The Pentagon has given artificial intelligence firm Anthropic until Friday to lift restrictions on how its Claude AI system can be used by the military, warning it could cancel a $200 million contract or take other punitive steps if the company refuses, according to multiple sources familiar with the discussions.

The skirmish broke out after the Pentagon claimed Anthropic had asked whether its product was used in the January military operation to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, in a way that suggested the company may not approve if it was. The Pentagon insists AI companies must allow products to be utilized for all lawful military use cases — without company oversight or approval. 

Anthropic suggests its red lines are not allowing its products to be used for fully autonomous weapons or mass surveillance of Americans. 

War Secretary Pete Hegseth delivered an ultimatum during a Tuesday meeting at the Pentagon with Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, even as Hegseth praised the company’s technology and said the department wants to continue working with the firm, sources said.

Hegseth told Amodei that if the company did not allow Claude to be used for all lawful purposes, it could face termination of its Pentagon contract, designation as a supply chain risk — potentially limiting its ability to work with defense vendors — or possible invocation of the Defense Production Act to compel access to the technology, according to sources familiar with the meeting.

Claude is currently the only advanced, commercial AI model of its kind operating inside the Pentagon’s classified networks, under a $200 million contract awarded in summer 2025, significantly raising the stakes of the dispute.

Pentagon officials argue the Department of Defense cannot depend on a private company that maintains categorical restrictions on certain uses of its technology, even if those uses are lawful. During the meeting, Hegseth compared the situation to being told the military could not use a specific aircraft for a mission, according to a source familiar with the exchange.

The dispute represents an early test of who controls the guardrails on advanced AI inside U.S. defense systems — private companies or the Pentagon. The outcome could shape how the military partners with leading AI developers as it moves to integrate more powerful machine learning tools into national security operations.

Anthropic, which has branded itself as a safety-oriented AI company, has said its policies are meant to reduce the risk of misuse as advanced AI systems become more powerful.

During the meeting, Amodei walked through those restrictions and argued restrictions would not interfere with lawful, legitimate War Department operations, according to a source familiar with the meeting. 

A senior Pentagon official claimed its position ‘has nothing to do with mass surveillance or autonomous targeting’ because ‘there’s always a human involved and the department always follows the law.’ 

Even as tensions rose, officials on both sides indicated that fully autonomous weapons are not currently contemplated under the department’s lawful use framework, suggesting the clash is as much about control as about battlefield applications.

During Tuesday’s meeting, Hegseth explicitly referenced potential use of the Defense Production Act, termination of Anthropic’s existing contract and the possibility of designating the company a supply chain risk if it does not agree to allow its products to be used for all lawful purposes, sources said.

Such steps reflect two very different forms of federal leverage. 

A supply chain risk designation could restrict Anthropic’s ability to work with federal vendors and contractors by signaling the company poses reliability or governance concerns, while invoking the Defense Production Act would represent a rare attempt to use national security authorities to compel access to frontier AI systems deemed critical to defense needs.

Terminating the contract would carry consequences beyond ending a vendor relationship. Because Claude is currently embedded inside the Pentagon’s classified networks in a $200 million agreement, cancellation could disrupt existing workflows and require the department to transition sensitive systems to an alternative provider.

Pentagon officials also said Elon Musk’s Grok AI chatbot has agreed to allow its products to be used for all lawful purposes, including potential integration into classified systems, and that other frontier AI firms are ‘close’ to similar arrangements. 

Grok did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Anthropic, in a statement attributed to a company spokesperson, said: ‘Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei met with Secretary Hegseth at the Pentagon this morning. During the conversation, Dario expressed appreciation for the Department’s work and thanked the Secretary for his service. We continued good-faith conversations about our usage policy to ensure Anthropic can continue to support the government’s national security mission in line with what our models can reliably and responsibly do.’

Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, is ready to sit in for President Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech after being ejected from Trump’s primetime address in 2025.

Fox News Digital spotted Green on the Democrats’ traditional side of the House chamber Tuesday evening, standing at a seat just five rows from where Trump will be speaking starting at 9 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

The longtime Texas progressive lawmaker was removed by security in 2025 during Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress after repeatedly interrupting the president by shouting and shaking his cane.

The House voted to censure Green over the outburst, with 10 Democrats joining the GOP in the move.

He was one of several Democrats to disrupt Trump’s speech in 2025, but Green’s persistent and loud protests after being asked to quiet down forced Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to direct security to eject him from the chamber.

Green yelled at the time, ‘You have no mandate to cut Medicaid.’

‘Members are engaging in willful and continuing breach of decorum, and the chair is prepared to direct the sergeant at arms to restore order to the joint session,’ Johnson said in response.

Green has been one of Trump’s most vocal critics among House Democrats, pushing impeachment articles against him on multiple occasions.

He had remained defiant when he stopped to speak with the White House press pool on the first floor of the U.S. Capitol after being thrown out of the second floor House chamber, where Trump was speaking.

‘I’m willing to suffer whatever punishment is available to me. I didn’t say to anyone, ‘don’t punish me.’ I’ve said I’ll accept the punishment,’ Green said, according to the White House press pool report. 

‘But it’s worth it to let people know that there are some of us who are going to stand up against this president’s desire to cut Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security.’

A tanker allegedly carrying Russian fuel en route to Cuba is using deceptive ‘dark fleet’ tactics, including signal manipulation and offshore ship-to-ship transfers, according to maritime intelligence firm Windward.

According to MarineTraffic, the vessel, called Sea Horse, was located Tuesday on the U.S. East Coast with its signal, noted as ‘roaming.’ 

The move comes as the U.S. pressured Cuba’s fuel supplies, disrupting deliveries and targeting third-party countries that provide oil, following new sanctions and the detention of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.

On Jan. 29, President Donald Trump also signed an executive order declaring a national emergency with respect to Cuba and authorizing tariffs on imports from countries that sell or supply oil there.

Windward reported that the Russian oil tanker initially broadcast Havana as its destination on Feb. 7, and was ‘Hong Kong-flagged’ before quietly changing tack. Windward said the tanker had an expected arrival in Cuba in early March.

The vessel altered its Automatic Identification System (AIS) signal to show it would arrive in the ‘Caribbean Sea’ within two weeks — a vague designation the firm said is often used to hide a ship’s final port of call.

The destination was later switched again to Gibraltar for orders, even after the tanker had already transited the strait, a move Windward described as inconsistent with standard commercial routing.

Windward’s analysis also suggests the vessel loaded its cargo through a ship-to-ship (STS) transfer conducted offshore near Cyprus.

During the loading process, the tanker’s AIS signal was temporarily switched off — ‘a tactic of deceptive maritime operations designed to avoid regulatory scrutiny,’ Windward said.

Windward data also shows the vessel’s draft increased on Feb. 8, several days after leaving an area used for floating storage and transshipment of Russian middle distillate cargoes originating from Black Sea ports.

The tanker had loitered in that zone for roughly two weeks before departing, Windward said.

‘Ship-to-ship transfers outside territorial waters, where port-state oversight is limited, have become a common practice in oil trade to circumvent sanctions and regulatory scrutiny,’ Windward noted.

The company added that AIS manipulation, offshore transfers and ambiguous destination reporting are now standard features of shadow-fleet activity sustaining Russian oil exports despite any U.S. sanctions.

Cuba is also facing an energy crisis that has worsened in recent weeks after oil shipments from Venezuela, its primary supplier, were halted following U.S. action in early January.

Mexico, another major supplier, also suspended oil shipments, according to The Associated Press.

President Trump’s first swipe at Democrats during his first official State of the Union of his second term was a dig related to taxes and their opposition to his signature ‘Big Beautiful Bill.’

‘Together, we’re building a nation where every child has the chance to reach higher and go further, where government answers to the people, not the powerful, and where the interests of hardworking American citizens are always our first and ultimate concern,’ Trump told Congress on Tuesday night.

‘That is the debt we owe to the heroes who came before us. And that is the promise we must keep to America for our 250th year last year. I urge this Congress to begin the mission by passing the largest tax cuts in American history, and our Republican majorities delivered so beautifully. Thank you Republicans.’

Trump then took his first direct shot at Democrats. 

‘All Democrats, every single one of them voted against these really important and very necessary massive tax cuts,’ Trump said. ‘They wanted large scale tax increases to hurt the people instead. But we held strong. And with the great big beautiful bill, we gave you no tax on tips, no tax on overtime and no tax on Social Security for our great seniors.’

Trump went on to point out that interest on auto loans are tax deductible for ‘the first time’ but ‘only if the car is made in America. 

Democrats were scheduled to hold five counter events Tuesday night in opposition to Trump’s speech and several skipped the speech entirely, including Sens. Adam Schiff and Ruben Gallego. 

One Democrat, Congressman Al Green, was ejected from the speech for the second year in a row after holding up a sign that said ‘Black people aren’t apes’ in all capital letters as Trump arrived.

Trump’s speech was littered with standing ovations from Republicans in the audience, including several optimistic moments near the start. 

‘This is the golden age of America,’ Trump said near the beginning of his remarks.

‘When I last spoke in this chamber 12 months ago, I had just inherited a nation in crisis, with a stagnant economy, inflation at record levels, a wide open border, horrendous recruitment for military and police, rampant crime at home, and wars and chaos all over the world. But tonight, after just one year, I can say with dignity and pride that we have achieved a transformation like no one has ever seen before and a turnaround for the ages. It is indeed a turnaround for the ages.’

The architect of former President Bill Clinton’s political rise offered a profane preview of President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, claiming he will face a ‘public humiliation’ by November.

James Carville, known as the ‘Ragin Cajun’ for his raucous demeanor, claimed every member of Trump’s administration except top adviser Stephen Miller ‘hates’ him. He delivered the remarks on the Politicon YouTube channel he shares with journalist Al Hunt.

‘However bad you think this is, however much you see people in your own inner circle, in your military, in your staff, in your Congress, attorney on you, it’s just starting,’ Carville said.

‘You know how miserable you’re going to be in November? You know, how f—ing miserable you are? Tens of millions of American people get a chance to tell you exactly what they think of you.’

He addressed Trump as if he were watching, telling him to ‘sit still while I’m talking to you’ and advising that ‘everybody is stabbing you in the back’ before calling him a ‘fat, sorry, sack of s—.’

He claimed the Pentagon has begun, or will begin, leaking information to hurt Trump ‘because your boy Pete can’t control s—,’ in an apparent reference to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

‘You can’t trust anyone: trust no one, right. OK, maybe Stephen Miller, I’ll give you that one. The Congress can’t stand you. They’re not going to pass s— for you. They hate you. They know you’re going to bring them to staggering defeat.’

Carville also claimed Congress is in disarray, alleging that his fellow Louisianan Mike Johnson ‘doesn’t know whether to wind his a– or scratch his watch.’

‘You are the most unpopular president at this point in your term that we’ve ever had. They don’t like you. You understand that? They don’t like you. They don’t like the way you smell and the way that you look. They don’t like your fat stomach. They don ‘t like your stupid combover,’ Carville said, referring to the American people.

He also referenced the fact that the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia ultimately decided to stop seeking prosecution of six federal lawmakers led by Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., who produced a video advising service members they can refuse lawful orders.

‘When you lose Judge Jeanine… that’s kind of horrible,’ he said, referring to U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, who is a former judge in Westchester County, N.Y. and ex-Fox News host.

‘You’re in the process of getting the living s— kicked out of you. And how bad do you think this is? However much you see people in your own inner circle, in your military, your own staff, and your own Congress attorney on you. It’s just starting.’

Carville closed by wishing Trump ‘good health’ but warned him a ‘public humiliation is happening as we speak.’

‘People [will] tell you exactly what the f— they think of you, and I got news for you, it ain’t very good,’ he said.

In response, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson called Carville an ‘irrelevant loser’ who ‘rambles to an audience of no one.’

‘This is a sad example of late stage Trump Derangement Syndrome,’ Jackson told Fox News Digital.

‘President Trump is focused on delivering on his many promises for the American people — driving down costs, tackling Bidenflation, deporting criminal illegal aliens, lowering crime rates, and more,’ she added.

President Donald Trump called out insider trading on Capitol Hill during his address, urging Congress to ‘pass the Stop Insider Trading Act without delay’ while also taking a shot at Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi. 

‘Let’s also ensure that members of Congress cannot corruptly profit from using insider information,’ Trump said, prompting members of both parties to stand.

Trump responded, ‘They stood up for that. I can’t believe it. I can’t believe it. Did Nancy Pelosi stand up — if she’s here? Doubt it.’

The Pelosi family’s financial disclosures have frequently been cited by critics calling for stricter limits on congressional stock trading.

The Stop Insider Trading Act, introduced by Rep. Bryan Steil, would ban members of Congress, their spouses and dependent children from purchasing publicly traded stocks and require advance public notice before any sale, aiming to go beyond the 2012 STOCK Act’s reporting requirements.

A source familiar told Fox News Digital that Pelosi was applauding until Trump called her out.

The moment captured attention on social media, including from Fox News contributor Guy Benson, who posted on X, ‘lol the Pelosi ad lib.’

‘LMAO at Trump’s callout of Pelosi on insider trading,’ columnist Josh Hammer posted on X. 

‘LOL Trump is the funniest President of all time, zero debate,’ Newsbusters Managing Editor Curtis Houck posted on X. 

Trump also announced a new retirement savings proposal for workers without access to employer matching, promising the federal government would match contributions up to $1,000 a year so more Americans can benefit from market gains.

Fox News Digital reached out to Pelosi’s office for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Morgan Phillips contributed to this report