Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin targeted China in his address Saturday at the Reagan National Defense Forum, telling Fox News’ Bret Baier, “China is not 10 feet tall.”

“America is a Pacific power,” Austin said. “The Indo-Pacific is a region of great opportunity and real challenges. One of those challenges is the emergence of an increasingly assertive and autocratic China.”

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said Saturday that China’s increased military activity near Taiwan seemingly indicates a “rehearsal” of the country’s future intentions.

Austin made his comment during a keynote discussion with Fox News anchor Bret Baier at the Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley, California.

Pointing out how China has been launching multiple air operations near Taiwan in recent months, Baier asked Austin, “Do you think that these are training flights for future operations?”

Austin noted that he didn’t want to speculate, but said, “Certainly, it looks like them exploring what their true capabilities [are], and sure, it looks like rehearsal.”

David Perdue, the Trump-backed former senator, plans to announce he’ll challenge Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp in a Republican primary face-off next year, a source familiar with Perdue’s plans has confirmed to Fox News.

Perdue, who was narrowly defeated by now-Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff in last January’s Senate runoffs, was recruited by former President Donald Trump to oust Kemp over his refusal to help the then-president’s efforts last year to overturn the election results in Georgia.

Former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole died Sunday morning at age 98, prompting a flurry of reactions and condolences from Republicans and Democrats alike commemorating his nearly four decades of service.

“It is with heavy hearts we announce that Senator Robert Joseph Dole died early this morning in his sleep,” the Elizabeth Dole Foundation tweeted Sunday. “At his death, at age 98, he had served the United States of America faithfully for 79 years.”

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, said Sunday that she believes there are enough senators, both Democratic and Republican, who would be willing to override President Biden and sanction Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

During an appearance on “Fox News Sunday,” Ernst told host Chris Wallace that she believes Biden should reverse course after he waived sanctions against the operator of the near-completed pipeline in May in order to help repair U.S. relations with Germany. Ukraine, however, strongly opposes the pipeline that would carry Russian gas to Germany, saying it will be used as a geopolitical weapon to deprive Ukraine of needed natural gas imports.

China appears to be eyeing its first permanent military base on the shores of Africa’s Atlantic coast, and Washington – not keen on the idea – has already started a diplomatic effort to put the kibosh on any plans, a report said.

U.S. officials, citing classified American intelligence reports, told the Wall Street Journal that Beijing could be eyeing Equatorial Guinea’s port city of Bata for the base. The report said Bata already comes with a deep-water port that had been upgraded by China Road & Bridge Co. from 2009 to 2014. The report said U.S. intelligence first learned of the possibility of the base in 2019.

Satellite imagery indicates that Russian forces have gathered on the Ukraine border ahead of a planned video call this week between Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin.

Biden and Putin will speak in a video call Tuesday, the Kremlin said, as tensions between the United States and Russia escalate over a Russian troop buildup on the Ukrainian border.

Satellite imagery of the buildup was collected by Maxar Technologies over the past month and provided to Fox News.

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., said Sunday she is “very confident” that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., will hold a vote to strip Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., of her committee assignments in the near future in response to her recent controversial comments about Omar.

“We should punish and sanction Boebert by stripping her of her committees, by rebuking her language,” Omar said. “By doing everything that we can to send a clear and decisive message to the American public that if the Rep

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves declared Sunday that “there is no guaranteed right to an abortion” in the U.S. Constitution and that such an issue should be left up to individual states. His comments came after the Supreme Court heard oral arguments last week in a case focusing on his state’s 15-week abortion ban that has the potential to limit abortion access across the U.S.

Appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Reeves, a Republican, said that judging from the justices’ line of questioning he believes the pro-life movement will be handed a major win, as his state’s case could result in a shift away from rulings in abortion rights cases Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey.

Former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole died Sunday morning at age 98, his wife’s foundation announced.

“It is with heavy hearts we announce that Senator Robert Joseph Dole died early this morning in his sleep,” the Elizabeth Dole Foundation tweeted. “At his death, at age 98, he had served the United States of America faithfully for 79 years. More information coming soon. #RememberingBobDole”