The briefing for Monday, September 21.

CNN, Politico and MS NOW announced Monday they are suing the Trump administration after being barred from the White House last week. The outlets said their reporters were denied building access on Saturday, days after President Trump accused them of writing "fiction or lies" about his team. In a joint statement, the companies said they are pursuing legal action to "protect our First Amendment rights and defend the principle that the government does not decide what the press reports."

Trump responded on Truth Social, denying the White House was "instituting an assault on the Free Press" and saying he was targeting "FAKE NEWS." He did not cite specific stories that prompted the ban, but suggested other outlets, including the New York Times and Washington Post, could face similar treatment. The dispute follows a February decision giving the White House control over the press pool, previously managed by the White House Correspondents' Association for more than a century, and an ongoing lawsuit by the Associated Press over its exclusion from limited-access spaces.

The clash raises fresh questions about the boundaries of government control over media access. Courts have traditionally interpreted the First Amendment as barring the government from discriminating against press coverage based on content, a principle the plaintiffs argue was violated here. The case adds to a growing list of legal fights between the administration and news organizations, several of which have ended in multimillion-dollar settlements, while others, including a BBC lawsuit, remain unresolved.

The Netherlands is preparing for the United States to impose sanctions on the International Criminal Court, according to Dutch officials briefed by Washington and cited by the Associated Press. The sanctions, which could come as early as this week, would mark a significant escalation after the U.S. already sanctioned more than a dozen ICC staff, including half of its sitting judges. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has described the effort as a "sweeping campaign to dismantle the threat posed by the International Criminal Court."

The sanctions stem from ICC investigations into U.S. and Israeli officials, including arrest warrants issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the war in Gaza; both Israel and Netanyahu deny the allegations. Sanctions of this kind, typically reserved for autocrats and terrorist groups, can cut off access to financial and IT services. When the ICC's former chief prosecutor was sanctioned in 2025, he lost his Microsoft email access and had his bank accounts frozen. In anticipation, the court has already migrated off U.S.-based software and financial providers.

Dutch and court officials are seeking a six-month grace period to fully sever ties with American companies and avoid steep penalties. The European Union has limited tools to shield the institution, since the ICC is an international body rather than a European one. A small but growing number of member states, including Venezuela and Chad, have signaled plans to withdraw from the court, with Chad explicitly citing U.S. pressure — a sign the sanctions campaign may be reshaping the court's global membership even before taking effect.

Seven armed and political factions in Ethiopia have announced a new coalition, the Ethiopian Peoples' Forces Alliance for Survival, aimed at removing Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government. The alliance includes the Amhara Fano National Movement, the Oromo Liberation Army, the Tigray People's Liberation Front, and four smaller regional groups, together representing roughly half of Ethiopia's 12 regional states. The coalition accuses Abiy's government of presiding over "war, genocide, mass destruction, and utter poverty."

The TPLF's involvement is particularly notable given its role in Ethiopia's 2020-2022 civil war, which ended with an African Union-brokered peace deal. A TPLF spokesman told the AP that the group now considers that agreement "no longer valid" and that joint military operations with the new alliance "may become necessary." The Fano militia, which once fought alongside federal forces during the Tigray war, later turned against the government after refusing to disarm. Abiy has downplayed the threat, telling lawmakers in July that Ethiopia has no "iota of fear" regarding its sovereignty.

The alliance's formation follows a June general election that returned Abiy's Prosperity Party to power with an overwhelming majority, though the vote was boycotted by major opposition groups and excluded Tigray's six million residents entirely. It remains unclear how closely the seven factions will coordinate in practice, but their combined geographic reach raises the possibility of a broader, multi-front conflict reigniting across a country still recovering from its last civil war.

A United Nations investigation has concluded that U.S. airstrikes on suspected drug-trafficking vessels likely violated international law and could constitute crimes against humanity. UN Special Rapporteur Ben Saul found that since last September, at least 68 U.S. strikes in the Caribbean and Pacific have killed more than 220 people outside U.S. territorial waters. Saul said that even if targets were linked to designated terrorist groups, they had not carried out an armed attack on the U.S. that would justify a right to self-defense.

The report arrived days after the U.S. military said it killed four more people in a strike on a vessel in the Caribbean, bringing the confirmed death toll to at least 231 across 69 strikes, according to the AP. U.S. Southern Command said the operation targeted "narco-terrorists" along known smuggling routes, but the military has not provided public evidence confirming drug trafficking in most cases. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has defended the campaign, dubbed "Southern Spear," as necessary to protect Americans from drug-related deaths.

Saul concluded there are "reasonable grounds to believe" the strikes constitute crimes against humanity of murder under customary international law. The findings intensify legal and political scrutiny of a campaign that has already drawn criticism from Latin American leaders, even as the administration pursues agreements to expand joint military operations against criminal groups in countries including Colombia, Guatemala and Honduras.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the United States has proposed a new "notification mechanism" for artificial intelligence incidents that could threaten national security, following weekend talks with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in New York. The discussions came ahead of a planned meeting between President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Washington this Thursday. "We want a shared vision of common goals and common threats," Bessent told reporters, framing the move as part of a broader push for transparency between the world's two leading AI powers.

The proposal comes amid mounting concern from researchers and industry figures about the risks posed by rapidly advancing AI systems, even as Trump has largely dismissed calls to slow development, arguing the U.S. cannot cede ground to China. Analysts note that cooperation remains constrained by broader strategic competition; the U.S. is unlikely to ease export controls on advanced chips, and both sides continue to view AI dominance as a national security priority. Still, experts including Sun Chenghao of Tsinghua University say there is "meaningful room for cooperation" on shared risks like AI-enabled cyberattacks or loss-of-control incidents.

Alongside the AI discussions, U.S. and Chinese officials also agreed to move forward on a new "Board of Trade" mechanism first discussed when Xi hosted Trump in Beijing in May, and are weighing potential tariff reductions on select consumer, agricultural and energy goods. A tariff truce between the two countries is set to expire November 10, adding urgency to this week's talks.

The United States and Denmark have announced an agreement on Greenland's security, ending a months-long diplomatic standoff sparked by President Trump's earlier threats to seize the Arctic territory by force. Trump said the deal grants the U.S. "permanent control over security, and all other needs" in Greenland, including a provision barring any U.S. adversary from maintaining a military presence or making sensitive investments there without American approval. NATO welcomed the agreement, saying it would help "stabilise the region."

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said the deal, expected to be signed next week at the UN General Assembly, would strengthen security while preserving "the sovereignty and territorial integrity" of Denmark and Greenlanders' right to self-determination. No text of the agreement has been released, and it still requires parliamentary approval before taking effect. French President Emmanuel Macron said the outcome affirmed that "Danish sovereignty is respected," and some Danish commentators framed it as a quiet diplomatic win for Copenhagen.

While the deal appears to resolve the immediate crisis, some Greenlandic officials remain cautious. MP Naaja Nathanielsen called it welcome news but stressed the importance of preserving self-determination, while former politician Aaja Chemnitz said she remains skeptical of Trump. The agreement cements a significant U.S. strategic foothold in the Arctic without any territory formally changing hands.