatedly spoke about President Donald Trump, slamming him for efforts to deport illegal aliens, and pinning blame for the ongoing federal government shutdown on Trump and Republicans. 

A handful of voters who spoke to Fox Digital relayed that their ballot was not one solely focused on Sherrill, but also a vote against Trump and his administration.  

‘Well, the top issue is Trump,’ said Robert from Spring Lake. ‘There’s nothing else other than that.… Trump is absolutely the worst,’ he added, citing that Trump is allegedly ‘anti-science’ and against education. 

‘To get Trump out of office, number one,’ one female voter from South Jersey told Fox Digital of why she came out to the rally and her top voting concerns this election. 

‘I am voting for Mikie Sherrill because she actually understands all the people. She is not a minion for Trump,’ another South Jersey voter added. 

Obama also leaned into slamming Trump during his remarks to the crowd, claiming the current economy has benefited ‘Trump’s billionaire friends,’ while ‘ordinary families’ pay increased prices at check-out lines due to Trump’s ‘shambolic tariff policy.’ 

‘Let’s face it, our country and our politics are in a pretty dark place right now,’ Obama told the audience on Saturday. ‘It’s hard to know where to start, because every day this White House offers up a fresh batch of lawlessness and carelessness and mean-spiritedness. And just plain old craziness.’

Comments targeting Trump and his administration extended to attacks on GOP gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli, as well, with Obama casting him as the president’s toady and a ‘suck up’ to the Republican Party. 

Trump made inroads with New Jersey voters just a year ago, in his decisive general election win over former Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump cut his 2020 loss from 16 points in the Garden State to six in 2024, and flipped five counties to the GOP, invigorating Republicans in the state to keep the momentum going as Ciattarelli launched his bid for Drumthwacket. 

‘Please go out and vote,’ Irvington Councilwoman Charnette Frederic told Fox Digital. ‘And I’m hoping Obama is the last push to remind you.’

Frederic has served as an Irvington councilwoman since 2012, and said Obama’s presence in the state for past campaign rallies spurred an influx of voters, remarking she’s hopeful the same will unfold ahead of Tuesday. 

‘I am an immigrant, and I believe in treating people with respect and dignity,’ Frederic said. ‘Whatever I’m seeing right now, this is not the kind of opportunity that we want for our people,’ adding that Sherrill will ‘stand for the people’ against the White House’s stances on immigration and other policies. 

Sherrill, DNC chair Ken Martin, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, and other local Democrats took the stage of the auditorium to rally support for Sherrill, while also criticizing the Trump administration. 

‘But my fight doesn’t and can’t end at the border of New Jersey. We’ve got to take on all those hits coming from Trump and Washington, D.C. Because right now the president is running a worldwide extortion racket. You pay more for everything from the coffee you drink in the morning to the groceries you’re cooking dinner with at night as Trump pockets billions. His energy plan is designed for just one audience. The fossil fuel industry,’ Sherrill claimed. 

During this off-year election cycle, New Jersey and Virginia are holding gubernatorial elections, while other jurisdictions such as New York City are holding mayoral races and other local races.