NationalWatch

EXCLUSIVE: With over 500,000 illegal aliens deported since President Donald Trump took office in January, the administration is on track to significantly exceed the record number of illegals deported out of the United States.

Since Trump’s return to the Oval Office on Jan. 20, the administration has deported over 515,000 illegal aliens, according to a high-ranking official at the Department of Homeland Security.

DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital the administration is “on pace to shatter historic records” by deporting 600,000 illegals by the end of Trump’s first year back in office. She said that in total, more than two million illegal aliens have left the U.S., including 1.6 million who voluntarily self-deported, as well as the over 515,000 deportations. Another 485,000 illegal aliens have been arrested by DHS since Trump took office.

McLaughlin said that “this is just the beginning” and that Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem “have jumpstarted an agency that was vilified and barred from doing its job for the last four years.”

DEM JUDGE IN HOT SEAT AFTER DHS EXPOSES ‘WHOLE NEW LEVEL’ OF ACTIVISM, SHELTERING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT

“Illegal aliens are hearing our message to leave now or face the consequence. Migrants are now even turning back before they reach our borders,” said McLaughlin, pointing to what she said has been a 99.99 percent drop in migration through Panama’s Darien Gap, which is a key migration route to the U.S.

“In the face of a historic number of injunctions from activist judges, ICE, CBP, and the U.S. Coast Guard have made historic progress to carry out President Trump’s promise of arresting and deporting illegal aliens who have invaded our country.”

Just this weekend, DHS said that it continued its sweep of the “worst of the worst” criminal illegal aliens across the country amidst the ongoing government shutdown. Over the weekend, DHS said it arrested illegals convicted of rape of a child, assault, hit-and-run, kidnapping and other crimes.

One of those arrested was Erick Xavier Romero, a Dominican national, who the agency said was convicted of rape of a child in Boston. Another illegal, Guatemalan national, German Osvaldo Cortez-Chajon, was arrested this weekend after being convicted of traveling to meet a child for an unlawful sex act in Dale County, Alabama. A third illegal, Mexican national Graciano Lopez-Flores, was arrested following a conviction of indecent liberties with a child in Orange County, North Carolina.

DHS FLIPS SCRIPT ON MEDIA NARRATIVE WITH NEW DETAILS ABOUT ILLEGAL TEEN ARRESTED BY ICE: ‘SAFETY THREAT’

Also in North Carolina, ICE arrested Shahed Hassan, an illegal from Bangladesh, who was convicted of simple assault, possession of drug paraphernalia, illegally carrying a concealed gun, driving while impaired, probation violation, felony larceny and domestic violence protection order violation in Wake County.

Just to the north, ICE arrested Van Pham from Laos, who was convicted of five counts of abduction and burglary in Fairfax County, Virginia.

In Massachusetts, ICE arrested Patricia Pimental-Cordero, from the Dominican Republic, who was convicted of two counts of hit-and-run in Lawrence, Massachusetts.

Another illegal, Ramona Mercado-Vasquez from the Caribbean island of Dominica, was arrested by ICE in Bergen County, New Jersey, following a conviction for kidnapping and robbery.

In Wisconsin, ICE arrested Mexican national Karlett Zagal-Salazar, who was convicted of drug trafficking.

ICE REVEALS ‘DISTURBING DETAILS’ AFTER AGENCY RESCUED 3-YEAR-OLD ABDUCTED TO MEXICO

Commenting on the arrests, McLaughlin told Fox News Digital that “nothing—not even a government shutdown—will slow us down from making America safe again.”

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She slammed the Democratic Party, saying, “While Democrats in Congress continue to keep the government shutdown, our ICE law enforcement officers aren’t slowing down in arresting the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens.”

While President Donald Trump and his administration brushed off the “No Kings” nationwide protests rebuking the president over the weekend, Democrats lauded the protesters for standing up for democracy. 

The protest marked at least the second time “No Kings” rallies have been organized across the country in major cities, including Washington, New York City and Los Angeles, since Trump took office for the second time, and organizers claim the protests are in opposition to his authoritarian policies. 

Meanwhile, Trump pushed back on the description of “king,” as he and other Republicans poked fun at the millions participating in the rallies. 

PROTESTERS NATIONWIDE HOLD ‘NO KINGS’ RALLIES AMID GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

“I’m not a king,” Trump told reporters Sunday on Air Force One. “I work my ass off to make our country great. That’s all it is. I’m not a king at all.”

Trump also characterized the protests as inconsequential, and said that those who participated didn’t accurately reflect the people who make up the U.S. 

“The demonstrations were very small, very ineffective and the people were whacked out,” Trump said Sunday. “When you look at those people, those are not representative of the people of our country.”

Despite Trump’s rejection of being labeled a king, the official White House social media accounts previously posted an image in February of Trump wearing a crown with a caption claiming “long live the king.” Trump also reposted an AI-generated video that Vice President JD Vance originally shared, depicting Trump placing a crown on his head and drawing a sword. 

Additionally, Trump shared another AI-generated video of him donning a crown in a fighter jet over New York City, unloading what appeared to be feces on the protesters. 

WATCH: ‘NO KINGS’ PROTESTERS AT MASSIVE NYC RALLY REVEAL MOTIVATION FOR TAKING TO THE STREETS: ‘DISGUSTING’

Meanwhile, Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., said that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. needed a distraction from the government shutdown that started Oct. 1, although Johnson did admit that the protests turned out to be a “violent-free, free speech exercise.” 

“They needed a stunt,” Johnson said in an interview with ABC Sunday. “They needed a show. Chuck Schumer has — needs cover right now. He’s closed the government down because he needs political cover, and this was a part of it.”

However, Democrats said the protests were an opportunity to stand up for democracy. For example, Schumer said that there are “no dictators” in the U.S., and that “we won’t allow Trump to keep eroding our democracy.” 

“Dictators evolve when good people of all different beliefs and backgrounds stay silent,” Schumer said in a social media post on Saturday. “This No Kings Day says we will not stay silent.”

Additionally, former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi shared a video clip of her dismantling a plastic crown, appearing to harken back to when she ripped Trump’s State of the Union address in 2020. 

“We’re gonna tear up the crown!” Pelosi said in the brief clip, which she shared on social media with the caption: “No crown. #NoKings!” 

NATIONWIDE UNREST LOOMS AS ‘NO KINGS’ DEMONSTRATORS BEGIN TO GATHER IN MAJOR US CITIES

Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., also weighed in, claiming “we said ‘hell no’ to kings, and reminded the nation and the world what patriotism looks like.” 

“From our nation’s capitol to cities across California, millions stood shoulder to shoulder to say that our democracy is worth fighting for, that our voices will not be silent, and that we will not sit back and let a wannabe king take our freedoms,” Schiff said Saturday to accompany several photos of himself at the protest in Washington. “Proud to stand with you.” 

Additionally, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., said the protests were reflective of the democratic process in the U.S. 

“This is what democracy looks like!” Murray said in a Saturday social media post. “We use our voices and our votes. NO KINGS IN AMERICA!”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., is expected to imminently weigh in on the New York City mayoral race after dodging the question for weeks.

The top House Democrat, who represents part of Brooklyn, has faced scrutiny in the press for repeatedly side-stepping reporters when asked whether he will endorse fellow Democrat Zohran Mamdani, a self-described Democratic Socialist, for mayor.

Asked during his Monday press conference whether he will make his thoughts on the race clear before early voting begins in New York City on Saturday, Oct. 25, Jeffries said, “Yes, that’s my intention.”

It could mean Jeffries endorses Mamdani before Election Day rolls around — or he could sidestep backing anyone in the race altogether.

TRUMP WANTS ‘2 PEOPLE TO DROP OUT’ TO SET UP A ‘1-ON-1’ MAYORAL RACE WITH MAMDANI IN NYC

The remark was similar to comments he gave Fox News Digital on Friday, the day after the mayoral debate. Jeffries said then, however, that he had not yet watched the debate at that point.

“I do expect to speak to the Democratic nominee, Zohran, at some point before early voting,” he added when asked how long he was waiting to endorse.

He also dodged the question of why he has not yet endorsed Mamdani during an appearance on ABC News’ “This Week” on Sunday.

“As I’ve indicated, I expect to have a conversation with him at some point this week in advance of early voting, which begins next weekend in New York City. And we’ll certainly have more to say about the Mmayors’ race and about our Democratic nominee prior to early voting beginning,” Jeffries said instead.

BILL ACKMAN JUMPS INTO NYC MAYORAL FIGHT, SAYS SLIWA MUST DROP OR ‘WE ARE TOAST’

Mamdani is currently the presumed frontrunner in the race against Republican Curtis Sliwa and Independent candidate Andrew Cuomo, the former governor of New York.

Jeffries’ counterpart in the House, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has repeatedly denounced Mamdani as a “Marxist.”

And Mamdani’s candidacy has caused somewhat of a rift between Democrats in Washington.

He’s been endorsed by progressive stars within the Democratic Party like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., but both Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., have been silent.

Reps. Laura Gillen, D-N.Y., and Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., moderates representing the suburbs outside of New York City, have denounced Mamdani’s candidacy.

Jeffries appears to have been deliberately unclear about his moves, but Republicans have accused him and Schumer of prolonging the current government shutdown over fear of a progressive revolt led by New York Democrats like Mamdani.

Jeffries made his brief remarks on Monday during a press conference on day 20 of the shutdown, with Republicans and Democrats appearing no closer to an agreement on a path forward.

At another point in the press conference, Jeffries demanded that President Donald Trump take a more active role in negotiations on ending the shutdown.

“Donald Trump definitively needs to get involved. He needs to get off the sidelines, get off the golf course and actually decide to end the shutdown that he’s created, that he has allowed to happen,” Jeffries said.

“We know that House and Senate Republicans don’t do anything without getting permission from their boss, Donald J. Trump, and the reason why there have been no negotiations, zero negotiations, since Republicans shut the government.”

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But Republican leaders in Congress have repeatedly insisted that they have nothing to negotiate after offering a straightforward, seven-week extension of fiscal year (FY) 2025 federal funding levels. 

The measure, called a continuing resolution (CR), is aimed at giving congressional appropriators more time to strike a longer-term deal on FY2026 funding.

The House passed the bill on Sept. 19. But in the Senate, where at least eight Democrats are needed to break a filibuster if all GOP lawmakers supported it, the bill has failed to advance twelve times.

Democratic leaders are demanding any funding bill be paired with an extension of COVID-19 pandemic-era Obamacare subsidies that are set to expire at the end of this year.

Senate Democrats, fresh off a weekend of anti-Trump rallies, again blocked the Republicans’ plan to reopen the government for an 11th time as the shutdown nears its fourth week.

Senate Republicans had hoped their colleagues across the aisle would have a change of heart after the “No Kings” rallies across the country, but like many times before, Senate Democrats, led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., largely voted to block the funding bill.

Neither side has changed its position as the shutdown has continued to drag on.

‘GOOFBALLS’ AND HOSTAGES: GOP SENATORS SAY SCHUMER’S SHUTDOWN TACTICS DESTROYING THE SENATE

Senate Democrats want an extension to expiring Obamacare subsidies, which were enhanced when Senate Democrats controlled the upper chamber under President Joe Biden and are set to expire by the end of this year.

Schumer accused congressional Republicans of being unwilling to solve the problem, despite overtures from Senate Republicans that they’d be open to have a vote on the matter. 

“What kind of country do we live in? What kind of party is this Republican Party that is unwilling to solve this problem, which is staring Americans in the face, frightening Americans from one end of the country to the other,” Schumer said. “And yet Republicans, what are they doing about it? Nothing. They’re on vacation. It’s unacceptable and morally repugnant.”

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., contended over the weekend at the “No Kings” rally in Washington, D.C., that when Democrats were in charge, the government never shut down.

“The government is shut down and shutdowns are painful,” he said. “They hurt people. And frankly, that’s why there was not a single government shutdown when Joe Biden was president and Democrats were in charge of Congress. Because we acted like adults, we negotiated with Republicans. We found common ground. We kept the government open.”

SENATE DEMOCRATS BLOCK GOP PLAN FOR 10TH TIME, ENSURING SHUTDOWN LASTS INTO NEXT WEEK

But Senate Republicans have remained adamant that they won’t negotiate while the government is shut down. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., extended an olive branch to Senate Democrats and offered a vote on the expiring subsidies, but so far, Senate Democrats have not agreed.

Republicans are also trying to fund the government through other means. Thune tried and failed to advance the annual defense appropriations bill through a procedural hurdle last week, which Senate Democrats blocked. Republicans are also trying to finish work on a trio of funding bills passed in August, but Senate Democrats are blocking that, too.

“Any idea that this is about Obamacare enhanced premium tax credits is going by the wayside when they continue to keep the government shut down and don’t allow us time to actually work on the issue,” Thune said. “I don’t think they want a solution. I think they want a political issue.”

Another issue is that even if lawmakers were to pass the House-passed continuing resolution (CR) on Tuesday, Congress would only have one month to finish work on spending bills to fund the government. When asked if the it was time to think about the House coming back to extend the deadline, Thune said, “For sure.” 

“I mean, every day that passes, we have less time to fund the government,” he said. 

Meanwhile, lawmakers will get the chance to pay certain federal workers and the military later in the week.

SCHUMER’S SHUTDOWN SCHEME EXPLAINED: DEMS DOUBLE DOWN ON OBAMACARE CREDITS AS STANDOFF DRAGS ON

Thune said that he planned to tee up legislation from Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and several other Senate Republicans that would pay military service members and certain “excepted” federal workers who are still working despite the ongoing shutdown. That bill could be ready for a vote by Thursday at the latest. 

When asked if he worried that Senate Democrats would continue to take hostages during the shutdown fight, Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said, “Hopefully not.”

“Because at whatever point the Schumer shutdown ends is because the Democrats are finally tired of it, or they hear enough from their constituents,” he said. “Hopefully enough people will tell them, ‘Hey, we don’t want that anymore. You keep government open. Do the job.’”

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But for now, there’s no real end in sight for the shutdown.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, contended that neither side would break the impasse given that there’s no “incentive” to do so.

“What we’re seeing is different,” Murkowski said. “You’ve got both sides that are just really hard dug in, but everybody thinks they’re winning. Nobody is winning when everybody’s losing. And that’s what’s happening right now. The American public is losing.”

The White House is urging California Democrats to welcome the National Guard to “clean up” San Francisco, but Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., said the deployment will “ruin one of America’s greatest cities. “

President Donald Trump told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo that the National Guard is headed to San Francisco next. In a statement shared exclusively with Fox News Digital on Monday, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said San Francisco Democrats should “welcome the President in to clean up their city.”

“America’s once great cities have descended into chaos and crime as a result of Democrat policies that put criminals first and law-abiding citizens last,” Jackson said Monday. “Making America Safe Again — especially crime-ridden cities — was a key campaign promise from the President that the American people elected him to fulfill.”

Meanwhile, Mayor Daniel Lurie was also elected last November with a commitment to restoring public safety to San Francisco. 

NEWSOM SUES TRUMP ADMINISTRATION OVER CALIFORNIA NATIONAL GUARD DEPLOYMENT ORDER TO OREGON

“Since January, I have said that public safety is my number one priority,” Lurie said during a public safety briefing Friday. “Over the last nine months, we have backed that up, rebuilding the ranks of our public safety agencies, strengthening coordination across departments and strategically deploying technology. It’s working, and this week proved it.”

DEM GOVERNORS SUDDENLY CRACK DOWN ON CRIME AS TRUMP’S NATIONAL GUARD THREATS LOOM

But the White House urged California Democrats to recognize the progress made in Memphis, Tennessee, and in Washington, D.C., where fellow Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser has acknowledged the Trump administration’s success cleaning up the nation’s capital. 

“We’re going to go to San Francisco,” Trump said on Sunday. “The difference is, I think they want us in San Francisco. San Francisco was truly one of the great cities of the world, and then 15 years ago, it went wrong. It went woke.”

Newsom was quick to fire back in a social media post Sunday, writing, “Fact check: Nobody wants you here. You will ruin one of America’s greatest cities.”

During the safety briefing Friday, Lurie noted that, last week, more than 45,000 people descended upon San Francisco for Salesforce’s “Dreamforce 2025” conference, featuring hundreds of events about advancing technology and artificial intelligence.

“45,000 visitors, and no reports of any major incidents. Once again, the eyes of the world were on San Francisco, and we delivered,” Lurie said, while applauding first responders and city workers who make San Francisco “shine.”

“It happened because of our close partnership with the California Highway Patrol,” Lurie said. “We are working with the appropriate state and federal enforcement agencies every day to keep our city safe, and that coordination is delivering results for San Francisco.”

Newsom criticized Trump in August for “militarizing American cities” after the president deployed National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., to fight crime in the nation’s capital. Trump has since deployed troops to Chicago, Memphis and Portland. 

The California governor, a frequent Trump critic who is considered a likely 2028 presidential candidate, deployed California Highway Patrol “crime-suppression teams” across the Golden State in August to prevent crime and promote public safety. 

“While the Trump administration undermines cities, California is partnering with them and delivering real results. With these new deployments, we’re doubling down on these partnerships to build on progress and keep driving crime down,” Newsom said in a statement in August, seemingly to deter another National Guard deployment to California. 

Trump deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles this spring during protests rejecting deportations by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, in line with another Trump mandate. 

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In an Instagram post following the “No Kings” protests on Saturday, which erupted across the country in rejection of Trump’s sweeping, second-term agenda, Lurie thanked San Francisco law enforcement and protesters for maintaining peace.

When reached for comment, Newsom’s and Lurie’s team pointed to their previous statements from their social media posts and the Friday press conference.

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…

–NYC billionaire Catsimatidis calls on Curtis Sliwa to drop NYC mayoral campaign

-Social media erupts over ‘deranged’ teacher mocking Charlie Kirk’s death in ‘No Kings’ viral video

-‘Goofballs’ and hostages: GOP senators say Schumer’s shutdown tactics destroying the Senate

Trump goes all-out against Colombia’s Petro after claims drug strike killed fisherman: What we know

Colombia’s government says a fisherman killed in a recent U.S. strike near Venezuelan waters was not a drug trafficker — directly challenging Washington’s claim that its growing Caribbean campaign is hitting “narco-terrorist” targets and pushing relations with the key non-NATO ally into a new spiral.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro, who aligns politically with Venezuelan ruler Nicolás Maduro, has had a combative relationship with President Donald Trump and is expected to challenge U.S. actions. Yet Washington has released only limited evidence linking the targeted vessels to drug networks, and U.S. intelligence officials have declined to say how confident they are in the assessments that led to the strikes.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has insisted the intelligence is conclusive…READ MORE.
 

White House

DC DEMONSTRATION: In Photos: Bernie Sanders, costumed demonstrators rally against Trump at No Kings Day protest

RALLY RAGE: ‘No Kings’ agitator who allegedly vowed to ‘fight ICE’ with firebombs at blue city’s protest arrested: report

WEIGHING IN: Trump calls Jay Jones an ‘animal,’ says ‘anybody would be put in prison for what he said’

World Stage

DRUG WAR FEUD: Colombia recalls US ambassador after Trump calls its leader ‘illegal drug leader,’ threatens military action

NUKES DOWN UNDER: US to expedite nuclear-powered subs to Australia that will sit near China’s doorstep

NO MORE HANDOUTS: Trump doubles down on Colombia crackdown, calls Petro ‘lunatic,’ vows to end all US payments over drugs

WAR OR WARNING?: Is Trump’s ‘heat’ on Venezuela the start of a wider campaign for regime change?

Capitol Hill

GRIDLOCK GAMBLE: Prediction markets signal government shutdown may last into mid-November

NO GLOBAL TAXES: GOP bill targets United Nations’ global carbon ‘tax scheme’

CAPITAL CLASH: Chip Roy says the Democratic Party is taking its ‘dying breaths’

MONEY TALKS: House GOP announces $24M cash haul as government shutdown drags on

‘TAKING A STAND’: Charlamagne tha God says Democrats are losing the shutdown messaging battle

Across America 

GAINING GROUND: Battle for governor in closely watched election may be headed for a photo finish

NO ONE ABOVE LAW: Letitia James up against ‘by the book’ prosecutor ‘who means business,’ former Kentucky AG Cameron says

PRIMARY WOES: ‘America First’ attorney general distances himself from McConnell — his former boss — as Kentucky race defines GOP future

EXODUS WARNING: Cuomo warns there will be ‘nobody left’ in NYC if Mamdani becomes mayor

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

FIRST ON FOX: A new House GOP bill would block the United Nations (U.N.) from forcing the U.S. to take up any new tax that was not explicitly levied by American taxpayers’ own government.

It’s expected to be introduced this week, as the world awaits a U.N. vote on a global tax on carbon emissions made via international maritime shipping. 

Member states of the UN’s relevant body, the International Maritime Organization, voted late last week to postpone consideration of the global tax by a year after fierce pushback by President Donald Trump.

Pfluger’s bill would ensure that the U.S. would not be subject to that tax nor any other fiscal penalties ordered by the international organization, unless ratified by the Senate.

TRUMP’S GLOBAL RESET OF TRADE RELATIONSHIPS WILL REMAIN IN THE SPOTLIGHT THIS WEEK

It would also prohibit the U.S. government from funding any global carbon tax, as well as block voluntary contributions to the U.N. by the U.S. if such a tax was levied.

The proposal for a global maritime shipping tax on carbon emissions was championed by Brazil and the European Union, among other countries that had also been advocating for more environmentally friendly international trade.

Its chief opponents were the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, the largest and second-largest oil producers in the world, respectively.

SUPREME COURT MUST FREEZE THE CLIMATE EXTORTION OF OUR ENERGY INDUSTRY

Republican Study Committee (RSC) Chair August Pfluger, R-Texas, is leading the legislation, alongside RSC Energy Task Force Chair Troy Balderson, R-Ohio, and Task Force Vice Chair Randy Weber, R-Texas.

Pfluger told Fox News Digital, “This fight isn’t over,” despite the U.N. punting the vote.

“This legislation would kill their global carbon tax scheme permanently by depriving all U.S. funding to any U.N. agency that attempts to impose a tax on the American people and ensuring Congress has a say in all taxes, fees and penalties on American citizens or companies,” he said.

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Balderson said he was “grateful to President Trump and Secretaries Rubio, Wright and Duffy for standing up to the United Nations and forcing the International Maritime Organization to back down.”

“Unelected global bureaucrats at the U.N. are trying to build another slush fund, and they expect Americans to pay for it,” Weber said. “A global carbon tax wasn’t on the ballot in November 2024, and the American people sure didn’t vote for a 10% hike in costs.”

A video of a woman that users on social media say shows a school teacher in Chicago mocking the death of Charlie Kirk at a protest went viral over the weekend, with many calling for the woman to lose her job.

The woman can be seen in the video standing in front of a line of anti-Trump protesters on the day of the “No Kings” protests yelling at a truck driving by that was carrying a flag honoring Kirk.

The woman can be seen on video pointing an imaginary gun at her neck and yelling, “Bang, bang.”

The video, which has racked up tens of millions of views on social media, was widely interpreted as mocking the death of Kirk, who was assassinated by a shot through the neck last month.

WATCH: ‘NO KINGS’ PROTESTERS AT MASSIVE NYC RALLY REVEAL MOTIVATION FOR TAKING TO THE STREETS: ‘DISGUSTING’

Social media users quickly identified who they believed the woman in the video was, claiming she is a K-8 stem teacher with the Chicago Public School system at Nathan Hale Elementary school. 

Conservatives on social media quickly reacted to the video warning about leftist radicalization of the education system in the United States. 

“The most vile reactions to Charlie’s murder have almost all been public school teachers and professors,” TPUSA’s Andrew Kolvet posted on X. “Tells you a lot about what America’s children are facing and why TPUSA is more important than ever.”

“These people have been polluting American children,” GOP Congressman Chip Roy posted on X. “School Choice is important – but it’s bailing water out of a sinking boat with a massive hole in it.  We need to simultaneously clean out our schools of this garbage… and it’s not just Chicago.”

“Most horrible being of the year goes to…,” Fox News contributor Joe Concha posted on X. 

THROUGH THE LENS: BERNIE SANDERS, COSTUMED DEMONSTRATORS RALLY AGAINST TRUMP AT NO KINGS DAY PROTEST

“Imagine if the tables were turned and a Republican did this,” GOP Sen. Mike Lee posted on X. “The media would speak of nothing else for weeks.”

“This is a Chicago teacher who should be fired immediately,” Republican political and communications strategist Mercedes Schlapp posted on X. “A deranged individual who advocates for violence and death should not be near any children. Pray for our country.”

The website for Nathan Hale Elementary School was taken down sometime on Sunday.

On Sunday night, a Chicago Public School spokesperson directed Fox News Digital to a letter sent to the “Hale School community” by Principal Dawn Iles-Gomez that referenced potential online threats made against a staff member.

“Dear Hale Parents, and Staff, Safety continues to be my top priority, which is why I am writing to notify you of a situation involving our school,” the letter says. “We were recently made aware of social media posts with language that resemble a potential threat to a staff member. We take all potential threats extremely seriously to ensure the safety of our school community.”

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The letter added that the Chicago Police Department was notified and “investigating the situation further.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the Chicago Police Department for comment.

On Monday, CPS told Fox News Digital that the district is aware an employee was filmed at a protest in Chicago and is the subject of social media posts. 

“Chicago Public Schools (CPS) remains committed to creating and maintaining a welcoming, safe, and inclusive teaching and learning environment, free from harassment, bias, or harm of any kind,” CPS said in a statement. 

“While CPS does not comment on specific personnel matters, the District follows a consistent process when allegations of misconduct are reported. Employees found to have violated Board policy are subject to disciplinary action.

The U.S. wants to fast-track outfitting Australia with nuclear submarines under the trilateral agreement between the U.S., Australia and the U.K. to beef up Australia’s submarine force aimed at countering Chinese influence in the Indo-Pacific. 

In the agreement, known as AUKUS, the U.S. will sell up to five Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines to Australia — slated for delivery as soon as 2032.

But Trump told reporters that he is eyeing a faster timeline, when asked if he was interested in speeding up the process. 

“Well we are doing that, yeah … we have them moving very, very quickly,” Trump told reporters Monday while meeting with Australia’s prime minister, Anthony Albanese, at the White House. 

Even so, Trump also said that he didn’t believe that AUKUS was necessary to deter China as he touted his relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who he is expected to meet with in South Korea later in October. 

“I don’t think we’re going to need it,” Trump said about the trilateral agreement. “I think we’ll be just fine with China. China doesn’t want to do that. First of all, the United States is the strongest military power in the world by far. It’s not even close, not even close. We have the best equipment. We have the best of everything, and nobody’s going to mess with that. And I don’t see that at all with President Xi.”

This is a breaking news story and will be updated. The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

With the federal government still closed, President Donald Trump begins the week back from Florida at the center of a political stalemate that shows no signs of easing.

The standoff, now dragging into its third week, comes as the Trump administration and congressional Republicans remain at odds with Democrats over healthcare subsidies.

GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN 101: WE’VE BEEN HERE BEFORE, HERE’S WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

Trump has placed the blame squarely on Democrats for the shutdown that has triggered thousands of federal layoffs, frozen billions in infrastructure funding and rippled through local economies nationwide.

“The Democrats are kamikazes right now. They’re kamikaze pilots right now. They have nothing going. They have no future,” Trump said during an exclusive interview on “Sunday Morning Futures.“

‘THAT ENDS NOW:’ WHITE HOUSE VOWS REMOVAL OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS FROM TAXPAYER BENEFITS

Democrats say failure to act before November’s open enrollment could saddle millions of Americans with higher premiums. The White House argues that the Democrats’ plan includes billions for Medicaid coverage for undocumented immigrants, which Trump claims would put Americans’ healthcare at risk.

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Though once uncommon, government shutdowns have grown more frequent in recent decades as political brinkmanship has become a hallmark of budget negotiations.

Since 1976, the U.S. government has experienced 20 shutdowns. The most recent one, the longest in U.S. history, occurred when a dispute over funding Trump’s border wall halted government operations for 34 days, spanning from December 2018 into January 2019. 

Senators on Thursday failed for the tenth time to break the impasse, leaving the government shutdown unresolved. Meanwhile, the House has been adjourned since Sept. 19 and is not expected to reconvene until the shutdown ends.

Government shutdowns can be pretty boring.

Until a shutdown impacts you.

There’s a missed paycheck. Flight delays. You can’t visit the Smithsonian. Questions about food and drug safety.

You get the idea.

But until you reach that tipping point, most Americans are ho-hum about government shutdowns and interpret the infighting between Democrats and Republicans as de rigueur on Capitol Hill.

So they don’t pay much mind to them.

However, Democrats engineered a scheme in advance of this fall’s government shutdown. They would transmogrify the shutdown into something Americans care about: healthcare.

DEMOCRATS STRUGGLE FOR COHESIVE MESSAGING STRATEGY AMID SHUTDOWN STANDOFF

Democrats know that healthcare consistently polls well with voters. Democrats have known for months that many people who receive their healthcare coverage via “Obamacare exchanges” would absorb a marked price spike with their premiums early next year. Moreover, notices informing people about the impending price increase would start to hit mailboxes in mid-October.

So Democrats have pleaded with Republicans to subsidize Obamacare to defray looming price increases. Obamacare subsidies and the government shutdown aren’t directly connected. But Democrats believed they could link the two. And then, after people snored off to sleep about the government shutdown on Oct. 1, they were rudely awakened by a notice in the mail that their healthcare premiums were about to jump.

Say what you will about the tactics, but it was a shrewd strategy by Democrats to seize on an issue important to their base. Moreover, it gave the party the opportunity to show voters that it’s “fighting” against President Donald Trump. That’s something which didn’t happen in the March funding round. In fact, the Democrats’ lack of fighting is what set a match to an internecine fight among Democrats about how to combat the president. The public and the government are absorbing the flames of that internal conflagration now, but Democrats may have found a way to salve those wounds.

“Fighting for healthcare is our defining issue,” said House Minority Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., in an exclusive sit-down interview with Fox News. “Shutdowns are terrible and there will be families that are going to suffer. We take that responsibility very seriously. But it is one of the few leverage times we have.”

That’s why healthcare is the linchpin to the shutdown.

But enter Republicans. They believe Democrats own the healthcare crisis. They passed Obamacare in the first place. It was a Democratic Congress under President Joe Biden that boosted the subsidy to defray the cost of Obamacare in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the touchstone of the Democrats’ legislative agenda.

“It is the Democrats who created that subsidy who put the expiration date on it. They did it all on their own,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.

Some Republicans have even reverted to their 2010 mantra to “repeal and replace” Obamacare.

That said, Johnson tried to beat back those calls from conservatives.

DEMOCRATS ROLL OUT NEW CAMPAIGN ADS TARGETING REPUBLICANS OVER ONGOING GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

“There’s no way to repeal and replace it because it’s too deeply ingrained right now. We have to improve it,” said Johnson.

Such a declaration would have been unthinkable a few years ago. Here we have a Republican Speaker of the House arguing that Congress must sustain — even assist — Obamacare.

“Obamacare has been a failure,” said Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., on Fox News. “We’ve been enduring this now for almost 15 years.”

Stutzman benefited from the GOP’s plan to ditch Obamacare in 2010. It was an historic, 63-seat midterm election pickup for Republicans. Voters sent Stutzman to Washington for the first time in that midterm.

The Indiana Republican added that he’s “not sure that subsidies are the answer in the long run.”

“Every couple of years they need more and more subsidies to be able to prop [Obamacare] up because it’s not affordable,” said Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., on Fox Business Network.

Democrats are demanding Obamacare subsidies before they agree to a Republican plan to fund the government.

“It is an inflection point in this budget process where we have tried to get the Republicans to meet with us and prioritize the American people,” said Clark.

But Democrats believe the need to boost Obamacare reveals flaws in the law.

“Isn’t that an indictment that there’s a problem with [Obamacare]?” I asked House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. “The fact that it needs to be propped up in some form?”

“No,” replied Jeffries. “The overwhelming majority of the American people, including in the Republican-run states, support an extension of the [Obamacare] tax credits.”

Some Republicans reject extending the subsidies.

DEMOCRATS BLAME GOP FOR OBAMACARE WOES TIED TO PANDEMIC-ERA SUBSIDIES

“I’m not going to vote to extend these subsidies. They’re through the roof expensive,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

But other conservatives insist that Obamacare needs rescuing.

“If you’re on [Obamacare] your premium is going to literally double. If you have your own private health insurance policy, your premium is going to go up and people already can’t afford their premiums,” said Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga. “People back at home are going, ‘Wait a minute, my premium is going to skyrocket.’”

Greene is one of the most outspoken members of her party when it comes to concerns about the premium increases. In fact, she believes that Republicans allowed “Democrats to hold the moral high ground on it, because they’re talking about it.”

Greene and Johnson spoke about her concerns several days ago.

But Obamacare vexed the GOP for years.

Former House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and others led an effort to repeal and replace Obamacare. House Republicans voted dozens of times to wipe out Obamacare in 2011 and 2012. They couldn’t push such a package through the Senate, but it made for a powerful GOP talking point. Former House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., got a little closer. Republicans had the Senate in 2016. So the House and Senate both voted for the first time to repeal and replace Obamacare, but President Barack Obama vetoed it.

Republicans finally had the trifecta of the House, Senate and White House in 2017 after Trump won the election. The House initially stumbled, having to yank the repeal and replace package off the floor in the spring of 2017. But the House regrouped and finally engineered a strategy that passed. But the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., single-handedly tanked the bill when he famously voted against the package in a dramatic roll call vote in the summer of 2017.

DEMS IN THE HOT SEAT AFTER OBAMACARE’S SPIKING PREMIUM COSTS TORPEDO THEIR NARRATIVE

“I still have PTSD from the experience,” said Johnson of the GOP efforts.

Trump even offered a familiar, if well-traveled promise, during last year’s campaign.

“I have concepts of a plan,” the president said at the ABC presidential debate last fall. “You’ll be hearing about it in the not too distant future.”

So while a resolution to the government shutdown remains elusive, so do the positions about one of the most controversial pieces of legislation in the past 50 years.

Republicans have tried to flip the script on the Democrats — now highlighting the problems with Obamacare. The GOP hopes that rekindles a familiar antipathy the right has for Obamacare and helps them during the shutdown.

“Obamacare is a failed product in the first place. And they used that as an excuse in order to add additional federal dollars,” said Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D.

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The sides just don’t see eye-to-eye.

“When [Obamacare] was passed, healthcare was a lot less costly than it is now, and insurance rates were a lot lower. So these healthcare tax credits are necessary for healthcare inflation to make it affordable for people,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.

Obamacare and the shutdown are now inextricably linked. And if dealing with that wasn’t complicated enough, the infusion of Obamacare into the debate makes the legislative morass seemingly intractable.

FIRST ON FOX: House Republicans’ campaign arm is announcing it brought in nearly $24 million in the months of July through September this year.

More than half of that — roughly $13.95 million — came in September, as Republicans were readying for a political messaging war over federal funding.

That fight is still ongoing now, more than halfway through October. The government has been shut down for 20 days as Republicans and Democrats are still in disagreement over federal spending.

The National Republican Congressional Committee’s (NRCC) $13.95 million haul represents its best September in a non-election year and a 50% increase from the previous comparable September in 2023.

THUNE SLAMS SCHUMER’S ‘KINGMAKER’ POLITICS, REFUSES TO ‘KISS THE RING’ IN SHUTDOWN TALKS

The NRCC is ending the third quarter with nearly $46 million cash on hand and nearly $93 million raised in 2025 alone.

In a statement sent to Fox News Digital, NRCC Chair Rep. Richard Hudson, R-N.C., pointed out that House Republicans already voted to keep the federal government funded last month and touted the GOP base propelling his group ahead of the 2026 elections.

“House Republicans are firing on all cylinders. Our majority funded the federal government, and we’re delivering for working families and building unstoppable momentum heading into 2026,” Hudson said.

“With President Trump leading the charge and voters rallying behind our conservative agenda, we’re raising record-breaking resources to hold the House and grow our majority,” he said.

Republicans are battling to keep the House in next year’s midterm elections, which have historically been unfavorable to the party in power. The GOP has held the House majority since 2023.

But GOP leaders have expressed confidence in their agenda and in the White House, while arguing the Democratic Party is facing a lack of cohesion and disapproval of its policies by American voters.

The NRCC outpaced its counterpart, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) in the previous quarter of 2025, raising $32.3 million compared to the DCCC’s $29.1 million.

SCREAMING MATCH ERUPTS BETWEEN HAKEEM JEFFRIES, MIKE LAWLER AS GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN CHAOS CONTINUES

The DCCC ended the year with more cash on hand, however, with $39.7 million compared to the NRCC’s $37.6 million.

Both groups and their allies have spent much of October battling over the government shutdown in the court of public opinion.

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Republicans are accusing Democrats of holding the federal government hostage by refusing to vote for their funding bill unless partisan healthcare demands are met.

Democrats, meanwhile, have argued that Republicans are risking the healthcare costs of millions of Americans by not including an extension of COVID-19 pandemic-era Obamacare subsidies that are set to expire this year without congressional action.

The House passed a seven-week federal funding bill largely along party lines on Sept. 19. It has been stalled in the Senate, however, where at least several Democrats are needed to hit the chamber’s 60-vote threshold to break the filibuster.

President Donald Trump condemned Virginia Democratic attorney general nominee Jay Jones as an “animal” on Sunday, saying anyone else would find themselves “in prison” for his text messages wishing death on political opponents.

Trump made the comments while talking to reporters aboard Air Force One, just days after Jones had repeatedly bashed the president in a campaign debate in Virginia last week. Reporters pressed Trump on whether he planned to weigh in on the attorney general contest.

“You mean the one that wanted to kill some of his children and kill somebody? You mean the animal that wanted to kill somebody who should not be allowed to be running for that office?” Trump said when asked about Jones.

“He’s a third-rate intellect, he’s a guy who – I’ve never seen anybody say what he said, that he wanted to kill his opponent’s children – he wanted to kill his opponent,” Trump said. “I can’t imagine anybody voting for Jay Jones. Look, you would think he’s totally discredited. I would think he wouldn’t even be allowed to do that; anybody would be put in prison for what he said.”

WATCH: KAINE DEFENDS JONES AMID AG CANDIDATE’S TEXTS ENVISIONING MURDER OF GOP LEADER: ‘STILL A SUPPORTER’

“He can join a long list of attorney generals that have been suing and losing,” Trump added.

‘CONSUMED WITH HATE’: WINSOME SEARS, JASON MIYARES UNLOAD ON DEMOCRAT JAY JONES OVER VIOLENT TEXTS

In messages first reported earlier this month, Jones texted Virginia state lawmaker Carrie Coyner in 2022, imagining a scenario where he would choose to “fire two bullets” into then-House Speaker Todd Gilbert’s head, describing Gilbert as worse than dictators Pol Pot and Adolf Hitler.

Jones also referred to Gilbert’s young children as “fascists” in the exchange.

Jones has since apologized for the text messages and says he is now “embarrassed” by them.

LIBERAL MEDIA DOWNPLAYS SCANDAL OF DEM VIRGINIA AG HOPEFUL JAY JONES’ TEXTS FANTASIZING MURDER OF GOP LAWMAKER

The controversy hasn’t stopped prominent Virginia Democrats from endorsing Jones, however. Virginia gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger endorsed Jones prior to the controversy and has since declined to withdraw the endorsement. Her campaign website is also still selling Jones-branded merchandise.

The Republican Governors Association, which is backing Spanberger’s opponent, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, slammed Spanberger’s campaign for continuing to market Jones-branded merchandise more than a week after texts surfaced depicting him envisioning the murder of a GOP leader and his children.

“Jay Jones threatened to murder his political opponent and their children, and Abigail Spanberger still fully endorses him and is trying to make money off it,” RGA rapid response director Kollin Crompton told Fox News Digital.

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“If Spanberger is willing to put partisan politics above doing the right thing and standing up to political violence, how can she be trusted as governor?” Crompton asked.

Fox News’ Charles Creitz contributed to this report.

Former Republican Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron applauded the prosecutor handling Democratic New York Attorney General Letitia James’ indictment on charges of bank fraud and making false statements to a financial institution, celebrating that she is prosecuting the case “by the book” in a state that hasn’t voted for a Republican presidential candidate in two decades. 

“Lindsey Halligan means business,” Cameron, who serves as CEO of nonprofit the 1792 Exchange, told Fox News Digital in a Tuesday Zoom interview. “And she has been tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that no one is above the law in the Eastern District of Virginia. And she certainly is heeding that call and commitment and that responsibility, which I applaud.”

A grand jury in Virginia indicted James Oct. 9, months after Federal Housing Finance Director Bill Pulte wrote in a criminal referral to the Department of Justice in April that James allegedly falsified mortgage records to obtain more favorable loans. 

Interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia Lindsey Halligan is the top federal prosecutor overseeing the case, following her nomination to the role by President Donald Trump in September. Halligan previously served as special assistant to the president and White House senior associate staff secretary in the early months of the administration before moving to her new role. 

LEGAL EXPERT CALLS OUT ‘IRONIC’ TWIST AS NY AG WHO PROSECUTED TRUMP FACES FEDERAL BANK FRAUD CHARGES

Halligan also landed on the political map while serving as one of Trump’s attorneys after the FBI raided Mar-a-Lago in 2022 in search of classified documents retained at the Trump residence. 

The Trump-nominated federal prosecutor, who also was appointed to the job on an interm basis, has since secured separate indictments against James and former FBI Director James Comey, both of whom are longtime political foes of Trump’s. 

Cameron applauded that Halligan was handling the cases “by the book,” pointing to how grand juries comprised of Virginia locals determined there was enough evidence to charge the pair in both cases. 

MAMDANI ASSAILS TRUMP FOR ‘POLITICAL RETRIBUTION’ AGAINST LETITIA JAMES IN SWEEPING DEFENSE OF EMBATTLED AG

“Whether it’s this case or the Comey case, she has been taking them to the grand jury,” he said. “And I remind people that the grand jury process is a deliberative process. It appears within the community that sit on that grand jury to ultimately make a decision about whether there’s probable cause to move forward with an indictment. And that has happened in both of these instances.” 

Cameron, who also is running for the Senate in Kentucky in the 2026 cycle, noted that Virginia is by no means a conservative-leaning state, with many of its residents working as employees in Washington, D.C. Virginia previously voted for a Republican presidential candidate 20 years ago in the 2004 race, and is in the midst of a high-stakes gubernatorial election. 

“Virginia is not a hotbed for conservatism,” he said. “This is a jury or grand jury of peers that ultimately makes this indictment. And when you look at the facts that are alleged, it seems pretty cut and dry in the context of General James and what was misrepresented on the loan documents and whether it was a primary residence versus a rental property.” 

“I applaud Lindsey Halligan for taking this by the book and, you know putting forth the case before the grand jury that ultimately gave them the information to make a judgment about indictment,” he continued. 

Cameron is the CEO of the 1792 Exchange, which is a nonprofit focused on providing information to businesses, other nonprofits and philanthropy groups to shield against “woke” corporations. 

It also educates “Congress and stakeholder organizations about the dangers of ESG (environmental, social, and governance) policies, and to help steer public companies in the United States back to neutral on ideological issues so they can best serve their shareholders and customers with excellence and integrity,” according to the group’s website. 

SOCIAL MEDIA ERUPTS AS RESURFACED AG JAMES POSTS COME BACK TO HAUNT HER: ‘NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW’

Cameron served as the Republican attorney general of Kentucky from 2020 to 2024, providing him unique insight on the James case as a top state prosecutor himself.

James came under investigation over a Norfolk, Virginia, home she purchased in 2020, which she identified on mortgage documents and a Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac form as a property that would serve as her primary residence. Federal officials claim that the home was listed as such to secure more favorable loans, while pointing to state law that requires the New York attorney general to reside in the Empire State. 

Prosecutors of the case said James’ “ill-gotten gains” from the mortgage documents sit at “approximately $18,933 over the life of the loan.”

James has denied wrongdoing, claiming that any errors were not intended to deceive a lender, but were mistakes. She, as well as Democrat allies, have instead claimed the indictment is an example of Trump “weaponizing” the Justice Department against political foes. 

“I will not bow. I will not break. I will not bend,” James said earlier in October during a campaign stop for socialist New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. “You come for me, you’ve got to come through all of us. Every single one of us. We’re all in this together.”

LETITIA JAMES’ OWN WORDS COME BACK TO HAUNT HER AFTER FEDERAL BANK FRAUD CHARGES FILED

“I know what it feels like to be attacked for just doing your job,” James said, while reprimanding those who “weaponize justice for political gain.”

Cameron noted that James’ office has prosecuted similar cases at the state level, which he said exposes the “hypocrisy” of claims the case is political weaponization at the hands of the Trump administration. James’ office previously has prosecuted cases involving mortgage fraud entwined with money laundering, deed theft cases, and mortgage fraud schemes, a review of previous press releases from James’ office show. 

“This is not weaponization,” he said. “This is about no one being above the law. And again, whether it’s the Department of Justice or the individual U.S. attorneys across this country, there’s a responsibility to follow the law wherever it may lead. And I appreciate the work that’s been done on that front.” 

James, herself, also personally railed against “powerful people” who “cheat to get better loans” in 2024, when reacting to the civil fraud verdict against Trump that year. 

“When powerful people cheat to get better loans, it comes at the expense of hardworking people. Everyday Americans cannot lie to a bank to get a mortgage, and if they did, our government would throw the book at them. There simply cannot be different rules for different people,” James wrote in a February 2024 post on X when she was attacking Trump on social media. 

NEW YORK AG LETITIA JAMES’ INDICTMENT SPARKS SHARP PARTISAN DIVIDE

James campaigned on aggressively pursing legal action against Trump during her successful 2018 run to serve as New York attorney general, and brought forth dozens of cases against his first administration, including more than 70 legal and regulatory actions in 2020 alone that specifically combated the administration’s environmental laws, according to James’ office in 2021.  

“I will never be afraid to challenge this illegitimate president,” James said in a video after her primary win in 2018. 

“We here in New York — and I, in particular — we are not scared of you,” she added of Trump after her statewide win that same year, the New York Times reported. “And as the next attorney general of his home state, I will be shining a bright light into every dark corner of his real estate dealings, and every dealing, demanding truthfulness at every turn.”

James did bring forth the 2022 civil fraud case against Trump and the Trump Organization, accusing them of lying to lenders by inflating the values of Trump properties. James won the case, but the appeals court threw out a massive $500 million judgment against Trump in August. Trump slammed the case as lawfare, alongside a bevy of other criminal and civil cases he faced ahead of the 2024 election. 

James faces up to 60 years, 30 years per count, if found guilty, as well as a $1 million fine on each count, and forfeiture, according to the Department of Justice’s press release on the indictment, which noted actual federal sentences are typically less severe than the maximum penalties. 

Trump held a press conference with FBI Director Kash Patel and other federal law enforcement officials at the Oval Office Wednesday, when United States Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche slammed any claims the Department of Justice has become “weaponized,” while rattling off the bevy of cases Trump faced in the lead-up to the general election in November 2024. 

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“When people talk about this department weaponizing, it’s embarrassing because there’s no in which you can look at what we’re doing restoring justice, doing the right thing and every single case and say that that’s weaponization, and yet remain eerily silent about what happened for the past three years,” Blanche said. 

President Donald Trump said he believes Venezuela is “feeling heat” amid his administration’s war against alleged drug boats in the Caribbean, which has taken out at least two vessels in just the past week. 

Although Trump has said the strikes are intended to curb the influx of drugs into the United States, experts and some lawmakers contend that they serve another purpose: to exert pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro so he’s ousted from power. 

“The Trump administration is likely attempting to force Maduro to voluntarily leave office through a series of diplomatic moves, and now military action and the threat thereof,” Brandan Buck, a foreign policy analyst at the Cato Institute, said in an email to Fox News Digital Thursday. “Whether this constitutes a ‘regime change’ or something else is a question of semantics.” 

HOW TRUMP’S STRIKES AGAINST ALLEGED NARCO-TERRORISTS ARE RESHAPING THE CARTEL BATTLEFIELD: ‘ONE-WAY TICKET’

The Trump administration repeatedly has said it does not recognize Maduro as a legitimate head of state, but instead, a leader of a drug cartel. In August, the Trump administration upped the reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest to $50 million, labeling him “one of the largest narco-traffickers in the world.”

So far, the Trump administration has been tight-lipped when asked about Maduro, and Trump declined to answer Wednesday when asked if the CIA had the authority to “take out” Maduro. 

However, Trump confirmed that he authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela, after the New York Times reported Wednesday he signed off on the move. Trump told reporters he did so because Venezuela has released prisoners into the U.S., and that drugs were coming into the U.S. from Venezuela through sea routes. 

Additionally, Trump confirmed Friday that Maduro offered to grant the U.S. access to Venezuelan oil and other natural resources, claiming the Venezuelan leader didn’t want to “f*** around” with the U.S. 

Still, these recent strikes are unlikely to majorly undermine drug flow into the U.S., according to Buck. 

“It is more likely that those strikes are part of this incremental effort to dislodge Maduro than merely an effort to wage war on the cartels,” Buck said. “Pacific and overland routes through Mexico are considerably more prolific, and Venezuela itself is a relatively minor player, especially when it comes to fentanyl.” 

The Trump administration has employed maritime forces to address drug threats, and has bolstered naval assets in the Caribbean in recent months. For example, Trump has sent several U.S. Navy guided missile destroyers to enhance the administration’s counter-narcotics efforts in the region starting in August.

TRUMP UNLEASHES US MILITARY POWER ON CARTELS. IS A WIDER WAR LOOMING?

Geoff Ramsey, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council international affairs think tank, said that the Trump administration wants these additional forces to encourage the Venezuelan military to take matters into their own hands. 

“What President Trump is hoping is that this deployment will signal to the Venezuelan military that they should rise up against Maduro themselves,” Ramsey said in a Thursday email to Fox News Digital. “The problem is that we haven’t seen this approach bear fruit in twenty years of trying. Maduro is terrible at governing, but good at keeping his upper ranks fat and happy while the people starve.”

“What is needed here is some kind of a road map, or a blueprint for a transition, that can be more attractive to the ruling party and those around Maduro who might secretly want change but need to see a future for themselves in a democratic Venezuela,” Ramsey said. 

Meanwhile, the second Trump administration has adopted a hard-line approach to address the flow of drugs into the U.S., and designated drug cartel groups like Tren de Aragua, Sinaloa and others as foreign terrorist organizations in February.

Additionally, the White House sent lawmakers a memo Sept. 30 informing them that the U.S. is now participating in a “non-international armed conflict” with drug smugglers, and has conducted at least six strikes against vessels off the coast of Venezuela. The U.S. seized survivors from the most recent strike Thursday — the first one involving survivors. At least 28 other individuals have died from previous strikes. 

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have voiced concerns over the legality of the strikes, and Sens. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and Tim Kaine, D-Va., filed a war powers resolution in September to bar U.S. forces from engaging in “hostilities” against certain non-state organizations.

TRUMP TOUTS US STRIKE AS MADURO SLAMS MILITARY ‘THREAT’ OFF VENEZUELA

The resolution failed in the Senate by a 51–48 margin on Oct. 8, but Republicans Rand Paul of Kentucky and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska voted alongside their Democratic counterparts for the resolution.

On Friday, Schiff, Kaine and Paul introduced another narrower war powers resolution that would block U.S. armed forces from participating in “hostilities” against Venezuela specifically. The lawmakers said the resolution came in response to Trump’s comments considering land operations in Venezuela. 

“The Trump administration has made it clear they may launch military action inside Venezuela’s borders, and won’t stop at boat strikes in the Caribbean,” Schiff said in a statement Friday. “In recent weeks we have seen increasingly concerning movements and reporting that undermine claims that this is merely about stopping drug smugglers. Congress has not authorized military force against Venezuela. And we must assert our authority to stop the United States from being dragged—intentionally or accidentally—into full-fledged war in South America.”

When asked about lawmakers’ concerns about the legality of the strikes, Trump dismissed them and said that lawmakers were informed the vessels carried drugs. 

“But they are given information that they were loaded up with drugs,” Trump said on Tuesday. “And that’s the thing that matters. When they’re loaded up with drugs, they’re fair game. And every one of those ships were and they’re not ships, they’re they’re boats.” 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

President Donald Trump reacted Sunday night to global “No Kings Day” protesters who filled streets around the world a day earlier, saying he is not a king and works his “ass off to make our country great.”

Trump made the comments to reporters before exiting Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, when asked about the weekend’s No Kings demonstrations.

Asked about the protests, Trump called them “a joke.”

“I looked at the people. They’re not representative of this country, and I looked at all the brand new signs paid for. I guess it was paid for by Soros and other radical left lunatics,” the president said. “It looks like it was worth checking out. The demonstrations were very small, very ineffective and the people were whacked out. When you look at those people, those are not representative of the people of our country.”

MILLIONS EXPECTED TO FLOOD STREETS AT ‘NO KINGS’ PROTESTS TARGETING TRUMP ACROSS ALL 50 STATES

He also emphasized that he is not royalty.

“I’m not a king,” he said. “I work my ass off to make our country great. That’s all it is. I’m not a king at all.”

His comments came a day after large crowds gathered in cities including New York, Washington, D.C., and London for the second “No Kings” protest since June, aimed at the Trump administration.

PROTESTERS NATIONWIDE HOLD ‘NO KINGS’ RALLIES AMID GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

Despite concerns the marches could turn violent, no incidents or arrests were reported during the afternoon rallies amid the ongoing government shutdown.

Republicans argued the protests were meant to distract from the ongoing government funding fight.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told FOX Business he hoped Democratic leaders who attended would be more open to the GOP plan after the demonstrations, though he did not sound optimistic.

WATCH: ‘NO KINGS’ PROTESTERS AT MASSIVE NYC RALLY REVEAL MOTIVATION FOR TAKING TO THE STREETS: ‘DISGUSTING’

The NYPD estimated more than 100,000 people participated across all five boroughs Saturday and said there were no “protest-related” arrests.

No arrests were reported in Washington, though some protesters briefly spilled into the streets, officials said.

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Police also reported largely peaceful demonstrations in other major cities, including Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston, Boston, Atlanta, Portland, Ore., and Austin.

Fox News Digital’s Alec Schemmel, Landon Mion and Alexandra Koch contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump boarded Air Force One quickly using the small stairs due to “increased security measures” at Palm Beach International Airport on Sunday, a White House official tells Fox News.

The heightened measures at the airport follow the Secret Service discovering a suspected hunting stand Friday near the airport with a clear line of sight to Air Force One when Trump boards and departs the presidential plane.

Fox News was first to report the discovery of the potential sniper position. No individuals have been arrested.

FBI Director Kash Patel said his agency is leading the investigation.

AGENT’S ALLEGED ATTEMPT TO SMUGGLE WIFE ON TRUMP’S SCOTLAND TRIP BEING PROBED IN LATEST SECRET SERVICE FIASCO

Patel said the hunting stand has not yet been connected to any individual. 

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

USSS chief of communications Anthony Guglielmi also confirmed that the organization is “working closely” with the FBI as well as law enforcement in Palm Beach County.

SECRET SERVICE THWARTS POTENTIAL THREAT NEAR TRUMP’S WHITE HOUSE GROUNDS WITH RAPID RESPONSE

Guglielmi said agents discovered the hunting stand during their “advance security preparations” prior to Trump’s arrival in Palm Beach.

“There was no impact to any movements, and no individuals were present or involved at the location,” Guglielmi told Fox News.

“While we are not able to provide details about the specific items or their intent, this incident underscores the importance of our layered security measures,” he added.

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The investigation comes weeks after Ryan Routh was found guilty of attempting to assassinate Trump on a Palm Beach golf course from a sniper’s nest he set up in bushes along a fence line.

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

A piece of metal shrapnel from an “explosive ordnance” that detonated overhead prematurely struck a law enforcement vehicle in California on Saturday, during an event attended by Vice President JD Vance.

The California Highway Patrol (CHP) confirmed the incident in a press release shared with Fox News Digital. It took place near Camp Pendleton, a Marine Corps base in San Diego County.

The shrapnel was fired while CHP officers supported a traffic break along I-5, the same day that Vance visited Camp Pendleton to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Marine Corps.

It is unclear when exactly the incident occurred on Saturday. The CHP said it happened “during an exceptional U.S. Marine Corps live-fire training demonstration over the freeway, and where the CHP had elected to stop traffic during the live-fire exercise.”

NEWSOM CLASHES WITH WHITE HOUSE OVER MARINE CORPS ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION HIGHWAY CLOSURE

No injuries were reported. CHP officers alerted the Marine Corps, who then “canceled firing additional live ordnance over the freeway,” per the agency.

In a statement, CHP Border Division Chief Tony Coronado called the incident an “unusual and concerning situation.”

“It is highly uncommon for any live-fire or explosive training activity to occur over an active freeway,” said Coronado. 

“As a Marine myself, I have tremendous respect for our military partners, but my foremost responsibility is ensuring the safety of the people of California and the officers who protect them.”

VP VANCE’S CAMP ACCUSES CALIFORNIA GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM OF DISSEMINATING ‘FAKE NEWS’ AHEAD OF MARINES CELEBRATION

“The CHP has filed an internal report on the incident, with a recommendation to conduct an additional after-action review into the planning, communication and coordination between federal, state, and local government around the event on Saturday, October 18, to strengthen protocols for future demonstrations and training events near public roadways,” the release concluded.

In a post on X, California Governor Gavin Newsom wrote that President Donald Trump and Vance “put lives at risk to put on a show.”

“If you want to honor our troops, open the government and pay them,” Newsom said.

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Fox News Digital reached out to Vance’s office for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Lee Ross contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump on Sunday named Detroit-area entrepreneur Mark Savaya, who helped boost Muslim American turnout for his campaign, as special envoy to Iraq — underscoring the administration’s outreach to Middle Eastern communities in key swing states.

“I’m pleased to announce Mark Savaya will serve as Special Envoy to the Republic of Iraq,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, praising Savaya’s “deep understanding of the Iraq-U.S. relationship” and his regional connections that “will help advance the interests of the American people.”

“Mark was a key player in my campaign in Michigan, where he, and others, helped secure a record vote with Muslim Americans. Congratulations, Mark!” Trump added.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for additional comment on the appointment.

WHITE HOUSE TURNS TO EXPANDING ABRAHAM ACCORDS AFTER ISRAEL-HAMAS CEASEFIRE

The announcement comes a week after Trump signed a peace agreement between Israel and Hamas that led to the release of the remaining living hostages and the return of some victims’ remains.

After signing the historic agreement that ended two years of fighting in Gaza, Trump celebrated what he called “peace in the Middle East.”

“At long last, we have peace in the Middle East, and it’s a very simple expression, peace in the Middle East,” Trump said during remarks at Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, flanked by dozens of world leaders.

KT MCFARLAND: HOW TRUMP’S RELENTLESS MIDDLE EAST GAMBLE FINALLY FLIPPED THE SCRIPT

“We’ve heard it for many years, but nobody thought it could ever get there. And now we’re there,” he added.

“This is the day that people across this region and around the world have been working, striving, hoping and praying for,” Trump went on. “With the historic agreement we have just signed, those prayers of millions have finally been answered. Together, we have achieved the impossible.”

According to Trump, mediators will soon begin work on phases two, three and four of the 20-point peace plan.

ISRAEL-HAMAS PEACE DEAL REACHED SOON AFTER TRUMP SAYS IT’S ‘VERY CLOSE’ IN WHITE HOUSE NOTE PASS WITH RUBIO

“This breakthrough that we’re here to celebrate tonight is more than the end of the war in Gaza — it’s, with God’s help, the new beginning for an entire beautiful Middle East,” Trump said.

He expressed optimism that more Arab and Muslim-majority nations would join the Abraham Accords — a series of normalization deals with Israel — while criticizing the Biden administration for failing to expand the agreements.

During Trump’s first term, Bahrain, Morocco, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates joined the Abraham Accords.

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Trump said he believed the deal would mark an end to “terror” in the region. “We want to get rid of the terror and get on to other things. There are many other things in life that are so good,” he said.

Fox News Digital’s Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.