NationalWatch

Ceasefire disputes between Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah are threatening to derail deals Sunday as arguments break out over several key details.

Israel accused Hamas of changing the order of hostages it planned to release. As a result, Israeli forces blocked thousands of Palestinians from returning to northern Gaza.

Israeli forces also announced Friday that they will not fully withdraw from southern Lebanon as the ceasefire requires until the Lebanese government fully implements its own responsibilities. According to the agreement, both groups were expected to make withdrawals by Sunday.

“IDF troops operating in southern Lebanon fired warning shots to remove threats in a number of areas where suspects were identified approaching the troops,” the IDF wrote in a Sunday statement. 

HAMAS RELEASES 4 FEMALE HOSTAGES AS PART OF ISRAEL CEASEFIRE

“Additionally, a number of suspects in proximity to IDF troops that posed an imminent threat to the troops were apprehended and are currently being questioned at the scene.”

BITTERSWEET REJOICING AS FIRST HOSTAGES RETURN TO ISRAEL AFTER 471 DAYS IN CAPTIVITY

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) expressed concern over the situation in a statement on X, saying Lebanese civilians had been attempting to return to their homes that were still occupied by Israeli forces.

“The IDF must avoid firing at civilians within Lebanese territory. Further violence risks undermining the fragile security situation in the area and prospects for stability ushered in by the cessation of hostilities and the formation of a Government in Lebanon,” UNIFIL wrote.

The disputes come just after President Donald Trump called for Egypt and Jordan to accept refugees from Gaza to “clean out” the region.

“I’d like Egypt to take people,” Trump said. “You’re talking about probably a million and a half people, and we just clean out that whole thing and say, ‘You know, it’s over.'”

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Trump said he applauded Jordan for accepting Palestinian refugees but that he told the king: “I’d love for you to take on more, because I’m looking at the whole Gaza Strip right now, and it’s a mess. It’s a real mess.”

When a new president moves into the White House, they have free rein to redecorate as they see fit. 

As President Donald Trump participated in inaugural ceremonies on Monday, dozens of staffers worked furiously at the White House to move former President Biden’s personal items out and Trump’s in. 

Some of the decor seen in the Oval Office belongs to the president – such as the family photos both Biden and Trump displayed behind the Resolute Desk. But other items, like portraits of former presidents, the tables, chairs and curios belong to the White House Collection and are selected by the president to be featured during their term.

The look of the Oval Office, from the carpet to curtains and artwork on the walls, is entirely the president’s choice. Here’s a look at what Trump has kept and what he’s ditched from his predecessor:

‘TIP OF THE SPEAR’: TRUMP RAMPS UP UNSCRIPTED MEDIA BLITZ AFTER YEARS OF RECLUSIVE BIDEN DUCKING QUESTIONS

Kept: The Resolute Desk

All but three U.S. presidents since 1880 – LBJ, Nixon and Ford – have used the famous desk that was gifted to President Rutherford B. Hayes by Queen Victoria that year. Trump used it in his first term, as did Biden, and Trump was pictured signing a flurry of executive actions at the desk on his first day in office on Monday.

Removed: President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s portrait

When Biden assumed office, he hung a large portrait of progressive hero FDR over the fireplace, which became the focus of the room. Biden’s intent was to honor Roosevelt, who guided the nation through the Great Depression and World War II, as the U.S. faced another crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

FOX EXCLUSIVE: TRUMP SHARES LETTER BIDEN LEFT FOR HIM

Trump has removed the portrait and replaced it with one of President George Washington, which hung in the Oval Office during Trump’s first term, The Wall Street Journal reported. 

Kept: Bust of Martin Luther King Jr. 

A bust of civil rights hero Martin Luther King Jr. displayed by both Trump and Biden will remain in the Oval Office for Trump’s second term, according to the Journal.

Swapped: Family photos

A collection of Trump family photos now sits on a small table behind the Resolute desk. Among them is a picture of the president’s mother, Mary Anne MacLeod Trump, and a portrait of his father, Fred Trump. Also displayed are a photo of Trump’s eldest three children in formal evening wear; a photo of Trump with his daughter Ivanka when she was a girl; and a photo of Trump with first lady Melania Trump when their son Barron was a baby. 

WHY TRUMP’S HOLDING WEEKEND RALLY IN LAS VEGAS LESS THAN A WEEK INTO NEW ADMIN

Biden family photos were previously arranged on this table, including one of his adult children, Beau, Hunter and Ashley Biden. 

Kept: Benjamin Franklin portrait

A portrait of Benjamin Franklin that Biden added to the Oval Office to signify his focus on science will remain there during Trump’s term, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Removed: Robert F. Kennedy bust

Trump has swapped out a bust of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that Biden placed near the fireplace in favor of a sculpture of President Andrew Jackson called, “The Bronco Buster,” by Frederic Remington. The Jackson sculpture also featured in the Oval Office during Trump’s first term, according to the Journal.

Returned: Winston Churchill bust

A bust of Winston Churchill that Biden had removed is back at Trump’s direction. The bronze bust by British American artist Jacob Epstein has been the focus of past controversy. Then-London Mayor Boris Johnson had claimed that President Obama removed the bust upon taking office in 2009 – but the White House refuted that claim in 2012, observing that the bust had been placed just outside the Oval Office in the White House’s Treaty Room. 

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Returned: Andrew Jackson portrait

A new painting of President Andrew Jackson provided by the White House art collection features prominently in Trump’s Oval Office, according to WSJ. Trump has long admired the nation’s seventh president, a populist and disruptive figure whose election Trump once said “shook the establishment like an earthquake” – not unlike his own victories.

Returned: U.S. military flags

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Trump is one again prominently featuring flags representing each branch of the armed services in the Oval Office.

FIRST ON FOX: President Donald Trump’s executive order terminating all federal diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs has already sidelined 395 government bureaucrats, a senior administration official told Fox News Digital. 

Trump’s newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), headed up by Elon Musk, wrote on X Friday that approximately $420 million in current/impending contracts, mainly focused on DEI initiatives, had also been canceled. 

After Trump signed the order on the day of his inauguration, the federal Office of Personnel Management (OPM) notified heads of agencies and departments that they must begin taking steps to close all DEI offices by the end of the day Wednesday, and place government workers in those offices on paid leave. It is not yet clear when or if they will be terminated.

ATF ACCUSED OF ‘CIRCUMVENTING’ TRUMP ORDER TO PLACE DEI STAFF ON PAID LEAVE

Acting Director of the Office of Personnel Management Charles Ezell sent a memo to heads and acting heads of departments and agencies on Tuesday evening directing them that by the end of business on Jan. 22, they were to inform all agency employees of the DEI shutdown. In addition, they were instructed to tell workers directly involved in DEI they were being placed on paid leave immediately, take down all DEI-related websites and social media accounts, cancel any related contracts or training, and ask employees to report any efforts to disguise DEI programs by using coded or imprecise language.

The memo also directed the heads of agencies and departments that by noon on Jan. 23, they were to provide OPM with lists of all DEI offices, employees, and related contracts in effect as of Nov. 5, 2024.

By Friday, Jan. 24, at 5 p.m., agency heads were required to submit to OPM a written plan for executing a reduction-in-force action regarding DEI employees and a list of all contract descriptions or personnel position descriptions that were changed since Nov. 5, 2024, to obscure their connection to DEI programs.

3 IN 10 VOTERS THINK ENDING DEI PROGRAMS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT, POLL SHOWS, AS FEDERAL DEADLINE LOOMS

The executive order was among dozens Trump signed on his first day in office, including the government only recognizing two genders and withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement. 

He also issued two other executive actions on Tuesday targeting DEI – an executive order to end discrimination in the workplace and higher education through race and sex-based preferences under the guise of DEI and a memo to eliminate a Biden administration policy that prioritized DEI hiring at the Federal Aviation Administration.

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Trump’s Monday executive order rescinded President Joe Biden’s one on promoting diversity initiatives, “Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government,” which he signed on his first day in office. 

Fox News’ Brooke Singman and Landon Mion contributed to this report. 

While President Donald Trump’s Health and Human Services nominee, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has been scrutinized over his views on vaccines, farming, abortion and more, his perspective on treating one of the nation’s foremost health crises has received far less attention.

Before joining Trump’s team, Kennedy campaigned for president on a plan to treat addiction by creating “wellness farms” funded by tax revenues from federally legalized marijuana sales. “I’m going to create these wellness farms where they can go and get off of illegal drugs, off of opiates, but also legal drugs,” Kennedy said at a virtual event during his campaign, billed as a “Latino Town Hall.” 

Kennedy himself struggled with addiction when he was younger, including to cocaine and heroin, which he has spoken about publicly. He has heralded his faith and commitment to Alcoholic’s Anonymous’s 12 Step-program as his saving grace. Kennedy is a strong proponent of clean living as well, and said that the addiction treatment wellness farms he imagines would also treat people who are trying to get off anti-depressants, or other medications like those for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

DATE SET FOR ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR’S HEALTH SECRETARY CONFIRMATION HEARINGS  

Wellness farms are not an entirely novel idea. They are based on a framework known as a “therapeutic community” model, which relies heavily on peer-to-peer support and behavioral solutions for addiction, as compared to medication-based treatment strategies like methadone or buprenorphine therapy, which work to cut out the intense cravings from opioids, to which addicts often attribute relapses. Many in the medical community, including researchers at the National Institutes of Health, consider such medication-assisted treatment to be the gold standard in addiction treatment. 

AA also warns against the use of medications like buprenorphine to treat addiction.   

Kennedy actually visited two places that align with this framework for a documentary he created about the crisis of addiction while he was running for president, titled “Recovering America – A Film About Healing Our Addiction Crisis.” Their addiction treatment framework, like Kennedy’s wellness farms, includes a focus on peer-to-peer recovery through giving addicts jobs and re-teaching them how to live in society without drugs. Kennedy has said that at his rehabilitation farms, addicts would grow organic crops, receive training in trade skills, and learn other ways to live in society without using illicit drugs. 

One of the programs that Kennedy visited in his documentary about treating addiction was also a farm, where men learn how to tend to livestock, operate tractors and repair barns. Their days also consist of meditation, 12-step meetings and yoga, but addicts must go off-site to receive therapy and are not allowed to take any medications, like anti-depressants or buprenorphine.

DIET AND NUTRITION EXPERTS WEIGH IN ON HOW RFK JR’S NOMINATION COULD IMPACT HOW WE EAT 

The program, called Simple Promise Farms, is located in rural Texas. Simple Promise does not staff licensed therapists or medical providers on site, according to The New York Times, which spoke with the program’s founder, Brandon Guinn.

Guinn told The New York Times that it is these peer-to-peer conversations where “the important work is being done . . . not with your therapist or your sponsor or your mentor, but from the shared experience of people that are struggling with addiction.”

Keith Humphreys, a psychologist and drug policy expert at Stanford University, said that while there is nothing wrong with “therapeutic community” models, he questioned the exclusion of evidence-based treatments that have been proven to help people get off harmful, addictive drugs like heroin.  

“Given how much is known, more than what’s being described is almost like [an] 18th-century kind of retreat. Given how much has been learned about the nature of the condition, about the things you can do with psychotherapy, the things you can do with medicine, why not have that? Why would you not want that?” Humphries asked.

“It’s not that it wouldn’t benefit anybody,” Humphries added. He noted that the complex nature of addiction is challenging to address without modern treatment advancements and suggested that city dwellers may lack the desire or resources to relocate to distant farms for treatment.

WHY CHINA AND MEXICO ARE THE RIGHT TARGETS FOR TRUMP’S ATTACK ON THE SCOURGE OF ILLEGAL DRUGS

Humphries said that programs that refuse patients who take anti-depressants or other medications are actually quite common in the U.S. He pointed to a program that the federal government set up in the 1930s in Lexington, Kentucky, that followed this model, but also pointed out that its success rates were low.

“George Vaillant did a study of 400 consecutive admissions [to the Lexington program], and 400 of them relapsed afterwards,” Humphries pointed out. “So that, of course, we know a lot more than we did then. So, why not take advantage of that?”

Humphries also posited that Kennedy’s plan to fund the program through revenues from legal marijuana would be such a bureaucratic hurdle that it would be a difficult and long process to get these programs off the ground. “There’s like 500 practical steps and barriers in between all that, that I just don’t think this is going to happen,” Humphries said. 

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Fox News Digital reached out to Kennedy’s representatives for comment, in particular on his view about medically assisted treatment therapies, but did not receive a response by press time. 

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem was sworn in as Department of Homeland Security secretary by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas at his home Saturday, following a scheduling hiccup earlier in the day.

The ceremony, which was originally slated to take place in the Indian Treaty Room inside the Navy Department Wing of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, D.C., at 3 p.m., was postponed multiple times. 

Noem shared a video of the moment on X, just after 6:30 p.m.

SENATE CONFIRMS KRISTI NOEM AS TRUMP’S DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY

“It is such an honor to be sworn in as the United States Secretary of Homeland Security,” she wrote in the post. “It was made even more meaningful by being sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas at his home. Thank you, President [Donald] Trump for putting your trust in me to help keep America safe.”

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry shared photos of the event on X, just before 6 p.m., expressing confidence in Noem filling the role.

“Sharon and I were honored to be a part of the swearing in ceremony for Homeland Security Secretary, @KristiNoem,” Landry wrote in the post. “America will be safer and stronger because of her and @realDonaldTrump [President Donald Trump]’s leadership. And once again Americans will be put FIRST!”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Sen Bernie Moreno and Sen Mike Rounds were in attendance in the Indian Treaty Room, awaiting the initial ceremony, Fox News correspondents reported.

Taylor Van Kirk, a spokesperson for the vice president, told Fox News the swearing in was delayed “due to a scheduling conflict.”

“We are excited for the work she will do to bring much-needed change to DHS and to secure the border,” Kirk said.

KRISTI NOEM BEATS SENATE CONFIRMATION HURDLE, ADVANCING TO FINAL VOTE FOR DHS ROLE

Earlier in the day, the Senate voted 59-34 to confirm Noem as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, making her the fourth Trump nominee to win chamber approval.

One of Noem’s top priorities is securing the southern border and repairing the “broken immigration system,” she said.

“The Trump Administration will once-again empower our brave men and women in law enforcement to do their jobs and remove criminal aliens and illegal gangs from our country,” Noem wrote in a statement. “We will fully equip our intelligence and law enforcement to detect and prevent terror threats and will deliver rapid assistance and disaster relief to Americans in crisis.”

The Trump administration has already taken steps to secure the border, including deploying the military, restarting wall construction and ending the previous administration’s parole programs. 

Before the swearing in, the president shouted out Noem, describing her as “tough,” at a rally in Las Vegas.

“I thank President Trump and the US Senate for their trust in me,” she wrote. “Together, we will ensure that the United States, once again, is a beacon of freedom, safety, and security for generations to come.”

Prior to her new role, Noem served as South Dakota’s first female governor. She pledged in 2021 that she would not take any more migrants from the Biden administration, and deployed the National Guard to the Texas border.

Noem, who was a rancher, farmer and small business owner, served in the South Dakota legislature before being elected as South Dakota’s sole member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

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Fox News’ Julia Johnson, Lillian Lecroy, and Fox News Digital’s Adam Shaw contributed to this report.

The CIA has changed its assessment on the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, now favoring the lab leak theory. Under its new director, John Ratcliffe, the agency released an assessment on the origins of COVID-19.

The review was ordered by former President Joe Biden’s National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan toward the end of Biden’s time in office. 

Analysts made the assessment with “low confidence” despite former CIA director Bill Burns, who remained agnostic on the origins, telling the agency it needed to look at the existing evidence again and come down on one side or the other.

JOHN RATCLIFFE SAYS US FACES ‘MOST CHALLENGING SECURITY ENVIRONMENT’ EVER IN CONFIRMATION HEARING

The agency has maintained for years it did not have enough intelligence to conclude whether COVID originated in a lab or a wet market in Wuhan, China. Despite the new assessment favoring a lab leak, there was no indication of new evidence.

“CIA assesses with low confidence that a research-related origin of the COVID-19 pandemic is more likely than a natural origin based on the available body of reporting. CIA continues to assess that both research-related and natural origin scenarios of the COVID-19 pandemic remain plausible,” a CIA spokesperson told Fox News.

“We have low confidence in this judgment and will continue to evaluate any available credible new intelligence reporting or open-source information that could change CIA’s assessment.”

Ratcliffe, who was confirmed Thursday, has long been a proponent of the lab leak theory. In an interview with Breitbart, Ratcliffe framed the assessment of COVID’s origins as part of a broader strategy “addressing the threat from China.” 

He also said he wants the CIA to “get off the sidelines” and take a stand.

WHO RENEWS CALLS FOR CHINA TO SHARE DATA ON COVID ORIGINS 5 YEARS LATER

In a March 2023 Fox News piece co-written with Cliff Sims, Ratcliffe accused the Biden administration of trying to keep a growing consensus around the lab leak theory quiet by suppressing “what can clearly be assessed from the intelligence they possess.” 

He also cast doubt on the notion that the CIA did not have enough evidence to come to a conclusion about the virus’ origins.

“The CIA is the world’s premier spy agency. Its reach is unmatched, its ability to acquire information unrivaled. And yet here we are three-and-a-half years later and there is ample public reporting that the CIA just doesn’t have enough information to make an assessment. This is utter nonsense,” the March 2023 piece says.

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In the same piece, Ratcliffe and Sims dismissed the idea that the virus emerged naturally, claiming there was “a complete absence of intelligence or scientific evidence” pointing to that conclusion.

When he testified before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic in April 2023, Ratcliffe said the lab leak theory was “the only explanation credibly supported by our intelligence, by science and by common sense.”

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) this week arrested three Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang members in two states as the new administration begins its mass deportation push, a senior Trump administration official told Fox News. 

Nestor Jose Mendoza-Garcia was nabbed Thursday in San Antonio, Texas, and Elmer Aparicio-Castillo and an unidentified 36-year-old man were arrested the same day in Nashville, all after allegedly entering the country illegally last year when they were processed and arrested by the Biden administration. 

“Throughout this week, the heroes of ICE have been hunting down and arresting hundreds of illegal alien criminals, and it’s immediate expulsion, including those with charges of convictions for rape, child sexual assault, terrorism and even murder,” President Donald Trump said at a rally in Las Vegas Saturday. 

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION NEEDS MORE PLANES TO CARRY OUT DEPORTATIONS: REPORT

“Members of the savage Venezuelan prison gang known as Tren de Aragua. You know that gang? This is not a nice group of people. They formed in prison, and then [Venezuela] dumped their prisons into our country. 

“They’re as bad as the bloodthirsty MS-13 gangs.”

Mendoza-Garcia arrived in the U.S. in October and was issued a notice to appear before being released. 

He was arrested by the San Antonio Police Department in November for possessing a gun linked to an unsolved murder. 

On Thursday, ICE San Antonio obtained a federal indictment and arrest warrant for Mendoza-Garcia for being an alien in possession of a gun. He is an active member of the gang, the official said. 

Aparicio-Castillo was issued a notice to appear after an encounter with ICE in El Paso, Texas, in September. 

INDIANA ATTORNEY GENERAL FILES LAWSUIT AGAINST SHERIFF FOR DEFYING FEDS ON ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

He was arrested by ICE Nashville Thursday for allegedly being an alien in possession of a gun. He also allegedly has links to the gang. 

Aparicio-Castillo’s criminal history includes charges of evading arrest, promoting prostitution and marijuana possession in Nashville. 

After his criminal adjudication, Aparicio-Castillo will be administratively arrested for immigration proceedings, the official said. 

The 36-year-old unidentified Venezuelan entered the U.S. illegally through Eagle Pass, Texas, in December and was issued a notice to appear. 

His criminal history also includes evading arrest, promoting prostitution and marijuana possession in Nashville. 

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He was administratively arrested by ICE Nashville Thursday. 

Fox News’ Bill Melugin contributed to this report. 

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is inviting President Donald Trump to address a joint session of Congress on March 4.

SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON: EVERY AMERICAN SHOULD ROOT FOR PRESIDENT TRUMP’S SUCCESS

In a letter first obtained by Fox News Digital, Johnson wrote to the new president, “Thanks to your strong leadership and bold action in the first days of your presidency, the United States is already experiencing a resurgence of patriotism, unity, and hope for the future.”

“Your administration and the 119th Congress working together have the chance to make these next four years some of the most consequential in our nation’s history,” the speaker wrote.

HONORING TRUMP: SPEAKER JOHNSON SAYS FLAGS TO FLY FULL-STAFF AT US CAPITOL DURING PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURATION

“To that end, it is my distinct honor and great privilege to invite you to address a Joint Session of Congress on Tuesday, March 4, 2025, in the Chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives, to share your America First vision for our legislative future. I eagerly await your response.”

The letter comes just before Trump is expected to address House Republicans at their annual issues conference and retreat, being held this year in South Florida.

JOHNSON REVEALS TRUMP’S WISHES ON DELIVERING HUGE POLICY OVERHAUL IN CLOSED-DOOR MEETING

House GOP lawmakers will be meeting at Trump’s golf course and resort in Doral for three days as they work to hash out a roadmap on government spending and plans for a major conservative policy overhaul.

Trump signaled for weeks before being sworn in that he was positioning for a very active first 100 days of his new administration.

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Republicans now control both the House and Senate as well as the White House. But with razor-thin majorities in both chambers, GOP lawmakers will need to vote in near lock-step to carry out Trump’s plans.

President Donald Trump shocked gamblers in Las Vegas when he unexpectedly dropped by a casino floor on Saturday.

Prior to the surprise visit, Trump had addressed thousands of supporters at the Circa Resort and Casino in Sin City on Saturday afternoon. Photos and video show Trump strolling around the casino floor after the speech, while surrounded by security.

The crowd began chanting “USA! USA!” as Trump walked past the slot machines. The president was also seen briefly interacting with enthused gamblers.

TRUMP VOWS TO DELIVER ON ‘NO TAX ON TIPS’ CAMPAIGN PROMISE DURING LAS VEGAS SPEECH: ‘100% YOURS’

The president also naturally walked up to a craps table where a game was in progress, telling a player to “throw the dice.”

When journalists shouted questions at Trump, a craps player scolded the press pool and told them, “I’m rolling here.” Trump told a gambler that he was “doing a good job” before leaving.

TRUMP NOMINATES HEAD OF HIS PERSONAL SECURITY DETAIL, SEAN CURRAN, TO LEAD SECRET SERVICE: ‘A GREAT PATRIOT’

Trump also said thank you to staff workers holding water trays, shortly after his speech focused on reducing federal taxes for hospitality workers with his “no tax on tips” campaign promise.

“Any worker who relies on tips [as] income, your tips will be 100% yours,” Trump said to a cheering audience during the speech.

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“Nationwide, over four million workers depend on tip income, including an estimated 700,000 single moms…here in Nevada…think of it, a quarter of the typical restaurant workers’ pay comes from tips. I didn’t know that,” he added.

Fox News’ Sarah Tobianski and Sophia Compton contributed to this report.

President Trump visited Las Vegas on Saturday afternoon to discuss his agenda for American workers, stressing a “no tax on tips” policy as the first week of his second term wraps up.

Speaking from the Circa Resort and Casino, Trump appealed to the myriad of hospitality workers in Sin City during his speech.

“Any worker who relies on tips [as] income, your tips will be 100% yours,” Trump said.

The Republican, who previously touted the policy as a 2024 campaign promise, also addressed Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo during the speech and bluntly asked him about how important the issue was during the November election.

‘FLOODING THE ZONE’ TRUMP HITS WARP SPEED IN FIRST WEEK BACK IN OFFICE

“You think that had an impact on the election?” Trump asked. “What, a half a point? It’s pretty big….nationwide over four million workers depend on tip income, including an estimated 700,000 single moms.”

“And here in Nevada…think of it, a quarter of the typical restaurant workers’ pay comes from tips. I didn’t know that,” Trump continued.

The president then addressed impacted workers as “some of the very citizens who were hit hard and very hard by the ravages of the Biden economy, which was inflation.”

TRUMP TO DECLASSIFY JFK FILES: FAMED DOCTOR WHO INVESTIGATED ASSASSINATION PREDICTS WHAT AMERICANS COULD LEARN

“When I think of Biden, I think of incompetence and inflation,” Trump said of his former opponent, who left office on Monday.

Earlier this week, Trump said that he would visit Nevada to “thank” voters for electing him in the November election, as the Silver State historically votes blue.

“I’m going to Nevada, and I’m really going to thank Nevada for the vote because we won Nevada,” Trump said at the White House earlier this week. “That’s normally a Democratic vote and I just want to go there to thank Nevada for the vote.”

During Saturday’s speech, Trump also touted some of the promises his administration has already delivered on, including his dismantling of some federal diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices.

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“We got rid of the woke crap,” Trump said to a cheering audience. “A lot of crap…you know, these people were petrified of it. I’ll tell you, these companies, they run these big companies, they were petrified of it.”

Fox News Digital’s Sophia Compton contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump announced on Friday that Australian basketball Illawarra Hawks majority owner Jared Novelly will serve as the next U.S. ambassador to New Zealand and the Independent State of Samoa.

Trump described Novelly as a “highly respected philanthropist” in an announcement on Truth Social.

TRUMP NOMINATES PENNY SCHWINN FOR DEPUTY SECRETARY OF US DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Novelly serves as chairman of Crest Sports and Entertainment and Crest Management.

WHO IS SEAN CURRAN? HEAD OF TRUMP’S PERSONAL DETAIL TO BE NOMINATED FOR SECRET SERVICE DIRECTOR

He is also an East Asia Superleague Basketball shareholder, according to his LinkedIn profile.

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“He will fight hard to protect our Nation’s interests in the Indo-Pacific, and always put AMERICA FIRST,” Trump wrote. “Congratulations Jared!”

Pete Hegseth was sworn in as defense secretary Saturday morning, declaring it an “honor of a lifetime,” and he promised to put America first by bringing peace through strength. 

Hegseth, 44, a former Minnesota National Guard officer who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, secured the role to lead the Pentagon following weeks of intense political drama surrounding his nomination and public scrutiny into his personal life. 

“All praise and glory to God. His will be done and we’re grateful to be here,” an ecstatic Hegseth said after taking the oath of office, surrounded by his wife Jenny and children.

PETE HEGSETH CONFIRMED TO LEAD PENTAGON AFTER VP VANCE CASTS TIE-BREAKING VOTE

“And as I said in my hearing, it was Jesus and Jenny. I would not be here without you, sweetheart. Thank you so much.”

“I want to thank the President of the United States, our commander-in-chief, Donald Trump. We could not have a better commander-in-chief than him. It is the honor of a lifetime, sir, to serve under you. We look forward to having the backs of our troops and having your back in executing peace through strength, in putting America first and in rebuilding our military.”

Hegseth, a former Fox News host, also thanked Vice President JD Vance, who oversaw the swearing-in ceremony and whose deciding vote on Friday got his nomination over the line. 

The Senate was deadlocked at 50-50 with three Republicans — Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. — joining the Democrats in opposing Hegseth’s confirmation.

The stalemate forced Vance to cast the tie-breaking vote, securing his confirmation.

“It’s not the first time the headline reads, ‘Junior enlisted marine bails out junior Army officer,'” Hegseth joked to laughter from attendees. 

Republicans React To Pete Hegseth’s Confirmation As Defense Secretary: ‘He Is The Change Agent’

Vance, the first vice president to have served as a Marine, was a combat correspondent from 2003 to 2007, including a tour in Iraq, before transitioning to civilian life and attending Ohio State University. 

Trump congratulated Hegseth on Truth Social on Friday and said he “will make a great” defense secretary. Other Republicans praised his confirmation, predicting he will bring transformative change to the Pentagon.

Hegseth went on to praise veterans and those who served alongside him in the past, as well as the 1.3 million active-duty service members and the nearly 1 million civilians who work for the military which he now leads.

“The first thing that goes through my head are the guys that I served with on the battlefield, the men and women who I locked shields with, who put my life on the line with, who never get the spotlight, who never had the cameras, who people don’t know what they did in dark and dangerous places,” Hegseth said. 

“At the Pentagon, we’re going to remember, and we’re going to think about those warriors with every single decision that we make.”

“We will put America first. We will bring peace through strength.”

He outlined three principles that he said he will bring to the Pentagon. 

“Restore the warrior ethos in everything that we do, rebuild our military and reestablish deterrence. We don’t want to fight wars, we want to deter them,” Hegseth said.

“We want to end them responsibly but if we need to fight them, we’re going to bring overwhelming and decisive force to close with and destroy the enemy and bring our boys home. And to my other family that’s here as well, who I love, it’s the honor of a lifetime.”

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Shortly after he was sworn in, Hegseth released a statement via the defense department website addressing members of the Pentagon. The statement addressed his three principles.

“All of this will be done with a focus on lethality, meritocracy, accountability, standards and readiness,” the statement reads. 
 
“I have committed my life to warfighters and their families. Just as my fellow soldiers had my back on the battlefield, know that I will always have your back. We serve together at a dangerous time. Our enemies will neither rest nor relent. And neither will we. We will stand shoulder to shoulder to meet the urgency of this moment.”
 
“Like each of you, I love my country and swore an oath to defend the Constitution. We will do that each and every day, as one team. Together, we will accomplish the President’s mission to deter war and, if necessary, defeat and destroy our enemies. Godspeed!”

Fox News’ Landon Mion contributed to this report. 

President Donald Trump fired 17 independent watchdogs at various federal agencies late Friday, a Trump administration official confirmed to Fox News, as he continues to reshape the government at a blistering pace.

Trump dismissed inspectors general at agencies within the Defense Department, State Department, Energy Department, Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Department of Veterans Affairs and more, notifying them by email from the White House Presidential Personnel Office, the Washington Post first reported.

“It’s a widespread massacre,” one of the terminated inspectors general told the Post. “Whoever Trump puts in now will be viewed as loyalists, and that undermines the entire system.”

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said that Trump’s action may violate federal law that requires the president to give 30 days’ notice to Congress of his intent to fire any independent watchdog, the Associated Press reported. 

‘FLOODING THE ZONE’ TRUMP HITS WARP SPEED IN FIRST WEEK BACK IN OFFICE

“There may be good reason the IGs were fired. We need to know that if so,” Grassley said in a statement. “I’d like further explanation from President Trump. Regardless, the 30 day detailed notice of removal that the law demands was not provided to Congress.” 

The White House did not respond to a request for comment. 

Inspectors general at federal agencies are called on to investigate government waste, fraud and abuse. They operate independently and can serve in multiple administrations.

The mass firing is Trump’s latest attempt to force the federal bureaucracy into submission after he shut down diversity, equity and inclusion programs, rescinded job offers and sidelined more than 150 national security and foreign policy officials. Trump began his second term with the intent of purging any opponents of his agenda from the government and replacing them with officials who would execute his orders without hesitation. 

TRUMP TO DECLASSIFY JFK FILES: FAMED DOCTOR WHO INVESTIGATED ASSASSINATION PREDICTS WHAT AMERICANS COULD LEARN

Among those spared from Trump’s wrath was Department of Justice inspector general Michael Horowitz, the New York Times reported. Horowitz led the investigation of the FBI’s Russian collusion probe, which exposed at least 17 “significant inaccuracies and omissions” in the FBI’s application for a FISA warrant in the Crossfire Hurricane investigation. 

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., slammed Trump’s firings, calling them a “purge of independent watchdogs in the middle of the night.” 

TRUMP MEETS WITH CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS, FIRE AND LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS TO SEE LA WILDFIRE DAMAGE FIRST HAND

“President Trump is dismantling checks on his power and paving the way for widespread corruption,” Warren posted on X.

During his first term, Trump fired five inspectors general in less than two months in 2020. This included the State Department, whose inspector general had played a role in the president’s impeachment proceedings.

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Last year, Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden fired the inspector general of the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board, after an investigation found the official had created a hostile work environment.

In 2022, Congress passed reforms that strengthened protections for inspectors general and made it harder to replace them with political appointees, requiring the president to explain their removal.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Universities and colleges across the US have experienced a rise in antisemitic and anti-Israel activity since Hamas’ brutal attacks on Oct. 7. Anti-Israel agitators have staged massive protests, disrupted courses and events, and set up encampments. However, it’s not just the students who are involved, it’s also the faculty.

Columbia Business School associate professor Shai Davidai is calling on President Donald Trump to issue an executive order to stop institutions that hire professors who support US-designated terror organizations from receiving federal funds.

In a repost from the account Documenting Jew Hatred on Campus at ColumbiaU, Davidai urged Trump to act.

“I think it’s time for the president to sign a very simple executive order: no federal funds to private institutions that hire professors who support U.S.-designated terrorist organizations,” Davidai wrote.

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY TEMPORARILY BANS PRO-ISRAEL PROFESSOR FROM CAMPUS

Davidai believes Columbia is in violation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and “should not receive federal funding” based on the hiring and elevating of terror group-supporting faculty.

“For the past 15 months, we have seen open support for the annihilation of the State of Israel,” Davidai told Fox News Digital. “Not just criticism of the government of Israel, but the existence of Israel and Israelis on university campus both by students but also by professors.”

However, Davidai emphasized that this is not just an Israeli issue, it’s an American issue. He notes that the agitators often echo the rhetoric of the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps, seeing Israel as “little Satan” and America as “big Satan.”  

“This is anti-Americanism. They hate America, and they say so, it’s not me putting words in their mouths.”

Columbia University became a hotbed of anti-Israel and antisemitic activity following the Oct. 7 attacks, even drawing national attention as then-President Minouche Shafik was grilled by lawmakers about the situation. Despite a change in university leadership, anti-Israel agitators are still active on campus.

Last week, anti-Israel agitators disrupted a course called the Modern History of Israel, which was being taught by Avi Shilon, a visiting professor from Israel’s Tel-Hai Academic College. Tel-Hai has faced the threat of Hezbollah attacks due to its location near Israel’s northern border.

“Just like Hezbollah would not let him teach his class in Israel, the Hezbollah supporters here in New York City just barged into his class and would not let him teach,” Davidai said.

COLUMBIA STUDENTS CONFRONT ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTERS WHO STORMED CLASSROOM WITH ANTISEMITIC FLYERS

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Columbia did not respond to a request for comment. However, after the incident, interim President Katrina Armstrong issued a statement.

“Today a History of Modern Israel class was disrupted by protesters who handed out fliers. We strongly condemn this disruption, as well as the fliers that included violent imagery that is unacceptable on our campus and in our community. No group of students has a right to disrupt another group of students in a Columbia classroom. Disrupting academic activities constitutes a violation of the Rules of University conduct and the nature of the disruption may constitute violations of other University policies,” the statement reads.

“We will move quickly to investigate and address this act. We want to be absolutely clear that any act of antisemitism, or other form of discrimination, harassment, or intimidation against members of our community is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.”

The Senate will hold votes over the weekend to accelerate the confirmation of one of President Donald Trump’s key Cabinet nominees.

Lawmakers will meet for a rare Saturday session to hold a vote on whether to confirm South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Homeland Security, to the top Cabinet position. 

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., indicated earlier in the week that the Senate would stay over the weekend to push through the confirmation process if Democrats blocked voting efforts.

“Do we want a vote on these folks on Tuesday or vote on them on Friday, Saturday and Sunday? Because that’s what we’re going to do,” Thune said after Democrats blocked a confirmation vote for Trump’s CIA director nominee, John Ratcliffe, who has bipartisan support. “This can be easy or this can be hard.”  

SCHUMER SUPPORTS DEMOCRATS DELAYING ALL TRUMP NOMINEES WHO LACK UNANIMOUS SUPPORT

“This is about America’s national security interests, and we’re stalling, so that’s not going to happen,” Thune said.

Noem was questioned by lawmakers on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee during her confirmation hearing earlier in the week.  

CONFIRMATION DELAYS STACK UP FOR TRUMP NOMINEES AS PAPERWORK LAGS IN FEDERAL OFFICES

The Department of Homeland Security deals with national security and immigration issues, making Noem’s confirmation top of mind for Trump as he makes the crisis at the southern border a priority during his second term.

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Several of Trump’s nominees remain unconfirmed after the 47th president’s first week in office. But Thune promised while speaking on the Senate floor on Friday that he “will continue to ensure that the Senate works as quickly as possible to get President Trump’s team in place.”

Fox News’ Elizabeth Pritchett contributed to this report.

President Trump is back in Nevada on Saturday to thank his supporters for helping him win the state, which has traditionally supported Democrats for president over the last couple of decades.

Trump will wrap up his first trip of his second administration with a rally Saturday afternoon in Las Vegas.

“I’m going to Nevada, and I’m really going to thank Nevada for the vote because we won Nevada,” Trump said at the White House earlier this week. “That’s normally a Democratic vote and I just want to go there to thank Nevada for the vote.”

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Trump carried Nevada by three points in November’s presidential election after narrowly losing the Silver State in 2016 and 2020. He became the first Republican presidential nominee to win the state in 20 years, since then-President George W. Bush carried the state in his 2004 re-election.

TRUMP UNPLUGGED: WHAT THE NEW PRESIDENT IS DOING THAT BIDEN RARELY DID

The president is expected to offer details on his campaign trail promise – which he first made during a rally in Las Vegas last June – to exclude tips from federal taxes.

“Can you remember that little statement about tips?” the president said during one of his inauguration day speeches. “Anybody remember that little statement? I think we won Nevada because of that statement.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, aboard Air Force One on Friday, told reporters the rally in Las Vegas would have “an economy focused message.”

“President Trump will be talking about promises that he intends to keep, that he made to the American people on the campaign trail,” she added.

TRUMP’S FIRST 100 HOURS BACK IN THE WHITE HOUSE: ‘SHOCK AND AWE’

The economy in Nevada’s two largest cities – Las Vegas and Reno – is dominated by the hospitality and service industry. And many workers – from restaurant waiters to hotel clerks and maids to car park valets – rely on tips for much of their income.

But exempting tips from federal taxes will require Congress to pass legislation, which won’t be easy to accomplish.

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But a bill to do just that – which was first introduced last summer – was re-introduced into the new 119th Congress earlier this month by Democratic Sen. Jackie Rosen of Nevada and Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.

The Las Vegas trip follows Trump’s trip to California on Friday where he toured the devastation of the Los Angeles fires with residents who were personally impacted and participated in a roundtable with disgraced Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and other state officials.

In his first week in office, President Donald Trump has charged ahead with a series of executive actions, fulfilling a key campaign promise to challenge “gender ideology” in American institutions and promote “biological truth” rooted in “fundamental and incontrovertible reality.” 

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is poised to rule on two significant gender-related cases this year, and Trump’s new executive action could spell further controversy in the higher court.

Last week, SCOTUS agreed to hear Mahmoud v. Taylor, which would determine whether schools can force teachers to read LGBTQ books to elementary-age children despite parental objections. At issue is whether parents will have the right to opt their children out of such instructions.

“If the Supreme Court’s doing its job, it shouldn’t impact [the case decisions] at all,” Heritage Foundation senior legal fellow Sarah Marshall Perry told Fox News Digital in an interview. “What Trump’s executive order was is a statement of really what the policies are going to be for the executives going forward into the new administration. And he did exactly what [former President Joe] Biden did with his executive order expanding sex to include gender identity.”

TRUMP SIGNS DOZENS OF EXECUTIVE ORDERS, FULFILLING MANY BUT NOT ALL CAMPAIGN PROMISES

Perry noted the separation of powers between the executive and judiciary branches, adding that while the executive is mostly a political entity, the judiciary is non-political. 

SCOTUS will be obligated to focus solely on the facts presented in the cases before them, she said, which “will include questions relative to the parameters of the parental rights guidance on school curriculums and exactly what constitutes curriculum for purposes of opt-out, whether gender medicine and age and medical-based restrictions that happen to impact individuals who are transgender is a violation of the Equal Protection Clause.” 

She also pointed out that the executive order should not influence the Supreme Court’s decision-making, adding, “The executive order should have absolutely no bearing on what the Supreme Court decides going forward.”

PRO-LIFE ACTIVIST PROSECUTED BY BIDEN DOJ REACTS TO TRUMP PARDON: ‘I WANT TO GIVE HIM A HUG’

In another case that already had their oral arguments heard last year, Skrmetti v. U.S., the higher court is weighing whether the equal protection clause, which guarantees equal treatment under the law for individuals in similar circumstances, prevents states from banning medical providers from offering puberty blockers and hormone treatments to children seeking transgender surgical procedures. 

The Biden administration joined the lawsuit by filing a petition to the Supreme Court in November 2023.

“I think the American people are gratified that they’ve got a president who is common sensical, who recognizes biological reality, who recognizes the text of civil rights law and the rule of law itself, and now they’re going to say we have someone who was willing to stand in the gap for us, including through the Department of Justice, if the cases get all the way to the Supreme Court,” Perry said. “But parents should, and I think will, be involved to be able to bring more legal challenges.”

PRO-LIFE PROTESTERS PARDONED BY TRUMP, FOX CONFIRMS

“I think this election really sort of rises to shift, not just politically, but for many people philosophically as well, because we recognize that America was sort of pulled back from the perilous brink on even understanding what it meant to be male and female, even understanding what it meant to live amicably in a pluralistic society,” Perry said. “We are now, I think, thankfully, seeing a rebirth of those long-standing beneficial ideas.”

Trump’s executive order, signed on Inauguration Day and titled, “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” declares that the U.S. will recognize only two sexes — male and female — based on immutable biological characteristics. 

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It prohibits the use of gender identity in legal and administrative contexts, mandates that federal agencies, including those overseeing housing, prisons, and education, adhere to this definition when enforcing laws and issuing regulations. The order directs changes to government-issued identification documents, bans the promotion of “gender ideology” in federal programs, rescinds previous executive actions that promoted gender identity inclusion and instructs federal agencies to eliminate guidance or regulations that conflict with the new policy.

Trump’s executive order reverses the Biden administration’s executive order titled “Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation,” signed in 2021, which directed federal agencies to interpret and enforce civil rights laws to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation.

The global climate movement is already feeling the sting of the “Trump effect” after green energy policies were a target of President Donald Trump’s first executive orders, according to energy experts who reacted to the president’s first week in office.

Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States Monday, signing numerous executive orders aimed at unraveling former President Joe Biden’s climate agenda.  

“President Trump has not wasted any time to undo Biden’s many climate policies designed to make energy more expensive and less affordable. America and the world can look forward to a brighter future because of the actions that President Trump has started on his first day in office,” Myron Ebell, chairman of the American Lands Council, said in a statement.

But Ebell added that “it’s going to be a long, hard fight because of ferocious opposition” from climate groups.

ENERGY EXPERTS WEIGH IN AFTER CANADIAN PREMIER SAYS SHE WANTS TO DISCUSS KEYSTONE PIPELINE 2.0 WITH TRUMP

This week, Trump signed an executive order to ax the U.S. climate standards, which aimed to reduce emissions 61-66% by 2035. 

Additionally, the president ended the electric vehicle (EV) mandate and withdrew from the Paris Climate Agreement, a legally binding treaty among more than 190 parties committed to international cooperation on climate change.

TRUMP ELIMINATING LNG PAUSE TO HAVE ‘QUICKEST EFFECT’ ON ENERGY INDUSTRY: RICK PERRY

“President Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris Accords is a victory for American workers and families, rejecting policies that prioritize the Chinese Communist Party’s interests over our own,” said Jason Isaac, CEO of the American Energy Institute and a former Texas state representative.

“The Paris framework does nothing to mitigate a changing climate but drives up energy costs and burdens Americans with decarbonization mandates rooted in the climate hoax. By making American energy more affordable and accessible, President Trump is benefiting not only our nation but the world.”

Marc Morano, publisher of Climate Depot, a communication platform for climate issues designed by the Committee For a Constructive Tomorrow, a D.C.-based public policy group, said that Trump’s second term “could become one of our lifetimes’ most consequential presidencies.”

“Trump is poised to, once and for all, put a stake through the heart of the U.N. globalist climate change scam,” Morano said in a statement shared with Fox. “The Trump effect is already derailing the U.N. climate summits, canceling EV mandates, disintegrating the Wall Street climate group and Net Zero goals. Trump’s policies could have the effect of collapsing the entire climate house of cards.”

Trump’s executive orders were not accepted by many Democratic lawmakers and climate groups, who criticized the president’s executive orders. 

“It’s the second day of the second Trump presidency, and there are three things we know for sure: there is no energy emergency; there is a climate emergency; and the policies rolled out in these past 24 hours will make the climate crisis worse,” said Manish Bapna, president and CEO of the Natural Resources Defense Council.

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Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress plan on going even deeper on reversing green energy policies enacted over the past four years. Republicans in the House have already introduced legislation to block Biden’s climate standards on household appliances.