China’s foreign ministry lashed out at the U.S. and Taiwan on Sunday after the U.S. State Department approved a $385 million arms sale to the island.

Chinese officials also criticized the U.S. for approving Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te to visit Hawaii and Guam, a U.S. territory. China considers Taiwan to be its sovereign territory and routinely objects to any validation of the island’s democratically-elected government.

The arms deal approved late last week sees Taiwan purchasing hundreds of millions of dollars worth of spare parts for F-16 fighter jets as well as components for radars.

Chinese officials said the deal sent the “wrong signal” about relations in the Indo-Pacific. A separate statement said China “strongly condemns” Lai’s travel to the U.S.

CHINA OFFICIALLY ‘DOESN’T CARE’ ABOUT TRUMP WIN; UNOFFICIALLY, EXPERTS SAY BEIJING IS RATTLED

The U.S. has repeatedly signaled its support for Taiwan through military deals, operations and diplomatic interactions with Taiwanese officials.

Recent years have found a cadence of U.S. officials, such as former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, meeting with Taiwanese officials only for Beijing to react with saber-rattling.

Pelosi made a rare trip to the island in 2021, and China reacted by holding live-fire military drills surrounding Taiwan. Those drills occurred again in 2023 when then-Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen met with former Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California.

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s regime has routinely criticized the U.S. for making friends with Taiwan. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque//File Photo)

President-elect Trump has signaled that his administration will continue America’s strong relationship with Taiwan. Trump’s nominees to serve as United Nations ambassador, national security adviser, and most importantly, secretary of state are regarded by many as “China Hawks.”

TRUMP’S PICKS SO FAR: HERE’S WHO WILL BE ADVISING THE NEW PRESIDENT

Trump nominated Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., to be secretary of state last month. Rubio has been a leading voice in the Senate for cracking down on China and imposing sanctions.

Trump has nominated Sen. Marco Rubio to lead the State Department. (Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Rubio has said he will work with Trump to “continue to support Taiwan.” He is also allied with Trump on insisting Taiwan increase defense spending, a view shared by security experts, but not necessarily the majority of Taiwanese people. 

Reuters contributed to this report.

Nearly two weeks after Gov. Gavin Newsom launched a special session to fund legal battles against the president-elect, the Democratic leader appeared to be trying to tone down and reframe the California-vs.-Trump narrative he set in motion.

“It’s not a resistance brand,” Newsom said in an interview with The Times. “It’s around pragmatism. It’s about preparedness. We would be fools not to get on top of this before January.”

The subtle shift signals the governor may be revising his role as a liberal champion in the nation’s culture wars in the wake of Donald Trump’s defeat of Vice President Kamala Harris.

But as he set out on a “California jobs first” tour to talk about the economy in the Central Valley, Newsom couldn’t resist the gravitational pull back into the fight over progressive values with Trump.

Despite the state budget crunch, he announced Monday that California will offer rebates for those who purchase zero-emission vehicles if Trump follows through with a threat to end federal subsidies for clean cars. Tesla could be excluded from the state rebates under a plan to restrict the credits to manufacturers with lesser market share, a jab at Trump ally and Newsom critic Elon Musk, Tesla’s owner.

The seesaw underscores Newsom’s challenge as he tries to strike a delicate balance between the political brawler that his Democratic base admires and a more measured national leader capable of winning back disenfranchised voters across the country who backed Trump in the election.

“He’s caught between this old way of being the tip of the spear and just being pure resistance and now considering a presidential run,” said Mike Madrid, a Republican political consultant.

Madrid said Newsom isn’t alone. The governor’s shuffle, in Madrid’s view, personifies a reckoning happening within a Democratic Party focused on identity politics in 2024 without realizing that Trump was winning over voters on economic issues.

“Gavin Newsom has led the Democratic Party into a place where they can win these cultural battles, but that’s not what this election was about,” Madrid said. “The battle is about affordability, and California’s got a huge weakness there.”

The presidential election showcased the Republican strategy of typecasting California and the Democratic Party as left of most of the country. California leaders are preparing to defend against mass deportations, a reversal of LGBTQ+ rights and efforts to weaken climate change policies when Trump takes office.

Embracing electric vehicles is another Democratic litmus test that runs afoul of Trump’s agenda. Newsom has led the way with a mandate to transition all new car sales in California to zero-emission vehicles by 2035. New state subsidies, he argued, seek to protect the electric vehicle market and industry jobs based here.

To his Republican foes in California, the proposed electric vehicle credits are another example of the liberal governor being “out of touch.”

Nationwide only about 3 in 10 Americans would consider buying an electric vehicle, according to a recent study by the Pew Research Center. In the Golden State, electric vehicles account for about 25% of all new car sales — a rise that Newsom touts but which shows most Californians aren’t yet making the switch.

“The reality for most working people is they need their gas-powered vehicle, they can’t afford an electric vehicle, nor do they want one,” said Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher (R-Yuba City). “When you’re talking about greater tax credits for Hollywood and money for people who want to buy EVs, you’ve missed the memo, bud.”

David McCuan, a professor of political science at Sonoma State University, said subsidies for electric vehicles are a “limousine liberal” issue that wealthy college-educated voters care about, while the working-class voters the party is losing are more worried about the cost of gasoline and the rent.

“Wokeism gives him a platform, but wokeism also exposes his political weaknesses,” McCuan said. “The culture war issues that provide his exposure also are somewhat of an Achilles’ heel for delivering the vote.”

If Newsom has aspirations for the White House, the governor needs to demonstrate more discipline than “knee-jerk” reactions to Trump that draw headlines across the country, and he should craft an inclusive message about the way forward, McCuan said.

“He needs to be front and center in voters’ minds and when they cast their ballot, and that’s the political maturity test that I think he has yet to meet,” McCuan said.

As lawmakers prepare to return to the state Capitol to begin the special session Monday, Newsom and legislative leaders have repeated the message that they’re ready to work with the incoming president. The special session seeks to increase legal funding for the California Department of Justice to protect abortion access, climate change policies, LGBTQ+ rights and disaster funding to make sure California isn’t caught off guard if Trump carries out his agenda as expected, they said.

“It goes without saying if there are opportunities to be able to work together with the new administration that benefit California, of course, we’re all in,” state Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg) said. “But let’s be clear, if the president-elect tries to undermine our state, undermine our freedoms or our democracy, he’s going to quickly see how determined the people of California truly are.”

Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister) said he told his caucus a few days after the election that this isn’t 2016, when legislators introduced a flurry of bills to “Trump-proof” California, because so much of that work is already done. Lawmakers, he said, should focus on helping California residents who stand to lose under the incoming president.

The message voters sent in the election also provides an opportunity for his caucus to advance its priorities around housing affordability and making families feel as though future generations will be able to afford to live here.

“For me as a member of the Assembly and as speaker of the Assembly, I obviously feel a great sense of responsibility because it falls to us to ensure that we’re making progress on these issues, and we just clearly have not convinced residents that we’re doing that,” Rivas said.

Madrid said it’s common for any party to reassess after losing an election. But more tests await Newsom and Democrats on immigration and other issues after Trump is inaugurated.

Their attempts to restrain themselves in the national fight and focus on the cost of living could be out the window by mid-January, he said.

“The chances of the affordability problem being resolved is very minimal because the problem, essentially, is about housing, and that’s not something you solve overnight,” Madrid said. “It’s something that we have neglected for decades and particularly in this administration.”

Staff writer Jaweed Kaleem contributed to this report.

President-elect Trump’s nomination of Kash Patel as FBI director evoked strong reactions from supporters and critics Saturday night.

Patel’s nomination hints at massive changes the agency will likely undergo during the second Trump administration. As a staunch supporter of Trump, Patel is a fierce critic of government corruption and the so-called “deep state” and has blasted the bureau in the past.

In a September interview with “The Shawn Ryan Show,” Patel said the FBI’s footprint “has gotten so frickin’ big.”

“I would shut down the FBI Hoover Building on day one and reopen the next day as a museum of the deep state,” Patel said.

TRUMP NOMINATES KASH PATEL TO SERVE AS FBI DIRECTOR: ‘ADVOCATE FOR TRUTH’

Trump has not historically been a fan of the FBI, which raided his Florida estate in 2022 and years earlier investigated false claims he was a Russian asset. Most observers expect Trump will demand an agency overhaul by his director.

“Kash is a brilliant lawyer, investigator, and ‘America First’ fighter who has spent his career exposing corruption, defending Justice, and protecting the American People,” Trump said in a statement. “He played a pivotal role in uncovering the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, standing as an advocate for truth, accountability, and the Constitution.”

Patel’s nomination was met with instant praise from Republicans. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., Trump’s pick for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, called Patel an “America First fighter.” Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., also praised the pick.

“Great choice by @realDonaldTrump,” Donalds wrote on X. “Kash is a patriot and 100% America First.”

Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, also issued his congratulations.

NEW YORK JUDGE GRANTS TRUMP REQUEST TO FILE MOTION TO DISMISS CHARGES, CANCELS SENTENCING INDEFINITELY

Kash Patel, former chief of staff to the U.S. secretary of defense, speaks during a campaign rally for former President Trump at Findlay Toyota Center in Prescott Valley, Ariz., Oct. 13. (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)

“Kash was INSTRUMENTAL in President Trump’s first term and will be EVEN GREATER in his second!” the former White House physician wrote. “Time to clean this place up, and Kash is the man to do it!!! MAGA!”

Commentators on the left, however, panned the pick. MSNBC’s Morning Joe previously called Patel the “personification of MAGA rage about the Justice Department and the FBI.”

On Saturday night, far-left commentator Mehdi Hasan accused Patel of being a “deeply strange and alarming and sycophantic figure.” Andrew McCabe, who briefly served as acting FBI director under Trump in 2017 before being fired for allegedly leaking to the media and a “lack of candor,” called Patel’s nomination “a plan to disrupt, to dismantle, to distract the FBI.”

“It’s a terrible development for the men and women of the FBI and also for the nation that depends on a highly functioning, professional, independent Federal Bureau of Investigation,” McCabe said on CNN. “The fact that Kash Patel is profoundly unqualified for this job is not even, like, a matter for debate.”

Trump nominated Patel to lead the FBI. (Getty Images)

TRUMP NOMINATES CHARLES KUSHNER TO SERVE AS US AMBASSADOR TO FRANCE: ‘STRONG ADVOCATE’

Tom Nichols, a staff writer for The Atlantic, told MSNBC Patel is “as dangerous as it gets.”

“I suppose if we still have the ability to be shocked, it’s shocking,” Nichols said. “But I think this is something … many of us saw it coming and, you know, shouldn’t be that surprising. But it’s an incredibly dangerous development.”

Two conditions will need to be met for Patel to take office. Current FBI Director Christopher Wray will either need to resign or be fired, and Patel will need to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.

Wray has not signaled an intent to resign. On Saturday night, the FBI told Fox News Digital Wray is focused on his work at hand.

Kash Patel, former chief of staff to the department of Defense, greets the crowd during a campaign rally at Minden-Tahoe Airport in Minden, Nev., Oct. 8, 2022. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

“Every day, the men and women of the FBI continue to work to protect Americans from a growing array of threats,” an FBI spokesperson said. “Director Wray’s focus remains on the men and women of the FBI, the people we do the work with and the people we do the work for.”

Fox News Digital’s Peter Pinedo contributed to this report.