All posts tagged: Aerospace and defense industry

President lands in Beijing with Tesla, Nvidia CEOs

President lands in Beijing with Tesla, Nvidia CEOs

Published by Sam Flores

U.S. President Donald Trump participates in an arrival ceremony at Beijing Capital International Airport during his visit to the country, in Beijing, China, May 13, 2026. Evan Vucci | Reuters U.S. President Donald Trump has landed in Beijing for a highly anticipated presidential summit with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping. Trump is being accompanied on the trip by a group of executives from some of America’s most valuable companies, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Nvidia boss Jensen Huang. The president was greeted on the tarmac by a brass band and flag wavers, who performed as he descended the steps of Air Force One. On Thursday, Trump is scheduled to participate in a welcome ceremony and hold a bilateral meeting with Xi, before touring the historic Temple of Heaven and attending a state banquet. He will leave China on Friday, following tea and a working lunch with Xi. Read more about Trump in China The high-stakes talks between the two leaders are expected to cover tariffs, rare earths, artificial intelligence, the Iran war and Taiwan. Experts are anticipating that …

Project Freedom aims to reopen Hormuz Strait. Experts are skeptical

Project Freedom aims to reopen Hormuz Strait. Experts are skeptical

Published by Sam Flores

Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz near Bandar Abbas, Iran, May 4, 2026. Amirhosein Khorgooi | ISNA | WANA | Via Reuters Defense and geopolitical experts are skeptical that “Project Freedom,” the Trump administration’s new effort to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to commercial traffic, will succeed. “In my view, it’s not a solution at all,” Jennifer Kavanagh, senior fellow and director of military analysis at Defense Priorities, a libertarian-leaning foreign policy think tank, said of the operation. “It doesn’t really address the underlying problem here, which is that the uncertainty about the safety of transit means that ship captains and shipping companies are hesitant to take the risk,” Kavanagh said in a phone interview. The administration, however, says its day-old effort to defend ships transiting the strait from Iranian attacks is already working. “We’ve now opened a passage through the Strait of Hormuz to allow for the free flow of commerce to proceed,” U.S. Central Command leader Adm. Brad Cooper said Monday, just hours after Project Freedom commenced. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday …

Trump says U.S. ready for ‘next conquest,’ warns military to remain near Iran until ‘real agreement’ is honored

Trump says U.S. ready for ‘next conquest,’ warns military to remain near Iran until ‘real agreement’ is honored

Published by Sam Flores

U.S. President Donald Trump observes naval flight demonstrations on the deck of the USS George H.W. Bush aircraft carrier on October 5, 2025. Alex Wong | Getty Images News | Getty Images President Donald Trump said Wednesday U.S. military forces will remain deployed in and around Iran until Tehran fully complies with the “real agreement,” warning that any breach would trigger a military response larger than anything seen before. “All US ships, aircraft, and military personnel…will remain in place in, and around, Iran, until such time as the REAL AGREEMENT reached is fully complied with,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “If for any reason it is not…the ‘Shootin’ Starts,’ bigger, and better, and stronger than anyone has ever seen before.” Trump reiterated that it was agreed that Iran will not develop nuclear weapons, and the Strait of Hormuz will be open and safe for commercial shipping. “In the meantime our great Military is Loading Up and Resting, looking forward, actually, to its next Conquest,” Trump added. He ended the post, which was published near midnight, …

U.S. fighter jet downed in Iran

U.S. fighter jet downed in Iran

Published by Sam Flores

A U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle on 16 July 2020. Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images The U.S. was searching for the crew of an American fighter jet Friday after it was downed in Iran, a U.S. official told MS NOW. It isn’t clear if the plane was shot down or went down for another reason, MS NOW said. The jet was an F-15, which has two crew members, and the whereabouts of the servicemembers was unknown, according to MS NOW. The Pentagon and U.S. Central Command didn’t immediately comment. The New York Times said Iran shot down the fighter jet, citing U.S. and Israeli officials and Iranian state media, though MS NOW said it hadn’t independently verified the reporting. It appeared to be the first known loss of a U.S. jet in the country since the war in Iran started in late February. The downing of the jet comes at a delicate time, when the U.S. has showed few signs of slowing its assault on Iran and reports of potential peace talks did …

Zelenskyy courts Saudi support as U.S. reportedly weighs redirecting Ukraine aid to Middle East

Zelenskyy courts Saudi support as U.S. reportedly weighs redirecting Ukraine aid to Middle East

Published by Sam Flores

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Munich, Germany on Feb. 15, 2025. Sean Gallup | Getty Images Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday kicked off a surprise visit to Saudi Arabia, seeking support for Kyiv as the U.S. reportedly weighs shifting military resources to the Middle East amid escalating tensions with Iran. Zelenskyy met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah to discuss the escalating military tensions in the Middle East and the war in Ukraine. The Ukrainian leader said he expected to hold “important meetings” during this trip, as Kyiv offered its air-defense expertise and drone technology to countries in the region reeling from the Iranian strikes. More than 200 Ukrainian experts have been dispatched to advise Middle East countries on how to intercept attacks that have wreaked havoc on energy infrastructure across the region. Zelenskyy is hoping to draw support from the Gulf nations in Kyiv’s war against Russia, which is now in its fifth year and Western military aid faces new uncertainty. Iran’s Shahed-136 ‘kamikaze’ drone has become a fixture of …

Cuba says airlines can no longer refuel as Trump turns up the pressure

Cuba says airlines can no longer refuel as Trump turns up the pressure

Published by Sam Flores

Aerial view of Jose Marti International Airport in Havana, taken from an airplane on April 3, 2025. Yamil Lage | Afp | Getty Images The Cuban government said international airlines can no longer refuel in the island nation due to fuel shortages after President Donald Trump threatened tariffs on any country that supplies the communist country with oil. Cuba’s leadership said Sunday that the country will run out of aviation fuel from Monday, likely disrupting airlines operating there, according to EFE news agency, which cited two sources. The kerosene shortage is expected to persist for the next month, with all of Cuba’s international airports affected. Cuba’s Foreign Ministry and the Cuban Embassy in London did not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment. The Trump administration has sought to tighten the U.S. chokehold on Cuba since Jan. 3, when it conducted an audacious military operation to depose Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, a longtime ally of Cuba’s government. Trump, in an executive order issued at the end of January, said the Cuban government constituted “an …

Would NATO fight a U.S. invasion of Greenland?

Would NATO fight a U.S. invasion of Greenland?

Published by Sam Flores

A fishing boat navigates around icebergs that broke off from the Jakobshavn Glacier and are floating in Disko Bay on March 10, 2025, in Ilulissat, Greenland. Joe Raedle | Getty Images News | Getty Images Europe spent much of 2025 scrambling to bolster its defenses against Russia — but just a week into the new year, it’s being forced to rethink security once again amid President Donald Trump’s threats to annex Greenland. Trump has been ramping up calls for Greenland — a semi-autonomous Danish territory — to be brought under Washington’s control. This week, the White House said Trump was considering various options to make it happen, including military action. Greenland, the world’s largest island, is rich in untapped mineral resources. Although geographically positioned on the North American continent, it is politically part of Europe. Acquiring the island would be no mean feat. Aside from political obstacles both at home and abroad, any attempt to take the territory by force would pit the U.S. against its NATO allies. Would NATO fight the U.S. over Greenland? …

Trump’s Greenland gambit puts China on edge after Venezuela operation

Trump’s Greenland gambit puts China on edge after Venezuela operation

Published by Sam Flores

SHANGHAI, CHINA – MAY 06: China’s research icebreaker Xuelong 2, or Snow Dragon 2, arrives at Waigaoqiao port after over 5-month Antarctic expedition on May 6, 2021 in Shanghai, China. Vcg | Visual China Group | Getty Images U.S. President Donald Trump’s renewed threat to take control of Greenland has raised alarm in Beijing, following Washington’s military operation that seized Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Trump, who has long advocated U.S. control over the self-governing Danish territory, repeatedly emphasized on Sunday that Greenland is strategically important. “We need Greenland from a national security situation. It’s so strategic. Right now, Greenland is covered with Russian and Chinese ships all over the place,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. In an email to Chinese state media Xinhua News Agency, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said Trump views acquiring Greenland as a national security priority to deter rivals in the Arctic. She added that his team is weighing a range of options — including the possibility of using military force. Chinese authorities have pushed back. On Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry …