China's Commerce Department said on Friday that Beijing is "evaluating" Washington's proposal to hold talks on 145% tariffs by U.S. President Donald Trump, although it warned the United States not to engage in "ratitude and coercion."

Washington and Beijing have been locked in a cat and drama match, with neither side willing to back down in a trade war that swept global markets and disrupted supply chains, Reuters reported.

The Commerce Department said the United States is approaching China's pursuit of negotiations on Trump's tariffs and Beijing's doors are open to discuss, indicating a potential downgrade in the trade war.

The statement comes a day after Washington has been seeking to start negotiations, a week after Trump claimed that discussions have been underway, and Beijing denied it, said on social media accounts linked to Chinese state media.

"The United States has taken the initiative several times recently to convey information to China through relevant various related parties and expressed its desire to talk to China," the statement said. "It would not work if it tries to use negotiations as an excuse for coercion and extortion."

The Commerce Department said the U.S. should be prepared to take action to “correct wrong practices” and remove unilateral tariffs, adding that Washington needs to show “sincerity” in the negotiations.

Former national security adviser John Bolton called on Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to resign on his behalf, citing his personal safety.

In a speech at CNN, Bolton, who was also the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under President George W. Bush, was asked whether Hegseth should keep his place.

Bolton replied: "No, I think he should resign for his safety."

He noted in particular that recent reports said that Heggs shared sensitive information about our Yemen strike through messaging application signals.

The messages were reportedly sent to a group chat including Hergers' wife, brother, private lawyer, and - erroneously, in another chat designed to serve cabinet-level officials - Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg.

"It's a critical moment for the U.S. military. We understand that the Trump administration will put forward a huge defense budget right. We need it."

“We need a secretary who can get the job done, not someone who spends time on the signal chat group,” he said.

Media rights group RSF warned on Friday that the United States under Trump’s leadership “a shocking deterioration of press freedom”.

Paris-based journalist No Borders has been tracking press freedom for the past 23 years, highlighting how Trump has made difficult conditions worse by helping with U.S.-supported state-backed broadcasters such as U.S. Voice and Free Europe/RFE/RL and foreign media with U.S. foreign development aid.

After falling 11 positions in 2024, the United States fell by another 2 to 57 places on the 2025 World Press Freedom Index, second only to West Africa's war-torn Sierra Leone.

The index is calculated based on the number of violent incidents involving other data compiled by journalists and experts, and has been top Norway, amid the ninth consecutive year of oil-rich. Estonia and the Netherlands ranked second and third.

"In the United States, Donald Trump's second term as president has led to a shocking worsening of press freedom, which is a sign of a despotic shift in the administration," the RSF said.

“His government has weaponized the institutions, cut back on support for independent media and occupied the journalists who have retained it.”

Most of the United States is now a "news desert", RSF said.

Trump announced Wednesday that he is considering a legal lawsuit against the New York Times, his latest attack on the media.

He also sued media groups in a pre-election interview with his Democratic rival Kamala Harris last year.

Trump claims it was edited to eliminate an embarrassing response, although many legal analysts believe the case is groundless and could be dismissed or failed due to the freedom of the press protected by the constitution.

Good morning, welcome to the US live blog, because Donald Trump raised funds from news outlets NPR and PBS, accusing them of being biased.

NPR and PBS are only partially funded by U.S. taxpayers and rely heavily on private donations.

The U.S. president has long established confrontational relationships with most mainstream news media, previously describing it as “the enemy of the people.”

One notable exception is the powerful conservative broadcaster Fox News, with some of the hosts playing a leadership role in his administration.

"National Public Radio (NPR) and Public Broadcasting Services (PBS) receive taxpayer funds through the company's public broadcasting companies (CPB)," Trump said in his executive order. "So, I direct the CPB board of directors and all executive departments and agencies to stop providing federal funding for NPR and PBS."

You can read the story of Arkens Pres, France here:

In other news:

• Mike Waltz After he performed his duties for more than a month after he accidentally invited a journalist Trump to join the signal group chat to plan a strike against Yemen after the news broke out.

• On the morning of reporting the waltz’s fire, the government released a new line: Waltz has not been fired, but has been promoted because he has been nominated for the new U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. The framework is on Fox News Peter Doocythe network correspondent, then JD VanceVice President.

• A previously overlooked Reuters image showing Waltz was still using signals on his phone yesterday, including Marco Rubio,,,,, Steve Witkoff,,,,, Tulsi Gabbard and JD Vance.

• Waltz appears to have installed third-party software on his phone that allows signals to be archived, but also makes it less secure.

• U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson Forcefully rejected what she called a "ruthless attack" against the federal judiciary.

• The U.S. Army has laid out detailed plans to conduct a potential military parade on President Donald Trump's birthday in June

• Senate Democrats responded to Waltz's firing by calling on another participant in the chat, the Secretary of Defense. Pete Hegsethfired.

• Hegseth reportedly used signals to share a confidential attack program with his wife and brother, and the Pentagon's acting inspector general is reportedly investigating.