NationalWatch

EXCLUSIVE – Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the recent U.S. military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities sent a signal to the world.

Pompeo, who served as CIA director and later as the top U.S. diplomat in President Donald Trump’s first administration, said in a national exclusive interview with Fox News Digital that the attack delivered a message “that America is back leading in the world.”

And regardless of the heated debate this week over the president’s claims that the attack “obliterated” Iran’s ability to acquire nuclear weapons, Pompeo said “there was sufficient damage done” and, as a result, “Americans are safer.”

CLICK HERE FOR FOX NEWS LIVE UPDATES ON THE U.S. STRIKE ON IRAN

Pompeo cautioned that “there are some risks in the near term, for sure. Iranians could decide to do something clandestine, or a terror cell here or something. But make no mistake about it, what President Trump did and what the Israelis did before him, made not only the region, the Gulf and Israel, safer, they made the United States and the West safer.”

Praising the Trump administration’s handling of the strike on Iran, Pompeo noted, “I think they’ve got it nearly pitch perfect. They got the messaging right. They ran an incredibly good military operation as well.”

TRUMP SAYS US WOULD STRIKE AGAIN IF IRAN REBUILDS NUCLEAR PROGRAM

And he said the U.S. is now closer to ridding “ourselves of this risk that you’ll have an ayatollah, a theocracy, a thug that will have the capacity to build a nuclear weapons program.”

Pompeo was interviewed before delivering a speech titled “Rebuilding American Deterrence” to the World Affairs Council of New Hampshire.

Pointing to the strike on Iran, Pompeo told Fox News that America’s deterrence against top adversaries across the globe “increased as a result of what happened in the Middle East. It’s undoubtedly true.”

In his speech and during his interview, Pompeo also called out isolationists on the right and left for abandoning U.S. global leadership.

“There are those in my own party and those on the left who don’t think American leadership matters in the world, that it’s not worth it for the United States of America to do the hard work to keep our people safe,” he argued.

And Pompeo said part of his message is “that absent American leadership in the world, we’re all a lot less safe.”

KEEP YOUR EYES ON THESE REPUBLICANS IN THE 2028 PRESIDENTIAL RACE TO SUCCEED TRUMP

Pompeo took a hard look at running for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination and made multiple trips to Iowa and New Hampshire, the first two states that have traditionally voted in the GOP presidential primaries.

And his return to the Granite State sparked speculation regarding a potential 2028 White House bid. Wednesday night’s event was held at Saint Anselm College’s New Hampshire Institute of Politics, which for decades has been a must-stop in the first-in-the-nation presidential primary state for those with national ambitions.

“Yeah, unavoidable. The question comes out when someone who’s the former secretary of state travels to this beautiful place,” Pompeo told Fox News, as he referred to New Hampshire.

Pompeo said, “I really came here because I do want to be part of the policy debate. What happens three and a half years from now is an awfully long ways off.”

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But at this extremely early point in the 2028 election cycle, he didn’t rule out a possible White House run, saying “we’ll see what the good Lord brings in a couple of years.”

Asked if he wasn’t ruling out anything down the road when it comes to service to the nation, Pompeo told Fox News, “No, if I get a call and an opportunity for a place that I think I can make a difference, I’ll do it every time.”

President Donald Trump continued to brag about the success of the U.S. strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities and visited the Netherlands for the NATO summit this week. 

The U.S. launched strikes late Saturday targeting key Iranian nuclear facilities, which involved more than 125 U.S. aircraft, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine told reporters Sunday.

Following the strikes, Trump said in an address to the nation that the mission left the nuclear sites “completely and totally obliterated.” But days later, a leaked report from the Defense Intelligence Agency, published by CNN and the New York Times, cast doubt on those claims, saying that the strikes had only set back Iran’s nuclear program by several months.

TRUMP WOULD STRIKE IRAN ‘WITHOUT QUESTION’ IF IT RESTARTS NUCLEAR WEAPONS PROGRAM 

Meanwhile, the U.S., Israel and Iran’s Foreign Ministry have all said the three nuclear sites that U.S. forces struck have encountered massive damage.

Still, Trump has said he won’t hesitate to launch additional strikes against Iran – should Tehran seek to beef up its nuclear program again. 

Here’s also what happened this week: 

NATO Summit

Trump attended the NATO summit in the Netherlands on Tuesday and Wednesday, where he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The Ukrainian leader said in a post on X on Wednesday that the two “covered all the truly important issues” as the U.S. has sought to broker a peace deal to end the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

TRUMP PRAISED FOR GETTING NATO ALLIES TO BOLSTER DEFENSE SPENDING: ‘REALLY STAGGERING’

NATO allies – all but Spain – agreed Wednesday to boost defense spending to 5% of GDP by 2035.

Trump has long advocated for NATO allies to ramp up defense spending to between 2% and 5% GDP – and has made it clear that European nations need to shoulder greater responsibility for the security of their continent.

‘Big, beautiful bill’ event

Trump pressed lawmakers to get his sweeping tax and domestic policy bill to the finish line on Thursday, labeling the measure the “single-most important piece of border legislation ever to cross the floor of Congress.” 

TRUMP SAYS ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL’ BILL ‘MUST’ MEET DEADLINE AS SOME REPUBLICANS WAVER

“This is the ultimate codification of our agenda to – very simply, a phrase that’s been used pretty well by me over the past 10 years, but maybe even before that – make America great again,” Trump said at a “One, Big, Beautiful Event” at the White House on Thursday. 

Meanwhile, Republicans are scrambling to reform and pass the measure ahead of Trump’s July 4 deadline, following Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough’s determination Thursday that several Medicaid reforms in the sweeping tax passage did not follow Senate rules and must be removed. 

Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter, with the latest updates on the Trump administration, Capitol Hill and more Fox News politics content. Here’s what’s happening…

-Top moments from the Trump-Biden debate that changed the course of the 2024 election

-Trump celebrates Supreme Court limits on ‘colossal abuse of power’ by federal judges

-Second Amendment ‘setback’: Gun tax cuts stripped from Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’

SCOTUS Reins in Universal Injunctions

The Supreme Court on Friday delivered a major victory in President Donald Trump’s quest to block lower courts from issuing universal injunctions that had upended many of his administration’s executive orders and actions.

Justices ruled 6-3 to allow the lower courts to issue injunctions only in limited instances, though the ruling leaves open the question of how the ruling will apply to the birthright citizenship order at the heart of the case.

The Supreme Court agreed this year to take up a trio of consolidated cases involving so-called universal injunctions handed down by federal district judges in Maryland, Massachusetts and Washington state. Judges in those districts had blocked Trump’s ban on birthright citizenship from taking force nationwide – which the Trump administration argued in their appeal to the Supreme Court was overly broad…READ MORE

World Stage

AYATOLLAH’S DENIAL: Iranian foreign minister reiterates ‘serious damage’ to nuclear facilities, despite ayatollah’s comments

Capitol Hill

‘LOWER THE TEMP’: Nearly 200 House Dems reject resolution condemning violent anti-ICE riots in LA

BIKER NATION BECKONS: GOP senator invites Trump to ‘an appreciation event like you’ve never seen’ in deep-red state

AMERICA-FIRST FIGHT: Targeted by Trump, Rep. Thomas Massie hauls in campaign cash

SHOW US THE PLAN: Republicans raise alarm over US vulnerability to mass drone strikes after Israel-Iran conflict

Across America 

TRUTH BURIED: Dem governor’s decades-old political persecution claim over alleged cocaine use disputed by bombshell memo

FAITH FAVORED: Supreme Court decides whether to allow parents to shield children from LGBTQ books in school

PROTECTING THE FAITHFUL: $94 million in grants awarded to Jewish faith-based organizations to prevent violence and terrorism: DHS

FACULTY FACT-FINDING: Justice Department investigating University of California over alleged DEI-based hiring

JUDICIAL OVERREACH: California judge who blocked Trump National Guard order hit with impeachment resolution

IN THE CROSSHAIRS: Trump’s DOJ pressuring University of Virginia to axe its president over DEI programs: report

Get the latest updates on the Trump administration and Congress, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.

President Donald Trump delivered a resounding endorsement of NATO this week, marking a sharp turnaround in his years-long, often contentious relationship with the alliance.

Once known for blasting allies over defense spending and even threatening to pull out of NATO altogether, Trump now appears to have had a change of heart. 

“I left here differently. I left here saying that these people really love their countries,” Trump said after the 2025 NATO summit in The Hague.

The pivot comes as NATO nations more than doubled their collective defense spending target – raising the bar from 2% to 5% of GDP.

WORLD LEADERS FLOCK TO MEET WITH TRUMP AT NATO SUMMIT

From Hostile Rhetoric to Royal Receptions

The president’s renewed embrace of the alliance follows years of friction, high-profile clashes with world leaders and controversial comments. Yet at this year’s summit, the tone was strikingly different.

Trump was welcomed by Dutch royals, praised by the NATO secretary-general – who even referred to him as “daddy” – and returned home lauding European allies for their patriotism. “It’s not a rip-off, and we’re here to help them,” Trump told reporters.

The transformation is as dramatic as it is unexpected.

The Iran Factor: Military Action with Global Impact

Trump arrived at the NATO summit on a high note, following U.S. strikes that crippled Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. According to American and allied intelligence sources, the operation set back Tehran’s nuclear ambitions by several years.

The strike was widely seen as both a show of strength and a strategic warning – not just to Iran but to NATO adversaries like Russia and China.

WORLD LEADERS FLOCK TO MEET WITH TRUMP AT NATO SUMMIT

“He really came in from this power move,” said Giedrimas Jeglinskas, a former NATO official and current chairman of Lithuania’s national security committee.

“Among some, definitely Eastern Europe, Central Europe, Nordic Europe, this attack, the use of those really sophisticated weapons and bombers, was the rebuilding of the deterrence narrative of the West, not just of America.”

Timeline: Trump’s Rocky Road with NATO

2016 Campaign Trail

Trump repeatedly called NATO “obsolete,” questioning its relevance and slamming allies for failing to pay their “fair share.”

“It’s costing us too much money… We’re paying disproportionately. It’s too much,” he said in March 2016.

He criticized NATO for lacking focus on terrorism, later taking credit when it created a chief intelligence post.

February 2017 – Early Presidency

Trump softened his tone after becoming president. 

“We strongly support NATO,” he said after visiting Central Command. “We only ask that all members make their full and proper financial contribution.”

He continued to push for members to meet the 2% target by 2024.

2018 Brussels Summit

Trump privately threatened to pull the U.S. from NATO unless allies increased spending.

“Now we are in World War III protecting a country that wasn’t paying its bills,” he warned.

Despite the posturing, he called NATO a “fine-tuned machine” after extracting new spending commitments. He also accused Germany of being a “captive of Russia” over the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

TRUMP HEADS TO NATO SUMMIT AS EUROPE AGREES TO HEED HIS DEFENSE SPENDING DEMANDS

2019 London Summit

The drama continued, this time with French President Emmanuel Macron calling NATO “brain-dead.” 

“NATO serves a great purpose. I think that’s very insulting,” Trump responded.

He also clashed with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau – calling him “two-faced” after Trudeau was caught mocking Trump on camera.

2020 – Troop Withdrawal from Germany

Trump ordered 12,000 U.S. troops out of Germany, citing Berlin’s defense shortfalls.

February 2024 – Russia Controversy

Trump ignited backlash after suggesting he’d let Russia “do whatever the hell they want” to NATO countries that failed to meet spending obligations.

The remark sparked urgent contingency talks among European leaders about the future of the alliance if the U.S. did not step up to its defense. 

June 2025: A Different Trump, a Different NATO

The 2025 summit in The Hague unfolded with surprising calm. Trump’s hosts rolled out the red carpet. “He’s the man of the hour and the most important man in the world,” Jeglinskas said.

Jeglinskas credited Trump’s blunt diplomacy – however unorthodox – for helping drive real reform “He’s brought in tectonic change to the alliance’s capabilities by… being himself,” he added. “It’s a gift for the alliance.”

Two Forces Behind NATO’s Revival: Russia and Trump

Experts agree NATO’s recent revitalization stems from two major catalysts: Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine and Trump’s relentless pressure on allies to boost defense.

“President Trump is riding high this week with two major foreign policy victories,” said Matthew Kroenig, vice president at the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center, referencing NATO and the recent U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear program. “It’s terrific. I hope he can keep it up.”

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He added, “Every president since Eisenhower has complained that NATO allies aren’t doing their fair share.”

Now, Trump was the one who finally got them to listen, he said. 

The Supreme Court had a banner day on Friday, the last decision day of the high court’s term, involving the justices reining in judicial power and serving up a victory for parents in the ongoing culture wars.

The high court’s more controversial decisions were split along ideological lines. Liberal justices sometimes dissented with bitter rebukes, while the Trump administration celebrated what it viewed as landmark wins.

Nationwide injunctions

In the most high-profile case of the day, the Supreme Court ended the practice of judges issuing sweeping injunctions that cover the whole country and not just parties involved in a case.

SCOTUS RULES ON TRUMP’S BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP ORDER, TESTING LOWER COURT POWERS

The injunctions, often known as “nationwide injunctions,” have been a source of frustration for President Donald Trump as judges side with plaintiffs and block key parts of the president’s agenda.

The case arose from several judges issuing injunctions that blocked Trump from carrying out his birthright citizenship plan. Rather than ask the Supreme Court to weigh in on the merits of the plan, which has been uniformly rejected in courts, Trump asked the high court to put a stop to the injunction practice.

The Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision left open the possibility that judges and plaintiffs could use other avenues, such as class action lawsuits, to seek broad relief now that the high court has curtailed nationwide injunctions.

Parental rights

The Supreme Court decided 6-3 in Mahmoud v. Taylor that parents can opt their children out of a Maryland public school system’s lessons when they contain themes about homosexuality and transgenderism if they feel the content conflicts with their religious beliefs.

Justice Samuel Alito, writing for the majority, said the government “burdens the religious exercise of parents when it requires them to submit their children to instruction that poses ‘a very real threat of undermining’ the religious beliefs and practices that the parents wish to instill.”

SUPREME COURT DECIDES WHETHER TO SHIELD PARENTS FROM LGBTQ BOOKS

The Trump administration celebrated the ruling as a victory for “parental rights,” while Justice Sonia Sotomayor said in a scathing dissent that the high court’s decision would open floodgates for students to opt out of a wider range of lessons.

Age verification of explicit websites

The Supreme Court allowed Texas to require age verification for users of pornographic websites, dealing a win to those aiming to block children from accessing explicit material online.

A trade association for the porn industry brought the lawsuit, alleging the age requirement meant the state was unconstitutionally regulating free speech on the internet.

“This is a major victory for children, parents, and the ability of states to protect minors from the damaging effects of online pornography,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement. “Companies have no right to expose children to pornography and must institute reasonable age verification measures.”

Voting rights

The Supreme Court punted its case about Louisiana’s congressional maps, indicating it needed a few more questions answered during oral arguments in the fall.

The delay means that Louisiana’s map of voting districts, including majority-Black districts, would not see any changes until the 2028 election cycle or later.

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The Supreme Court is now set to wind down in anticipation of its summer recess, though it is still expected to hand down some straggling decisions before its next term begins in October.

The University of Virginia president stepped down on Friday after facing intense pressure from the Trump administration over the institution’s diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

James E. Ryan, who had led the school since 2018, said he had already decided that next year would be his last and decided not to “fight the federal government in order to save my own job” until then.

To make a long story short, I am inclined to fight for what I believe in, and I believe deeply in this University,” Ryan wrote to the UVA community on Friday. “But I cannot make a unilateral decision to fight the federal government in order to save my own job. To do so would not only be quixotic but appear selfish and self-centered to the hundreds of employees who would lose their jobs, the researchers who would lose their funding, and the hundreds of students who could lose financial aid or have their visas withheld.”

“This is especially true because I had decided that next year would be my last, for reasons entirely separate from this episode—including the fact that we concluded our capital campaign and have implemented nearly all of the major initiatives in our strategic plan,” he continued.

TRUMP’S DOJ PRESSURING UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA TO AXE ITS PRESIDENT OVER DEI PROGRAMS: REPORT

Robert D. Hardie, leader of the University of Virginia’s governing board, said in a statement he accepted Ryan’s resignation with “profound sadness,” adding that he had been an “extraordinary president,” led the institution to “unprecedented heights” and that the university “has forever been changed for the better as a result of Jim’s exceptional leadership.”

This comes after the Trump administration had privately demanded that the university remove Ryan to help resolve a Justice Department probe into the institution’s DEI practices, according to The New York Times.

The Justice Department argued that Ryan had failed to dismantle the school’s DEI programs and misrepresented the steps taken to eliminate them, amid the administration’s efforts to root out DEI in higher education, the newspaper reported.

The federal government’s moves targeting higher education include pulling billions of dollars from elite universities such as Harvard, which has been the subject of investigations by various agencies over issues such as DEI initiatives, admissions practices and alleged antisemitism on campus.

But this was the first time the administration had pressured a university to remove its president.

“That sham virtue signaling of DEI has no place in our country, and the Trump administration is working tirelessly to erase this divisive, backward, and unjust practice from our society,” White House spokesman Harrison Fields told Fox News Digital.

“Any university president willingly breaking federal civil rights laws will be met with the full force of the federal government, and it would behoove every school in America to prioritize the civil rights of every student and end DEI once and for all,” he continued.

Ryan had focused on increasing diversity at the university, bringing in more first-generation students and encouraging community service. These efforts had ruffled the feathers of conservative alumni and Republican board members who argued he was “too woke” and wanted to impose his beliefs on students.

Before his time as the university’s president, Ryan served as the dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where he received recognition for his commitment to DEI programs.

In a joint statement, Virginia’s Democratic senators said it was “outrageous” that the administration would demand Ryan’s resignation over “‘culture war’ traps.”

“Decisions about UVA’s leadership belong solely to its Board of Visitors, in keeping with Virginia’s well-established and respected system of higher education governance,” Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine said. “This is a mistake that hurts Virginia’s future.”

Conservative groups have lambasted Ryan for what they regard as insufficient steps toward compliance with the administration’s plans to eliminate DEI. America First Legal, a nonprofit launched by Trump advisor Stephen Miller, accused the University of Virginia last month of rebranding DEI programs to skirt Trump’s executive orders aimed at ending diversity initiatives.

HARVARD KENNEDY SCHOOL ANNOUNCES LAYOFFS AFTER TRUMP CUTS BILLIONS IN FUNDING

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“Rebranding discrimination does not make it legal, and changing a label doesn’t change the substance,” Megan Redshaw, an attorney at America First Legal, said in a statement at the time. “UVA’s use of sanitized language and recycled job titles is a deliberate attempt to sidestep the law.”

The group took direct aim at Ryan, noting that he joined hundreds of other college presidents in signing a public statement condemning the administration’s “overreach and political interference.”

On Friday, the group vowed to continue to use every available tool to root out DEI.

“This week’s developments make clear: public universities that accept federal funds do not have a license to violate the Constitution,” Redshaw said in a statement to The Associated Press. “They do not get to impose ideological loyalty tests, enforce race and sex-based preferences, or defy lawful executive authority.”

EXCLUSIVE: President Donald Trump has secured commitments for a record-shattering $1.4 billion since Election Day 2024, Fox News Digital has learned. 

And advisors say he will be “an even more dominant force” for Republicans in the 2026 midterms. 

The president’s political operation, including the cash on hand at the Republican National Committee, has raised a historic $900 million since November, and other commitments will bring the total to more than $1.4 billion.

SCOOP: REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE SHOWCASES RECORD FUNDRAISING AS PARTY BUILDS 2026 WAR CHEST

Fox News Digital has learned the funds will be used to help Republicans keep their House and Senate majorities.

Republicans control the House with a 220-215 majority and control the Senate with a 53-47 majority. 

Sources say the funds will also be used for whatever the president deems “necessary and appropriate.”

“After securing a historic victory in his re-election campaign in 2024, President Trump has continued to break records, including fundraising numbers that have positioned him to be an even more dominant force going into the midterms and beyond,” President Trump’s senior advisor and National Finance Director Meredith O’Rourke told Fox News Digital. 

RNC BRINGS ON NEW SENIOR LEADERSHIP TO ‘WORK AROUND THE CLOCK’ TO SUPPORT TRUMP AGENDA, ELECT REPUBLICANS

The president headlined a major donor event in Washington, D.C., in April for the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), which is the House GOP’s campaign arm. That fundraiser hauled in at least $10 million for the NRCC, a source familiar with the event told Fox News.

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In March, Vice President JD Vance was tapped to serve as the RNC finance chair, the first time in the history of the GOP a sitting vice president is serving in the role.

Vance pledged to work to “fully enact the MAGA mandate” and expand the Republican majority in Congress in 2026.

Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

Zohran Mamdani’s primary night success shocked the political establishment this week, exposing a generational divide among New York Democrats. 

New York Democrat Rep. Tom Suozzi endorsed former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the race for City Hall on Tuesday night. The moderate Democrat confirmed Wednesday that he “had serious concerns about Assemblyman Mamdani before [Tuesday], and that is one of the reasons I endorsed his opponent. Those concerns remain.”

While fellow self-described democratic socialist, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., threw her political weight behind Mamdani ahead of his primary win, national congressional Democratic leaders, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, did not outright endorse Mamdani after he declared victory. 

“He ran an impressive campaign that connected with New Yorkers about affordability, fairness, & opportunity,” Schumer said Wednesday. When pressed by reporters about his non-endorsement, Schumer refused to elaborate on what Mamdani’s win meant for the Democratic Party’s future. 

CITY-RUN GROCERY STORES, DEFUNDING POLICE, SAFE INJECTION SITES: WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT NYC’S NEXT POTENTIAL MAYOR

Jeffries congratulated Mamdani on his “decisive primary victory,” and confirmed his plan to speak with the presumptive nominee the day after he declared victory. Yet, the House Democratic leader refused to formally endorse Mamdani.

NEW YORK DEMOCRAT SAYS MAYORAL CANDIDATE ZOHRAN MAMDANI ‘TOO EXTREME TO LEAD’

Mamdani, whose campaign galvanized supporters on the ground and on social media, has proposed what conservatives deem radical ideas, like government-run grocery stores, free bus service, tuition-free city universities, rent freezes and free childcare, among others. 

Schumer and Jeffries did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s inquiry about their non-endorsements and whether the New York Democrats plan to rally behind Mamdani in November. 

Moderate New York Democrats, including Sen. Kristen Gillibrand and Reps. Ritchie Torres, Adriano Espaillat and Pat Ryan, are also yet to endorse Mamdani. Those congressional Democrats, as well as Suozzi, did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital inquiry about whether they planned to endorse Mamdani. 

Torres had also endorsed Cuomo in the primary. And Espaillat congratulated Mamdani on Wednesday but did not outright endorse him. 

Rep. Dan Goldman, who endorsed state Sen. Zellnor Myrie in the Democratic primary, has not yet endorsed Mamdani since his primary win, and did not immediately respond to an inquiry about whether he would. 

Meanwhile, longtime New York Democratic congressman, Jerry Nadler, clearly endorsed Mamdani on Wednesday, comparing his victory Tuesday to President Barack Obama’s political rise. 

“Zohran is someone who will be a partner with me in Washington to take on Donald Trump. I’ve spoken to him today about his commitment to fighting antisemitism, and we’ll work with all New Yorkers to fight against all bigotry and hate,” Nadler said, in an apparent reference to accusations that Mamdani is antisemitic, particularly over his refusal to condemn the controversial rallying cry, “Globalize the intifada.”

Like Suozzi, New York Democrat Rep. Lauren Gillen refused to endorse Mamdani, writing on social media Wednesday, “Socialist Zohran Mamdani is too extreme to lead New York City.”

“His entire campaign has been built on unachievable promises and higher taxes, which is the last thing New York needs. Beyond that, Mr. Mamdani has called to defund the police and has demonstrated a deeply disturbing pattern of unacceptable antisemitic comments which stoke hate at a time when antisemitism is skyrocketing. He is the absolute wrong choice for New York.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani for comment.

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Sources confirmed to Fox News Digital Thursday that Cuomo is not dropping out of the race. The former governor will keep the spot he secured earlier this year on the “Fight & Deliver” ballot line. But the sources said that Cuomo had not committed yet to running an active general election campaign through the summer and into the autumn. 

And Mayor Eric Adams announced his re-election campaign Thursday on the steps of New York City Hall. He decided to run as an independent amid low approval ratings and his since-dropped federal corruption charges.

Former federal prosecutor Jim Walden is also running as an Independent, and Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa will once again be the Republican nominee in November’s mayoral election. 

Top Trump administration officials maintain that Kilmar Abrego Garcia will continue to go through the legal system in the United States before he is deported again, as the administration maintains he will not walk free in the U.S.

Abrego Garcia’s lawyers successfully asked the judge on Friday to keep him behind bars to avoid any possibility of an immediate deportation, according to NewsNation.  

However, the plan is to try Abrego Garcia in the U.S. on the Tennessee-based human smuggling charges before deporting him, according to the Department of Justice. And if he is convicted, the White House says he will spend time behind bars in the U.S. before being deported.

JUDGE SETS STRICT CONDITIONS FOR ABREGO GARCIA’S RELEASE AS TRUMP OFFICIALS PURSUE CASE AGAINST HIM

“This defendant has been charged with horrific crimes including trafficking children and will not walk free in our country again,” DOJ spokesperson Chad Gilmartin told Fox News Digital in an email.

The White House further clarified the Executive Branch’s stance following an Associated Press report on the comments from federal prosecutors about possibly deporting him to a third country sooner. 

“This is fake news. Abrego Garcia was returned to the United States to face trial for the egregious charges against him. He will face the full force of the American justice system – including serving time in American prison for the crimes he’s committed,” White House Deputy Press Secretary Abigail Jackson said in an X post.

RETURNED SALVADORAN MIGRANT KILMAR ABREGO GARCIA ARRAIGNED ON FEDERAL HUMAN TRAFFICKING CHARGES IN TENNESSEE

DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said the 29-year-old will not be freed in the U.S. at any point.

“Kilmar Abrego Garcia is a dangerous criminal illegal alien. We have said it for months and it remains true to this day: he will never go free on American soil,” she wrote.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE

Abrego Garcia, who was living in Maryland, was deported to El Salvador amid accusations of being an MS-13 gang member, as it is a designated foreign terrorist organization. He then spent time detained at the country’s terrorism confinement center. While detained in the country, it sparked a political firestorm in which Democrats raised concerns about due process, with Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-M.D., even meeting with him in the Central American nation.

During his El Salvador detainment, past records alleging domestic abuse surfaced, as well as reports that he allegedly had taken part in human smuggling, which ultimately led to the federal charges brought forth earlier this month that resulted in his return to American custody.

DEMOCRATS CELEBRATE RETURN OF SUSPECTED HUMAN TRAFFICKER KILMAR ABREGO GARCIA

“Abrego Garcia has landed in the United States to face justice,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said at the time. “A grand jury in the Middle District of Tennessee returned a sealed indictment charging him with alien smuggling and conspiracy.”

However, critics blasted the charges as a political move.

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“After weeks of the Trump administration saying they either couldn’t or wouldn’t return Kilmar Abrego Garcia to the US, the timing of these charges are clearly designed to cover up their negligence and the fact that the Supreme Court unanimously called them out on the egregious ways they are ignoring due process,” the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition said in a statement at the time. “Still, Mr. Abrego Garcia will now be able to have his day in court, which The Constitution guarantees for everyone in our country regardless of citizenship.” 

Senate Republicans unveiled their long-awaited version of President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” but its survival is not guaranteed.

Senate Budget Committee Chair Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., revealed the stitched-together text of the colossal bill late Firday night.

The final product from the upper chamber is the culmination of a roughly month-long sprint to take the House GOP’s version of the bill and mold and change it. The colossal package includes separate pieces and parts from 10 Senate committees. With the introduction of the bill, a simple procedural hurdle must be passed in order to begin the countdown to final passage.

When that comes remains an open question. Senate Republicans left their daily lunch on Friday under the assumption that a vote could be teed up as early as noon on Saturday.

HOUSE CONSERVATIVES GO TO WAR WITH SENATE OVER TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., told Fox News Digital that he had “strongly encouraged” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., to put the bill on the floor for a vote Saturday afternoon. 

“If you’re unhappy with that, you’re welcome to fill out a hurt feelings report, and we will review it carefully later,” Kennedy said. “But in the meantime, it’s time to start voting.”

But Senate Republicans’ desire to impose their will on the package and make changes to already divisive policy tweaks in the House GOP’s offering could doom the bill and derail Thune’s ambitious timeline to get it on Trump’s desk by the July 4 deadline.

However, Thune has remained firm that lawmakers would stay on course and deliver the bill to Trump by Independence Day. 

When asked if he had the vote to move the package forward, Thune said “we’ll find out tomorrow.”

TOP TRUMP HEALTH OFFICIAL SLAMS DEMOCRATS FOR ‘MISLEADING’ CLAIMS ABOUT MEDICAID REFORM

But it wasn’t just lawmakers who nearly derailed the bill. The Senate parliamentarian, the true final arbiter of the bill, ruled that numerous GOP-authored provisions did not pass muster with Senate rules.

Any item in the “big, beautiful bill” must comport with the Byrd Rule, which governs the budget reconciliation process and allows for a party in power to ram legislation through the Senate while skirting the 60-vote filibuster threshold. 

That sent lawmakers back to the drawing board on a slew of policy tweaks, including the Senate’s changes to the Medicaid provider tax rate, cost-sharing for food benefits and others. 

Republican leaders, the White House and disparate factions within the Senate and House GOP have been meeting to find middle ground on other pain points, like tweaking the caps on state and local tax (SALT) deductions.

While the controversial Medicaid provider tax rate change remained largely the same, a $25 billion rural hospital stabilization fund was included in the bill to help attract possible holdouts that have raised concerns that the rate change would shutter rural hospitals throughout the country. 

On the SALT front, there appeared to be a breakthrough on Friday. A source told Fox News that the White House and House were on board with a new plan that would keep the $40,000 cap from the House’s bill and have it reduced back down to $10,000 after five years. 

But Senate Republicans are the ones that must accept it at this stage. Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., has acted as the mediator in those negotiations, and said that he was unsure if any of his colleagues “love it.” 

“But I think, as I’ve said before, I want to make sure we have enough that people can vote for than to vote against,” he said. 

Still, a laundry list of other pocket issues and concerns over just how deep spending cuts in the bill go have conservatives and moderates in the House GOP and Senate pounding their chests and vowing to vote against the bill.

Republican leaders remain adamant that they will finish the mammoth package and are gambling that some lawmakers standing against the bill will buckle under the pressure from the White House and the desire to leave Washington for a short break.

Once a motion to proceed is passed, which only requires a simple majority, then begins 20 hours of debate evenly divided between both sides of the aisle.

‘BABY STEPS’: LEADER THUNE DETAILS HIS WORK TO CORRAL REPUBLICANS BEHIND TRUMP’S LEGISLATIVE VISION

Democratic lawmakers are expected to spend the entirety of their 10 allotted hours, while Republicans will likely clock in well below their limit. From there starts the “vote-a-rama” process, when lawmakers can submit a near-endless number of amendments to the bill. Democrats will likely try to extract as much pain as possible with messaging amendments that won’t actually pass but will add more and more time to the process.

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Once that is complete, lawmakers will move to a final vote. If successful, the “big, beautiful bill” will again make its way back to the House, where House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., will again have to corral dissidents to support the legislation. It barely advanced last month, squeaking by on a one-vote margin. 

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent hammered on the importance of passing Trump’s bill on time. He met with Senate Republicans during their closed-door lunch and spread the message that advancing the colossal tax package would go a long way to giving businesses more certainty in the wake of the president’s tariffs. 

“We need certainty,” he said. “With so much uncertainty, and having the bill on the president’s desk by July 4 will give us great tax certainty, and I believe, accelerate the economy in the third quarter of the year.” 

Speaking with reporters in the Oval Office after a meeting marking a U.S.-brokered peace deal in Africa, President Donald Trump touted his administration’s progress on achieving peace deals across the globe, something he said has been possible because world leaders “respect our country again.”  

“We were not a country that was respected. Just a year ago we had a president that was incompetent. We had bad people circulating around this desk, this beautiful Resolute desk,” said Trump. “They had, I guess, evil intentions. They were, you couldn’t be that stupid, I mean, they had evil intentions, but the world respects our country again.” 

Commenting on a freshly brokered African peace, which will end a decades-long conflict between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, Trump said it “is a tremendous breakthrough.” 

“In a few short months, we’ve now achieved peace between India and Pakistan, Israel and Iran and the DRC and Rwanda and, a couple of others also, Serbia [and Kosovo],” he said. 

TRUMP EXERTED ‘MAXIMUM PRESSURE’ ON IRAN AND ISRAEL TO ‘DELIVER PEACE’: LEAVITT

He also called his NATO trip “very successful,” saying U.S. allies committed to spend over $1 trillion on defense. 

“We’ve had some tremendous success,” said the president. 

Trump also mentioned the successful strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites and the subsequent ceasefire brokered between Israel and Iran. 

“We had the war, as you know, we call it the ‘12 Day War,’ it was exactly a 12-day war. And we ended up with no nuclear weapons. That’s what we wanted. And they were, they were just absolutely blown to pieces those three sites and there’s no nuclear weapons. And hopefully there can be a lot of healing. And healing is starting,” he said. 

EX-SECRETARY OF STATE CONDOLEEZZA RICE CALLS US STRIKES ON IRAN A ‘SHOT IN THE ARM’ FOR AMERICAN CREDIBILITY

On the topic of healing in the Middle East, Trump also predicted there will be a ceasefire in Gaza sometime “within the next week.” 

He called the situation in Gaza “terrible” but expressed optimism there could soon be a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. 

“I think it’s close. I just spoke with some of the people involved,” said the president, adding, “We think within the next week we’re going to get a ceasefire.” 

Trump also addressed the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, saying, “We’re supplying, as you know, a lot of money and a lot of food to that area because we have to, I mean, you have to. In theory, we’re not involved in it, but we’re involved because people are dying.”

‘THE MISSION WAS ACCOMPLISHED’: SENATE REPUBLICANS PUSH BACK AGAINST LEAKED REPORT ON IRAN STRIKES

He called on other countries to also send humanitarian aid to Gaza.

“We’re working on Gaza, trying to get it taken care of and again, you know, a lot of food has been sent there. And other countries throughout the world should be helping also,” he said. 

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In addition to being respected by America’s allies, Trump said his administration has improved relations with countries such as Russia, North Korea, China and Iran. 

“Vladimir Putin made some very nice statements today,” he said. “Look, he respects our country again. He didn’t respect it a year ago. I can tell you right now, but Putin respects our country and, President Xi of China respects our country. And Kim Jong Un respects. They respect our country again.”

In response to a question on whether he may authorize U.S. Patriot missiles for Ukraine’s air defenses, Trump simply responded, “I may.” 

Vice President JD Vance could deliver the tiebreaking vote in the U.S. Senate for President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful, bill” should it fail to receive enough support from Republican lawmakers. 

Republicans are scrambling to reform and pass the measure ahead of Trump’s July 4 deadline after Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough’s determination Thursday that several Medicaid reforms in the sweeping tax and domestic policy package did not follow Senate rules and must be removed. 

As president of the Senate, the vice president casts a tiebreaking vote when a measure fails to receive majority support.

DEMS ‘DELIBERATELY OBFUSCATING’ TRUTH ABOUT ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ WITH THIS CLAIM: WATCHDOG

There are 53 Republicans in the Senate, meaning three Republican senators could opt out of voting for the bill, and it could still pass with Vance’s support. 

Vance has previously cast tiebreaking votes in the Senate, including in January to confirm Trump’s pick for Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, and on a measure in April to curb Trump’s ability to impose global tariffs. 

Vance’s office declined to provide comment to Fox News Digital.

Republican lawmakers who’ve historically voiced concerns about certain Medicaid provisions included in the “big, beautiful, bill” include senators Susan Collins of Maine, Josh Hawley of Missouri and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. These lawmakers have cautioned that the reforms would prove detrimental to rural hospitals in their states. 

Spokespeople for Collins, Hawley and Murkowski did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. 

The domestic policy package also included provisions to beef up border security and would also make permanent the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act from Trump’s first term.

The White House’s Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought told lawmakers earlier this month failure to pass the measure would result in a 60% tax hike for Americans and would trigger a recession. 

As a result, Matt Wolking, who previously served as the deputy communications director for Trump’s 2020 campaign, said Senate Republicans will ultimately band together to approve the legislation to prevent the tax cuts from expiring. 

HOW JOHNSON PULLED OFF ANOTHER IMPOSSIBLE WIN WITH JUST 1-VOTE MARGIN ON $9.4B SPENDING CUT BILL

“Senate Republicans don’t want to be responsible for the massive tax increase on the middle class that will occur if they fail to extend President Trump’s tax cuts. So, ultimately, they will get this done,” Wolking, currently with GOP consulting firm Axiom Strategies, said in a statement to Fox News Digital. 

“President Trump has a big asset in these negotiations with JD Vance, and whether he is needed to break a tie or not, the administration will have another major win under its belt heading into the midterm elections where the strength of the economy will be a big factor,” Wolking said. 

Earlier this month, Vance met with Republican senators to discuss the measure during a closed-door lunch and said afterward he was hopeful about the odds of passing the legislation on time. 

“I mean, look, I can’t make any promises. … I can’t predict the future, but I do think that we’re in a good place to get this done by the July 4 recess,” Vance told reporters June 17. 

Vance also told reporters that despite concerns from lawmakers, including Collins, regarding certain Medicaid provisions included in the measure, he would work to address any issues raised. Still, he said there was broad agreement within the party on reforming Medicaid to block access for illegal immigrants.

“They’re all very confident we’re eventually going to get there,” Vance said.

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The House narrowly passed its version of the measure in May by a 215-214 margin, with two Republicans voting against the legislation. 

Trump urged lawmakers to get the legislation to the finish line Thursday, labeling the measure the “single-most important piece of border legislation ever to cross the floor of Congress.” 

“This is the ultimate codification of our agenda to — very simply, a phrase that’s been used pretty well by me over the past 10 years, but maybe even before that — make America great again,” Trump said at a “One, Big, Beautiful Event” at the White House Thursday. 

Hours after the Supreme Court delivered the Trump administration a major victory Friday by ruling lower courts may issue nationwide injunctions only in limited instances, a coalition of liberal legal groups filed a sweeping new class-action lawsuit in New Hampshire federal court. It takes aim at President Donald Trump‘s January executive order that redefines who qualifies for U.S. citizenship at birth.

While the justices’ 6-3 ruling leaves open the question of how the ruling will apply to the birthright citizenship order at the heart of the case, Friday’s lawsuit accuses the administration of violating the Constitution by denying citizenship to children born on U.S. soil if their mothers are either unlawfully present or temporarily in the country and their fathers are not U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents.

The case was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of New Hampshire, ACLU of Maine, ACLU of Massachusetts, Legal Defense Fund, Asian Law Caucus and Democracy Defenders Fund. It seeks to represent a proposed class of children born under the terms of the executive order and their parents.

UPENDING US BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP WOULD HAVE DRASTIC NEGATIVE IMPACT, DEFENDERS WARN

It is not the first legal challenge to the policy. The same group filed a separate suit in January 2025 in the same court on behalf of advocacy organizations with members expecting children who would be denied citizenship under the order. That case led to a ruling protecting members of those groups and is now pending before the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, with oral arguments scheduled for Aug. 1.

Friday’s SCOTUS ruling states that lower courts can no longer block federal policies nationwide unless it’s absolutely necessary to give full relief to the people suing. The decision does not say whether Trump’s birthright citizenship order is legal, but it means the order could take effect in parts of the country while legal challenges continue. The court gave lower courts 30 days to review their existing rulings.

“The applications do not raise — and thus we do not address — the question whether the Executive Order violates the Citizenship Clause or Nationality Act,” Justice Amy Coney Barrett said, writing for the majority. “The issue before us is one of remedy: whether, under the Judiciary Act of 1789, federal courts have equitable authority to issue universal injunctions.”

“A universal injunction can be justified only as an exercise of equitable authority, yet Congress has granted federal courts no such power,” she added.

SUPREME COURT TAKES ON BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP: LIBERALS BALK AT TRUMP ARGUMENT TO END NATIONWIDE INJUNCTIONS

Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in her dissent, suggested plaintiffs could pursue class actions as an alternative.

“Nevertheless, the parents of children covered by the Citizenship Order would be well advised to file promptly class action suits and to request temporary injunctive relief for the putative class pending class certification,” Sotomayor wrote. “For suits challenging policies as blatantly unlawful and harmful as the Citizenship Order, moreover, lower courts would be wise to act swiftly on such requests for relief and to adjudicate the cases as quickly as they can so as to enable this Court’s prompt review.”

The ACLU lawsuit calls birthright citizenship “America’s most fundamental promise” and claims the executive order threatens to create “a permanent, multigenerational subclass” of children denied legal recognition.

“The Supreme Court’s decision did not remotely suggest otherwise, and we are fighting to make sure President Trump cannot trample on the citizenship rights of a single child,” said Cody Wofsy, deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project and lead attorney in the case.

“This executive order directly opposes our Constitution, values, and history,” added Devon Chaffee, executive director of the ACLU of New Hampshire. “No politician can ever decide who among those born in our country is worthy of citizenship.”

The lawsuit cites the 14th Amendment, which provides that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens.” It also references the Supreme Court’s 1898 decision in United States v. Wong Kim Ark, which affirmed birthright citizenship for U.S.-born children of noncitizens.

The plaintiffs include individuals from Honduras, Taiwan and Brazil. One mother in New Hampshire is expecting her fourth child and fears the baby will be denied citizenship despite being born in the U.S.

The case is Barbara et al. v. Trump et al., No. 1:25-cv-244, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire.

“Trump’s executive order directly opposes our Constitution, values, and history and it would create a permanent, multigenerational subclass of people born in the U.S. but who are denied full rights,” said SangYeob Kim of the ACLU of New Hampshire in January.

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“Today’s historic decision delivers a decisive rejection of the weaponized lawfare President Trump has endured from leftist activist judges who attempted to deny the president his constitutional authority,” White House spokesperson Liz Huston wrote to Fox News Digital. 

“President Trump will continue to implement his America First agenda, and the Trump Administration looks forward to litigating the merits of the birthright citizenship issue to ensure we secure our borders and Make America Safe Again.”

Fox News Digital’s Breanne Deppisch contributed to this report.

Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., a key Trump ally who is rumored to be planning a gubernatorial run in 2026, hit back hard against New York Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul, calling her the “worst governor in America” after the Democrat dinged her over Medicaid cuts.

In a Friday post on social media, Hochul accused Stefanik of voting “to put five hospitals in her district on the chopping block, endangering her own constituents’ lives, health, and jobs—all to serve Donald Trump.”

“I won’t stand for it. I’m fighting like hell to save New Yorkers’ health care,” said Hochul.

In response, Stefanik posted on X, “Hi @KathyHochul! Welcome to the fight.”

GOP ADVISOR EXPLAINS HOW REPUBLICANS CAN ‘CAPITALIZE’ ON ‘RADICAL’ CANDIDATE ZOHRAN MAMDANI

“You didn’t get exposed enough during our last round when you testified and were totally exposed for your dangerous and failed sanctuary state policies ?? Let’s do Medicaid now,” she wrote.

Stefanik slammed Hochul for giving Medicaid benefits to illegal immigrants, “putting New Yorkers most vulnerable LAST.”

“NY’s Medicaid program is rampant with tens of billions of waste, fraud, and abuse under Kathy’s watch,” she wrote. “Kathy Hochul, the Worst Governor in America oversees the worst run Medicaid program in the country harming NYers. Medicaid is an incredibly important program that I have worked to strengthen for New Yorkers.”

The New York congresswoman then added, “Oh and Kathy, your numbers in rural NY are plummeting” and “I have been nationally recognized as the TOP advocate to deliver results for rural hospitals due to my work for hospitals in my district.”

HOCHUL FAILS TO RECALL ILLEGAL ALIENS CHARGED IN HIGH-PROFILE CRIMINAL CASES, INCLUDING WOMAN’S SUBWAY BURNING

In another post, Stefanik said, “Oh Kathy. I’m glad I set your schedule these days – from setting your Tweet schedule by forcing you to tweet on the Communist Mayor who just won in your Democrat Party in NYC. To you now scrambling to go to Saranac Lake because of news articles. When I have an announcement to make, believe me you’ll know.”

This comes after Stefanik pressured Hochul to say whether she supported the new Democratic nominee for New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani, who has made controversial statements criticizing Israel and promoting Palestine and who identifies as a Democratic Socialist.

Hochul has since said she plans to meet with Mamdani to discuss his ideas for the city but has not yet issued a full endorsement.

Stefanik has said that as the leader of the New York Democratic Party, Hochul “fully embraced the antisemitic, Communist nominee,” adding, “she owns this catastrophe.”

COULD THIS TOP TRUMP ALLY BREAK REPUBLICAN’S 2-DECADE LOSING STREAK IN THIS KEY STATE?

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Earlier this month, Stefanik told a Republican crowd in Staten Island she was “strongly considering” entering the race for governor. She unveiled a new state political action committee, Save New York, which appears aimed at further cementing her status as a heavyweight in Empire State GOP politics.

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

Republicans in the House and Senate are anxiously watching whether President Donald Trump will take a more aggressive approach in corralling GOP lawmakers in favor of his “big, beautiful bill.”

“President Trump is the leader of the Republican Party, isn’t he? I think it’s incumbent upon him to make sure everybody in the Senate understands that this is a signature piece of legislation that essentially 77 million Americans voted for,” Rep. Derrick Van Orden, R-Wis., told Fox News Digital.

The Senate is working through a massive piece of legislation advancing Trump’s agenda on tax, immigration, energy, defense and the national debt — which the president has said he wants on his desk by the Fourth of July.

Trump has been pushing Republicans on the bill in public, addressing it at back-to-back events on Thursday and Friday while also posting on his Truth Social platform. 

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Congressional leaders have said they’ve been in near-constant contact with Trump or his White House staff about the legislation. Indeed, numerous White House officials, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Vice President JD Vance, to push Senate Republicans to stay on course. 

But some House Republicans want him to be as forceful as he was when their chamber passed the bill by just one vote in May. Trump summoned multiple groups of Republicans to the White House on several occasions in the lead-up to that vote, and even made a rare trip to Capitol Hill to gin up support within the House GOP.

Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., told Fox News Digital that when the House was going through the motions of advancing the mammoth legislation, it “looked all but impossible” to get it across the finish line. 

But it was because of Trump, he said, that the bill succeeded. 

“He’s our closer in the bullpen right now,” he said. “His arm is getting warmed up, and we’ll bring him in here in the ninth inning, and he’s going to throw heat. And so far, he’s pitched a no-hitter.”

It’s worth noting that several senators who have expressed concerns about the bill have spoken individually with Trump.

But Republicans who spoke with Fox News Digital showed varying degrees of enthusiasm when asked whether the president should repeat the intense involvement he had in the House.

When asked by Fox News Digital whether it’s time for the president to get involved, Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas., said, “That’s up to the White House. It’s up to the president.”

But Roy added, “I think the Senate needs to deliver, and I think the Senate ought to make good on the agreement that the majority leader had with us and with the speaker to work with us to achieve that level of spending cuts.”

Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Penn., said Trump is “always involved, so he’ll stay involved because we do want to get it done by July 4th.”

Rep. Scott Fitzgerald, R-Wis., said he was not being kept aware of how involved Trump was, but said the president’s deal-making skills would likely be needed.

“I mean, I think it’s gonna take that type of horsepower to kind of bring everybody together,” Fitzgerald said.

But some Republicans in the upper chamber are resistant.

NONCITIZEN LA RIOTERS COULD BE DEPORTED UNDER NEW HOUSE BILL

“It doesn’t matter what he says, of course not,” Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital. “I mean, I’m not voting for something unless I know what I’m voting on.”

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Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., wouldn’t say whether he believed that Trump should put a finger on the scales more. But he told Fox News Digital that he was appreciative of the effort that Thune and Senate Finance Committee Chair Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, had put into getting feedback from Senate Republicans, but said that at a certain point, lawmakers just needed to vote on the bill. 

“We have cussed and discussed this bill for a long, long time, and at some point you move from careful, rational deliberation into the foothills of jackassery,” Kennedy said. “And that’s where we are now. It’s time to vote. If people are unhappy, they can offer amendments.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.

A Senate Democrat’s push to put a check on President Donald Trump’s powers and reaffirm the Senate’s war authority was shut down by lawmakers in the upper chamber Thursday.

Sen. Tim Kaine’s war powers resolution, which would have required Congress to debate and vote on whether the president could declare war, or strike Iran, was struck down in the Senate on a largely party-line vote, save for Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., a staunch advocate of Israel who supported Trump’s strike on the Islamic Republic, and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who has been vocal in his thoughts about congressional war powers in recent days.

Earlier in the week, the Virginia Democrat vowed to move ahead with the resolution despite a fragile ceasefire brokered between Israel and Iran following weekend strikes on the Islamic Republic’s key nuclear facilities that were not given the green-light by Congress.

DEM SENATOR PLOWS AHEAD WITH WAR POWERS RESOLUTION DESPITE CEASEFIRE

Kaine argued that the ceasefire gave his resolution more credence and breathing room to properly debate the role that Congress plays when it comes to authorizing both war and attacks abroad.

He said ahead of the vote on the Senate floor that he came to Washington to ensure that the country does not again get into another “unnecessary” war, and invoked the rush to approve war powers for then-President George W. Bush over two decades ago to engage with Iraq.

“I think the events of this week have demonstrated that war is too big to consign to the decisions of any one person,” Kaine said. 

‘NOT CONSTITUTIONAL’: CONGRESS EVOKES NEW WAR POWERS RESOLUTION TO REJECT TRUMP’S STRIKES ON IRAN

Indeed, his resolution became a focal point for a debate that has raged on Capitol Hill since Israel began its bombing campaign against Iran: whether the strikes like those carried out during Operation Midnight Hammer constituted an act of war that required congressional approval, or if Trump’s decision was under his constitutional authority as commander-in-chief.  

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Senate Republicans have widely argued that Trump was well within his purview, while most Senate Democrats raised constitutional concerns about the president’s ability to carry out a strike without lawmakers weighing in. 

Experts have argued, too, that Trump was within his executive authority to strike Iran. 

The Constitution divides war powers between Congress and the White House, giving lawmakers the sole power to declare war, while the president acts as the commander in chief directing the military. 

And nearly two centuries later, at the height of the Vietnam War, the War Powers Resolution of 1973 was born, which sought to further define those roles.

But the most impact lawmakers could have is through the power of the purse, and Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky, who plays a large role in controlling the purse strings as the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, had a sharp message against Kaine’s resolution. 

McConnell used instances where Democratic presidents over the last three decades have used their authority for limited engagements in Kosovo, Libya, Syria and Yemen, and questioned why “isolationists” would consider the strike on Iran to kneecap its nuclear program a mistake. 

“I have not heard the frequent flyers on War Powers resolutions reckon seriously with these questions,” he said. “Until they do, efforts like this will remain divorced from both strategic and constitutional reality.”

The city council in Rhode Island‘s capital is backing the distribution of “Know Your Rights” mailers to residents instructing them on how to deal with law enforcement amid the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement. 

Households in Providence will receive a card in English and Spanish advising them of their constitutional rights if confronted by agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

It instructs residents not to open the door unless officers present a valid warrant signed by a judge. The lower portion of the card can be cut, kept in a wallet, and presented to immigration enforcement, a news release announcing the campaign states. 

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“The Providence City Council is partnering with organizations that represent our diverse community to promote safety and inclusion in the face of fear and uncertainty that pervades our city’s immigrant communities due to the reckless cruelty of the Trump administration,” Council President Rachel Miller said in a statement. 

“For nearly 400 years, immigrants have been and continue to be vital to Providence,” she added. “The Council stands together to say immigrants are welcome here and to encourage every member of our community to educate themselves about their constitutional rights and where to find help if they need it.”

BLUE CITY’S DEMOCRATIC COMMITTEE PRINTS THOUSANDS OF ‘RED CARDS’ URGING IMMIGRANTS TO KNOW THEIR RIGHTS

The council worked with more than a dozen local immigrant rights and advocacy groups on the mailer. The city has spent $17,000 on the mailers, a spokesperson for the council told Fox News Digital. 

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Rhode Island Republican Party for comment. 

The mailers are in response to the Trump administration’s illegal immigrant operations targeting those living in the United States illegally. 

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Democrats have denounced the operations, arguing they separate families and put communities at risk. Los Angeles saw multiple days of riots earlier this month after ICE agents arrested multiple illegal immigrants, many with criminal records, during several operations in and around the city. 

Fox News’ Brooke Taylor contributed to this report. 

President Donald Trump predicted there will be a ceasefire in Gaza sometime “within the next week.” 

Speaking with reporters in the Oval Office on Friday, Trump called the situation in Gaza a “terrible situation” but expressed optimism there could soon be a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. 

“I think it’s close. I just spoke with some of the people involved,” said the president, adding, “We think within the next week we’re going to get a ceasefire.” 

TRUMP EXERTED ‘MAXIMUM PRESSURE’ ON IRAN AND ISRAEL TO ‘DELIVER PEACE’: LEAVITT

Trump also addressed the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, saying, “we’re supplying, as you know, a lot of money and a lot of food to that area because we have to, I mean, you have to. In theory we’re not involved in it, but we’re involved because people are dying.”

He called on other countries to also send humanitarian aid to Gaza.

“You see the the lines of people just to get one meal, essentially. But it’s too bad other countries aren’t helping out,” he said. 

EX-SECRETARY OF STATE CONDOLEEZZA RICE CALLS US STRIKES ON IRAN A ‘SHOT IN THE ARM’ FOR AMERICAN CREDIBILITY

“Nobody’s helping out where we’re doing that because I think we have to on a humanitarian basis,” he went on. “I look at those crowds of people that have no food, no anything. And, you know, we’re the ones that are getting it there. Some of it’s being taken by some bad people, you know, as you give it and you give it out, and they’re supposed to be taking care of the people, and they end up stealing the food and selling it. But we have a pretty good system now, so we’re helping with that.”

“We’re working on Gaza, trying to get it taken care of and again, you know, a lot of lot of food has been sent there. And other countries throughout the world should be helping also,” he said. 

‘THE MISSION WAS ACCOMPLISHED’: SENATE REPUBLICANS PUSH BACK AGAINST LEAKED REPORT ON IRAN STRIKES

This comes after Trump authorized U.S. strikes on three Iranian nuclear development sites and subsequently declared a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, ending what he called “the Twelve Day War.”

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President Trump also took a number of questions on other matters, including one on Ukraine weapons, where he said he “may” authorize Patriot missiles for Ukraine’s air defenses. 

The Pentagon unveiled details of its $961 billion budget request on Thursday, a budget roadmap that may deprioritize new F-35 fighter jets in favor of next-generation aircraft and drones. 

The budget would reach that figure through $848.3 billion in its discretionary defense budget and an additional $113 billion through reconciliation, the “One Big Beautiful Bill” the Trump administration is trying to muscle through Congress right now. 

The parallel budget requests include $25 billion for Golden Dome, President Donald Trump’s homeland missile defense initiative. 

And as the Trump administration moves forward with the Air Force’s 6th-gen fighter jet, dubbed the F-47, the budget calls for a reduction in the next purchase of F-35s from 74 to 47. It requests $3.4 billion for the F-47 program. 

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Officials are still unsure whether the Navy’s next-gen fighter jet, F/A-XX, will move forward.

“Waiting for a decision from the secretary of the Navy, secretary of defense, and the president,” a defense official told reporters. “That’s an active conversation, whether to continue with the program or not.”

The program will proceed right now with “minimal funding” for design, the official said. 

Asked whether other service branches may get a different variant of the F-47 instead of entirely separate programs, the official said the idea is under consideration. 

“I would say pretty much everything is under consideration to get the [tactical] air capability that our war fighters need as quickly as possible, and that’s really what we’re looking at the most, is the schedule of all these programs.”

The budget requests funding for three new Navy ships through the discretionary request and another 16 through the reconciliation request. 

REPUBLICANS SQUABBLE OVER TRUMP SPENDING PLAN AS FISCAL YEAR 2026 LOOMS: ‘STAY UNTIL WE PASS IT’

The proposed budget seeks $197.4 billion for the Army, $292.2 billion for the Navy, $301.1 billion for the Air Force and $170.9 billion defense-wide. In the Air Force budget request is $40 billion for Space Force, a 30% increase from fiscal year 2025. 

The unusual budget structure, which officials classify as “one budget, two bills,” is part of a broader $1 trillion defense strategy when combined with national security spending at the Department of Energy. Administration officials have been working overtime to convince lawmakers to pass the One Big Beautiful bill by July 4. 

The budget asks for a 3.8% pay raise for troops, and it reveals plans to cut its civilian employee workforce by 7,286 people.

The Pentagon plans to continue to invest in munitions and weapons systems: the Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missile – Extended Range and Long Range Anti-Ship missile, which have longer ranges and may be more effective in the Pacific – but it seeks far fewer Precision Strike Missiles. 

The budget boosts spending on low-cost small drones which have proven effective in the war between Russia and Ukraine. 

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The E-7 radar plane will be cut, the senior defense official confirmed, “due to significant delays with cost increases from $588 million to $724 million per aircraft and survivability concerns in this contested environment.”

In an ideal world, Congress would pass 12 separate appropriations bills before the start of the fiscal year on October 1. But in recent years, it has often punted the headache down the road with continuing resolutions, or bills that temporarily fund the government at the previous year’s levels, and omnibuses, sprawling bills that contain funding for all 12 agencies in one up-or-down vote. 

For Republicans, the reaction to democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani’s stunning victory this week in New York City’s Democratic Party primary for mayor was simple.

They attacked the Ugandan-born 33-year-old state assemblyman from Queens, who took a major step toward becoming the first Muslim mayor of the nation’s most populous city, as an extremist and anchored him to Democrats across the country ahead of next year’s midterm elections.

The attacks stretched from down ballot on the campaign trail all the way up to the White House, with President Donald Trump claiming that Mamdani was “a 100% Communist Lunatic.”

REPUBLICANS USE MAMDANI BOMBSHELL VICTORY OVER CUOMO AS AMMUNITION TO BLAST DEMOCRATS AS EXTREMISTS

For Democrats, it’s more complicated.

Mamdani shocked the political world, topping former three-term Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the rest of the 11-candidate field in the Democratic mayoral primary. Cuomo, who resigned from office in 2021 amid multiple scandals, was aiming for a political comeback.

WHAT MAMDANI’S STUNNING PRIMARY VICTORY MEANS FOR DEMOCRATS NATIONWIDE 

Once a longshot, Mamdani closed the gap with frontrunner Cuomo during the final stretch of the primary race thanks to an energetic campaign that focused in great part on New York City’s high cost of living.

Endorsements from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the progressive rock star and New York City’s most prominent leader on the left, and by Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, the progressive champion and two-time Democratic presidential runner-up nominee, helped Mamdani consolidate support on the left.

And Mamdani, thanks in part to the efforts of a massive grassroots army of volunteers and his campaign’s creative use of social media, rode a wave of support from younger and progressive voters to catapult himself into first place.

New York City’s mayoral primary campaign played out as the Democratic Party works to escape from the political wilderness after last year’s elections, when the party lost control of the White House and the Senate majority and failed to win back control of the House from the GOP. It also came as the party works to resist Trump’s sweeping and controversial second-term agenda.

And Mamdani’s victory adds more fuel to the longstanding showdowns in the Democratic Party, between the progressive left and the more moderate establishment and centrists, and, to a degree – between young versus old.

CUOMO STAYING IN NYC MAYORAL RACE, FOR NOW: SOURCES 

Veteran Democratic strategist Lauren Hitt, who in the mayoral race advised a super PAC opposing Cuomo, told Fox News that Mamdani’s victory was a “clear rejection of the old guard.” 

And Progressive Change Campaign Committee co-founder Stephanie Taylor told Fox News that Mamdani’s “victory shows that a new direction for the Democratic Party is possible — a future of dynamic candidates who appeal to young and working-class voters with a platform that fights for people, not corporations,” Taylor said.

Pointing to endorsements of Cuomo earlier this month by former President Bill Clinton and former three-term New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, she charged that “the old guard establishment of the Democratic Party, fueled by billionaires, did everything they could to defeat Mamdani – and they failed. They continue being wrong about everything, and they need to get out of the way and let a new generation lead.”

Matt Bennett, executive vice president for the moderate Democrat-aligned group the Third Way, acknowledged that Mamdani “focused on affordability,” which he said is “great.”

Bennett added Mamdani is “young, charismatic, a great communicator. All that is great. We want to see that.”

But Bennett told Fox News “the problem is he has the wrong prescription.”

On the primary campaign trail, Mamdani proposed eliminating fares to ride New York City’s vast bus system, making City University of New York “tuition-free,” freezing rents on municipal housing, offering “free childcare” for children up to age 5 and setting up government-run grocery stores.

And in a CNN interview Thursday night, he said, “I have many critiques of capitalism. … There must be a better distribution of wealth for all of God’s children in this country.”

Bennett noted that “Republicans are already weaponizing” Mamdani’s primary victory to take aim “against other Democrats.”

Veteran Republican strategist Colin Reed told Fox News Mamdani’s win is “a messaging nightmare that’s going to unfold in real time from now until the midterms.”

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But Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz of Florida doesn’t think what happened in heavily blue New York City will resonate in crucial swing districts, like his seat.

“I think the idea that you can extrapolate what happened there and roll that out to 49 other states, to the suburbs, the politics are very different,” Moskowitz told reporters on Capitol Hill this week.

And Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi of New York, who represents a suburban swing district that also includes a sliver of New York City, took to social media to say he “had serious concerns about Assemblyman Mamdani” before the primary.

“Those concerns remain,” Suozzi said.

Fox News’ Deirdre Heavey contributed to this report.