NationalWatch

After raging against a key tool in President Donald Trump’s economic arsenal, Senate Democrats quietly green-lit the authority before they left Washington, D.C.

Democrats have bashed Trump’s use of tariffs since they were first floated during his campaign in 2024, and have taken every chance to challenge and push back against duties imposed on other countries throughout his second term.

But nearly the entire Senate Democratic caucus voted in favor of giving Trump limited tariff authority in exchange for bone-crushing sanctions against Russia. Only nine Democrats, and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., ultimately voted against the package.

PUTIN, RUSSIA PUT ON NOTICE AS SENATE TAKES CRUCIAL STEP TO GRIND DOWN THE KREMLIN’S WAR MACHINE

Now, Trump has ignited a trade war with Canada, introducing 50% tariffs against the country on roughly $20 billion worth of goods, which has reignited the debate on the campaign trail and as Democrats seek to flip the Senate and corral his authority.

Some warned that giving congressional approval would allow the administration to abuse the power.

“It gives Donald Trump massive new tariff authority that he can use to threaten our trading partners and raise prices on the American people,” Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said on the Senate floor. “I believe senators will come to deeply regret voting to give Donald Trump this tariff authority.”

Though not directly connected to the authority granted in the sanctions package, which directly deals with countries buying oil from Russia, Trump’s move to enter into a fight with one of America’s top trade partners is what he warned of: giving the White House congressional leeway.

TRUMP ALLIES PUSH TO ARM PRESIDENT WITH NEW TARIFF WEAPON TO PUNISH COUNTRIES ‘RIPPING OFF’ AMERICA

The tariff authority baked into the sanctions package would allow Trump to issue levies of up to 500% on Russian imports and tariffs of up to 100% on the top five countries buying Russian energy, like China and India.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who, alongside the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, pushed the package for nearly two years, told Fox News Digital that if Trump strays outside the legal confines built into the package, the courts will block him as they did with his sweeping tariffs unveiled on “Liberation Day” last year.

“If Donald Trump wants to break this law, he will be restrained by the courts, just as when he broke the law on tariffs previously,” Blumenthal said. “We can’t do any more than be explicit in limiting his authority to the top five purchasers, and only those countries, by the terms, specific in the legislation.”

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who went on to vote against the package, told reporters last month that Trump “has shown what he will do with broad tariff authority.”

TRUMP BET TARIFFS WOULD BRING BACK AMERICAN FACTORY JOBS. NEW REPORT SAYS IT DIDN’T WORK

“Heck, he’s shown what he’ll do even if he doesn’t have authority,” she said.

And Paul, who has been one of the lone Republicans to consistently oppose Trump’s use of tariffs, introduced an amendment alongside Wyden to strip them from the broader package, warning that the duties were nothing more than an additional tax on the American people.

“Do not let sympathy for Ukraine blind you to the reality of tariffs,” Paul said.

One Senate Democrat, Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., received guarantees from U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer that the tariffs baked into the sanctions package would just be limited to the top five energy trading partners with the Kremlin.

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He told Fox News Digital that the concern was that Trump could broadly bend the rules in the package and impose duties as he pleased, which is why he sought guardrails and commitments from the administration.

“It was important to hold [Vladimir] Putin accountable. He is a war criminal,” Warnock said. “His aggression towards Ukraine has national security implications for us. But at the same time, it was important to put some guardrails on this president. And I think I made considerable progress in making sure that that happens.”

The fuel most Americans rarely think about is becoming a new hurdle for President Donald Trump’s push to make housing more affordable, as the Iran war raises costs for construction sites.

With the midterm elections approaching, the diesel surge underscores the political tension facing Trump and congressional Republicans as they promise to bring down housing costs while war-driven energy prices add new pressure to home construction.

Builders are already wrestling with expensive financing, labor, materials and costs tied to regulations and permitting that Republicans have pledged to reduce. Because diesel powers the trucks and heavy equipment used throughout the construction process, higher prices can make it harder to deliver the lower-priced homes needed to ease America’s affordability crunch.

AMERICA’S HOUSING MARKET COULD RUN OUT OF SOMETHING MORE IMPORTANT THAN HOMES

Jim Tobin, president and CEO of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), told Fox News Digital that diesel is “critical to construction.”

“Diesel, which our workers use when they’re hauling materials on trucks and moving dirt on sites, has seen a spike, and that has really put a little bit of pressure on home building in the short term here.”

Unlike gasoline, which is felt most directly by motorists, diesel powers the trucks hauling lumber, concrete, appliances and other supplies to construction sites, as well as the heavy equipment that prepares lots and builds new homes.

The national average price of on-highway diesel climbed to $5.65 a gallon this week, up nearly $2.00 from a year ago, according to data compiled by the Energy Information Administration. Diesel’s year-over-year increase has been far sharper than gasoline’s, with the national average for regular gas at about $4.09 a gallon.

The added pressure comes as Trump has made housing affordability a key part of his second-term agenda. In March, he signed an executive order directing federal agencies to reduce regulatory barriers that raise construction and homeownership costs, with an emphasis on speeding permitting and expanding supply.

THE SURPRISING HIDDEN COST QUIETLY ADDING NEARLY $132K TO NEW HOME PRICES REVEALED

But even as the administration targets regulatory costs, builders say other expenses can quickly offset those savings.

Tobin said the industry has so far seen only a modest impact from tariffs on construction inputs. But he has begun hearing from manufacturers announcing price increases, particularly those tied to steel and aluminum costs. Diesel adds another layer of pressure by raising the cost of both getting materials to a job site and completing the work once they arrive.

The issue is especially significant in fast-growing states across the South and Southwest, where an influx of residents, businesses and capital has fueled demand for new housing.

“States that find themselves ahead of the curve are planning those two critical components, infrastructure and housing, together,” Tobin said. “They’re going to be better prepared for growth in the future.”

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Builders are also grappling with a persistent shortage of construction workers. Tobin said the industry is roughly 250,000 workers short, raising labor costs and contributing to project delays.

More homes are needed to ease price pressures, but each increase in the cost of labor, land, materials, financing or fuel makes that task harder. Diesel may not appear on a buyer’s closing documents, but its cost can still be felt long before they get the keys.

The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

A judge in Minnesota sentenced two men to prison on Wednesday for running a massive pandemic fraud campaign.

Ahmed Ghedi was sentenced to over five years in prison, and Abdihakim Ahmed was sentenced to four and a half years. Prosecutors say the pair helped run the fraudulent child nutrition site Feeding Our Future, which claimed to be giving food to thousands of children each day in the Twin Cities area.

The pair received $7.3 million in COVID relief funds meant to help support the program. Instead, they used the money to buy a car and property, as well as share the cash with a Feeding Our Future employee.

EXCLUSIVE: FBI ADDS ALLEGED COVID FRAUDSTER ACCUSED OF TAKING $5M FROM KIDS’ MEAL PROGRAM TO MOST WANTED LIST

The judge also ordered the men to pay restitution, with Ahmed to pay $2,242,590 and Ghedi $2,862,451.

Their sentencing comes months after the mastermind behind the Feeding Our Future scam, Amee Bock, was sentenced to nearly 42 years in prison in May.

Bock ran the Feeding Our Future organization and was convicted of orchestrating $250 million in pandemic relief fraud.

Prosecutors told the court the nonprofit functioned as a “cash pipeline,” relying on a web of fake distribution sites, fabricated lists of children and kickbacks.

MINNESOTA MAN MARKS FBI’S FIRST ARREST FROM DOJ’S ‘MOST WANTED FRAUDSTERS’ LIST

During sentencing, Bock told the federal court, “I understand I failed. I failed the public, my family, everyone.”

MINNESOTA FRAUD REPORT ACCUSES STATE AG OF ‘INCOMPETENCE, WILLFUL BLINDNESS OR WORSE’

The sprawling investigation has led to the convictions of dozens of people, many hailing from the state’s large Somali community.

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The Feeding Our Future scheme spurred the Trump administration’s surge of federal officers to the Minneapolis-St. Paul area last winter, which led to violent protests and multiple fatal federal officer-involved shootings.

Fox News’ Alexandra Koch contributed to this report.

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., is subpoenaing a doctor allegedly behind a sprawling birth tourism scheme based in Florida.

It comes as Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, is setting his sights on a new target after his crackdown on the Smithsonian Institution made headlines and thrust fresh scrutiny onto its teaching of American history.

Gill’s task force on investigating institutional abuses, which is part of the House Oversight Committee, is now gearing up for a hearing on the practice of birth tourism — something the White House sounded the alarm on just this month.

As part of the hearing, Comer sent a subpoena to Dr. Wladimir Lorentz of Have My Baby in Miami, a South Florida business that’s aimed at helping foreigners give birth in the United States. The hearing is expected to take place Sept. 1.

Comer accused Lorentz of refusing to voluntarily appear via his attorney, and in a letter sent with the subpoena on Tuesday, Comer said Lorentz’s attorney argued he could not speak with the committee due to a pending criminal probe being conducted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.

“As the Founder and Chief Medical Officer of a company doing business as ‘Have My Baby in Miami,’ your knowledge regarding the company’s marketing practices and direct observations relevant to the birth tourism industry is vital to the immediate investigation,” Comer’s subpoena letter read.

SEN ERIC SCHMITT SEEKS TO END BIRTH TOURISM, REVOKE CITIZENSHIP FOR BABIES OF FOREIGN DIPLOMATS

“Furthermore, given the national security concerns raised by birth tourism, delaying the hearing or deferring your testimony to some unknown date in the (potentially far) future would be an extraordinary action that would curtail the Committee’s ability to glean valuable information that will inform its oversight and further its legislative goals.”

Meanwhile, Gill echoed Comer’s concerns over national security.

BIRTH TOURISM FIGHT SHIFTS TO US ‘TROPICAL MATERNITY WARD’ WITH HISTORY OF CHINESE EXPLOITATION

“A growing industry is openly marketing American citizenship to foreign nationals who travel here for the express purpose of giving birth on U.S. soil. This abuse of our immigration system also raises serious national security concerns, particularly given the number of birth tourists traveling from adversarial nations like China and Russia,” the House GOP firebrand said.

His panel’s Sept. 1 hearing is also expected to feature testimony from Dr. Steve Camarota of the Center for Immigration Studies. The medical director and owner of a company called International Maternity Services, Dr. Julio César Novoa, was also invited.

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Gill’s new task force, which was founded this year, has largely focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts across various sectors of American life.

He’s held hearings on whether the Smithsonian’s teaching of U.S. history involved overly ideological and political leanings, and whether DEI plays a role in running the American Bar Association (ABA).

Birth tourism is the colloquial term for the general practice of foreign nationals coming to the U.S. on temporary visas for the purpose of having a child who then automatically becomes an American citizen.

President Donald Trump targeted birth tourism in a recent executive order after the Supreme Court struck down his efforts to curb birthright citizenship writ large. He also signed an order banning specific categories, such as children born to foreign government workers, from automatically getting U.S. citizenship.

Have My Baby in Miami is just one company that appears to make it more accessible for foreigners to give birth in the U.S. Its website and social media pages appeared to be disabled as of Thursday.

But a YouTube page that appears to be associated with the business states, “Many people have questions about how to have a child in the United States, and we can help clarify how to deliver in Miami, how to live in the United States during your pregnancy, how to have a baby in the United States, how much it costs to deliver in the United States and how to go through pregnancy in the United States.”

“Children who are born in the United States, with rare exceptions, have US citizenship,” the summary states.

An October 2025 article by Local 10 in Florida appears to have obtained information from the now-deleted pages, including that the company reportedly touted that it helped deliver 2,000 babies.

It’s not yet clear if Lorentz will appear. But defying a congressional subpoena could risk criminal charges.

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Fox News Digital reached out to his lawyer for comment.

Florida is becoming the first state to impose sweeping new limits on how welfare cash can be spent, blocking recipients from using cash-assistance benefits loaded onto EBT cards for purchases like tattoos, theme park tickets, video games, vaping products and other items not generally considered “basic needs” under a plan the Trump administration is urging other states to emulate.

Florida’s cash-assistance program, known as Temporary Cash Assistance (TCA), is funded through the federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, or TANF. It is separate from SNAP, the food-assistance program, though families may receive both types of benefits through separate balances on the same EBT card.

The Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Children and Families (ACF) determined Florida’s updated TANF plan to be complete Thursday in a letter sent to Gov. Ron DeSantis and obtained by Fox News Digital. The letter praised the Sunshine State governor for putting “common-sense restrictions” on what it calls inappropriate, luxury and non-essential purchases.

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“Taxpayer-funded assistance should help families put food on the table, keep the lights on, purchase clothing, provide for their children and overcome barriers on the path toward independence,” DeSantis said in announcing the policy. “We will continue supporting Floridians who genuinely need assistance, while working to improve accountability and transparency so that these programs operate as intended.”

Florida had already barred EBT cards from being used or accepted for alcohol purchases and transactions at adult-entertainment establishments, casinos, and commercial bingo locations several years ago, but the updated plan moves beyond those merchant and location-based restrictions by imposing item-level limits at otherwise eligible retailers, including on purchases for tattoos and other body piercings, entertainment services and products like theme park admission and video games, intoxicants like vapes and other nicotine products, and pornography products.

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The governor’s press release announcing the change also cites “Psychic and fortune-telling services” among those purchases that will be prohibited.

Florida’s separate Healthy SNAP initiative, launched in April, barred recipients from using food benefits on soda, energy drinks, candy and ultra-processed prepared desserts. The new action from the Sunshine State, with backing from the Trump administration, applies those same food limits to Florida’s cash-assistance program, which is funded through TANF, while adding restrictions on non-food purchases deemed non-essential.

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ACF Assistant Secretary Alex J. Adams told Fox News Digital the administration sees TANF as temporary help for families in need, not an unrestricted cash benefit.

“When people come to us for those basic needs, we will give them short-term assistance for those needs, but not for superfluous purchases,” he said.

FOX NEWS POLL: VOTERS SEE WELFARE FRAUD AS COMMON, STILL MOSTLY FAVOR PROTECTING BENEFITS OVER CRACKDOWNS

Florida distributes its welfare benefits through EBT cards to help eligible families cover basics such as food, clothing, housing, utilities, household goods and personal-care items. The governor’s office says the average participating household receives roughly $250 a month, and Adams stressed that the policy does not reduce anyone’s benefit amount.

“No one loses any of their benefit,” Adams said. “What this is saying is, if an individual or a family is going to come to the government to cover their basic needs, it is the government’s expectation that they be used for those basic needs.”

The restrictions will be phased in as Florida works with its EBT vendor and participating retailers to block prohibited purchases. Under the final plan, recipients will be allowed to withdraw TCA cash only at SNAP-authorized retailers and financial institutions that accept EBT cards.

Adams told Fox News Digital the administration hopes Florida becomes a model for other states. He said 27 states lack EBT location restrictions beyond those required by federal law and that most states do not impose item-level TANF purchase limits.

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“While Florida is the first state, hopefully it’s not the last state,” Adams told Fox News Digital, adding that ACF plans to highlight Florida’s approach as “a best practice” for other states.

A Maryland court blocked Democrats from adding a congressional redistricting initiative to the November ballot on Wednesday.

The Democrat-backed effort would have allowed Maryland residents to vote on an amendment to the state constitution to let lawmakers redraw district maps ahead of the 2028 elections.

The amendment would have removed the requirement that congressional districts be compact and follow “natural boundaries.” Democrats already control seven of Maryland’s eight congressional districts.

MARYLAND’S LONE CONGRESSIONAL REPUBLICAN BLASTS MOORE’S REDISTRICTING PUSH AS ALLEGED 2028 WHITE HOUSE PLAY

The lone Republican, Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., represents the district situated the eastern shore of the Chesapeake Bay, and the change would allow Democrats to reshape his district.

County Circuit Court Judge Robert Thompson ruled that Democrats had violated state deadlines for adding ballot measures. Earlier this year, Maryland Democrats passed a law requiring the Maryland secretary of state to certify ballot summaries by July 1, but the amendment was submitted after that date.

EXCLUSIVE: OVERSIGHT PROJECT SUES TO BLOCK MARYLAND DEMOCRATS’ REDISTRICTING MEASURE BACKED BY GOV MOORE

The Maryland Senate Republican Caucus released a statement praising the ruling on Wednesday.

“The case has never been about preventing Marylanders from having a voice, it’s been about ensuring that before voters are asked to amend the constitution, the state first complies with the constitution and the election procedures established by law,” the statement read, according to Fox 5 DC.

REDISTRICTING WAR INTENSIFIES AS GOP SUFFERS SETBACKS IN TWO STATES

The Maryland ruling is the latest development in a nationwide battle over redistricting that first started in Texas.

Republicans and Democrats are vying for any and every advantage leading into the 2026 midterm elections.

A similar effort by Democrats was struck down in Virginia earlier this year by the state supreme court. Texas successfully redrew its maps in favor of Republicans, while California did the same in favor of Democrats.

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Redistricting battles remain ongoing in Georgia and elsewhere.

Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed described Americans as “desperate to feel something” and lamented that “we’re just all living it alone here” while reflecting on the community he experienced during extended childhood stays in Egypt during a podcast episode last year — remarks uncovered after the candidate recently declared that he “hates” one of his home state’s most iconic destinations.

During a late-October 2025 podcast interview, after getting asked what Americans could gain from life “back home,” El-Sayed had a one-word answer: “Community.”

“I think the hardest part about American life right now is that we’ve been, like, deeply atomized,” El-Sayed said, arguing that the connections offered through phones and social media are “not community.” In Egypt and other societies with far more constant human interaction, he said, “you’re constantly enveloped in other people’s humanity.”

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“It’s like a beautiful thing,” El-Sayed said. “And I wish we had more of that.”

The podcast remarks are not the first time El-Sayed has offered pointed criticism of American society and institutions.

During a 2019 University of Michigan School of Public Health commencement address, while discussing racial and economic disparities in Detroit, he said residents had been “directly and purposely marginalized by every level of government” in “a city and a state and a country that has baked racism into its foundation.” Later in the speech, while discussing the Flint water crisis and the country’s political climate, El-Sayed said he had watched American politics “revert to a strain of white supremacy and racism I never thought we’d go back to.”

The comments stand in tension with the Michigan-centered image El-Sayed has presented at times, at one point describing himself as the quintessential “Michigan man.” In recently resurfaced recordings, however, he said he “hates” Mackinac Island, questioned elements of football culture by linking its ethos to historical narratives of slavery and oppression, and argued Americans should find another way to celebrate the Fourth of July in a video sharing four reasons “why fireworks suck.” In a 2021 Substack post El-Sayed also said “toxic masculinity” was “at the heart of America’s most popular sport.”

MICHIGAN DEM SENATE NOMINEE COMES UNDER FIRE OVER RESURFACED BLOG POST LINKING FOOTBALL TO ‘TOXIC MASCULINITY’

His campaign has pushed back on the resurfaced material, telling CNN that cherry-picked comments from old podcasts do not reflect his beliefs today and noting that El-Sayed played football and has publicly celebrated the Fourth of July.

During the October 2025 podcast interview, El-Sayed recounted how his parents would “ship me off to Egypt in the summers” so he would know his father’s language and culture, sometimes spending roughly four months with his working-class extended family in the one-bedroom apartment where his father grew up.

He told the hosts those experiences taught him something about “the human condition” that he believes can be harder to encounter in American life.

“I think in American life sometimes we’re not so privy to the lives other people lead,” El-Sayed said, adding that in societies like Egypt, “the humanity of it all, like the carnal nature of it all, hits you.” He called the experience “euphoric” and said exposure to other people’s lives “softens or should soften your heart” to their experiences.

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El-Sayed later pointed to weddings “back home” as a “celebration of humanity,” contrasting people spending hours together with social media, which he described as an attempt to recreate that experience through “some huge corporation that’s monetizing your eyeballs and your eardrums.” He said that type of human connection “can’t” be replaced and called it “the best of living.”

“I think that, like, the essence of our country is that we actually do come together and build things collectively,” El-Sayed said, arguing Americans have been “oscillating between that instinct and the instinct to chase money,” blaming the pursuit of wealth by a small number of people for problems ranging from the American healthcare system to U.S. military spending abroad.

“And, like, at some point I’d rather live in community where people have the basic things they need than be in a country where a few people get to be billionaires and the rest of us get to suffer.”

Iowa Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand flatly stated that he would not want to have former President Joe Biden or former Vice President Kamala Harris campaign for him.

When Politico’s Jonathan Martin asked Sand if he would want Biden to campaign for him, the candidate said, “No. Can he even do that right now? I’m sorry.”

“No thanks,” Sand said after Martin asked about Harris. “Let’s move on. We need some new leadership.”

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“You don’t think Harris should run in 2028?” Martin asked.

“Nope,” he replied.

When Al Sharpton asked Harris in April if she will run again in 2028, she said “I might” and noted that she was “thinking about it.”

OBAMA ENDORSES DEMOCRATIC IOWA STATE REP RUNNING FOR US SENATE AGAINST TRUMP-BACKED HOUSE REPUBLICAN

Biden, who was already the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, dropped his re-election bid in 2024 in the wake of a widely-panned debate performance and endorsed Harris, who went on to lose the general election to then-former President Donald Trump.

Sand, the Iowa auditor of state, is running against Trump-backed Republican Zach Lahn in the state’s 2026 gubernatorial race.

President Donald Trump declared in a part of a Truth Social post last month, “It is my Great Honor to endorse America First Patriot, Zach Lahn, a tremendous Candidate running to be the next Governor of the Wonderful State of Iowa, a place I love and WON BIG in 2016, 2020, and 2024!”

IOWA GUBERNATORIAL HOPEFUL ZACH LAHN TELLS ‘RUTHLESS’ DEMOCRATS ARE HIDING THEIR BAD POLICIES

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Current Gov. Kim Reynolds, a Republican, announced last year that she would not seek re-election.

Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones is drawing fire over two disputes involving the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement agenda — a civil rights investigation into a rural sheriff’s traffic-stop practices amid his cooperation with ICE. and a legal challenge involving federal access to commercial driver records.

Virginia House Minority Leader Terry Kilgore told Fox News Digital that the two disputes reflect what he characterized as a broader unwillingness by Virginia’s Democratic leadership to cooperate with President Donald Trump. His criticism came as Jones announced a probe into Greene County Sheriff Steve Smith.

“That’s just this whole administration’s modus operandi, to put it bluntly, they are so mad at Trump, they want to make sure they don’t want to cooperate with Trump in any area whatsoever, and they want make it unsafe for Virginians,” Kilgore, R-Gate City, told Fox News Digital in an interview.

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The criticism comes as Jones’ Office of Civil Rights notified Smith that it launched an investigation into allegations involving the Greene County Sheriff’s Office’s traffic-stop practices and cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

“I applaud the Greene County sheriff for working with ICE to make that we don’t have illegals on our roads, illegals out here committing crimes and things of that nature, unlike our attorney general, who’s the chief law enforcement officer of our state out here picking fights with sheriffs over illegal immigrants,” Kilgore said.

The dispute comes amid a broader shift in Virginia’s immigration enforcement policy under Spanberger

On her first day in office, Spanberger — who endorsed Jones — rescinded former Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s order encouraging ICE cooperation. She later signed a law on April 22 sponsored by Del. Alfonso Lopez, D-Arlington, restricting state and local participation in federal civil immigration enforcement.

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“[My office] has reviewed allegations that GCSO may be conducting traffic stops in violation of state law and the Constitution,” Jones’ Office of Civil Rights wrote to Smith while demanding records concerning immigration enforcement policies, training materials and interagency agreements.

Smith’s deputies have participated in several operations with ICE — notable for a small, rural county located along major transportation routes.

A June operation near the intersection of U.S. 29 and U.S. 33 resulted in 49 people being detained by ICE. U.S. 29 connects Washington, D.C., with Charlottesville and points south, while U.S. 33 connects Richmond with western Virginia.

A Honduran man identified by DHS as an MS-13 gang member was among 26 people arrested during another operation in nearby Ruckersville in May.

“Tell me what kind of message that’s sending to the citizens of Virginia — that it’s more important for me to protect illegal folks who are here illegally than to protect our citizens here,” Kilgore said.

Smith had previously defended his operations in comments to Charlottesville media, saying his deputies apply reasonable suspicion — “the same as we do for all vehicles” — as the standard for initiating traffic stops.

Local activists accused deputies of profiling, while Smith said speeding, failure to maintain a lane and running red lights most often prompt traffic stops.

“Oh, look, the Virginia AG is going after a cop for doing actual cop things,” former Del. Nick Freitas added in a statement.

Fox News Digital reached out to Jones, Spanberger and ICE for comment.

Smith declined to comment to Fox News Digital, citing his retention of counsel, but previously told the Piedmont Journal-Recorder that he will “continue to assist ICE with their operations” after discussing the new law with Del. Karen Hamilton, R-Stanardsville.

State Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Charlottesville, the Democrats’ 2009 gubernatorial nominee whose district neighbors Greene County, said he was “disappointed” by the situation.

“Certainly we all want people who come into this country to come in legally, but the people that are here are for the most part here to fill a need and that’s work,” he told CVilleRightNow.

Former Del. Kim Taylor, R-Petersburg, who received a politically motivated death threat during the 2025 election, referenced graphic text messages Jones sent to another former lawmaker imagining the murder of former Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah. The “two bullets” scandal nearly torpedoed Jones’ campaign.

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Taylor told Fox News Digital that she considers Jones’ actions hypocritical given his past messages.

“For an attorney general who once talked about putting ‘two bullets’ in a political opponent to now lecture law enforcement is hypocrisy at its worst,” she said.

Alongside his investigation into Smith, Jones joined a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s demand for a bulk transfer of commercial-driver records covering roughly 17 million drivers as the U.S. Department of Transportation cracks down on drivers who cannot meet English-language requirements or illegal immigrant truckers accused of causing deadly wrecks.

Jones celebrated U.S. District Judge Anthony Trenga, a George W. Bush appointee, temporarily blocking the bulk transfer of the records, calling it an “important win for protecting the privacy of millions of commercial drivers.”

An ICE spokesperson confirmed the Ruckersville operation near US-29, including the arrests of 49 illegal immigrants.

“All of the illegal aliens were transported to ICE facilities for further processing and will receive due process. They will remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings,” the spokesperson said.
  
“Partnerships with law enforcement are critical to having the resources we need to arrest illegal aliens across the country. When politicians bar local law enforcement from working with DHS, our law enforcement officers have to have a more visible presence so that we can find and apprehend the criminals let out of jails and back into communities,” they added.

Kilgore, whose southwestern Virginia district includes mountainous stretches of U.S. 58 and lies near Interstate 81, told Fox News Digital that the suit is “just another way that they try to stick their thumb in the administration’s eye.”

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“Once again, we’re siding with illegals or foreigners who are here driving 18-wheelers… who could harm our citizens because they’re not qualified,” Kilgore said.

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“I don’t understand why the Democrats are so, so against these activities [that] make sure that our highways are safe.”

Fox News Digital’s Hannah Brennan contributed to this report.

EXCLUSIVE: A State Department memo reveals that an international technology collective, now under a U.S. global terrorism designation, provided services to overseas terrorist groups and violent far-left agitators causing chaos in American cities, according to a copy obtained by Fox News Digital.

“Far-left terrorism poses a profound threat to the United States and the broader West,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Today, the United States sanctioned Autistici/Inventati – a major far-left tech collective whose services are used by the most active and violent Antifa cells in the United States and across the world.”

Autistici/Inventati, called the A/I Collective by the State Department, is an Italy-based group that builds highly sophisticated digital infrastructure used by violent left-wing organizations in the United States and Europe, along with Islamic terrorists, according to the State Department. The collective’s services include encrypted chats and email, web hosting, secure video conferencing and streaming and anonymity shields, according to the memo.

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“These tools are specifically designed to support the operations of far-left terrorist networks, built to enable them to organize, recruit, communicate, disseminate propaganda, share target information and tactics, and carry out violent attacks – all while remaining anonymous, untraceable, and beyond the reach of the law,” says the State Department’s memo.

A/I Collective has officially been deemed a Specially Designated Global Terrorist. The designation bars Americans and U.S. financial institutions from doing business with the group and freezes any assets it has under U.S. jurisdiction. Violators can face civil or criminal penalties.

The memo identifies Portland-based Rose City Antifa, known for its violent rioting and destruction, as one of the U.S. groups that relied on A/I Collective tools and services.

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Rose City Antifa is listed in the memo alongside a media organization that the State Department says uses A/I Collective tools to disseminate information to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which is proliferating inside the United States, Hamas, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Hezbollah and others.

The memo also accuses the militant abortion-rights group “Jane’s Revenge” — which declared “open season” on pro-life organizations and threatened escalating attacks after the leaked Supreme Court draft signaling Roe v. Wade would be overturned — of using the collective’s services.

The State Department memo says the collective provides its services exclusively to left-wing extremists, screening users for ideological alignment before allowing them access to its tools.

The collective claims to host roughly 16,000 mailboxes, 1,500 websites, 5,500 mailing lists and 10,000 “blogs” on a custom-built platform. The State Department says militants frequently use those services to disseminate target information, tactical manuals and techniques and communiqués about recent attacks.

RUBIO’S CALL TO COMBAT GLOBAL FUNDERS OF FAR-LEFT TERRORISM COULD PUT SINGHAM IN CROSSHAIRS

The memo stressed that while the infrastructure is overseas, it supports domestic far-left groups that for years have wreaked havoc in the United States, mostly under the label of Antifa, or antifascism.

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“There will be no refuge for violent extremists who wage war on our civilization and plot to undermine law and order, destroy critical infrastructure, assault political opponents, or conspire to conceal their crimes from authorities,” Rubio said. “We will use all the tools and authorities at our disposal to fight terrorism and protect our way of life from terrorist coercion.”

The memo cites several examples of violent or terrorist activity that the State Department says was facilitated through A/I Collective technology.

SECRET SIGNAL CHATS REVEAL HOW ANTI-ICE AGITATORS COORDINATED NEWARK RIOTS

The memo identifies a far-left extremist media group that describes itself as a “tool” for militants worldwide to share “essential information” to be “acted upon.” According to State, the group relies on A/I Collective services to publish official communiqués and calls to action for U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organizations.

The memo says Rose City Antifa relied on A/I Collective tools and services to organize and incite violent and criminal acts, including disseminating an online flyer urging supporters to use laser pointers against U.S. Customs and Border Protection helicopters.

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“All you need is a laser. Leave home – they can see where the laser is coming from,” the flyer said. “Go to a park, a field, or some other public place, and once the clock strikes 9 unleash your beam at the cop copter. Mask up. Coordinate with friends to throw a laser party!”

“Let’s take back the night together!” it continued. “It won’t take many of us to ground the helicopters!”

The memo says at least one man answered the call to action. Federal records show he later pleaded guilty to aiming a laser at a CBP helicopter, forcing the aircraft to abort its planned landing.

The memo says Rose City Antifa also used A/I Collective tools to disseminate personal information about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel and calls for targeted attacks against ICE agents “in their homes” and in public.

“Jane’s Revenge” used A/I Collective tools to “publish official communiqués and claims of responsibility for violent and criminal acts and to incite copycat attacks,” according to the State Department.

Notably, Jane’s Revenge claimed responsibility for the May 2022 firebombing of a crisis pregnancy center in Madison, Wisconsin. The following day, a cryptic message appeared on a blog affiliated with the group.

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“This was only a warning. We demand the disbanding of all anti-choice establishments, fake clinics, and violent anti-choice groups within the next thirty days,” the message said. “This is not a mere ‘difference of opinion’ as some have framed it. We are literally fighting for our lives. We will not sit still while we are killed and forced into servitude. We have run thin on patience and mercy for those who seek to strip us of what little autonomy we have left.”

In the following months, several more posts appeared claiming responsibility for vandalism of pregnancy centers across the country, including smashed glass windows and doors and graffiti. The State Department memo says that four members of the group were later federally charged for “‘conspiracy against rights’ through threats of force and intimidation.”

The memo also refers to far-left extremists in Atlanta using A/I Collective tools and services in a violent attempt to “prevent the construction of a law enforcement training center.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also weighed in.

“Far-left extremists, their fronts, and their enablers should be on notice: We will bring the full weight of our economic tools to bear,” he said. “Political terrorism has no place in our society, and we will continue to cut the financial lifelines of these groups until they are eliminated.”

Abroad, the memo says far-left extremists in France, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands used A/I Collective tools to claim responsibility for attacks on rail systems this year and to disseminate instructions for making improvised incendiary devices intended to disrupt railways.

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Anarchists who claimed responsibility for sabotaging infrastructure supporting the Transalpine Pipeline, a major crude-oil artery into Central Europe, also used A/I Collective tools, according to the memo. The State Department says the same was true of the far-left Vulkangruppe, which has targeted German infrastructure since 2011 and claimed responsibility for a January attack that knocked out power to roughly 45,000 Berlin households.

In 2025, President Donald Trump declared Antifa to be a terrorist organization.

Fox News Digital reached out to A/I Collective, Rose City Antifa and Jane’s Revenge.

An armed man arrested Aug. 2 at President Donald Trump‘s California golf course allegedly had first lady Melania Trump’s schedule and detailed information about U.S. Secret Service (USSS) personnel, according to reports.

Jeanine John Taele, 38, had more than 200 pages of writings that included schedules for the first lady and members of the president’s USSS detail, The Associated Press reported, citing information revealed during a Los Angeles County court hearing Wednesday.

The New York Post reported that prosecutors said Taele had seven notebooks containing 208 pages of drawings and sketches of Trump National Golf Club Los Angeles in Rancho Palos Verdes, lists of USSS schedules, details about individual security personnel and copies of Melania Trump‘s schedule.

MAN ARRESTED AT TRUMP GOLF COURSE AHEAD OF PRESIDENT’S VISIT ALLEGEDLY HAD WEAPONS CACHE

The writings also included detailed lists about surviving “off the grid,” according to the AP.

Los Angeles County Judge John Lonergan Jr. called the allegations “alarming” during Wednesday’s hearing.

“This case itself is alarming in this day and age with the violence that is creeping into our everyday lives, especially with our partisanship in the political environment” ahead of the midterms, Lonergan said, according to the AP.

The judge suspended criminal proceedings after a pretrial evaluation indicated Taele was not mentally fit to stand trial and sent the case to a mental health court, the AP reported.

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Taele was arrested earlier this month after plainclothes federal agents spotted him walking the grounds of the golf club, taking photographs and videos and appearing to monitor security-planning activities ahead of Trump’s visit, Fox News Digital previously reported.

Deputies who detained Taele allegedly found a 16-round magazine loaded with hollow-point ammunition in his pants pocket, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Authorities searched his vehicle and recovered a loaded pistol with a round in the chamber and another magazine containing hollow-point ammunition.

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Taele claimed he worked for the State Department and was at the golf course for a security detail.

Investigators later searched Taele’s Downey home and recovered an illegally modified AR-platform rifle, a .45-caliber pistol, body armor, high-capacity magazines, bulk ammunition, radio signal devices and multiple notebooks containing what authorities described at the time as “concerning statements.”

The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, USSS and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department have been investigating the case.

SECRET SERVICE MISSED ‘MULTIPLE OPPORTUNITIES’ TO PREVENT TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT: WATCHDOG

Taele, a Marine who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, will remain jailed until a Sept. 9 hearing at Hollywood Mental Health Court, according to the AP.

Taele’s public defender, A.J. Bayne, cautioned against drawing conclusions about his client’s motives.

“He’s a veteran, he served our country, and I don’t know enough right now, but he has a family that loves him, that has huge support for him,” Bayne told the AP, adding that “people assume too much” about Taele’s motives.

The USSS previously told Fox News Digital that it does not comment on specific protective intelligence matters, but “thoroughly investigates any information or activity that may reasonably be perceived as a protective intelligence concern or indicate a potential threat or directed interest toward any individual under Secret Service protection.”

VIRGINIA MAN ACQUITTED BY INSANITY IN KILLING FLEES US DURING 48-HOUR MENTAL HOSPITAL PASS

Trump addressed the arrest earlier this month.

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“Well, the only thing I get a little solace from is, they say only consequential presidents. And I am definitely consequential,” Trump said during an appearance on “Fox News @ Night.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and the Office of the First Lady for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Stepheny Price and Landon Mion contributed to this reporting.

Los Angeles’ Democratic mayoral candidates were torched by residents after a debate night in America’s second-most populous city that one voter described as “disgraceful.”

Besides being home to Hollywood, Los Angeles is one of America’s most economically important cities. The city, however, has struggled with recent fires, rising living costs, homelessness and outmigration. Those problems have fueled a particularly contentious mayoral race this year, which included a surprisingly competitive but ultimately unsuccessful bid by Republican Spencer Pratt.

With Pratt out of the race, Democrats Karen Bass, the incumbent, and Nithya Raman, a democratic socialist city council member, are locked in a competitive and bitter runoff for Los Angeles mayor. During last week’s debate, Bass and Raman traded personal attacks and insults, leaving some voters frustrated over what solutions the candidates could offer.

After the debate, voter Stacey Segarra Bohlinger told Fox News Digital she believes Bass and Raman are “both bad” and said, “I wish they could both lose.”

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Bohlinger, who until July served as a committee member on the Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council, said that although she was initially “a huge champion” for Raman, “I don’t see substantive differences between the two of them.”

Bohlinger said Raman “reneged on a lot of the initial campaign promises she made” and also criticized the councilwoman’s approach to homelessness, which she described as “a very capitalist approach to what she thinks solving the issue of homelessness is.”

Regarding criticism of Bass, Bohlinger said, “I also agree with a lot of what said about the city not being in a good place right now.”

“She responded really terribly to the Palisades fires. She did not respond well to the Lineage fires,” she said, concluding, “I don’t have much good to say about either of them.”

Asked about her top issue, Bohlinger said the Los Angeles government “has a long sort of history of immense corruption.”

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION YANKS FUNDING FROM LA HOMELESS AGENCY AMID EXPLOSIVE FRAUD PROBE: ‘NECESSARY STEP’

“If you look up, you know, recent Los Angeles officials who have conviction records for corruption, it’s a really long list. So, I think along with the housing affordability issue [is] accessibility, transparency, more accountability, less corruption,” she said, adding, “We have a lot of sort of political dynasties in the city, and I think that’s a real fly in the ointment. I don’t think much is going to change until the corruption is dealt with.”

Meanwhile, Wayne Spindler, an Encino resident and regular City Hall critic, told Fox News Digital that “a lot of people… are upset.”

“They don’t like either one of them. And a lot of them are going to walk out of this [debate] and not vote,” he said.

Based on the debate, Spindler predicted the election is “going to be close” because “there was not a lot of enthusiasm.”

He said he will be voting for Raman, saying, “What I tell people is you got to go for one of the two.”

“You can’t write in Spencer [Pratt]. Spencer would have been the dream come true. That would have been amazing,” he said.

Another debate attendee, Gregory Wright, a committee member on the Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council, told Fox News Digital, “For me, it’s more important that Democrats win whatever part of the Democratic spectrum they’re in.”

“I am in favor of visionary ideas for the future,” he said, adding, “I think socialism is the right direction for the entire world.”

After the debate, Fox News Digital contacted the Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council, which co-hosted the event, for comment. Council President Howard Katchen clarified that “the comments by Stacey Segarra Bohlinger and Gregory Wright are their opinions as individuals and do not represent the Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council.”

Katchen reiterated that the two spoke as individuals and that their comments did not represent the Sherman Oaks Neighborhood Council. He called the debate a “success as determined by over 400 attendees, over 700 virtual viewers, NPR LAist live broadcast to what I was told over 500,000 listeners and covered by local, state, national and international media outlets.” He also clarified that “Neighborhood Councils don’t endorse candidates for elected office.”

Joey Tuccio, an animal rights advocate who previously supported Pratt publicly, told Fox News Digital he was outraged after the debate. Referring to his work helping animals and people on Skid Row, he said, “We are doing their job.”

EXCLUSIVE: LA ICE DIRECTOR REVEALS OFFICERS FOLLOWED HOME, HARASSED AS POLICE FAIL TO HELP IN SANCTUARY CITY

“We’ve been catering Skid Row for years for free. We’ve got no support from the city. We have rescued over 150 animals. My rescue partner rescued a seven-year-old child that was being sex trafficked by his father. And Karen’s office just said that they are avoiding us because we are ‘haters,’” he said. “I think that is one of the most disgusting things I’ve ever heard in my life, and it’s disgraceful.”

He said that, for now, “I’m going to be not supporting either of them.”

Asked what he is looking for in a candidate, Tuccio said, “We want people that will enforce laws.”

“Specifically on Skid Row, every day, every time we go, we see somebody overdosing, we see dogs that are abandoned, we see children without their parents, and we see good people living on the streets that are so scared,” he said, adding, “It is lawless, and it’s not getting better.”

“People are being robbed there, people are being attacked, people are getting murdered,” he continued. “There’s people hanging themselves… people dying and rotting before anybody finds them. And from the animal side, there are animals that are left there for days and days starving to death. But then we get calls from caseworkers because they can’t get the support of the city.”

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“So, we need people to actually take the reins of this and stop pretending that everything is rainbows and unicorns because it’s not, and we have to have people that don’t ignore the problems.”

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Fox News Digital contacted the Bass and Raman campaigns for comment.

Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed told Fox News host Jesse Watters on Monday that he would not defend the Green New Deal when confronted with his past support for the progressive climate proposal, a notable shift from years of publicly embracing it by name.

“Look, I’m not going to defend the Green New Deal,” El-Sayed told Watters after the host confronted him over his past support for the proposal. When Watters reiterated that El-Sayed was on record supporting it, El-Sayed redirected the discussion toward lowering energy costs and creating Michigan jobs by prioritizing renewables.

Michigan, which Trump won in 2024 but lost in 2020, is shaping up to have one of the most competitive Senate races in the country, with the likely narrow results in the state potentially determining control of Congress. Critics charge that El-Sayed is downplaying some of his past beliefs and scrubbing his online footprint to appear more moderate, and therefore more palatable, to Michigan voters.

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Though El-Sayed declined to defend the Green New Deal in front of a national audience, he previously hasn’t been so shy.

A Fox News Digital review of El-Sayed’s deleted social media posts, preserved via the Internet Archive, uncovered dozens of examples of the Michigan Senate hopeful defending the Green New Deal by name.

“Rather than announcing the next iteration of this or that car at [the North American International Auto Show 2019], I’d love to see automakers announce that they support the #GreenNewDeal,” El-Sayed wrote in January of that year.

On the primary campaign trail, Rep. Haley Stevens criticized El-Sayed over his past support for the Green New Deal on the grounds that it could lead to job losses in the automobile manufacturing industry.

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“The struggle for the Green New Deal uplifts the struggle for racial justice,” El-Sayed wrote in April 2019.

The Green New Deal is a 2019 progressive policy framework floated by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., that seeks to gradually transition the United States’ electrical grid away from fossil fuels. Their plan has become synonymous with the left-wing faction of the Democratic Party, leading many Democrats running in competitive races to distance themselves from it.

In another post, from September 2019, El-Sayed wrote, “I believe in a Green New Deal” five times in all caps. He also suggested that the Green New Deal is essential to preserve freedom of speech because there can be no First Amendment “without the freedom to breathe the breath you have to take to speak in the first place.”

“The #GreenNewDeal doesn’t center polar bears or glaciers, it centers those children forced to breath (sic.) in corporate pollution in their communities,” El-Sayed wrote. “I stand with the Green New Deal because it stands for those kids.”

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CNN previously reported that El-Sayed scrubbed large swathes of his commentary from the internet prior to announcing his run for Senate. The deletions appear to have been selective, as he still has some posts up from before he launched his campaign.

In his since-deleted social media posts, El-Sayed endorsed the “defund the police” movement, argued cities spent too much policing poverty and described police departments as “standing armies we deploy against our own people.” In a separate YouTube video that was later hidden, he floated replacing the Second Amendment’s right to bear arms with a constitutional right to healthcare and called Border Patrol agents “white supremacists” while blaming American policies for migration from struggling nations.

Though El-Sayed regularly mentioned the Green New Deal on X prior to running for Senate, he has not posted the phrase even once since announcing his candidacy, a review found. 

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The El-Sayed campaign did not respond to a request for comment when reached by Fox News Digital on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, representatives of President Donald Trump filed a brief in the New York Court of Appeals, arguing the court should throw out his liability finding in a $464 million civil fraud case that centered on Trump’s real estate valuations.

The appeal argues the case had several legal flaws that should have prevented it from being heard in the first place.

“This case should have never been brought, and the judgment cannot stand,” the appeal states. “This case is extremely unusual; it involves not only reams of improper statements targeting President Trump, his family, and his businesses, but also a decision to apply [New York law] against those targets in a completely unprecedented and unlawful way.”

The appeal is the latest instance of President Donald Trump pushing back against what he has characterized as politically charged lawfare that he endured between his two administrations. It also gives Trump a renewed opportunity to push back against some of the penalties that still apply to him from that verdict.

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In 2022, New York Attorney General Letitia James sued Trump, alleging 200 instances of fraud. Specifically, her office alleged that Trump had routinely overvalued properties in New York City to secure favorable loans or insurance rates in violation of New York Executive Law § 63(12). The provision instructs the attorney general to prosecute cases of repeated fraudulent or illegal acts.

The law defines fraud as “any device, scheme or artifice to defraud and any deception, misrepresentation, concealment, suppression, false pretense, false promise or unconscionable contractual provision.”

Trump was found liable in 2023.

As a result, Trump was required to pay $355 million plus interest in damages and was banned from serving as an officer or director of any New York company for two years. 

He was also banned from applying for loans from any New York bank or financial institution for three years. Although an intermediate appeals court later vacated the monetary award, Trump’s lawyers argue the underlying liability finding and the remaining restrictions should also be overturned.

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The appeal filed Wednesday argues against the verdict along five key lines.

The document argues that Attorney General James lacked the authority to bring the case, noting that the case involves private commercial transactions rather than harm to the public. It also contends that Trump’s valuations reflected subjective estimates that lenders independently evaluated rather than fraudulent misrepresentations.

“The only supposed ‘victims’ here are a handful of ultrasophisticated banks and insurers that have never claimed to be injured, were eager to do business with President Trump and his family, and made over $100 million from these transactions,” the appeal states.

The appeal further argues that the prosecution’s premise of overvaluation is based on the misguided idea that real estate has one objective value and that deviations from that value must be fraud.

“Under that breathtakingly broad theory, NYAG can second-guess any business transaction in this State on almost any imagined grounds,” the filing states.

And, on the penalties, the appeal argues that the $450 million disgorgement is excessive, unlawful and even unconstitutional.

Finally, the appeal argues that the politically charged nature of the case, on its own, should have been enough to halt its consideration.

“NYAG cannot point to a single Section 63(12) enforcement action against similarly situated developers (or any other type of defendant) based on practices comparable to those alleged here,” the filing states.

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“Ms. James repeatedly called President Trump a ‘criminal’; promised to ‘investigate President Trump and his business transactions,’ ‘review … Trump-related real estate transactions,’ and ‘take on … his business in New York’; and threatened President Trump’s ‘family’ and ‘anyone in his orbit,” the document states.

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James’ office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, a centrist Democrat known for bashing his party’s left flank, is more popular among Keystone State Republicans than their own GOP senator, Sen. Dave McCormick, according to a new poll.

The release of the poll this week by the New York Times, Philadelphia Inquirer and Siena University is further evidence that Fetterman, who at times breaks with his party and aligns with President Donald Trump, and who is a frequent guest on the Fox News Channel, has become increasingly popular among Republicans.

The survey may boost speculation that the first-term senator could potentially bolt the Democrats and become a Republican. But Fetterman has denied that he plans to leave the Democratic Party.

Nearly 3 in 4 Republican registered voters in Pennsylvania (73%) held a favorable opinion of Fetterman, according to the poll. That’s 10 points higher than the 63% of Republicans in the state who viewed McCormick favorably.

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The 73% of Republicans who view Fetterman favorably is a major increase from the 25% who said the same thing in 2024, two years after the senator was elected.

But Fetterman’s standing among Democrats continued to sink, according to the poll.

Just 22% of registered Democrats in Pennsylvania said they had a favorable view of Fetterman, while 63% viewed him unfavorably. That’s a dramatic reversal from two years ago, when 74% of Democrats viewed Fetterman favorably.

The survey also indicated that by a 49%-35% margin, independents held a favorable view of Fetterman.

Matt Beynon, a veteran Pennsylvania-based Republican consultant, told Fox News Digital, “I think a lot of Republicans appreciate the fact that Sen. Fetterman is willing to stick his thumb in the radical wing of his party’s eye on issues like antisemitism.”

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Fetterman’s growing popularity among Republicans has fueled speculation that he leave the Democratic Party before potentially facing a primary challenge when he’s up for re-election in 2028.

The senator, who is a strong supporter of Israel, has increasingly railed against fellow Democrats who have criticized Israeli leaders over their ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza. Fetterman has said he has “no plans” to leave the Democratic Party. But he added if Democrats officially became the “anti-Israel party,” count him out.

“My long-term concern has been with the Democratic Party, as I am a member of that, is that our party is going to back away and turn their back to Israel,” he said last month at a Hill Nation Summit in Washington, D.C.

“If our party ever becomes, and just makes it official, the anti-Israel party, that’s when I would leave because that’s been a moral clarity for me.”

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Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and other Senate Republicans have reached out to Fetterman regarding a party switch.

“I have had conversations with him in the past, as have many of my colleagues about the challenges he faces in his caucus. And there are many of us who, I think, would welcome the opportunity to have him join the Republican conference, but ultimately that’s a decision that’s up to him,” Thune told reporters in July.

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But Beynon said that regardless of Fetterman’s growing popularity among Republicans, “when it comes time for the senator’s re-election campaign in 2028, those same voters will be reminded that John Fetterman votes with Democrats more than 90% of the time.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the senator’s office for comment regarding the new poll, but did not receive a response at the time this story was published.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe flew to Moscow to meet with Russian intelligence officials, the Kremlin reportedly said Wednesday, after video emerged of a U.S. military transport plane coming in for a landing Tuesday at Vnukovo airport.

President Donald Trump, when asked this morning about Ratcliffe’s visit on “The Glenn Beck Program,” said, “He’s there on, you know, very sort of semi-routine.”

“We would like to see the war with Ukraine end,” Trump added, before saying, “Now something may come out of it.

“We’re working very hard to get that war ended and frankly they both want to see it ended at this point.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House, the CIA and the U.S. Embassy in Moscow for further comment.

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Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday, according to Reuters, “All I can ⁠tell you is that there have been contacts via the security services. I can tell you that there have been no meetings with the Russian president.”

The news agency cited the Kremlin as saying Ratcliffe met with Russian intelligence officials.

“Naturally, President Putin is kept informed of everything without delay,” Peskov also was quoted as saying.

The last CIA director to visit Moscow was William Burns in November 2021, three months before Russia’s war against Ukraine started, Reuters reported.

A senior Ukrainian official told The Associated Press that Washington informed Kyiv a delegation would be traveling to the Russian capital and asked it to suspend strikes until it left.

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The official said the request did not apply to all Russian territory, but specifically to Moscow, St. Petersburg and some northern regions. Strikes on other parts of Russia continued, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to talk publicly.

Video captured a U.S. military transport plane coming in for a landing Tuesday at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport, in a flight that the Kremlin initially claimed it had no information about.

Data from the website Flightradar24 showed that the Boeing C-17A Globemaster III left Joint Base Andrews in Maryland early Sunday afternoon on a flight to Riga, Latvia. The aircraft then traveled from Riga to Moscow on Tuesday morning.

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The last time a U.S.-registered jet made a direct flight to Russia from Europe was in January when special envoy Steve Witkoff and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, visited Moscow for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin about the war in Ukraine, according to Reuters.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Far from the U.S. warships enforcing a blockade at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, nearly 40 million barrels of Iranian crude are sitting aboard tankers in waters near Malaysia, east of Singapore.

The cargo amounts to roughly 20 very large crude carriers’ worth of oil, a floating stockpile that could still give Tehran a way to turn crude already outside the blockade zone into cash even as the blockade sharply restricts fresh exports.

The stockpile poses a test for the Trump administration as it moves from military action and a naval blockade toward what the White House calls its financial “endgame” against Tehran.

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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday launched Operation Economic Outcast, promising a “zero-leakage approach” designed to cut off Iran’s remaining sources of revenue after months of pressure on its oil sales, shipping networks and financial enablers.

The blockade appears to be making it substantially harder for Iran to export new oil. China’s imports of Iranian crude have fallen to an estimated 534,000 barrels per day so far this month, down from roughly 823,000 barrels per day in July, according to provisional Kpler data reported by Reuters.

But millions of barrels that moved beyond the blockade line before it tightened remain within potential reach of buyers. Iran has an estimated 80 million barrels of crude held in floating storage, Reuters reported, with roughly half aboard vessels near Malaysia.

That leaves Washington facing a different challenge: stopping Tehran from monetizing oil the blockade did not trap.

If Iran can still turn that crude into cash, the regime can use the proceeds to pay for imports and potentially finance efforts to rebuild its military even as the blockade restricts fresh exports.

That makes the tankers near Malaysia an early test of whether the administration can deliver the “total isolation” it has promised.

CHINA ORDERS FIRMS TO IGNORE US IRAN SANCTIONS, DARING US TO ENFORCE CRACKDOWN

“The blockade as it’s currently being practiced and enforced against isn’t really stopping the flow of Iranian oil that’s already past the blockade line,” Max Meizlish, a former Treasury official focused on sanctions policy and current senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital.

Iranian oil can move through ship-to-ship transfers, in which cargo is shifted from one tanker to another at sea. The practice can help obscure the oil’s origin before it reaches a buyer, often an independent Chinese refinery.

Simply having the crude outside the blockade zone does not automatically give Tehran usable revenue. Iran still needs to deliver the oil, collect payment and move the proceeds through the financial channels it has used to evade sanctions.

Treasury has said Iran primarily settles oil sales in Chinese yuan, with exchange houses and front companies helping convert those funds into currencies the regime can use. The department has also previously tied proceeds from Iranian oil sales to the Iranian government, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, weapons development and Tehran’s regional proxies.

Meizlish noted that the administration has continued sanctioning Chinese and Hong Kong trading houses, maritime service providers and other entities accused of enabling Iranian sanctions evasion but has stopped short of designating a Chinese financial institution.

The U.S. cut the bank off from access to the American financial system in 2012 over dealings with Iran, Meizlish said, but stopped short of placing it on Treasury’s Specially Designated Nationals list. He argued that formally designating the bank could put pressure on its owner, China National Petroleum Corporation, and potentially disrupt a channel used to move Iranian oil revenue.

Meizlish noted that the administration has continued sanctioning Chinese and Hong Kong trading houses, maritime service providers and other entities accused of enabling Iranian sanctions evasion, but has so far stopped short of designating a Chinese financial institution.

“Secretary Bessent didn’t mention China by name,” he said, adding that the issue could become a subject of higher-level engagement between Washington and Beijing.

The administration has already targeted the Malaysia route.

In April, Treasury sanctioned the Hong Kong-flagged tanker Lynn, saying the vessel conducted a ship-to-ship transfer of Iranian crude off Malaysia before delivering the cargo to China.

Meizlish said another option would be to expand pressure on shadow-fleet vessels operating near Malaysia and elsewhere in Asia in an effort to keep that oil from ultimately reaching Chinese buyers.

“The U.S. could expand the blockades in that sense by going after shadow fleet tankers, operating, for instance, off the coast of Malaysia, which is a huge hub for illicit ship-to-ship transfers,” he said.

He said the sharp decline in Chinese purchases suggests the pressure campaign is having an effect, but argued that crude already aboard shadow-fleet tankers remains a potential future source of revenue for Tehran.

“There’s a lot more that we can do,” Meizlish said.

“Unless we expect for this regime to ultimately fall, we should be putting a lot of pressure into interdicting this oil that’s on the market right now on shadow fleet tankers, because this money could eventually go into the regime’s pockets down the road,” he said.

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Asked whether the administration planned further action against Iranian oil cargoes and shadow-fleet vessels near Malaysia, a War Department official told Fox News Digital that U.S. forces would continue “global maritime enforcement” to disrupt illicit networks and interdict sanctioned vessels supporting Iran “wherever they operate, at the time and place of our choosing.”

“Under Operation Economic Outcast, anyone foolish enough to continue doing business with the Iranian regime cannot continue to enjoy access to the global financial system,” a Treasury Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “We will cut every remaining economic lifeline Tehran has.”

Meizlish said money from oil already sitting on shadow-fleet tankers could still wind up in Tehran’s hands and help Iran rebuild military capabilities damaged in the conflict.

Going after those tankers would not be simple. The U.S. Navy is already stretched by operations in the Strait of Hormuz and elsewhere, he said, and seizing ships and their cargo can trigger legal fights over ownership, custody and what happens to the oil afterward.

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Meizlish said Congress could make it easier for the government to seize illicit cargoes. He also argued that Washington should look for ways to expand its capacity to pursue shadow-fleet vessels if the Navy cannot do it alone.

Bessent’s new campaign goes beyond oil, targeting digital assets, technology, gold, aviation and shipping. He also threatened broader secondary sanctions against entities that continue doing business with Tehran.

The drop in Chinese purchases shows Iran is having a harder time getting new oil to market. But millions of barrels are already sitting outside the blockade.

Whether Tehran can still sell that oil, and whether Washington is willing to go after it near Malaysia, will help determine how much “zero leakage” actually means.

With the November midterms approaching, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is joining attorneys general from 23 states and Washington, D.C., in suing the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) over a Trump-backed mail-ballot rule that would impose new federal requirements on how states prepare and send mail ballots.

“I’m suing the Trump Administration to stop their unconstitutional attempt to change the rules and restrict mail-in voting. I’ll remind the President of my track record going up against him in court — and winning — to protect Pennsylvania’s free, fair, safe, and secure elections. I’m prepared to do so again,” Shapiro wrote on X. “Nothing about voting by mail has changed here in Pennsylvania. You can still vote safely and securely by mail.”

“While Donald Trump may try to inject chaos into our elections, the Constitution is clear: the authority to set election rules belongs to the states — not the federal government,” he continued.

The two-dozen-state coalition returned to court two days after the Supreme Court stayed an earlier injunction issued by a Massachusetts federal judge against key parts of Trump’s mail-voting executive order, finding the states’ initial challenge premature because USPS had not yet issued a final rule when they filed suit.

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“The Supreme Court ruling was a major win for the security of American elections. Radical Democrats continue to oppose commonsense measures that protect the security of mail-in ballots and ensure only Americans are electing American leaders,” White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “The Trump Administration will continue to lawfully enact the agenda President Trump was elected on – which includes the safety and security of our elections.”

At issue is USPS’s newly finalized “Ballot Mail for Federal Elections” rule, which went into effect last week and was published Wednesday. It would require state and local election officials to submit information on intended mail-ballot recipients to a USPS portal, where the agency would compile state-specific lists of enrolled mail voters. It would also require certain mail-in ballot design requirements, such as trackable barcodes, and require officials to submit ballot-envelope designs to USPS for pre-approval.

In their 53-page complaint, the states argue that the rule improperly gives USPS a new role in running elections, forcing election officials to adopt new procedures, share ballot-recipient information and potentially replace already-purchased envelopes as the midterms draw closer. They also argue that Congress, not the president or Postal Service, has the authority to alter election rules, and that USPS skipped a review process for major nationwide changes to postal services or operations.

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The coalition is asking the court to block the rule while the lawsuit proceeds and ultimately throw it out, arguing that their new challenge answers the Supreme Court’s timing concern. A separate Massachusetts injunction had temporarily blocked USPS from putting the requirements in place for the November midterms, but the judge lifted that order Wednesday following the Supreme Court’s ruling.

“This Court held that ‘no law enacted by Congress delegates authority to control mail-in voting to USPS,’ and that the President’s directives to USPS were ultra vires,” the states write in their complaint. “The Supreme Court subsequently stayed the injunction—not because Plaintiff States’ claims lacked merit, but because the States ‘lack[ed] standing to bring’ their claims as to the [Executive Order] … As the Court explained, USPS had not yet implemented the EO, but if USPS ultimately adopts a final rule that ‘harms the States, they may challenge that rule.’ USPS then published its final rule two days later.”

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USPS did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment in time for publication.

Delaware Sen. Chris Coons is facing backlash after declaring that the United States is “no longer” the leader of the free world and pointing instead to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as the national leader putting his country “on the line for freedom.”

“I would say we are no longer the leaders of the free world. In fact, if anything Volodymyr Zelenskyy is the primary national leader who is putting his country’s men and women on the line for freedom,” said Coons during the town hall earlier this month.

“We need to earn our place back as leader in the free world in the future,” he added.

Coons’ remarks underscore his long-running alignment with Kyiv at a moment when President Donald Trump is pressing for an end to the war and putting a renewed emphasis on American power and national pride. The Delaware Democrat has been one of Congress’ more outspoken supporters of Ukraine, repeatedly backing military aid, tougher sanctions on Russia and continued U.S. engagement with Zelenskyy’s government.

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Coons spoke with Dover, Delaware, Councilman Andre Boggerty alongside Rep. Sarah McBride in a virtual town hall Tuesday hosted by the Kent County Democratic Committee focused on local issues.

Coons has been a vocal advocate for sustained U.S. support for Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, repeatedly pressing for military assistance and tougher sanctions on Moscow. Coons visited Kyiv in 2022 to meet with Zelenskyy and recently visited Odesa with Senate Foreign Relations Committee members in February to reiterate “the ironclad, bipartisan support” for Ukraine, according to a press release.

Nick Adams, special presidential envoy for American tourism, exceptionalism, and values, told Fox News Digital Coons’ comments are “the essence of America last.”

“The United States is today, has been since 1776, and with God’s grace, always will be the leader of the free world. To suggest otherwise is to ignore our Constitution and the blood shed by our heroes who made sure that our Declaration of Independence would not just be a theoretical document but the beginning of a new era in the history of humanity,” said Adams.

Adams added that no other nation can hold a candle to America, pointing to its constitutional freedoms, founding principles of liberty and belief that natural rights transcend government authority.

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“To say otherwise is to reveal an unbelievable ignorance as to what our nation is, where we came from, and how our destiny will always be shaped by the principles of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” Adams added.

Conservative critics seized on Coons’ remarks, accusing him of being “anti-American.”

“Wow! This is truly sick behavior. Sen. Chris Coons — a Democrat who nobody has ever heard of, but nonetheless a U.S. Senator — says the U.S. is ‘no longer the leaders of the free world’ because ‘Volodymyr Zelenskyy is the primary national leader,’” wrote the White House’s Rapid Response account on X.

“Imagine asserting this. What an absolute clown,” wrote one user.

“Chris Coons has always been an anti-American fraud. He’s a total coward,” said another person.

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“What an embarrassment he is — Ukraine hasn’t held elections since 2019,” commented a user.

The Russia-Ukraine war has dragged on for more than four years, with Kyiv holding off a larger Russian force while facing manpower shortages and relying heavily on continued Western weapons.

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Zelenskyy met with Trump in the Oval Office on July 28, where the two discussed licensing Ukraine to produce Patriot missile interceptors as Kyiv seeks to strengthen its air defenses.

Coons’ office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s press inquiry. 

A federal judge appointed by former President Joe Biden is siding with the Trump administration in refusing to dismiss a case against a House Democrat accused of assaulting federal immigration officers.

Two of the three judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit refused to dismiss the Department of Justice (DOJ) case against Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., stemming from a 2025 incident at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Newark, New Jersey.

An unannounced visit to the Delaney Hall detention center by a group of Democratic officials devolved into chaos in May 2025 that culminated in a physical standoff between federal lawmakers and ICE agents and the arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka. McIver was charged with three counts, including assaulting and impeding federal officers.

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She attempted to get the case thrown out, arguing that she is immune from prosecution because her actions were part of her official duties as a member of Congress.

She also accused the DOJ of unfairly singling her out, with her congressional office calling the charges “vindictive.”

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But the 2-1 decision, made by Biden-appointed Judge Cindy Chung and Trump-appointed Judge Stephanos Bibas, stated that McIver’s argument of legislative immunity would not stand for two of the three counts, while the third count was sent back to a lower court for further review.

Court documents say McIver allegedly “slammed her forearm” into a federal officer trying to arrest Baraka. On that count, the federal appellate court agreed with a lower court decision that her “alleged intervention into the Mayor’s questionable arrest had no cognizable connection to any legislative function” protected by the Constitution.

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The second count alleged that McIver used both of her forearms to “strike [an officer] as she returned inside of the secured area of Delaney Hall.”

The two judges wrote, “Like the acts charged in Count One, the acts of pushing past and forcibly striking someone are unambiguously non-legislative: they are not integral to the legislative process.”

Judge Thomas Ambro wrote in dissent, “When an Executive Branch official prevents a Member from entering a DHS facility, she is denied effective access to an oversight inspection.”

McIver herself said in a statement that “the court got it wrong.”

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“Today’s decision chills that authority and emboldens the Trump administration to continue persecuting our most vulnerable communities, those who try to defend them, and anyone who dares hold the president or his lackeys accountable. I will not fold to this administration. We are exploring every possible option. The administration will not stop me from doing my job or standing for what is right. This is not over,” McIver said.