NationalWatch

Nicki Minaj’s recent embrace of President Donald Trump, including her support for voter ID laws and public praise for the president, is now sparking a fresh wave of political reaction online with some fans saying they are leaving the Democrat Party and aligning with Republicans.

The fan posts, first reported by Newsweek on Saturday, surfaced after a week of heightened attention around Minaj’s political comments. 

Several self-identified fans, often known as the “Barbz,” said on X that Minaj’s stance had influenced their own political thinking.

One fan wrote on X, “Today is the day I switch to republican,” in a post that had been viewed more than 300,000 times. The user later wrote in replies that they had never voted before but planned to do so.

NICKI MINAJ PRAISES TRUMP, JD VANCE AT TPUSA EVENT, SAYS SHE HAS ‘UTMOST RESPECT’ FOR THEM

Another fan account posted, “Officially a Republican!!!!!!! I’ll never vote for a democrat ever again,” alongside a photo of Minaj and Trump. The post also surpassed 300,000 views.

A third account wrote, “MAGA BARBZ IT IS I will never vote dem again!!” in a post that drew more than 70,000 views.

The online reaction follows a series of political statements and public appearances by Minaj over the past week that drew widespread attention. Earlier this month, the rapper voiced support for voter ID laws in a post on X, questioning why the issue remains a subject of debate in the U.S. The comments drew praise from Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla.

NICKI MINAJ PRAISED FOR SPOTLIGHTING CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION IN NIGERIA: ‘BODY COUNT IS JUST TOO HIGH TO IGNORE’

Days later, Trump publicly praised Minaj while walking the red carpet at the premiere of Melania, calling her “a terrific person” and “a winner.” Minaj has also appeared alongside Trump at public events, including the Trump Accounts Summit, where she described herself as “probably the president’s number one fan.”

As the conversation continued online, conservative activists and organizations pointed to the fan reaction as a potential opportunity for voter outreach. Scott Presler wrote on X that he would personally help Minaj’s fans register to vote or change their party affiliation.

Tyler Bowyer of Turning Point Action also weighed in, writing on X, “Nicki Minaj should go on tour and we can all help register tens of thousands of new voters through her concerts.”

UN AMBASSADOR EXPLAINS HOW ‘UNLIKELY’ TEAM-UP WITH NICKI MINAJ CAME TOGETHER FOR GLOBAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM PUSH

Minaj’s political shift has also drawn backlash from critics and some fans. Viral clips have circulated showing her music being booed in clubs, while online petitions calling for her deportation have gained traction. She has also faced public criticism from Trevor Noah at the Grammys last week.

Some critics have argued that Minaj’s alignment with Trump is motivated by a desire to secure pardons for her brother and husband. Minaj has pushed back on that narrative, saying that criticism of her political views “motivates me to support him more.”

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Despite the flurry of online discussion, it remains unclear whether the social media posts will translate into voter registration or turnout.

Fox News Digital reached out to Minaj’s representatives for comment but did not receive a response by publication time. 

Fox News Digital’s Lori Bashian, Ashley Carnahan, and Larry Fink contributed to this reporting.

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard denied any wrongdoing on Saturday as Democrats question why a whistleblower complaint filed against her last May took nearly a year before it was referred to Congress.

“[Virginia Democrat] Senator Mark Warner and his friends in the Propaganda Media have repeatedly lied to the American people that I or the ODNI ‘hid’ a whistleblower complaint in a safe for eight months,” Gabbard wrote in a lengthy X post on Saturday. “This is a blatant lie.”

She continued, “I am not now, nor have I ever been, in possession or control of the Whistleblower’s complaint, so I obviously could not have ‘hidden’ it in a safe. Biden-era IC Inspector General Tamara Johnson was in possession of and responsible for securing the complaint for months.”

The highly classified complaint by a U.S. intelligence official alleging wrongdoing on the part of Gabbard was filed eight months ago with the intelligence community’s watchdog office and was first reported on by the Wall Street Journal.

EXCLUSIVE: GABBARD OUTLINES ELECTION SECURITY ASSESSMENT, PRESENCE AT FULTON COUNTY SEARCH

The complaint has been locked in a safe since its filing, according to the Journal, with one U.S. official telling the newspaper that the disclosure of its contents could cause “grave damage to national security.”

The whistleblower’s lawyer has accused Gabbard’s office of slow-walking the complaint, which her office has denied, calling it “baseless and politically motivated.” 

Meanwhile, Democrats are also questioning why it took her office so long to hand the complaint over to Congress.

TRUMP CONFIRMS WHAT TULSI GABBARD WAS DOING AT GEORGIA ELECTION CENTER

“The law is clear,” Warner, the senior Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Thursday, according to NPR, adding that the complaint was required to be sent to Congress within 21 days of its filing. “I think it was an effort to try to bury this whistleblower complaint.”

Neither the contents of the complaint nor the allegations against Gabbard have been revealed.

Gabbard wrote on Saturday that the first time she saw the complaint was “when I had to review it to provide guidance on how it should be securely shared with Congress.”

TRUMP CLAIMS DNI TULSI GABBARD WAS AT GEORGIA ELECTION HUB SEARCH BECAUSE AG PAM BONDI WANTED HER THERE

“As Vice Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Senator Warner knows very well that whistleblower complaints that contain highly classified and compartmented intelligence—even if they contain baseless allegations like this one—must be secured in a safe, which the Biden-era Inspector General Tamara Johnson did and her successor, Inspector General Chris Fox, continued to do,” she continued. “After IC Inspector General Fox hand-delivered the complaint to the Gang of 8, the complaint was returned to a safe where it remains, consistent with any information of such sensitivity.”

She claimed that either “Warner knows these facts and is intentionally lying to the American people, or he doesn’t have a clue how these things work and is therefore not qualified to be in the U.S. Senate.”

Gabbard further wrote that “When a complaint is not found to be credible, there is no timeline under the law for the provision of security guidance. The ‘21 day’ requirement that Senator Warner alleges I did not comply with, only applies when a complaint is determined by the Inspector General to be both urgent AND apparently credible. That was NOT the case here.”

An inspector general representative said that it had determined some of the allegations in the complaint against Gabbard weren’t credible, while it hasn’t made a determination on others, according to the Journal.

Gabbard said she was made aware that she needed to provide security guidance on the complaint by IC Inspector General Chris Fox on Dec. 4, “which he detailed in his letter to Congress.”

Afterward, she said she “took immediate action to provide the security guidance to the Intelligence Community Inspector General, who then shared the complaint and referenced intelligence with relevant members of Congress last week.”

In closing her post, Gabbard once again accused Warner of spreading “lies and baseless accusations over the months for political gain,” which she said “undermines our national security and is a disservice to the American people and the Intelligence Community.”

Warner’s office told Fox News Digital Gabbard’s post was an “inaccurate attack that’s entirely on brand for someone who has already and repeatedly proven she’s unqualified to serve as DNI.” 

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Republicans on the House and Senate intelligence committees have backed up Gabbard, with Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., writing on X on Thursday: “I have reviewed this ‘whistleblower’ complaint and the inspector general handling of it. I agree with both inspectors general who have evaluated the matter: the complaint is not credible and the inspectors general and the DNI took the necessary steps to ensure the material has handled and transmitted appropriately in accordance with law.”

He addded, “To be frank, it seems like just another effort by the president’s critics in and out of government to undermine policies that they don’t like; it’s definitely not credible allegations of waste, fraud, or abuse.”

Gabbard’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Department of Homeland Security Sec. Kristi Noem has been a lightning rod for criticism amid anti-ICE riots that have rocked the country, sparked a government shutdown and left many wondering whether the nation’s 8th DHS secretary would keep her job.

Despite the mounting pressure, Noem appeared calm, collected, and confident during a trip this week that included a stop in Mississippi to assess winter storm damage recovery efforts, visits to the southern border in Texas and Arizona as well as the northern border in North Dakota, and a BBQ dinner hosted and served by Noem herself to Border Patrol agents in Arizona.

During the first half of the four-day stint, Congress was still dealing with a partial government shutdown largely over how to fund DHS. The House ultimately reached an agreement, funding the agency through Feb. 13, but Noem’s focus remained the same before and after the bill passed, and her schedule was left unchanged.

During an exclusive interview along the border wall in Nogales, Ariz., Noem told Fox News Digital that the national security functions of the agency are too vital to be sidelined by a spending fight.

BORDER CROSSINGS HIT 55-YEAR LOW — AFTER DEMOCRATS SAID REFORM WAS THE ONLY FIX

“Every day [DHS is] finding terrorists and removing them from our country, protecting our cybersecurity systems, our critical infrastructure,” Noem told Fox. “Only 11% of the DHS budget is ICE. The rest of it is FEMA, TSA, that runs our security checkpoints at our airports.” 

“It is also the Coast Guard, which is absolutely critical to our maritime protection and also partnering with the Department of War,” Noem added. “We have weapons of mass destruction, science and technology, our national labs.”

“We have a lot of responsibilities that we absolutely need to fund in order to do them properly. So I’m hopeful that Congress will recognize that and pass this bill quickly,” Noem said.

KRISTI NOEM TO TESTIFY BEFORE HOUSE COMMITTEE NEXT MONTH

But the debate around government spending wasn’t about the Coast Guard, FEMA or TSA. It was almost entirely based on one of the 23 agencies which Noem oversees – Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. Specifically, it centered around ICE’s actions in Minneapolis, a so-called sanctuary city in which the local authorities provide only minimal support to federal officers enforcing immigration laws.

Since the beginning of the year, DHS estimates that Operation Metro Surge has resulted in the apprehension of 4,000 criminal illegal migrants in Minneapolis. The operation was launched mainly due to a fraud scheme that involved members of the Somali community in Minnesota.

The mission then evolved into a heated clash between agitators and federal officers that ultimately left two U.S. citizens dead, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both killed by federal immigration agents.

NOEM VOWS CRIMINAL PROSECUTION AFTER CATCHING ALLEGED DHS ‘PROLIFIC LEAKER’

Noem quickly labeled both Good and Pretti as “domestic terrorists” and said their deaths were due to impeding “law enforcement operations,” sparking outrage from Democrats and some Republicans who began to call for her resignation. 

Rumors swirled whether Noem would actually resign or if President Donald Trump would fire fire her, but the president told reporters shortly after the death of Pretti that he had no intention of relieving her from her position as head of DHS.

When Fox News Digital asked Noem what she believed the American people want when it comes to ICE enforcing the law using the same tactics that led to riots, deaths and assaults on both agitators and agents, Noem said “I think people would want less conflict.”

LEAVITT SAYS TRUMP WILL NOT ‘WAVER’ ON ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN DESPITE DEMOCRATIC BACKLASH

“[The American people] want to know that we’re enforcing our laws and that we are going after dangerous criminals, and they don’t want them to be released on the streets to perpetuate more crimes,” Noem explained. 

At some stops along Noem’s trip, agitators appeared. At a dinner she hosted inside a hotel in Tucson, Arizona, for CBP officers, protesters with drums, megaphones and seemingly pre-made signs gathered at the entrance of the hotel. Every other car driving by the demonstration honked, though it’s unclear whether they were honking in support or in disagreement with the protesters. 

A Quinnipiac University survey taken from Jan. 29 to Feb. 2 showed 58% of those questioned saying that Noem shouldn’t have the job.

DHS SECRETARY NOEM STANDS BY BODY CAMERA REQUIREMENT FOR FEDERAL AGENTS FOLLOWING TRUMP COMMENTS

Fox News Digital spoke with a GOP insider who pointed to Noem’s inexperience on the national stage, saying her time as governor of South Dakota didn’t prepare her for one of the most challenging roles in the presidential cabinet.

Despite the critics, Noem’s record on securing the border has proven successful, according to figures provided by the department and the Trump administration. Trump’s goal to deter illegal migrants from crossing the border, which was Noem’s mandate, has been a priority for the White House. 

More illegal migrants crossed the southern border in one average month under former President Biden’s watch than have crossed under Noem’s entire watch, according to DHS.

NOEM DEPLOYS TO BOTH BORDERS, SAYS ICE WON’T BE DETERRED BY SANCTUARY OFFICIALS WHO ‘WANT TO CREATE CONFLICT’

“We have over three million people that have deported, and that includes probably about 700,000 that we have detained and removed,” Noem told Fox News Digital on Wednesday. “Beyond that, over 2.3 million have self-deported.”

“You know, you send the message around the world that America is now going to be enforcing its laws and making sure that if you’re in this country illegally, that you should go home, and we’ve been incentivizing that through a $2,600 payment and a flight,” Noem added. “Millions of people have taken us up on that.”

Trump defended Noem for a second time during remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday when discussing if he would relinquish her command at DHS.

HOUSE DEMOCRATS HOLD ‘SHADOW HEARINGS’ AS THEY BUILD CASE TO IMPEACH KRISTI NOEM

“Why would I do that? We have the strongest border in the history of our country,” Trump said. “We have the best crime numbers we’ve ever had going back to the year 1900. That’s 125 years. We have the lowest crime numbers.”

Trump also appointed Tom Homan, the former ICE director during Trump’s first term and the executive associate director of Enforcement and Removal Operations under President Barack Obama, to serve as border czar, a role previously held by Kamala Harris. 

Some reports painted a picture of an unspoken rivalry between Homan and Noem following Trump’s decision to put Homan in command of the situation in Minneapolis.

NOEM SLAMS DEMS, BIDEN ADMINISTRATION FOR LACKING ‘COMPASSION’ AMID ANTI-ICE TENSIONS

But Noem told Fox News Digital she credited Homan for working to get local leaders in Minneapolis to come to the table and negotiate order in what has been a chaotic scene in the Twin Cities.

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“What people need to remember is that Democrat policies were destroying our country,” Noem said. “And President Trump came in and said, I’m going to protect the American people. It’s not going to happen anymore. “

“Since [the Biden administration], thousands of people’s lives have been saved just here, just right here on the border, because those migrants are not victimized anymore,” Noem added.

Preston Mizell is a writer with Fox News. Story tips can be sent to Preston.Mizell@fox.com and on X @MizellPreston

Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., is asking attendees at a Saturday campaign event to show government-issued photo ID — even while opposing similar standards for voters in federal elections.

Email confirmation information for an Ossoff rally in Atlanta detailed that “a matching government-issued ID will be verified against the RSVP list by name to enter.”

Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., who is running against Ossoff for a Senate seat in 2026, blasted what he called a double-standard.

VULNERABLE DEM’S SUPPORT FOR ALEX PRETTI COLLIDES WITH LAKEN RILEY ACT ANNIVERSARY

“Typical Jon Ossoff to say one thing and do another. It’s ridiculous that Jon Ossoff would require a government ID to listen to him speak about why you shouldn’t need a government ID to vote,” Collins said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

Ossoff’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

In the wake of election security concerns highlighted by President Donald Trump in previous years, Republicans across Congress have made demands for tighter voter registration standards.

Most recently, lawmakers led by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., have called for the passage of the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act.

HOUSE CONSERVATIVES THREATEN EXTENDED SHUTDOWN OVER ELECTION INTEGRITY MEASURE

In its current form, the SAVE Act would embed proof of citizenship requirements into existing voter-registration pathways and require states to conduct stricter audits of their voter rolls. The bill also defines documentary proof of U.S. citizenship and links it to some form of photo ID.

It is currently illegal for noncitizens to participate in federal elections, although Republicans maintain that the standard is applied inconsistently, leading to easily-exploitable election vulnerabilities. 

Democrats like Ossoff have blasted the legislation, arguing that it would only make it harder for people with limited access to photo ID to participate in elections.

SCHUMER FACES BACKLASH AFTER CALLING SAVE ACT ‘JIM CROW’ DESPITE PREVIOUS ALLEGATION FALLING FLAT

“This is a nakedly partisan, totally unworkable, bad-faith bill cynically intended to disenfranchise millions of eligible voters,” Ossoff said in a statement on the SAVE Act as the bill made its way through the House of Representatives last year.

An earlier version of the SAVE already passed the House in April 2025, attracting bipartisan support in a 216-208 vote. Four Democrats joined Republicans to pass the bill.

Despite Ossoff’s previous opposition to the SAVE Act, his campaign event framed the requirement for photo ID as a security measure.

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“Due to security requirements … be ready to show ID that matches our RSVP list and these arrival instructions (printed or on your phone),” the campaign event’s confirmation email read.

The House Rules Committee, the final gatekeeper before most legislation reaches the chamber floor, is expected to consider an updated version of the SAVE Act in the House of Representatives on Monday.

Virginia Senate President Pro Tempore Louise Lucas delivered a profanity-laden retort to Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, amid a tense redistricting fight, arguing that Democrats had “f—ing finished” what she views as gerrymandering started by Republicans.

On Friday, Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat, signed a bill that would allow voters to weigh in on multiple amendments, including one that would allow for a mid-decade redrawing of the state’s congressional districts. Virginia lawmakers are aiming to put the amendments before the people on April 21, 2026, months before the midterm federal elections.

“Virginia voters deserve the opportunity to respond to the nationwide attacks on our rights, freedoms, and elections. Everyone deserves the freedom to marry who they love — and Virginia’s Constitution should affirm that all families are welcome in our Commonwealth. Women in Virginia deserve the freedom to make their own reproductive healthcare decisions without politicians dictating their choices. When Virginians have paid their debt to society, they deserve to regain their right to vote. And when other states take extreme measures, I trust Virginia voters to respond,” Spanberger said in a statement on her website.

VIRGINIA DEMOCRATS MOVE TO SEIZE REDISTRICTING POWER, OPENING DOOR TO 4 NEW LEFT-LEANING SEATS

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, slammed the legislation saying in a post on X that it was “a brazen abuse of power [and] an insult to democracy.”

Lucas, the 82-year-old Democrat who spearheaded the plan, hit back at the senator, saying, “You all started it and we f—ing finished it,” referring to a controversial redistricting effort in Texas that sparked fights over districts in several states.

Several social media users slammed the Virginia lawmaker, including Braeden Sorbo, son of actor Kevin Sorbo, who asked, “So now gerrymandering is okay?” Many other responses spoke about the origins of gerrymandering as a practice, while some mocked Lucas for her use of profanity and her complaining about Texas’ redrawn maps.

Democrats currently hold six of Virginia’s 11 congressional seats, and the new 10-1 map would likely give them four more. This has caused some Republicans to say that the map disenfranchises large numbers of voters in the commonwealth.

VIRGINIA JUDGE VOIDS REDISTRICTING PUSH, RULES LAWMAKERS OVERSTEPPED AUTHORITY

Lucas had previously expressed a similar sentiment about the legislation during a news conference on Thursday.

“If Donald Trump had not started this power grab… we wouldn’t be in this place right now,” Lucas said, according to The Washington Post. “He started this mess, and Virginia is going to finish it.”

Democrats across the country were left fuming after the U.S. Supreme Court moved to allow Texas to use redrawn congressional maps. Many were upset because the proposal appeared to stem from the White House, as President Donald Trump proposed the idea of the mid-decade redrawing of maps in June 2025. The president is looking to fortify Republican control of the House, something he was unable to do in his first term when Democrats retook the House majority in 2018.

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a vocal Trump critic, quickly jumped into the fight, with his state passing Proposition 50, a ballot initiative that will temporarily sidetrack the left-leaning state’s nonpartisan redistricting commission and return the power to draw the congressional maps to the Democratic-dominated legislature. The move is expected to result in five more Democratic-leaning districts in California, with the goal of offsetting the move made by Texas.

Several other states have also drawn new maps, including Missouri, North Carolina and Vice President JD Vance’s home state of Ohio.

Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser, Lindsay Kornick and Greg Wehner and Fox News’ Shannon Bream and Bill Mears contributed to this report.

One of the nine current leaders of Haiti’s transitional government admitted to Fox News Digital that his country is currently “helpless” to handle the return of its citizens, noting that Haiti relies on billions of dollars generated by U.S., Canadian and French-based migrants to keep its economy going.

Leslie Voltaire, a member of the nine-member transitional council leading Haiti ahead of scheduled elections later this year, described a state of total dependency on a “temporary” protected status that has now spanned more than 15 years, and which President Donald Trump is trying to end. Voltaire warned that a sudden termination of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) would trigger an immediate crisis as the nation lacks the economic infrastructure to reabsorb as many as 400,000 repatriated citizens from the United States.

“We think that we are helpless if another country is sending back our compatriots,” Voltaire told Fox News Digital. “We cannot do anything about it – just accommodate them, give them money to go back to their provinces and to their cities, help them with food, but it’s very painful due to the small budget that we have in the government.”

Trump tried to end Haiti’s long-standing TPS status during his first administration, but similar to today, federal judges stepped in to block the move. In November, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published a notice indicating that Haiti’s temporary status would not be renewed this month, but in a subsequent 11th-hour ruling earlier this week, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration from ending Haiti’s TPS status. Reyes argued the move was likely motivated by “hostility to non-white immigrants” as opposed to an objective view of the ongoing situation in Haiti. 

STATE DEPARTMENT ISSUES SECURITY ALERT AMID ‘HEAVY GUNFIRE’ NEAR US EMBASSY IN HAITI

Shortly before Fox News Digital spoke with Voltaire Thursday evening, three U.S. warships arrived off the coast of Haiti ahead of the country’s Feb. 7 deadline for the council to transition power to a soon-to-be elected leader, or leaders. In addition to the U.S. ramping up its presence, the United Nations recently approved, with U.S. support, the deployment of a new Gang Suppression Task Force to Haiti to help with the ongoing violence there.  

When asked for specific metrics on when Haiti might be stable enough to no longer require its TPS status, Voltaire did not point to anything concrete, like a certain number of police officers, territory controlled, or national GDP. Rather, Voltaire said that Haiti needs more time, more investment, and greater security before the country can be considered stable enough to take back hundreds-of-thousands of its people.

“The problem of security in Haiti is mainly to have jobs,” Voltaire told Fox News Digital. “There are no jobs because there is no investment right now. There is no investment because there is insecurity. And also we have to provide services to the population, so, there is a huge need of cash, of resources – financial resources … if they come with 400,000 people that would be a huge problem.”

FLASHBACK: 2024′ IMMIGRATION GROUND ZERO IN SPOTLIGHT AGAIN AS JUDGE’S 11TH HOUR RULING SPARKS OUTRAGE

Voltaire conceded the U.S. economy and migrant labor – pointing out Haitians living in the U.S., Canada and France bring $3 to $4 billion per year into Haiti through remittances – could be described as a “crutch,” indicating that around 85% of the country’s “professional” class resides abroad. 

Voltaire noted that Haitian leadership was currently “pleading” with U.S. leadership to give them a break on tariffs, something Voltaire thinks could improve his country’s economic situation. 

“We don’t have an economy that has the capacity to produce the kind of dollars that [migrant workers] are generating,” lamented Voltaire.

While admitting his nation is propped up by migrant labor from the U.S., as well as France and Canada, Voltaire simultaneously pointed the finger at the United States for the very poverty that necessitates the aid Haiti needs. 

Voltaire argued that a 19-year U.S. military “occupation” in the early 20th century “depleted” Haiti’s middle class by turning the country into a pool of cheap labor for neighboring sugarcane producers.

“I think one of the historic problems is that when the U.S. occupied Haiti between 1915 and 1934, they chose to use the Dominican Republic and Cuba as the sugarcane producers,” Voltaire said when asked about why the neighboring Dominican Republic has not dealt with some of the same instability as Haiti. “And Haiti, because it was densely populated, was treated as the labor for those countries. This is why we have like half-a-million Haitians in the Domincan Republic, and the same in Cuba … and we have been depleted.”

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Voltaire also cited the U.S. favoring the “dictatorship” of former president of Haiti between 1957 and 1971, Francois Duvalier, for the dire circumstances in Haiti and why the Domincan Republic has fared differently.

“The U.S. was favoring the dictatorship of Duvalier, which was bad with the Tonton Macoute, and which did not have the investment that we hoped we would have when Kennedy launched the Alliance for the Progress. We were not part of it. And we have been under a dictatorship, and then when the dictatorship disappeared, there was a dismantlement of the Haitian state that we have to re-consolidate,” Voltaire pointed out. 

Voltaire, who cited this history as a reason why 85% of its professional class, like university professors, artists and skilled technicians live outside of Haiti, mused that “maybe it’s a good thing” to begin repatriating Haitians back to their home country, but reiterated that economic and political development must continue for that to happen.

A man who was arrested for allegedly threatening to kill Vice President JD Vance was also found with child sexual abuse materials, according to the Justice Department (DOJ).

Shannon Mathre, 33, of Toledo, Ohio, was arrested on Friday on suspicion of threatening to kill Vance during the vice president’s visit to Northwest Ohio in January, the DOJ said. 

Mathre is accused of saying, “I am going to find out where he (the vice president) is going to be and use my M14 automatic gun and kill him.” The DOJ did not give specific details about when or where the threat was made. However, Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a news release that, “You can hide behind a screen, but you cannot hide from this Department of Justice,” suggesting the threat could have been made online.

“Our attorneys are vigorously prosecuting this disgusting threat against Vice President Vance,” Bondi said.

SECRET SERVICE AWARE OF UMASS LOWELL-FUNDED RADIO DJ’S DIRECTIVE TO ‘KILL JD VANCE’

The U.S. Secret Service arrested Mathre on Feb. 6. A federal grand jury has since returned an indictment charging Mathre with making the threat against Vance.

While investigating the threats, federal agents found “multiple digital files of child sexual abuse materials (CSAM)” in Mathre’s possession, according to prosecutors. Subsequently, the grand jury also charged that “from about Dec. 31, 2025, to Jan. 21, 2026,” Mathre engaged in the receipt and distribution of CSAM.

CALIFORNIA MAN ARRESTED FOR ALLEGEDLY MAKING ONLINE DEATH THREATS AGAINST JD VANCE DURING DISNEYLAND VISIT

“While arresting this man for allegedly threatening to murder the Vice President of the United States, a serious crime in and of itself, federal law enforcement discovered that he was also in possession of child sexual abuse materials,” said Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. “Thank you to federal, state and local partners in working together to bring justice twofold to this depraved individual.”

David Toepfer, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, said “violent threats” such as the one made against Vance would “not be tolerated.” He vowed that those who make these threats “will face swift justice and prosecution.”

Mathre made his initial court appearance on Feb. 6, before a U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of Ohio, the DOJ said, adding that he remains in custody until his detention hearing, which is set to take place on Feb. 11.

If found guilty, Mathre faces up to five years in prison and a maximum statutory fine of $250,000 for the threat against Vance, according to the DOJ. Additionally, if found guilty on the CSAM charge, Mathre could be sentenced to a maximum of 20 years in prison and given a statutory fine of up to $250,000.

ATTORNEY FOR SUSPECT IN VANCE HOME VANDALISM RULES OUT POSSIBLE MOTIVATION

Vance faced multiple death threats and had his Ohio home vandalized last month.

William DeFoor, 26, was arrested in early January in connection with the vandalism of Vance’s home. DeFoor was booked on charges of vandalism, obstruction of official business, criminal damaging or endangering, and criminal trespass.

“I appreciate everyone’s well wishes about the attack at our home. As far as I can tell, a crazy person tried to break in by hammering the windows. I’m grateful to the secret service and the Cincinnati police for responding quickly. We weren’t even home as we had returned already to D.C.,” Vance wrote on X.

In another January incident, Marco Antonio Aguayo, 22, of Anaheim, was also arrested after allegedly making multiple threatening comments on Disney’s official Instagram account referencing pipe bombs, imminent bloodshed and violent action against “corrupt politicians” on July 12, the same day Vance and his family were visiting and staying at the resort.

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Additionally, Fox News Digital reported exclusively that a volunteer radio show host resigned after authorities confirmed they are aware of a post threatening Vance on left-wing-dominated social media app Bluesky. The person identified themselves as a host of a radio show on WUML, which is funded by the University of Massachusetts at Lowell.

The university told Fox News Digital that it alerted authorities once it became aware of the post. Secret Service confirmed to Fox News Digital that it was aware of the post. The Haverhill Police Department directed Fox News Digital to the FBI, which declined to comment.

Fox News Digital’s Stephen Sorace, Alexandra Koch and Peter D’Abrosca and Fox News’ Matt Finn contributed to this report.

The indirect nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran mediated by Oman were “very good,” according to President Donald Trump.

“Iran looks like it wants to make a deal very badly. We’ll have to see what that deal is. But I think Iran looks like they want to make a deal very badly, as they should. Last time they decided maybe not to do it, but I think they probably feel differently,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday.

The president added that the U.S. had a “big Armada” heading towards Iran, something he has spoken about in the past.

When he was pressed on how long the U.S. would be willing to wait to make a deal with Iran, the president indicated some flexibility, saying that he believes the two nations can reach an agreement.

TRUMP WARNS IRAN, DELAYS STRIKES AS RED LINE DEBATE ECHOES OBAMA’S SYRIA MOMENT

“It can be reached. Well, we have to get in position. We have plenty of time. If you remember Venezuela, we waited around for a while, and we’re in no rush. We have very good [talks] with Iran,” Trump said.

“They know the consequences if they don’t make a deal. The consequences are very steep. So we’ll see what happens. But they had a very good meeting with a very high representative of Iran,” the president added.

American and Iranian representatives held separate meetings with Omani officials on Friday amid flaring tensions between Washington and Tehran. Oman’s Foreign Ministry said that the meetings were “focused on preparing the appropriate conditions for resuming diplomatic and technical negotiations.”

IRANIAN OFFICIAL SAYS NUCLEAR TALKS WILL CONTINUE AFTER US, TEHRAN NEGOTIATIONS HAD ‘A GOOD START’ IN OMAN

On Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that indirect nuclear talks were “a good start” and that there was a “consensus” that the negotiations would continue.

“After a long period without dialogue, our viewpoints were conveyed, and our concerns were expressed. Our interests, the rights of the Iranian people, and all matters that needed to be stated were presented in a very positive atmosphere, and the other side’s views were also heard,” Araghchi said.

“It was a good start, but its continuation depends on consultations in our respective capitals and deciding on how to proceed,” he added.

IRAN SEIZES OIL TANKERS, THREATENS ‘MASSACRE’ IN STRAIT OF HORMUZ HOURS BEFORE US TALKS

While both sides expressed optimism about a possible deal, the U.S. moved to impose fresh sanctions on Iran after the talks. The State Department announced that the U.S. was sanctioning “15 entities, two individuals and 14 shadow fleet vessels connected to the illicit trade in Iranian petroleum, petroleum products, and petrochemical products.”

“Instead of investing in the welfare of its own people and crumbling infrastructure, the Iranian regime continues to fund destabilizing activities around the world and step up its repression inside Iran,” the statement read.

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“So long as the Iranian regime attempts to evade sanctions and generate oil and petrochemical revenues to fund such oppressive behavior and support terrorist activities and proxies, the United States will act to hold both the Iranian regime and its partners accountable.”

The Iranian Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment on the sanctions.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis celebrated how the Department of Justice reportedly decided to dismiss a complaint into the Hope Florida scandal that rocked the former presidential candidate and became a talking point for DeSantis critics.

The Floridian reported that President Donald Trump’s DOJ looked into the controversy in late 2025, but a source within the agency told the local outlet that there is “no predicate to open up an intake on this” and that “no further action is anticipated.”

“The witch hunt against the Hope Florida Foundation was orchestrated by left-wing media and their RINO allies,” DeSantis said in an exclusive statement to Fox News Digital in response to the report. “As we’ve said from day one, all agency actions were appropriate and legally sound.”

“The Hope Florida initiative continues to be the most successful conservative anti-poverty initiative of any state in the country,” DeSantis added.

TRUMP-BACKED DONALDS VOWS TO MAINTAIN DESANTIS ‘TRAJECTORY,’ TAKE FLORIDA TO ‘WHOLE NEW LEVEL’

The Justice Department has not publicly confirmed the complaint has been dropped. Fox News Digital reached out to the DOJ for comment.

The controversy originated after Centene, a major health insurance company focused on government-sponsored programs such as Medicaid and Medicare, agreed to return $67 million to Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration to settle allegations that it overbilled Medicaid. After the settlement was finalized in September 2024, $10 million of the recovered funds was directed to the Hope Florida Foundation.

The Hope Florida Foundation then distributed the $10 million as two $5 million grants to 501(c)(4) organizations: Save Our Society from Drugs and Secure Florida’s Future, Inc.

Of the funds distributed, $8.5 million ultimately flowed to Keep Florida Clean, a political action committee known for its efforts to defeat Florida Amendment 3, which would have legalized recreational marijuana through a constitutional change. Casey DeSantis, the governor’s wife who has been floated as a potential candidate for governor herself, has consistently expressed opposition to the legalization of marijuana.

Critics argue that the funds that wound up at Keep Florida Clean, which existed due to a government settlement, should never have been funneled into a political action committee for political campaigning. 

The funds were originally unearthed by Florida state Republican Rep. Alex Andrade, who told Fox News Digital in June that DeSantis’ then-chief of staff turned attorney general, James Uthmeier, was allegedly the lead culprit of the movement of funds. 

Andrade noted at the time that he didn’t “see how Casey or [Ron] DeSantis are involved.”

DESANTIS SIGNALS RESET WITH TRUMP AS FLORIDA BACKS ‘MAKE AMERICA HEALTHY AGAIN’ PLAN

Trump’s DOJ reportedly dismissing the complaint is yet another example of the president breaking bread with a governor who was once a fierce opponent for the Oval Office. 

DeSantis’s relationship with Trump has evolved since the two faced off in what was thought to be a toss-up GOP primary election for the White House. DeSantis’s highly anticipated run was stopped short just before the New Hampshire primary, with the Florida governor stating he didn’t see a path to victory. 

Rumors continue to swirl whether Casey DeSantis will enter the race for Florida governor in 2026, though Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., has already declared his candidacy and received an endorsement from Trump.

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June 12 is the filing deadline to run for governor in the Sunshine State, should Casey DeSantis decide to enter the field.

Preston Mizell is a writer with Fox News. Story tips can be sent to Preston.Mizell@fox.com and on X @MizellPreston

FIRST ON FOX: A former “Squad” House Democrat running for her old seat recently dished out over $20,000 to a consulting firm that appears to be the same firm that Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., received backlash over after paying out over $400K for “fundraising consulting” between 2020 and 2024.

A Fox News Digital review of Federal Election Commission filings reveals Cori Bush’s House campaign paid $23,761 to “Unbought Power,” which appears to still be under the leadership of far-left activist Rasha Mubarak. 

Bush, who is currently running to reclaim the seat she lost in 2024 in Missouri’s 1st Congressional District, reported two separate disbursements of $12,761 and $11,000 to Unbought Power on Dec. 5. The expense description on both disbursements was also “Fundraising Consulting.”

TRUMP RIPS ‘CROOKED’ ILHAN OMAR AS HOUSE RAMPS UP INVESTIGATION INTO EXPLODING NET WORTH

While Unbought Power is a Florida-based political consulting firm that was founded by Mubarak in March 2020, Bush’s most recent FEC filing lists Unbought Power’s address as the same P.O. Box as the Bush campaign’s P.O. Box, prompting multiple inquiries from Fox News Digital.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Bush campaign and Mubarak multiple times about the payments and whether this was the same company, but neither responded. 

Mubarak recently came under fire in a new report released earlier this week by the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy, which was exposing Tlaib’s ties to radical groups. 

Mubarak and Unbought Power were included in the report, highlighting her affiliation “with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), which was an unindicted co-conspirator in the 2009 Holy Land Foundation terror-financing trial.”

“Mubarak has also been a speaker at events held by the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR), an organization that promoted the BDS movement,” the report continued.  “Previously, in September 2023, she served as the press contact for the Arizona-based non-profit Alliance for Global Justice (AFGJ), which was investigated for ties to Samidoun, an anti-Israel advocacy group banned in Germany, Canada, and Israel and classified as a terrorist entity in the United States for financing the PFLP.”

Caitlin Sutherland, the executive director of Americans for Public Trust, told Fox News Digital that “Personnel is policy. Hiring a consultant with such a well-documented track record of anti-American and antisemitic ideas tells us everything we need to know about Cori Bush’s priorities.” 

Mubarak, a Palestinian American activist, has been involved in grassroots advocacy for over 15 years. She has publicly called for defunding the police multiple times. In April 2021, she tweeted that she believes the United States should “abolish the police.” Before that, in two separate tweets from July 2020, Mubarak called for Orange County, California, to “defund the police.” 

The Florida activist has also tweeted about her involvement with Dream Defenders, an activist group co-founded by self-described socialist and former Bernie Sanders surrogate Phillip Agnew, who faced backlash for saying Zionism is a “racist, exploitative, and exclusionary ideology.”

ONLY ONE OUT OF NEARLY 20 SURVEYED DEMOCRATS WHO MAY RUN IN 2028 SAYS A MAN CANNOT BECOME A WOMAN

Dream Defenders has been vocal about defunding the police across their social media platforms. 

In a now-deleted social media post, Mubarak tweeted a link to Dream Defenders’ “Sunday School” session video about how to defund the police and encouraged her followers to donate to their bail fund amid the riots in summer 2020. She also encouraged her followers to donate to the Dream Defenders organization.

Mubarak has also repeatedly criticized Israel, accusing Israel of “ongoing ethnic cleansing” weeks before Hamas’ terrorist attack on innocent civilians. She also has a history of criticizing Israel over what she calls its “state-sanctioned violence.”

“These aren’t clashes – it’s an ongoing occupation,” the Palestinian activist tweeted in May 2021. “These aren’t evictions – they are forced expulsions. This isn’t a conflict – it’s settler colonialism, it’s ethnic cleansing, it’s oppression, it’s apartheid.”

“Say it loud. Say it clear. Palestine will be FREE,” she added.

In 2022, Fox News Digital reported that Tlaib’s campaign and PAC sent Unbought Power 32 checks totaling $204,000 for fundraising consulting. Mubarak simultaneously acted as treasurer of Tlaib’s leadership PAC, Rooted in Community Leadership, which donated almost $8,000 to Bush’s past campaigns.

The Squad Victory Fund, a joint fundraiser that props up the campaigns and leadership committees of the far-left Squad members, including Bush, also dished out over $85K to Unbought Power between 2022 and 2023. The joint fundraiser would go on to transfer almost $60K to Bush’s campaign between 2022 and 2024.

Washington Examiner reported in 2024 that Tlaib’s campaign manager announced the campaign had severed its ties with Mubarak in an automated email saying, “Our campaign is no longer working with Rasha Mubarak’s firm Unbought LLC, so if you need any assistance in fundraising or have questions on how to support congresswoman Tlaib, please know I am here to help.” 

Bush recently took flack for complaining on social media that Congress doesn’t prioritize public transit funding, even though she once was part of a cohort of radical lawmakers who voted against a bill providing billions for transit improvements because it didn’t allocate enough money for their far-left agenda.

Bush was just one of five other Democratic Party lawmakers, all part of the progressive group dubbed “The Squad,” who voted against the 2021 bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, despite it allocating up to $108 billion for public transit investments. Bush and her other far-left colleagues at the time wanted more money to also be allocated to environmental and social programs, like funding for universal pre-K, Medicare and Medicaid expansions, affordable housing, green infrastructure, a Civilian Climate Corps, and also included oil drilling and leasing bans.

CORI BUSH RIPPED FOR ‘JAW-DROPPING’ HYPOCRISY ON KEY ISSUE AMID COMEBACK HOUSE BID

At the time of “The Squad’s” stand against the bipartisan infrastructure bill, Bush argued that she “didn’t come to Congress to allow [her constituents’] priorities to be put on a shelf.”

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Meanwhile, Bush lamented to her followers on social media last week – amid her run to regain her position in the House – that funding for public transit is not prioritized in Congress. She implied this was a major problem because transit funding, Bush said, “is essential in meeting the most basic needs” of her constituents.

When Fox News Digital reached out for comment on the discrepancy, a campaign spokesperson commented that “Universal pre-K, expanded Medicare, the Child Tax Credit, and lower prescription drug prices were all policies that Missouri’s 1st District sent the Congresswoman to DC to win.” 

The spokesperson said Bush has “been clear and consistent on this: her vote was because the infrastructure bill was uncoupled from Build Back Better, which contained those policies. With so much on the line for St. Louis and the nation, the Congresswoman wanted to fight for more, not settle for less.”

President Donald Trump said he issued a presidential proclamation reopening thousands of square miles of protected Atlantic Ocean waters off New England to commercial fishing, saying the move would reestablish fishing access and reduce what he called burdensome restrictions on fishermen.

Trump made the announcement on Truth Social late Friday, writing that the move was “another BIG WIN for Maine, and all of New England.”

The proclamation would reestablish fishing in the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument off the New England coast, a nearly 5,000-square-mile preserve east of Cape Cod that was created by former President Barack Obama. Trump rolled back protections in the area during his first term, and President Joe Biden later restored them.

“Today, I signed a Presidential Proclamation to UNLEASH Commercial Fishing in the Atlantic Ocean, advancing the America First Fishing Policy!” Trump wrote. “I am restoring nearly 5,000 square miles of fishing access off the Coast of New England, which will revitalize our fishing industry and strengthen our booming economy.”

ZELDIN OVERHAULS BIDEN-ERA WATER RULE TO END ‘WEAPONIZATION’ THAT LED ‘PUDDLES’ TO TRIGGER PRICY PERMITS

Trump has long been critical of the marine monument, which Obama described at the time as a way to protect vulnerable undersea corals and ecosystems. Trump has described the restrictions as an unfair penalty on commercial fishermen.

Trump said Democrats had imposed excessive and unnecessary regulations on fishermen for years.

“In my first term, I reversed the prohibitions placed on commercial fishing, but Joe Biden, or whoever was using the AUTOPEN, foolishly reinstated them,” Trump wrote. “Since Day One, I have taken historic action to end these disastrous policies.”

ENERGY GROUPS CELEBRATE TRUMP’S LATEST MOVE TO UNLEASH ALASKA DRILLING

Earlier this year, Trump also signed a broader order directing federal agencies to reduce the regulatory burden on fishermen, according to the White House.

Commercial fishing groups welcomed the move, saying it would expand access while allowing the industry to operate sustainably.

“We deserve to be rewarded, not penalized,” John Williams, president and owner of the New Bedford, Massachusetts-based Atlantic Red Crab Company, told The Associated Press. “We’re demonstrating that we can fish sustainably and continue to harvest on a sustainable level in perpetuity.”

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Environmental groups criticized the proclamation and warned that reopening the area could threaten sensitive marine ecosystems.

“The Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument was created to provide strong protections for the wide range of marine life that live in these unique habitats,” Gib Brogan, fisheries campaign director at environmental group Oceana, told the outlet.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The federal Small Business Administration suspended more than 111,000 California borrowers after uncovering $8.6 billion in suspected fraudulent activity linked to the COVID pandemic, SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler announced Friday. 

“We have suspended nearly 112,000 borrowers tied to at least $9 billion in suspected fraud,” Loeffler said in a press release on Friday. “This staggering number represents the most significant crack-down on those who defrauded pandemic programs, and it illuminates the scale of corruption that the Biden Administration tolerated for years.”

The SBA reported that all in, it suspended 111,620 California borrowers who received 118,489 Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) loans, totaling $8.6 billion. 

THE BORDER GETS THE ATTENTION WHILE FRAUDULENT GOVERNMENT BENEFITS BLEED TAXPAYERS DRY

PPP loans were COVID-era federal relief program that gave small businesses money to keep workers on the payroll, while EIDL loans are part of an SBA program that provides low-interest disaster relief loans to help businesses survive during times of diaster, including the pandemic. 

“Once again, the Trump SBA is taking decisive action to deliver accountability in a state whose unaccountable welfare policies have created a culture of fraud and abuse at the expense of law-abiding taxpayers and small business owners,” Loffler continued. 

CHILDCARE EXPERT EXPOSES KEY ROADBLOCK TO UNCOVERING POTENTIAL FRAUD SCHEMES IN MINNESOTA: ‘REALLY DIFFICULT’

The announcement follows California Attorney General Rob Bonta saying on Thursday that the Trump administration was promoting “baseless claims” of persistent fraud in the state. 

“Trump claims California is wasting money when, in reality, our programs are helping lower-income individuals and lower-income families get healthcare, food and housing assistance,” Bonta said on Thursday. 

“Trump claims, wrongly, California is perpetuating fraud when we are the victim,” he added. 

Bonta’s office noted that California recovered nearly $2.7 billion in various fraud schemes across the last 10 years, “including by partnering with the federal government.” 

EXCLUSIVE: SENATE BILL TARGETS MINNESOTA-STYLE ‘RUNAWAY FRAUD’ TO FORCE SCAMMERS REPAY TAXPAYERS

Fox News Digital reached out to Bonta’s office on Friday for additional comment. 

Newsom’s office directed Fox News Digital to the Governor Newsom Press Office X account, which mocked the SBA announcement. 

“OMG. The Trump Administration found MAJOR FRAUD in programs THEY control, Newsom’s Press Office‘s X account posted, linking to a New York Post exclusive on the announcement. 

“The state has no role running / administering these programs.Were they hiding this??? California doesn’t hide fraud … we fight it. Nearly 1,000 arrests + over $125 billion STOPPED under @CAGovernor Gavin Newsom.”

Loeffler continued that the alleged California fraud comes after the SBA suspended 6,900 borrowers in Minnesota associated with 7,900 potentially fraudulent PPP and EIDL loans, which totaled roughly $400 million. 

“As we did in Minnesota, we are actively working with federal law enforcement to identify the criminals who defrauded American taxpayers, hold them to account, and recoup the stolen funds. As we continue our state-by-state work, our message is clear: pandemic-era fraudsters will not get a pass under this Administration,” Loeffler said, comparing California to its investigations in Minnesota. 

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Minnesota became ground zero for welfare and social services fraud surrounding the pandemic late in 2025, when investigators uncovered sweeping fraud schemes that could top $9 billion. 

Nigeria and some U.S. lawmakers have not always seen eye to eye on terrorism and the violence affecting Christian communities in Africa’s largest nation. This week, First Lady Oluremi Tinubu arrived in Washington to clear the air. 

America’s Christmas Day strike on Islamist militants in northwest Nigeria was a “blessing,” Tinubu said, signaling that her husband’s government welcomes further U.S. involvement as it confronts insurgents and criminal gangs.

“The intervention of the U.S. was quite a welcome development,” Tinubu told Fox News Digital during a week-long visit to Washington, D.C. 

“Nigeria is looking forward to collaboration” with the U.S. on security issues. “We are expecting that there will be more.”

ANOTHER CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY AT RISK IN AFRICA AS EXTREMISTS AND WAR TAKE THEIR TOLL

The fight against Islamist militants — whose attacks have included the kidnapping and killing of Christians and the desecration of churches — has become a focal point in U.S. political debate, drawing attention from President Donald Trump and some of his most vocal supporters.

Trump designated Nigeria a “country of particular concern” over violations of religious freedom. Tinubu and her husband, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, have pushed back on that characterization, arguing that the violence plaguing the country is real and severe, but not limited to any one faith.

Gunmen believed to be Islamic extremists killed at least 162 people in Nigeria’s Kwara state earlier this year, torching homes and looting shops in Muslim-majority villages where residents were targeted for refusing extremist ideology — an attack that underscored how the violence now cuts across regions and religious lines.

TRUMP TARGETS ISIS IN NIGERIA AMID WARNINGS SAHEL REGION IS BECOMING ‘EPICENTER OF TERRORISM’

“Terrorist groups hide in the forest, and also bandits and other people are kidnapping for ransom,” Tinubu said.

“We are concerned about our people’s safety,” she added, pointing to steps taken by the Nigerian government, including a nationwide security emergency, plans to recruit 50,000 new police officers and the redeployment of more than 11,000 officers from VIP protection duties to conflict-prone areas.

Despite the negative attention, the U.S.’s focus on Christian killings kicked off conversations between Nigeria and the U.S., according to Tinubu.

“We have that attention. We have the conversation going. And we are expecting that there will be more. You know, it’s going to yield better fruit for us, and both for us and also America.”

During her Washington visit, Tinubu met with senior administration officials, where she said she sought to explain the realities of Nigeria’s security crisis. “We live in Nigeria. We know the situation on the ground,” she said.

A political figure in her own right, Tinubu served as a senator until 2023. She is also part of an interfaith marriage at a time of deep religious tension in Nigeria: Tinubu is a Christian and an ordained pastor at the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of the country’s largest megachurches, while her husband is Muslim.

NIGERIA NAMED EPICENTER OF GLOBAL KILLINGS OF CHRISTIANS OVER FAITH IN 2025, REPORT SAYS

Tinubu hosts a Christian podcast and carries out much of her outreach through the Renewed Hope Initiative, a nonprofit aligned with her husband’s agenda to support vulnerable communities. But this week, her presence in Washington places a prominent Christian voice at the center of Nigeria’s response to U.S. scrutiny over religious violence.

With a population of more than 230 million, Nigeria’s bustling and sometimes turbulent cities and villages are home to people of strikingly diverse backgrounds. The country’s more than 500 languages and mix of Islam, Christianity and traditional indigenous faiths have long been marred by tension, with Muslims dominating the northern regions and Christians concentrated in the south.

Despite vast oil and mineral wealth, decades of corruption and mismanagement have left much of the nation impoverished. Tinubu, whose husband took office in 2023, said his government inherited those missteps and is now trying to dig out of them.

NIGERIAN CHILDREN AS YOUNG AS 5 AMONG HUNDREDS KIDNAPPED, NUN SAYS

Nigeria’s growing cache of lithium, cobalt, nickel and other rare minerals has drawn quiet U.S. attention as Washington looks to counter China’s dominance in Africa’s critical-minerals market. The Commerce Department and U.S. International Development Finance Corp. have eyed investment opportunities in Nigeria’s nascent lithium industry, but persistent insecurity in mining regions threatens Western access and future development.

Addressing security concerns, Tinubu said, goes hand in hand with attracting foreign investment. She linked her trip not only to counterterrorism cooperation but also to reassuring investors that Nigeria is open for business.

“We’re doing all we can to make sure that when investors come, they can feel comfortable and their investment can yield,” she said.

Violence tied to Islamist insurgencies and criminal militias has killed tens of thousands of Nigerians over the past decade, destabilizing large swaths of the country. Groups such as Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province, alongside bandit networks that often overlap with extremist elements, have carried out mass killings, kidnappings and raids.

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Christian advocacy organizations argue that Christians have borne a disproportionate share of the bloodshed, especially in rural communities where attacks on churches and clergy have been frequent. The International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law estimates that more than 50,000 Christians have been killed and tens of thousands abducted since 2009 — figures that are difficult to independently verify but widely cited by U.S. religious freedom advocates pressing Washington to take a harder line.

Tinubu’s government has paired its security push with painful economic reforms, including the removal of fuel subsidies and efforts to stabilize the currency, arguing that restoring growth and attracting investment will ultimately reduce the conditions that fuel violence.

The Senate Republican campaign chair has a stark warning for his party as the GOP defends its 53-47 majority in the chamber in this year’s midterm elections.

National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) Chair Tim Scott, pointing to a ballot box deficit the GOP’s facing in the latest Fox News national poll, said it could impact specific Senate races this year.

And Scott said the toughest challenge may be in Maine, where longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins is running for re-election for a sixth six-year term in the blue-leaning northern New England state.

The straight talk from Scott, at a closed-door meeting earlier this week with fellow GOP senators, comes as Republicans, as the party in power in the nation’s capital, face traditional political headwinds in the midterms. And the GOP is also facing a rough political climate, with President Donald Trump‘s approval ratings remaining underwater while Democrats are energized as they work to win back the House majority and possibly recapture the Senate.

GOP CALLS TRUMP ITS ‘SECRET WEAPON’ — BUT POLLS SHOW WARNING SIGNS HEADING INTO MIDTERMS

While the NRSC remains optimistic they can not only defend but expand their majority, the GOP will be playing defense in half a dozen key races.

Here’s a look at the most vulnerable Republican Senate seats up for grabs in the midterms.

Maine

Collins is the only Republican senator running for re-election this year in a state that then-Vice President Kamala Harris carried in her 2024 presidential election defeat to Trump.

TIM SCOTT TELLS MAGA VOTERS TRUMP ‘IS ON THE BALLOT’ AS GOP FIGHTS TO GROW SENATE MAJORITY IN 2026

And Collins has seen a deterioration of her poll numbers among Mainers from her last re-election six years ago.

But Collins, who has long been a top target of the rival Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) has proven tough to beat.

Complicating the Democrats’ push to flip the seat is a competitive primary between two-term Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, who has the tacit backing of longtime Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and the DSCC, and veteran and oyster farmer Graham Platner, who is running to the left of Mill and who is backed by progressive champion Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

North Carolina

Republicans are defending an open seat in the southeastern battleground state, with GOP Sen. Thom Tillis retiring at the end of this year.

DEMOCRATS TARGET ‘VULNERABLE’ REPUBLICAN SENATORS AHEAD OF HIGH-STAKES HEALTH CARE SHOWDOWN

Democrats landed their top recruit when former two-term Gov. Roy Cooper launched a Senate campaign last summer. Cooper enjoys tons of name ID in North Carolina and is 6-0 when running statewide races.

Republicans are rallying around former Republican National Committee (RNC) Chair Michael Whatley, who has the president’s backing.

The race is expected to be one of the most expensive and competitive Senate showdowns this year.

Ohio

Democrats scored another major recruiting victory when former longtime Sen. Sherrod Brown announced he would challenge Republican Sen. Jon Husted.

A former lieutenant governor, Husted was appointed to the Senate a year ago after then-Sen. JD Vance stepped down to serve as vice president.

Ohio, once a premiere general election battleground, has turned red over the past decade, and Democrats view Brown as their only competitive candidate in the race to serve the final two years of Vance’s term.

Brown lost re-election in 2024 by roughly four points while Trump carried Ohio by 11 points.

DEMOCRATS EYE NARROW PATH TO CAPTURE SENATE MAJORITY, BUT ONE WRONG MOVE COULD SINK THEM

Similar to North Carolina, the showdown is expected to be very expensive and competitive.

Alaska

Democrats were given a big boost in the red-leaning state when former Rep. Mary Peltola announced last month that she would challenge GOP incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan.

Peltola lost re-election last year in the at-large district that covers the entire state by three points, while Trump carried Alaska by 11 points.

Iowa

Republicans are defending an open seat in Iowa, a onetime swing state that’s shifted to the right over the past decade.

FOX NEWS POLL: AN EARLY LOOK AT THE 2026 MIDTERMS

But the GOP has rallied around Rep. Ashley Hinson, who is backed by Trump, in the race to succeed retiring Republican Sen. Joni Ernst.

Hinson, a former local TV news anchor who flipped a Democratic-held seat in 2020, is seen as a rising star in the party.

Democrats have a contested primary that includes state Rep. Josh Turek, a Paralympian, state Sen. Zach Wahls and military veteran Nathan Sage.

Texas

Longtime Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas is in the middle of a competitive and combustible GOP nomination battle against state Attorney Gen. Ken Paxton and Rep. Wesley Hunt.

Trump, to date, has stayed neutral in the primary, which will be held early next month.

If neither Cornyn, Paxton, nor Hunt win a majority of the vote next month, a runoff will be held in May.

Cornyn enjoys the backing of Senate Majority Leader John Thune and the NRSC, which worries that the seat would be vulnerable if Paxton, who has plenty of political baggage, wins the primary.

The Democrats, who are eyeing the seat in the right-leaning state, have a competitive contest for their nomination between progressive firebrand and vocal Trump critic Rep. Jasmine Crockett and state Rep. James Talarico, a rising star in the party.

GOP on offense

While playing defense, the NRSC is also eyeing three Democratic-held Senate seats.

The GOP’s aiming to flip open seats in battleground Michigan, where Sen. Gary Peters is retiring, and swing state New Hampshire, where longtime Sen. Jeanne Shaheen is ending her long career, in which she made history as the first woman elected governor and senator.

Republicans are also eyeing battleground Georgia, where they view first-term Sen. Jon Ossoff as the most vulnerable Democrat seeking re-election this year.

The NRSC is also spotlighting the open Senate seat in blue-leaning Minnesota, where Democratic Sen. Tina Smith is retiring.

Former longtime sportscaster Michele Tafoya is being backed by the NRSC as she runs for the GOP nomination.

Some Republicans are calling last weekend’s double-digit shellacking in a special state Senate election in Texas in a district Trump carried by 17 points in 2024 a wake up call.

The stunning ballot box setback for Republicans, coming amid backlash over the Trump administration’s unprecedented crackdown on illegal immigration, is further energizing Democrats as they aim to win back congressional majorities.

The victory in Texas was the Democrats’ latest win or over performance in a slew of elections since Trump returned to power in the White House a year ago, as the party stays laser focused on the issue of affordability amid persistent inflation.

BLUE-LEANING STATE EMERGES AS TOP GOP TROUBLE SPOT AS SENATE CAMPAIGN CHIEF SOUNDS MIDTERM ALARM

“The White House needs to focus less on foreign policy and immigration and more on affordability to improve our chances in the midterms,” Dan Eberhart, an oil drilling chief executive officer and a prominent Republican donor and bundler, told Fox News Digital.

And Eberhart, pointing to some key Senate races, said he’s worried about “the money game.”

“We’re woefully behind in Georgia. We’re behind in North Carolina. I think that in Texas we’re going to have somebody limp out of a runoff,” he cautioned.

Thune, speaking to reporters this week following the NRSC briefing, said that “the Democrats are targeting a number of our incumbents. And so we’ve got some races that are going to be expensive and hard fought in places like Maine and North Carolina.”

But Thune added, “We feel really good about… where our Senate races are.” And he emphasized that “incumbents in our conference are seasoned veterans who will outwork any of their opponents.”

Meanwhile, DSCC Chair Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand told Fox News Digital last month that “President Trump is creating a toxic agenda that’s harming people.”

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And Gillibrand emphasized she’s “optimistic that we have a shot to take back the majority.”

The Trump administration’s top immigration enforcement officials are urging California Gov. Gavin Newsom not to release more than 33,000 criminal illegal immigrants, some of whom have violent felony convictions, back onto the streets without notifying federal authorities. 

In a letter, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Todd Lyons are asking Newsom to honor ICE detainers of 33,179 inmates in California’s custody.

NOEM PUTS NEWSOM ON NOTICE, VOWS CALIFORNIA PROBE AFTER MINNESOTA FRAUD BUST

“Governor Newsom and his fellow California sanctuary politicians are releasing murderers, pedophiles, and drug traffickers from their jails back into our neighborhoods and putting American lives at risk,” said Lyons. “We are calling on Governor Newsom and his administration to stop this dangerous derangement and commit to honoring the ICE arrest detainers of the more than 33,000 criminal illegal aliens in California’s custody.”

“It is common sense. Criminal illegal aliens should not be released from jails back onto our streets to terrorize more innocent Americans,” he added. 

All told, the inmates account for 399 homicides, 3,313 assaults, 3,171 burglaries, 1,011 robberies, 8,380 dangerous drugs offenses, 1,984 weapons offenses, and 1,293 sexual predatory offenses,” DHS said. 

BORDER OFFICIAL FIRES BACK AT GAVIN NEWSOM’S POLITICAL ‘TANTRUM’ OVER IMMIGRATION RAIDS IN LOS ANGELES

Newsom’s office referred Fox News Digital to a Friday post on X: “California cooperates with ICE when it comes to REMOVING CRIMINALS — like sick rapists and murderers — in our state prisons.”

Since Newsom took office in 2019, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) has coordinated the transfer of more than 12,000 people, including murderers, rapists, and other violent offenders, into ICE custody.

“Contrary to Secretary Noem’s claims, California does not ‘harbor criminals,’” the governor’s office said in a news release. “California law ensures violent offenders are held accountable while also ensuring that victims and witnesses — including victims of domestic violence and human trafficking — are not terrorized into silence by fear of deportation.”

State law currently allows CDCR to notify and coordinate with ICE to take custody of individuals convicted of felony offenses who have served their terms in California’s state prisons.

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Newsom has heavily criticized ICE amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration. California’s sanctuary state law – SB 54 – limits cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities for illegal immigrants unless they’ve committed certain serious crimes.

FIRST ON FOX: President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order requiring the government to assess foreign weapons sales based on their impact on U.S. production capacity for key systems and to favor allies whose defense investments and strategic importance align with U.S. national security priorities.

Under the order, obtained first by Fox News Digital, the Departments of War, State and Commerce are instructed to ensure that U.S. arms transfers support weapons systems deemed most operationally relevant to the National Security Strategy, reinforce critical supply chains, and prioritize partners that have invested in their own defense and occupy strategically important regions.

The administration argues that past arms transfer policy allowed foreign demand to shape U.S. production decisions, contributing to backlogs, cost overruns and delivery delays that left both the U.S. military and its allies waiting years for critical equipment.

“The America First Arms Transfer Strategy will now leverage over $300 billion in annual defense sales to strategically reindustrialize the United States and rapidly deliver American-manufactured weapons to help our partners and allies establish deterrence and defend themselves,” according to a White House fact sheet.

TRUMP NATIONAL SECURITY BLUEPRINT DECLARES ‘ERA OF MASS MIGRATION IS OVER,’ TARGETS CHINA’S RISE

A central goal of the order is to speed up a foreign military sales process that defense officials and industry leaders have long criticized as slow and overly bureaucratic. The order directs federal agencies to identify ways to streamline enhanced end-use monitoring requirements, third-party transfer approvals and the congressional notification process — steps the administration says have contributed to years-long delays in delivering U.S. weapons overseas.

The order also creates a new Promoting American Military Sales Task Force charged with overseeing implementation of the strategy and tracking major defense sales across the government. In a move aimed at increasing accountability, the administration says agencies will be required to publish aggregate quarterly performance metrics showing how quickly defense sales cases are being executed.

 The strategy also signals a shift in how the United States prioritizes its partners. The order directs the government to favor countries that have invested in their own defense and occupy strategically important regions, effectively tying arms sales decisions more closely to U.S. military planning and geographic priorities.

HEGSETH SAYS DEPARTMENT OF WAR ‘WILL BE PREPARED TO DELIVER’ WHATEVER TRUMP WANTS FOLLOWING IRAN WARNING

Other partners could face longer timelines or lower priority if their requests do not align with U.S. strategic or industrial objectives. While the order does not name specific countries, it reflects an effort to focus limited U.S. production capacity on allies viewed as most critical to executing the National Security Strategy.

The order also instructs the War, State and Commerce departments to “find efficiencies in the Enhanced End Use Monitoring criteria, the Third-Party Transfer process, and the Congressional Notification process.”

Congress will likely be watching how the administration implements the order, especially provisions aimed at speeding both oversight of U.S. weapons once they are sold abroad and the process for notifying lawmakers about major arms deals. Lawmakers have argued those steps help prevent misuse of U.S. weapons, even as they have criticized delays that slow deliveries to allies.

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The order follows a series of recent defense-related executive actions taken by Trump. In January 2026, he signed an order directing defense contractors to prioritize production capacity, innovation and on-time delivery over stock buybacks and other corporate distributions.

That built on an April 2025 order aimed at improving speed and accountability in the foreign military sales system, as well as a January 2025 order focused on modernizing defense acquisitions and reducing red tape across the defense industrial base.

The Trump administration will not comply with a court order requiring due process for hundreds of Venezuelan migrants deported to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador last year, DOJ lawyers said. It sets up a heated clash in court next week in a case that is almost certainly headed back to the Supreme Court.

The status and plight of 252 Venezuelan migrants deported to a Salvadoran prison last March under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act have emerged as one of the defining court fights of Trump’s second term, allowing the administration to test its mettle against the federal courts and the practical limits of judicial authority, on one of Trump’s biggest policy priorities.

It’s a fight that has also put U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, who is overseeing the Alien Enemies Act case, squarely in the Trump administration’s crosshairs as he attempts to determine what due process protections, if any, the administration is legally obligated to provide and how far the courts can go to enforce them. 

A new filing from the Justice Department made clear the administration believes it owes the migrants no additional due process at all. Should the court try to order otherwise, lawyers for the administration said they would promptly seek intervention from higher courts. 

SUPREME COURT FREEZES ORDER TO RETURN MAN FROM EL SALVADOR PRISON

In its filing Monday, the Justice Department argued again that the administration is powerless to return the Venezuelan migrants who were summarily deported last year. The department rejected the notion that the U.S. could “facilitate” due process proceedings for the migrants in question as previously ordered by the court, describing the options to do so as either legally impossible or practically unworkable due to national security concerns and the fragile political situation in Venezuela after the U.S. capture of Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro during a raid in Caracas last month.

The DOJ also reiterated its argument that bringing petitioners back to the U.S. would harm “critical” foreign policy negotiations with Venezuela and carry “profound” national security risks, citing the alleged gang member status of the migrants in question. (The alleged gang member status of many of the individuals has been called into question.)

DOJ lawyers also rejected the notion of conducting the proceedings overseas, including at the U.S. embassy in Venezuela, citing the U.S. capture and arrest of Maduro and his wife. 

The U.S., they said, lacks custody to conduct the habeas proceedings on foreign soil and doing so would risk “injecting an extremely complicated issue into what is already a delicate situation” in Venezuela, potentially “negatively affecting U.S. efforts toward stabilization and transition that aim to benefit tens of millions of Venezuelans.”

The deportations, carried out under the Alien Enemies Act despite an emergency court order from Judge Boasberg, prompted an eleven-month legal battle that reached the Supreme Court in April and months of fights in the lower courts, including a subsequent order from Boasberg in December for the government to “facilitate” due process for the deported migrants.

DEFIANT MADURO DECLARES HE IS A ‘PRISONER OF WAR’ IN FIRST US COURT APPEARANCE

The Supreme Court said then that individuals removed under the Alien Enemies Act must have the ability to contest their removal and have a meaningful opportunity and notice to do so before they are removed.

Boasberg has spent the months since attempting to determine the status of the hundreds of CECOT plaintiffs and what ability the U.S. has to facilitate their return or to provide the class of migrants with due process and habeas protections, including the ability to challenge their alleged gang status.

His December order required the Trump administration to submit to the court in writing its plans to provide due process to the class of migrants deported to El Salvador. Boasberg said the administration could do this by either returning the migrants to the U.S. to have their cases heard in person or facilitate hearings abroad with members of the class that “satisfy the requirements of due process.”

APPEALS COURT BLOCKS TRUMP ADMIN’S DEPORTATION FLIGHTS IN ALIEN ENEMIES ACT IMMIGRATION SUIT

Lawyers for the Justice Department previewed similar arguments last month before an “en banc” 17-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which convened to weigh the legality of the Trump administration’s use of the 227-year-old law.

The Justice Department told judges then that the U.S. indictment against Maduro “reinforces the Proclamation’s findings that the Maduro regime and TdA have formed a ‘hybrid criminal state’ directed by the regime” and justified the decision to use the Alien Enemies Act law to quickly deport them to the third-country prison.

“These new developments underscore the Maduro Regime’s control over TdA and TdA’s violent invasion or predatory incursion on American soil. As a result, it is even clearer that the President’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act was part of a high-level national security mission that exists outside the realm of judicial interference.”

ACLU lawyer Lee Gelernt told the judges during the same hearing that the Alien Enemies Act does not give the administration “a blank check” for a president to “use his war powers any time he considers it valuable.”

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Regardless of how Boasberg rules, the new filing made clear that the Trump administration views the fight as far from over.

“If, over defendants’ vehement legal and practical objections, the Court issues an injunction, defendants intend to immediately appeal, and will seek a stay pending appeal from this Court (and, if necessary, from the D.C. Circuit),” the Justice Department said. 

The Department of War said Friday that it will end all professional military education, fellowships and certificate programs with Harvard University.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth slammed the university in a video announcement posted on X, saying the department would be cutting ties with Harvard for active-duty service members beginning in the 2026–27 school year — a move he said was “long overdue.”

“Harvard is woke; The War Department is not,” Hegseth stated.

While Hegseth, who has a master’s degree from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, said the U.S. military has had a “rich tradition” with the Ivy League school, he argued that Harvard has become one of the “red-hot centers of Hate America activism.”

HARVARD KENNEDY SCHOOL ANNOUNCES LAYOFFS AFTER TRUMP CUTS BILLIONS IN FUNDING

“Too many faculty members openly loathe our military. They cast our armed forces in a negative light and squelch anyone who challenges their leftist political leanings, all while charging enormous tuition. It’s not worth it,” he said.
”They’ve replaced open inquiry and honest debate with rigid orthodoxy.”

The announcement comes amid the Trump administration’s ongoing feud with the Ivy League school.

President Donald Trump said Monday he is seeking $1 billion in damages from Harvard University, which the Trump administration has made a primary target in its effort to leverage federal funding to crack down on antisemitism and “woke” ideology.

40-YEAR HARVARD PROFESSOR PENS SCATHING PIECE ON SCHOOL’S ‘EXCLUSION OF WHITE MALES,’ ANTI-WESTERN TRENDS

Lawyers for the Trump administration have appealed a judge’s order requiring the restoration of $2.7 billion in frozen federal research funding to Harvard. The university sued the administration in April over the funding freeze, arguing in court that the move amounted to an unconstitutional “pressure campaign” aimed at influencing and exerting control over elite academic institutions.

Hegseth also criticized Harvard’s campus environment, alleging that research programs have partnered with the Chinese Communist Party and that university leadership has encouraged an atmosphere that celebrates Hamas, allows attacks on Jews, and prioritizes Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives.

“Why should the War Department support an environment that’s destructive to our nation and the principles that the vast majority of Americans hold dear?” Hegseth said.
”The answer to that question is that we should not, and we will not.”

HARVARD DEAN REMOVED AFTER ANTI-WHITE, ANTI-POLICE SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS RESURFACED

“For too long, this department has sent our best and brightest officers to Harvard, hoping the university would better understand and appreciate our warrior class,” he continued. “Instead, too many of our officers came back looking too much like Harvard — heads full of globalist and radical ideologies that do not improve our fighting ranks.”

In addition to Harvard, Hegseth took aim at much of the Ivy League, saying the schools have a “pervasive institutional bias” and a lack of viewpoint diversity, including the “coddling of toxic ideologies,” that he said undercuts the military’s mission.

He said that in the coming weeks, all departments at the Pentagon will evaluate existing graduate programs for active-duty service members at Ivy League schools and other civilian universities.

UNIVERSITIES SLASH 9,000+ POSITIONS IN 2025 AS TRUMP TARGETS FEDERAL FUNDING AND FOREIGN STUDENTS: REPORT

“The goal is to determine whether or not they actually deliver cost effective strategic education for future senior leaders, when compared to, say, public universities and our military graduate programs,” he said. “At the War Department, we will strive to maximize taxpayer value in building lethality to establish deterrence. It’s that simple. That no longer includes spending millions of dollars on expensive universities that actively undercut our mission and undercut our country.”

Hegseth concluded his message, saying, “We train warriors, not wokesters. Harvard, good riddance.”

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Harvard University did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Brian Flood contributed to this report.

Former President Bill Clinton said on X that he has shared what he knows about the crimes of disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein in a sworn statement shared with the House Oversight Committee, which both Bill and Hillary Clinton have agreed to testify in front of under subpoena pressure.  

“I have called for the full release of the Epstein files. I have provided a sworn statement of what I know,” the former president said on X Friday afternoon. “And just this week, I’ve agreed to appear in person before the committee. But it’s still not enough for Republicans on the House Oversight Committee.”

In the wake of news the Clintons would comply with House Republicans’ subpoenas to testify after concerns they would not and subsequent threats of contempt, Republicans accused the Clintons of “trying to dodge contempt by requesting special treatment.”

LAWMAKERS ESCALATE EPSTEIN PROBE WITH POSSIBLE BILL GATES SUBPOENA

The Clintons’ attorneys sent the House Oversight Committee a letter, made public earlier this week, indicating they would comply and testify under certain conditions, such as that their testimony be open, filmed and transcribed. 

Robert Garcia, the Democrat ranking member of the committee, said the agreement amounted to full compliance with the committee’s demands.

However, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer disputed the characterization, telling Fox News Digital the agreement lacked specificity. In a post on X, the Republicans on the committee accused Clinton of “trying to dodge contempt by requesting special treatment.”   

“The Clintons’ counsel has said they agree to terms, but those terms lack clarity yet again, and they have provided no dates for their depositions,” Comer said. 

“The only reason they have said they agree to terms is because the House has moved forward with contempt. I will clarify the terms they are agreeing to and then discuss next steps with my committee members.”

The Clintons’ change of heart led the House to temporarily pause proceedings on holding them in contempt Monday night.

Democrats on the committee have pointed out that Comer has not pushed to hold others who did not appear in contempt, nor has he made any threats against the DOJ for failing to produce all of its documents on Epstein by a deadline agreed to by Congress late last year. The department has produced a fraction of the documents expected so far.

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“Now, Chairman Comer says he wants cameras, but only behind closed doors. Who benefits from this arrangement? It’s not Epstein’s victims, who deserve justice,” Clinton said in his X post Friday afternoon. “Not the public, who deserve the truth. It serves only partisan interests. This is not fact-finding, it’s pure politics.

“I will not sit idly as they use me as a prop in a closed-door kangaroo court by a Republican Party running scared,” he continued. “If they want answers, let’s stop the games & do this the right way: in a public hearing, where the American people can see for themselves what this is really about.”

Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner and Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said Friday that two West Virginia National Guard members — Army Spc. Sarah Beckstrom and Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe — who were shot in an ambush-style attack near the White House late last year, will receive the Purple Heart.

Calling the Nov. 26 incident “a terrible thing” and saying the troops were “attacked by a radical,” Hegseth made the announcement while speaking at a National Guard reenlistment ceremony at the Washington Monument, where he administered the oath of enlistment to more than 100 Guardsmen from nine states serving in Washington, D.C.

“And we had a terrible thing happen a number of months ago,” Hegseth said. “Andrew Wolfe, Sarah Beckstrom, one lost, one recovered, thank God, in miraculous ways. Both soon to be Purple Heart recipients because they were attacked by a radical.”

The remarks mark the first public confirmation from Hegseth that the service members will receive the Purple Heart, one of the nation’s oldest military decorations, awarded to those killed or wounded by enemy action.

AFGHAN NATIONAL ACCUSED IN DC NATIONAL GUARD SHOOTING PLEADS NOT GUILTY, PROSECUTORS MAY SEEK DEATH PENALTY

The Purple Heart traces its origins to the American Revolution, when George Washington established the Badge of Military Merit in 1782, to recognize enlisted soldiers wounded or killed in service. The modern Purple Heart was revived in 1932, and is awarded in the name of the president to U.S. service members wounded or killed by enemy action.

Beckstrom, 20, and Wolfe, 24, were shot just blocks from the White House in what officials described as an ambush-style attack.

Beckstrom died a day after the shooting. Wolfe was seriously wounded and continues to recover.

BONDI DESCRIBES WOUNDED NATIONAL GUARDSMAN AS A ‘MIRACLE,’ SAYS ‘HE’S ABLE TO OPEN BOTH EYES’

The accused gunman, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, 29, faces nine charges related to the shooting, including first-degree murder while armed and assault with intent to kill while armed. He has pleaded not guilty.

In a statement posted on X, West Virginia Gov. Patrick Morrisey thanked Hegseth for the announcement and said the recognition was long overdue.

“I thank Secretary @PeteHegseth for announcing that U.S. Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom and Air Force Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe will soon receive the Purple Heart, an honor that reflects their courage and sacrifice in defense of our nation,” Morrisey wrote.

Morrisey said he formally requested the Purple Heart awards Dec. 19, adding that the announcement “brings long-overdue honor to their service, offers meaning and reassurance to their families, and stands as a solemn reminder that West Virginia will never forget those who sacrifice in defense of others.”

Hegseth’s remarks Friday came during a ceremony honoring the National Guard’s ongoing security mission in the nation’s capital. 

According to a War Department news release, more than 100 Guardsmen from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina and West Virginia reenlisted Friday as part of the mission.

REP BRIAN MAST: CONGRESS HAS THE PERFECT WAY TO HONOR OUR NATION’S FALLEN HEROES

Those troops are among more than 2,600 National Guard members currently deployed in Washington at the direction of President Donald Trump in support of the D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force, which was established in August 2025 after the president declared a crime emergency in the city.

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Addressing the Guardsmen, Hegseth described their service in Washington as “front lines” duty.

“This is not an easy assignment. It’s the real deal. It’s front lines,” he said. “You’ve done it, and you’ve done well.”

The Army could not immediately provide comment after being reached by Fox News Digital.

Fox News Digital’s Rachel Wolf and Fox News’ Jake Gibson contributed to this story.