Ukraine National Day
08/24/2026
Ukraine National Day
08/24/2026 12:01 AM EDT
Marco Rubio, Secretary of State
Ukraine National Day
Press Statement
August 24, 2026
On behalf of the United States of America, I congratulate the people of Ukraine on the 35th anniversary of your independence.
Today, 35 years after Ukraine declared its independence from the Soviet Union on August 24, 1991, the United States reaffirms the enduring cooperation between our two countries. The United States is committed to Ukraine’s sovereignty and continues to work to support a negotiated settlement to the Russia-Ukraine war that establishes a lasting and durable peace.
On this Independence Day, as Ukrainians honor their nation’s history and celebrate their courage, innovation, and resilience, the United States reinforces its strong commitment to advancing our economic and security ties and forging a path towards peace and prosperity for both of our nations.
Secretary Rubio’s Call with German Foreign Minister Wadephul
08/24/2026
Secretary Rubio’s Call with German Foreign Minister Wadephul
08/24/2026 01:57 PM EDT
Office of the Spokesperson
Secretary Rubio’s Call with German Foreign Minister Wadephul
Readout
August 24, 2026
The below is attributable to Spokesperson Tommy Pigott:
Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke today with German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul. They discussed the importance of a lasting and durable peace between Russia and Ukraine. They also reiterated the shared U.S.-German commitment to freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and ensuring Iran never develops or acquires a nuclear weapon.
Imposing Sanctions on Violent Far-Left Terrorist Groups
08/26/2026
Imposing Sanctions on Violent Far-Left Terrorist Groups
08/26/2026 11:03 AM EDT
Thomas "Tommy" Pigott, Spokesperson
Imposing Sanctions on Violent Far-Left Terrorist Groups
Press Statement
August 26, 2026
Today, the United States is imposing sanctions against Autistici/Inventati (“A/I Collective”) and other entities across transnational far-left terrorist networks.
The A/I Collective is an Italy-based extremist group that supplies the digital infrastructure for Antifa cells and other radical left-wing networks in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere across the world. A/I’s full spectrum of digital services are specifically built to provide far-left terrorist groups with the means to organize, recruit, communicate, and carry out violent attacks – all while remaining beyond the reach of the law. Its tools are frequently used to share target information, tactical manuals and techniques, and communiqués by left-wing militants, including many of the most active and violent Antifa groups in the United States.
As noted at the July 16th Ministerial on the Resurgence of Political Terrorism, the State Department is committed to combating the resurgence of far-left political terrorism, including by identifying and disrupting the international networks that organize, facilitate, and commit acts of violence.
As a result of today’s actions, all property and interests of those designated that are subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and all U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with them. Financial institutions and other persons may risk exposure to sanctions for engaging in certain transactions or activities involving the designated entities, with prohibitions to include the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of the designated entities. Engaging in certain transactions involving the designated entities may also risk the imposition of secondary sanctions on participating foreign financial institutions. Violations of U.S. sanctions may result in the imposition of civil or criminal penalties on U.S. and foreign persons.
Today’s actions are being taken pursuant to Executive Order 13224, as amended, which targets terrorists, terrorist organizations, leaders and officials of terrorist groups, and those providing support to terrorists or acts of terrorism. This designation is part of a broader U.S. government effort to address the threat of transnational far-left terrorism.
Violent far-left terrorist networks, such those targeted today, pose a threat to the United States and our foreign partners. There will be no refuge for violent extremists who wage war on our civilization and plot to undermine law and order, destroy critical infrastructure, assault political opponents, or conceal their crimes from authorities. We will use all the tools and authorities at our disposal to fight terrorism and protect our way of life.
Autistici/Inventati is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods and services to or in support of, an act of terrorism. For more information on Autistici/Inventati, see the State Department’s fact sheet https://www.state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesperson/2026/08/designation-of-autistici-inventati-as-a-specially-designated-global-terrorist/.
Palestine Action is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods and services to or in support of, an act of terrorism.
Masar Badil is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for being owned, controlled, or directed by, or having acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network. Rawa Alsagheer and Zaid Abdulnasser are being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for being leaders or officials of Masar Badil.
Today’s action is being taken pursuant to the counterterrorism authority, Executive Order 13224, as amended. For more information on today’s action, see the Department of the Treasury’s Press Release.
Designation of Autistici/Inventati as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist
08/26/2026
Designation of Autistici/Inventati as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist
08/26/2026 10:59 AM EDT
Office of the Spokesperson
Designation of Autistici/Inventati as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist
Fact Sheet
August 26, 2026
Today, the Department of State, in partnership with the Department of the Treasury, is announcing the designation of Autistici/Inventati as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.
Autistici/Inventati (A/I Collective) is an Italy-based extremist group that builds and operates the digital infrastructure for violent Antifa cells and other far-left militants across the world. A/I’s cadre of radical hackers and tech developers provide a full spectrum of services – including encrypted chats and email, web hosting, secure video conferencing and streaming, anonymity shields, and a suite of other technological tools – to Marxist, anarchist, and other left-wing extremist groups in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere. These tools are specifically designed to support the operations of far-left terrorist networks, built to enable them to organize, recruit, communicate, disseminate propaganda, share target information and tactics, and carry out violent attacks – all while remaining anonymous, untraceable, and beyond the reach of the law.
The A/I Collective exclusively offers its tools and services to radical left-wing actors and manually vets all potential users for ideological affinity before granting them access to its infrastructure. The group has become a key node in a transnational campaign by violent and criminal far-left networks to destabilize the United States and its partners across Europe, the Western Hemisphere, and beyond. It currently claims to host roughly 16,000 mailboxes, 1,500 websites, 5,500 mailing lists, and 10,000 “blogs” on its custom-built platform, which militants frequently use to disseminate target information, tactical manuals and techniques, and communiqués about recent attacks.
As a result of today’s action, all property and interests in property of the designated entity that are subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and all U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with them. Financial institutions and other persons may risk exposure to sanctions for engaging in certain transactions or activities involving the designated entities, with prohibitions to include the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of the designated entities. Engaging in certain transactions involving the designated entities may also risk the imposition of secondary sanctions on participating foreign financial institutions. Violations of U.S. sanctions may result in the imposition of civil or criminal penalties on U.S. and foreign persons.
Today’s action is being taken pursuant to Executive Order 13224, as amended, which targets entities and persons for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods and services to or in support of, an act of terrorism. This designation is part of a broader U.S. government effort to address the threat of transnational far-left terrorism.
A/I Collective’s Support for Violent Far-Left Extremist Groups
The A/I Collective provides encrypted tools and services to numerous violent far-left extremist groups operating in the United States and around the world. Many of these groups have relied on the A/I Collective’s digital infrastructure to plot or incite violent attacks, recruit others to engage in criminal activity, publish official communiqués by U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organizations, and disseminate maps of critical infrastructure, along with instructions for building improvised explosive and incendiary devices – all routed through a network of foreign servers intended to conceal criminal activity from law enforcement.The anarchist cells responsible for sabotaging rail systems across France, Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands in 2026, relied on A/I Collective tools and services to claim responsibility for the attacks, publish official communiqués, and disseminate manuals for constructing improvised incendiary devices to target railways and other critical infrastructure.
The anarchist cell responsible for sabotaging the Transalpine Pipeline (TAL) in March 2026, which temporarily halted crude oil flows to Austria, Germany, and the Czech Republic, relied on A/I Collective tools and services to claim responsibility for the attack and publish official communiqués, as well as to disseminate a manifesto calling for additional attacks on critical infrastructure and referring adherents to another A/I Collective platform, which provides detailed sabotage manuals as well as maps of vulnerable critical infrastructure across North America.
The far-left extremist network responsible for multiple arson attacks and acts of sabotage against Germany’s rail and energy infrastructure between 2011 and 2026, including a January 2026 attack on Berlin’s power grid that cut power to 45,000 households and resulted in a fatality, relied on A/I Collective tools and services to claim responsibility for attacks, publish official communiques, and disseminate a manifesto calling for additional attacks on energy infrastructure worldwide.
A far-left extremist media group claiming to be a “tool” for global militants to share “essential information” to be “acted upon,” relies on A/I Collective tools and services to publish official communiqués and calls to action for U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organizations such as Armed Proletarian Justice, Informal Anarchist Federation and International Revolutionary Front (FAI/FRI), the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Hamas, Hizballah, National Liberation Army (ELN), New People’s Army (NPA), Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and Revolutionary Class Self-Defense. This same group was recently cited in a federal criminal complaint against a domestic terrorist who was sentenced to 19 years in prison for targeting a federal building and police car with improvised explosive devices.
Oregon-based Rose City Antifa has relied on A/I Collective tools and services to organize and incite violent and criminal acts domestically, including an attack on Customs and Border Patrol helicopters that led to a federal indictment. Rose City Antifa also used A/I Collective tools and services to disseminate doxing lists and release illegally obtained personal information of Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement, along with calls for targeted attacks on ICE agents in the streets and “in their homes.”
The anarchist cell responsible for waging a violent campaign to prevent the construction of a law enforcement training center in Atlanta, Georgia, relied on A/I Collective tools and services to claim responsibility for violent attacks on law enforcement officers, disseminate doxing lists and illegally obtained private information, threaten government officials and business owners, and circulate instructions for making improvised explosive and incendiary devices to be used against government buildings and local businesses. The cell remains active and still uses A/I Collective tools and services to incite violent and criminal acts against government officials, law enforcement, and critical infrastructure.
The violent far-left extremists, “Jane’s Revenge,” who waged a firebombing campaign against crisis pregnancy centers across the United States, relied on A/I Collective tools and services to publish official communiqués and claims of responsibility for violent and criminal acts and to incite copycat attacks. Four members of the group were later charged for violating federal law and engaging in a “conspiracy against rights” through threats of force and intimidation.
Moldova National Day
08/27/2026
Moldova National Day
08/27/2026 12:01 AM EDT
Marco Rubio, Secretary of State
Moldova National Day
Press Statement
August 27, 2026
On behalf of the United States of America, I congratulate the people of Moldova on the anniversary of their independence.
The United States is proud to continue strengthening our partnership with Moldova. Over the past year, our two countries have deepened cooperation across a range of shared priorities. We have expanded economic ties, strengthened border security, and worked together to promote stability in the region.
As Moldova celebrates 35 years of freedom, the United States remains committed to supporting the Moldovan people’s sovereignty and independence. On this day, I extend my warmest wishes to the people of Moldova for continued peace, prosperity, and progress.
The Week at State: August 21 – August 27, 2026
08/28/2026
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August 21 - August 27
The United States sends its condolences to those impacted by the devastating floods in Nepal and is providing assistance through our global award with Catholic Relief Services. We continue our focus on rescuing every American impacted by the floods.
Here’s what happened at State this week. ⤵️🇸🇾 The United States formally rescinded Syria’s designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism.
🚫 Operation Economic Outcast will sever the Iranian regime’s economic lifelines through targeted sanctions.
🇺🇸 The United States commemorated the fifth anniversary of the attack at Abbey Gate in Afghanistan.
Rescission of Syria’s Designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism
On August 24, Secretary Rubio formally rescinded Syria’s designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism.
“This action unlocks new potential for Syria’s economic revitalization and progress,” said Secretary Rubio on X. “The Trump Administration continues to advance U.S. national security to achieve peace, prosperity, and security in the Middle East.”
The Department also delisted Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist.
These actions represent another historic step by President Trump to give the Syrian people a path to prosperity. President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s government made real progress and firm commitments to sever Syria’s ties with international terrorism.
Over the past year, Syria has demonstrated this shift by formally joining the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS and actively disrupting networks operated by ISIS, al-Qa’ida, Hizballah, and Iran-aligned groups.
U.S. Implements Operation Economic Outcast
The U.S. announced broad action against key individuals, entities, and maritime vessels fueling Iran’s destabilizing operations, specifically targeting:Attacks and Proliferation: Strikes on U.S. forces and regional allies, as well as illicit weapons procurement.
Cyber and Cyber-Economic Warfare: Intrusions into American infrastructure and illicit energy sales used to finance terrorism globally.
The financial campaign targets Iran’s economic connections around the globe to isolate the regime from global trade.
“President Trump has been clear that the Iranian regime will not have a nuclear weapon,” said Spokesman Tommy Pigott.
The U.S. will continue to expose and dismantle Iran’s military proliferation, cyber operations, and illicit oil trade, and we urge international partners to join us in holding these actors accountable.
Commemorating the Anniversary of the Attack at Abbey Gate
Five years ago today, 13 brave American service members were taken from their families and their country by an Islamic terrorist in Kabul, Afghanistan. We will never forget them, and never again allow our men and women in uniform to be so utterly betrayed.
On August 26, the United States commemorated the anniversary of the 2021 suicide bombing at Abbey Gate outside the Kabul airport in Afghanistan.
The nation joined in solemn reflection to honor 13 brave and patriotic American service members, as well as the Gold Star families who carry on their legacy.
“As our nation remembers this atrocious attack, we honor the memory of every brave warrior who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country,” the White House said on X. “We will never forget them, and never again allow our men and women in uniform to be so utterly betrayed,” said Secretary Rubio on X.
We grieve with the families who lost a loved one, and renew our solemn pledge to never forget the 13 fallen patriots — their memory will live on forever.
News You May Have MissedPresident Trump declared a national emergency to secure America’s bulk-power system and protect critical energy infrastructure from foreign vulnerabilities.
The United States imposed sanctions against Autistici/Inventati (“A/I Collective”) and other transnational far-left terrorist networks to combat the resurgence of far-left political terrorism.
The United States is participating in the third Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) 2026 Senior Officials’ Meeting in Dalian, China, to continue advancing America First foreign, trade, and investment policies.
Secretary Rubio spoke with incoming Dominican Republic Foreign Minister Víctor Bisonó Haza on boosting security, economic resilience, and explored expanded trade and investment opportunities for U.S. companies in the Dominican Republic.
Representatives from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the AFC/M23 movement met to advance the Doha Framework Agreement to develop a roadmap for negotiations and establish mechanisms to monitor ceasefires.
The United States sanctioned a 10-person courier network operating across the Middle East that smuggled hundreds of millions of dollars in cash to fund Hizballah and Iran’s IRGC-Qods Force outside the formal banking system.
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Virtual Press Briefing with U.S. Senior Official to APEC Casey Mace
08/28/2026
Virtual Press Briefing with U.S. Senior Official to APEC Casey Mace
08/28/2026 11:06 AM EDT
Casey Mace, U.S. Senior Official to Asia-Pacific Economic ForumBureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs
Asia Pacific Media Hub
MODERATOR: Good afternoon. Greetings from the U.S. Department of State’s Asia Pacific Media Hub. It’s my pleasure to welcome journalists to today’s on-the-record briefing. Today, we are honored to be joined by Casey Mace, U.S. Senior Official to APEC.
With that, let’s get started. Senior Official Mace, I’ll turn it over to you for your opening remarks.
SENIOR OFFICIAL MACE: Very good. Thank you for hosting me, and thanks to all the journalists that have called in to hear from myself on behalf of the large U.S. team in Dalian, China, that’s been here for the last two weeks to continue to advance American leadership – economic leadership – in the region.
Just by way of framing our participation here, I wanted to highlight that the U.S. views APEC as a key dimension to President Trump’s successful America First trade and economic policies that are boosting U.S. exports to the Asia Pacific region and attracting record amounts of investment into the U.S. economy. APEC is a premier platform for the United States to shape economic policies in the region, bolster American competitiveness, and open markets to a broad range of important sectors for our export economy.
This past two weeks, APEC economies converged in Dalian, China, to participate in what’s called the Senior Official Meeting, the Third Senior Official Meeting cluster. The United States had over 100 participants – I believe the largest delegation, visiting delegation, of any of the economies. I was proud to lead more than seven U.S. interagency colleagues to participate, along with a number of our private sector partners.
And the two weeks of meetings and workshops actually happened on the heels of one important ministerial meeting on forestry that China hosted that we participated in, and the – it also included the Food Security Ministerial Meeting that took place over the last two weeks. So since the last time I was in China and had the opportunity to speak to press, we have participated in those two ministerials, and we’re pleased to achieve some important wins for the United States.
At the Forestry Ministerial, we were able to achieve support among all member economies to elevate the importance of addressing illegal logging, which has been a big priority for the United States, because illegal logging practices in the region really disadvantage American lumber and timber exports. And because we were able to achieve support from our – from member economies on this priority, we also achieved support for work that we’ve been proposing for years to conduct workshops with policy experts from all of the member economies on how to address this in a more coordinated and aggressive way.
At the Food Security Ministerial Meeting, we were very happy to engender support for the export of U.S. biotech, which is a major focus of our overseas agricultural engagement. And specifically, support for science-based and evidence-based technology-enabled agriculture, including using tools such as AI and promoting advances in agricultural biotechnology.
In addition to those two ministerial meetings, I mentioned that we’re – I’m in town for the Senior Official Meeting cluster, where the United States led four workshops on ocean tech, which promoted U.S. ocean technologies to help governments in the region address illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, as well as addressing issues like marine debris. We led a workshop on trade and services that was aimed to help governments address burdensome restrictions and expand market access to American digital services exports.
We led a workshop on supply chain resilience and making trade more frictionless, making supply chains more resilient for the United States and our exports. So we addressed things like paperless trade and how customs officials can better use tools like paper, digital trade documents, to make trade more efficient.
And finally, we led a workshop on labor, which has been another big and important focus area for us, to try to promote a more harmonized approach to labor practices. There’s a number of labor practices in the region that don’t meet U.S. standards, and as a result, makes the American worker less competitive. And so by leading a workshop on this, we expect to see better policies that bring the standards in the region up.
So those were the big focuses for the United States over the last two weeks. We had lots of very fruitful exchanges with counterparts from the 21 APEC member economies, and we continue to feel like APEC is serving the United States and the President’s America First foreign and trade policies well, allowing us to help shape the business environment and the regulatory environment in the region – as I said, to open up markets to U.S. exports and to support the thriving U.S. private sector in the region.
So maybe I’ll stop there, and very happy to take questions from the journalists on the call.
MODERATOR: Thank you, sir. We will then turn to the question-and-answer portion of today’s briefing.
Our first question goes to a journalist who pre-submitted their question, from Sopheng In, Kampuchea Thmey from KPT English in Cambodia. I see you’re on the line, so I will go ahead and give you permission to unmute yourself, and please pose your question.
QUESTION: Hello?
MODERATOR: Go ahead, Sopheng, we can hear you.
QUESTION: I would like to ask the question about the U.S.: How can the U.S. can support the Cambodia in order, when the Cambodia aims to graduate from the LDC in 2029, especially in energy? Thank you.
SENIOR OFFICIAL MACE: Thank you for your question. And although Cambodia isn’t a member economy in APEC, and so in my role I don’t have a very direct role with Cambodia in this APEC environment, I know that the United States has been very pleased with the development of our bilateral relationship, and of course, the signing of an ART; an agreement on reciprocal trade with Cambodia was an important milestone and step forward for our economic relationship.
So, I know that our – my colleagues in Washington that work on the Cambodia relationship are excited about the opportunities for both of our countries under this new agreement of reciprocal trade.
MODERATOR: Thank you, sir. Our next question goes to Qingting Zheng from 21st Century Business Herald, China. Qingting, please unmute yourself, and please go ahead.
QUESTION: Okay, can you hear me? Thank you very much. My question is: Compared with the past two years, how would you characterize the level of U.S. engagement in APEC this year? What does United States see as the core value of APEC today? Is APEC becoming more important as a platform for advancing U.S. economic interest in the Asia Pacific? Thank you.
SENIOR OFFICIAL MACE: Great, thank you for your question. And I would say that our participation this year in APEC has been consistent with the prior years. The United States is proud to be one of the largest participants across all of these sets of meetings, an active participant in the ministerials. And so – and we were, from the very beginning of the year, committed to participating in a robust and active way during China’s host year. So we’ve participated – I think China at this point has now hosted nine ministerial meetings, or ministerial-level meetings, and three Senior Official Meeting clusters, and the United States has been very active in contributing and participating in all of those.
MODERATOR: Thank you, sir. Our next question goes to Phuong Anh from VTC News. I see you have a question in the Q&A chat, so I will go – we’ll go ahead and give you the permission to speak, so please unmute yourself and go ahead.
QUESTION: Hello, can you hear me?
SENIOR OFFICIAL MACE: Yes.
QUESTION: Thank you. I have two questions. The first one is: As Vietnam prepares to host APEC in 2027, what key outcomes would the U.S. like to see, and where could the country continue to work together? Like, in which areas?
And the second question is: What is your advice that you would offer to Vietnam as it prepares to host APEC in 2027, particularly on building consensus among the economies? Thank you.
SENIOR OFFICIAL MACE: Thank you. I would say the United States is very supportive of Vietnam’s plans to host APEC next year. And I’ve had some very good – already some very good engagements with Vietnamese leaders that are responsible for organizing APEC next year to share our suggestions and recommendations on what we think will be important for a successful APEC year, and have been happy with the level of commitment that they’re bringing to it, and the energy and the ideas, I would say, have been – it’s been a very positive sign.
The U.S. private sector is looking very much forward to Vietnam’s APEC host year. I’ve heard from many of our private sector counterparts that they’re interested in being actively involved and supportive. Vietnam is an important economy in Southeast Asia, an important economic partner for the United States. And so with Vietnam hosting APEC next year, we see it as a real opportunity to continue to strengthen our own bilateral economic relationship, but also because Vietnam is such an important economy in Southeast Asia, it will be a great opportunity for us to continue to strengthen our partnerships in the region and the opportunities for U.S. businesses in the region.
In terms of our priorities, they’ll be the same as they are this year and that they were last year. The United States is focused on extending our energy, dominance, and exports, so we’ve been working very actively in APEC and in other areas to expand American energy exports. American AI and digital exports has been a real focus, and the region is very interested in accelerating the adoption of AI. They are starting to really appreciate and understand the potential that AI offers, and of course, American AI companies offer the leading AI solutions right now in the world, and our AI tech stack – all of the infrastructure and hardware that supports artificial intelligence – is also leading in the field. And so we continue to work with governments and partners in the region to expand opportunities for that and to help economies in the region understand what AI offers, and the potential it offers, and how it will help them achieve their economic goals.
MODERATOR: Thank you. Our next question goes to Colum Murphy from Bloomberg. Colum, if you can please unmute yourself and go ahead.
QUESTION: Thank you, Ambassador Mace. I just wanted to ask a couple of short questions. Is there any particular reason why the delegation this time seems to be bigger than, say, the last two occasions? Maybe I’m wrong on that one, but just curious. And can we talk a little bit about the Shenzhen Leaders Summit coming up and the accompanying business summit? So for the business summit, have we any more clarity about how that will look? Do we know of any companies that have already signed on or will be – will be coming to that?
And then finally, I’d just ask: Have you any sense whether President Trump will come to the Leaders Summit as per what’s commonly understood to be the case? Are you in any sort of direct planning with his office to make sure that that happens?
That’s it, thank you.
SENIOR OFFICIAL MACE: Thanks, Colum. Thanks for your questions. Great that you’re part of this call. I’ll take the questions in order.
In terms of our – the size of our delegation at this set of meetings, it is larger than the last two, but that’s actually consistent with APEC years, because this cluster of senior – this cluster of the Third Senior Official Meeting involves a lot – tends to involve a lot more workshops and work streams. So every APEC year, we tend to have the largest delegation at the third – at SOM3.
In terms of Shenzhen and the plans for the CEO Summit, we received some information, but not much, actually. It’s – because it’s being organized by the Chinese, the business group that’s responsible for it, CCPIT, they are communicating their plans directly with our NCAPEC, which is our private sector national committee for APEC and the other economies. And we understand that the planning for that continues to evolve, so U.S. companies are submitting – have already – we know have raised their interest in attending. I think there’s some application process that they’re involved in pursuing.
I highlighted to the Chinese Government officials that I met with that we really believe that private sector engagement is really one of APEC’s defining strengths, and really makes it unique among many of the other international organizations. So having a really robust CEO Summit that allows for the participation of CEOs from other economies, including the United States, is really important and really does – is a mark of success for any APEC host year. And so I encourage them to – for the Chinese Government to make sure that they’re staying connected with the plans on the CEO Summit to make sure that they’re allowing for the broadest participation possible from the United States and other economies, and they pledged that they would continue to do that. So we are expecting the U.S. private sector and U.S. businesses to be in Shenzhen for the CEO Summit, which we think is really important.
And then finally, regarding President Trump’s possible attendance, I would say nothing to announce or to confirm. As you would know, Colum, the President has indicated, after his meetings with President Xi, support for China’s APEC year as China has expressed support for the United States G20 host year. And so that continues to be a topic of conversation between the two leaders, and we should have more to share in the coming months on the President’s participation.
MODERATOR: Thank you. Our next question goes to a journalist from Papua New Guinea. I don’t see Fidelis Wasari from South Pacific Post is on the line, so I will go ahead and read the question for the record: “Given that over 80 percent of PNG’s population relies on local agriculture, how can the U.S. Government help our farmers and fishermen export their produce to markets in America, Europe, and key trade partners?”
SENIOR OFFICIAL MACE: Well, it’s a good question because, actually, U.S. agricultural exports are really important for the U.S. economy as well. And so we are very active in APEC in promoting open markets for agricultural exports, and I believe that the work we’re doing to open agricultural markets for U.S. exports also helps PNG and other economies in terms of accessing the market.
Some of the things that we’ve been particularly focused on over the course of the last year has been on food safety, regulations to make sure food safety regulations are – meet high standards but are also harmonized so that our U.S. goods that do meet high food safety standards are accepted by markets in the region, and I think that only helps economies like PNG as well.
And as I said, I think that the U.S. biotechnology exports, the work that the U.S. companies are doing on genome editing, and the use of AI in agricultural practices, is cutting-edge. It’s leading to greater crop yields and productivity in the agricultural sector, and we’re very excited to be able to bring those kinds of solutions to markets, including PNG.
So I think that as those U.S. exports are adopted by farmers across the Asia Pacific region, including in PNG, the agricultural sectors in all of these economies will improve.
MODERATOR: Thank you. Our next question goes to Samantha Beltran from South China Morning Post. I see you have a question in the Q&A box, so please go ahead and pose your question live to the senior official, please.
QUESTION: Good afternoon. So I have two questions for you. My first question is: What priority areas are you looking at for investments, particularly for Southeast Asian APEC members?
And my second question has to do with tariffs. So how are you viewing U.S. economic ties with APEC members in relation to these Section 301 tariffs, many of whom have been hit by these levies? And I understand that there is a new report that the U.S. is considering tariffs on semiconductors. Can you share anything about whether these discussions came up with countries that are expecting to be affected, such as Taiwan and South Korea? Thank you.
SENIOR OFFICIAL MACE: Well, thank you. In terms of priority areas for investment in Southeast Asia, I’m interpreting that to mean for U.S. investment in the region. I would say that AI and digital – our digital exports have been a real focus area, and a real growth area that U.S. industry has been increasing exports and investments in those sectors in the region. There’s really strong interest in the region to embrace American technology, American digital solutions and AI solutions. And so that will continue to be a real growth area, and I think it’s really going to be transformative for the region in terms of improving the economic output, performance, and quality of life in the region. So we’re really excited to continue to focus on promoting those areas.
In terms of tariffs, I would just say that President Trump has been very focused on rebalancing trade, making trade more fair for the United States, and has pursued and used a number of tools, including tariffs, to bring greater balance to the U.S. trade, which has grown – it’s grown really imbalanced in ways that have harmed the U.S. economy for many years. Tariffs is one of the tools that is being used.
The work that we do in APEC is another, because by opening markets to U.S. exports, it will also serve to help rebalance trade in a fairer way and lead to more sustainable trade that is supported by all sectors of all of our economies.
So we’re encouraged by the progress we’re making through APEC to open more markets. We believe that the work we’re doing is meaningful and important and yielding results. We believe that the tariffs that the United States is using is also yielding important results for the United States economy.
MODERATOR: Thank you, sir. Our next question goes to Dimitri Bruyas from TVBS News in Taiwan. Dimitri, please unmute yourself and go ahead.
QUESTION: Sorry, can you hear me?
SENIOR OFFICIAL MACE: Yes.
QUESTION: Okay. Sir, I was wondering, how does Taiwan fit into the U.S. supply chain resilience strategies with APEC, and particularly regarding technology cooperation?
SENIOR OFFICIAL MACE: Well, thank you. Taiwan is a really important export market for the United States, and Taiwan is investing even more in the United States, and so Taiwan is a very important economic partner for us. Taiwan has also been an important partner in some of our initiatives on the supply chain front, like the Pax Silica initiative that the United States announced last year, which is focused on the supply chain for AI and to make sure it’s secure and robust.
And so, with partners like Taiwan and other partners of Pax Silica, we’ve been very focused on investing in areas to make the AI supply chain serve our economies, our private sectors in ways that are more resilient and reliable.
MODERATOR: Thank you, sir. We have time for one more question, and the last question will go to Nada, Jakarta Globe – I’m sorry, Jayanty Nada Shofa from Jakarta Globe. Please unmute yourself and go ahead.
QUESTION: Hi, my name is Nada from the Jakarta Globe. So how will U.S. plan to translate the America First agenda in its cooperation with Indonesia? And a specific question on critical minerals: Is the U.S. looking to step up cooperation in critical minerals since Indonesia is abundant in nickel and copper? Thank you.
SENIOR OFFICIAL MACE: Great, thank you for your question. Indonesia is a really important economic partner for the United States. And on the critical minerals front, that has been a real priority for the United States. And so we’ve been looking at ways to strengthen our cooperation on the critical minerals front with Indonesia.
I would say, with Indonesia, we also recently were – reached an agreement on an agreement on reciprocal trade in art, a reciprocal trade agreement which was really important to – once ratified is, I think, going to lead to even more opportunities for our two economies and strengthen the economic partnership.
Part of that is – an element of that is address critical minerals, but we’re looking to do even more on the critical minerals front. It’s an important priority that the United States develop critical mineral supply chains that aren’t dependent on one country. And many of our partners share that same goal, and so we’ve been able to do – we’ve signed something like 40 different MOUs with countries to strengthen our critical mineral partnership and work on the critical mineral supply chain. The United States has announced some major investments on the critical minerals front, to include critical mineral investments in places like Australia, places like Japan; we did a critical minerals announcement with our Quad partners – Japan, India, and Australia.
So there’s – that Indonesia, we believe can be an important partner for us on this, and we would like to formalize some of this partnership, and we’re looking at ways to do that.
MODERATOR: Thank you. So we are out of time for Q&A, so before we conclude, we’ll turn it back to you, sir, for any final closing remarks.
SENIOR OFFICIAL MACE: Great. Thank you for your interest in APEC, and for your interest in United States efforts at APEC. I’ll just echo what I said at the beginning, that we believe APEC is the premier platform in the region to allow the United States to shape the policies, the business environment, the regulatory environment, in ways that will open more markets to U.S. exports and bring greater benefits to the American economy.
We have been very excited about the support that we continue to build among our partners for our efforts at APEC. The workshops that we’ve been leading have garnered a lot of participation, and so – and our ability to achieve new levels of support for our priorities across these ministerials, like at the Food Security Ministerial, like at the Forestry Ministerial; the Trade Ministerial that happened earlier this year, we received support for some of our priorities there, including on intellectual property right protection.
So the work that we’re doing at APEC is really delivering results for the United States economy, and I look forward to coming back to China in November for the concluding Senior Official Meeting and for the APEC Leaders Week.
Thank you very much.
MODERATOR: Thank you, sir, and thank you all for joining us today. We will provide a transcript of this briefing to all participating journalists as soon as it’s available. And if you have any feedback or further questions, please feel free to contact us at AsiaPacMedia@state.gov. Thanks again for your participation, and we hope you can join us for another briefing very soon. Have a great weekend. Thanks, everyone.
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Statement by Spokesman Tommy Pigott on the Passing of His Majesty King Harald V of Norway
08/29/2026
Statement by Spokesman Tommy Pigott on the Passing of His Majesty King Harald V of Norway
08/29/2026 02:53 PM EDT
Thomas "Tommy" Pigott, SpokesmanOffice of the Spokesperson
Statement by Spokesman Tommy Pigott on the Passing of His Majesty King Harald V of Norway
Press Statement
August 29, 2026
On behalf of the people of the United States, I extend my deepest condolences to Her Majesty Queen Sonja, the entire Royal Family, and the Norwegian people on the passing of His Majesty King Harald V.
The King was a close friend of the United States and steadfast supporter of the strong relationship between our two countries. America was honored to provide a safe haven for the young Prince Harald and his family during the Second World War, and his subsequent royal visits across the United States strengthened the ties between our nations throughout his reign. King Harald’s personal commitment to celebrating the proud heritage of Norwegian-Americans and kinship between the people of the United States and Norway will forever serve as part of his enduring legacy.
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