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Democrats have come out against federal law enforcement’s use of lethal force following shootings involving federal immigration officials in Minneapolis and Portland last week, with some going so far as to accuse them of murder. 

However, their attitudes about lethal force after a U.S. Capitol police officer killed Ashli Babbitt paint a very different picture of these Democrats’ views on police using lethal force. 

As recently as this year, Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who have rebuked Trump administration arguments that shootings involving federal immigration officials last week were justified, also rebuked a multimillion-dollar settlement awarded to the family of Ashli Babbitt earlier this year, calling it a “slap in the face” and a “sickening message to police.” Babbitt was shot and killed by a U.S. Capitol Police officer during the Jan. 6 riot as she was pushing and beating against a door that led into the Speaker’s Lobby just outside the House chamber along with a mob of others. 

Several other Democrats who supported law enforcement’s actions on Jan. 6, 2021, have gone off on federal border patrol officials following the Portland and Minneapolis shootings last week, with some going so far as calling them murderers.

VANCE DOUBLES DOWN ON ‘DISGUSTING’ PRESS AS NEW FOOTAGE FROM ICE SHOOTING SURFACES, ACCUSES OUTLETS OF ‘LYING’

In Minneapolis, a woman accused of interfering with federal deportation efforts was fatally shot by ICE in Minneapolis, while an illegal immigrant couple who DHS said were deeply involved in criminal activity were shot by CBP agents in Portland after the driver of the car tried to ram his vehicle into agents.

Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., referred to the actions of ICE in Minneapolis as “murder” in a post on X. However, just days before, on the fifth anniversary of the Jan. 6 riot, Goldman reintroduced legislation to “honor those who defended the capitol” when a mob took it over in 2021.

Rep. Primal Jayapal, D-Wash., who has claimed to have been very close to Babbitt when the Speaker’s Lobby was trying to be breached, has chastised Republicans who she believes have failed to adequately honor U.S. Capitol Police for their work on Jan. 6, 2021. “They were begging for protection from Capitol Police. Yet they refused to honor Capitol Police there[after], refused to accept that it was real,” Jayapal told Teen Vogue in 2022. 

Meanwhile, after the shootings last week, Jayapal too accused federal border patrol officials of committing murder, telling local news the incident “looked like outright murder” to her eyes. 

WHY THE FBI CAN EXCLUDE STATE AUTHORITIES FROM MINNESOTA SHOOTING PROBE

Reps. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and Jason Crow, D-Colo., were also among those Democrats praising Capitol Police for their actions on Jan. 6, 2021 last week, while condemning the federal officer involved in the shooting that occurred as well. Crow complained that a plaque honoring U.S. Capitol Police officers who protected people on Jan. 6 was not hung up because of GOP obstruction, but was unafraid to condemn federal officials for “kill[ing]” someone. Raskin, who has also condemned the multimillion-dollar settlement to the Babbitt family, said he was “sickened” at ICE agents for “killing” a woman in Minneapolis. 

Raskin’s colleague from Oregon, Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Ore., demanded on X last week that federal immigration officers be held accountable for their involvement in the Portland shooting. She referred to the illegal immigrant gang members shot as “victims,” even though they tried to ram their car into officers. However, after the Capitol riot in 2021, Bonamici regularly praised the “heroism” of the U.S. Capitol Police and suggested they should be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. 

Rick Wilson, co-founder of the anti-Trump Lincoln Project, sought to explain the discrepancy between Democrats’ reaction to Babbitt’s shooting versus the ICE shootings in a post on X, arguing “Babbitt was a domestic terrorist,” and the victim killed in Minneapolis, Renee Good, “was a mom, murdered by ICE.”

When reached for comment, Raskin echoed Wilson’s sentiment, arguing two different investigations found the Babbitt shooting was “entirely reasonable and appropriate.” He added that anyone taking the position that Good was treated properly would also have to agree that hundreds of protesters on Jan. 6, 2021 “could have been legitimately shot in the face three times.”

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“Without the benefit of any investigation, Trump and his Administration have labeled Ms. Good, a U.S. citizen and 37-year-old mother of three, a ‘domestic terrorist’ and immediately excused her killing after she was shot three times at point-blank range, not while charging at the police but while trying to get away from them,” Raskin said. “In both cases, the Trump Administration is telling the American people to ignore the law and the evidence of their own eyes.”

Raskin also demanded in his comments to Fox News Digital that, following the Minnesota ICE shooting, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem “must appear to answer questions” before lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

During the subsequent days following last week’s shooting, U.S. Border Patrol Chief Mike Banks slammed rhetoric from left-wing politicians for emboldening folks to do things like ram their cars into federal immigration officials.

“The rhetoric they are putting out. The constant lies they are putting out to their constituents – saying things like kidnapping, disappearing, it’s encouraging these people to continue violating the law. They are actually putting their constituents in danger.”

As political pressure and legal scrutiny intensify, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has made clear what would force him to step down.

Powell, who holds one of the most influential posts in U.S. economic policymaking, has made clear he won’t step aside absent a legal violation.

That stance is detailed in an excerpt from “Trillion Dollar Triage,” in which Wall Street Journal economic correspondent Nick Timiraos chronicles Powell’s measured public responses and more candid private reactions to Trump’s ongoing threats to fire him.

A LOOK AT THE UNFOLDING BATTLE BETWEEN TRUMP AND POWELL OVER FED POLICY

Powell’s commitment to the Fed, amid Trump’s mounting criticism, became apparent in 2019 during a House Committee on Financial Services hearing. When asked by California Democrat Rep. Maxine Waters what he would do if Trump fired him, Powell said he would continue to serve his four-year term.

According to Timiraos, in private, Powell was more forthright about his determination to continue leading the world’s most influential central bank.

“I will never, ever, ever leave this job voluntarily until my term ends under any circumstances. None, whatsoever,” Powell said. “You will not see me getting in the lifeboat,” he said, invoking a metaphor to signal his resolve to stay the course.

“It doesn’t occur to me in the slightest that there would be any situation in which I would not complete my term other than dying,” Powell said, according to Timiraos.

TRUMP CALLS FED CHAIR POWELL A ‘CLOWN’ AND SLAMS FED RENOVATION

Powell’s long-standing insistence on finishing his term, which ends in May, now comes amid a Justice Department criminal investigation into his congressional testimony on the Federal Reserve’s headquarters renovation.

Powell confirmed the investigation and said he respected the rule of law and congressional oversight, but described the action as “unprecedented” and driven by political pressure.

“This new threat is not about my testimony last June or about the renovation of the Federal Reserve buildings,” Powell said in a video statement Sunday evening.

“The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the President,” he added.

The White House referred questions to the Department of Justice. The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIR POWELL UNDER CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION OVER HQ RENOVATION

The project to update the Federal Reserve’s two main Washington, D.C., office buildings in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood is expected to cost $2.5 billion and is being paid for by the central bank, not taxpayers. The Fed funds its operations without congressional appropriations, drawing revenue primarily from interest on government securities and fees charged to financial institutions.

In June 2025, Powell told members of the Senate Banking Committee that “There’s no new marble. There are no special elevators. They’re old elevators that have been there. There are no new water features. There are no beehives, and there’s no roof garden terraces.”

Powell also told lawmakers that no one “wants to do a major renovation of a historic building during their term in office.”

“We decided to take it on because, honestly, when I was the administrative governor, before I became chair, I came to understand how badly the Eccles Building really needed a serious renovation,” Powell said, adding that the building is “not really safe” and not waterproof.

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He also said that the cost overruns are due, in part, to unexpected construction challenges and the nation’s inflation rate.

The project is expected to be completed in the fall of 2027, with Washington-based employees expected to begin working on the building in March 2028.

President Donald Trump said that he believes the woman fatally shot by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis last week may have been a professional agitator, and indicated that the government will uncover the funding sources behind such anti-law enforcement agitation.

“The woman and her friend were highly disrespectful of law enforcement,” Trump said during a Sunday gaggle aboard Air Force One. “They were harassing,” he said, noting, “I think frankly, they’re professional agitators.”

The president added that he would “like to find out, and we are gonna find out, who’s paying for it, with their brand-new signs, and all the different things.”

“But these are professional agitators. And law enforcement should not be in a position where they have to put up with this stuff. What that woman, and what her friend, and what their other friends were doing to law enforcement — not just ICE — law enforcement, is outrageous,” he said.

TRUMP DEFENDS ICE AGENT, SHOWS NYT REPORTERS VIDEO OF DEADLY MINNEAPOLIS SHOOTING

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security retweeted a post in which Republican Rep. Lance Gooden of Texas asserted that anti-ICE protesters are being funded.

CELLPHONE VIDEO RELEASED IN DEADLY MINNEAPOLIS ICE AGENT SHOOTING

“The anti-ICE mobs are anything but organic. Dark money is bankrolling far-left groups like ICE Watch and lighting the fuse. Americans deserve to know who’s cutting the checks!” the lawmaker asserted in the post.

A person “weaponized her vehicle” against law enforcement in Minneapolis, DHS announced last week.

DHS DEPLOYING HUNDREDS MORE FEDERAL AGENTS TO MINNEAPOLIS, NOEM ANNOUNCES

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“This individual was impeding law enforcement and weaponized her vehicle against @ICEgov. The officer dutifully acted in self-defense,” DHS assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin noted in a post on X last week.

Lawmakers are keenly aware of the costs of running a country due to the nation’s skyrocketing debt, but now another expense may be added to Congress’ tab — Venezuela. 

President Donald Trump hasn’t backed down from his position that the U.S. will run Venezuela after the surprise strikes and capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. That’s left some on Capitol Hill wondering what the price tag will be, considering Venezuela’s bleak economy. 

Like most issues in Washington, D.C., there’s a strong partisan divide on how lawmakers expect running Venezuela will shake out. Senate Republicans believe that the vast petroleum, natural gas and mineral reserves will be enough to foot the bill and cause oil companies to come running to dump money into the region. 

TRUMP’S VENEZUELA PUSH RUNS INTO HARD REALITIES FOR US ENERGY GIANTS

And fiscal hawks in the Senate, who routinely sound the alarm over rampant government spending, believe that running the country will be a financial boon for the U.S.

“I would envision there’s so much money to be made that the oil companies will show up, and they’ll pay for everything,” Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital. 

That’s a shared calculus among several other Republicans, who contend that any cost incurred from stewarding the country during the transition period would be leveraged by the colossal reserves of crude oil creeping underground. 

“That’s the whole point,” Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., told Fox News Digital.

There could already be a wrench in that plan following a meeting among Trump and several top oil executives at the White House last week. The roster of companies in attendance Friday touched nearly every choke point in Venezuela’s oil sector, including production, services, trading and refining. The sheer weight of that lineup underscored what is at stake for global energy policy, with the United States squarely at the center.

And ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods told the administration that Venezuela was “uninvestable,” which prompted Trump to suggest that he’d be “inclined to keep Exxon out.”

And despite lawmakers’ optimistic outlook, the economic reality on the ground in Venezuela is stark. 

5 GOP SENATORS JOIN DEMOCRATS TO STOP TRUMP FROM POLICING VENEZUELA

Venezuela once had the makings of an economic powerhouse, but years of mismanagement and international sanctions have hollowed out the economy, leaving behind a much smaller, debt-laden nation.

Precise figures are difficult to verify because Venezuela has not published comprehensive financial data in years. However, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates the economy will total about $82.8 billion in 2025, which is roughly the size of Maine’s economic output.

VENEZUELAN OIL’S RETURN COULD IMPACT TEXAS REFINERIES AND GAS PRICES NATIONWIDE

What’s more, Venezuela’s debt is roughly 200% of its economy. In simple terms, the country owes about two dollars for every dollar it produces.

Those pressures are compounded by runaway inflation. The IMF forecasts eye-watering inflation, with consumer prices expected to rise by more than 680% in 2026, underscoring the continued strain on Venezuela’s economy and households.

That collapse is inseparable from Venezuela’s oil industry, once the backbone of national wealth. Petroleum revenues long underwrote government spending and social programs, leaving the economy acutely vulnerable as production fell, infrastructure decayed and sanctions tightened.

Even in its diminished state, oil remains Venezuela’s most consequential asset. The country holds more than 300 billion barrels of proven crude — the largest in the world, eclipsing established energy titans like Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Kuwait — underlining its potential if production and investment return.

The potential cost of reinvigorating Venezuela’s oil infrastructure, coupled with the prior military operation and any other costs accumulated from running the country, is emblematic of the growing rift between the Hill and the White House, where Trump has routinely run roughshod over lawmakers in his decision-making. 

Senate Democrats want to claw back some of that authority through the appropriations process, where they could try to limit the flow of taxpayer dollars toward Venezuela.

“Congress should be involved,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told Fox News Digital. “And we must be involved because we have the power of the purse, we have appropriations authority, and we need better and more information to make these decisions about how the taxpayer funds are spent in support of these military or intelligence operations.” 

Some of that action is already taking place. 

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Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., whose war powers resolution to curtail future use of military force in Venezuela without congressional approval survived its first procedural test on Thursday, said that lawmakers were having discussions tweaking the defense spending bill to “block appropriated defense funds from being used in certain actions that haven’t been authorized by Congress.”

Senate Republicans, despite cries from the other side of the aisle to regain some modicum of congressional oversight over the Venezuela situation, are firm in their belief that Venezuela’s oil, not American taxpayers’ money, will foot the bill.

“We’re going to use Venezuelan resources to reimburse the U.S. Treasury for what we’ve already spent there, and we’re going to use Venezuelan resources to help rebuild their own country,” Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, said. “The taxpayer is not going to be on the hook for one cent of this.”

FIRST ON FOX: The State Department revoked more than 100,000 foreign visas in 2025, more than twice that of 2024 in the final year of President Joe Biden’s administration. 

The figure is an all-time record, and follows on President Donald Trump’s day one executive order on foreign vetting. In 2024, the department revoked 40,000 visas. 

The majority of the revocations were for business and tourist travelers who overstayed their visas. 

But some 8,000 students and 2,500 specialized workers also lost their legal status. A department spokesperson said a majority of the students and workers who lost their visas had criminal encounters with law enforcement. 

TRUMP STATE DEPARTMENT ORDERS GLOBAL VISA CRACKDOWN UNDER REVIVED ‘PUBLIC CHARGE’ RULE

Among specialized workers, half of the revocations were based on drunk driving arrests, 30% for assault, battery or confinement charges and the remaining 20% were revoked for theft, child abuse, substance abuse and distribution, and fraud and embezzlement charges. 

Nearly 500 students lost visas for drug possession and distribution and hundreds of foreign workers lost visas because they were believed to be abusing children, according to a department spokesperson. 

In August 2025, the Trump administration announced it was reviewing all 55 million foreigners who have valid U.S. visas. 

State Department principal deputy spokesperson Tommy Piggott added that the administration would continue its aggressive enforcement posture through its new “continuous vetting center.” “The Trump administration will continue to put America first and protect our nation from foreign nationals who pose a risk to public safety or national security.”

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The department has also enforced stricter standards for obtaining a U.S. visa. 

In November 2025, Fox News Digital first reported the department would enforce a “public charge” rule, denying visas to applicants deemed likely to rely on public benefits. That included health reasons — putting older and overweight people under greater scrutiny — English competency, finances or other potential needs for long-term care. 

The U.S. military launched strikes against Venezuela and captured its dictator, Nicolás Maduro, on Jan. 3 — emerging from the operation largely unscathed as it handicapped Venezuela’s defense systems and potentially conducted cyber operations against Caracas. 

Altogether, more than 150 aircraft — including U.S. bombers and fighter jets — were involved in the operation, successfully completing a “large-scale strike” against Venezuela, according to President Donald Trump. Additionally, Caracas, Venezuela, suffered power outages early Jan. 3 — an indication of a potential cyber operation. 

Trump signaled that the U.S. may have been behind the blackout in Venezuela but did not provide details regarding the nature of a possible cyber operation targeting Venezuela’s civilian infrastructure. 

“The lights of Caracas were largely turned off due to a certain expertise that we have,” Trump said. 

VENEZUELA TEETERS AS GUERRILLA GROUPS, CARTELS EXPLOIT MADURO POWER VACUUM

Mark Cancian, a senior adviser with the Center for Strategic & International Studies’ defense and security department, said that while it’s unclear what exactly U.S. Cyber Command (CYBERCOM) and Space Command (SPACECOM) contributed to the operation, they may have penetrated some of Venezuela’s infrastructure.

LATIN AMERICA FRACTURES OVER TRUMP’S MADURO CAPTURE AS REGIONAL ALLIES SHIFT RIGHT

“We don’t really know what cyber did, some of the lights did go out, and Caine did talk about it,” Cancian told Fox News Digital Wednesday. “It’s possible that (they) got into some of their command and control systems.” 

Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that as U.S. helicopters with the extraction force and other law enforcement assets started to approach Venezuela’s shores, the U.S. “began layering different effects provided by SPACECOM, CYBERCOM, and other members of the inter-agency to create a pathway.” 

According to Caine, U.S. aircraft involved in the operation included F-22, F-35, F/A-18 and EA-18 fighter jets, E-2 airborne early warning aircraft, B-1 bombers and “other support aircraft, as well as numerous remotely piloted drones.” 

“As the force began to approach Caracas, the joint air component began dismantling and disabling the air defense systems in Venezuela, employing weapons to ensure the safe passage of the helicopters into the target area,” Caine told reporters. 

​​These aircraft involved in the mission also likely employed weapons including the AGM-88 HARM, or high-speed anti-radiation missile, which neutralizes radar-equipped enemy air defense systems and other air-to-ground munitions to take out Venezuela’s air defense systems, according to Cancian. 

A spokesperson for SPACECOM said that the command could not comment on the specific details of support SPACECOM provided to Operation Absolute Resolve, due to operational security concerns. But the spokesperson added that space-based capabilities including positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) that the military uses to support electronic warfare, in addition to other things, as well as satellite communications are “foundational to all modern military activities.” 

“To protect the Joint Force from space-enabled attack and ensure their freedom of movement, U.S. Space Command possesses the means and willingness to employ combat-credible capabilities that deter and counter our opponents and project power in all warfighting domains,” the spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News Digital Friday.

VENEZUELAN OIL SHIPMENTS SURGE TO US PORTS WITH HEAVY CRUDE AFTER MADURO CAPTURE

CYBERCOM did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. 

Other factors that contributed to the U.S. military’s success undermining Venezuela’s defenses were that CIA assets had been on the ground leading up to the raid, according to Cancian. Trump confirmed in October 2025 that he had authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela. 

“They gave detailed descriptions of Maduro’s headquarters, and I’m sure located all of the air defense batteries around Caracas,” Cancian said. “So we had an excellent sense about where everything was, combining that with overhead surveillance and also electromagnetic intelligence.”

TRUMP OUSTING OF MADURO DRAWS PARALLELS TO US RAID IN PANAMA – BUT THERE ARE SOME MAJOR CONTRASTS

Although Venezuela “on paper” has powerful air defense systems, Cancian said that success pulling off the operation stemmed from solid efforts from the U.S. military to destroy and disrupt Venezuela’s air defense system, in conjunction with poor training for Venezuela’s military. 

Venezuela is equipped with Russian S-300 long-range surface-to-air missile systems, as well as Buk-M2E and Pechora-2M medium-range surface-to-air missile systems, according to the Modern War Institute at West Point. 

Of the more than 150 U.S. aircraft involved in the operation, only one was hit, and zero were shot down. An administration official told Fox News Digital that seven U.S. service members were injured during the operation, but were “well on their way to recovery.”

TRUMP’S VENEZUELA STRIKE SPARKS CONSTITUTIONAL CLASH AS MADURO IS HAULED INTO US

“Seems those Russian air defenses didn’t quite work so well, did they?” Secretary of War Pete Hegseth told reporters in Newport News, Virginia. 

Trump announced that U.S. special forces conducted a strike against Caracas, Venezuela, and seized Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores. The two were taken to New York and appeared in a Manhattan federal court Jan. 5 on drug charges. Both pleaded not guilty.

The raid came after months of pressure on Venezuela amid a series of strikes in Latin American waters targeting alleged drug traffickers in alignment with Trump’s effort to crack down on the influx of drugs into the U.S.

TRUMP EMBRACES US INTERVENTION IN VENEZUELA, OPENS DOOR TO BROADER LATIN AMERICA PUSH

The Trump administration repeatedly stated that it did not recognize Maduro as a legitimate head of state and insisted he was the leader of a drug cartel. Trump also said in December he thought it would be “smart” for Maduro to step down. 

The Trump administration has since claimed that its actions seizing Maduro were justified as a “law enforcement” operation, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said congressional approval wasn’t necessary since the operation didn’t amount to an “invasion.”

Even so, lawmakers primarily on the left have questioned the legality of the operation in Venezuela, which was conducted without Congress’ approval.

“This has been a profound constitutional failure,” the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., said in a statement Jan. 3. “Congress — not the President — has the sole power to authorize war. Pursuing regime change without the consent of the American people is a reckless overreach and an abuse of power.” 

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“The question now is not whether Maduro deserved removal. It is what precedent the United States has just set and what comes next.”

Fox News’ Morgan Phillips contributed to this report. 

The U.S. operation to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro has ignited sharp debate in Washington and abroad over whether the move undermines international norms — or delivers a deliberate deterrent message to rivals like China and Russia.

Critics argue that seizing the leader of a sovereign nation risks setting a dangerous precedent — one adversaries could cite to justify their own military actions beyond their borders.

“My main concern now is that Russia will use this to justify their illegal and barbaric military actions against Ukraine, or China to justify an invasion of Taiwan,” Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., said in a statement.

“What will we say now if Putin tries to capture Zelenskyy?” Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., asked.

Others counter that such norms have never constrained Moscow or Beijing, and that deterrence is shaped less by legal arguments than by demonstrations of power, speed and capability.

TOPPLING MADURO WAS EASY — GOVERNING VENEZUELA COULD TRAP US FOR YEARS

“I don’t think Putin or Xi ever doubted that power overrides sovereignty,” said Pedro Garmendia, a Washington-based geopolitical risk analyst. “What we’ve seen consistently from China and Russia is that they use rhetoric around international law when it suits them and ignore it when it doesn’t.”

Lethality

For U.S. adversaries, the most jarring signal may not be diplomatic fallout but the stark demonstration of American lethality.

The operation resulted in the deaths of dozens of Venezuelan and Cuban security personnel, according to Venezuelan and Cuban authorities, as U.S. forces pushed through layers of armed resistance protecting Maduro. Cuban officials acknowledged the loss of multiple military and intelligence personnel deployed in Venezuela, while Venezuelan authorities confirmed heavy casualties among elite security units. Independent estimates place the total death toll — security forces and civilians combined — at several dozen.

President Donald Trump publicly acknowledged the nature of the mission, describing it afterward as a violent operation by necessity, given the threat environment and the presence of armed foreign forces embedded within Maduro’s security apparatus. Trump argued the level of force reflected the reality of penetrating a defended capital and preventing Maduro from escaping or rallying loyalist units.

Analysts say that willingness to use decisive force — and to own it publicly — carries its own deterrent value.

Garmendia noted that Venezuela was no marginal partner for U.S. adversaries. 

“Both countries have invested tens of billions of dollars in the Chávez and then Maduro regime,” he said. “Having the leader of that regime captured and taken into U.S. custody so suddenly — especially when a Chinese special envoy had just met with Maduro hours before — is frankly embarrassing to both countries.”

Execution

Beyond casualties, the operation sent a second signal through its execution: speed, precision and deep preparation.

U.S. special operations forces spent months rehearsing the raid, including training on a full-scale replica of Maduro’s compound. CIA officers built a detailed picture of Maduro’s daily routines — tracking when he slept, where he traveled, how his security rotated and which locations offered the narrowest escape routes.

That intelligence allowed planners to identify a precise window when Maduro was most vulnerable. Airspace suppression, rapid insertion and coordinated ground movement unfolded in minutes, denying Venezuelan and allied forces time to respond effectively.

Trump later pointed to that preparation as evidence the operation was deliberate rather than impulsive, arguing that speed and overwhelming force were essential to prevent Maduro from slipping away or turning the operation into a prolonged firefight.

AFTER MADURO, VENEZUELA POWER VACUUM EXPOSES BRUTAL INSIDERS AND ENFORCERS

Former FBI counterintelligence operative Eric O’Neill said those details are likely to matter more to Beijing and Moscow than legal debates at the United Nations.

“At least while Trump is in office, it’s going to look a lot like deterrence to China and Russia,” O’Neill said. “They didn’t even get a chance to blink before Maduro was gone.”

O’Neill added that the execution underscored a broader message. 

“That sends a strong signal that the United States can find its adversaries anywhere in the world,” he said, arguing rivals already inclined to violate international norms are unlikely to be emboldened by an action they lack the capability to replicate.

Experience

The final deterrent signal lies in experience: the institutional ability to plan and execute complex, intelligence-driven operations built on decades of counterterrorism and special operations campaigns.

U.S. officials point to the seamless integration of intelligence collection, rehearsal, logistics and kinetic force as evidence of a mature operational system that can be activated with little warning — an advantage adversaries must assume exists even when they cannot see it.

Concern has nevertheless been echoed by international institutions. 

Ravina Shamdasani, chief spokesperson for the U.N. human rights office, warned the operation could weaken global norms. 

“It sends a signal that the powerful can do whatever they like,” Shamdasani said, arguing the intervention “damages the architecture of international security and makes every country less safe.”

China said it was “deeply shocked,” condemning what it called the U.S.’s “blatant use of force against a sovereign state and its action against its president,” and claiming it “seriously violates international law” and threatens stability in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The criticism comes as Beijing has intensified military pressure on Taiwan, including near-daily air incursions and large-scale exercises meant to signal its own willingness to use force.

Russia likewise denounced the U.S. operation at the United Nations as a violation of sovereignty and international law, even as it continues its war in Ukraine while rejecting international legal judgments and condemnation.

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For U.S. strategists, that contrast reinforces the intended message: adversaries may invoke international law rhetorically, but what shapes their calculations is demonstrated capability — especially when paired with the experience to plan, rehearse and execute without warning.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., on Sunday spoke out against President Donald Trump’s threats to bomb Iran, warning that such an attack may backfire as the U.S. government monitors the Middle Eastern country’s response to widespread protests.

During an appearance on ABC’s “This Week,” Paul said he is unsure that striking Iran “will have the effect that is intended.”

“I don’t think I have ever heard a president say they may take military action to protect protesters,” Paul said. “Certainly, with Soleimani, when the Trump administration hit him, there were massive protests against America. But they are shouting ‘death to the Ayatollah.'”

“We wish them the best,” he added. “We wish freedom and liberation the best across the world, but I don’t think it’s the job of the American government to be involved with every freedom movement around the world.”

TRUMP SAYS US WILL INTERVENE IF IRAN STARTS KILLING PROTESTERS: ‘LOCKED AND LOADED’

Paul also stressed concern about how the Trump administration would distinguish Iranian protesters from law enforcement if the president were to seek military action.

“How do you drop a bomb in the middle of a crowd or a protest and protect the people there?” Paul asked.

The Republican lawmaker also warned that attacking Iran may unintentionally rally protesters behind the Ayatollah.

“If you bomb the government, do you then rally people to their flag who are upset with the Ayatollah, but then say, ‘Well, gosh, we can’t have a foreign government invading or bombing our country?'” Paul said.

“It tends to have people rally to the cause,” he continued. “So, I think the protests are directed at the Ayatollah, justifiably so.”

Paul added: “The best way is to encourage them and say that, of course, we would recognize a government that is a freedom-loving government that allows free elections, but bombing is not the answer.”

The liberty-minded senator also affirmed that presidents cannot strike other countries without the approval of Congress.

“There is this sticking point of the Constitution that we won’t let presidents bomb countries just when they feel like it,” Paul emphasized. “They’re supposed to ask the people, through the Congress, for permission.”

Protests erupted in Iran in recent weeks over the country’s economic free fall, and many have begun to demand total regime change as the demonstrations continue.

Thousands have been arrested, according to reports. Agencies have been unable to confirm the total death toll because of an internet blackout as the country’s leaders seek to quell the dissent, but The Associated Press reported that more than 500 were killed.

Trump warned Iranian leaders on Friday that they “better not start shooting, because we’ll start shooting, too.”

“Iran is looking at FREEDOM, perhaps like never before. The USA stands ready to help!!!” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Saturday.

IRANIAN SUPREME LEADER BLAMES TRUMP FOR INCREASINGLY INTENSE DEMONSTRATIONS

Paul has opposed Trump in various instances in recent months when it has come to military strikes, including against Iran and Venezuela.

He helped the Senate advance a resolution last week that would limit Trump’s ability to conduct further attacks against Venezuela after the U.S. military’s recent move to strike the country and capture its president, Nicolás Maduro, which the Kentucky Republican said amounts to war.

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“I think bombing a capital and removing the head of state is, by all definitions, war,” Paul told reporters before the vote last week. “Does this mean we have carte blanche that the president can make the decision any time, anywhere, to invade a foreign country and remove people that we’ve accused of a crime?”

Paul has also criticized the administration’s military strikes on boats near Venezuela it accuses, without evidence, of carrying narco-terrorists, raising concerns about killing people without due process and the possibility of killing innocent people. The senator previously cited Coast Guard statistics that show a significant percentage of boats boarded on suspicion of drug trafficking are innocent.

San Antonio has shut down its out-of-state abortion travel fund after a new Texas law that prohibits the use of public funds to cover abortions and a lawsuit from the state challenging the city’s fund.

City Council members last year approved $100,000 for its Reproductive Justice Fund to support abortion-related travel, prompting Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to sue over allegations that the city was “transparently attempting to undermine and subvert Texas law and public policy.”

Paxton claimed victory in the lawsuit on Friday after the case was dismissed without a finding for either side.

WYOMING SUPREME COURT RULES LAWS RESTRICTING ABORTION VIOLATE STATE CONSTITUTION

“Texas respects the sanctity of unborn life, and I will always do everything in my power to prevent radicals from manipulating the system to murder innocent babies,” Paxton said in a statement. “It is illegal for cities to fund abortion tourism with taxpayer funds. San Antonio’s unlawful attempt to cover the travel and other expenses for out-of-state abortions has now officially been defeated.”

But San Antonio’s city attorney argued that the city did nothing wrong and pushed back on Paxton’s claim that the state won the lawsuit.

“This litigation was both initiated and abandoned by the State of Texas,” the San Antonio city attorney’s office said in a statement to The Texas Tribune. “In other words, the City did not drop any claims; the State of Texas, through the Texas Office of the Attorney General, dropped its claims.”

Paxton’s lawsuit argued that the travel fund violates the gift clause of the Texas Constitution. The state’s 15th Court of Appeals sided with Paxton and granted a temporary injunction in June to block the city from disbursing the fund while the case moved forward.

Gov. Greg Abbott in August signed into law Senate Bill 33, which bans the use of public money to fund “logistical support” for abortion. The law also allows Texas residents to file a civil suit if they believe a city violated the law.

“The City believed the law, prior to the passage of SB 33, allowed the uses of the fund for out-of-state abortion travel that were discussed publicly,” the city attorney’s office said in its statement. “After SB 33 became law and no longer allowed those uses, the City did not proceed with the procurement of those specific uses—consistent with its intent all along that it would follow the law.”

TRUMP URGES GOP TO BE ‘FLEXIBLE’ ON HYDE AMENDMENT, IGNITING BACKLASH FROM PRO-LIFE ALLIES

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The broader Reproductive Justice Fund remains, but it is restricted to non-abortion services such as home pregnancy tests, emergency contraception and STI testing.

The city of Austin also shut down its abortion travel fund after the law was signed. Austin had allocated $400,000 to its Reproductive Healthcare Logistics Fund in 2024 to help women traveling to other states for an abortion with funding for travel, food and lodging.

President Donald Trump said Sunday that Iran is “starting to” cross U.S. red lines, citing reports of civilian deaths and warning that any attack on American interests would be met with overwhelming force as his administration weighs what he called “very strong options.”

Trump spoke to reporters aboard Air Force One while traveling from Palm Beach, Florida, back to Washington, D.C., after being asked whether Iran had crossed a threshold that would trigger a response.

“They’re starting to, it looks like, and there seem to be some people killed that aren’t supposed to be killed,” the president said. “These are violent — if you call them leaders, I don’t know if their leaders or just if they rule through violence. And, we’re looking at some very strong options. We’ll make a determination.”

Some protesters were killed in a stampede while others were shot, Trump later said, adding that he receives hourly briefings and will decide based on ongoing reports.

EXILED IRANIAN CROWN PRINCE URGES TRUMP TO HELP AS PROTESTS AGAINST ISLAMIC REGIME INTENSIFY: ‘MAN OF PEACE’

The comments came just days after Trump warned the U.S. would respond forcefully if the Iranian regime escalates its crackdown.

“Iran’s in big trouble,” he said. “It looks to me that the people are taking over certain cities that nobody thought were really possible just a few weeks ago. We’re watching the situation very carefully.”

EXILED IRANIAN PRINCE SAYS REGIME ‘VERY CLOSE TO COLLAPSING’ AMID NATIONWIDE UNREST

Trump added, “We’ll be hitting them very hard where it hurts. And that doesn’t mean boots on the ground, but it means hitting them very, very hard where it hurts.”

Protests had spread to at least 190 cities across Iran by Saturday, according to the National Council of Resistance in Iran.

ARMED IRANIAN PROTESTERS BATTLE POLICE IN TEHRAN STREETS AS TRUMP WARNS OF FORCEFUL US RESPONSE

The Associated Press reported Sunday that activists claimed at least 544 people have been killed, with more feared dead. Tehran also warned that the U.S. military and Israel would be considered “legitimate targets” if the U.S. intervenes to protect demonstrators.

More than 10,600 people have been detained during the more than two weeks of protests, according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which the AP noted has been accurate during previous unrest. The group said 496 of those killed were protesters and 48 were members of security forces.

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Authorities also imposed a sweeping internet blackout this week, largely cutting Iran off from the outside world as anti-regime protests spread and officials escalated threats of harsh punishment.

Fox News’ Efrat Lachter and Brie Stimson, as well as The Associated Press, contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump said the U.S. must acquire Greenland — not lease it — arguing the Arctic territory lacks defenses and warning that Russia or China would move in if Washington does not act, a move he said is critical to U.S. and NATO security.

While speaking with reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night, Trump was asked about Greenland and whether the U.S. had made an offer to acquire the territory from Denmark.

“I haven’t done that. Greenland should make the deal because Greenland does not want to see Russia or China take over,” he said. “Basically, their defense is two dog sleds. You know that? You know what their defense is? Two dog sleds.

“In the meantime, you have Russian destroyers and submarines, and China destroyers and submarines all over the place,” Trump continued. “We’re not going to let that happen, and if it affects NATO, then it affects NATO. But, you know, they need us more than we need them, I will tell you that right now.”

DENMARK SUMMONS US ENVOY OVER ALLEGED COVERT GREENLAND INTERFERENCE OPERATIONS

The president was also clear that his administration is not talking about leasing Greenland short term, but only about acquiring the Danish territory.

“If we don’t do it, Russia or China will, and that’s not going to happen when I’m president,” Trump said.

The remarks followed renewed pushback from Greenland’s leadership, which rejected calls from Trump and members of his administration for the U.S. to take control of the island.

TOP CANADIAN OFFICIALS TO VISIT GREENLAND AMID INTERNATIONAL FEARS AS TRUMP EYES NATO-LINKED TERRITORY

Several Trump administration officials have echoed the president’s position, arguing that Greenland’s strategic location makes U.S. control a national security imperative.

Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen and four party leaders said Friday night that the island has no interest in becoming part of the U.S. or Denmark, according to The Associated Press.

Greenland, a self-governing Danish territory and longtime U.S. ally, has repeatedly dismissed Trump’s suggestions that the U.S. should acquire the island.

NEW TRUMP ADMIN ENVOY SAYS US WON’T ‘CONQUER’ GREENLAND, EMPHASIZES TALKS WITH LOCALS AS DENMARK BALKS AT MOVE

“We don’t want to be Americans, we don’t want to be Danes, we want to be Greenlanders,” the leaders said, adding that Greenland’s “future must be decided by the Greenlandic people.”

The statement also criticized Washington’s rhetoric toward the island. “As Greenlandic party leaders, we would like to emphasize once again our wish that the United States’ contempt for our country ends,” it said.

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen warned last week that Trump’s annexation comments could threaten NATO itself, saying any U.S. military action against a NATO ally would effectively end the alliance and the security framework that has existed since World War II.

“If the U.S. chooses to attack another NATO country militarily, then everything stops,” Frederiksen told Danish broadcaster TV2.

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Nielsen underscored that position the same day, writing in a Facebook post that Greenland is “not an object of superpower rhetoric.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

A suspicious object discovered during a security sweep at Palm Beach International Airport ahead of President Donald Trump’s departure from Mar-a-Lago in Florida on Sunday prompted the U.S. Secret Service to adjust the presidential motorcade route, the White House said.

The discovery did not disrupt Trump’s travel schedule, officials said, as agents evaluated the item and made security adjustments out of an abundance of caution.

“During advance sweeps of PBI Airport, a suspicious object was discovered by USSS,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. “A further investigation was warranted and the presidential motorcade route was adjusted accordingly.”

PROSECUTORS PRESENT FINAL WITNESS TYING RYAN ROUTH TO TRUMP’S GOLF CLUB AND GUN PURCHASE

The latest security concern follows a separate incident months earlier, when the U.S. Secret Service discovered a suspicious hunting stand positioned with a direct line of sight to where Trump exits Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport.

That find was made in October, when agents located the elevated stand but did not find anyone in the surrounding area.

TONY HAWK, TAIWAN AND A FLASHLIGHT: TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT SUSPECT’S BIZARRE DEFENSE

“Prior to the President’s return to West Palm Beach, USSS discovered what appeared to be an elevated hunting stand within sight line of the Air Force One landing zone,” FBI Director Kash Patel told Fox News Digital at the time. “No individuals were located at the scene. The FBI has since taken the investigatory lead, flying in resources to collect all evidence from the scene, and deploying our cell phone analytics capabilities.”

A law enforcement source later told Fox News Digital the stand appeared to have been in place for “months” before it was discovered.

PROSECUTORS TO WRAP TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT CASE AS DEFENSE READIES WITNESSES

The hunting stand incident came just weeks after Ryan Routh was found guilty of attempting to assassinate Trump on his Palm Beach golf course, where prosecutors said he had established a sniper’s nest hidden in bushes along a fence line.

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That case followed an earlier assassination attempt in which Trump was shot in the ear during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on Sunday defended the profanity-laced remarks he made last week after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent fatally shot a driver during an enforcement operation.

Last Wednesday, Frey told ICE officials to “get the f— out of Minneapolis,” sharply criticizing federal authorities for operating in a city that did not welcome the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration agenda. His comments drew widespread criticism, with some authorities asserting that the driver aggravated the situation and prompted an officer to open fire in self-defense.  

“To those that are offended, I’m sorry I offended their delicate ears,” Frey said during NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”

Frey added that while he has a responsibility as mayor to help defuse heated situations, he argued that his explicit comments do not outweigh the fact that someone was killed.

DHS DEPLOYING HUNDREDS MORE FEDERAL AGENTS TO MINNEAPOLIS, NOEM ANNOUNCES

“Of course, I bear responsibility to bring down the temperature,” he added. “That’s part of my role as mayor. And by the way, protests here in Minneapolis are peaceful. We had, I don’t know, 10,000 or so people that were protesting and marching yesterday. And virtually all of it was a very peaceful expression of First Amendment rights.”

“But as far as who inflamed the situation, you know, I dropped an f-bomb,” Frey said. “And they killed somebody. I think the killing somebody is the inflammatory element here, not the f-bomb, which I’m sure we’ve all heard before.”

MAYOR JACOB FREY TELLS ICE TO ‘GET THE F‑– OUT OF MINNEAPOLIS,’ REJECTS DHS SELF‑DEFENSE STATEMENT

Earlier Sunday morning, Frey again reaffirmed his earlier remarks in a post on X – this time omitting the expletives – writing, “Today is a good day for ICE to get out of Minnesota.”

A federal ICE agent in Minneapolis shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good on Wednesday after her vehicle was stopped on a residential street, partially blocking the roadway during a federal enforcement operation. 

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The shooting has prompted widespread backlash and protests, with federal officials calling Good’s actions an attempt to run down officers in an act of “domestic terrorism,” while witnesses and local leaders claimed that Good was attempting to leave the area as ICE agents surrounded her.  

EXCLUSIVE — If he eventually goes ahead with a likely 2028 White House run, Vice President JD Vance will have the backing of Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin of Virginia.

“I think Vice President Vance would be a great nominee,” Youngkin said in an exclusive interview on “Fox News Sunday,” as he looked to the race to succeed term-limited President Donald Trump.

Youngkin told Fox News’ Jacqui Heinrich that “as people speculate on what’s going to happen down the road in 2028, I agree with President Trump and [Secretary of State] Marco Rubio. I think JD Vance would make a great, great presidential nominee.”

The answer by Youngkin, who’s been viewed the past two years by political pundits as a potential contender for the 2028 GOP presidential nomination, was the first time he’s publicly weighed in the next White House race.

WHITE HOUSE RACE UNDERWAY: WITH 2026 LOOMING, BOTH PARTIES ARE ALREADY PLAYING FOR 2028

Youngkin’s “Fox News Sunday” interview came just days before completing his single term as governor of Virginia, which by law prevents governors from running for re-election and serving consecutive terms.

While Vance has yet to say anything publicly on whether he’ll launch a 2028 campaign to succeed Trump, he is considered by many on the right to be the president’s heir apparent to eventually take over the MAGA and America First mantles.

VANCE LANDS BACKING OF INFLUENTIAL CONSERVATIVE GROUP

Vance was endorsed last month by Erika Kirk at an annual summit hosted by Turning Point USA, the increasingly influential and politically powerful conservative group.

The backing of the vice president by Turning Point, which is particularly influential among younger conservatives and whose political arm has built up a powerful grassroot outreach operation, could give Vance a major boost if he does launch a White House bid next year.

DAVID MARCUS: WHAT JD VANCE TOLD ME ABOUT 2028, RUBIO AND THE FUTURE OF MAGA

Youngkin energized Republicans nationwide in 2021, as the first-time candidate who hailed from the party’s business wing edged out former Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe to become the first GOP candidate in a dozen years to win a gubernatorial election in the one-time swing state that had trended toward the Democrats over the previous decade.

The governor instantly became a Republican rock star and speculation stirred about a possible future White House run.

But the governor always demurred when asked about a possible presidential bid, saying countless times over the past few years that his political focus was solely on Virginia and that he intended to “finish strong.”

Youngkin is likely to campaign for fellow Republicans in this year’s midterm elections, when the GOP aims to hold its House and Senate majorities, and 36 states hold contests for governor.

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“I think the most important thing we can do, just like Vice President Vance said recently, is stay focused on the here and now. We have to deliver. We have to deliver for Americans and Virginians. We have huge elections in 2026 to keep and expand our majorities in the House and the Senate,” Youngkin said as he pointed to the midterms.

And he reiterated, “I just deeply respect the vice president’s reminder that we have to stay focused on today. And if we stay focused on today and deliver results, then Americans will continue to extend our license to lead.”

A Somali man elected city councilor in Maine has resigned days after taking office following his indictment on a felony charge and an investigation over his residency in the district he served, according to local reports.

Iman Osman, who served as a city councilor in Lewiston, wrote in a resignation letter sent to Lewiston Mayor Carl Sheline and City Council President David Chittim that he did not come to the decision lightly, WMTW-TV reported.

“For the betterment of our community and in the best interest of our city, I believe it is time for me to step aside,” Osman wrote in the letter. “I hope my resignation serves as a call to action for those who remain — an opportunity to reflect on the values of respect, inclusivity and kindness that should guide our public service.”

Osman’s resignation comes after a grand jury indicted him on Dec. 1 on charges stemming from the alleged theft of two firearms between Nov. 15, 2023, and Oct. 11, 2024, according to the outlet.

SOMALI UN AMBASSADOR LINKED TO QUESTIONABLE CINCINNATI HEALTH SERVICE AGENCY, RFK JR. DEPUTY SAYS

Osman pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in Lewiston District Court on Tuesday, Maine Public reported.

Osman also faced scrutiny over his residence, which was listed in the indictment as an address that has been condemned since October 2024, according to the reports.

On Monday, the Lewiston City Council voted 6-1 for Osman to be investigated over his residency. Osman was the sole vote against the investigation.

BESSENT BLAMES WALZ AS TREASURY PROBES WHETHER MINNESOTA FRAUD FUNDS REACHED TERROR GROUP AL-SHABAB

Osman claimed in his letter that he faced “racist opposition” during his city council campaign and was bombarded with “vicious personal attacks” while serving in office.

Osman’s attorney, Kiernan Majerus-Collins, told WMTW that he believes the national rhetoric about the Somali community sparked an increase in the backlash against Osman.

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“The fact that the Trump administration is targeting Somali and Somali Americans across the country, absolutely played a role in ginning up the kind of hatred and threats of violence that ultimately forced him to conclude that he could no longer serve in public office at this time,” he said.

The Illinois Republican Party has blasted as “divisive” the hiring language the Obama Foundation is using for the Obama Presidential Center, arguing it shows the privately run project is using public land to advance a political agenda.

The Obama Foundation, which is developing the hotly debated center on Chicago’s South Side, recently advertised roughly 150 jobs at the facility, stating that successful applicants are expected to align with the foundation’s “anti-racism” goals.

“It’s an Illinois Democrat tradition to insert divisive, far-left policies into the lives of everyday Americans and to balk at the rule of law,” Illinois Republican Party Chair Kathy Salvi told Fox News Digital.

OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL CENTER DEPOSITS JUST $1M INTO $470M RESERVE FUND AIMED TO PROTECT TAXPAYERS

“The Obama Center is no different. It is a recipient of taxpayer funds built on public lands and flouts ‘anti-racism’ hiring goals,” Salvi said. “But such employment practices sound discriminatory and unmoored from any assessment of merit.”

The Obama Foundation secured control of a 19.3-acre section of Jackson Park — often described as Chicago’s equivalent of Central Park — under a 99-year agreement for just $10, after city officials approved the project under the premise that the center would function as a civic institution serving the public interest.

Opponents argued the land transfer violated the public trust doctrine, a legal principle requiring public land to serve a public purpose, and filed multiple lawsuits seeking to halt construction. The courts ultimately allowed the project to proceed without adjudicating the merits of those claims.

While commonly referred to as a presidential “library,” the Obama Presidential Center is not operated by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and does not function as a traditional presidential library.

Instead, it is run entirely by the Obama Foundation, the former president’s private nonprofit organization, which also oversees leadership and civic programs reflecting the values and priorities of former President Barack Obama.

The foundation will operate from the center and oversee a 225-foot-tall museum, conference facilities, a gymnasium and a regulation-sized NBA court. There will also be a digital library, although it will not house original presidential records in the same manner as NARA-run libraries.

Construction costs for the site have ballooned from an original estimate of $330 million to at least $850 million, and the project has also relied on publicly funded infrastructure work surrounding the site.

OBAMA LIBRARY, BEGUN WITH LOFTY DEI GOALS, NOW PLAGUED BY $40M RACIALLY CHARGED SUIT, BALLOONING COSTS

The foundation committed to creating a $470 million endowment — a reserve fund commonly used by nonprofits and universities to help cover long-term operating costs by generating investment income — but its latest tax filings show that only $1 million has ever been deposited.

Salvi said the hiring language reinforces concerns that the Obama Presidential Center is operating as an ideological institution despite being built on public land under a civic justification.

For instance, job postings state that the foundation is “deeply committed to creating an actively anti-racist organization, leveraging our global reach to combat systemic racism and inequity wherever it exists.”

“Anti-racism” is the belief that people must not simply eschew racism, but must actively fight any perception of it. The term came into widespread use amid the rise of Black Lives Matter, and was touted by author Ibram X. Kendi in his 2019 book, “How to Be an Antiracist.” Critics say anti-racism stresses outcomes over opportunity and assigns collective guilt to people who may be unfairly viewed as “oppressors” based on their own skin color.

The Obama Center’s postings link to the foundation’s anti-racism and equity statement, which describes a commitment to embedding anti-racism into hiring, leadership programs and organizational practices. It also shows two people of color marching and holding hands with their fists raised in the air.

“In the United States, we are still grappling — in ways large and small — with the legacy of slavery and Jim Crow and the scourge of racism,” the statement reads.

“That’s why our goal is to make sure every member of the Foundation team is committed to anti-racism, sets expectations for how we will engage, and makes space for the work,” the statement continues. “We’re focused on making sure our actions match our intent — removing barriers for diverse vendors, building anti-racism and equity into our hiring practices, and recruiting diverse cohorts for our leadership programs.”

OBAMA LIBRARY, BEGUN WITH LOFTY DEI GOALS, NOW PLAGUED BY $40M RACIALLY CHARGED SUIT, BALLOONING COSTS

Critics like Salvi have also pointed to the project’s long-standing emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives as evidence that ideological priorities were embedded into the center from its inception.

Those initiatives have already given rise to real-world legal and financial disputes.

As Fox News Digital previously reported, a Black-owned construction subcontractor filed a $40 million discrimination lawsuit tied to the project, alleging racially discriminatory treatment by an engineering firm involved in construction. The engineering firm has argued that diversity-driven contracting decisions resulted in less qualified subcontractors being selected, contributing to inferior workmanship, delays and cost overruns.

WATCH: The Brian Kilmeade Show: Obama Presidential Center rocked by $40M racial bias lawsuit

“The Illinois Republican Party stands with President Trump and the Justice Department to end the tyranny of DEI and woke, performative politics plaguing the federal government, our military and the private sector,” Salvi said.

“As the Trump Administration investigates such employment practices at-large, we will continue to demand accountability and fairness from civic and educational sites like the Obama Center claims to be.”

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The Obama Foundation responded to criticism of its hiring language by pointing to its stated values.

“Our values remain the same as the day we began; we will continue to actively work to combat racism as we strive to build a more perfect union,” Emily Bittner, the foundation’s vice president of communications, said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

Supporters of the project have said the Obama Presidential Center will serve as a cultural and educational anchor on Chicago’s South Side and reflect the values and legacy of former President Obama.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem said Sunday the government is sending additional federal agents to Minnesota to protect immigration officers and continue enforcement operations amid rising tensions following the fatal shooting of a U.S. citizen.

Noem told “Sunday Morning Futures” host Maria Bartiromo that DHS will be sending hundreds more agents on Sunday and Monday to Minneapolis to allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol agents to do their work “safely.”

“If they conduct violent activities against law enforcement, if they impede our operations, that’s a crime, and we will hold them accountable to those consequences,” she said, referring to clashes between some protesters and federal agents outside an ICE facility and the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building over the weekend.

The protests, which have spread to other cities, including Los Angeles, Portland and New York, come after an ICE officer fatally shot 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good, who DHS alleges “weaponized her vehicle” and “attempted to run a law enforcement officer over.”

EXPERT WARNS PAINTING SLAIN ANTI-ICE ACTIVIST AS ‘GEORGE FLOYD 2.0’ WILL FAIL

Video of the shooting has become a political flashpoint, with some saying it supports the government’s position that the agent acted in self-defense and others saying the footage calls into question DHS’ explanation and raises broader concerns about the use of force by ICE officers.

The shooting remains under federal investigation.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey wrote in an op-ed in The New York Times that the Trump administration pushed a “false narrative” about the shooting and demonized Good.

NEW VIDEO SHOWS MINUTES LEADING UP TO DEADLY MINNEAPOLIS ICE SHOOTING

“The chaos that ICE and the Trump administration have brought to Minneapolis made this tragedy sadly predictable,” he wrote.

“I’ve watched multiple videos, from multiple perspectives — it seems clear that Ms. Good, a mother of three, was trying to leave the scene, not attack an agent,” he added.

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DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital on Thursday that since Operation Metro Surge began, DHS law enforcement has arrested more than 1,500 individuals, including alleged murderers, pedophiles, rapists, and gang members across Minnesota. 

“Every single day our law enforcement officers put their lives on the line to arrest the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens from American communities,” McLaughlin said. “We will not let rioters slow us down from making Minnesota safe again—something Governor Walz and Mayor Frey REFUSED to do.”

A federal judge in Washington state on Friday blocked the Trump administration from enforcing key parts of an executive order that sought to change how states administer federal elections, ruling the president lacked authority to apply those provisions to Washington and Oregon.

U.S. District Judge John Chun held that several provisions of Executive Order 14248 violated the separation of powers and exceeded the president’s authority.

“As stated by the Supreme Court, although the Constitution vests the executive power in the President, ‘[i]n the framework of our Constitution, the President’s power to see that the laws are faithfully executed refutes the idea that he is to be a lawmaker,’” Chun wrote in his 75-page ruling.

FEDERAL APPEALS COURT RULES AGAINST TRUMP’S BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP EXECUTIVE ORDER

White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital in a statement: “President Trump cares deeply about the integrity of our elections and his executive order takes lawful actions to ensure election security. This is not the final say on the matter and the Administration expects ultimate victory on the issue.”

Washington and Oregon filed a lawsuit in April contending the executive order signed by President Donald Trump in March violated the Constitution by attempting to set rules for how states conduct elections, including ballot counting, voter registration and voting equipment.

DOJ TARGETS NONCITIZENS ON VOTER ROLLS AS PART OF TRUMP ELECTION INTEGRITY PUSH

“Today’s ruling is a huge victory for voters in Washington and Oregon, and for the rule of law,” Washington Attorney General Nick Brown said in response to the Jan. 9 ruling, according to The Associated Press. “The court enforced the long-standing constitutional rule that only States and Congress can regulate elections, not the Election Denier-in-Chief.”

Executive Order 14248 directed federal agencies to require documentary proof of citizenship on federal voter registration forms and sought to require that absentee and mail-in ballots be received by Election Day in order to be counted.

The order also instructed the attorney general to take enforcement action against states that include such ballots in their final vote tallies if they arrive after that deadline.

“We oppose requirements that suppress eligible voters and will continue to advocate for inclusive and equitable access to registration while protecting the integrity of the process. The U.S. Constitution guarantees that all qualified voters have a constitutionally protected right to vote and to have their votes counted,” said Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs in a statement issued when the lawsuit was filed last year.

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“We will work with the Washington Attorney General’s Office to defend our constitutional authority and ensure Washington’s elections remain secure, fair, and accessible,” Hobbs added.

Chun noted in his ruling that Washington and Oregon do not certify election results on Election Day, a practice shared by every U.S. state and territory, which allows them to count mail-in ballots received after Election Day as long as the ballots were postmarked on or before that day and arrived before certification under state law.

Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., says she and other Minnesota lawmakers were kicked out of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Minneapolis on Saturday.

Omar visited ICE’s Whipple Building alongside fellow Minnesota Democrat Rep. Angie Craig, saying they were fulfilling their congressional oversight role. They were asked to leave the facility after being informed about a new Trump administration rule governing lawmaker visits.

“We were initially invited in to do our Congressional oversight and to exercise our Article I duties,” Omar told reporters after the incident. “When we made it in, it was with the authorization of someone who’s been here for a really long time, who understood that we had a Congressional duty to enter the building and see the facility.”

“Shortly after we were let in, two officials came in and said they received a message that we were no longer allowed to be in the building and that they were rescinding our invitation and denying any further access to the building,” she continued.

JEFFRIES CALLS NOEM ‘STONE-COLD LIAR’ OVER MINNEAPOLIS SHOOTING RESPONSE, DEMAND INVESTIGATIONS

President Donald Trump‘s administration imposed a new rule on Saturday requiring lawmakers to give at least one week’s notice before entering an ICE facility.

The move is the administration’s second attempt at such an order. A federal judge previously struck down a similar requirement from Homeland Security Sec. Kristi Noem, finding that federal spending laws require that members of Congress receive unrestricted access to recipient facilities.

LAWMAKERS PROBE SBA LOANS LINKED TO MINNESOTA’S $9B FRAUD SCANDAL: ‘RECKLESS DECISION MAKING’

Omar said her group was able to briefly question officials inside the facility regarding hygiene for detainees and other topics. She described the answers she received as “insane,” and argued officials were downplaying how long detainees remain at the facility.

Federal officials say the new order complies with federal law because the funding for the facility is sourced from the Big Beautiful Bill rather than congressional appropriations.

DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin elaborated on Omar’s removal in a statement to reporters, arguing that the lawmakers entered the facility “with the explicit goal of ‘hunting down’ ICE officers who they believed may have been staying there.”

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“For the safety of detainees and staff, and in compliance with the agency’s mandate, the Members of Congress were notified that their visit was improper and out of compliance with existing court orders and policies which mandate that members of Congress must notify ICE at least seven days in advance of Congressional visits,” she said.

President Donald Trump signaled a hardline stance toward Cuba on Sunday, vowing to halt all oil and financial support and urging the island nation to “make a deal” before it is “too late.”

“THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA – ZERO! I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.

‘WE BUILT VENEZUELA’S OIL INDUSTRY:’ TRUMP VOWS US ENERGY RETURN AFTER MADURO CAPTURE

Venezuela has long been Cuba’s largest oil supplier, though Trump has successfully secured oil shipments to the U.S. on the heels of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro‘s capture by U.S. forces.

“Cuba lived, for many years, on large amounts of OIL and MONEY from Venezuela,” Trump added.

The warning comes as the Trump administration intensifies its efforts to isolate regional allies of Venezuela following Maduro’s capture.

Venezuela’s massive oil reserves, the largest in the world, have historically underpinned its influence across the region, particularly through subsidized shipments to allies like Cuba.

VENEZUELA STILL OWES US ENERGY COMPANIES BILLIONS AS TRUMP CALLS FOR NEW INVESTMENT

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That leverage is now at the center of Trump’s push to reshape regional energy flows following the collapse of Venezuela’s former government.

On Friday, Trump hosted a lineup of U.S. and international oil executives representing key sectors of Venezuela’s energy supply chain, including producers, refiners and traders.

Trump pledged to bring U.S. companies back to the forefront of Venezuelan oil production and exports, according to people familiar with the discussions.