UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United States accused Rwanda on Friday of violating a U.S.-brokered peace agreement by backing a deadly new rebel offensive in the mineral-rich eastern Congo, and warned that the Trump administration will take action against “spoilers” of the deal.
The remarks by U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz came as more than 400 civilians have been killed since the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels escalated their offensive in eastern Congo's South Kivu province, according to regional officials who also say that Rwandan special forces were in the strategic city of Uvira.
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FILE - Democratic Republic of the Congo's Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner attends a signing ceremony for a peace agreement between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo at the State Departmentin Washington, June 27, 2025. (AP Pho to/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
Thousands fleeing fighting in Congo's South Kivu arrive in Cibitoke, Kansega, Burundi, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo)
Thousands fleeing fighting in Congo's South Kivu arrive in Cibitoke, Kansega, Burundi, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo)
Thousands fleeing fighting in Congo's South Kivu arrive in Cibitoke, Kansega, Burundi, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo)
Waltz told the U.N. Security Council that the U.S. is "profoundly concerned and incredibly disappointed with the renewed outbreak of violence” by M23.
“Rwanda is leading the region towards increased instability and war,” Waltz warned. “We will use the tools at our disposal to hold to account spoilers to peace.”
He called on Rwanda to respect Congo’s right to defend its territory and invite friendly forces from neighboring Burundi to fight alongside Congolese forces. He also said the U.S. is engaging with all sides “to urge restraint and to avoid further escalation."
The rebels' latest offensive comes despite a U.S.-mediated peace agreement signed last week by the Congolese and Rwandan presidents in Washington.
The accord didn’t include the rebel group, which is negotiating separately with Congo and agreed earlier this year to a ceasefire that both sides accuse the other of violating. However, it obliges Rwanda to halt support for armed groups like M23 and work to end hostilities.
The rebels’ advance pushed the conflict to the doorstep of neighboring Burundi, which has maintained troops in eastern Congo for years, heightening fears of a broader regional spillover.
Congo's ministry of communication confirmed in a statement Friday that M23 has seized the strategic port city of Uvira in eastern Congo, on the northern tip of Lake Tanganyika and directly across from Burundi’s largest city, Bujumbura.
Uvira was Congo’s government’s last major foothold in South Kivu after the provincial capital of Bukavu fell to the rebels in February. Its capture allows the rebels to consolidate a broad corridor of influence across the east.
M23 said it had taken control of Uvira on Wednesday afternoon, following a rapid offensive since the start of the month. Along with the more than 400 killed, about 200,000 have been displaced, regional officials say.
Civilians fleeing eastern Congo have also crossed into Burundi, and there have been reports of shells falling in the town of Rugombo, on the Burundian side of the border, raising concerns about the conflict spilling over into Burundian territory.
More than 100 armed groups are vying for a foothold in mineral-rich eastern Congo, near the border with Rwanda, most prominently M23. The conflict has created one of the world’s most significant humanitarian crises, with more than 7 million people displaced, according to the U.N. agency for refugees.
Congo, the U.S. and U.N. experts accuse Rwanda of backing M23, which has grown from hundreds of members in 2021 to around 6,500 fighters, according to the U.N.
Waltz said Rwandan forces have provided “logistics and training support to M23” and are fighting alongside the rebels in eastern Congo, with "roughly 5,000 to 7,000 troops as of early December.”
Congo’s Foreign Minister Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner accused Rwanda of trampling on the peace agreement, which she described as bringing "hope of a historic turning point.”
She warned, however, that the "entire process … is at stake,” and urged the Security Council to impose sanctions against military and political leaders responsible for the attacks, ban mineral exports from Rwanda and prohibit it from contributing troops to U.N. peacekeeping missions.
“Rwanda continues to benefit, especially financially but also in terms of reputation, from its status as a troop-contributing country to peacekeeping missions,” Wagner told The Associated Press.
Rwanda currently is one of the largest contributors of U.N. peacekeepers, with nearly 6,000 Rwandan troops.
Wagner also said economic agreements signed with the Trump administration as part of the peace deal will hinge on stability. “We have told our American partners that we cannot envision any path toward shared economic prosperity without peace,” she told the AP.
Eastern Congo, rich in critical minerals, has been of interest to Trump as Washington looks for ways to circumvent China to acquire rare earths, essential to manufacturing fighter jets, cell phones and more.
Wagner said the economic partnership is still at an early stage.
"Everything will start to take shape and become much more tangible once the joint governance mechanisms are put in place,” she said. “What we want is a win-win partnership ... far beyond the single issue of minerals and their transfer,” she added.
Rwanda’s Ambassador to the U.N. Karoli Martin Ngoga accused Congo of repeatedly breaking the ceasefire. He also accused the Congolese government of supporting the mostly Hutu Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, which “threatens the very existence of Rwanda and its people.”
Nearly 2 million Hutus from Rwanda fled to Congo after the 1994 Rwandan genocide that killed 800,000 Tutsi, moderate Hutus and others. Rwandan authorities have accused Hutus who fled of participating in the genocide, alleging that the Congolese army protected them.
“Rwanda reiterates its full commitment to implement its part of the agreement,” Ngoga told the Security Council.
While Rwanda denies the claim that it backs M23, it acknowledged last year that it has troops and missile systems in eastern Congo, allegedly to safeguard its security. U.N. experts estimate there are up to 4,000 Rwandan forces in Congo.
Banchereau reported from Dakar, Senegal. Associated Press writer Jean-Yves Kamale in Kinshasa, Congo, contributed to this report.
FILE - Democratic Republic of the Congo's Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner attends a signing ceremony for a peace agreement between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo at the State Departmentin Washington, June 27, 2025. (AP Pho to/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
Thousands fleeing fighting in Congo's South Kivu arrive in Cibitoke, Kansega, Burundi, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo)
Thousands fleeing fighting in Congo's South Kivu arrive in Cibitoke, Kansega, Burundi, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo)
Thousands fleeing fighting in Congo's South Kivu arrive in Cibitoke, Kansega, Burundi, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025. (AP Photo)
President Donald Trump said Friday that Thai and Cambodian leaders have agreed to renew a truce after days of deadly clashes threatened to undo a ceasefire that the U.S. administration helped broker this year.
Trump announced the agreement via social media following calls with Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet. He also said Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim played a key role in reaching the agreement.
The original ceasefire in July was brokered by Malaysia and pushed through by pressure from Trump, who threatened to withhold trade privileges unless Thailand and Cambodia agreed. It was formalized in more detail in October at a regional meeting in Malaysia that Trump attended.
Despite the deal, a bitter propaganda war and minor cross-border violence continued.
The latest:
The president said he hadn’t seen the photos from Jeffrey Epstein’s estate released Friday by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee.
“I haven’t seen it, but I mean, everybody knew this man,” Trump said.
He added that Epstein was “all over Palm Beach” and had “photos with everybody.”
“That’s no big deal,” Trump said. “I know nothing about it.”
Trump signed legislation authorizing the coin in honor of the USA hockey team’s gold medal victory over the Soviet Union at the 1980 Games in Lake Placid, New York.
One member of the team, Ken Morrow, said the tradition of crowds chanting “USA!” began at those Olympics.
That prompted Trump to quip: “I tried to take credit for that.” The chant is a mainstay at his rallies.
The president called the victory over the Soviet squad, which came in the midst of the Cold War, “one of the greatest comebacks in sports history.”
Defeating the defending gold medalists allowed Team USA to compete for the gold medal, which they won in a 4-2 victory over Finland.
“And we got it, I think, straightened out today,” Trump said at the start of the hockey event. “So Thailand and Cambodia is in good shape.”
Trump announced earlier after speaking with the prime ministers of Thailand and Cambodia that the two countries agreed to return to a ceasefire agreement that the U.S. administration helped mediate this year after several days of intense fighting.
The president said Friday that U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, one of his strongest supporters on Capitol Hill, has a “hell of a shot” in her bid for governor of New York.
“She’s doing phenomenally well,” he said during an event to honor the 1980 U.S. men’s hockey team. Stefanik was present at the Oval Office because she represents Lake Placid, New York, the site of the 1980 Olympics and the so-called Miracle on Ice team.
Stefanik is in a GOP primary with Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, who is also a Trump ally and announced his campaign this month.
So far Trump doesn’t appear to be taking sides.
“We could use you in New York,” Trump said. “She’s got a little competition with a very good Republican, but she’s a great Republican. So we’ll see what happens.”
Members of the 1980 Olympic ice hockey team appeared in the Oval Office wearing the white cowboy hats they sported during the opening ceremony for the Games 45 years ago, and they brought one for the president.
Trump, a New York City native who is only photographed dressed in a suit or in golf clothes, looked the hat over and put it on. He posed for the cameras and said, “You’ve gotta take a picture.”
He then made a joke referring to Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis in 1988, who was mocked for the way he looked when he put on a helmet for a ride in a tank while campaigning.
“That was not good,” Trump said.
Trump acknowledged in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that he had pushed Kevin Warsh, a former Fed governor, to cut interest rates if he is made chair.
“He thinks you have to lower interest rates,” Trump told The Wall Street Journal, referring to Warsh. “And so does everybody else that I’ve talked to.”
Right now the Fed is sharply divided over whether further rate cuts are needed, with many officials pointing to inflation at nearly 3% -- above the Fed’s 2% target -- as reason to hold off on further cuts. By demanding further reductions, Trump has broken from decades of precedent under which previous administrations avoided publicly pressuring the central bank.
Trump has previously hinted that he has made his choice to replace the current Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who Trump has sharply criticized for not lowering rates quickly enough. He also has referred to Kevin Hassett, his top economic adviser, as a “potential Fed chair,” seemingly anointing Hassett as the favorite.
But in the Journal interview he suggested Warsh is the front-runner.
“I think the two Kevins are great,” Trump said.
A West Virginia National Guard member who was shot last month in the nation’s capital is being transitioned from hospital acute care to inpatient rehabilitation, a doctor said Friday.
Staff. Sgt. Andrew Wolfe was airlifted to MedStar Washington Hospital Center with a critical gunshot wound to the head on Nov. 26. Wolfe and Spc. Sarah Beckstrom were ambushed as they patrolled a subway station three blocks from the White House. Beckstrom died the next day.
Wolfe has “made extraordinary progress” and can stand with assistance, Dr. Jeffrey Mai, a MedStar neurosurgeon, said in a news release. Wolfe’s family chose not to disclose the location of his rehabilitation.
Beckstrom was buried in a private funeral on Wednesday.
Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national who was also shot during the confrontation, has been charged with murder. He has pleaded not guilty.
Top Democrats in Congress are making it clear they want the public and members of Congress to see video of a Sept. 2 military strike that killed two survivors of an initial attack on a boat allegedly carrying drugs in the Caribbean.
The Democratic leaders in both congressional chambers -- Sen. Chuck Schumer and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries -- as well as the top Democrats on committees on national intelligence -- Sen. Mark Warner and Rep. Jim Himes -- signed a letter to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth calling for members of Congress to see the full, unedited video of the strike. They also say the video should be released publicly, though with precautions to make sure sensitive intelligence information is not revealed.
Hegseth has told lawmakers that he is weighing whether to hand the video over to Congress, including whether that would reveal classified information. The Trump administration has released edited videos of the overall campaign on social media for the last several months.
Spokesperson Abigail Jackson said House Democrats are “selectively releasing cherry-picked photos with random redactions to try and create a false narrative.”
House Democrats released 19 photos from Epstein’s estate on Friday without captions or context. It included a black-and-white image of Trump alongside six women whose faces were blacked out. The committee did not say why their faces were blacked out.
Jackson said the Trump administration has done more to help Jeffrey Epstein’s victims than Democrats, by releasing thousands of pages of documents.
Trump signed a bill compelling the Justice Department to release case files last month, reversing course after he opposed the bill for months.
The fighting is rooted in a history of enmity over competing territorial claims. These claims largely stem from a 1907 map created while Cambodia was under French colonial rule, which Thailand maintains is inaccurate.
Tensions were exacerbated by a 1962 International Court of Justice ruling that awarded sovereignty to Cambodia, which still riles many Thais.
Thailand has deployed jet fighters to carry out airstrikes on what it says are military targets. Cambodia has deployed BM-21 rocket launchers with a range of 30-40 kilometers (19-25 miles).
According to data collected by public broadcaster ThaiPBS, at least six of the Thai soldiers who were killed were hit by rocket shrapnel.
The Thai army’s northeastern regional command said Thursday that some residential areas and homes near the border were damaged by BM-21 rocket launchers from Cambodian forces.
The Thai army also said it destroyed a tall crane atop a hill held by Cambodia where the centuries-old Preah Vihear temple is located, because it allegedly held electronic and optical devices used for military command and control purposes.
President Donald Trump says Thai and Cambodian leaders have agreed to renew a truce after days of deadly clashes had threatened to undo a ceasefire the U.S. administration had helped broker earlier this year.
Trump announced the agreement to restart the ceasefire in a social media posting on Friday following calls with Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet.
The original ceasefire in July was brokered by Malaysia and pushed through by pressure from Trump, who threatened to withhold trade privileges unless Thailand and Cambodia agreed. Despite the deal, the two countries carried on a bitter propaganda war and minor cross-border violence continued.
Department of Justice attorneys made that argument in responding to a lawsuit against the White House by the National Association for the Deaf.
Government lawyers haven’t elaborated on how doing so might hamper the portrayal Trump seeks to present to the public. But overturning policies encompassing diversity, equity and inclusion have become a hallmark of his second administration.
The association sued the White House in May, saying not using American Sign Language interpretation at press briefings or when Trump gives remarks prohibits “meaningful access to the White House’s real-time communications” to the Deaf community and hard of hearing.
A White House spokesperson did not immediately comment Friday.
President Donald Trump’s administration is ending the temporary status that has allowed more than 4,500 Ethiopians to live and work in the United States for more than three years.
The decision announced Friday by the Department of Homeland Security comes as the White House moves to put more immigrants in the U.S. eligible for deportation. Ethiopia is the latest in a string of countries to lose Temporary Protected Status.
DHS said that conditions in Ethiopia have improved and no longer pose a serious threat to the safety of returning Ethiopian nationals.
Ethiopians in the U.S. with no other lawful status have 60 days to voluntarily leave the country, said DHS. After Feb. 13, 2026, DHS may arrest and deport Ethiopians whose TPS has been terminated.
During the Biden administration, the number of people protected by TPS grew significantly. Nearly 1 million Venezuelans and Haitians were protected. President Trump has already ended TPS for Venezuelans, Hondurans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, Ukrainians, and thousands of people from Syria, Afghanistan, Nepal and Cameroon.
Trump successfully harnessed voter anxiety over the economy, immigration and crime last year to retake the White House — and lift plenty of other Republicans into office with him. But as the party tries to keep its grip on complete control in Washington, that strategy may be harder to replicate.
Republicans have lost a series of elections over the past month, some resoundingly. The latest setbacks came this week when a Democrat won the Miami mayor’s race for the first time in three decades. Democrats also won a special election in a historically Republican district in Georgia.
There are also signs that Trump’s influence over his party has its limits, and he failed Thursday to persuade Indiana state senators to approve a new congressional map that could have helped Republicans pick up two more seats.
Perhaps most concerning for Republicans, Trump is losing ground on the very issues that powered his comeback victory last year, potentially undermining his utility as a surrogate for the party’s candidates in the midterm elections. Only 31% of U.S. adults now approve of how he’s handling the economy, down from 40% in March, according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
Trump was sued on Friday by preservationists seeking an architecture review and congressional approval over his White House ballroom project.
The National Trust for Historic Preservation is asking a federal court to stop Trump’s White House ballroom project until it goes through comprehensive design reviews and public comments and wins approval from Congress.
The National Trust argues that Trump, by fast-tracking the project, has committed multiple violations of the Administrative Procedures Act and the National Environmental Policy Act, while also exceeding his constitutional authority by not seeking congressional approval for a project of this scale.
Trump, a Republican, already has bypassed the federal government’s usual building practices and historical reviews when he razed the East Wing of the White House. He has more recently fired the initial architects for a ballroom that itself would be nearly twice the size of the White House before East Wing’s demolition.
House Democrats released a selection of photos from the estate of Jeffrey Epstein on Friday, including some of Donald Trump, Bill Clinton and the former Prince Andrew.
The 19 photos released by Democratic lawmakers on the House Oversight Committee were a small part of more than 95,000 they received from the estate of Epstein, who died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting sex trafficking charges.
The photos released Friday were separate from the case files that the Department of Justice is now compelled to release.
The photos were released without captions or context and included a black-and-white image of Trump alongside six women whose faces were blacked out. The committee did not say why their faces were blacked out.
Trump has signed an executive order aimed at blocking states from crafting their own regulations for artificial intelligence, saying the burgeoning industry is at risk of being stifled by a patchwork of onerous rules while in a battle with Chinese competitors for supremacy.
Members of Congress from both parties, as well as civil liberties and consumer rights groups, have pushed for more regulations on AI, saying there is not enough oversight for the powerful technology.
But Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that “there’s only going to be one winner” as nations race to dominate artificial intelligence, and China’s central government gives its companies a single place to go for government approvals.
A bipartisan group in Congress is urging the Education Department to add nursing to a list of college programs that are considered “professional,” adding to public outcry after nurses were omitted from a new agency definition.
The Trump administration’s list of professional programs includes medicine, law and theology but leaves out nursing and some other fields that industry groups had asked to be included. The “professional” label would allow students to borrow larger amounts of federal loans to pursue graduate degrees in those fields.
The president will sign a bill awarding Congressional Gold Medals to members of the U.S. men’s ice hockey team who defeated the heavily favored Soviet Union team during the Cold War.
Held in Lake Placid, New York, the game is widely regarded as one of the greatest upsets in the history of sports.
President Donald Trump reacts to guests in the Grand Foyer of the White House during the Congressional Ball, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania greet guests in the Grand Foyer of the White House during the Congressional Ball, Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
