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Trump won’t commit to arms sale to Taiwan after stark warning from Xi

China's President Xi Jinping (R) and US President Donald Trump visit the Temple of Heaven on May 14, 2026 in Beijing, China. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski - Pool/Getty Images)

(WASHINGTON) -- After a second day of high-stakes meetings with China's Xi Jinping, President Donald Trump is not committing to approving the latest round of arms sales to Taiwan and brushed off previous U.S. assurances not to consult with Beijing about those sales.

"I'll make a determination over the next fairly short period," Trump said when asked about the arms sales by reporters aboard Air Force One.

The president's remarks came after Xi's stark warning that if the issue of Taiwan is handled "improperly," then the two nations could "come into conflict," according to China's official state news source Xinhua. However, Xi did say that if the issue is handled "properly" then "bilateral relations can remain generally stable."

Trump has been delaying the latest round of arms sales, for months refusing to sign off on the record $14 billion package that was approved in January 2025, despite urging from some lawmakers.

Trump also told reporters that Xi asked him if he would come to Taiwan's defense if China were to attack, but Trump claims to have not revealed his thinking.

"That question was asked to me today by President Xi. I said, 'I don't talk about, I don't talk about that,'" Trump said.

Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Minister Liang Wen-chieh said they are "paying close attention" to the Trump-Xi meeting.

Earlier Friday, Trump participated in a tea and working lunch with Xi.

On Iran, Trump said he and Xi feel "very similar" in wanting the war to end and prohibiting Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

"We feel very similar in Iran. We want that to end. We don't want them to have a nuclear weapon. We want the [Strait of Hormuz] opened. We're closing it now. They closed it, and we closed it on top of them, but we want the straits open, and we want them to get it ended, because it's a crazy thing," Trump said at a photo opportunity earlier Friday.

Later, aboard Air Force One, Trump was pressed on whether Xi actually committed to pressuring Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

"I'm not asking for any favors, because when you ask for favors, you have to do favors in return. We don't need favors," Trump said.

Trump was seeking to bolster international support amid a push to reopen the Strait of Hormuz as the U.S. war with Iran stretches on. China is Iran's principal oil consumer.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry, responding to inquiries to confirm whether Trump and Xi discussed Iran, sidestepped the question but reiterated China's position that the ceasefire and negotiations should continue and that the Strait of Hormuz should be reopened.

"There is no need to continue this war that should not have happened," a spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry said. "Finding a solution earlier is beneficial to the United States and Iran, as well as to the countries in the region and even the whole world."

"Since the door of dialogue is open, it should not be closed again," the spokesperson said.

Before Friday's meeting, Trump met Xi to tour the gardens at Zhongnanhai, the Chinese Communist Party leadership compound.

Xi said he picked the location "especially to reciprocate the hospitality extended to me in 2017 at Mar-a-Lago." Xi said Trump was interested to learn about the plants in the garden including the Chinese roses. Xi said he "agreed" to gift Trump seeds for those roses.

Tech and trade have also been key themes during the talks. Trump said the two leaders "made some fantastic trade deals."

CEOs Elon Musk of Tesla and SpaceX, Tim Cook of Apple and Jensen Huang of NVIDIA, among others, traveled with the president to Beijing. Trump said the business leaders joined him to "pay respects" to Xi.

The White House said one of Trump's goals going into the summit with Xi is to secure purchasing agreements with China in the aerospace, agriculture and energy sectors and the CEOs traveled with the president to help push for that.

Trump said Xi agreed to initially purchase 200 Boeing planes, which could go up to 750 planes if all goes well. Boeing has not confirmed this deal, referring inquiries to the White House.

Trump also said China has agreed to buy "billions of dollars" of soybeans, though he didn't get into specifics.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer had said on Friday that the U.S. expects China to buy tens of billions of dollars worth of American agricultural products in the next few years.

"We expect to also see an agreement for double-digit billion purchases ... over the next three years, per year, coming out of this visit, and that's more general, that's aggregate, that's not just soybeans, that's everything else," Greer told Bloomberg.

ABC News' Karson Yiu, Mariam Khan, Michelle Stoddart and Kevin Shalvey contributed to this report.

A third of the Congressional Black Caucus could lose seats amid redistricting fight

: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) speaks at a press conference with other members of the Congressional Black Caucus on the Supreme Court decision in Louisiana v. Callais, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC on April 29, 2026. (Photo by Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)

(WASHINGTON) -- Almost a third of the membership of the Congressional Black Caucus -- 19 of its 62 members -- are at risk of losing their seats through the 2028 election cycle as Republicans in southern states where they control the legislature move swiftly to redraw congressional maps less than two weeks after the Supreme Court dealt a blow to Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

The mid-decade redistricting push is a continuation of an effort that began in 2025 and that President Donald Trump has encouraged in hopes of increasing the likelihood that the GOP will retain control of the House of Representatives in November's midterm elections.

Republicans have argued that they are redrawing congressional maps to comply with the Supreme Court and that the districts that could be changed may still elect Black representatives to Congress.

A spokesperson for the Congressional Black Caucus told ABC News that the group is coordinating with groups such as Elias Law Group and the Legal Defense Fund to challenge the GOP's redistricting efforts.

The Supreme Court on Monday evening opened the door for Alabama to eliminate at least one of its majority-Black congressional districts before this year's midterm elections, potentially handing Republicans an additional House seat in the fight for control of the closely divided chamber.

Following Republicans' redistricting efforts in the South in states like Louisiana, South Carolina and Tennessee, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries vowed a strong response, listing specific states without sharing specific actions.

"Over the next year or so, what you're going to see in state after state are Democrats making clear that we are not going to unilaterally disarm," Jeffries said.

"And as a result of that, in places like New York, New Jersey, Oregon, as well as Washington, in Colorado and, of course, in Illinois and Maryland, we're going to take the steps necessary to ensure that in advance of the 2028 election, we have a decisive and overwhelming response."

Alabama Rep. Shomari Figures, whose seat is now in jeopardy as a result of the Supreme Court's 6-3 ruling, said in a statement to ABC News that the decision "sets the stage for Alabama to go back to the 1950s and 60s in terms of Black political representation in the state."

Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver of Missouri, whose seat was one of the first targeted by redistricting, said that the ongoing redistricting efforts are "trying to send us back to Reconstruction."

Cleaver told ABC News that he is supportive of Jeffries' stance of "maximum warfare" against GOP-led redistricting efforts, but he worries that "if we fight fire with fire, nothing would be left in the station but ash."

Cleaver has held his seat for more than two decades and is running for reelection, but now says he has "no idea" what district he's running in and that Democrats may need to redistrict in states like Illinois, Maryland, New York, New Jersey and Colorado to fight back.

Rep. Jim Clyburn, who is also at risk of losing his seat if redistricting succeeds in South Carolina, took aim at a series of U.S. Supreme Court decisions that he said had enabled this sort of targeting of Black legislators, as well as actions by Trump that he said threaten American democracy.

"You know, this is whether or not you're going to have a democracy. And that's not a one-party thing, that's not a one-person thing; that is, this country has come to grips with the fact that we are on the verge of a kleptocracy," Clyburn said.

While CBC members have continued to push for the passage of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, Cleaver said that in the current Congress, the legislation "could not get a hearing in the United States of America right now."

Last Thursday, Tennessee became the first state after the Supreme Court's Louisiana ruling to officially redraw and pass a new map at the urging of the president, who called the state's governor about the topic just one day after the ruling. And in one week, a new congressional map was created, presented and passed. The new map will give Republicans a chance to flip the state's lone current Democratic-held, majority-Black district, which is primarily made up of Memphis.

Following the Supreme Court's ruling on Monday evening that opened the door for Alabama to eliminate at least one of its majority-Black districts before this year's midterms, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has set new special primary elections for the affected districts in the state: the 1st, 2nd, 6th and 7th.

Louisiana and South Carolina are also working through their own redistricting process in hopes of delivering more House seats to the GOP ahead of November's elections. In South Carolina, Republicans on Friday formally unveiled a new proposed congressional map that would redraw the district held by Clyburn.

But as Republicans look to add House seats, Black representation in Congress is at risk of dropping substantially over the next couple of years.

NAACP President Derrick Johnson said in a statement to ABC News, "We are witnessing a return to Jim Crow. And anybody who is alarmed by these developments -- as everybody should be -- better be making a plan to vote in November to put an end to this madness while we still can."

"This Supreme Court did not dismiss the case, so the litigation will certainly continue. My hope is that this is a temporary setback and that three-Republican appointed judges will again find what they found the first time: that the State of Alabama intentionally discriminated against Black voters in drawing its congressional district lines," Figures added.

ABC News' Oren Oppenheim and Jeff Ballou contributed to this report

In brief: ‘Doctor Who’ to stream on AMC+ and more

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are developing a movie adaptation of the memoir No Way Out: The Searing True Story of Men Under Siege. Variety reports the book is an Afghan war memoir that follows British Maj. Adam Jowett’s command of a unit of Paras and Royal Irish Rangers in Afghanistan in July 2006. Prince Harry, Markle and Tracy Ryerson will produce the movie for their Archewell Productions ...

Doctor Who is headed to AMC+. Thirteen seasons of the British sci-fi series will now stream in the U.S. on AMC+ starting on June 11. The show follows a regenerating Time Lord who travels throughout time and space ...

The upcoming film Never Change! now has a release date. The movie is set to debut to Hulu on June 17. It will make its world premiere debut at the Tribeca Festival on June 9. The film follows the 2008 graduating class of North Meadows High School, who had their senior year cut short due to a tornado. Now in their mid-30s, the class returns to their hometown to finish high school once and for all. It stars John Reynolds, Sofia Black-D’Elia, Carmen Christopher, Jo Firestone and Gary Richardson ...

Scoreboard roundup — 5/14/26

(NEW YORK) -- Here are the scores from Thursday’s sports events:

NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Canadiens 6, Sabres 3
Golden Knights 5, Ducks 1

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
Rockies 2, Pirates 7
Nationals 1, Reds 15
Tigers 4, Mets 9
Marlins 1, Twins 9
Padres 1, Brewers 7
Mariners 8, Astros 3
Cardinals 5, Athletics 4
Phillies 3, Red Sox 1
Cubs 2, Braves 0
Royals 2, White Sox 6
Giants 2, Dodgers 5

Mallori Johnson and Kara Young reflect on natural bond, portraying trauma survivors in ‘Is God Is’

Poster for 'Is God Is' film ( Amazon MGM Studios / Orion Pictures)

Mallori Johnson and Kara Young star as twin sisters Anaia and Racine in the film adaptation of Aleshea Harris' play Is God Is. Although both actors are singletons, they put in the work to form a convincing twin dynamic.

"Aleshea brought us in two weeks before we shot," Mallori tells ABC Audio, describing how they worked with choreographer Raja Feather Kelly on different exercises, like trying to finish each other's sentences, to ensure they were moving in sync.

She adds that the process was intentional, but their connection also developed naturally.

“We just genuinely got close. We built a real kinship outside of set. We spent a lot of time together. We were living in the same hotel, and we would meet each other all the time," Mallori says. "And I think we have a very similar work ethic in that we just are very passionate about what we're doing. ... We were bonding off that."

Mallori and Kara also dedicated time to research so they'd portray their characters with care. In the film, Anaia and Racine embark on a revenge mission against their father, who attempted to murder them and their mother in an attack that left them with severe burn scars.

Kara says they studied burn victims and followed people on social media who were "scarred from being burned and or being in a fire."

"I wanted to approach it with true respect and regard for people with disabilities, especially visible disabilities, and understanding that to the best of my ability," Mallori says.

Kara adds they also leaned on Aleshea throughout the process, noting, "It is her baby, and the story is just incredibly profound."

Is God Is is now in theaters.

White supremacist gang member arrested for stealing from Crockett Walmart

CROCKETT, Texas (KETK) – The Crockett Police Department arrested a member of a white supremacist gang after he allegedly stole from the local Walmart multiple times.

Noah Ray Scott, 28 of Houston, was identified by law enforcement as a suspect wanted for stealing from Walmart on at least two occasions after Crockett PD posted about the thefts on Wednesday. According to Crockett PD, Scott is a known registered member of the prison-based Peckerwood white supremacist gang.

Crockett PD said their officers were searching a local RV park on Wednesday when they found Scott living in the park’s bathroom with 42-year-old Brandy Nichole Teer of South Carolina.

Scott was arrested for theft of property less than $2,500, possession of drug paraphernalia and two counts of possession of between 4 and 200 grams of a controlled substance. He’s currently being held in the Houston County Jail on a total bond of $50,000. Continue reading White supremacist gang member arrested for stealing from Crockett Walmart

City council addresses code violation letters

RUSK – More than 100 code enforcement violations issued by the city of Rusk recently have caused quite a stir in the community. The people on the receiving end of those violations brought their frustrations to the city council meeting Thursday night. According to our news partner KETK, people packed the room at Thursday’s Rusk City Council meeting, demanding answers about the dozens of code enforcement violations issued last week. Residents said the code violations ranged from roofing issues to weeds on the fences to even toys left in the yard.

Residents expressed their frustration with code enforcement and were disappointed that they weren’t reviewed further before being posted. The mayor of Rusk addressed people’s concerns and said everyone can throw out the recent letters they received.

While there was a collective sigh of relief, Rusk residents felt the city needed to fix the problem inside the house and bring change.

Angelina County man arrested for possession of over 300 child pornography images

ANGELINA COUNTY, Texas (KETK)– A traffic stop in Angelina County earlier this month led to a man being arrested after officers discovered he was in possession of over 300 images of child pornography and illegal narcotics.

According to the Angelina County Sheriff’s Office, a traffic stop was initiated on May 5 after deputies observed 33-year-old Wayne Cassels making several traffic violations while driving on U.S. Highway 59 south of Lufkin.

During the stop, deputies found two bags that were believed to contain 59 grams of methamphetamine inside the vehicle. Leading deputies to suspect Cassels was involved in drug trafficking, deputies opened an investigation.

Deputies were able to obtain a warrant to search Cassels’ cell phone after it was suspected that he was in possession of child pornography following a forensic interview. During the search of the phone, over 300 photos of child sexual abuse material were stored on his device, according to officials.

Cassels is currently being held in the Angelina County Jail and his bond has been set at $600,000 after being charged with the following offenses:

Five counts of possession or promotion of child pornography
Manufacture and delivery of a controlled substance
Tampering with physical evidence

Deadline to protest taxes approaches

SMITH COUNTY — Friday is the final deadline for Texas property owners to protest their tax bill and the Smith County Appraisal District is seeing hundreds of people try to file a dispute last-minute. Experts like S.T.A.R. Tax Protest CTO Deric McCurry have said property owners who file a protest may be able to lower their assessed value and save money on taxes, potentially making their home more attractive to buyers. McCurry recommends requesting an appraisal review board hearing for a better chance at a settlement.

“If you’re looking for maximum saving before going in front of an appraisal review board, provide evidence of things like condition documentation on your home and comparable sales that have happened,” McCurry said.

Appraisal districts like the one in Smith County do offer review hearings, but with time running out Chief Appraiser Carol McNeil said property owners are better off filing online immediately then scheduling a follow-up appointment. Continue reading Deadline to protest taxes approaches

Statewide early voting starts Monday

SMITH COUNTY – Early voting for the May 26 Primary Runoff Election runs Monday through Friday, May 18-22, 2026.
Statewide runoff races are on the ballot.

U.S. Senator, Attorney General, Railroad Commissioner and Court of Criminal Appeals, Place 3, Judge are on the Republican ticket. The Democratic ballot will have runoff races for U.S. Representative, District 1, Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General.

There are five early voting locations open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The polling places include:
*Heritage Building: 1900 Bellwood Road, Tyler
*The Hub: 304 E. Ferguson Street, Tyler
*Lindale Kinzie Community Center: 912 Mt. Sylvan St., Lindale
*Noonday Community Center: 16662 CR 196, Tyler
*Whitehouse City Center: 109 E. Main Street, Whitehouse

Election Day is 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 26, 2026.

For more information about voting locations, times and what is on the ballot, or to use the Smith County interactive map, visit here.

Cynicism of the highest order.

FILE – Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

On January 20, 2025 – just hours before President Joe Biden was to leave office – it was announced that he had issued a pre-emptive pardon to Dr. Anthony Fauci.

You remember Lord Fauci. He was the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. “I am the science,” he once said to an interviewer. In his role as head of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases, he drove an entire nation into what amounted to house arrest.

To “stop the spread,” schools and churches were closed, the elderly died alone in nursing homes, uncomforted by family, small businesses were forced to close, and tens of millions of nominally free American citizens had to give up their livelihoods.

“Two weeks to flatten the curve” turned into two years of economic and social devastation. Small independent retailers and mom & pop restaurants were forced to shut down. They went out of business. But Target and Wal-Mart got to stay open. Their stock prices soared. Many of the former owners of the small businesses that were shut down now face their retirement years with little to get them by.

Young children who were kept from going to kindergarten and early elementary school are now teenagers and a huge percentage of them are behind academically and will likely never catch up.

Fauci had us maintaining six feet of social distancing while walking around with dirty masks on our faces in an affront to epidemiological science.

And it was his Lordship Anthony Fauci who convinced President Trump to fast track the development of mRNA vaccines in an effort that got dubbed “Operation Warp Speed.”

“Fine,” we all said.

But here’s what’s now coming to light that’s not fine.

For the drug makers to develop The Jab they demanded protection from product liability. Under the rules, to get that protection, the drugs would have to be deployed under an Emergency Use Authorization – EUA – from the Food & Drug Administration. But to get an EUA, there could be no other “approved, adequate and available” therapies.

The problem was that there was plenty of evidence that hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and ivermectin – two readily available and inexpensive drugs with long use histories – were quite effective at treating COVID when administered early in the course of the disease.

The government spent more than $30 billion on The Jab. Drug makers Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson, in turn, paid hundreds of millions in royalties to Fauci’s agency to license government-owned technology in their development. There are persistent but admittedly unproven rumors that Fauci profited personally from some of those payments. We’ll never know.

What we do know is that Fauci aggressively and often ruthlessly set out to crush any use of HCQ and ivermectin, their low risk and demonstrated effectiveness be damned.

What we’ll also never know is how many people died needlessly because Fauci quashed an inexpensive and low risk therapy in an apparent attempt to further his empire.

But what we always will know is that the Biden administration thought that he needed a pardon.

Indictment of former Texas Lottery director dismissed by Travis County District Attorney days later

AUSTIN (Nexstar) — Gary Grief, the former executive director of the Texas Lottery Commission who was accused of conspiring to defraud Texas lottery players, was indicted by a grand jury in Travis County last month on a felony charge for abuse of official capacity related to an April 2023 lottery win. But the Travis County district attorney’s office dismissed the case for “prosecutorial discretion.”

Assistant District Attorney Rob Drummond signed the motion to dismiss the case just three days after the grand jury indictment. Nexstar reached out to the Travis County DA’s office for an explanation for the dismissal and are waiting to hear back.

Nexstar also asked the office if District Attorney José Garza had any say about the motion to dismiss or if ADA Drummond acted on his own.

Grief retired in 2024 just before a Houston Chronicle investigation revealed a group of investors were able to purchase nearly every single number combination to almost guarantee a $95 million jackpot in an April 2023 Lotto Texas drawing. Lotto Texas is a draw game where players select six numbers between 1 and 54.

The indictment accuses Grief of “intentionally and knowingly misuse government property, services, personnel, or a thing of value belonging to the government” in the April 22, 2023 Lotto Texas drawing.

Jodie Comer to star in Damon Lindeloff’s new HBO series, ‘The Chain’

Jodie Comer attends The 2025 Fashion Awards presented by Pandora at the Royal Albert Hall on Dec. 1, 2025, in London, England. (Lia Toby/Getty Images)

Jodie Comer is the first link in The Chain.

The actress is set to star in the upcoming HBO series The Chain from creator Damon Lindelof. Comer will play Rachel in the limited series, which is based on the bestselling book by Adrian McKinty.

Comer's casting was announced in an Instagram post on Thursday.

"Meet Rachel," the caption reads. "Jodie Comer stars in #TheChain, the new Damon Lindelof limited series based off the book by Adrian McKinty."

McKinty's 2019 book follows a suburban mom, named Rachel, who has to consider the unthinkable when her daughter is kidnapped. While details on the show are being kept under wraps, a press release from HBO says Lindelof is "expanding the mythology of McKinty’s award-winning thriller."

HBO ordered The Chain back in January. At the time it was announced, Lindelof said, “From the moment I heard the wild and original premise of Adrian’s book, I was shocked, surprised and angry I hadn’t thought of it myself."

He continued, "I’ve always wanted to try to adapt a great thriller and this one has all the dark, weird, exhilarating touches that fire up my imagination."

Actor Johnny Flynn cast to play Paul Simon in new film ‘The Road Home’

Paul Simon circa 1986 (Photo by Ebet Roberts/Redferns)/Johnny Flynn attends party for "The Motive And The Cue" December 18, 2023. (Photo by Matt Keeble/Dave Benett/Getty Images)

Ripley star Johnny Flynn has been cast to play Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Paul Simon in the new movie The Road Home, according to Deadline.

The film, directed by Bill Condon, is centered around trumpeter Hugh Masekela, played by South African actor Thabo Rametsi, who toured with Simon in support of his 1986 Grammy Award-winning album, Graceland.

The film will also star Cynthia Erivo as vocalist Miriam "Mama Africa" Makeba, who was married to Masekela in the '60s and also toured with Simon, and Guy Pearce, who plays anti-apartheid advocate Archbishop Trevor Huddleston. Huddleston called for a boycott of Simon, claiming he violated the United Nations cultural boycott of the country by partially recording the album in Johannesburg.

“For me, there are very few stories that could come closer to home than this. I was born in Johannesburg and moved to London in 1985 – just before the album Graceland was released,” says Flynn, also known for his work in Emma and Lovesick. “The music of South Africa – and especially that of Hugh Masekela and Miriam Makeba IS the sound of my childhood. And Graceland was the most played cassette in our car growing up.”

He adds, “It’s such an honour to be invited to tell this story with artists that I admire so much. It’s the story of hope and the power of music.”

RFK Jr. spokesman resigns over fruit-flavored e-cigarette concerns, letter says

Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. speaks during an event on advancing health care affordability in the Oval Office of the White House, April 23, 2026 in Washington. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

(WASHINGTON) -- One of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s top public affairs spokespeople resigned from his post over the FDA's fruit-flavored e-cigarettes authorization and its potential impact on minors, according to a resignation letter to President Donald Trump reviewed by ABC News.

In the letter, Richard Danker, the former assistant secretary for public affairs at the Department of Health and Human Services, accuses senior agency officials in Kennedy's immediate office of approving e-cigarette flavors that would allegedly expose children to "nicotine addiction, lung damage, and a higher risk of cancer."

Danker also said the vape authorization "undermines" the department's recent guidance document related to youth risks of flavored nicotine, according to the letter.

He thanked Trump for the "honor of a lifetime" to serve in both presidential administrations. Danker's work portfolio includes economic regulatory roles, including a senior advisor position at the Department of Treasury during the first Trump administration. Danker hadn't worked in healthcare prior to his time at HHS.

The Trump administration’s Make America Healthy Again movement has touted its focus on combatting chronic disease and improving children’s health. In a statement to ABC News, an HHS spokesperson said Kennedy is advancing the MAHA agenda to confront the chronic disease epidemic head-on.

"Political appointees are here to execute that mission with urgency, discipline, and focus," according to the spokesperson.

"Individuals who lose sight of the mission and the responsibility they were entrusted with are free to move on from the agency. HHS remains fully committed to delivering results for the American people," the spokesperson said.

Danker provided ABC News with a copy of the resignation letter, but did not provide further comment.

The White House did not immediately respond to ABC News’ requests for comment.

The news comes as former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary left office after clashing with the White House over pressure from Trump to authorize the flavored vapes, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.

The issue has raised concerns with Makary, pediatrician groups and advocacy organizations about the potential impact on minors, ABC News reported.

The FDA approved four new devices made by Glas, including classic menthol, fresh menthol, gold, and sapphire pods. "Gold" is mango-flavored and "sapphire" is blueberry-flavored.

While the FDA said on its website last week that it continues to prioritize the removal of illicit vapes — including those that target minors — the approval of a flavored vape represents a significant shift for the agency.

Makary told ABC News' Linsey Davis in July, "There is not an approved vaping product in the United States that has one of these cutie-fruity flavors."