NationalWatch

FIRST ON FOX: The National Parent Teacher Association (NPTA), a parent-teacher organization many families associate with bake sales, book fairs and school fundraisers, is facing scrutiny over the group’s DEI and other left-wing political priorities trickling down to state and local chapters.

A report from conservative watchdog Defending Education shines a spotlight on the trusted parent-school organization known for local volunteer work and school fundraisers, suggesting it has become involved in politically charged fights over race, gender identity, and immigration in K-12 education. 

Defending Education asserts the examples show National PTA’s left-wing priorities filtering into state and local affiliates, while National PTA told Fox News Digital its resources are meant to support respectful dialogue, family engagement and “safe, inclusive and welcoming school communities.”

“The NPTA is given a lot of credibility by the public, making it an authoritative voice on education issues from the parent perspective. It is deeply concerning when it advances far-left policies that are often very unpopular amongst parents nationwide,” Rhyen Staley, Director of Research for Defending Education, told Fox News Digital. “The NPTA should be a politically neutral organization that advocates for improving the education system and the success of all students.”

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The National PTA’s own “curriculum and educational materials” describe diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) as central to the organization’s mission and day-to-day work. Among the learning outcomes, according to the National PTA, is to “develop critical consciousness by recognizing racism … and developing a student’s awareness to openly address these situations.”

Meanwhile, a document part of a National PTA DEI initiative tells PTA leaders, caregivers, parents and educators that “it’s never too early to talk about race with your children,” while listing a recommended reading titled, “Your 5-Year-Old Is Already Racially Biased. Here’s What You Can Do About It” by Andrew Grant-Thomas of the nonprofit Embrace Race. The same resource also recommends Robin DiAngelo’s controversial book titled “White Fragility.”

In addition to DEI initiatives, the National PTA priorities extend to immigration policy. A National PTA position statement says districts should not voluntarily report undocumented students to ICE or other immigration authorities, supports treating schools as “sensitive locations” where immigration enforcement officers refrain from actions against students, and backs confidentiality for school records related to immigration status.

These left-wing political priorities from the National PTA stand in contrast to its stated mission of being “devoted to the educational success of children and the promotion of family engagement in schools,” the Defending Ed report suggests. The report also claims that these priorities are not just abstract, but are actually trickling into classrooms, citing a tranche of documents, materials and records from various state-level and local PTA chapters that are pushing politics on teachers and families.

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One of the state-level examples cited in Defending Ed’s report is the Washington State PTA, which passed a resolution in 2020 titled “Dismantling Institutional and Systemic Racism.” The resolution says Washington State PTA and its local chapters and councils should not only commit to being anti-racist, but also conduct anti-racism and equity audits, provide trainings on anti-racism, equity, inclusion and unconscious bias “at all levels,” and create anti-racism, equity and inclusion committees.

The resolution adds that the Washington State PTA would collaborate with district and school staff to prioritize and maintain “meaningful and ongoing anti-racist and anti-bias training … for all educators and staff … plus anti-racist and anti-bias pre-teacher training.”

“Washington State PTA believes firmly in educational spaces that are welcoming to all students, and learning environments where all students feel like they belong,” Tori Emerson, the Washington State PTA President, told Fox News Digital. “Our vision is that all children achieve their potential in Washington schools, and that includes understanding, learning and instruction that honors and reflects the diverse histories, cultures, experiences and identities of all of the people who have contributed to America’s story since our founding 250 years ago.”

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Emerson added that the Washington State PTA is committed to ensuring all Washington state students “see themselves in their educators,” adding that they “collaborate with district and school staff to have, when needed, crucial conversations about racial disparities that remain today.”

The Defending Ed report also cited Washington State PTA immigration guidance issued in January 2026, which the watchdog said was developed in consultation with National PTA. The guidance advised PTA members on how to respond if immigration enforcement actions occur at school events, including coordinating with school administrators and understanding legal limits on enforcement access to school spaces.

In Maryland, Defending Education cited a Montgomery County PTA-linked meeting titled “ICE Response & Organizing Tools,” which the watchdog said briefed families on how parents and community members could respond to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activity, including warning others about ICE presence.

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San Francisco’s Second District PTA, which said in a DEI statement that the entity “can and should establish itself as an anti-racist organization,” suggested education around “white dominant culture” could help improve PTA communications, actions and structure, and said anti-racism should be incorporated into regular PTA trainings and annual officer trainings.

“The focus of PTAs at all levels – individual, district, state, and national – is to advocate for and improve the lives of children, youth, and families at their school communities,” 2nd District President Karen Meiselman, said when asked how she would respond to parents who may believe PTA should focus on school support and family engagement rather than anti-racism or DEI work.

Portland Public Schools’ Abernethy Elementary PTA has many of the same DEI programs as the other chapters, such as DEI committees, audits and trainings, but also has a “racial justice parent resource library purchased through PTA Mini Grants,” that lists titles including “White Awareness,” “Waking Up White,” “White Rage,” “White Like Me,” “Race, Whiteness and Education,” “Raising White Kids,” “So You Want To Talk About Race” and “How To Be An Antiracist.”

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An Abernethy PTA DEI representative told Fox News Digital that DEI spending is voted on by the board, but said many of the events she organized did not require a budget. She said her DEI work has included a Ruby Bridges walk/bike-to-school day, a Black History Month Bike Day and a BMX anti-bullying assembly, and described the response from the community as “overly positive.”

“The work I have done through DEI has been centered around community, education, empathy, and belonging,” the Abernethy representative said, adding that the goal was to help children “better understand the diverse world around them and the history before them so they can go out in the world with kindness, respect, and humanity.”

In addition to the audits, trainings and committees, many of the state and local chapters also have dedicated DEI personnel or directors. Some encourage direct political action.

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In Ohio, the state PTA chapter urges its members to reach out to lawmakers to condemn legislative efforts that do not support LGBT youth or “silence” conversations about sexual orientation among students. The Ohio chapter cites National PTA positions on LGBT youth in a “Ohio PTA Board position statement” to back its position.

Other materials from the Ohio PTA chapter explicitly targeted certain state-level DEI bills, while a DEI “position statements” from 2021 said the group would continue to “recommend, initiate, and support legislation and appropriations.”

The Ohio PTA did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

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Defending Education argues all of these examples, and more, show National PTA’s left-wing political priorities are not staying at the national level, but are trickling down to affiliates that operate under the PTA brand in local school communities.

“While the public tends to view the PTA as a neutral actor helping to organize family events and raise funds for schools, the national organization and many state and local affiliates have become left-leaning political entities driving radical ideologies into schools, communities, and even state legislation,” the report argues.

Meanwhile, the National PTA defended its materials in a statement to Fox News Digital, saying the association provides “resources and guidance intended to help parents and caregivers navigate complex issues affecting children and schools.”

“These materials are designed to encourage respectful dialogue, support family engagement and reflect PTA’s longstanding commitment to ensuring all children feel supported, valued and able to succeed,” National PTA said. “National PTA’s mission is to make every child’s potential a reality by engaging and empowering families and communities to advocate for all children.”

The association added that it is “the nation’s oldest and largest child advocacy association,” and works to support “safe, inclusive and welcoming school communities where every child and family can thrive.”

Maine Republican state Sen. Trey Stewart is warning that Democrats are “selling their soul” by defending controversial Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner and that the Democratic Party is moving to a “dangerous place” if he wins a Senate seat in November.

“The voters care a lot,” Stewart told Fox News Digital about the mounting criticisms of Platner, including deleted social posts where he described himself as a “communist” and “socialist,” used alleged homophobic slurs, and disparaged the military.

“I think that he’s a flash in the pan for right now amongst extreme liberal Democrats who can’t see past defeating Susan Collins at any cost, and what they’re really doing is selling their soul to somebody who has a tattoo that’s affiliated with the Nazis on his chest, has made slanderous remarks, really pretty ugly and horrifying remarks about veterans who have been injured in combat, racist and bigoted statements that were misogynist, so literally everything that you hear the left trying to villainize the right about, he’s actually guilty of and there’s a track record of this.”

Stewart said he is confident five-term incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins will remain “victorious” in “middle-of-the-road” Maine, despite Platner leading in the polls, saying that the Platner campaign is “not going to work” because “Maine people don’t subscribe to that line of thinking that Mr. Platner does.”

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“Susan Collins, who is one of, if not the most influential votes in the United States Senate, and certainly an incredible influence financially and otherwise for the state of Maine, is going to be victorious,” he said. “That’s because Maine, at the end of the day, is a middle-of-the-road state.”

This isn’t the first time Collins has seen a progressive challenger surge in the polls. In 2020, Collins consistently trailed former Maine House Speaker Sara Gideon, sometimes by double digits in the polls, before ultimately winning re-election in one of the most expensive races in state history.

Stewart says that Maine voters typically reject both far-right and far-left candidates and that Platner’s “extreme position is not going to be something that voters reward here in November.”

Overall, Stewart said Democrats’ “embarrassing” decision to stand behind Platner reflects where the party stands today as a whole and exposes a “soul-searching” problem within the party.

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“I find it highly embarrassing that this is where the Democrat party is, not just in the state of Maine, but across the country at this point, with the most extreme sort of tail-wagging-the-dog effect,” he said. “Maybe that is the direction that the Democrat party in Maine and in our country is going,” he said. “If it is, then ultimately that’s going to be a very dangerous place for them and a very dangerous place for our country.”

Platner, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who served four combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, has faced a wave of scrutiny over his deleted Reddit posts and has been heavily criticized by Republicans who say he has not adequately explained or apologized for them.

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In a post from June 2019, Platner mocked a video of Purple Heart veteran Teddy Daniels being shot four times during a 2012 clash with Taliban fighters, saying Daniels “didn’t deserve to live.”

“Platner declined to apologize or acknowledge regret over the comment in a video taken by Fox News Digital over the weekend.

“This is not the right course of action that he should be taking,” Stewart said. “If anything, he owes a number of apologies to the people who he has said highly offensive things to. But beyond that, certainly United States Senate is something that is completely out of grasp for an individual like this.”

He really just needs help,” Stewart said. “He doesn’t need a seat in the United States Senate.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the Platner campaign for comment.

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Following Democratic Gov. Janet Mills’ announcement to end her campaign for Senate last month, Platner became the Democrats’ presumptive nominee in the June 9 primary to decide who will face Collins in November.

Former Attorney General Pam Bondi returns to Capitol Hill on Friday for the first time since being ousted from the Justice Department, as lawmakers prepare to grill her over the Epstein files. 

Bondi will voluntarily participate in a transcribed interview with the House Oversight Committee as part of the panel’s investigation into the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. 

Democrats walked out of a heated briefing hosted by Bondi and then-Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche on the Epstein files in March, but lawmakers on the oversight panel are expected to heavily scrutinize her tenure during the closed-door testimony, which could stretch for hours.

“Pam Bondi will finally have to answer our questions tomorrow about the Epstein files,” House Oversight Committee Ranking Member Robert Garcia, D-Calif., wrote on social media. “It’s time for the truth.”

HOUSE OVERSIGHT SUBPOENAS AG BONDI IN PROBE OF EPSTEIN CASE ‘MISMANAGEMENT’

Bondi’s appearance comes after Democrats and a handful of Republicans on the committee threatened to recommend civil contempt charges against her if she did not comply with a subpoena for her testimony. 

The Trump administration initially argued that Bondi should not have to testify and sit for a deposition as part of the committee’s probe because she was no longer in her official role as attorney general.

The transcribed interview setting will not require Bondi to testify before congressional investigators under oath, but individuals speaking before Congress are still criminally prohibited from making false statements. A transcript of the interview could also be made available at a later date. 

The interview is taking place during Congress’ Memorial Day recess, and it remains unclear how many lawmakers will attend.

Some Democrats on the panel have voiced objections to the interview setting.

“Bondi must testify under oath, on camera, for the public to see,” Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-Ariz., said Thursday. “We demand transparency and accountability for Bondi and Blanche.”

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Bondi has faced relentless scrutiny over the Department of Justice’s handling of the Epstein files under her leadership, including from some Republicans, such as Reps. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., and Thomas Massie, R-Ky.

She told Fox News at the start of her DOJ tenure that the files were “sitting on my desk right now for review,” but later appeared to backtrack on that claim.

Scrutiny mounted after a months-long delay in releasing information to the public, which accelerated after President Donald Trump signed the Epstein Files Transparency Act, mandating the release of the files.

The department has since released more than three million pages of documents, though critics have complained that the records were not appropriately redacted.

Bondi will be represented by Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon, who has served as Bondi’s counsel since her firing.

“Because former Attorney General Bondi oversaw the Department at the time the Act was enacted and carried out, DOJ’s presence is solely to ensure accurate representation of Department processes, facilitate any necessary clarifications, and support a complete factual record for the Committee,” a DOJ spokesperson told Fox News Digital in a statement.

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The interview also comes as Bondi has undergone treatment for thyroid cancer, Axios first reported. The former top prosecutor was diagnosed shortly after leaving the Justice Department in April. 

“Pam has been quietly kicking cancer’s a– the last few weeks,” former Trump official and podcaster Katie Miller wrote on social media.

FIRST ON FOX: The U.S. Air and Marine Operations (AMO) deployed a Black Hawk helicopter to intercept a boat suspected of smuggling drugs off the coast of Puerto Rico earlier this month.

On May 14, AMO detected a 25-foot blue vessel carrying three people and visible packages. After surveilling its activity, the San Juan Marine Unit deployed a pair of law-enforcement boats, flanked by the Black Hawk, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

The agency seized three Dominican Republic nationals along with five bales containing 391 pounds of cocaine.

The helicopter-assisted takedown is just the most recent display of American military might that has been targeting narcotrafficking operations south of the U.S. border.

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“Our Air and Marine Operations teams demonstrated exceptional skill and coordination in this interdiction. The decisive use of air disabling fire by our Black Hawk crew was instrumental in stopping the vessel and preventing dangerous narcotics from reaching our communities,” Caribbean Air and Marine Branch Director Christopher Hunter said.

“This operation highlights our commitment to working with partners across all levels to disrupt smuggling networks and protect the security of the United States and its territories,” he added.

Early on in his second administration, President Donald Trump made it clear he would use all available designations to label drug smuggling as a threat to the homeland.

On Jan. 20, 2025, Trump declared a state of emergency brought on by the influx of narcotics.

“They present an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States. I hereby declare a national emergency to deal with those threats,” the White House said in its executive order.

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In turn, the Department of War caught the attention of the country when it began carrying out strikes on boats off the coast of Venezuela, in a manner it said was consistent with the administration’s posture.

After nearly 20 strikes in waters around the Caribbean, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said the efforts had successfully choked off some trafficking operations.

“WINNING: Some top cartel drug-traffickers in the U.S. Southern Command have decided to cease all narcotics operations INDEFINITELY due to recent (highly effective) kinetic strikes in the Caribbean,” Hegseth said in a post to social media.

In the Black Hawk confrontation, U.S. agents opted to approach the vessel instead of striking it from afar.

Infrared video footage shared with Fox News Digital showed the three men on the boat desperately throwing the contents of the boat overboard as the Black Hawk and other U.S. boats encircled the craft.

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The three suspects put their hands above their heads as agents approached their vessel and were pulled onto U.S. boats. A search of the boat revealed empty plastic containers and other unidentified packages.

The contraband thrown into the water was recovered, according to CBP.

Democrats running to replace retiring Rep. Jared Golden in Maine’s Trump-friendly 2nd Congressional District are lining up behind controversial Senate candidate Graham Platner despite mounting backlash from centrists within their own party.

After Gov. Janet Mills, D-Maine, exited the Senate race in late April, the three leading Democratic contenders vying for the open House seat backed Platner, the presumptive Democratic nominee, ahead of the June 9 primary.

Unlike the Democrats seeking to replace him, Golden has not publicly backed Platner and indicated to the Portland Press Herald that he does not plan to get involved in the Senate race.

Maine State Auditor Matt Dunlap and former congressional aide Jordan Wood explicitly endorsed Platner’s campaign. State Sen. Joe Baldacci, a Democrat with establishment support, also signaled support in a statement criticizing former Gov. Paul LePage, R-Maine, who is running unopposed for the GOP nomination in the 2nd District.

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But the candidates have been largely silent on Platner’s inflammatory social media posts and controversy over his covered-up tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol — issues that have fueled backlash from some elected Democrats.

Fox News Digital reached out to Baldacci, Wood and Dunlap’s campaigns and did not hear back.

Their alignment with Platner could complicate Democrats’ already difficult path to holding the swing seat vacated by Golden, who won re-election in 2024 by fewer than 3,000 votes, despite the district’s Republican tilt.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the open House race “Likely Republican,” citing the rural district’s red hue and Golden’s decision not to seek re-election.

Dunlap, who is seeking to occupy the contest’s progressive lane, is scheduled to appear with Platner at a get-out-the-vote rally next week. The event is being headlined by left-wing populist Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., who has endorsed both Dunlap and Platner.

“With Graham Platner now the clear choice, I am prepared to rally behind his candidacy,” Dunlap wrote on social media. “He will be a phenomenal United States senator.”

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“He is the kind of leader Maine has been waiting for, as demonstrated by the strong support he has generated,” he continued.

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), House Republicans’ campaign arm, is seeking to exploit the candidates’ ties to Platner in one of the reddest districts held by a Democrat in the country.

“By continuing to embrace Graham Platner, Matt Dunlap and Joe Baldacci have shown a stunning lack of judgment that Mainers will not overlook,” NRCC spokeswoman Maureen O’Toole told Fox News Digital.

Their support for Platner stands in stark contrast to centrist Democrats, such as Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., and Rep. Jake Auchincloss, D-Mass., who have sharply rebuked Platner’s campaign.

Auchincloss, a Jewish Democrat, has argued that Platner’s Nazi-linked tattoo and his remarks defending it are “personally disqualifying.”

Meanwhile, senior Democrats in Washington have largely declined to comment on Platner’s slate of controversies or distance themselves from the Senate hopeful.

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Melissa DeRosa, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s chief of staff, told Fox News’ Bret Baier earlier this week that disagreement over Platner’s candidacy among Democrats is indicative of a burgeoning rift within the party.

“The Maine race really demonstrates the civil war that’s happening within the Democratic Party, and there are a lot of Democrats, moderate Democrats like myself, who will not cry tears should we lose Maine,” DeRosa said. “I mean, that would be a pickup to begin with.”

As the Trump administration ramps up pressure on Cuba, renewed scrutiny is falling on expanding intelligence infrastructure on the island that analysts say could help China and Russia monitor sensitive U.S. military activity near Florida.

New reporting and satellite analysis of a major Cuban signals intelligence facility outside Havana have intensified concerns about foreign surveillance capabilities positioned near Key West naval operations, Homestead Air Reserve Base and launches from Cape Canaveral.

Recent reporting, including a Wall Street Journal report citing U.S. officials who believe Chinese and Russian intelligence personnel and capabilities in Cuba have significantly expanded in recent years, has renewed focus on the island’s role in foreign intelligence gathering against the United States. 

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Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently acknowledged that Cuba hosts Russian and Chinese intelligence presence near Florida, while Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., warned the facilities pose “a big threat” to nearby military operations.

“They’re 90 miles from our coast. They’re friends with our enemies,” Scott told Fox News Digital. “It’s a big threat.… It’s a very significant risk to us.”

Analysts caution that highly sensitive U.S. military communications likely are encrypted and difficult to intercept directly. But facilities like Bejucal, Cuba, can still help adversaries track how U.S. military assets move, communicate and operate over time by monitoring electronic signatures and communications patterns. 

“You might not know what one system talking to another system is saying, but you know that they talk to each other,” CSIS fellow Matthew Funaiole told Fox News Digital. “Over time that helps reveal operational patterns.”

Funaiole said the facilities likely are more useful for mapping military activity and identifying electronic signatures than directly intercepting sensitive communications. 

“That helps you understand where assets are operating, how systems communicate and whether there’s unusual activity taking place,” he said.

The renewed focus comes as the Trump administration sharpens its crackdown on Havana through expanded sanctions, criminal charges against former Cuban leader Raúl Castro and tougher warnings about Chinese and Russian influence operating near the U.S. mainland.

Scott pointed specifically to military operations at Naval Air Station Key West, which supports military aviation training and testing, and Homestead Air Reserve Base, which hosts fighter aircraft and homeland defense missions, and testing ranges in the Gulf of America. 

The renewed attention also follows a May 2025 analysis from the Center for Strategic and International Studies identifying new construction at the Bejucal, Cuba, signals intelligence site outside Havana, including a significantly larger circularly disposed antenna array, or CDAA, which analysts say could improve the facility’s ability to monitor air and maritime activity across the region.

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The Bejucal, Cuba, site has undergone visible changes in recent years. In its May 2025 report, CSIS identified a new circularly disposed antenna array under construction at the facility replacing an older and smaller array previously located nearby. 

Circularly disposed antenna arrays are used for high-frequency direction finding, allowing operators to identify the origin of radio signals across long distances. CSIS said the systems can potentially track signals from thousands of miles away.

Funaiole noted the technology dates back to the Cold War, when the Soviet Union operated extensive intelligence infrastructure in Cuba aimed at monitoring the United States.

“CDAAs are old technology,” he said. “But China clearly sees a value” in them.

CSIS previously identified similar Chinese-built CDAA facilities at military outposts in the South China Sea, including on Mischief Reef and Subi Reef.

Analysts and U.S. officials have long suggested China has access to or involvement with Cuban intelligence facilities, though publicly available evidence has not definitively established direct Chinese control of the sites.

Rubio recently said Cuba hosts “Russian and Chinese intelligence presence” near the United States, while the Biden administration acknowledged in 2023 that Chinese intelligence collection activity tied to Cuba was an “ongoing issue” and said Beijing had upgraded intelligence collection facilities on the island in 2019.

“I’m not going to comment on military matters or national security threats directly linked to the United States with specificity,” Rubio told reporters on May 21. “Here’s what I can tell you. Cuba not only has weapons that they’ve acquired from Russia and China over the years, but they also host Russian and Chinese intelligence presence in their country not far from where we’re standing right now.” 

“So Cuba’s always posed a national security threat to the United States.”

The White House referred to Rubio’s comments when asked for comment. The Pentagon, Cuban embassy and Chinese embassy did not return a request for comment. 

China repeatedly has denied involvement in surveillance facilities in Cuba, while Cuban officials have dismissed allegations of Chinese spy operations on the island as “totally untrue” and politically motivated.

Funaiole cautioned that expanding infrastructure does not necessarily mean large numbers of foreign personnel are physically operating at the facilities full-time.

“There’s certainly more capabilities, and you’re going to need personnel to support that in one way or the other,” he said. “But you don’t physically have to be on the ground to benefit from these facilities.”

Cuba has long played a role in foreign intelligence gathering against the United States. During the Cold War, the Soviet Union operated the Lourdes signals intelligence complex near Havana, which monitored U.S. military and communications activity for decades.

Analysts say the same geographic advantages that once made Cuba valuable to Soviet intelligence continue to make it attractive to U.S. adversaries today.

“Physical distance matters,” Funaiole said. “If you’re trying to monitor the U.S. as an adversary, it makes sense to try and have access to facilities in Cuba.”

That proximity places Cuban intelligence infrastructure near a dense concentration of sensitive U.S. military and aerospace activity, including U.S. Southern Command in Doral, Florida — the military command responsible for operations in Central and South America and the Caribbean.

Funaiole said facilities like Bejucal, Cuba, may be especially useful for identifying shifts in military activity over time.

“If there’s an anomaly, if there’s more activity and systems are talking to each other that haven’t before, what could that potentially signal?” he said.

Still, analysts caution against overstating the capabilities of the Cuban facilities or drawing firm conclusions about Chinese control of the sites.

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In its May 2025 report, CSIS noted there is “no smoking gun” in the unclassified space directly linking China to the facilities, even as U.S. officials have repeatedly suggested Beijing has access to intelligence infrastructure on the island.

Experts also emphasize that the value of facilities like Bejucal, Cuba, may lie less in directly reading encrypted communications and more in understanding how U.S. military systems operate, identifying electronic signatures and monitoring operational patterns over time.

The intelligence concerns are likely to strengthen calls from some Cuba hawks for a more aggressive U.S. posture toward Havana, which they argue has become an increasingly important platform for Chinese and Russian influence near the U.S. mainland.

Scott told Fox News Digital that indicted former Cuban leader and de facto power broker Castro should either flee the island or face what he described as a “Maduro-style operation” to bring him to justice.

The Republican National Committee (RNC) and National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) filed a lawsuit Thursday defending Missouri’s new congressional map.

The RNC told Fox News Digital the lawsuit aims to intervene as Democrats escalate what Republicans describe as a nationwide campaign to block legally enacted redistricting laws.

“Democrats across the country are using frivolous lawsuits to cling to power after failing at the ballot box,” RNC Chairman Joe Gruters said in a statement. “The RNC is fighting for the values of Missourians against Democrats trying to use the courts to rig congressional districts in their favor and override the will of voters.”

The RNC said the new congressional map, enacted by the Missouri General Assembly last year, fully complies with the state constitution. Opponents of the map dispute that claim and have argued in court that the plan violates provisions of the Missouri Constitution.

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“The people of Missouri deserve fair and equal representation, not a partisan power grab designed to silence voters and overturn a lawfully enacted map,” NRCC Chairman Richard Hudson said.

“The NRCC and RNC are standing up for the integrity of the democratic process and defending Missourians’ right to have their voices heard under fair congressional districts,” he added.

The lawsuit comes as referendum organizers and other opponents of the map seek court action related to petitions that would allow Missouri voters to decide whether to restore the state’s previous congressional map. Republicans argue certification should not occur before the state’s signature-verification process is complete.

MISSOURI HOUSE APPROVES REDISTRICTING PLAN AS PART OF NATIONWIDE GOP PUSH TO DEFEND HOUSE MAJORITY

According to the RNC, certifying the referendum before the review process is finished could temporarily block implementation of the new map.

The lawsuit seeks to allow the review process to continue and ensure election laws are followed before any referendum moves forward.

The RNC also said Democrats and allied groups have already spent more than $6 million unsuccessfully challenging Missouri’s maps in court.

TRUMP-BACKED REDISTRICTING PUSH TURNS MIDWESTERN STATE INTO NEXT POLITICAL BATTLEGROUND

The case comes after the Supreme Court last month ruled 6-3 that Louisiana’s 2024 congressional map — redrawn to create a second majority-Black district — constituted an illegal racial gerrymander.

Supporters of the Missouri map argue the decision reinforces limits on the use of race in congressional redistricting. Voting-rights advocates and other legal experts have offered differing interpretations of the ruling’s broader implications for future redistricting cases.

The RNC pointed to the decision, arguing it reaffirmed that states cannot draw congressional maps predominantly based on race and that state legislatures retain broad authority to draw districts reflecting their residents’ political preferences.

Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe signed the new congressional map into law last year. Republicans believe the map could help the GOP gain an additional U.S. House seat in the 2026 midterms. Critics contend the map was designed to increase Republican electoral advantage and reduce the influence of some communities of interest, allegations supporters of the map reject.

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President Donald Trump praised the map in a Truth Social post at the time, calling it “FANTASTIC” and saying it would “help send an additional MAGA Republican to Congress in the 2026 Midterm Elections.”

Fox News Digital’s Breanne Deppisch, Paul Steinhauser and Deirdre Heavey contributed to this report.

The Trump administration increased pressure on crime cartels operating out of Brazil on Thursday by moving to classify two of the country’s biggest drug gangs as foreign terrorist organizations.

The two syndicates — First Command of the Capital (PCC) and Red Command (CV) — likely have more than 50,000 members combined, according to The Associated Press.

“Today, the U.S. Department of State is designating Comando Vermelho (CV) and Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) as Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs) and intends to designate both groups as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs), effective June 5, 2026,” the State Department said in a statement.

“CV and PCC are two of the most violent criminal organizations in Brazil. Together, they command thousands of members and have orchestrated brutal attacks against Brazilian police officers, public officials and civilians. Their influence and illicit networks extend far beyond Brazil’s borders, across our region and into our country,” the statement said.

US GOVERNMENT TAKING ‘DRAMATICALLY DIFFERENT APPROACH’ USING TERRORISM CHARGES AGAINST DRUG CARTELS: FBI ALUM

The Trump administration, the department added, will continue to utilize all available tools to protect the nation and U.S. national security interests by keeping illicit drugs off American streets and disrupting the revenue streams funding violent narco-terrorists.

“Today’s action taken by the State Department further demonstrates the Trump Administration’s unwavering commitment to dismantling cartels and criminal organizations in our region and ensuring the safety of the American people,” the department said in a statement.

The new designation also came after conservative Brazilian Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro met with President Donald Trump in Washington to urge the administration to formally designate the gangs as terrorist entities.

BOLSONARO DYNASTY EYES COMEBACK AS BRAZIL’S SOCIALIST PRESIDENT FACES CHALLENGE FROM JAILED RIVAL’S SON

The 45-year-old senator and presidential hopeful shared a photo Tuesday standing by Trump’s side in the Oval Office, flashing a thumbs-up sign as he seeks to bolster his image amid a political scandal at home.

“I went specifically to ask him to designate the CV and PCC as terrorist organizations, because that’s what they are,” he told reporters in Washington.

With Brazil’s presidential election slated for October, supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro have campaigned for the U.S. designation to target the public security failures of current leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

FEDS CHARGE DOZENS OF ALLEGED TREN DE ARAGUA MEMBERS WITH DRUG TRAFFICKING AND MURDER-FOR-HIRE

Proponents argue that the PCC and CV operate across international borders through drug trafficking, money laundering, weapons smuggling and territorial control, making them comparable to other transnational groups already labeled as terrorist organizations by the U.S.

Lula da Silva’s government strongly opposes the designation, arguing the gangs are heavily armed criminal enterprises rather than ideologically motivated terrorist groups. Lula is also seeking re-election.

Brazilian authorities launched a major anti-gang financial crackdown this week targeting fraud and money-laundering networks allegedly linked to PCC operations, The Associated Press reported.

Prosecutors revealed that the investigation uncovered billions of reais moved through fintech firms and shell structures.

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Last year, Brazilian authorities also uncovered a sprawling criminal network that had infiltrated parts of the fuel industry and connected to the financial sector through money-laundering schemes involving members of the PCC.

At the time, authorities seized 1.2 billion reais (approximately $220 million) in assets, the outlet said.

U.S. and Iranian negotiators have reached an agreement on a 60-day memorandum of understanding extending the current ceasefire and launching negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program, but the deal still needs President Donald Trump’s final approval, U.S. sources confirmed to Fox News.

The deal follows weeks of talks threatened by heightened tensions after the U.S. engaged in defensive strikes on Iran.

The U.S. first launched “self-defense strikes” in southern Iran on Monday, with U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) claiming the U.S. targeted Iranian boats spotted laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz. CENTCOM also claimed an Iranian missile had targeted U.S. warplanes. 

The U.S. responded by eliminating both Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) boats spotted laying the mines and a surface-to-air (SAM) missile site in Bandar Abbas, U.S. officials previously told Fox News. 

The U.S. then shot down an array of Iranian drones in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday shortly before Iran launched a ballistic missile strike on U.S. ally Kuwait. Though Kuwaiti forces successfully intercepted the missile, CENTCOM called the launch an “egregious ceasefire violation.”

US FORCES SHOOT DOWN 4 IRANIAN ATTACK DRONES IN STRAIT OF HORMUZ

Trump on Wednesday said Iran was “negotiating on fumes” and that the sides hadn’t yet reached a deal. 

“So far they haven’t gotten there. We’re not satisfied with it, but we will be, we will be. Either that or we’ll have to just finish the job,” he warned.

GOP SENATORS SAY TRUMP’S STRIKES ‘SIGNIFICANTLY DEGRADED’ IRAN BUT EMPHASIZE ATTACKS NOT ‘FOREVER WARS’

The major sticking point for both sides is Iran’s nuclear capability. Trump has long maintained that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, a position he reiterated Wednesday.

“Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon,” he said, adding, “with Operation Epic Fury, our warriors are ensuring that the world’s number one state sponsor of terror never obtains a nuclear weapon. And they won’t.” 

Iran has also called the nuclear issue their “red line.” 

Ebrahim Azizi, head of the Iranian parliament’s national security committee, wrote in an X post that Iran’s red lines include the country’s right to enrich uranium, maintain stockpiles of enriched uranium and control the Strait of Hormuz and the removal of sanctions.

“It is obvious Trump, seeking a way out of this strategic deadlock, alternates between issuing threats and appealing for an agreement,” Azizi wrote on X. 

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Axios first reported about the memorandum of understanding being reached earlier Thursday.

Fox News’ National Security Correspondent, Jennifer Griffin contributed to this report.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

FBI Director Kash Patel revealed a slew of security concerns, including cyber threats, drones and the potential for lone-wolf attacks ahead of the World Cup, which will draw millions of visitors across North America.

Officials are expecting three million people to visit for the tournament, which will be jointly hosted by the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Out of the 104 total matches in the expanded 2026 World Cup, 78 games will be played in the U.S., while the remaining 26 will be split between its neighbors to the north and south.

Host countries are aggressively ramping up security and intelligence operations to safely stage the much-anticipated soccer matches across 11 U.S. host cities.

“It’s everything from traditional cop work going out to the streets, talking to communities and saying, ‘Hey, do you guys know of any bad actors? Have you heard of anyone that might want to do harm to people or venues?'” Patel told Fox News correspondent Brooke Taylor. “That’s our big security goal for us at the FBI.”

US PREPARES FOR INFLUX OF INTERNATIONAL VISITORS AHEAD OF WORLD CUP WITH SECURITY AT THE FOREFRONT

In an effort to foil any lone-wolf actors, the FBI has created a special operations center at its headquarters to centralize and analyze incoming data about potential threats.

“When we’re talking about cyber actors, those [are ones] that come in and hack our infrastructure and hold data hostage for monetary payments. So we are taking all of that information to one place and centralizing, at least for us at the FBI, at our headquarters component,” Patel said.

Patel added that outside of major nation-state adversaries like China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea, lone-wolf threats pose the greatest concern to national security.

‘PEOPLE WOULD HAVE DIED’: INSIDE THE FBI’S HALLOWEEN TAKEDOWN THAT EXPOSED A GLOBAL TERROR NETWORK

“Separate and apart from that, [those] who are doing similar activities, or the disparate actors, the lone wolves that are out there, whether it’s in the cyber realm or the violent crime realm,” he said. “So we are heavily relying on the community and state locals and asking them over and over again, ‘What are you seeing in the online spaces? What are you seeing in the chat groups?'”

Law enforcement is also heavily focused on combating the online radicalization of individuals who may feel compelled to carry out domestic attacks, Patel noted.

Drones are another top-tier anxiety for federal officials, given that they vary wildly in size and can be easily operated by a pilot far from the target location.

FBI LEADER SAYS IT’S ‘CONCERNING’ HOW LITTLE HIS AGENCY KNOWS ABOUT MYSTERIOUS DRONES SEEN OVER NEW JERSEY

“The critical component that we at the FBI have been focusing down on is teaching our state and local partners how we handle drones and how they can handle drones with us,” Patel said. “And then collectively, it’s a force multiplier to have thousands of people out there, tens of thousands of police officers out there looking at the drone threat that’s coming in as it comes in, because it’s so quick and dynamic.”

To counter this, Patel revealed that the FBI has developed technology capable of disabling problem drones mid-flight, a tool they have shared with local law enforcement partners during recent specialized training programs.

Among the immediate domestic threats the FBI is tracking is a sharp rise in antisemitic violence. Patel pointed to the recent Hezbollah-inspired attack at a Michigan synagogue, where a man packed his pickup truck with gasoline and commercial-grade fireworks, rammed it into the building, and opened fire with an assault rifle before taking his own life during a shootout with the temple’s private security team.

In the 14 months since the Trump administration took office, the FBI has arrested more than 45,000 violent offenders in an aggressive push to dismantle clandestine sleeper cells and violent networks across the country.

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The bureau also touted its recent success rate in tracking down high-profile international targets.

“The FBI have arrested eight of the top ten [most wanted fugitives] in the world in 14 months,” Patel said, noting that the figure marks twice as many major captures as the prior four years combined.

A viral internet lookalike, free Botox and imported New York bagel water are not usually the ingredients of a mayoral campaign.

Peter Simel, the Florida man who went viral earlier this year as “Palm Beach Pete” over his uncanny resemblance to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, says he is now “seriously considering” a run for mayor of Palm Beach — with a platform centered around “living your best life.”

Simel’s social media following exploded into the hundreds of thousands after a viral video sparked conspiracy theories online, described the effort as “a movement” during an interview with Fox News Digital.

“We’re seriously considering, and it’s a movement,” Simel said. “We want to make Palm Beach really cool and great.”

FLORIDA MAN MISTAKEN FOR JEFFREY EPSTEIN SENDS INTERNET INTO FRENZY: ‘I’M JUST ME BEING ME’

Simel’s internet fame exploded almost overnight after a video of him driving a convertible along Interstate 95 in South Florida spread online earlier this year, with stunned social media users insisting the silver-haired driver looked eerily similar to Epstein.

In the now-viral clip, a person filming Simel can be heard shouting, “Epstein’s alive! Epstein’s alive!”

“My name is Peter, and I am now ‘Palm Beach Pete’ on the internet,” Simel told Fox News Digital. “About two months ago, I was driving down I-95 and someone videoed me and said ‘Epstein’s alive.’”

NEW YORK-STYLE BAGEL WATER WARS HEAT UP AS ICONIC BRANDS BATTLE FOR SNOWBIRDS

The Palm Beach resident said the attention snowballed almost immediately.

“We had 200,000 followers in less than two days, and I got deplatformed,” he said. “This whole thing occurred, and it has a mind of its own, the internet.”

Simel later launched an Instagram account under the handle “@not.epstein” and began leaning into the viral fame that transformed him into an unlikely internet personality.

‘MEMBERS ONLY: PALM BEACH’ STAR SLAMS ‘NASTY’ RUMORS THAT SHE’S BEING KICKED OUT OF MAR-A-LAGO

Simel, 71, is a former International Tennis Federation (ITF) Masters competitor. During the interview, Simel repeatedly emphasized wellness, fitness and enjoying the Palm Beach lifestyle as central themes of his campaign platform.

“I’m still realizing how big it is,” Simel said of his viral fame. “I guess the best litmus test is when people come up to me in the street [saying], ‘Palm Beach Pete, we love you, you’re the GOAT, you’re a legend.’”

Now, Simel appears to be transforming that momentum into a campaign-like movement complete with merchandise, slogans and a series of playful policy proposals.

‘MEMBERS ONLY’ STAR FIRES BACK AT PALM BEACH CRITICS, SAYS THEY’RE ‘EXACTLY THE PEOPLE’ THE SHOW EXPOSES

Simel’s website includes campaign hats and proposals such as “Free Botox for All Palm Beach Residents,” and “Free Convertible Use for 1 Year,” expanded pickleball courts and a proposal to import New York City water for “better pizzas & bagels.”

Palm Beach County election records reviewed by Fox News Digital on Wednesday did not show any officially qualified mayoral candidates, and candidates cannot formally qualify for the race until 2027.

Fox News Digital also reached out to Palm Beach Mayor Danielle Moore’s office regarding Simel’s announcement, but did not immediately receive a response.

THONG-WEARING ELDERLY MAN DIDN’T DO HIMSELF ANY FAVORS BY TELLING AN OFFICER TO “JUMP ROPE FOR ME, BABY DOLL”

“Everyone on the island of Palm Beach gets the use of a convertible for a year and see how they enjoy it because it’s all about living your best life,” Simel said.

Simel also proposed free drinks at Palm Beach’s iconic clock tower, dog-walking services and “fitness trainer[s] for life so you can live longer and pay taxes longer.”

“And then the funny one at the end,” he added, “is everyone gets free mother-in-law therapy.”

Asked how he planned to fund proposals ranging from free Botox to imported New York water, Simel repeatedly emphasized that the campaign would be “self-funded.”

“I’m self-funding it,” he said.

Despite the lighthearted platform, Simel insisted he is genuinely considering entering the race.

“I’m seriously considering throwing my hat into the ring,” he said. “You can’t qualify until 2027 so we’re just doing our due diligence.”

Simel stressed that he does not view the effort as a traditional political campaign.

“I’m not affiliated with any political party,” he said. “I just want to keep the people together and bring people together and keep it as a great community.”

Asked about the current mayor’s apparent silence, Simel laughed off the situation.

“I have no comment, other than the comment I just made,” he joked.

Simel described the campaign less as a conventional political effort and more as a broader internet-fueled movement centered around positivity and Palm Beach culture — even if arguably the town’s most famous resident, President Donald Trump, calls it home when he’s not in Washington, D.C.

“In this day and time, and we have so much division and such uncertainty in the world, it’s kind of nice to have someone on a platform enjoying the benefits of living a good life and making the most out of what Palm Beach can be,” he said.

The viral sensation also said he has no plans to alter his appearance despite the comparisons that launched him into internet fame.

“I’ve always looked like this,” he said. “I’m a better version of that unnamed person. And I’m not gonna change for anybody.”

“I’m me, I’m 71 years old. It works. I have a full head of hair. I’m lucky. I’m youthful. I’m vibrant. Nothing’s gonna change. I’m just gonna get more energetic.”

Simel said he already has a team helping him manage the sudden internet fame and potential campaign operation.

“We’re interviewing people for a position as campaign manager and marketing,” he said, adding that much of the effort would likely be digitally driven through influencers and online creators.

“My demographic are Gen Zs and these influencers have such a hold or such an influence on them,” he said. “As I get more followers, it gets bigger and bigger.”

The response from family members, Simel said, has ranged from cautious amusement to full support.

“My daughter thinks it’s hilarious, and my son is neutral about it,” he said. “For the most part, it’s been very positive from everybody.”

As for whether “Palm Beach Pete” could someday aim even higher politically, the retiree said he’s focused on taking things one step at a time.

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“Baby steps,” he said. “How many times does a 71-year-old retired guy hang out with the coolest influencers and have a blast with it?”

For now, Simel appears content embracing the overnight internet celebrity status that transformed him from a man driving down a Florida highway into one of social media’s most unexpectedly viral personalities.

“All I have to say is vote early and vote often,” he said. “Vote for ‘Palm Beach Pete.'”

FIRST ON FOX: The White House has a new message on aliens: They are not coming from outer space — they are already here and ICE is tracking them.

The Trump administration launched Aliens.gov on Thursday, a space-themed immigration enforcement website that turns UFO-style “disclosure” language into a live dashboard on illegal immigrant arrests, migrant encounters and immigration operations nationwide, Fox News Digital learned.

“They walk among us,” the website reads. “For 60 years, the U.S. government has kept a closely guarded secret. Aliens have been walking among us, living in our neighborhoods, and interacting with us in our daily lives. They’ve shopped in the same stores, attended the same classes as our children, and lived seemingly normal human existences.”

“With one exception — they do not belong here.”

DHS LAUNCHES ‘WORST OF THE WORST’ WEBPAGE TARGETING ALLEGED CRIMINAL ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS NATIONWIDE

Fox News Digital exclusively reviewed the White House site, which packages immigration enforcement data as a tongue-in-cheek “alien transparency” project while making a more pointed political argument on illegal immigration.

“This is a first of its kind effort to draw eyeballs to the fact that the previous administration’s porous border didn’t just put families in border states at risk, many across the country were in harm’s way,” a White House official told Fox News Digital.

The website features a U.S. heat map tracking “alien arrests,” showing where migrants are being detained by officials, alongside a real-time counter displaying that there have been more than 3 million migrant encounters.

Using ICE arrest data, users can search by city, state or alleged crime to view local immigration arrests. The database displays arrest dates, criminal charges, countries of origin and suspected gang affiliations.

“Millions arrived under the cover of darkness and embedded themselves directly into our society. Countless presidents, congressmen, and senior officials knew exactly what was happening. Instead of protecting American citizens, they chose to cover it up and even accelerate the invasion,” the new website states.

“Until one man finally had the courage to tell the truth. Bold. Unapologetic. Unafraid. President Trump was the first to call out the real danger Aliens pose to every American family, every community, and the future of our nation,” the website said. “The truth is no longer out there. It is right here. Right now.”

The data on the site will be updated on a rolling basis, and will also be included on the existing White House app, Fox News Digital learned.

LAWMAKERS DEMAND ‘IMMEDIATE’ PROBE INTO ANTI-ICE TRACKING APP: ‘TARGET ON THEIR BACKS’

The platform also features an ICE tip line encouraging users to “report suspicious aliens.”

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The new website follows the Department of War releasing two waves of declassified UAP files as part of a broader transparency effort directing agencies to search internal databases for decades-old reports involving unexplained aerial activity after years of public skepticism surrounding government secrecy and UFO investigations.

Police responded to a “swatting call” at the residence of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett in Virginia on Wednesday evening, police confirmed, marking the latest security scare involving a conservative public figure. 

“Yesterday evening at approximately 9:02 p.m., officers responded to a swatting call at the residence of U.S. Supreme Court Justice in Fairfax County,” a Fairfax County Police Department public information officer told Fox News Digital on Thursday when asked about reports concerning the incident at Coney Barrett’s home.

Fairfax police responded to Barrett’s home after they received a call through the department’s non-emergency line, then met with the justice’s security detail, who confirmed the report was “fictitious,” the officer told Fox News Digital. 

The incident comes amid years of heightened threats against Supreme Court justices, including protests outside conservative justices’ homes after the leaked Dobbs draft opinion in 2022 showing the court was poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, and the arrest near Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s home of a California man who was later charged with attempted murder.

FBI INVESTIGATING RISE IN SWATTING INCIDENTS AFTER SEVERAL CONSERVATIVES TARGETED, KASH PATEL SAYS

“Officers immediately coordinated with Supreme Court Police personnel assigned to the residence and quickly determined that the report was fictitious. No additional police resources were utilized,” the police department said. 

Swatting calls target an individual by calling in a false police report for crimes — such as a murder, a hostage situation, bomb threats or active shooters that would require a greater law enforcement response — to the home of the target.

A partial audio recording of the police audio surfaced on X on Thursday that reported a “call came in for sounds of gunshots.” Law enforcement can be heard saying there was a “suspicious noise” at a 24-hour security coverage for a “high-priority resident” of the county. 

FROM RALLY GUNFIRE TO WHITE HOUSE SHOOTING, THREATS AGAINST PRESIDENT TRUMP CONTINUE TO MOUNT

Barrett was on the bench Thursday morning alongside her colleagues, and read aloud summaries of two opinions she authored. Barrett made no mention of the Wednesday incident in her bench remarks.

“Swatting is an attempt to get an innocent person killed—in this case, a sitting Supreme Court Justice,” posted Republican Utah Sen, Mike Lee on X as reports of the incident surfaced Thursday. “The proper response will be putting the offender in prison for many, many years.”

MIKE DAVIS: THE SUPREME COURT BETRAYED AGAIN — THIS TIME FROM THE BENCH

The leaked Dobbs draft opinion became a lightning rod for protests, with abortion-rights activists demonstrating outside the homes of Barrett, Kavanaugh and other members of the court’s conservative majority.

In June 2022, Californian Nicholas John Roske was charged with attempted murder for making violent threats against Kavanaugh while carrying a gun, knife and pepper spray near the justice’s home. He was later sentenced to eight years behind bars. 

Attacks on conservative leaders have been on the rise, most recently targeting the commander in chief, including just in April at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner.

There were two public assassination attempts on Trump’s life in 2024, beginning in Butler, Pennsylvania, where a bullet grazed his ear after a gunman climbed onto a roof during a rally on July 13, 2024.

Earlier this month, a California Army veteran known for his display of “Make America Great Again” memorabilia and American flags outside his residence, dubbed the “Trump House,” was attacked and beaten to death. 

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Fox News Digital reached out to the Supreme Court for comment.

Fox News’ Bill Mears contributed to this report. 

Two-term Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a high-profile Democrat whom political pundits view as a possible 2028 presidential contender, says she doesn’t plan to run for the White House in the next election cycle.

“There will be a robust group of people running for president,” the term-limited Whitmer told a reporter in Michigan on Thursday. “I will not be one of them in 2028. I can tell you that.”

Whitmer has long been considered one of the leading members of a large group of nationally known Democrats who might jump into what’s expected to be a crowded and competitive field of contenders seeking their party’s presidential nomination in the race to succeed term-limited Republican President Donald Trump. The governor’s new comments appear to shoot down long-held assumptions about her national ambitions.

HARRIS STOPS IN KEY PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY STATE AFTER LEAVING DOOR WIDE OPEN TO 2028

The governor of key Great Lakes battleground state grabbed plenty of attention during Trump’s first term in office as an outspoken critic of his administration and gave the Democratic response to the president’s 2020 State of the Union address.

But throughout Trump’s second term, Whitmer has sought to find policy areas where she and the president can agree. And her image of being a fierce Trump critic took a major hit in April of last year when she appeared in the Oval Office with the president. Pictures of the governor trying to cover her face with folders quickly went viral and angered some Democrats.

The now infamous photo came as the governor was at the White House for a private meeting to push the president on Michigan-specific issues and was then unexpectedly led into a televised news conference and gaggle with reporters. Whitmer later said she didn’t want her pictures taken, and emphasized that while she didn’t agree with much of what Trump said during the news conference, she stayed in the room to advocate on behalf of her state.

LESS THAN 4 MONTHS INTO TRUMP’S 2ND TERM, DEMS ARE ALREADY EYEING THE 2028 RACE

THESE DEMOCRATS MAY RUN FOR THE WHITE HOUSE IN 2028

Whitmer, a former state representative, state senator and Ingham County prosecuting attorney, was elected Michigan governor in 2018.

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She was often in the national headlines during her first term as governor and was on former President Joe Biden’s shortlist for a 2020 running mate.

Whitmer was also viewed as a potential future White House contender and fueled speculation with a stop in the key presidential primary state of New Hampshire in the summer of 2024, to campaign on behalf of then-Vice President Kamala Harris, soon after Harris replaced Biden as the Democratic nominee.

HARRIS, NEWSOM, STIR 2028 SPECULATION AT MAJOR DEMOCRATIC PARTY MEETING

The list of possible 2028 Democratic presidential contenders includes Harris, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Govs. Gavin Newsom of California, JB Pritzker of Illinois, Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania, Andy Beshear of Kentucky and Wes Moore of Maryland, who, similar to Whitmer, has said he isn’t running for the White House in 2028.

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Other potential contenders include Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Ro Khanna of California, Sens. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego of Arizona, Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey, Raphael Warnock of Georgia, and Chris Murphy of Connecticut, former ambassador and former Rep. Rahm Emanuel, who served as White House chief of staff to President Barack Obama before winning election and re-election as Chicago mayor, and Gina Raimondo, a former two-term Rhode Island governor who later served as commerce secretary in the Biden administration.

New Jersey Democratic Sen. Andy Kim fired back after DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin accused him of engaging in “political theater” following a chaotic protest outside Newark’s Delaney Hall detention facility, where Kim was struck by pepper-ball spray while confronting federal officers.

Kim and other New Jersey Democrats, including Gov. Mikie Sherrill, have sharply criticized conditions at Delaney Hall, an immigration detention facility in Newark operated by a private contractor. DHS officials, meanwhile, accuse the lawmakers of escalating tensions and undermining ICE enforcement efforts. The clash intensified after Kim was hit with pepper-ball spray during demonstrations outside the facility earlier this week.

“Secretary Markwayne Mullin in a cabinet meeting today said that I was complaining about being hit by a pepperball spray at Delaney Hall and he said that I shouldn’t be there — I just want to say this was never about me,” Kim said in a response on social media later Thursday.

“I was willing to take that risk. I’m not complaining about the pepperball spraying — for me, I’m complaining about what the treatment is to my constituents, to Americans and to civilians that were in harm’s way.”

ANTI-ICE AGITATORS THROW WOODEN PALLETS, MATTRESSES AT FEDERAL AGENTS DURING CHAOTIC NJ DETENTION CENTER CLASH

Kim said Mullin’s agency is overseeing inhumane treatment of the illegal immigrants inside the facility and is wrongfully awarding a lucrative contract to a Boca Raton-based company to manage it.

“So again, this isn’t about me. I was willing to take on that risk. I’d do it all over again,” he said.

He said he would do “anything that I can to keep my constituents and to keep people safe.”

When asked about Kim’s response, Mullin told Fox News Digital on Thursday that he was sorry to see Kim spread fallacies and inflame the situation unnecessarily.

“It’s unfortunate that Senator Andy Kim (who I’ve had a good relationship with) is spreading this FALSE narrative and adding fuel to the fire for no other reason than political theater,” Mullin said.

“This isn’t a Holiday Inn. Illegal aliens are at this detention facility because they broke our nation’s laws. ICE has arrested brutal criminals in New Jersey, including murders, rapists, sex offenders, child predators, and drug traffickers. “They are provided medical treatment, a clean place to sleep, and 3 meals a day plus commissary,” he added.

DHS CHIEF BLASTS DEMOCRATS FOR STAGING ‘ALL FOR SHOW’ PROTEST AT NEWARK ICE DETENTION FACILITY ON MEMORIAL DAY

“Contrary to what liberal politicians and the leftist media want you to think: DHS does NOT make the laws that govern the United States. Our officers are simply enforcing the laws passed by Congress. 

“If these sanctuary politicians in Congress don’t like our nation’s laws, they have the ability to change them.”

Mullin said the behavior of Kim and other Democrats put their “radical left… priorities” on full display, adding that rapists, child predators and drug dealers are among those the protesters want released back into society.

New Jersey Assemblyman Paul Kanitra, R-Toms River, told Fox News Digital in a separate exclusive interview Wednesday that the food vendor at Delaney Hall is also contracted at nearby Giants Stadium, quipping that if the food is good enough for Big Blue, it should be good enough for the inmates.

Mullin also appeared to fault Newark city government for its hands-off law enforcement approach.

He said ICE has had to conduct typical law enforcement behavior like removing barricades and preventing protesters from restricting ingress and egress – something that Mayor Ras J. Baraka’s Department of Public Safety and Homeland Security should be in charge of.

Baraka announced in 2015 that the Newark Police and fire department now fall under that new agency, and he appoints the leader.

TOP DEM GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE ARRESTED FOR TRESPASSING AT ICE DETENTION CENTER

Kim’s actions have raised ire on both sides of the aisle for opposing reasons, as Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., posted a split image of Kim washing his eyes out with protesters’ water bottles and Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., being detained while attempting to confront then-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem during a Los Angeles meeting.

“When even U.S. Senators are targeted, every American should understand: no one is safe from ICE’s abuses,” Schumer said in a statement. “It’s why I’m fighting tooth-and-nail against additional funds for Trump’s rogue police forces.”

Meanwhile, New Jersey Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia likened Kim’s and other Democrats’ actions to the “Choose Your Own Adventure” books popular among young people in the 1990s.

PADILLA CUFFED, MCIVER INDICTED: CAN CONGRESS COME BACK FROM THE BRINK?

“The Pepper Spray of Destiny,” Fantasia, R-Sussex, entitled her faux-book in a social media post.

The book’s cover shows Schumer with a speech bubble calling the chaos a “peaceful protest,” a dumpster full of trash and barricade material, an ICE agent shooting a pepperball gun and Kim superimposed on the image with an outstretched arm as if to say “no.”

“Federal lawmakers in NJ are out here treating riots like Choose Your Own Adventure books,” Fantasia said. “Instead of going through proper channels, they keep choosing every option labeled ‘This is a terrible idea’.”

“If you’d like to skip Memorial Day ceremonies in favor of an ICE protest, turn to page 3. If you’d like to insert yourself into a volatile situation, turn to page 7. If you’d like to help protesters drag debris from a dumpster to illegally block the entrance, turn to page 11,” she said.

“If you’d like Senator Schumer to explain why none of this was your fault, turn to page 18. If you’d like the mainstream media to call you ‘courageous’ for it, turn to page 20.”

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Agitators returned again Thursday morning to Delaney Hall, according to witnesses on scene. From about sunrise to mid-afternoon, the protests have been largely peaceable this week thus far.

As sundown approaches each day, older daytime protesters often give way to black-clad protesters wearing goggles and masks at night.

The Trump administration is advancing a proposal for federal agencies to use standardized nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) with employees as part of a broader push to stop internal discussions from leaking to the press. 

“This is going through the full regulatory process, so people can give notices and comments,” said Office of Personnel Management (OPM) director Scott Kupor to Fox News Digital in a Zoom interview on Wednesday. “We’ll respond to all those things as well… I’d be surprised, if at the end of the day, we aren’t successful in showing people that this is important for preserving deliberative decision-making in the government.”

The proposal would create a template NDA for federal agencies to use with employees, requiring workers to acknowledge existing confidentiality rules as the Trump administration intensifies its crackdown on internal leaks following incidents including the Venezuela raid leak and the doxing of ICE agents. Officials said the policy is meant to protect sensitive internal discussions, while critics question whether it could chill whistleblower protections and employee speech.

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Kupor pointed to a “simple example” of why NDAs are needed. OPM functions as the federal government’s human resources agency, overseeing personnel policy and workforce rules for federal employees.

“I had a meeting today… we had 10 people in the room… it’s really hard to run the organization if we have that conversation and then nine out of those 10 people go call the media and say, ‘hey, let me just tell you what we talked about in this conversation.’” 

“It just puts us in a situation where you can’t run an organization. You can’t have a reasonable conversation with your team. It isolates decision-making to a place that I think is just not good for anybody,” he added.

Federal employees are already required to safeguard certain confidential and sensitive government information obtained through their work. OPM said the proposed NDA would not create new substantive restrictions on employee speech, but instead establish a standardized process for federal workers to acknowledge existing legal and regulatory obligations regarding confidential information.

Kupor said the proposal of NDAs is to encourage open and honest dialogue in meetings. 

PENTAGON ANNOUNCES INVESTIGATION INTO LEAKS, WHICH COULD INCLUDE POLYGRAPH TESTS

“We’re just trying to avoid situations where people feel like they won’t express an opinion in a meeting because they are worried that’s going to show up on the front page of the newspaper tomorrow. I just don’t think that helps us actually run the organizations on behalf of the American people,” said Kupor.

Critics have argued the agency is expanding oversight in an effort to control damaging narratives emerging from inside the administration.

Gilbert Employment Law, which specializes in federal employment issues, partner Kevin Owen told the Government Executive that “OPM is now trying to become this super personnel office that centralizes its authority over all federal employees, ostensibly at the direction of the White House. By now controlling how federal employees are even able to communicate about matters of political concern, it’s one further step toward enacting a spoils system and making the civil service a political arm of the White House.”

The proposal also stated that the agreement would explicitly preserve employees’ rights to make disclosures authorized under federal law, including protected whistleblower complaints.

“I think people are thinking [it’s] another way to get rid of people, or we’re trying to squelch people from saying what they want,” said Kupor. “That’s the farthest thing from the truth. People can say whatever they want. The issue is, if we’re having a conversation at work … I think it’s very reasonable for us to say you shouldn’t go basically publish what is otherwise essentially a deliberative process of conversation out there.”

Kupor said the administration should be able to achieve discussions without media leaks and, once it’s decided, journalists can FOIA the information.

“People can appeal that to the [U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board] and forward and stuff like that. That’s how we work today. We’re not taking away any rights anybody has for any other kind of workplace related adverse actions,” said Kupor. “If you read the NDAs, it’s very expressed that nothing here interferes with traditional whistleblower issues with people going to the inspector general.”

Kupor said he is unsure whether the proposal was discussed during the first Trump administration or under previous administrations but argued the rapid expansion of the media landscape has made agencies more vulnerable to leaks.

JUDGES V TRUMP: HERE ARE THE KEY COURT BATTLES HALTING THE WHITE HOUSE AGENDA

“Particularly with the rise of social media and everything else, [federal employees] feel like they want to help people outside the world, understand what we’re doing. And none of this is intended to like to stop that. It’s just intended to allow us to have an open, honest conversation among folks. And if people want to be citizen journalists, they can do that,” said Kupor.

With the Trump administration already facing a series of legal challenges to its policy agenda, Kupor said he expects the NDA proposal could draw scrutiny as well.

“Unfortunately, there are lots of lawyers and organizations who make a living out of basically finding whatever they don’t like with the Trump administration and suing. But in this case I feel very, very comfortable,” he said.

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The proposal is open for public comment on or before June 26, according to OPM.

House Republicans were hit with a minor setback this week in the redistricting war when two states set to redraw maps changed course. 

Alabama and South Carolina were primed for new maps, but a court order and move to buck the process by state lawmakers in the Palmetto State have, for now, nixed the act. It comes as both sides of the aisle are in an arms race to redraw their maps to gain an advantage in the upcoming midterm elections. 

While the South Carolina legislature opted against redistricting, Republican leaders in Alabama have asked the Supreme Court to weigh in on their new map after a lower court halted the process. 

At stake in both states are two new seats in the House that could benefit Republicans as they vie to keep and grow their razor-thin majority.

BLOCKBUSTER SUPREME COURT VOTING RIGHTS RULING IGNITES REDISTRICTING WAR ACROSS SOUTHERN STATES

But compared to the gains the GOP has made across the country in redistricting, particularly after the Supreme Court’s Voting Rights Act decision in April, Republicans aren’t sweating the setback. 

“House Republicans are competing from a position of strength, remain on offense in key battleground districts, and continue to benefit from a battleground that is far more favorable than Democrats want to admit,” Mike Marinella, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee, told Fox News Digital. 

On the broader scoresheet in a battle triggered by President Donald Trump and met in kind by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Republicans have the advantage.

REDISTRICTING BATTLES BREWING ACROSS THE COUNTRY AS PARTIES COMPETE FOR POWER AHEAD OF 2026 MIDTERMS

After the Supreme Court’s decision that effectively tossed out the new map in Virginia that Democrats spent millions to enact, Republicans are now looking at a possible gain of 16 seats compared to Democrats’ six. 

That comes from successes in Texas and North Carolina, and new maps in Florida, Ohio, Missouri, Tennessee, Louisiana and Alabama — should the Supreme Court side with Republicans in Alabama. 

Democrats, though hit with a major setback in Virginia, gained five favorable seats in California and are eyeing a battle in Utah to gain at least one more.

BATTLEGROUND GOP LAWMAKER MOVES TO BLOCK WHAT HE CALLS DEMOCRATIC REDISTRICTING ‘POWER GRAB’

Still, Democrats are confident they can gain ground in the fall. 

Viet Shelton, a spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, told Fox News Digital in a statement that voters “are ready to reject Trump and Republicans for their broken promises on the economy, and they know it.”

“It’s why they’ve given up on trying to win over voters fair and square, so they’re resorting to rigging the midterms through illegal gerrymanders and voter suppression,” Shelton said. “The American people won’t stand for it, and Democrats are poised to take back the majority in November.”

Meanwhile, in the House, the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus launched a gerrymandering working group, co-chaired by Reps. Jeff Hurd, R-Colo., and Ed Case, D-Hawaii, to tackle the issue that has “led to extreme partisan gerrymandering across the country.”

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Hurd said in a statement that redistricting should be approached with “transparency, consistency and respect for the rule of law.” 

“Congressional representation should reflect the people and communities being served, not the political interests of whoever happens to be in power,” Hurd said. 

California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom is pushing a 100% tax on Californians who receive money from President Donald Trump’s new Anti-Weaponization Fund, a move that comes as critics accuse Newsom of running “slush funds” of his own.

“Anyone from California that receives any of those funds,” Newsom said at a Wednesday news conference. “We want to tax 100% of those proceeds and that’s an action the state of California can take. It’s an action we look forward to taking.”

Newsom’s staunch opposition to the newly created $1.78 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund, which supporters describe as nonpartisan, comes as he is widely viewed as a potential 2028 presidential contender.

Critics have dubbed the fund a “boondoggle” created to line the pockets of Trump’s allies.

APOLOGIES AND CASH HEADED TO ALLEGED ‘WEAPONIZATION’ VICTIMS IN BILLION-DOLLAR TRUMP SETTLEMENT

The chief complaint from Newsom and other Democrats is that the fund could be used to compensate people convicted or indicted in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. On his first day back in office, Trump pardoned or commuted the sentences of more than 1,500 rioters.

“He pardoned all of those folks that were beating up cops and absolved them, providing them 1.776 billion dollars. So not only do you get a pardon, you get rewarded,” Newsom wrote on X. “That’s why this is needed.”

But Newsom’s criticism of Trump’s fund has also drawn accusations of hypocrisy from Republicans and conservative critics on social media, who have long accused the California governor of overseeing politically connected spending programs and “slush funds” of his own.

Among the programs that faced scrutiny was a $25 million California legal fund created to combat what Newsom described as “legal warfare” from the Trump administration. California Republican Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones later deemed the fund a “slush fund.”

Newsom also faced scrutiny during California’s 2021 recall campaign over the state’s use of no-bid COVID-19 contracts. A Kaiser Health News investigation found California awarded billions of dollars in emergency contracts to firms tied to donors, political allies and well-connected insiders. Critics argued the state’s emergency procurement system allowed taxpayer-funded contracts to be awarded with limited competition and oversight.

Newsom’s proposed plan to implement a 100% tax on Californian recipients of the fund comes as the state faces a roughly $2.9 billion shortfall for the 2027 fiscal budget.

DUFFY MOCKS NEWSOM’S ‘BRIDGES TO NOWHERE’ AS CALIFORNIA WILDLIFE CROSSING OVERRUNS BY $21M

Under Newsom’s leadership, California has spent billions of taxpayer dollars on unfinished public works projects, including the state’s high-speed rail project, which carries an estimated cost of $128 billion even though a single track has yet to be laid. Newsom also faced scrutiny in March over an unfinished wildlife crossing bridge in the Golden State that is running $21 million over budget. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy dubbed the project a “bridge to nowhere.”

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Since the Justice Department announced the creation of the Anti-Weaponization Fund last week as part of a lawsuit settlement between Trump and the Internal Revenue Service, Democratic members of Congress from New York have proposed legislation to block the fund, while a Connecticut state lawmaker has also pushed to implement a 100% tax on the proceeds.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and Newsom’s office for further comment.

Former National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent claimed that by having military assets in the vicinity of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the U.S. is at risk of being compelled “back into the war on Iran’s terms.”

“A major problem w/ the status quo of having our forces within reach of the Iranians is that we could easily be forced back into the war on Iran’s terms,” Kent asserted in a Thursday post on X.

“If we withdraw now we retain the ability to strike from a distance & take away Iran’s ability to draw us back into the war. Thankfully it appears that we didn’t take casualties, we won’t always be so fortunate,” he added.

IRAN CLAIMS URANIUM ENRICHMENT AS ‘RED LINE’ IN TALKS WITH TRUMP AS US DOWNS DRONES OVER HORMUZ

Kent, who quit the counterterrorism post in March because of his opposition to the Iran war, made the comments when sharing a post issued by U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM).

“At 10:17 p.m. ET on May 27, Iran launched a ballistic missile toward Kuwait that was successfully intercepted by Kuwaiti forces. This egregious ceasefire violation by the Iranian regime occurred hours after Iranian forces launched five one-way attack drones that posed a clear threat in and near the Strait of Hormuz. All drones were successfully intercepted by U.S. forces which also prevented a sixth drone launch from an Iranian ground control site in Bandar Abbas,” CENTCOM’s Thursday post noted.

TRUMP SAYS IRAN IS ‘NEGOTIATING ON FUMES,’ BELIEVES REGIME THOUGHT THEY COULD OUTWAIT HIM

“U.S. Central Command and regional partners remain vigilant and measured as we continue to defend our forces and interests from unjustified Iranian aggression,” CENTCOM added.

Kent has suggested that it would be in America’s interests to withdraw its forces from the area.

TOP COUNTERTERRORISM OFFICIAL RESIGNS IN PROTEST OF US WAR AGAINST IRAN

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“Operation Midnight Hammer proved we can strike inside Iran from the U.S. without relying on our bases in the region. Operation Epic Fury proved that our bases in the region are a liability not an asset. Our bases give Iran easy to reach targets. Pulling out now works in our favor, not Iran’s,” he wrote in a post.

A federal judge declined Thursday to block President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting mail ballots, delivering a blow to Democrats who claim the order could disenfranchise millions of voters.

The executive order, signed March 31, directs the Department of Homeland Security to compile a list of all adult U.S. citizens living in each state and would direct USPS to deliver mail ballots only to individuals appearing on the lists. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, an appointee of President Donald Trump, ruled that the plaintiffs’ request for an injunction against the order came too early. 

“Given that the Executive Order does not command Plaintiffs to do anything, and that no agency has yet acted pursuant to the Order in a way that could harm Plaintiffs, they have not suffered any harm at present,” Nichols wrote. “For the foregoing reasons, the Court denies Plaintiffs’ Motions for a Preliminary Injunction.”

WITHIN MINUTES OF TRUMP SIGNING VOTER DATABASE ORDER, DEM STATES THREATEN LAWSUITS

Democrats and voting rights groups argued that, under the Constitution, state legislatures and Congress are responsible for regulating federal elections, not the president. The order, according to the plaintiffs, could also force USPS to make rules about elections that go beyond its authority.

Trump’s executive order, meanwhile, frames itself as an attempt to enforce federal voting laws, which the president says the executive branch is obligated to do under Article II of the Constitution.

Though Democratic plaintiffs claimed in court that the order could infringe on the constitutional rights of states to regulate their own elections, Nichols ruled the claim too speculative at the current moment. The judge, however, did not rule on the merits of the Democratic arguments and said that they could demand an injunction again once the federal government begins the process of actually implementing the executive order.

REPUBLICAN SENATORS BLAST DEMOCRATS FOR ‘FEAR-MONGERING’ OVER ELECTION SECURITY SAVE ACT

“The Court recognizes that the Postal Service may ultimately issue a final rule that directly affects Plaintiffs or their members, or that the Government may develop State Citizenship Lists that omit specific individuals due to particularized flaws,” the judge wrote.

“Plaintiffs may, of course, renew their motions if and when those future actions occur. Until then, however, Plaintiffs cannot show that preliminary injunctive relief is warranted,” he added.

POSTAL SERVICE THRUST INTO MAIL-IN BALLOT FIGHT AS TRUMP ORDER GETS TIED UP IN COURT

One of the primary concerns raised by Democrats is that the executive order directs DHS to use Social Security Administration data, which they claim contains errors and could therefore deprive eligible voters of ballots.

Trump’s order requires that the citizenship lists be transmitted to states within 60 days of federal elections and provides opportunities for individuals and states to correct the lists as necessary in order to address concerns about data inaccuracies. 

Trump has long claimed mail voting is vulnerable to widespread fraud, while election officials and voting experts have said such fraud is rare.

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Large numbers of voters identifying with both major parties have reported voting by mail, but Democrats do so more often. 

The White House did not respond to a request for comment when reached by Fox News Digital on Thursday.