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US President Donald Trump said Wednesday he was still deciding whether to join Israel’s strikes on Iran, claiming Tehran now wants talks at the White House but may have waited too long.Trump held his second Situation Room meeting in two days with his national security team as he left the world guessing about his potential order of military action.”I may do it, I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do,” Trump told reporters at the unveiling of one of two giant new flagpoles at the White House.”I can tell you this, that Iran’s got a lot of trouble, and they want to negotiate.”He added that “the next week is going to be very big” when it comes to determining Iran’s fate.The White House said Trump would be briefed in the Situation Room again on Thursday, a holiday in the United States.Trump’s comments came after the Islamic republic’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rejected his demands for an unconditional surrender and warned the United States of “irreparable damage” if it intervenes.A day after saying Khamenei was an “easy target”, Trump told AFP in the Oval Office that a change of leadership in Tehran “could happen.”But Republican Trump, who faces opposition from the isolationist wing of his support base to joining any more foreign wars, insisted that he had not yet made up his mind on whether to take US action.”I have ideas as to what to do, but I haven’t made a final (decision),” Trump said. “I like to make the final decision one second before it’s due, because things change. Especially with war.”The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump had told aides on Tuesday he had approved attack plans for Iran but was holding off to see if Iran would give up its nuclear program. “All options are on the table,” a White House official told AFP when asked about the report.Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet Thursday in Washington with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, the State Department said, for talks expected to focus on Iran.- ‘Very late’ -Trump appeared to be in no hurry to reach what would be one of the most consequential decisions of his presidency — spending more than an hour dealing with the installation of his new flagpoles. He said Iran was reaching out to try to strike a deal on its nuclear program to end the conflict with US ally Israel.”They want to come to the White House, I may do that,” Trump said. He added however that it was “very late to be talking… There’s a big difference between now and a week ago.”Iran denied it had offered to send officials to Washington.”No Iranian official has ever asked to grovel at the gates of the White House,” Iran’s mission to the United Nations posted on X.Trump had favored a diplomatic route to end Iran’s nuclear program, seeking a deal to replace the agreement he tore up in his first term in 2018.But since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched strikes on Iran six days ago Trump has moved in behind the key US ally and is now weighing whether to use American military power against Tehran too.Trump said Wednesday that Iran was “weeks” away from being able to make a nuclear bomb.He noted that the United States is the only country with “bunker buster” bombs capable of taking out Iran’s Fordow nuclear plant “but that doesn’t mean I’m going to do it.” The US president said he had told Netanyahu to “keep going” with Israel’s offensive against Iran, adding that they were speaking every day.Trump however rebuffed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s offer to mediate in the Israel-Iran conflict, saying Russia should end its own war in Ukraine first.”He actually offered to help mediate, I said ‘do me a favor, mediate your own. Let’s mediate Russia first, okay? You can worry about this later,'” Trump said. 

Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is making its way into courts despite early stumbles, raising questions about how it will influence the legal system and justice itself.Judges use the technology for research, lawyers utilize it for appeals and parties involved in cases have relied on GenAI to help express themselves in court.”It’s probably used more than people expect,” said Daniel Linna, a professor at the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, about GenAI in the US legal system.”Judges don’t necessarily raise their hand and talk about this to a whole room of judges, but I have people who come to me afterward and say they are experimenting with it.”In one prominent instance, GenAI enabled murder victim Chris Pelkey to address an Arizona courtroom — in the form of a video avatar — at the sentencing of the man convicted of shooting him dead in 2021 during a clash between motorists.”I believe in forgiveness,” said a digital proxy of Pelkey created by his sister, Stacey Wales.The judge voiced appreciation for the avatar, saying it seemed authentic.”I knew it would be powerful,” Wales told AFP, “that that it would humanize Chris in the eyes of the judge.”The AI testimony, a first of its kind, ended the sentencing hearing at which Wales and other members of the slain man’s family spoke about the impact of the loss.Since the hearing, examples of GenAI being used in US legal cases have multiplied.”It is a helpful tool and it is time-saving, as long as the accuracy is confirmed,” said attorney Stephen Schwartz, who practices in the northeastern state of Maine.”Overall, it’s a positive development in jurisprudence.”Schwartz described using ChatGPT as well as GenAI legal assistants, such as LexisNexis Protege and CoCounsel from Thomson Reuters, for researching case law and other tasks.”You can’t completely rely on it,” Schwartz cautioned, recommending that cases proffered by GenAI be read to ensure accuracy.”We are all aware of a horror story where AI comes up with mixed-up case things.”The technology has been the culprit behind false legal citations, far-fetched case precedents, and flat-out fabrications.In early May, a federal judge in Los Angeles imposed $31,100 in fines and damages on two law firms for an error-riddled petition drafted with the help of GenAI, blasting it as a “collective debacle.”The tech is also being relied on by some who skip lawyers and represent themselves in court, often causing legal errors.And as GenAI makes it easier and cheaper to draft legal complaints, courts already overburdened by caseloads could see them climb higher, said Shay Cleary of the National Center for State Courts.”Courts need to be prepared to handle that,” Cleary said.- Transformation -Law professor Linna sees the potential for GenAI to be part of the solution though, giving more people the ability to seek justice in courts made more efficient.”We have a huge number of people who don’t have access to legal services,” Linna said.”These tools can be transformative; of course we need to be thoughtful about how we integrate them.”Federal judges in the US capitol have written decisions noting their use of ChatGPT in laying out their opinions.”Judges need to be technologically up-to-date and trained in AI,” Linna said.GenAI assistants already have the potential to influence the outcome of cases the same way a human law clerk might, reasoned the professor.Facts or case law pointed out by GenAI might sway a judge’s decision, and could be different than what a legal clerk would have come up with.But if GenAI lives up to its potential and excels at finding the best information for judges to consider, that could make for well-grounded rulings less likely to be overturned on appeal, according to Linna.

The US Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved Gilead Sciences’ twice-yearly injection to prevent HIV — a move the company hailed as a major breakthrough in the fight against the sexually transmitted virus.Drugs to prevent HIV transmission, known as pre-exposure prophylaxis or PrEP, have existed for more than a decade. But because they typically require taking a daily pill, they have yet to make a significant dent in global infections.”This is a historic day in the decades-long fight against HIV,” Gilead chairman and chief executive Daniel O’Day said in a statement.Lenacapavir, marketed under the brand name Yeztugo, has been shown to reduce the risk of HIV transmission by more than 99.9 percent in adults and adolescents — making it functionally akin to a powerful vaccine.The company conducted two large clinical trials. The first, involving more than 2,000 women in sub-Saharan Africa, resulted in a 100 percent reduction in infections and demonstrated superiority over the daily oral pill Truvada.In the second trial, involving over 2,000 men and gender-diverse individuals, only two infections were recorded — a 99.9 percent prevention rate, again surpassing Truvada.Reported side effects included injection site reactions, headache, and nausea.Results from both trials were published in The New England Journal of Medicine, and the journal Science named lenacapavir its 2024 “Breakthrough of the Year.”– Price concerns dampen hope –Despite the impressive results, optimism may be tempered by the drug’s cost — a list price of $28,218 per year in the United States, Gilead spokeswoman Blair Baumwell told AFP in an email Wednesday. An earlier long-acting HIV prevention shot — cabotegravir, which is injected every two months and was approved by the FDA in 2021 — costs tens of thousands of dollars per year and has yet to make a major global impact.Lenacapavir’s current list price for its previously approved use as a treatment for HIV is $39,000 annually.Baumwell said the $28,000-plus per year cost for Lenacapavir as a preventive drug is “in line with” those of existing PrEP products and that the company inspects insurers to cover it.”We are working to make Yeztugo accessible for anyone who needs or wants it and expect to see broad insurance coverage,” she said in the email.Activists are urging Gilead to drastically cut the price to help end the HIV pandemic.”Even high-income countries will not be able to afford widescale use of lenacapavir at prices above US $20,000 per year,” said Andrew Hill of Liverpool University, who led a team of chemists and scientists that found it could be mass-produced and sold for as little as $25 per person per year.”I congratulate Gilead and US partners for advancing this important innovation,” added Winnie Byanyima, under-secretary-general of the United Nations. “Lenacapavir could be the tool we need to bring new infections under control — but only if it is priced affordably and made available to everyone who could benefit.”In October, Gilead signed agreements with six pharmaceutical companies to produce and distribute generic versions of the drug, pending regulatory approval, in 120 low- and middle-income countries.Because it will take time for those countries to begin production, the company also announced a separate deal in December with the Global Fund — an international partnership established by the United Nations, alongside the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and others — to purchase doses for two million people.However, cuts to the PEPFAR program under President Donald Trump’s administration have cast uncertainty over the future of that agreement.

Foreigners seeking to study in the United States will be required to make public their social media profiles to allow screening for anti-American content under new State Department guidelines released Wednesday.The State Department had temporarily paused issuing visas for foreign students at the end of May while it came up with the new social media guidance and it will now resume taking appointments.”The enhanced social media vetting will ensure we are properly screening every single person attempting to visit our country,” a senior State Department official said.US consular officers will conduct a conduct a “comprehensive and thorough vetting of all student and exchange visitor applicants,” the official said.To facilitate the screening, student visa applicants will be asked to adjust the privacy settings on all their social media profiles to “public,” the official said.In an executive order on his first day as president, Donald Trump called for increased vetting of persons entering the United States to ensure they “do not bear hostile attitudes toward its citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles.”Student visas are one of a series of battles waged over higher education by the Trump administration, which has rescinded thousands of visas and sought to ban Harvard University from accepting international students.Secretary of State Marco Rubio has revoked visas in large part of students who led demonstrations critical of Israel’s offensive in Gaza, as he uses an obscure law that allows the removal of people deemed to go against US foreign policy interests.In April, the Department of Homeland Security said the social media of foreign student applicants would be examined for “antisemitic activity” that could result in visa denial.The US government has been vetting the social media of persons seeking to immigrate to the United States or obtain a green card for more than a decade.

The Los Angeles Lakers are being sold in a record-breaking $10 billion deal that makes the iconic franchise the highest-valued sports team in US history, ESPN reported Wednesday.The report said the Lakers owners, the Buss family, would sell their controlling interest in the team to billionaire Mark Walter, who already owns a minority stake in the franchise.While Jeanie Buss would continue as Lakers governor, the deal ends the Buss family’s 46-year reign over the NBA giants.Walter is the chief executive of holding company TWG Global which has built an impressive portfolio of professional sports teams, including the Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angeles Sparks. He is also part of the ownership group of English Premier League side Chelsea.TWG also owns the Billie Jean King Cup tennis tournament and the Cadillac Formula One team.While further specifics of the deal were not disclosed, Lakers legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson — a business partner of Walter — was among the first to react to news of the agreement.”Laker fans should be ecstatic,” Johnson wrote on X. “A few things I can tell you about Mark — he is driven by winning, excellence, and doing everything the right way. And he will put in the resources needed to win! I can understand why Jeanie sold the team to Mark Walter because they are just alike.”- ‘The best choice’ -Johnson cited Walter’s ownership of the Dodgers baseball team as a reason for optimism. The Dodgers have won the World Series twice since Walter’s ownership group took over the club, and in recent years have adopted an aggressive recruitment strategy that has seen them sign some of the sport’s best talent, including Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani on a 10-year, $700 million deal.”Mark is the best choice and will be the best caretaker of the Laker brand,” Johnson wrote. “The proof is in the pudding on what he’s been able to accomplish with the LA Dodgers. Mark has been nothing short of a winner.”The Buss family selling the Lakers marks the end of an era in the NBA, whose modern popularity owes much to the franchise’s 1980s heyday.The Lakers were bought in 1979 by charismatic tycoon Jerry Buss, who quickly helped turn the franchise into a sporting powerhouse as well as a globally recognised brand.The Buss era brought the Lakers 11 NBA championships — more than any other team over the same period — and encompassed golden ages which included the “Showtime” Lakers of Magic Johnson as well as a hat-trick of championships between 2000 and 2002 when the team was spearheaded by Kobe Bryant.More recently the team recruited superstar LeBron James, who led the Lakers to a 17th championship in 2020, and stunned the league earlier this after swooping for Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic.Walter has been a minority owner of the Lakers since 2021 when he bought a share in a deal which also gave him first refusal to purchase the club should the Buss family ever decide to sell.The sale of the club smashes the previous highest figure paid for a US sports team, the $6.1 billion paid for the Boston Celtics earlier this year.That Celtics sale eclipsed the $6.05 billion that Josh Harris paid for the Washington Commanders in 2023.

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Wednesday Iran would never surrender, with the country unleashing hypersonic missiles in a new wave of attacks against Israel on the sixth day of war between the longtime enemies.The latest missile barrage came hours after Israel said it had destroyed Iran’s internal security headquarters in Tehran, and as it reported a new wave of attacks targeting missile systems and storage sites in the country’s west.Khamenei also warned the United States against becoming involved in the conflict, after US President Donald Trump appeared to flirt with the idea in recent days, calling for Tehran’s “unconditional surrender”.”This nation will never surrender,” Khamenei said in a televised address, in which he called Trump’s ultimatum “unacceptable”.”America should know that any military intervention will undoubtedly result in irreparable damage.”Iran’s state television reported the launch of Fattah hypersonic missiles, while the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps also announced the launch of so-called super-heavy, long-range missiles.An Israeli military official, who asked not to be named, said Wednesday that Iran had fired around 400 ballistic missiles and 1,000 drones since Friday. About 20 missiles had struck civilian areas in Israel, the official added.Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said earlier that air force jets had destroyed Iran’s internal security headquarters, as AFP journalists in Tehran reported powerful explosions across the city.Meanwhile, a London-based internet watchdog said there was a “near-total national internet blackout” in Iran on Wednesday after days of disruptions.Iran later announced heavier internet restrictions to curb hostile use, according to the Fars news agency. It first imposed internet curbs at the outset of Israel’s campaign last week.- ‘Unconditional surrender’ -Trump has fuelled speculation about US intervention, saying Wednesday that his patience had “run out” with Iran, but that it was still not too late for talks.He later said he has not yet made a decision on whether to join Israel in bombing Iran and warned that the country’s current leadership could fall as a result of the war.A change in Iran’s government “could happen,” he told reporters at the White House.A day earlier Trump had boasted that the United States could assassinate Khamenei, but would not do so, “at least not for now”.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked Trump for his “support in defending Israel’s skies” on Wednesday, calling him a “great friend” of Israel.Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi insisted in a post on X that his country remains committed to diplomacy, even as it acts in “self-defence” against Israel.”Iran has so far only retaliated against the Israeli regime and not those who are aiding and abetting it,” he said.Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday that a deal to end the fighting was possible, that would guarantee both Israel’s security and Iran’s desire for a civilian nuclear programme.”I believe it would be good for all of us together to look for ways to stop the fighting and seek ways for the participants in the conflict to find an agreement,” he told foreign journalists, including AFP, at a televised event.Putin also said Iran had not asked Russia for military help.- ‘Painful losses’ -Netanyahu said in a televised statement Israel was “striking the ayatollahs’ regime with tremendous power” but acknowledged Israel had also suffered “painful losses”.Since Friday, at least 24 people have been killed in Israel and hundreds wounded, according to Netanyahu’s office.Iran said Sunday that Israeli strikes had killed at least 224 people, including military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians. It has not issued an updated toll since then.Israel said its surprise air campaign was aimed at preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons — an ambition Tehran denies.Israel has maintained ambiguity regarding its own atomic activities, but the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) says it has 90 nuclear warheads.Beyond the deadly strikes, some Iranians have reported shortages in recent days.Finding fuel has become a challenge, with long car queues waiting hours in front of petrol stations, a 40-year-old Iranian driver told AFP at the Iraqi border crossing of Bashmakh.”There are shortages of rice, bread, sugar and tea,” he said, asking to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals.”People are shocked and distraught, they don’t know what they should do,” said a car dealer in the Iranian city of Bukan who also asked not to be identified by his real name.- Centrifuges hit -Earlier, Israeli strikes destroyed two buildings making centrifuge components for Iran’s nuclear programme in Karaj, a satellite city of Tehran, the International Atomic Energy Agency said.In another strike on a site in Tehran, “one building was hit where advanced centrifuge rotors were manufactured and tested”, the agency added.Centrifuges are vital for uranium enrichment, the sensitive process that can produce fuel for reactors or, in highly extended form, the core of a nuclear warhead.burs-smw/ser/gv

Google-owned Waymo on Wednesday said it has applied for a permit to start testing its self-driving cars in New York City, a first for the Big Apple.Waymo’s autonomous vehicles have become part of the everyday landscape in a growing number of US cities, serving as safe transport options, tourist attractions, and symbols of a not-so-distant future.Waymo plans to begin operating a small fleet of autonomous vehicles in Manhattan next month, with human drivers at the wheel until regulators allow otherwise, a spokesperson told AFP.Waymo operations in New York, once properly permitted, will be in a test phase, according to the company.Waymo first ventured into New York in late 2021, but did not let its cars operate autonomously then either.New York State law limits the use of autonomous cars to testing and does not allow Waymo to offer the kind of robotaxi services it provides in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Austin, a Waymo spokesperson said.New York officials said they are making safety a priority “which is why we have put in place safeguards and conditions for any type of autonomous vehicle to ensure that this technology is deployed appropriately.”Founded in 2009, Waymo now has a fleet of 1,500 vehicles and provides more than 250,000 paid rides a week in the United States.Waymo plans to launch its robotaxi service in Atlanta this summer, followed by Miami and Washington in 2026.The collapse of Waymo’s main competitor, Cruise — due to high costs and following poor crisis management in response to a San Francisco accident — has propelled Waymo to market leadership.Amazon subsidiary Zoox has a few dozen prototype vehicles on the road, and is not planning its first commercial launch until later this year in Las Vegas.As for Tesla, it has promised to debut its robotaxi service on Sunday in Austin, Texas, after several postponements.

The United States has thousands of troops deployed on bases across the Middle East, a region in which Washington’s forces have carried out repeated military operations in recent decades.Israel launched an unprecedented air campaign against Iran last week, and US President Donald Trump has said he is weighing whether to join Israel in the fight.US involvement in the conflict would likely result in attacks by Tehran on American troops in the region, who were already targeted by Iran-aligned forces in the course of the Israel-Hamas war.Below, AFP examines countries with major concentrations of US forces in the Middle East, which falls under the US military’s Central Command (CENTCOM).- Bahrain -The tiny Gulf kingdom hosts an installation known as Naval Support Activity Bahrain, where the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet and US Naval Forces Central Command headquarters are based.Bahrain’s deep-water port can accommodate the largest US military vessels, such as aircraft carriers, and the US Navy has used the base in the country since 1948, when the facility was operated by Britain’s Royal Navy.Several US ships have their home port in Bahrain, including four anti-mine vessels and two logistical support ships. The US Coast Guard also has vessels in the country, including six fast response cutters.- Iraq -The United States has troops at various installations in Iraq, including Al-Asad and Arbil air bases. The Iraqi government is a close ally of Iran, but also a strategic partner of Tehran’s arch-foe the United States.There are some 2,500 US troops in Iraq as part of the international coalition against the Islamic State jihadist group. Baghdad and Washington have agreed on a timetable for the gradual withdrawal of the coalition’s forces from the country.US forces in Iraq and Syria were repeatedly targeted by pro-Iran militants following the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, but responded with heavy strikes on Tehran-linked targets, and the attacks largely subsided.- Kuwait -Kuwait has several US bases, including Camp Arifjan, the location of the forward headquarters for the US Army component of CENTCOM. The US Army also has stocks of prepositioned materiel in the country.Ali al-Salem Air Base hosts the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing, the “primary airlift hub and gateway for delivering combat power to joint and coalition forces” in the region. Additionally, the United States has drones including MQ-9 Reapers in Kuwait.- Qatar -Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar includes the forward components of CENTCOM, as well as of its air forces and special operation forces in the region. It also hosts rotating combat aircraft, as well as the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing, which includes “airlift, aerial refueling intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, and aeromedical evacuation assets.”- Syria -The United States has for years maintained troop presences at a series of installations in Syria as part of international efforts against the Islamic State group, which rose out of the country’s civil war to overrun large parts of Syria and neighboring Iraq.The Pentagon announced in April that it would roughly halve the number of its forces in the country to less than 1,000 in the coming months as part of a “consolidation” of US troops in the country.- United Arab Emirates -Al Dahfra Air Base in the UAE hosts the US 380th Air Expeditionary Wing, a force that is composed of 10 squadrons of aircraft and also includes drones such as MQ-9 Reapers.Combat aircraft have rotated through Al Dhafra, which also hosts the Gulf Air Warfare Center for air and missile defense training.

US President Donald Trump took time out Wednesday from deliberating on whether to bomb Iran to unveil two huge new flagpoles that he claimed are among the best in the world.Trump, 79, saluted as a giant Stars and Stripes flag was raised on one of the 88-foot (27-metre) poles in a brief ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House.The billionaire real estate tycoon, who built his career on brash displays of wealth, said he was personally paying for each of the $50,000 poles. And he could not resist some nationalistic hyperbole about the size and quality of the new additions.”This is about the largest you’ll ever see,” Trump told reporters. “These are the best poles anywhere in the country — in the world actually.”The poles are, however, 12 feet shorter than originally advertised by the White House, which said when it announced Trump’s plan in April that they would be 100 feet tall. Trump also said the pole on the South Lawn — the famed expanse of grass with a vista that leads to the Jefferson Memorial — was “very far” from where Marine One lands, when asked if it could cause any issues for the helicopter.The second flagpole was being installed on the North Lawn at the front of the White House.The giant flags are the latest part of Trump’s sweeping makeover of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue since he returned to power in January. The Republican is paving over the famed Rose Garden and has blitzed the Oval Office with gaudy gold decorations. He also has plans to build a new ballroom.For the flag-raising ceremony, Trump was accompanied by a group including Charles Kushner, the new US ambassador to France and father of Trump’s son-in-law. Kushner, a real estate executive who spent time in federal prison after pleading guilty in 2004 to tax evasion, among other crimes, was pardoned by Trump in 2020, near the end of his first term. Kushner’s son Jared Kushner, who married Trump’s eldest daughter Ivanka in 2009, served as the president’s advisor during his first term, notably on conflict in the Middle East.The Middle East overshadowed the debut of Trump’s new flagpoles, with the president facing a series of questions from reporters about whether the United States would join Israel’s airstrikes on Iran.”I may do it, I may not do it,” Trump said when asked.

Nippon Steel and US Steel announced Wednesday they have completed a long-debated transaction granting the US government a “golden share” — a veto-like power over the Japanese company’s strategic decisions.The agreement modifies a transaction originally announced in December 2023 in which Nippon Steel agreed to acquire US Steel for $14.9 billion. But the outright acquisition of the iconic US company sparked bipartisan political opposition, including from President Donald Trump.Trump, who railed against the proposed deal throughout the 2024 presidential campaign, last month announced a pivot, branding the revamped venture as a “planned partnership.”And the US government will now have a non-economic “golden share” that gives it a say on Nippon’s plans for US infrastructure and jobs.On Wednesday, US Steel filed a notice with US securities regulators to delist its shares on the New York Stock Exchange. The NYSE halted trading, pointing to a “merger effective” order.”The companies have now completed the transaction as contemplated by their merger agreement,” Nippon and US Steel said in a joint press release. “The companies have also entered into a National Security Agreement with the US Government, and US Steel will issue a Golden Share to the US Government.”Nippon Steel has bought all common shares of US Steel, completing the merger, a source close to the matter said Wednesday.Pennsylvania Senator Dave McCormick, a Republican, cheered the deal’s closing, thanking Trump on X and calling the outcome “a massive victory for working families in the Mon Valley, our economy, our national security, and America’s manufacturing future!”But the United Steelworkers (USW) union, which vigorously fought the deal, vowed to “continue watching, holding Nippon to its commitments,” according to a statement.”And we will use the most powerful tool workers have against global corporations: collective bargaining.”- Post-election window of opportunity -Under the December 2023 transaction, Nippon agreed to pay $55 per share for US Steel, an all-cash deal that included a 40 percent premium and pitched the combined company as the “best steelmaker with world-leading capabilities.”While the transaction included a pledge to maintain the name US Steel and the company’s Pittsburgh headquarters, industry watchers expected an exodus of US Steel executives.But after the deal sparked bitter opposition from the USW and a broad range of politicians, including then president Joe Biden and former Ohio senator JD Vance — now Trump’s vice president — Nippon stepped up its lobbying efforts in Washington and Pittsburgh to win support for a transaction that appeared for months to be on life support.In early January, shortly before leaving office, Biden blocked the transaction, saying that placing “one of America’s largest steel producers under foreign control” could “create risk for our national security and our critical supply chains.”But backers of the deal had been hoping the shift in political climate following Trump’s election victory over Biden’s vice president Kamala Harris might revive the deal’s prospect.Besides agreeing to keep US Steel’s Pittsburgh headquarters and to maintaining US production, the revamped deal’s national security agreement calls for a majority of US Steel’s board to be US citizens and for key leaders, including the CEO, to be US citizens.The government’s “golden share” will allow it the right to appoint one independent director and grant it consent rights for proposed capital budget cuts, the redomiciling of activities outside the United States and on acquisitions in the United States.The “golden share” does not entitle the US government to dividends, nor does it require Washington to make investments in the company.Atlantic Council senior fellow Sarah Bauerle Danzman said the deal is not a nationalization of US Steel because the government will not be involved in day-to-day management and “because the United States is not taking equity stakes away from owners.”While the structure gives the government “extraordinary” influence, the mechanism could be difficult to enforce in a downturn if Nippon fails to comply, Danzman said.”How would the US government compel Nippon to increase investments to its promised amount?” wrote Danzman, adding that Washington’s enforcement options “are relatively weak here, especially if Nippon finds itself in a fragile economic position.”