Amid a wave of early shakeups in the new administration, President Donald Trump has twice this month proposed "denuclearization" talks with U.S. adversaries.

"Tremendous amounts of money are being spent on nuclear, and the destructive capacity is something we don’t even want to talk about today, because you don’t want to hear it," Trump mused in remarks to the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland, last week. 

"I want to see if we can denuclearize, and I think it’s very possible," suggesting talks on the issue between the U.S., Russia and China. 

Such an idea could represent a major thawing in U.S. relations with two global adversaries – but begs the question of whether the U.S. could trust the nations to hold up their end of the deal.  

President Vladimir Putin announced Russia would suspend its participation in the New START treaty in 2023 over U.S. support for Ukraine. Russia had frequently been caught violating the terms of the deal. But China has never engaged in negotiations with the U.S. over arms reduction. 

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Trump reiterated to Fox News' Sean Hannity on Wednesday that he'd been close to a "denuclearization" deal with Russia during his first term. 

"I was dealing with Putin about the denuclearization of Russia and the United States. And then we were going to bring China along on that one. I was very close to having a deal. I would have made a deal with Putin on that denuclearization. It's very dangerous and very expensive, and that would have been great, but we had a bad election that interrupted us."

The Defense Department now expects that China will have more than 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030, a near-doubling of the estimated 600 they possess right now. 

In a speech on Jan. 17, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that "amid a ‘hybrid war’ waged by Washington against Russia, we aren’t seeing any basis, not only for any additional joint measures in the sphere of arms control and reduction of strategic risks, but for any discussion of strategic stability issues with the United States."

But Putin, in an address on Monday, struck a more diplomatic tone: "We see the statements by the newly elected president… about the desire to restore direct contacts with Russia. We also hear his statement about the need to do everything possible to prevent World War III. We, of course, welcome this attitude." 

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said of Trump's comments at a news conference on Wednesday: "China's development of nuclear weapons is a historic choice forced to be made. As a responsible major country, China is committed to the path of peaceful development and friendly cooperation with all countries in the world."

Experts argue Russia is using its leverage over nuclear arms control as a means for the U.S. agreeing to favorable terms to end the war with Ukraine.

"Russians are ‘me first’ painstaking negotiators, and what they're doing in this case, is they're clearly laying a bit of a trap," said John Erath of the Center for Arms Control and Non-proliferation.

"It makes sense dangling arms control, which they perceive as something that we want, in front of us and saying, ‘Oh, by the way, we'll talk about reducing nuclear weapons,’ as an incentive to get us to throw the Ukrainians under the bus."

But whether Trump was revealing a policy priority or speaking on a whim with the Davos comments is anyone’s guess.  

The president took heat during his first term for meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un to discuss nuclear reduction. That effort fell apart, and Trump resorted to threatening to rain "fire and fury" on North Korea. 

"I think he's very sensitive to the dangers of nuclear war, and realizes that in many ways, we're closer to that today than we have been in many, many decades," said George Beebe, a director at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. 

One thing most experts agree on is that the U.S. nuclear program is expensive and outdated. With some 3,700 warheads in its arsenal, the U.S. is expected to spend $756 billion to store and maintain its nuclear weapons between 2023 and 2032. 

"Regardless of reductions, however, the administration and Congress must continue modernizing and ensuring the reliability of the U.S. nuclear arsenal while eliminating excessive spending where possible," said Andrea Stricker, deputy director at the Foundation for Defense of Democracy's nonproliferation program. 

Arms experts admit that Russia has cheated on arms treaties, but U.S. intelligence capabilities have grown to ensure compliance.

"We've done it throughout the Cold War to varying degrees, and I think we've gotten better and more capable in our intelligence community of monitoring compliance with these sorts of things. So that is certainly a feasible approach to take," said Beebe.

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But China and Russia aren’t the only U.S. adversaries with nuclear weapons. North Korea is estimated to have an arsenal of 50 nuclear warheads, Iran is on the precipice of enriching uranium to potent enough levels for a bomb. 

"Before engaging in arms control talks, Washington needs a strategy for how it will simultaneously deter two peer nuclear competitors, Russia and China, which could combine forces with states like North Korea and Iran to attack or coerce the United States," said Stricker.

In the four decades between the U.S. atomic bombings of Japan in 1945 and the first arms control treaty between the U.S. and Russia, the world was on edge as the two superpowers raced to claim the world's largest arsenal. In 1987, Washington and Moscow signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), which led to the dismantling of thousands of bombs.

But over the years, the U.S. and Russia lost their monopoly on civilization-ending weapons: now nine countries are nuclear-armed, rendering bilateral treaties less and less effective. 

Speaker Mike Johnson is replacing Rep. Mike Turner as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee after a debacle that started with a warning about Russian space nuclear technology last year, a source familiar with the decision confirmed to Fox News Digital.

Johnson, R-La., was unhappy with Turner, R-Ohio, after a seemingly unexpected warning he issued about the need to declassify information about Russian anti-satellite technology.

A hawk by nature, Turner sometimes went up against the Trumpist wing of his Republican Party on matters like support for Ukraine aid and Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. 

The decision to replace Turner took many by surprise. Though Johnson had not officially named him as chairman, Turner attended a dinner of House GOP committee chairs with President-elect Trump over the weekend. 

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"Under my leadership, we restored the integrity of the Committee and returned its mission to its core focus of national security. The threat from our adversaries is real and requires serious deliberations," Turner said in a statement after the news. 

Turner will no longer serve on the Intelligence Committee at all, but he will continue to serve on the Armed Services and Oversight committees.

Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, told reporters the removal of Turner as chairman "sends a shiver down my spine," adding that Turner was not the kind to "bend the knee" to Trump.

Last February, Turner warned of a "serious national security threat" that he was urging President Biden to declassify information on. 

"I am requesting that President Biden declassify all information relating to this threat so that Congress, the Administration, and our allies can openly discuss the actions necessary to respond to this threat," he added.

Johnson was then left to quell the public alarm. 

Johnson said he "saw Chairman Turner's statement on the issue, and I want to assure the American people there's no need for public alarm." 

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"I'm not at liberty to disclose classified information and really can't say much of that, but we just want to assure everyone, steady hands are at the wheel, we're working on it. There's no need for alarm," he added. 

In the days that followed, details of the Russian threat soon began to filter through to the press, painting a picture of an adversary capable of disabling U.S. military satellites and other critical space-based infrastructure.

Turner has at times throughout the years been unafraid to stand up to Trump. In September, he criticized the rumors about Haitian migrants eating pets that were amplified by Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance. 

"This is incredibly tragic and completely untrue. This should not have happened, it’s been tearing the community apart," Turner told CNN's Jake Tapper at the time.

Chris Wright, President-elect Trump's nominee to lead the U.S. Department of Energy, is planning to tell senators in charge of his confirmation that he will focus on restoring American "energy dominance" at home and abroad. 

Wright, a fossil fuel executive who in the past has been critical of the media blaming climate change for repeated wildfires, is expected to deliver his opening statement before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday morning. Fox News Digital obtained a copy of the statement in advance ahead of the hearing scheduled to start at 10 a.m. ET.

"I am humbled by the great responsibility this position holds," Wright is expected to say in his opening statement. "America has a historic opportunity to secure our energy systems, deliver leadership in scientific and technological innovation, steward our weapons stockpiles, and meet Cold War legacy waste commitments." 

Describing himself as a "science geek, turned tech nerd, turned lifelong energy entrepreneur," Wright will tell the committee how his "fascination with energy started at a young age in Denver, Colorado." His opening statement discusses how he enrolled at MIT "specifically to work on fusion energy" and later started graduate school at the University of California at Berkeley where he worked "on solar energy as well as power electronics."

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"Energy is the essential agent of change that enables everything that we do. A low energy society is poor. A highly energized society can bring health, wealth, and opportunity for all," Wright will say. "The stated mission of the company that I founded – Liberty Energy – is to better human lives through energy. Liberty works directly in oil, natural gas, next generation geothermal and has partnerships in next-generation nuclear energy and new battery technology." 

"Energy has been a lifelong passion of mine, and I have never been shy about that fact," Wright plans to tell the committee. "Then again, I have never been shy about much. President Trump shares my passion for energy and, if confirmed, I will work tirelessly to implement his bold agenda as an unabashed steward for all sources of affordable, reliable and secure American energy."

On Tuesday, committee Democrats led by Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico called for Wright's confirmation hearing to be delayed by at least a week, citing how they had not yet received "the standard financial disclosure report, ethics agreement, or the opinions from the designated agency ethics officer and the Office of Government Ethics stating that the nominee is in compliance with the ethics laws." 

Chairman Mike Lee, R-Utah, has already pushed back the confirmation hearing for Doug Burgum, Trump's pick for interior secretary, by two days until Thursday due to an OGE paperwork delay, but Wright's remained on the schedule Wednesday. 

If approved as secretary, Wright would manage energy policy and production in the United States, as well as the nation's nuclear weapon stockpile. He would also work with Burgum on the National Energy Council, where they would develop Trump's energy dominance policy involving increased production of U.S. oil and gas.

Wright has indicated that he plans to resign as CEO and chairman of his fracking company, Liberty Energy, if approved.

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In his opening statement, Wright identifies three "immediate" tasks that he would focus his attention on if confirmed.

"The first is to unleash American energy at home and abroad to restore energy dominance," Wright will say. "The security of our nation begins with energy. Previous administrations have viewed energy as a liability instead of the immense national asset that it is. To compete globally, we must expand energy production, including commercial nuclear and liquified natural gas, and cut the cost of energy." 

"Second, we must lead the world in innovation and technology breakthroughs," the statement continues. "Throughout my lifetime, technology and innovation have immeasurably enhanced the human condition. We must protect and accelerate the work of the Department’s national laboratory network to secure America’s competitive edge and its security. I commit to working with Congress on the important missions of the national laboratories." 

"Third, we must build things in America again and remove barriers to progress," Wright will say. "Federal policies today make it too easy to stop projects and very hard to start and complete projects. This makes energy more expensive and less reliable. President Trump is committed to lowering energy costs and to do so, we must prioritize cutting red tape, enabling private sector investments, and building the infrastructure we need to make energy more affordable for families and businesses." 

A man who federal prosecutors say runs a notorious Japanese organized crime syndicate pleaded guilty last week to conspiring to traffic nuclear materials to Iran and U.S. weapons abandoned in Afghanistan to Burma. 

Takeshi Ebisawa, the 60-year-old alleged leader of the Japanese yakuza, pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court on Wednesday to conspiring with a network of associates to traffic nuclear materials, including uranium and weapons-grade plutonium, from Burma to other countries. He also pleaded guilty to international narcotics trafficking and weapons charges, the Justice Department announced. 

Acting U.S. Attorney Edward Y. Kim for the Southern District of New York said Ebisawa admitted that he "brazenly trafficked nuclear material, including weapons-grade plutonium, out of Burma," while at the same time, he worked to "send massive quantities of heroin and methamphetamine to the United States in exchange for heavy-duty weaponry such as surface-to-air missiles to be used on battlefields in Burma and laundered what he believed to be drug money from New York to Tokyo." 

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) had been investigating Ebisawa since at least 2019, according to court documents and evidence presented in court. 

During the course of the probe, federal prosecutors say Ebisawa unwittingly introduced an undercover DEA agent who was posing as a narcotics and weapons trafficker to his international network of criminal associates, which spanned Japan, Thailand, Burma, Sri Lanka, and the United States, among other places, "for the purpose of arranging large-scale narcotics and weapons transactions." 

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The superseding indictment alleges Ebisawa and his network, including his co-defendants, negotiated multiple narcotics and weapons transactions with that undercover agent. 

Ebisawa conspired to broker the purchase of U.S.-made surface-to-air missiles, as well as other heavy-duty weaponry, intended for "multiple ethnic armed groups in Burma," including the unidentified leader of "an ethnic insurgent group," according to federal prosecutors. He also allegedly negotiated a deal to accept large quantities of heroin and methamphetamine for distribution as partial payment for the weapons. 

"Ebisawa understood the weapons to have been manufactured in the U.S. and taken from U.S. military bases in Afghanistan," the DOJ said. "Ebisawa planned for the heroin and methamphetamine to be distributed in the New York market." 

In a separate transaction, he also allegedly conspired to sell 500 kilograms of methamphetamine and 500 kilograms of heroin to the undercover agent for distribution in New York, prosecutors say. 

Ebisawa was also accused of working to launder $100,000 in purported narcotics proceeds from the U.S. to Japan.

Beginning in early 2020, court documents say Ebisawa informed the undercover agent and a DEA confidential source that he had access to a large quantity of nuclear materials that he wanted to sell. 

Later that year, Ebisawa allegedly sent the undercover agent a series of photos "depicting rocky substances with Geiger counters measuring radiation," as well as purported lab analyses indicating the presence of thorium and uranium, court documents say. At Ebisawa's urging, the undercover agent agreed to help him broker the sale of his nuclear materials to an associate who was posing as an Iranian general for use in a nuclear weapons program, according to the Justice Department. 

Prosecutors say Ebisawa then offered to supply the supposed Iranian general with "plutonium" that would be even "better" and more "powerful" than uranium for this purpose. 

With two other co-conspirators, Ebisawa allegedly proposed to the undercover agent that the Burma insurgent group leader sell uranium to the supposed Iranian general, through Ebisawa, to fund the group's weapons purchase.

On a Feb. 4, 2022, video call, one of Ebisawa's co-conspirators allegedly told the undercover DEA agent and the Burma insurgent group leader that he had available more than 2,000 kilograms of Thorium-232 and more than 100 kilograms of uranium in the compound U3O8 – a compound of uranium commonly found in the uranium concentrate powder known as "yellowcake," according to court documents. 

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He allegedly claimed he could produce as much as five tons of nuclear materials in Burma. They had several meetings in Southeast Asia to discuss their ongoing transactions, prosecutors say. 

During one of these meetings, one of Ebisawa's co-conspirators showed the undercover agent in a Thailand hotel room two plastic containers each holding a powdery yellow substance which he described as nuclear samples of "yellowcake." 

He allegedly said one container held a sample of uranium in the compound U3O8, and the other container held Thorium-232.

The samples were seized with the assistance of Thai authorities and subsequently transferred to the custody of U.S. law enforcement. 

The DOJ said a nuclear forensic laboratory in the U.S. examined the samples and determined that both samples contained detectable quantities of uranium, thorium, and plutonium. "In particular, the laboratory determined that the isotope composition of the plutonium found in the nuclear samples is weapons-grade, meaning that the plutonium, if produced in sufficient quantities, would be suitable for use in a nuclear weapon," prosecutors added. 

Ebisawa had been jailed in Brooklyn since his April 2022 arrest during a DEA sting operation that resulted in international drug and weapons charges. A superseding indictment was brought against him last February. 

On Wednesday, Ebisawa pleaded guilty to six counts. The two counts of narcotics importation conspiracy carry a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life in prison. The other charges he admitted to are conspiracy to commit international trafficking of nuclear materials, international trafficking of nuclear materials, conspiracy to possess firearms, including machine guns and destructive devices, and money laundering. 

Ebisawa's guilty plea "should serve as a stark reminder to those who imperil our national security by trafficking weapons-grade plutonium and other dangerous materials on behalf of organized criminal syndicates that the Department of Justice will hold you accountable to the fullest extent of the law," Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen of the Justice Department’s National Security Division said in a statement.

DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said the investigation into Ebisawa and his associates "exposed the shocking depths of international organized crime from trafficking nuclear materials to fueling the narcotics trade and arming violent insurgents."

Iran’s nuclear program is nearing the "point of no return," French President Emmanuel Macron is now warning. 

Iran is the top "strategic and security challenge" for France and Europe this year, Macron said this week during an annual foreign policy conference with French ambassadors, according to Reuters. 

"The acceleration of the nuclear program leads us nearly to the point of no return," the French leader was quoted as saying. 

"In the coming months we will have to ask ourselves whether to use... the mechanism to restore sanctions," Macron added. 

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The comments come after International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi told Reuters in December that Iran is enriching uranium close to the 90% level required for weapons grade. 

French, German and British diplomats are now set to meet their Iranian counterparts on Jan. 13 in an effort to defuse tensions, according to Reuters. 

Iran has argued that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. 

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Axios recently reported that in a top meeting with National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan roughly a month ago, President Biden was presented with a series of strike options should Iran make a move to develop a nuclear weapon.

Biden has vowed not to let Iran develop a nuclear weapon on his watch, but it remains unclear what steps Iran would have to take in order for the Biden administration to respond with direct hits, given that Tehran has already been reported to have stockpiled near-weapons-grade uranium and to be bolstering its weaponization capabilities.

The president was reportedly presented with a series of scenarios and response options during the meeting, though sources told the outlet that Biden has not made any final decisions regarding the information he was given.  

Another source reportedly told Axios there currently are no active discussions on militarily hitting Iran’s program.

Fox News’ Caitlin McFall contributed to this report.