(MANCHESTER, N.H.) -- Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie announced he is running for president Tuesday, adding a firm anti-Trump voice to a still growing Republican primary field that has been hesitant to directly take on the former president and early front-runner.

"At every pivotal moment in our history, there was a choice between small and big -- and America became the most different, the most successful, the most fabulous light for the rest of the world in history because we always picked big," Christie said at a town hall event at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire, kicking off his campaign.

"The reason I'm here tonight is because this is one of those moments," he said.

At the end of a roughly 30-minute speech, Christie, invoking a past conversation between President John Adams and first lady Abigail Adams, vowed to the audience: "I can't guarantee to you success in what I'm about to do, but I guarantee you that at the end of it, you will have no doubt in your mind who I am and what I stand for and whether I deserve it."

"So that's why I came back to Saint Anselm ... to tell all of you that I intend to seek the Republican nomination for president of the United States in 2024 and I want your support," he said.

Elsewhere in his remarks, before he began taking questions from attendees, Christie repeatedly called out Trump as "self-serving" and "self-consumed" and a "mirror hog" incapable of admitting any fault or mistakes.

Christie, a former ABC News contributor, kicked off his campaign in a key early primary state that was also a focus for the former governor during his 2016 campaign, his first attempt at winning the White house.

That bid ended days after the "first-in-the-nation" primary, where he placed sixth despite his extensive efforts in the state. Soon after he dropped out, he endorsed then-candidate Trump and continued to largely back Trump throughout his presidency.

That changed after rioters attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, following a monthslong campaign by Trump and his allies to delegitimize the results of the 2020 election by alleging mass fraud. No evidence has arisen to support those false claims.

Christie joins an already large field that in addition to the former president includes former Ambassador to the U.N. and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is currently polling in second behind Trump.

In reaction to Christie's campaign launch, a pro-Trump super PAC mostly focused instead on the former president's current chief rival, writing in a statement, "Ron DeSantis is not ready for this moment, and Chris Christie will waste no time eating DeSantis' lunch."

Mike Pence, a former Indiana governor who served Trump's loyal vice president until the events of Jan. 6, on Monday filed paperwork for his presidential candidacy with the Federal Election Commission and is expected to formally announce his long-expected campaign Wednesday in Iowa.

Doug Burgum, the relatively nationally unknown governor of North Dakota, is also expected to launch his campaign Wednesday.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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(WASHINGTON) -- Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is set to launch his presidential campaign on Tuesday, joining a crowded -- and still growing -- GOP primary field.

Christie will announce his bid at a town hall-style event in New Hampshire, a key early primary state. The event is being hosted by the New Hampshire Institute of Politics outside Manchester.

He will be joining a field that is currently led by former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Other primary contenders include former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.

Former Vice President Mike Pence and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum are anticipated to launch their own campaigns on Wednesday.

Christie will have significant ground to make up, as early polls compiled by FiveThirtyEight show him in the single digits, badly trailing both Trump and DeSantis.

A Monmouth University poll released last week also showed Christie's favorability rating among Republican voters deeply underwater, with just 21% viewing him favorably and 47% viewing him unfavorably.

Christie's campaign, which is expected to feature a sprawling offensive against Trump, marks a full-circle moment for the former governor, who quickly endorsed Trump after dropping out of the 2016 presidential race and largely remained a vocal ally during Trump's four years in the White House.

However, Christie broke with Trump over the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and has remained one of his loudest critics within the GOP, including as a then-ABC News contributor frequently appearing on programs like This Week.

Christie has lamented what he views as a lack of candidates in the GOP field who can adequately attack Trump head-on. He has frequently cited one 2016 debate in which he lambasted Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., for giving canned answers -- barbs that many believe helped sink Rubio's bid.

"You better have somebody on that stage who can do to him what I did to Marco, because that's the only thing that's gonna defeat Donald Trump," Christie said earlier this year.

Still, he insisted he wouldn't join the race just to take on Trump if he didn't see a path for himself, saying he's "not a paid assassin."

He is also anticipated to campaign heavily in New Hampshire, given the state's independent streak and history of electing Republicans seen as more centrist -- where Christie's more anti-Trump message may resonate over deep-red states like Iowa and South Carolina, which also hold early nominating contests next year.

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(WASHINGTON) -- House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer said Monday he will initiate contempt of Congress hearings this week over FBI Director Chris Wray's refusal to physically turn over a document that Republicans believe is related to President Joe Biden.

Comer's announcement followed a briefing by FBI officials in which the Kentucky Republican and the Oversight Committee's ranking Democrat, Jamie Raskin of Maryland, reviewed a document the House GOP thinks is linked to an alleged criminal scheme involving then-Vice President Biden -- a suspicion the White House has dismissed.

Wray allowed the committee to review the document behind closed doors at the Capitol, which Comer accepted, but the FBI refused to leave it with the committee, Comer later told reporters, adding that he wants to release it publicly.

"Given the severity and complexity of the allegations contained within this record, Congress must investigate further," Comer said, echoing a statement he made last month: "The American people need to know if President Biden sold out the United States of America to make money for himself."

Comer said the hearings will begin Thursday.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said on Fox News Monday night that the contempt process for Wray would first go through the Oversight Committee and then to the floor for a vote "next week."

The Kentucky Republican said Monday that the document appeared to be part of an ongoing FBI investigation he assumes is taking place in Delaware, but when reporters asked him why he believes this, he did not say. (The president's son Hunter Biden has been under investigation in Delaware for tax-related matters and whether he potentially lied on an application for a gun purchase but has maintained he "will be cleared of any wrongdoing.")

Dated July 30, 2014, Comer claims there are multiple documents related to a bribery scheme originating in Romania, saying they come from a "highly credible informant" that has provided the FBI information since the Obama administration.

Comer and Raskin differed over the veracity of the underlying allegations, with Raskin in a statement on Monday calling them uncorroborated even after they were reviewed by authorities in 2020 -- but Comer insisted they hadn't been "disproven."

Raskin said in his statement that the claims originated from a "highly credible" FBI source who was nonetheless relaying information secondhand from unidentified Ukrainians, with the FBI source taking no position on their reliability.

The House Oversight Committee initially subpoenaed the FBI last month for the documents. Comer sought an unclassified FD-1023 document, which is generally defined as a report from an informant.

The White House denounced the move as spreading "anonymous innuendo."

"For going on five years now, Republicans in Congress have been lobbing unfounded, unproven, politically-motivated attacks against the President and his family without offering evidence for their claims or evidence of decisions influenced by anything other than U.S. interests," White House spokesman Ian Sams said in May.

In a statement on Monday, Sams, like Raskin, said the accusations had been previously investigated.

"This is yet another fact-free stunt staged by Chairman Comer not to conduct legitimate oversight, but to spread thin innuendo to try to damage the President politically and get himself media attention," he said.

The FBI has said it is working to provide information with House Republicans and "remains committed to cooperating with the Committee in good faith," but they've raised concerns over broadcasting an FD-1023.

"Documenting the information does not validate it, establish its credibility, or weigh it against other information verified by the FBI. Revealing unverified or possibly incomplete information could harm investigations, prejudice prosecutions or judicial proceedings, unfairly violate privacy or reputations, create misimpressions in the public, or potentially identify individuals who provide information to law enforcement," the bureau said last week.

In a statement on Monday, an FBI spokesperson reiterated that they are working with the House committee by allowing the document to be reviewed by lawmakers. They said such an arrangement was a "commonsense safeguard" that protected sources and investigations.

"The escalation to a contempt vote under these circumstances is unwarranted," a spokesperson said.

While Comer took a strong stance against Wray and the FBI, Raskin had words for the chairman as well.

"I'm just surprised that my colleagues want to try to litigate this in public," he told reporters Monday. "Much less hold the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in contempt for complying with their request."

If Congress sends a contempt referral to the Department of Justice, criminal charges could be pursued against Wray.

Raskin also poured cold water on the idea that the multiple-page document he and Comer reviewed has anything to do with a Romanian bribery scheme.

"Unfortunately, I don't know what he's referring to," Raskin said of Comer. "We, of course, have a problem within our committee, which we feel is that we've been closed out of these investigations."

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(DENVER) -- Thousands of women participate in a sit-in at the Colorado state Capitol Monday, calling on Gov. Jared Polis to sign an executive order to ban guns and implement a system to buy them back.

The Here 4 the Kids movement, which advocates to end gun violence, is behind the event. Organizers said roughly 2,000 people were among the first to gather. They are also calling on white women specifically, to participate in the demonstration.

Tina Strawn, the movement’s cofounder, told ABC News that Black people have always been on the frontlines for social justice.

“So, it's time for white women to show up. It's time for white women to put their bodies, their privilege and their power on the line to save our kids,” she said. “And it is something that they are recognizing that they need to be doing. That's why they're showing up.”

On the importance of the sit-in, cofounder Saira Rao said: “We have lost our imagination to dream bigger and envision a life where our kids are safe wherever they go. This is not a way to live. It is not a way to live. Bulletproof backpacks [are] not normal, and we've gotten used to this as if it's normal.”

“It's got to stop, and nothing has worked since … the 24 years since Columbine,” she said, referring to the 1999 high school shooting in Littleton, Colorado, which left 15 dead.

Organizers said the mood of the sit-in is solemn, and the names of people who have died from gun violence since the start of the Here 4 the Kids organization in April are read at the beginning of each hour.

Actress and director Lake Bell is one of the thousands of women participating in the sit-in.

She told ABC News, “This is the thing to do -- which is to show up, to make the effort, to participate in the action of really advocating and demanding for change.”

Bell, who is a mother of two, said, “I don't think there is a child in America that goes to school that doesn't live with anxiety and fear around the idea of an active shooter, or a lockdown scenario. They are not blind to that.”

“My daughter was very nervous of my coming here,” she continued, noting how common guns are. “So, I think it affects the mental wellness and the mental health of our children.”

Other celebrities, including Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Niecy Nash and Amanda Seales, also voiced their support for the movement.

In response to the sit-in, the governor’s office released a statement Monday, writing that Polis supports the right to bear arms and is also concerned “about improving public safety including reducing gun violence.”

The statement added that his “staff has met with the organizers and have expressed concerns that the requests being made are either unconstitutional or require legislative action. The Governor takes the weighty responsibility of executive action and the trust Coloradans placed in him to govern responsibly seriously, and will not issue an unconstitutional order that will be struck down in court simply to make a public relations statement — he will continue to focus on real solutions to help make Colorado one of the 10 safest states.”

The organizers said they plan to continue the sit-in until an executive order is signed, and they expressed optimism that it will be.

“We have to believe that any decent human being with the power to end children's pain and suffering will absolutely choose their right to live over the right to bear arms,” Rao said. “We believe [Polis] will do it because what decent human being wouldn't do it?”

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(WASHINGTON) -- New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu announced Monday that he will not run for president -- in order to keep the field of Republican candidates less crowded so Donald Trump is less likely to be the party's nominee in 2024.

Sununu explained his decision in a CNN interview and a Washington Post column.

"The stakes are too high for a crowded field to hand the nomination to a candidate who earns just 35 percent of the vote, and I will help ensure this does not happen," he wrote in the Post.

He told CNN's Dana Bash that he'd been weighing his choice for months. "We've taken the last six months to really look at things and where everything is," he said, "and I've made the decision not to run for president for 2024."

Ultimately, the fourth-term governor felt confident he could be a real contender in the 2024 race but felt it was more important to focus on Trump's defeat.

"The microphone afforded to the governor of New Hampshire plays a critical role in an early nominating state," he wrote in the Post. "I plan to endorse, campaign and support the candidate I believe has the best chance of winning in November 2024."

By the end of the week, with announcements expected to come from former Vice President Mike Pence, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, there will be a total of 12 candidates vying for the Republican nomination next year.

Early polls show Trump remains the front-runner in the race, but Sununu said Monday that opposition to him could consolidate if voters had a less fractured field from which to choose.

“I don't mind who gets into the field. But given where the polls are, every candidate needs to know about when to get out and getting out quickly," Sununu told Bash. "I can do that calling candidates out saying, 'Look, you're in single digits, you have to get out of the race.'”

“I'll be vocal for folks afraid to take on the president, afraid to understand the party is bigger than ourselves," he continued. "It's not just about the vanity. It's not just to get on the stage and sell books or whatever. It has to be about the party and making sure the ticket up and down is strong.”

"I want more to stand up to help get the base bigger, better and stronger," he said.

He encouraged candidates to "give a punch, take a punch," and he wrote in the Post that, rather than fighting over culture war issues, Republicans should emphasize "limited government, individual responsibility and personal freedoms."

His approach to government remains “give a little, get a lot," he said Monday.

He wrote bluntly in the Post about what he saw as the risk of Trump being renominated: "Republicans will lose again. Just as we did in 2018, 2020 and 2022.”

Trump has fired back at Sununu, writing on social media this week that Sununu "never lifts a finger to help anybody but himself." Trump also dismissed a potential Sununu presidential bid as having "ZERO chance."

Despite being an outspoken Trump critic, the governor previously said he plans to support whomever the 2024 Republican nominee is, telling CNN earlier this year: "I can guarantee they’re better than any of the Democrats."

In his CNN interview on Monday, Sununu said Trump remained vulnerable to President Joe Biden.

"If Republicans nominate him, then we’re saying a vote for him in the primary is effectively a vote for Joe Biden. I mean that’s ultimately how the math will play out," he said.

"His messaging doesn't translate. It does well with a 35% base but loses everybody beyond there," Sununu said of Trump. "No one is undecided about the former president."

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(NEW YORK) -- Neither former President Donald Trump nor Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg object to Judge Alvin Hellerstein presiding over a matter related to Trump's criminal prosecution, the two sides indicated Monday in separate letters to the court.

Hellerstein revealed last week that he had once performed legal work for a Trump entity in the 1990s while in private practice but said he did not believe that would affect his impartiality. He retired from the firm in 1998.

"After considering Your Honor’s letter, and consulting with our client, we agree with Your Honor’s conclusion that the prior work does not provide any basis for a recusal in this matter," defense attorney Todd Blanche wrote.

"The People believe that the circumstances identified by the Court do not present any appearance of impropriety, reason to question the Court’s impartiality, or other basis for recusal," assistant district attorney Matthew Colangelo wrote.

On June 27 Hellerstein will hear oral arguments to decide whether to move Trump’s criminal prosecution to federal court, where he has argued it belongs since the alleged crimes occurred while he was president.

Prosecutors oppose the move, arguing the charged conduct had nothing to do with the presidency.

In his letter to Trump’s attorneys and the Manhattan district attorney’s office, Hellerstein said he once performed legal work for Trump Equitable Fifth Ave as a partner at a Stroock Stroock Lavan.

"In my opinion, my impartiality cannot reasonably be questioned and no appearance of impropriety exists," Hellerstein wrote.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection to a hush payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 election.

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(DENVER) -- Thousands of women participate in a sit-in at the Colorado state Capitol Monday, calling on Gov. Jared Polis to sign an executive order to ban guns and implement a system to buy them back.

The Here 4 the Kids movement, which advocates to end gun violence, is behind the event. Organizers said roughly 2,000 people were among the first to gather. They are also calling on white women specifically, to participate in the demonstration.

Tina Strawn, the movement’s cofounder, told ABC News that Black people have always been on the frontlines for social justice.

“So, it's time for white women to show up. It's time for white women to put their bodies, their privilege and their power on the line to save our kids,” she said. “And it is something that they are recognizing that they need to be doing. That's why they're showing up.”

On the importance of the sit-in, cofounder Saira Rao said “We have lost our imagination to dream bigger and envision a life where our kids are safe wherever they go. This is not a way to live. It is not a way to live. Bulletproof backpacks [are] not normal, and we've gotten used to this as if it's normal.”

“It's got to stop, and nothing has worked since … the 24 years since Columbine,” she said, referring to the 1999 high school shooting in Littleton, Colorado, which left 15 dead.

Organizers said the mood of the sit-in is solemn, and the names of people who have died from gun violence since the start of the Here 4 the Kids organization in April are read at the beginning of each hour.

Actress and director Lake Bell is one of the thousands of women participating in the sit-in.

She told ABC News “This is the thing to do -- which is to show up, to make the effort, to participate in the action of really advocating and demanding for change.”

Bell, who is a mother of two, said “I don't think there is a child in America that goes to school that doesn't live with anxiety and fear around the idea of an active shooter, or a lockdown scenario. They are not blind to that.”

“My daughter was very nervous of my coming here,” she continued, noting how common guns are. “So, I think it affects the mental wellness and the mental health of our children.”

Other celebrities, including Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Niecy Nash and Amanda Seales, also voiced their support for the movement.

In response to the sit-in, the governor’s office released a statement Monday, writing that Polis supports the right to bear arms and is also concerned “about improving public safety including reducing gun violence.”

The statement added that his “staff has met with the organizers and have expressed concerns that the requests being made are either unconstitutional or require legislative action. The Governor takes the weighty responsibility of executive action and the trust Coloradans placed in him to govern responsibly seriously, and will not issue an unconstitutional order that will be struck down in court simply to make a public relations statement — he will continue to focus on real solutions to help make Colorado one of the 10 safest states.”

The organizers said they plan to continue the sit-in until an executive order is signed, and they expressed optimism that it will be.

“We have to believe that any decent human being with the power to end children's pain and suffering will absolutely choose their right to live over the right to bear arms,” Rao said. “We believe [Polis] will do it because what decent human being wouldn't do it?”

Copyright © 2023, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(NEW YORK) -- Neither former President Trump nor Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg object to Judge Alvin Hellerstein presiding over a matter related to Trump's criminal prosecution, the two sides indicated Monday in separate letters to the court.

Hellerstein revealed last week that he had once performed legal work for a Trump entity in the 1990s while in private practice but said he did not believe that would affect his impartiality. He retired from the firm in 1998.

"After considering Your Honor’s letter, and consulting with our client, we agree with Your Honor’s conclusion that the prior work does not provide any basis for a recusal in this matter," defense attorney Todd Blanche wrote.

"The People believe that the circumstances identified by the Court do not present any appearance of impropriety, reason to question the Court’s impartiality, or other basis for recusal," assistant district attorney Matthew Colangelo wrote.

On June 27 Hellerstein will hear oral arguments to decide whether to move Trump’s criminal prosecution to federal court, where he has argued it belongs since the alleged crimes occurred while he was president.

Prosecutors oppose the move, arguing the charged conduct had nothing to do with the presidency.

In his letter to Trump’s attorneys and the Manhattan district attorney’s office, Hellerstein said he once performed legal work for Trump Equitable Fifth Ave as a partner at a Stroock Stroock Lavan.

"In my opinion, my impartiality cannot reasonably be questioned and no appearance of impropriety exists," Hellerstein wrote.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection to a hush payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 election.

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(WASHINGTON) -- Former Vice President Mike Pence filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission Monday to launch his presidential campaign.

The paperwork marks the start of a long-anticipated 2024 bid for Pence, which will put him in the middle of a crowded GOP primary field that also features Donald Trump, the former president Pence served under, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, considered by most to be Trump's most serious Republican challenger.

Other contenders include former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and more.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum are also anticipated to launch campaigns this week, but New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu said Monday that he'll stay out of the race after saying for months he was thinking about joining.

Pence has long teased that he could enter the 2024 field, and in hints that a campaign is coming, has been traveling to key early primary states and had a super PAC set up by allies that will likely support his campaign as it gets off the ground.

Pence is anticipated to have an official campaign launch on Wednesday in Des Moines, Iowa, followed by a CNN town hall later that night.

The former vice president has yet to break double digits in statewide and national polling.

Pence is anticipated to have a muscular campaign presence in Iowa, where his hardline social policies and devout religious appeals could win over support from the state's influential evangelical voters. He also hails from Indiana, a nearby state.

Pence largely remained loyal to Trump during their four years in the White House, but the two had a falling out after the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, before which Trump pressured his No. 2 to use his ceremonial role overseeing the certification of the Electoral College results to overturn their loss.

Pence has since said "there is almost no idea more un-American than the notion that any one person could choose the American president" and hinted that he believes the party is ready to move on from Trump's bombast and return to a party more defined by Ronald Reagan-era policies.

"I believe we have to resist the politics of personality and the siren song of populism for more timeless conservative principles, and we need to stand firm on the conservative agenda of life and liberty and a commitment to freedom that has always led us to victory," he said last weekend in Iowa.

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(WASHINGTON) -- Lawyers for former President Donald Trump met with officials at the Department of Justice Monday, according to sources familiar with the matter.

It was not immediately clear who Trump's lawyers met with at DOJ.

Spokespeople for the special counsel and the Department of Justice declined to comment on the meeting. Trump's attorneys declined to answer questions about the officials who they met with or whether they were informed that a charging decision over Trump's handling of classified documents was made.

Trump's lawyers requested a meeting with Attorney General Merrick Garland last month amid fears that the coming weeks could bring a possible indictment of Trump regarding his alleged efforts to retain materials after leaving office and obstruct the government's attempts to retrieve them.

The lawyers have said they have questions surrounding the integrity of the grand juries impaneled that are investigating the former president.

In their meeting request last month, the Trump attorneys wrote that they wanted to discuss what they described as the "ongoing injustice that is being perpetrated" by special counsel Jack Smith and said that no president has been "baselessly investigated" in such an "unlawful fashion."

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(WASHINGTON) -- A New Hampshire man was arrested last week and charged with threatening to kill a U.S. senator, federal prosecutors said.

Brian Landry, a 66-year-old from Franklin, New Hampshire, allegedly left a threatening voicemail at the senator's district office on May 17, which was referred to U.S. Capitol Police, investigators said in an affidavit along with Landry's criminal complaint.

"Hey stupid I'm a veteran sniper. And unless you change your ways, I got my scope pointed in your direction and I'm coming to get you. You're a dead man walking you piece of f------ s---," Landry is accused of saying, according to the affidavit.

Prosecutors did not identify the senator whom Landry allegedly targeted beyond stating that the lawmaker took office on Jan. 3, 2021.

When questioned by authorities after being identified through phone records, Landry said he was "extremely angry with certain politicians over their handling of important entitlement programs for veterans," the affidavit states.

He also "said he saw on the news that [the senator] is blocking military promotions" and called the senator's office "because he was angry about what he saw on the news," according to the affidavit.

Authorities said in the criminal complaint affidavit that while talking with Landry, he "initially stated that he did not recall exactly what he said in the voicemail he left." Later, he "acknowledged he may have said those things, but denied any intentions or desire to commit violence."

Landry is charged with threatening to assault, kidnap or murder a member of Congress and faces up to 10 years in prison if found guilty.

He made his first court appearance on Friday afternoon, according to prosecutors. His next hearing is set for July 12.

He does not have a lawyer listed who could comment on his behalf. He has not yet entered a plea.

ABC News' Allison Pecorin contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) -- Rep. Mike Turner, the chair of the House Intelligence Committee, on Sunday lambasted what he called increased military hostility by China and insisted the U.S. "stand strong" after recent close calls near American ships and planes and the suspected spy balloon that was shot down off the East Coast.

"What we're seeing is an unbelievable aggression by China," Turner, R-Ohio, told ABC "This Week" co-anchor Martha Raddatz. "If you look at the balloon that flew over the United States, the Chinese police stations, the aggressiveness against our both planes and ships and international water, it goes right to the heart of what President Xi [Jinping] said when he stood next to [President Vladimir] Putin in Russia where he said they are trying to make change that has not happened in 100 years."

"They're trying to flex their muscles and advance authoritarianism. We need to stand strong," Turner said, "and this administration needs to stand strong against this type of coercion."

The tough rhetoric from Turner comes as relations between Washington and Beijing have become frayed over issues including Taiwan, trade and Russia's invasion of Ukraine, though President Joe Biden has said he seeks "competition, not conflict."

U.S. officials believe China has been coordinating an increasing campaign of harassment, including two incidents in recent days between U.S. and Chinese planes and ships.

When pressed by Raddatz on Sunday on what would be a sufficient response, Turner said President Biden should make it clear that the government views China as an "adversary."

"I think it means calling them out. I mean, this is unacceptable," Turner said. "I think the administration needs to step up and make clear that China has identified itself as an adversary, and we're going to treat it as such."

On Friday in Singapore, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin both reaffirmed a commitment to the Indo-Pacific region and called for more communication after being refused a sit-down with his Chinese counterpart, Li Shangfu.

"The more that we talk, the more that we can avoid the misunderstandings and miscalculations that could lead to crisis or conflict," Austin said. On Saturday, he said, "We will not flinch in the face of bullying or coercion."

Shangfu recently blamed "bullying" and "double standards" by "some country" and said, "A cold war mentality is now resurgent."

In his "This Week" appearance, Turner said the U.S. should also bolster its defense capabilities against North Korea, which continues to develop a nuclear program and gets much of its aid from China.

"The concept of deterrence -- we have weapons, they have weapons -- is dead. We need to go to deterrence plus defense," he said. "That means an aggressive missile defense system."

Turner singled out a need for more robust protection around New York City, pointing to efforts by Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik and others to increase missile defense capabilities at Fort Drum, in upstate New York.

"We need to build out that system and we need to hold China accountable for North Korea," he said.

He also praised efforts to arm the Ukrainian military ahead of an expected counteroffensive against Russia, saying it was "amazing to see the ingenuity" with which troops there have used U.S.-supplied munitions, including by taking out a key Russian Kinzhal missile.

However, Turner said the U.S. weaponry should not be used to launch attacks inside of Russia -- as Russian border towns have experienced a sharp spike in violence fueled by paramilitary groups who maintain they're fighting for Ukraine.

"I don't know who's behind those," Turner acknowledged on "This Week."

The Biden administration has said it's investigating.

"Certainly, we have to understand that Ukraine needs to be able to defend its territory, they need to defend themselves from Russian aggression," Turner said. "President [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy made a commitment that he would not use U.S. weapon systems in [Russia] and he's made that commitment to me when I saw him last."

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(WASHINGTON) -- Vivek Ramaswamy, the youngest 2024 Republican presidential candidate and self-proclaimed political outsider, on Sunday made his "America first" pitch for the White House while defending his view that the U.S. must force "major concessions" from Ukraine in order to end Russia's invasion and allow a sharper focus on facing China.

"The job of the U.S. president is to look after American interests," he told ABC "This Week" co-anchor Martha Raddatz, arguing that militarily backing Ukraine's continued resistance to Russia's invasion is a less compelling goal than dealing with Beijing.

Ramaswamy's position on Ukraine and Russia puts him in the minority among politicians, with leading Republicans and Democrats saying Russia's invasion must not be successful in order to preserve stability in Europe.

"You said in a speech in New Hampshire on Friday that you would not spend another dime of American money on a war that does not affect our interests. You don't think the possibility of Russia taking over Ukraine is in our interest?" Raddatz asked him on "This Week."

"I don't think that's a top foreign policy priority," Ramaswamy said, later adding, "I don't think it is preferable for Russia to be able to invade a sovereign country that is its neighbor. But ... I think the No. 1 threat to the U.S. military is right now, our top military threat, is the China-Russian alliance. I think that by fighting further in Russia, by further arming Ukraine, we are driving Russia into China's hands."

Instead, he said, he would "end this war" as long as Putin ended his country's alliance with China.

"No one tells Vladimir Putin what to do. That has not worked yet," Raddatz pressed. "And you said you would want to give them the Donbas [a region of Ukraine currently occupied by Russia]. ... That would be rewarding Putin, wouldn't it?"

"I don't trust Putin, but I do trust Putin to follow his self-interest," Ramaswamy maintained.

"What I think we need to do is end the Ukraine war on peaceful terms that, yes, do make some major concessions to Russia, including freezing those current lines of control in a Korean-war style armistice agreement. ... Which Ukraine wouldn't want to do," he continued. "And also a permanent commitment not to allow Ukraine to enter NATO. But in return, Russia has to leave its treaty and its joint military agreement with China."

Ramaswamy raised concerns of a future invasion of Taiwan, the self-governing island that Beijing views as a breakaway province.

Stopping a war there "is a much higher priority," he said.

"China's bet is that they're going to go for Taiwan, the U.S. won't want to be in simultaneous conflict with two nuclear superpowers at the same time. But if Russia's no longer at China's back and vice versa, we're in a stronger position," he said.

Early in Ramaswamy's "This Week" interview, Raddatz noted that he is polling in the back of the pack of GOP hopefuls and asked him on how he would walk the "fine line" of appealing to former President Donald Trump's base, who make up a large number of Republican primary voters.

"America first does not belong to Trump. It doesn't belong to me," said Ramaswamy, a former biotech entrepreneur. "It belongs to the people of this country. And I think we take that agenda even further if we're doing it based on first principles and moral authority, as [Ronald] Reagan did, rather than on vengeance and grievance."

No revival of Trump's trans military ban

In light of his criticism of "woke" policies around identity, diversity and historical oppression, Ramaswamy was asked by Raddatz if, as president, he would revive a controversial Trump-era ban on transgender military members that was reversed under President Joe Biden.

"I would not reinstate a ban on transgender members," Ramaswamy said. "I would, however, be very clear that for kids, that's where my policies are very focused."

Conservatives have increasingly called out policies around transgender children that they view as concerning, including pushing for limits on the health care that those kids can receive related to their gender, arguing they are extreme, which advocates and many doctors reject.

"We should not be forcing this ideology onto children," Ramaswamy said.

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(WASHINGTON, D.C.) -- President Joe Biden addressed the nation in a prime-time speech Friday after Congress averted an economically disastrous default with just days to spare by passing legislation to raise the nation's $31.4 trillion debt ceiling.

The president, speaking from behind the Resolute Desk in his first Oval Office address, stressed that "unity" had made it possible.

"When I ran for president, I was told the days of bipartisanship were over," he said. "That Democrats, Republicans could no longer work together. I refused to believe that because America can never give into that way of thinking."

Biden signed the bill into law Saturday.

"I just signed into law a bipartisan budget agreement that prevents a first-ever default while reducing the deficit, safeguarding Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, and fulfilling our scared obligation to our veterans. Now, we continue the work of building the strongest economy in the world," Biden tweeted Saturday.

Biden touted the deal he made with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy as a win for American families and proof of his ability to compromise to keep the nation on track -- themes he's using in his 2024 reelection campaign.

"Essential to all the progress we've made in the last few years is keeping the full, faith, and credit of the United States and passing a budget that continues to grow our economy and reflects our values as a nation," he said. "That's why I'm speaking to you tonight. To report on a crisis averted and what we are doing to protect America's future. Passing this budget agreement was critical. The stakes could not have been higher."

In noting how the deal came together, he said no one got everything they wanted but still acted to stave off the worst-case scenario: a default that would have likely triggered a recession and caused millions of jobs to be lost.

"I know bipartisanship is hard, and unity is hard," he said. "But we can never stop trying. Because in the moments like this one, the ones we just faced, where the American economy the world economy is at risk of collapsing, there's no other way, no matter how tough our politics gets, we must see each other not as adversaries but as fellow Americans."

Reiterating one of his key lines from his inaugural address, he urged Americans to "stop shouting, lower the temperature and work together to pursue progress."

The Fiscal Responsibility Act is the result of months of back-and-forth between Biden and McCarthy. It lifts the debt ceiling through Jan. 1, 2025, in exchange for some cuts to federal spending.

Biden's signing of the bill Saturday puts an end to weeks of anxiety that the nation would nose-dive into economic turmoil by not being able to pay all its bills, including Social Security or Medicaid benefits, on time and in full for the first time in history.

In his Oval Office address, Biden notably commended McCarthy and the GOP and White House negotiating teams for being "completely honest and respectful with one another," as well as praising the work of other top congressional leaders.

"They acted responsibly to put the good of the country ahead of politics," Biden said, adding that "both sides kept their word."

Earlier, when asked by ABC News' Elizabeth Schulze why Biden chose the Oval Office for the speech, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said he wanted to meet the "gravity" of the moment.

As Biden worked behind-the-scenes to hammer out the deal, he at times frustrated Democrats -- members of the party's progressive wing, especially -- who worried he was giving in too much to Republican demands.

At one point, several in his party urged him to go it alone and use the 14th Amendment to unilaterally raise the debt ceiling, an idea Biden ultimately rejected in this situation, but one he said he would study.

"I have been clear that the only path forward is a bipartisan compromise that can earn the support of both parties," he said earlier this week. "This agreement meets that test."

The final product did give both Democrats and Republicans something to celebrate: the White House touted the protection of key priorities and legislative accomplishments while McCarthy sold it to his caucus as much-needed reining in of government spending.

"I wanted to make history," McCarthy said as he took a victory lap after the House passed the bill. "I wanted to do something no other Congress has done, that we would literally turn the ship and for the first time in quite some time, we'd spend less than we spent the year before. Tonight, we all made history."

Moderates from both parties gave the bill its necessary stamp of approval in the House and Senate, but in the end more congressional Democrats voted for the bill than Republicans.

"Democrats are feeling very good tonight," Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., triumphantly said after Thursday's vote. "We've saved the country from the scourge of default."

Schumer contended Democrats "beat back the worst of the Republican agenda" including deeper spending cuts that would've dismantled parts of the Inflation Reduction Act, taken people off federal aid and blocked Biden's student loan forgiveness plan.

Biden on Friday also celebrated that the bill leaves Social Security, Medicaid, veterans benefits and other priorities untouched before turning to a list of other priorities he wants to get done next, including more deficit reduction and raising revenues by making wealthy Americans "pay their fair share."

"I'm gonna be coming back and with your help, I'm going to win," he said.

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(NEW YORK) -- Attorneys for former President Donald Trump have been unable to locate the sensitive military document that Trump discussed on tape during a July 2021 meeting at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club, sources familiar with the matter tell ABC News.

Federal investigators have the audio recording, on which Trump acknowledges he held onto a sensitive military document after leaving office, sources previously told ABC News.

On the recording, which ABC News has not listened to nor obtained, Trump is heard attacking Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley and referencing one document in particular that Trump claimed Milley had compiled, according to sources. Trump, who said on the recording that he still had the document in his possession, said the document was about attacking Iran, sources said.

Trump's lawyers turned over documents in response to a March subpoena seeking all documents and materials related to Milley and Iran, including any materials containing invasion plans or maps, the sources told ABC News.

In their dealings with Trump's lawyers, special counsel Jack Smith's investigators said they specifically wanted the document that Trump referenced on the recording, sources familiar with the matter said. But they were unable to locate it.

It's also not clear whether Trump had the specific document with him during the July 2021 meeting while he was discussing it. Trump indicated during the recording that he knew the document in question was secret, sources said.

The special counsel's office declined to comment to ABC News.

The recording was made during a meeting that Trump held with people who were helping former chief of staff Mark Meadows with his memoir, according to sources.

Contacted earlier this week about the recording, a Trump spokesperson said in a statement to ABC News, "Leaks from radical partisans behind this political persecution are designed to inflame tensions and continue the media's harassment of President Trump and his supporters."

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