The U.S. and its top allies have taken a significant step in removing defense trade restrictions to ensure that technology and equipment can be shared at rapid speed as the AUKUS partnership looks to counter growing Chinese threats in the Indo Pacific.

The ‘historic breakthrough’ means the U.K. and Australia will no longer be subject to strict export license controls under the U.S.’s International Trafficking in Arms Regulations (ITAR) for the ‘majority’ of Washington’s defense technology.

‘We want the U.K. to be the U.S.’s number-one ally, and Australia’s desire is to be the U.S.’s number-one ally in the Pacific,’ a U.K. official familiar with the agreement told Fox News Digital. ‘AUKUS is about us recognizing the threat that China poses and the need for us, as America’s allies, to do everything we can to be part of competing with China in that space.’

A limited number of sensitive items will remain under tight U.S. control, and the U.K. official said this is another area in which the alliance can look to deepen its trust and partnership in the face of growing adversarial aggression. 

‘We’re looking for deep collaboration with the U.S. over the coming period,’ the official said.  ‘Some of the restrictions that remain on the excluded lists will be in those very advanced technologies where the U.S. is still rightly cautious about controlling access to them and really safeguarding the technology. 

‘What we want to do with this new status quo is use it to show that our industry is equally competent of controlling those secrets, equally competent of safeguarding the technology, so we can build even more trust with the U.S., so we can expand this sharing of technology even further,’ the U.K. official added.  

The official could not pinpoint the percentage of U.S. defense weapons and technology that will remain exempt from the latest trade-sharing deal but noted that those exemptions remain only in the ‘far reaches of technology’ on systems involving artificial intelligence, autonomous weaponry and hypersonic weaponry. 

The reform is estimated to cover up to £500 million in U.K. defense exports annually along with billions of dollars of trade across all three nations, which will in turn ‘boost our shared economic growth,’ Fox News Digital was told.

The AUKUS deal comes as the U.S. and the U.K. look to help Australia acquire nuclear-powered submarines as the alliance looks to bolster its defense posture to counter Chinese aggression in the region and beyond. 

‘I think it’s very difficult to overstate how important the submarines are, in terms of the Indo-Pacific and containing China,’ the official told Fox News Digital. ‘Just because they look quite old school, they are still very, very critical to that theater.’

The alliance, which was formed in 2021 specifically to counter Beijing, was received with some frustration and concern among European allies who feared that the U.S. and the U.K. were distancing themselves from Europe at a time when security threats on the continent had reached a level not seen since World War II. 

But Washington and London have pushed back on these arguments, and in speaking with Fox News Digital, the British official highlighted that increasing ties with the U.S. can only help deepen security in theatres across the globe. 

‘The U.K. being a very close ally of the U.S. helps lock the U.K. and the U.S. together in NATO,’ the official argued. ‘I don’t think this does anything to distance us from that. 

‘If anything, it gives us both even better capability and even better interoperability to work together in the Euro-Atlantic area if we needed to do that militarily,’ the official added. 

The House Oversight Committee is investigating Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, and his alleged ‘longstanding connections’ to China and CCP-linked entities, Fox News Digital has learned. 

Fox News Digital exclusively obtained a letter that House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., penned to FBI Director Christopher Wray, notifying the bureau of the committee’s investigation into Walz. 

‘The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is conducting a government-wide investigation into the Chinese Communist Party’s political warfare operations against America and the response from federal agencies,’ he wrote. ‘Vice President Kamala Harris recently announced her vice presidential running mate, Timothy Walz, the current governor of Minnesota.’ 

Comer said that the committee had been briefed by the FBI on April 22 and July 17 — both briefings occurred before Walz was named Harris’ running mate. 

However, Comer said that FBI briefers told the committee that the bureau’s Foreign Influence Task Force ‘investigates exactly the kind of activity that has since come to light about Governor Walz.’ 

Comer is now seeking information about the Chinese entities and officials Walz has ‘engaged and partnered with,’ as well as any ‘warnings or advice the FBI may have given to Governor Walz about U.S. political figures being targeted by or recruited for CCP influence operations.’ 

Comer said Walz has ‘longstanding connections to CCP-connected entities and officials that make him susceptible’ to the CCP’s strategy of ‘elite capture,’ which seeks to co-opt influential figures in elite political, cultural and academic circles to ‘influence the United States to the benefit of the communist regime and the detriment of Americans.’ 

Comer pointed to reports of Walz’s ‘extensive engagement with CCP officials and entities while serving in public office,’ saying it raises questions about ‘possible CCP influence in his decision-making as governor — and, should he be elected, as vice president.’ 

‘Recent reporting reveals that Governor Walz has concerning ties to the People’s Republic of China,’ Comer wrote.

Comer pointed to reports that suggest that while Walz was a teacher in the early 1990s, he organized a trip to China for Alliance High School students, where the costs were reportedly ‘paid by the Chinese government.’  

‘In 1994, Mr. Walz set up a private company named ‘Educational Travel Adventures, Inc.,’ which coordinated annual student trips to the PRC until 2003, and was led by Mr. Walz himself,’ Comer wrote, adding that the corporation was ‘reportedly dissolved four days after he took congressional office in 2007.’ 

Comer also said Walz has traveled to China an estimated ’30 times.’ 

‘In its investigation, the Committee has highlighted the importance of U.S. officials being cognizant of CCP political and psychological warfare efforts that seek to threaten national security,’ Comer wrote. 

Comer then pointed to Walz’s time in Congress, noting he served as a fellow at the Macau Polytechnic University — a Chinese institution that characterizes itself as having a ‘long-held devotion to and love for the motherland.’ 

‘At the time he disclosed serving as a Macau fellow, Mr. Walz also had significant credit card debt,’ Comer wrote, noting that in 2019, Walz headlined the 27th National Convention for the U.S. China Peoples Friendship Association in Minnesota.

‘Governor Walz spoke alongside the president of the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, which, a year later, the Department of State exposed as ‘a Beijing-based organization tasked with co-opting subnational governments,’ including efforts to ‘directly and malignly influence state and local leaders to promote the PRC’s global agenda,’’ Comer wrote. 

Comer said Walz himself has ‘admitted that he does not ‘fall into the category that China necessarily needs to be an adversarial relationship.’’ 

‘Despite bipartisan efforts to identify and defeat CCP unrestricted warfare against America, Governor Walz continues problematic engagement with concerning entities and individuals,’ Comer wrote. 

Comer also pointed to a March 2024 meeting Walz had with Consul General Zhao Jian to discuss ‘China-U.S. relations and sub-national cooperation.’

‘Despite his knowledge and condemnation of communist China’s human rights violations, Governor Walz has said he ‘applaud[s] the accomplishments of the Chinese people and recognize[s] that some in the Chinese Government advocate for greater rule of law,’’ Comer wrote. 

Comer is now requesting that the FBI assist in the committee’s investigation by providing documents and information related to any Chinese entity or individual with whom Walz may have engaged or partnered. 

Comer is also asking for any records between the FBI and Walz, or his gubernatorial office pertaining to warnings or guidance about subnational government officials engaging with the PRC, CCP and the CCP’s proxies. 

Comer, in a statement to Fox News Digital, said ‘the CCP has sought to destroy the United States through coordinated influence and infiltration campaigns that target every aspect of American life, including our own elected officials.’ 

‘Americans should be deeply concerned that Governor Walz, Kamala Harris’s vice-presidential running mate, has a longstanding and cozy relationship with China,’ Comer said. ‘Mr. Walz has visited China dozens of times, served as a fellow at a Chinese institution that maintains a devotion to the CCP, and spoke alongside the President of a Chinese organization the State Department exposed as a CCP effort to influence and co-opt local leaders.’ 

Comer added, ‘FBI briefers recently informed the Committee that the Bureau’s Foreign Influence Task Force investigates CCP activity that is similar to China’s engagement with Governor Walz.’ 

‘The American people deserve to fully understand how deep Governor Walz’s relationship with China goes,’ Comer told Fox News Digital. 

The Harris-Walz campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is denying reports that he sought a position in a hypothetical Democratic administration.

Kennedy was accused this week of reaching out to Democratic presidential nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris’ team to discuss the possibility of working inside a future Cabinet — the claim appeared in a report from the Washington Post.

‘That’s fake news. I didn’t ask Kamala Harris for a Cabinet position but I’ve reached out to all the candidates. I’ve met with some,’ Kennedy told guests during his ‘TikTok Town Hall’ live-streamed event.

The independent candidate claimed that he had met with all other candidates in the presidential election — specifically mentioning a meeting with Libertarian Party candidate Chase Oliver.

‘I wanted to meet with all the candidates to talk about dampening down the rhetoric and unifying our country and also talk about some of the issues — ending the wars, et cetera.’

Kennedy said he wasn’t sure he would be able to serve in a Harris-Walz administration unless ‘a lot of different changes’ were made.

‘The other candidates have met with me, Kamala Harris has said she doesn’t want to,’ Kennedy said. ‘I believe it would be tough for me to work with their administration unless they committed to a lot of different changes.’

The report from the Washington Post on Wednesday claimed Kennedy — whose long-shot bid for president took a hit earlier this week when a judge ruled his name should not appear on New York’s ballot — sought out a meeting with Harris in hopes of landing a potential Cabinet secretary position in her future administration. 

Kennedy was previously recorded on video speaking to former President Trump during a meeting at last month’s convention in Milwaukee, in which Trump appeared to allude to potential positions in his administration.

Nevertheless, Kennedy has continued to campaign and make regular media appearances with the expectation that he can win the election, the report notes, though he has left open the possibility of meeting with or getting out of the way of either Harris or Trump if they share an openness about his vision for the country.

Polling has shown Kennedy is one of the most disruptive independent candidates in decades in both breadth of appeal and commitment of his supporters.

Fox News Digital’s Michael Lee contributed to this report.

A partnership between Russia and Iran is allegedly deepening, according to the Pentagon.

In a press conference on Thursday, Deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh responded to a journalist’s question regarding a recent meeting between leaders of the two nations.

‘So I can’t speculate on, you know, on that visit, I would say that I think, separately, we’ve seen a deepening cooperation and relationship between Russia and Iran as Russia continues to, engage in its unlawful war in Ukraine,’ said Singh. 

‘So, you know, we’ve we’ve seen that deepening partnership.’

‘We’ve seen Russia continue to seek weapons out from Iran. While I can speculate on what this visit entails, you know, we’ve seen these visits of leaders, happen over the course of the last two years,’ Singh added.

Russia has recently promised missile support to Iran after a visit by a defense minister to the Middle Eastern nation.

Singh clarified, ‘in terms of how this plays, you know, into the Middle East. Look, Iran has a choice. I think we’ve been very clear in our messaging when it comes to the defense of Israel. We are going to stand in the defense of Israel just as we did, you know, on April 13th.’

The United States has recently expanded its presence in the Middle East, sending the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group to the region.

According to the Pentagon, it is unclear exactly where these additional American defense resources will be located.

Vice President Kamala Harris’ supporters want her to keep in line with President Biden on some policy points but not others, several of them said Thursday.

Fox News Digital spoke with Democrats who turned out at Prince George’s Community College in Maryland for Biden and Harris’ first joint appearance since she became the party’s presidential nominee.

Their speech came hours after an Axios report said Harris wants to create ‘distance’ between her own campaign and Biden on the economy, which he had struggled with in terms of approval ratings for much of his term.

‘I would say there are some things that, you know, that were going well, and there are some things that are needing to change,’ said Harris supporter Brian Galbraith.

However, he pointed out that the poor economic and inflationary outlook that plagued the first half of Biden’s term was a global phenomenon after the COVID-19 pandemic, rather than something directly caused by his policies.

‘While we have been impacted significantly by the recent inflation, we need to take a look around and realize that everywhere has been. So, no matter who, Democrat or Republican, I think we still would have been facing these issues,’ he said.

Another voter named Constance suggested she was happy with Biden’s economic policy but wanted to see Harris lean more into voter access issues.

‘I want to see her try to follow some of his, but I also want to see her come into her own, like kind of a combination,’ Constance said. ‘I want to continue to see the economy do well. I want [Harris] to really focus on voting rights and human rights.’

Other Harris supporters suggested there were issues outside the economy they wanted to see the vice president diverge on.

‘There are things that I would like to see her change,’ another woman said. ‘I would like her to make it easier for immigrants to enter the country legally. I think there are a lot of poverty reduction programs that we need to have in place.’

A speech attendee who identified herself as Arvia Ross told Fox News Digital, ‘I’d like to see her [distance herself]. … I would like to see her have a mind of her own on certain things.’

Harris supporters Johnny and Nicolas also wanted Harris to mix her own ideas in with the line Democrats have been toeing.

‘I think it should be a combination of both,’ Johnny said. ‘I think she can bring her own ideas to the table.’

The latter told Fox News Digital, ‘She’s free to include her own policies … not following the line of leadership and whatnot. But I know for the party and as a Democrat, a Democrat has certain policies that need to be focused on, so it should be a mix of the two.’

Harris and Biden appeared together Thursday to roll out the administration’s strategy for Medicare drug price cuts.

Biden was met with chants of ‘Thank you, Joe’ when he and Harris took the stage.

Earlier, Biden told Fox News White House reporter Peter Doocy Harris is ‘not going to’ distance herself from his economic policies when asked whether it bothers him that she would do so.

Vice President Kamala Harris could be ‘playing politics’ by allowing her subordinates to take the lead on her making major policy shifts, rather than pushing them herself, a Republican strategist says.

Unnamed officials have announced Harris’ new stances, reversing positions she had previously stated on issues such as fracking and ‘Medicare for All,’ but Harris herself has not yet publicly addressed these changes.

While the Harris campaign appears to be pushing a reworked agenda, one political strategist told Fox News Digital that ‘anonymous, on background campaign staffers do not take public policy positions, candidates and elected officials do.’

Dallas Woodhouse, State Director for American Majority-North Carolina, a nonprofit conservative training organization, said that Americans should assume that every position taken by Harris during her previous presidential campaign for President and the positions taken by the Biden-Harris administration are exactly hers today, ‘until she herself explains otherwise.’ 

‘The American public will never accept a candidate changing all their stated positions from just a few years ago without thorough examination and explanation,’ he added.

Harris advisers recently told Axios that ‘Harris doesn’t want to be completely defined by the Biden-Harris record.’ The publication reported that she is seeking to distance herself from Biden on several issues, including his economic policies.

Fox News Digital asked the Harris campaign if she plans to personally announce her new stance on the key issues but did not receive an immediate response.

These are some of the major issues on which she has reversed or walked back her views.

1. Fracking

Harris said during her first presidential bid in 2019 that she would ban fracking if elected – a key issue among a critical voting bloc in battleground states like Pennsylvania.

‘There’s no question I’m in favor of banning fracking, I have a history of working on this issue,’ Harris said in 2020.

Republicans, including former President Trump, have used her past comments on the issue to blast her in several campaign ads since she launched her 2024 campaign.

But campaign officials for the Democratic nominee are now saying that Harris will not ban fracking if she’s elected president.

2. ‘Medicare for All’

Harris published a plan for ‘Medicare for All’ during her 2019 presidential election, writing that her goal was to ‘end these senseless attacks on Obamacare’ and that she believes ‘health care should be a right, not a privilege only for those who can afford it. It’s why we need Medicare for All.’

‘The idea is that everyone gets access to medical care. And you don’t have to go through the process of going through an insurance company, having them give you approval, going through the paperwork all of the delay that may require. Let’s eliminate that,’ Harris wrote in 2019.

Additionally, then-Senator Harris cosponsored Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Medicare for All Act of 2019.

Despite her past support, a campaign official told Fox News senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy that Harris will not push the subject of ‘Medicare-for-all’ this cycle.

Colin Reed, a Republican strategist, previous campaign manager, and co-founder of South and Hill Strategies, expressed skepticism regarding the credibility of Harris’ recent policy change.

‘When Vice President Harris ran for the White House five years ago, she was a sitting U.S. Senator and the former attorney general of the largest state in the nation. In other words, an extremely accomplished individual with plenty of time on the national stage to form opinions on the big issues,’ Reed told Fox. ‘The idea that she could, over the span of five years, just change her tune on a dime on a slew of major big ticket items strains credulity,’

Reed said her shift on Medicare For All ‘would cost $44 trillion dollars – more than our entire $35 trillion dollar national debt.’

‘Either she was wrong then or is playing politics now, and voters will figure it out whenever she decides to answer questions in an unscripted setting.’

3. No Taxes on Tips

Under the current Biden-Harris Internal Revenue Service rules, taxpayers must report all tip money as income on their tax returns. Harris has supported measures that allowed the IRS to track and tax workers’ tips and even cast a tie-breaking vote in 2022 to pass legislation that increased IRS funding for this exact purpose. 

However, Harris recently said that she supports ending taxes on tips for service worker employees – an idea floated earlier this summer by Trump, who received plenty of positive feedback.

‘We’ll continue our fight for working families of America,’ Harris said at a recent campaign rally. ‘Including minimum wage, and eliminate taxes on tips for service and hospitality workers.’

4. The Border Crisis

Vice President Kamala Harris has previously supported rolling back Trump-era border policies but is taking a stronger position on the southern border crisis this election cycle.

When record numbers of migrants were coming through the border in 2022, Harris said that ‘the border is secure,’ during an appearance on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press.’

Harris was criticized by border state Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, shortly thereafter, who told CNN that ‘the border is not secure.’

Harris is now making border security a top priority for her 2024 campaign, talking tough on the campaign trail and suggesting in a new campaign ad titled, ‘Tougher,’ that more needs to be done.

‘Fixing the border is tough, so is Kamala Harris,’ a voice in the ad can be heard saying. 

‘Kamala Harris has spent decades fighting violent crime. As a border state prosecutor, she took on drug cartels and jailed gang members for smuggling weapons and drugs across the border,’ a narrator says. ‘As vice president, she backed the toughest border control bill in decades. And as president, she will hire thousands more border agents and crack down on fentanyl and human trafficking.’

Lawyers for former President Trump are requesting his sentencing hearing in New York v. Trump be delayed until after the November presidential election, citing ‘naked election-interference objectives.’ 

Trump was found guilty in an unprecedented criminal trial on all counts of falsifying business records in the first degree, following a six-week trial stemming from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation.

Trump has moved to overturn his criminal conviction in the Manhattan case after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a former president has substantial immunity for official acts committed while in office. 

His initial sentencing was set for July 11 — just days before the Republican National Convention, where he was set to be formally nominated as the 2024 GOP presidential nominee, but Judge Juan Merchan agreed to delay that until Sept. 18. 

Trump attorney Todd Blanche on Thursday moved to further delay that sentencing hearing. 

‘The Court should adjourn any sentencing in this case, though one should not be necessary because dismissal and vacatur of the jury’s verdicts are required based on Presidential immunity, until after the 2024 Presidential election,’ Blanche wrote in a letter to Merchan. 

Blanche argued that the case ‘should be dismissed’ and pointed to the fact that Vice President Kamala Harris, in her capacity as the Democratic presidential nominee, and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, in his capacity as the Democratic vice presidential nominee, ‘wrongly referred to this case in a public speech.’ 

Blanche also pointed to Merchan’s daughter’s work at Authentic Campaigns, which represents top Democratic candidates. 

‘Sentencing is currently scheduled to occur after the commencement of early voting in the Presidential election,’ Blanche wrote. ‘By adjourning sentencing until after the election — which is of paramount importance to the entire nation, including tens of millions of people who do not share the views of Authentic, its executives, and its clients — the Court would reduce, even if not eliminate, issues regarding the integrity of any future proceedings.’ 

Blanche stressed that there is no need ‘to rush.’ 

‘Setting aside naked election-interference objectives, there is no valid countervailing reason for the Court to keep the current sentencing date on the calendar,’ Blanche wrote. ‘There is no basis for continuing to rush.’ 

He added, ‘Accordingly, we respectfully request that any sentencing, if one is needed, be adjourned until after the Presidential election.’ 

In his arguments for dismissal, Blanche argued that Bragg offered official acts evidence during the six-week-long unprecedented criminal trial. Blanche said that included official White House communications with staffers like Hope Hicks, Madeleine Westerhout and others. 

The Supreme Court ruled in Trump v. United States that a former president has substantial immunity from prosecution for official acts in office but not for unofficial acts. The high court said Trump is immune from criminal prosecution for ‘official acts’ but left it to the lower court to determine exactly where the line between official and unofficial is.

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. tried to meet with Vice President Kamala Harris to discuss the possibility of him dropping out of the race and endorsing her in exchange for a position in her administration.

Kennedy, whose long-shot bid for president took a hit earlier this week when a judge ruled his name should not appear on New York’s ballot, sought out the meeting with Harris in hopes of landing a potential Cabinet secretary position in her future administration, according to a report from the Washington Post.

Harris and her campaign have yet to respond with an offer to meet the independent candidate, the report notes, nor have they shown any interest in entertaining his proposal.

The longshot contender’s outreach was made through intermediaries, and comes after Kennedy made similar overtures to former President Trump during a meeting at last month’s convention in Milwaukee, which also resulted in no agreement between the two sides.

Kennedy, who polling has shown as one of the most disruptive independent candidates in decades, could be looking to leverage his position and drop out of the race, throwing his weight and considerable pull with his supporters behind the candidate who will allow him to continue having an influence past the election.

Nevertheless, Kennedy has continued to campaign and make regular media appearances with the expectation that he can win the election, the report notes, though he has left open the possibility of meeting with or getting out of the way of either Harris or Trump if they share an openness for his vision for the country.

‘From the beginning of this campaign, we were saying people should be talking to each other,’ Kennedy told the Washington Post. ‘That is the only way of unifying the country.’

Kennedy also expressed hope that Harris would reconsider his offer to meet, arguing that it is a ‘strategic mistake’ for the Democrat’s campaign.

‘That’s my perspective,’ Kennedy said. ‘I think they ought to be looking at every opportunity. I think it is going to be a very close race.’

The independent candidate would later take to social media, saying in a post on X Thursday that he has no intention of endorsing Harris.

‘VP Harris’s Democratic Party would be unrecognizable to my father and uncle and I cannot reconcile it with my values,’ Kennedy said in the post. ‘I have no plans to endorse Kamala Harris for President. I do have a plan to defeat her.’

Meanwhile, speculation continues that Kennedy and the Trump campaign could come to an agreement to bring the independent candidate into the fold. According to the Washington Post, the independent candidate was spotted at a hotel not far from Trump’s florida home and campaign headquarters.

Speaking to the Washington Post on the condition of anonymity, Trump campaign advisers said that they are in touch with Kennedy’s senior team and that there is an expectation he will drop out and throw his support behind the former president.

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.

Kennedy also noted he has had no contact with the Democratic Party since launching his independent campaign, which sparked a legal battle with the Democratic National Committee in an attempt to derail his and other third party campaigns.

‘The only contact I have with the DNC is them suing me through intermediaries,’ Kennedy told the Washington Post.

Reached for comment, the Kennedy campaign referred Fox News Digital to his Thursday post.

The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.