White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday pushed back on a reporter who asked for examples of when the president had been ‘falsely called racist.’

‘Yesterday, in his statement about Jesse Jackson, the president said ‘despite the fact that I’m falsely and consistently called a racist by the scoundrels and lunatics and the radical left Democrats all, it was always my pleasure to help Jesse along the way.’ Where or when does the president believe he’s been falsely called racist?’ the reporter asked.

Leavitt responded to the reporter in disbelief and asked if he was ‘kidding,’ to which the reporter replied that he was not.

‘I will pull you [a] plethora of examples. I’m going to get my team in that room to start, going through the Internet of radical Democrats throughout the years and who have accused this president falsely of being a racist. And I’m sure there’s many people in this room and on network television across the country who have accused him of the same. In fact, I know that because I’ve seen it with my own eyes,’ Leavitt said.

The press secretary noted that the president was scheduled on Wednesday to hold an event marking Black History Month. Additionally, she listed a number of policy accomplishments aimed at benefiting both the Black community and Americans as a whole, such as the administration’s commitment to funding Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and the establishment of Trump accounts.

‘So, there is a lot this president has done for all Americans, regardless of race, and he has absolutely been falsely called and smeared as a racist. And I’m happy to provide you those receipts, and we gladly will right after this briefing,’ Leavitt added.

The reporter was referring to President Donald Trump’s post regarding the death of Reverend Jesse Jackson, who died on Tuesday at the age of 84. The president, who posted several pictures of himself with Jackson, remembered the late reverend as a ‘good man with lots of personality, grit and ‘street smarts” before making the remarks about being falsely labeled as a racist.

Trump noted that he supported and ‘provided office space’ for Jackson and the reverend’s civil rights organization, the Rainbow PUSH Coalition. Additionally, Trump said that he had responded to Jackson’s ‘request for help getting criminal justice reform passed and signed, when no other president would even try.’ The president also touted his own work to secure long-term funding for HBCUs.

‘Jesse was a force of nature like few others before him,’ Trump said before seemingly taking a swipe at the reverend over his support of former President Barack Obama’s candidacy.

‘He loved his family greatly, and to them I send my deepest sympathies and condolences. Jesse will be missed!’ Trump added.

The president has often faced accusations of racism from prominent Democrats, including his most recent predecessor, former President Joe Biden. Trump has long pushed back against the notion, highlighting his relationships with prominent Black figures during his celebrity days and his policy moves during his time as president.

A pair of House Republicans could soon mount an effort to force a chamber-wide vote on sanctioning Russia for its war in Ukraine after months of back-and-forth between the House, Senate and White House yielded little movement on the issue.

‘This coming week, Brian Fitzpatrick’s sanctions bill…ripens, so we can actually submit it as a discharge petition on Monday or Tuesday, and I’ll sign that,’ Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., told Fox News Digital. 

‘But it’s got to start from scratch,’ he added. ‘We’ve got to get 218 signatures on it, and so that has a lot more work to do there, but it’s a really good bill that Brian has worked on both sides of the aisle to get it right. And I think it’s one that could have support in the Senate.’

A discharge petition is a mechanism for forcing a vote on legislation over the objections of House majority leadership. Historically, they’re a rarely used measure, given the petition needs signatures from a majority of House lawmakers — and most members of the party in power are traditionally wary of crossing their leaders in that way.

But for Bacon, it’s a matter of right versus wrong that he believes will be remembered for years to come.

‘Someday in the history books, it’s going to read which leaders stood up, which ones were [Winston Churchills] and which ones were [Neville Chamberlains]. Chamberlain gave away land in Czechoslovakia to appease Hitler. And Hitler said all he wanted was the Sudetenland, and then a year later, he invaded the rest of Czechoslovakia. Then a year later he invaded Poland,’ Bacon said.

‘We’ve got to know a bad guy when we see one, and [Russian President Vladimir Putin] is a bad guy. He’s made clear, it’s not just about Ukraine. He wants to regain the rest of what the Soviet Union had. And so history is being written, and I want to be on the right side. I hope every Republican does.’

Fitzpatrick introduced a bill in December aimed at sanctioning the Russian Federation if it refuses to negotiate a peace agreement with Ukraine or violates any existing peace agreement that may have been instituted.

The latest congressional record, dated Tuesday, appears to show Fitzpatrick introduced a resolution geared toward fast-tracking that bill onto the floor. His office did not respond to requests for an interview.

A source familiar with the lawmakers’ planning told Fox News Digital, however, that he and Bacon would give House GOP leaders ‘one last chance’ to hold a vote on Russia sanctions. The source said Fitzpatrick was also directly communicating with the White House regarding a House vote on the measure.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has said on multiple occasions that he supports sanctioning Russia for its war on Ukraine but that any sanctions bill must originate in the Senate. However, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said earlier this year that the process must start in the House.

The Trump administration has already imposed some sanctions on Russian entities, primarily targeting its vast oil and gas sector, but Ukraine advocates have said it’s not enough to significantly hamstring Moscow’s war machine.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who is leading the sanctions effort in the Senate, told Semafor that Congress was still waiting on the green light from President Donald Trump himself.

Bacon also acknowledged that a discharge petition is inherently an uphill battle, telling Fox News Digital, ‘There’s two things working against us.’

‘One, you know, it’s not normal for members of the majority to do a discharge petition because we have the majority, but I also know the political realities that Mike Johnson is under,’ Bacon said, noting the slim House GOP majority and Trump’s influence. ‘Second, I know a lot of folks don’t want to get in front of President Trump, but I think he’s failing in this area.’

‘I mean, [former President Joe Biden] was weak on Ukraine-Russia. I mean he sent a lot of aid. It was always late, tardy…and they had rules of engagement. He was trying to make Ukraine fight with one arm tied behind its back, but I find Trump has done even less. When you look at the amount of aid that we’ve provided, it’s like 1% of what we were doing under Biden. Now, granted, I know he’s selling weapons to NATO countries, and they’re giving it to Ukraine, but we should be doing so much more.’

But he sounded optimistic that their discharge petition — and another similar measure on sending more aid to Ukraine that both he and Fitzpatrick have joined Democrats on — will get enough GOP support to prevail. The Democrat bill, led by Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., needs just one more GOP signature to force a vote.

‘We’ve got one [Republican] on the fence, thinking about it, and we have one that wants to wait until the primary is done. So we’re talking a month or two months. But I wish we had it tomorrow. Ukrainians are dying every day. And so, to me, the necessity of getting this done soon is very clear to me,’ Bacon said.

The U.S. took aim at Nicaragua’s regime over alleged human rights violations, announcing a designation against a prison official.

‘Today I’m designating Nicaraguan Prison Director Roberto Clemente Guevara Gómez for his involvement in gross violations of human rights,’ Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a post on X. ‘We continue to call for accountability for the crimes committed by the Murillo-Ortega dictatorship and urge for the immediate, unconditional release of all unjustly detained political prisoners in Nicaragua.’

The U.S. Embassy in Nicaragua also announced the designation, clarifying that it was done under Section 7031(c) of the Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act, 2024 ‘for his involvement in a gross violation of human rights of a political prisoner.’ The embassy added that the U.S. was calling for ‘the immediate, unconditional release of all unjustly detained political prisoners in Nicaragua.’

In December, the embassy announced actions taken by the United States Trade Representative (USTR) under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 in response to ‘Nicaragua’s acts, policies, and practices related to abuses of labor rights, abuses of human rights and fundamental freedoms, and dismantling of the rule of law.’ In making the decision, the USTR considered more than 2,000 public comments and consulted with government agency experts and USTR cleared advisors.

The move meant that starting Jan. 1, 2026, the U.S. would impose a phased-in tariff over the course of two years that would impact all Nicaraguan goods that ‘are not originating under the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR).’ The tariff started at 0% on Jan 1., 2026, and is set to grow to 10% by Jan. 1, 2027 and then 15% by Jan. 1, 2028, the embassy said, adding that any tariff would be imposed in addition to the existing 18% reciprocal tariff.

‘Should Nicaragua show a lack of progress in addressing these issues, this timeline and these rates may be modified,’ the embassy added.

The Trump administration has taken tougher action in the Western Hemisphere in recent months, starting with the Jan. 3, 2026, capture of Venezuela’s dictatorial leader Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. 

Fox News Digital reached out to the State Department for comment.

As U.S.-backed negotiations between Russia and Ukraine in Geneva ended without a breakthrough, Kyiv made gains on the battlefield, recapturing territory at its fastest pace in years through localized counterattacks along the southeastern front.

The advances come as analysts point to disruptions in Russian battlefield communications and shifting operational dynamics, developments that could strengthen Ukraine’s leverage even as talks remain stalled.

Ukrainian forces retook about 78 square miles over five days, according to a report by Agence France-Presse based on an analysis of the Institute for the Study of War battlefield mapping. The gains represent Kyiv’s most rapid territorial advances since its 2023 counteroffensive in the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions.

Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Richard Newton said Ukraine’s battlefield performance should not be underestimated. ‘As this war grinds on, the world too often forgets that Ukraine’s determination, innovation and moral clarity are force multipliers. Its ability to defend against a larger, better-resourced enemy should never be counted out,’ Newton told Fox News Digital. ‘There are growing signs that Russia’s supposed invincibility is no longer a safe assumption, particularly as pressure increases on the Kremlin and its partners.’

The fighting has centered east of Zaporizhzhia, where Russian forces have steadily advanced since mid-2025. Open-source battlefield monitoring and mapping indicate Ukrainian troops pushed forward around Huliaipole and nearby settlements, though analysts caution the front remains fluid, and some areas are not fully secured, The Telegraph reported.

The Institute for the Study of War assessed in mid-February that the counterattacks appear to be exploiting disruptions in Russian command-and-control. ISW said Ukrainian forces are likely leveraging limits affecting Russian battlefield communications, including reported restrictions tied to the use of Starlink satellite terminals and messaging platforms cited in open-source reporting.

Analysts say reduced connectivity can create short windows for Ukrainian units to move through contested zones that are typically dominated by drone surveillance and electronic warfare. ISW and other observers emphasize that such opportunities are temporary and do not signal a broader collapse in Russian defenses.

The evolving fight is also shaped by the growing role of drones. In a Feb. 10 special report, ISW said Russia’s expanding use of first-person-view drones reflects a campaign to ‘weaponize and institutionalize intentional civilian harm as a purposeful tool of war,’ warning the tactic is becoming embedded in operational doctrine and could influence future conflicts.

Despite the recent gains, analysts caution against viewing the developments as a decisive shift in the war. Newton argued that sustained Western military support remains essential. ‘Putin responds to force,’ he said. ‘The United States and Europe should continue providing Ukraine with both defensive and offensive capabilities, including long-range systems capable of striking deep inside Russia.’

Retired Vice Adm. Robert S. Harward said battlefield gains are increasingly tied to diplomacy. ‘Both sides are trying to use battlefield advances to strengthen their position at the negotiating table,’ Harward said. ‘It’s a sign neither side is ready to strike a deal yet.’

Harward pointed to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s stated willingness to hold elections following a ceasefire as evidence Kyiv is signaling flexibility, while Moscow continues to press its demands. ‘If a lasting and fair diplomatic agreement is achievable, the current U.S. team is well-positioned to help deliver it,’ he said. ‘But negotiations must be paired with sustained pressure on Russia and its partners.’

Nearly two years after Ukraine’s last major offensive stalled, the war remains defined by incremental territorial changes rather than sweeping breakthroughs. Both sides continue to rely heavily on drones, artillery and electronic warfare, with front lines shifting village by village.

‘As U.S.-led talks continue, it is critical to increase pressure on Putin to end the war on terms that restore deterrence and prevent further aggression,’ Newton said.

The House Oversight Committee is hearing from a billionaire on Wednesday who was named one of Jeffrey Epstein’s co-conspirators by a 2019 FBI document.

Les Wexner is the latest person to be deposed in the House’s investigation into the federal government’s handling of Epstein’s case. 

He told House investigators that he was ‘conned’ by the late pedophile and that he had no knowledge of or participation in his crimes, according to an opening statement obtained by Fox News Digital.

‘Let me state from the start: I was naïve, foolish, and gullible to put any trust in Jeffrey Epstein. He was a con man. And while I was conned, I have done nothing wrong and have nothing to hide. I completely and irrevocably cut ties with Epstein nearly twenty years ago when I learned that he was an abuser, a crook, and a liar,’ Wexner’s statement read.

‘I was never a participant nor coconspirator in any of Epstein’s illegal activities. To my enormous embarrassment and regret, I, like many others, was duped by a world-class con man. I cannot undo that part of my personal history even as I regret ever having met him.’

He also said his ‘heart goes out’ to the young women and girls who fell victim to Epstein over the years.

The billionaire fashion mogul painted himself as a husband, father, and grandfather who sought to live ‘in an ethical manner in line with my moral compass, devoting time and energy to my faith, my community, my business, my L Brands associates, and my family and friends.’

Unlike most previous depositions, committee staff and lawmakers traveled to Ohio on Wednesday morning to depose Wexner in his home state.

A spokesperson for Wexner declined to comment on whether he would invoke his Fifth Amendment right to avoid answering questions. But his insight is likely to be key to unlocking information on just how Epstein obtained his vast wealth before dying by suicide in a Manhattan jail in 2019.

The 88-year-old businessman is the founder of L Brands, formerly called The Limited, through which he acquired well-known companies Victoria’s Secret, Bath & Body Works, Express, and Abercrombie & Fitch, among others.

He was also one of Epstein’s first major clients as a financial advisor, with Epstein being granted power of attorney over Wexner’s vast wealth.

Wexner also sold his Manhattan townhouse to Epstein, which was later discovered to be one of the locations where federal authorities accused Epstein of abusing young women and girls under 18.

He told House investigators that he was introduced to Epstein in the 1980s by a fellow executive, and that two subsequent people at his former employer Bear Stearns ‘endorsed Epstein without hesitation’ as a financial advisor.

Wexner said Epstein was also ‘highly recommended’ by Elie de Rothschild for work Epstein did for his family.

‘At first, Epstein was unwilling to take me on as a client. In fact, for the first few years I was acquainted with him, Epstein offered me advice here and there while explaining that giving individual financial advice was not his focus and refusing to accept compensation. He said he was assisting me as a favor. Little did I realize that, from the very start, Epstein was conniving to gain my trust,’ Wexner said.

Wexner also claimed he began paying Epstein for his work as his wealth grew and signed over power of attorney to him while his own work was largely occupied by running his businesses. But he maintained he knew nothing of what he called Epstein’s ‘double life.’

‘He was clever, diabolical, and a master manipulator. He was meticulous in revealing to me only glimpses into the life in which he was a sophisticated financial guru who consulted with heads of state, high-ranking politicians, royalty, university presidents, professors, CEOs, musicians, and other luminaries,’ Wexner said.

‘While I did not socialize in Epstein’s social circle, he often told me about his famous acquaintances and important positions he held, and at times I experienced what seemed to be random chance encounters, probably orchestrated by Epstein, with prominent individuals who said they knew Epstein. Over the course of many years, he carefully used his acquaintance with important individuals to curate an aura of legitimacy that he then used to expand his network of acquaintances, and apparent credibility, even farther.’

Wexner said Epstein ‘fully hid’ his crimes and ‘knew that I never would have tolerated his horrible behavior,’ nor did he ever see Epstein in the company of a minor.

Wexner has never been criminally accused nor charged in relation to the late pedophile’s crimes.

A letter from Wexner to his Wexner Foundation charity dated Aug. 7, 2019, said he ended his relationship with Epstein sometime after the first federal investigation into his crimes emerged nearly 20 years ago.

Wexner also accused Epstein of misusing his vast wealth.

‘As the allegations against Mr. Epstein in Florida were emerging, he vehemently denied them. But by early fall 2007, it was agreed that he should step back from the management of our personal finances. In that process, we discovered that he had misappropriated vast sums of money from me and my family,’ read the letter, obtained by Fox News Digital on Tuesday.

‘This was, frankly, a tremendous shock, even though it clearly pales in comparison to the unthinkable allegations against him now. With his credibility and our trust in him destroyed, we immediately severed ties with him. We were able to recover some of the funds.’

Wexner is the fourth person appearing before the House Oversight Committee in its Epstein probe.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., previously oversaw the panel through the depositions of former Trump administration Attorney General Bill Barr, ex-Trump Labor Secretary Alex Acosta, who was the U.S. attorney in Florida who signed off on Epstein’s infamous 2008 non-prosecution agreement, and convicted Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.

Maxwell’s deposition lasted less than an hour after she invoked the Fifth Amendment, refusing to answer questions unless she was granted clemency by President Donald Trump.

As the possibility of U.S. military action against Iran looms, former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene asserted in a post on X that Americans do not want the U.S. to wage war against the Islamic Republic.

‘Americans do not want to go to war with Iran!!!’ Greene exclaimed in the post.

‘They want to be able to afford their lives and get ahead. They want to be happy and enjoy life. They want their government to put elite pedos in jail. And they voted for NO MORE FOREIGN WARS AND NO MORE REGIME CHANGE,’ she added.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.

Greene, who had previously been a longtime, staunch supporter of President Donald Trump’s, had a major falling out with the president last year and left office early last month in the middle of her House term.

Trump has been pressuring Iran to make a deal to give up its nuclear weapons ambitions.

After meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week, Trump said in a Truth Social post that he ‘insisted that negotiations with Iran continue to see whether or not a Deal can be consummated.’

‘If it can, I let the Prime Minister know that will be a preference,’ he wrote.

‘If it cannot, we will just have to see what the outcome will be. Last time Iran decided that they were better off not making a Deal, and they were hit with Midnight Hammer — That did not work well for them. Hopefully this time they will be more reasonable and responsible,’ Trump declared in the post.

Senate Republicans are hoping to move full steam ahead on Trump-backed voter ID legislation, but there’s one problem — the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is still shut down.

Though negotiations between Senate Democrats and the White House are still ongoing, albeit at a molasses-like pace, there is no clear sign that a deal will be struck before lawmakers return to Washington, D.C., next week.

Reopening the agency will be front and center in the Senate, meaning other priorities, like the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, will be sidelined.

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, who has led the charge in the Senate to build support around the SAVE America Act, hoped the bill would be on the floor as soon as the day after President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address next week.

But he acknowledged that ending the partial shutdown would likely take precedence.

‘That’s the problem with taking a weeklong recess when they’ve shut down not just a department, but an entire department — and a particularly big department,’ Lee said.

‘That’s valuable time lost. As far as the objective of getting us to turn to this next week shortly after we get back, that seems less possible in light of the fact that that happened,’ he continued.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., guaranteed that the voter ID legislation would get a vote. It’s just a matter of when, given the uncertainty surrounding DHS.

‘My job is to try and do the best to ensure that we’re making the most, doing, getting the most we can out of the opportunity we have here,’ Thune told Fox News Digital.

The SAVE America Act is riding high on a fresh wave of momentum in the Senate, with 50 Republicans, including Thune, backing it. That means it can move through at least one key procedural hurdle.

‘If we’re still in a shutdown, that obviously will have some bearing on what we decide, how we decide to schedule the floor,’ he continued.

The most valuable asset in the upper chamber is floor time, given the number of procedural hoops any legislation or nominee has to jump through to get passed or confirmed.

And one of the first actions lawmakers will take when they return — unless a deal is struck between now and Monday — is to again vote on a full-year DHS funding bill, according to the current floor schedule in the upper chamber.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and nearly every Senate Democrat blocked that bill and a short-term funding extension before lawmakers left town last week.

Trump told reporters earlier this week that the current DHS closure was a ‘Democrat shutdown, Republicans have nothing to do with it.’

He also suggested that Democrats were in their shutdown posture because, among other issues, they rejected voter ID and proof of citizenship to vote. 

‘If you have voter ID, if you have proof of citizenship, they could never get elected, and they know that,’ Trump said. 

There are other issues in the Senate that need attention, too, Thune noted. Confirming more of Trump’s judicial nominees and putting a raft of bipartisan housing legislation that passed through the House on the floor are top of mind for the top Senate Republican.

Still, Lee was hopeful that once the DHS situation was resolved, the SAVE America Act would be next in line.

‘What I hope we’ll do is get back, turn — perhaps immediately — to DHS funding and make [Democrats] continue to vote, continue to object to unanimous consent requests to pass some kind of funding mechanism, and keep making them vote over and over again until we get something like that passed,’ Lee said. ‘And then as soon thereafter as possible, turn to SAVE America.’

A newly proposed bill by House Republicans would cement President Donald Trump’s energy agenda by taking a sledgehammer to a vast array of his Democrat predecessor’s regulations.

Rep. Craig Goldman, R-Texas, is introducing legislation that would give all future energy-related regulations a five-year sunset window, while requiring many existing rules to be amended with a one-year expiry pending a review process.

It comes after Trump levied a similar executive order that would target energy red tape imposed by former President Joe Biden during his first year in office.

But if Goldman’s bill becomes law, it would significantly hamstring the ability of future Democratic administrations to impose new long-term energy policies like Biden’s, many of which Republicans have panned as burdensome and unnecessary.

He argued to Fox News Digital that those regulations were compounding the rising costs Americans have seen in their daily lives.

‘It is going through and looking at every single cost, basically from start to finish, of energy costs, and how it affects every single American taxpayer,’ Goldman said of his legislation.

‘All anyone has to do is look at where they were a year and a half ago with costs of certain things. It was all based on regulations passed by the Biden administration, and that’s exactly what we hope to cut and codify.’

The Texas Republican pointed out that increased energy costs, including prices at the gas pump, bled into other facts of Americans’ daily lives.

‘My dad and I owned a wine and food store and, yeah, when gas prices went up, the guy who drove the 18-wheeler full of cheese from Chicago, Illinois, charged us an extra $2,000 for that delivery because his gas prices were up tremendously. And so we couldn’t afford to eat that cost, so the cheese prices went up,’ he said as an example. 

‘Everything that every single American taxpayer touches — whether they know it or not, when energy prices are high, their cost of living is in turn going to be high.’

His legislation would primarily target regulations issued under major energy and land laws overseen by the Department of Energy and Department of the Interior.

The House has already voted to roll back a number of Biden-era regulatory policies so far this term and with bipartisan support.

Last month, 11 Democrats voted with Republicans to overturn Biden administration regulations on showerhead pressure.

Both the House and Senate passed resolutions early last year to overturn Biden-era regulations targeting water heaters, with six Democrats joining Republicans in the House on that measure.

Rising energy costs have been targeted by both parties as they make competing arguments ahead of the November 2026 midterms.

But Goldman is arguing that Democrats have less of a footing to talk about affordability with select goods like gas seeing a decrease in prices this year.

‘We pushed back, and we made people realize, ‘No, wait a minute. Let’s talk about affordability. Let’s talk about where the cost of things were just over a year and two months ago, before Donald Trump came into office and before Republicans could push through good legislation that President Trump signed,’ Goldman said. ‘I kind of find it quite interesting that all of a sudden the buzzword affordability isn’t much talked about anymore.’

Co-sponsors of Goldman’s bill include Republican Study Committee Chairman August Pfluger, R-Texas, and Reps. Beth Van Duyne, R-Texas, Randy Weber, R-Texas, Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., Pat Harrigan, R-N.C., and Barry Moore, R-Ala. 

A Senate counterpart was introduced by Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho.

A senior U.S. official offered new details Tuesday night about an alleged nuclear bomb test conducted by China in June 2020.

Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Yeaw spoke at a Hudson Institute event in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, and said evidence of the explosion came from a seismic station in Kazakhstan. The station detected a magnitude 2.75 explosion located at China’s Lop Nur test grounds on June 22, 2020.

‘I’ve looked at additional data since then. There is very little possibility I would say that it is anything but an explosion, a singular explosion,’ Yeaw said, adding that data was not consistent with mining detonations.

‘It’s also entirely not consistent with an earthquake,’ he added. ‘It is … what you would expect with a nuclear explosive test.’

China’s embassy in Washington has rejected the Trump administration’s claim, telling NBC News that the report is ‘political manipulation,’ and the U.S. is ‘evading its own nuclear disarmament responsibilities.’

‘China urges the U.S. to reaffirm the five nuclear-weapon states’ commitment on refraining from nuclear tests, uphold the global consensus against nuclear tests, and take concrete steps to safeguard the international nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime,’ spokesperson Liu Pengyu told the outlet.

U.S. officials warned that Beijing may be preparing tests in the ‘hundreds of tons’ range — a scale that underscores China’s accelerating nuclear modernization and complicates efforts to draw Beijing into arms control talks.

Thomas DiNanno, undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, said recently that the United States has evidence China conducted an explosive nuclear test at its Lop Nur site.

‘I can reveal that the U.S. government is aware that China has conducted nuclear explosive tests, including preparing for tests with designated yields in the hundreds of tons,’ DiNanno said during remarks at the United Nations Conference on Disarmament.

He added, ‘China conducted one such yield-producing nuclear test on June 22 of 2020.’

DiNanno also accused Beijing of using ‘decoupling’ — detonating devices in ways that dampen seismic signals — to ‘hide its activities from the world.’

China’s foreign ministry has denied the allegations, accusing Washington of politicizing nuclear issues and reiterating that Beijing maintains a voluntary moratorium on nuclear testing.

The accusation has sharpened questions about verification, deterrence and whether the U.S. stockpile stewardship program — which relies on advanced simulations rather than live detonations — remains sufficient in an era of renewed great-power nuclear competition.