European leaders will join Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy when he travels to Washington, D.C., on Monday for a high-stakes meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump. 

On Sunday, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Finnish President Alexander Stubb all confirmed their attendance. Their joint presence underscores Europe’s determination to present a united front in support of Ukraine as Russia’s war drags on.

Ahead of his meeting with Trump, Zelenskyy met with von der Leyen at the European Commission in Brussels to set priorities for the White House talks, focusing on long-term military aid, Ukraine’s ambitions to join the EU, and bolstering transatlantic solidarity in the face of Russian aggression.

At a joint press conference, von der Leyen said she was glad to be joining Zelenskyy and other European leaders in Washington on Monday.

‘We will continue to support you for as long as it takes,’ she said, adding that the EU backs a trilateral meeting between Ukraine, Russia and the United States.

She warned that the EU will move forward next month with its 19th sanctions package against Russia if the Kremlin refuses to halt its war in Ukraine.

Zelenskyy said he hopes the upcoming meeting with Trump ‘will be productive’ and not a repeat of the shouting match that took place in the Oval Office during his February visit.

Zelenskyy’s meeting at the White House comes on the heels of Trump’s summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in Anchorage on Friday, where Trump dropped his demand for a ceasefire and urged a final peace deal.

After meeting with Putin, Trump said the Russian leader was willing to end the war in exchange for key Ukrainian territory concessions. Trump said Kyiv should take the deal with Moscow because ‘Russia is a very big power, and they’re not.’

Zelenskyy, alongside European leaders, consistently rejects proposals to surrender any Ukrainian land to Russia.

‘Since the territorial issue is so important, it should be discussed only by the leaders of Ukraine and Russia at the trilateral Ukraine, United States, Russia,’ Zelenskyy told reporters at the European Commission on Sunday. ‘So far, Russia has given no sign that the trilateral will happen,’ he added.

The State Department announced on Saturday that it was halting all visitor visas to individuals from Gaza while it reviews the issuing process.

‘All visitor visas for individuals from Gaza are being stopped while we conduct a full and thorough review of the process and procedures used to issue a small number of temporary medical-humanitarian visas in recent days,’ a post on X from the State Department read.

Neither the State Department nor Secretary of State Marco Rubio commented on what triggered the sudden review.

In June, the Trump administration began cracking down on vetting for visa applicants. This involved the introduction of a ‘comprehensive and thorough’ review of all applicants’ ‘online presence.’

‘Every visa adjudication is a national security decision. The United States must be vigilant during the visa issuance process to ensure that those applying for admission into the United States do not intend to harm Americans and our national interests, and that all applicants credibly establish their eligibility for the visa sought, including that they intend to engage in activities consistent with the terms for their admission,’ the State Department said at the time.

Earlier this month, France suspended evacuations from Gaza after a Palestinian student allegedly shared a social media post with an image of Adolf Hitler that called for killing Jews.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told France Info radio that the woman ‘must leave the country’ and that she ‘has no place’ in France.

‘No evacuation of any kind will take place until we have drawn the necessary conclusions from this investigation,’ Barrot said in the interview. He also vowed there would be a probe into how the Palestinian woman was able to get a student visa.

The student, later identified as Nour Attaalah, left France for Qatar after the incident.

As of Jan. 1, 2025, the population in Gaza had dropped by 6% since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023, according to Reuters, which cited the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS). The outlet noted that this includes approximately 100,000 Palestinians who fled the enclave.

Fox News Digital reached out to the State Department. 

President Donald Trump closed out his 30th week in office of his second term with a high-stakes meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin Friday in Anchorage, Alaska, in an attempt to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. 

The two did not reach a peace agreement, but Trump said that the meeting was a success and that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will visit the White House in Washington Monday. 

‘It was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up,’ Trump said in a Saturday post on Truth Social. 

If the meeting in Washington with Zelenskyy goes well, Trump said that a trilateral meeting between the U.S., Russia and Ukraine will be scheduled. 

Trump described the meeting with Putin as ‘very warm,’ and said that he believed a deal was imminent. 

‘I can tell you, the meeting was a very warm meeting,’ Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity in an exclusive interview. ‘You know, he’s a strong guy, he’s tough as hell on all of that, but the meeting was a very warm meeting between two very important countries, and it’s very good when they get along. I think we’re pretty close to a deal. Now look, Ukraine has to agree to it.’

Here’s what also happened this week: 

Crime crackdown 

On Monday, Trump announced he would activate approximately 800 National Guard troops and would take over the Metropolitan Police Department to address crime in Washington. The move came after Trump already bolstered federal law enforcement presence in the nation’s capital Saturday. 

‘I’m deploying the National Guard to help reestablish law, order and public safety in Washington, D.C.,’ Trump told reporters at a Monday press conference. ‘And they’re going to be allowed to do their job properly.’

Trump initially suggested federalizing Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department and dispatching National Guard troops to address crime in Washington Aug. 6 in response to the assault of a former Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffer. 

Although a temporary federal takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department is warranted for emergency situations, Washington officials filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s move Friday. 

‘By illegally declaring a takeover of MPD, the Administration is abusing its temporary, limited authority under the law,’ Washington Attorney General Brian Schwalb wrote in a Friday X post. ‘This is the gravest threat to Home Rule DC has ever faced, and we are fighting to stop it.’

Smithsonian review

The White House sent a letter to the Smithsonian Tuesday, announcing it would conduct a review of its museums and exhibits leading up to the 250th birthday of the United States in 2025.

‘We want the museums to treat our country fairly,’ Trump told reporters Thursday. ‘We want their museums to talk about the history of our country in a fair manner, not in a woke manner or in a racist manner, which is what many of them, not all of them, but many of them are doing.’

‘Our museums have an obligation to represent what happened in our country over the years. Good and bad,’ Trump said. ‘But what happened over the years in an accurate way.’ 

The White House said in a letter Tuesday the review would involve examining social media, exhibition text and educational materials to ‘assess tone, historical framing, and alignment with American ideals.’ 

‘This initiative aims to ensure alignment with the President’s directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions,’ the letter said.

The Smithsonian told Fox News Digital it would coordinate with the White House, Congress and its governing Board of Regents on the matter. 

‘The Smithsonian’s work is grounded in a deep commitment to scholarly excellence, rigorous research and the accurate, factual presentation of history,’ the Smithsonian said in a statement.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday outlined firm conditions for a ‘real peace’ ahead of a high-stakes meeting with President Donald Trump on Monday.

Zelenskyy posted to X following his call with Trump and then with European leaders, after Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Alaska to try and bring about an end to the 3 ½ year war.

‘The positions are clear. A real peace must be achieved, one that will be lasting, not just another pause between Russian invasions,’ Zelenskyy wrote.

‘Killings must stop as soon as possible, the fire must cease both on the battlefield and in the sky, as well as against our port infrastructure. All Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilians must be released and the children abducted by Russia must be returned.’

Zelenskyy wrote that thousands of Ukrainians remain in captivity and must all be released, while adding that pressure on Russia must be maintained while the ‘aggression and occupation continue.’

In a follow-up post, Zelenskyy warned of Russian ‘treachery’ that could lead to attacks in order to gain leverage amid ongoing negotiations.  

‘Based on the political and diplomatic situation around Ukraine, and knowing Russia’s treachery, we anticipate that in the coming days the Russian army may try to increase pressure and strikes against Ukrainian positions in order to create more favorable political circumstances for talks with global actors,’ he wrote. 

Zelenskyy is scheduled to meet with Trump in the White House on Monday as the three nations try and bring an end to the bloodshed.

Trump wrote on Truth Social following the Putin meeting that he felt a peace agreement, rather than a ceasefire, was ultimately the best way to solve the war. Trump had been calling for a ceasefire ahead of his meeting with Putin. 

‘It was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up,’ Trump wrote.

He said if Monday’s meeting with Zelenskyy also goes well, a meeting will be scheduled with Putin and ‘potentially, millions of people’s lives will be saved.’

Zelenskyy’s visit will mark his first return to the Oval Office since February, when Trump berated him publicly for being ‘disrespectful’ during a remarkable press briefing, which led to the collapse of a U.S.-Ukraine minerals deal.

Though a peace agreement was not decided upon during the meeting on Friday, Trump described it as a successful meeting with ‘a lot of progress’ made. Putin expressed similar sentiments, adding the summit was a ‘constructive atmosphere of mutual respect.’

After his meeting with Putin, Trump also spoke to European leaders, who said they back Trump’s peace push but insist Ukraine must have ‘ironclad’ security guarantees to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The European leaders did not address whether a peace deal was preferable to a ceasefire.

‘It will be up to Ukraine to make decisions on its territory. International borders must not be changed by force,’ a statement signed by various leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

‘No limitations should be placed on Ukraine’s armed forces or on its cooperation with third countries. Russia cannot have a veto against Ukraine‘s pathway to EU and NATO.’

During an interview with Fox News before returning to Washington, Trump insisted the onus going forward might be on Zelenskyy ‘to get it done,’ but said there would also be some involvement from European nations.

Fox News’ Elizabeth Pritchett and The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he agreed with Donald Trump’s claim that the war in Ukraine would not have ever even begun if he had not lost the 2020 election and was serving as president when the carnage began, instead of former President Joe Biden.  

‘I can confirm that,’ Putin said at the tail-end of a press conferece that took place Friday evening after the pair met for a summit at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska. 

Trump made the assertion multiple times on the campaign trail, and continued saying it after he took back the White House. Trump has faced pushback on the claim, as well as on claims that Ukraine instigated the war’s inception and the Biden administration failed to do things that could have thwarted it from beginning in the first place.

‘I’d like to add one more thing,’ Putin said, as the two heads of state provided remarks to the press, according to a translation of the Russian president’s address. ‘I’d like to remind you that in 2022, during the last contact with a previous administration, I tried to convince my previous American colleague that the situation should not be brought to a point of no return when it would come to hostilities and I said it quite directly back then that it’s a big mistake. Today, when President Trump is saying that if he was the president back then there would be no war – I am quite sure that it would indeed be so. I can confirm that.’

Earlier in his address, Putin lamented that bilateral relations between the U.S. and Russia, prior to Trump, had ‘fallen to the lowest point since the Cold War,’ and highlighted the fact that there have been no summits between the U.S. and Russia over the last four years.

‘That’s not benefiting our counties and the world as a whole,’ Putin said, adding that it was ‘apparent that sooner or later [U.S. and Russia] had to amend the situation to move on from the confrontation to dialogue.’

Meanwhile, Putin praised Trump for ‘his strive to get to the crux of the matter and to understand this history,’ referring to the backstory surrounding the war. He called the commitment ‘precious.’ 

The Russian president also remarked during his address that he hopes this new chapter of foreign diplomacy under Trump will ‘help us rebuild and foster mutually beneficial and equal ties at this new stage, even during the hardest conditions.’

‘Overall, me and President Trump have built a very good business-like and trustworthy contact, and have every reason to believe that moving down this path we can come to the end of the conflict in Ukraine,’ Putin said Friday. 

The optics of Trump’s meeting with Putin were slammed by critics, who compared the scene Friday to when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Trump at the White House. 

The infamous meeting saw Zelenskyy publicly argue back-and-forth with Trump and other top leaders in the administration, as President Trump criticized the Ukrainian president for his approach to ending the war.

‘Biden could’ve stopped it, Zelenskyy could’ve stopped it, and Putin should’ve never started it,’ Trump said in April about the war in Ukraine.

It was a made-for-TV moment: The two leaders met on the tarmac at Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, Air Force One and two F-35 fighters in the background. As they walked together, overhead came the roar of those F-35s, followed by the low, almost ghostly sweep of a B-2 stealth bomber — a display of U.S. airpower as much as a nod to the Cold War history between the nations.

Hours later, after their closed-door discussions, President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared again — this time on a raised stage, each behind a podium, U.S. and Russian flags flanking both sides, with a blue backdrop behind them that read ‘Pursuing Peace.’ It was the first U.S.-hosted summit between American and Russian presidents on U.S. military soil.

Trump had spent days rehearsing via secure calls with European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, coordinating ‘red lines’ to take into the meeting: no territorial concessions to Russia, Ukraine in the room for all negotiations, and clear conditions for any sanctions relief. Yet, despite the military pomp and the careful stagecraft, what emerged from Alaska was not a deal, but a diplomatic pause — warm words, thin details, and the hard work still ahead.

Putin spoke first, describing the talks as ‘constructive and mutual respect.’ He recalled moments in history when the U.S. and Russia ‘worked together’ and said he sought a ‘long-term settlement.’ He acknowledged Russia’s ‘legitimate concerns’ and said it was ‘very important for our countries to turn the page.’ He described a ‘trustworthy tone’ in the conversation and praised Trump for having ‘a good idea of what he wants.’ In a line clearly aimed at the cameras back home, Putin claimed Trump told him that if he had been president earlier, ‘there would not have been war,’ and confirmed that he believed it was true.

Trump followed, also taking no questions. ‘We had productive meetings,’ he said. ‘Big agreements. No deal until there is a deal.’ He promised to call ‘NATO,’ to ‘call Zelenskyy,’ and declared, ‘We really made great progress today.’ He reminded the audience of his ‘fantastic relationship with Putin’ and judged there was ‘a good chance of getting there,’ even if ‘we’re not there yet.’ Most importantly, Trump said, ‘We need to stop thousands of people being killed every week.’

For all the positive tone, the substance was modest. Putin left Alaska dangling the prospect of a ceasefire — but with strings attached. We know from prior statements that he wants the U.S. to lift certain sanctions and drop tariff threats aimed at countries like India that buy Russian energy. He intends to keep control of two eastern Ukrainian provinces seized in 2022. Likely, Trump did not concede those points, but evidently they agreed to a follow-on meeting ‘soon.’ 

While the flags fluttered in Anchorage, the war did not stop. Russian forces pressed forward modestly near Dobropillia in Donetsk region, testing Ukrainian defenses in what looks like an attempt to improve their tactical position before any pause. Ukraine rushed reinforcements, stabilizing the line for now, but fighting remains intense.

Russia’s long-range bombardment shows no sign of abating. In July alone, Moscow launched more than 70 cruise missiles and thousands of Iranian-made Shahed drones at Ukrainian targets. Ukraine has answered with deep strikes — including a hit on a Russian oil refinery and the bombing of a cargo ship carrying drone parts in the Caspian Sea. Neither side is behaving as if the war’s end is imminent.

That’s why any ceasefire talk must be backed by ironclad verification: neutral observers on the ground, satellite surveillance, clearly mapped lines, and automatic ‘snap-back’ sanctions for violations. Without that, Moscow will have every incentive to rearm under the cover of diplomacy.

If nothing else, Alaska revealed the bottom lines.

For Putin, it’s about locking in territorial gains and relieving the economic pressure eroding his war machine. Rolling back sanctions on countries that help him skirt restrictions would boost his revenues and signal to others that U.S. economic warfare is negotiable.

For Trump, it’s about testing whether Putin can be moved toward de-escalation without sacrificing U.S. credibility. Involving Zelenskyy keeps Ukraine’s fate from being decided in absentia, and reaffirming NATO’s support reassures allies.

For Ukraine, it’s a double-edged sword. A follow-on meeting offers a diplomatic opening, but Putin’s explicit territorial demands remain a political, legal, and moral red line.

Washington must resist trading sanctions relief for vague promises. The sanctions regime is one of the few levers that works, and any easing must be tied to measurable, sustained compliance verified by independent intelligence as well as neutral monitors.

Putin leaves Alaska with the optics of being a willing negotiator — useful for his domestic image — but no immediate relief on sanctions or Western recognition of his land grabs. Expect him to probe Western unity with limited escalations in the next two weeks.

Kyiv has a brief window to reinforce its defenses and prepare a clear case for the next meeting: explicit security guarantees, timetables for arms deliveries, and a non-negotiable stance on sovereignty.

Allied capitals can point to a small win: the U.S. did not cut a side deal. But they must be ready to step up enforcement and fill any gaps if U.S. resolve wavers.

Beijing will study Alaska closely. If the West blinks on sanctions enforcement, it could embolden Chinese adventurism in the Pacific. A unified Western stand would send the opposite message.

If the U.S. wants these ceasefire talks to go anywhere, three steps are essential:

1. Lock in Enforcement MechanismsBuild a monitoring framework that combines neutral observers, allied intelligence, and technological oversight. Make violations costly and automatic to deter cheating.
2. Keep Ukraine at the Center‘No decision about Ukraine without Ukraine’ must remain non-negotiable. Zelensky needs a real voice and veto over any territorial terms.
3. Use Sanctions as Leverage, Not CurrencyAny relief should be phased, conditional, and reversible. Sanctions should be the reward for sustained compliance, not an upfront concession.

The Alaska summit was not the breakthrough some hoped for, but it wasn’t a failure, either. It gave both sides a clearer picture of the negotiating terrain and bought time for positioning. But time favors the side that uses it best.

For the United States, that means holding firm on sanctions, bolstering Ukraine’s defenses, and treating any ceasefire as the start of a rigorous verification process, not the war’s conclusion. For Ukraine, it means preparing for two divergent paths: meaningful diplomacy or intensified conflict. For Russia, it means deciding whether continued war is worth the mounting cost when the West refuses to pay in land.

If Alaska was merely a pause, the next meeting will decide whether it becomes a bridge to peace — or a bridge to nowhere.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday he will travel to Washington, D.C. on Monday to meet with President Donald Trump.

Zelenskyy’s announcement comes a day after Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine.

‘On Monday, I will meet with President Trump in Washington, D.C., to discuss all of the details regarding ending the killing and the war. I am grateful for the invitation,’ Zelenskyy wrote on X.

This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.

As President Donald Trump greeted Russian President Vladimir Putin on the tarmac at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, a B-2 stealth bomber soared overhead, flanked by four F-35 jets. 

Putin looked up at the sky as the planes buzzed overhead while he walked alongside Trump, and then made a comment to the U.S. president. 

The display was as much a symbol as it was a show of force—a pointed reminder of America’s military reach at the very moment the two leaders prepared to discuss the future of global security.

The dramatic arrival underscored the high-stakes nature of the Alaska summit, the first face-to-face meeting between Trump and Putin since Trump’s return to the White House earlier this year. Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, situated just outside Anchorage, was chosen for its robust security, strategic location, and symbolic position—physically closer to Russia than Washington, D.C., yet firmly on American soil.

Onlookers in Anchorage and across social media quickly seized on the moment. Many called it an ‘insane flex,’ noting the B-2 bomber’s recent combat history.

Only two months ago, the stealth aircraft played a central role in U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, dropping bunker-buster bombs in a move that drew both praise and condemnation on the world stage.

The B-2 Spirit, built by Northrop Grumman, is one of the most advanced aircraft ever created—capable of penetrating dense air defenses and striking targets anywhere in the world without refueling. Its distinctive flying-wing design and radar-absorbent coating make it nearly invisible to enemy radar. 

With a range of over 6,000 nautical miles and the ability to carry both conventional and nuclear weapons, the B-2 serves as a critical component of America’s nuclear triad. Only 21 were ever built, and fewer than 20 remain in service, making any public appearance a rare and deliberate statement.

‘Absolutely incredible,’ wrote one X user. Another added, ‘Putin now knows what will be greeting him if he were to ever cross that line that should never be crossed.’

After the brief tarmac ceremony, Putin entered ‘The Beast’ alongside Trump. The heavily armored presidential limousine rolled past a row of American fighter jets lined up in silent formation, their presence another visual reminder of the stakes surrounding the talks.

The two leaders traveled to a secure meeting hall on the base, beginning discussions at about 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time. Trump has said he plans to ‘set the table’ during the meeting for a future summit that includes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. But still, he told Fox News’ Bret Baier he ‘won’t be happy’ if Putin does not agree to a ceasefire in Ukraine. 

Congressional Democrats remained skeptical that any progress toward an end to the war in Ukraine would be made ahead of the meeting between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The high-stakes meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, comes as lawmakers have grown anxious to see an end to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and with many ready to slap a bone-breaking sanctions package on Moscow and its allies unless Putin relents.

But Democrats are not so sure that Trump will yield results in his closed-door meeting with Putin, the first between U.S. and Russian leaders since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

‘I fear this meeting could once again end with America ceding ground to an autocrat who has spent his career undermining democratic values,’ Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., and the top Democrat on the Senate Intel Committee, said.

He warned that there could be no concessions without Ukraine’s involvement, Russia’s withdrawal from Ukrainian territory and ‘enforceable guarantees’ for Ukraine’s security.

‘Anything less would be an invitation for further aggression from Moscow and every autocrat watching to see if the United States still has the backbone to defend the principles that have kept Americans safe since the Second World War,’ he said.  

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., accused Trump of previously ‘playing footsie’ with Putin, but noted that it appeared that the president’s disposition toward his Russian counterpart had shifted.

He added that last year, House Democrats and Republicans worked together to pass another military aid package for Ukraine, and likened it to a ‘Churchill or Chamberlain moment.’

‘We are either going to appease the dictator or we’re going to aggressively oppose the dictator,’ Jeffries said. ‘And as we saw with Chamberlain, appeasing the dictator never works.’

Trump himself sought to set expectations for the summit, telling Fox News Radio earlier this week that there would be a 25% chance that the meeting would end in failure.

And aboard Air Force One, Trump told reporters that he wanted to ‘see a ceasefire rapidly.’

‘I don’t know if it’s going to be today, but I’m not going to be happy if it’s not today,’ he said. ‘Everyone said it can’t be today, but I’m just saying I want the killing to stop.’

The Trump administration has threatened to slap secondary tariffs on India, a major buyer of Russian oil, if the meeting did not go well. That comes after Trump gave Putin a 50-day deadline to reach a ceasefire agreement, which the president recently shortened to ’10 or 12′ days.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Intelligence Committee, told reporters that ‘people have been willing to give the White House and the president the benefit of the doubt.’

‘But if he doesn’t produce anything at this summit, after drawing red line after red line … there will be growing concern and a growing pressure to try and get something done,’ the New Hampshire Democrat said.

One area where many lawmakers in the upper chamber agree is the necessity for a sanctions package against Russia. Currently, Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., have a bill in the works that would slap up to 500% tariffs on countries buying energy products from Moscow.

Blumenthal told MSNBC earlier this week if Trump stood firm and insisted on a ceasefire, Putin come to the table with European leaders and secure security guarantees ‘he has the makings of a potential agreement that could win him the Nobel Peace Prize.’

‘But my fear is that he will be the mercurial Donald Trump who allowed the deadline for sanctions to pass last Friday without any imposition of new levies on Russia, and that he will fail to adhere to those principles adopted yesterday by the European countries in their meeting,’ he said. 

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., is launching an investigation into Meta after reports found that the company green-lit internal rules that allowed AI chatbots to have ‘romantic’ and ‘sensual’ exchanges with children. 

Hawley, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism, wrote in a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg that his committee will dive into whether Meta’s generative-Al products enabled exploitation, deception or other criminal harms to children. Further, the probe will look at whether Meta misled the public or regulators about its safeguards on AI.

‘I already have an ongoing investigation into Meta’s stunning complicity with China — but Zuckerberg siccing his company’s AI chatbots on our kids called for another one,’ Hawley told Fox News Digital. ‘Big Tech will know no boundaries until Congress holds social media outlets accountable. And I hope my colleagues on both sides of the aisle can agree that exploiting children’s innocence is a new low.’

Hawley demanded that the company must produce a trove of materials related to internal policies on the chatbots, communications and more to the panel by Sept. 19.

His announcement on Friday comes after Reuters first reported that Meta, which is the parent company to Facebook, had given the go-ahead to policies on chatbot behavior that allowed the AI to ‘engage a child in conversations that are romantic or sensual.’

Hawley noted that Meta acknowledged the reports and charged that the company ‘made retractions only after this alarming content came to light’ in his letter to Zuckerberg.

‘To take but one example, your internal rules purportedly permit an Al chatbot to comment that an 8-year-old’s body is ‘a work of art’ of which ’every inch… is a masterpiece — a treasure I cherish deeply,’’ he wrote.

‘Similar conduct outlined in these reports is reprehensible and outrageous and demonstrates a cavalier attitude when it comes to the real risks that generative Al presents to youth development absent strong guardrails,’ Hawley continued. ‘Parents deserve the truth, and kids deserve protection.’

A spokesperson for Meta confirmed to Fox News Digital that the document reviewed by Reuters was real but countered that ‘it does not accurately reflect our policies.’ 

‘We have clear policies on what kind of responses AI characters can offer, and those policies prohibit content that sexualizes children and sexualized role play between adults and minors,’ the spokesperson said. ‘Separate from the policies, there are hundreds of examples, notes, and annotations that reflect teams grappling with different hypothetical scenarios. The examples and notes in question were and are erroneous and inconsistent with our policies, and have been removed.’

The document in question, known as the ‘GenAI: Content Risk Standards,’ included over 200 pages of rules that outlined what workers at Meta should consider as acceptable behavior when building and training chatbots and other AI-generative products for the company.

Hawley demanded that the company produce all iterations of the GenAI: Content Risk Standards, all products that fall under the scope of the guidelines, how the guidelines are enforced, risk reviews and incident reports that reference minors, sexual or romantic role-play, in-person meetups, medical advice, self-harm, or criminal exploitation, communications with regulators and a paper trail on who decided and when to revise the standards and what changes were actually made.