NationalWatch

President Donald Trump said Saturday that a U.S. military strike destroyed a “very large drug-carrying submarine” in the Caribbean this week, killing two suspected narcoterrorists and capturing two others alive, while releasing video of the strike.

In a statement posted to Truth Social, Trump said the vessel was carrying mostly “fentanyl and other narcotics” toward the U.S. on a “well known narcotrafficking transit route.” He claimed the interdiction prevented as many as 25,000 American overdose deaths.

“It was my great honor to destroy a very large DRUG-CARRYING SUBMARINE,” Trump wrote. “U.S. Intelligence confirmed this vessel was loaded up with mostly Fentanyl… There were four known narcoterrorists on board. Two of the terrorists were killed.” 

“The two surviving terrorists are being returned to their Countries of origin, Ecuador and Colombia, for detention and prosecution.”

US MILITARY SEIZED SURVIVORS AFTER CARIBBEAN DRONE STRIKE ON SUSPECTED DRUG SMUGGLING BOAT: REPORT

Fox News previously confirmed that two survivors were rescued by the U.S. Navy after the strike, and were being held aboard an American warship. Trump’s statement is the first official acknowledgment of their identities and nationalities.

The strike marked the sixth U.S. interdiction of a suspected drug smuggling vessel since combat operations began in the Caribbean last month. The Pentagon has not publicly named the operation.

Trump first referenced the strike publicly during a meeting Friday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House.

US MILITARY DRONE STRIKE ON DRUG ‘SUBMERSIBLE’ IN CARIBBEAN LEAVES SURVIVORS, OFFICIAL CONFIRMS

“We attacked a submarine, and that was a drug-carrying submarine built specifically for the transportation of massive amounts of drugs,” he told reporters.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking separately Friday, did not dispute the existence of survivors but said further details would be released later.

Earlier this week, Trump confirmed he had authorized CIA activity in the region. U.S. Air Force B-52s also flew a visible “show of force” mission near Venezuelan waters on Thursday.

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

Fox News Digital’s Louis Casiano and Lucas Tomlinson contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump recently awarded late Turning Point USA founder and CEO Charlie Kirk the Presidential Medal of Freedom just over one month after the activist was assassinated. Kirk was outspoken about his conservative and pro-life views, and his legacy has inspired a new wave of activism.

Shawn Carney, the president and CEO of 40 Days for Life, praised President Donald Trump as “the most pro-life president we’ve ever had,” telling Fox News Digital that pro-life Americans were delighted to see the president honor Kirk.

“It was so beautiful to see him honor Charlie,” Carney said. “He represented freedom, and there would be no pro-life movement without free speech. Free speech is what 40 Days for Life is built on, it’s what the pro-Life dialogue is built upon. It’s [what] Charlie gave his life for, and it was really, really beautiful for all pro-life Americans to see him honored with the highest honor we have in our nation.”

CHARLIE KIRK POSTHUMOUSLY AWARDED MEDAL OF FREEDOM ON WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN HIS 32ND BIRTHDAY

Kirk was known for participating in debates across the country and the globe, often confronting his harshest critics. Carney believes that Kirk’s willingness to go into tough arenas as well as his approachable and “authentic” nature drew young people to him and the pro-life movement.

“Charlie was open and was honest, and he was also humble and willing to talk to you,” Carney told Fox News Digital, adding that being approachable, as Kirk was, is crucial in pro-life activism.

“So many people have been hurt by abortion. So many people feel strongly in support of reproductive rights. And you just can’t go in and yell or say you’re going to burn in hell. You have to approachable, you have to use reason, you can’t be afraid to share your faith, as Charlie wasn’t,” he added.

CHARLIE KIRK’S COLLEAGUES AND PASTORS PRAISE HIS PATRIOTISM AS TRUMP READIES HIGHEST CIVILIAN HONOR

Carney said that 40 Days for Life has seen an uptick in interest, particularly among young activists, in the wake of Kirk’s assassination.

“His tragic assassination was just two weeks before we kicked off one of our largest fall 40 Days for Life campaigns around the world,” Carney said. “Over 700 cities participating, and we saw a huge uptick, a 36% increase in participation. We had so many young people come out… who knew who Charlie Kirk was, and were inspired by him to participate in 40 Days for Life, who then brought their parents out to pray at our vigils.”

ERIKA KIRK SHOWS TPUSA STAFF CHARLIE’S MEDAL OF FREEDOM: ‘YOU GUYS ARE ALL PART OF THE LEGACY’

He recalled one young woman — who he did not name — who said she was “so afraid” to participate in pro-life activism prior to Kirk’s death. Carney noted that despite the “horrible images” of the assassination, many felt empowered and compelled to speak up about their beliefs.

“You thought the opposite would happen, that she’d be more afraid and others would be more afraid, but that didn’t happen,” he said. “It literally inspired her to overcome years of fear.”

Carney also spoke about a TPUSA chapter leader whose mother tried to talk her son out of participating in either TPUSA or 40 Days for Life. The young man apparently told his mother that Charlie would have wanted him to speak out and not to run from culture wars.

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When asked what Kirk’s message to pro-life activists would be if he were still alive, Carney said it would be to not give up. Carney added that he has heard newcomers inspired by Kirk say they believe that the TPUSA founder would want them to be outspoken and not to “cower.”

“Right now in our culture, there’s a lot of reasons to be afraid, we can’t give in to them, we have to go out, we have to speak the truth and love, and that is what changes hearts and minds, and that’s the best way we can honor Charlie,” Carney told Fox News Digital.

Republican lawmakers have spent the week sharpening their attacks on Saturday’s nationwide day of protests against President Donald Trump, which many GOP leaders dismissed as “Hate America” rallies.

Cities across the country are expected to see hundreds of thousands of people come out for the “No Kings” movement, and several congressional Democrats have even said they will attend.

Republicans have seized on the protests as a product of far-left activism, while at the same time arguing Democrats have held firm against the GOP’s plan to end the government shutdown in a bid to please that far-left base.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told Fox Business Network he hoped that Democratic leaders who attended would be more willing to accept the GOP’s plan after the demonstrations were over — but he did not sound overly optimistic.

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

“It’ll be a collection of wild leftist policy priorities, and that’ll be on display for the whole country. After that’s over, I hope there’s a few Democrats over here who will come to their senses and return to governing the country,” Johnson said.

“Right now, I don’t think — it’s my assumption and all of ours that they would not make that concession before that rally’s over because they don’t want to face the angry mob. I mean it’s sad, but that’s where we are.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., dodged a question on whether he would attend one of the rallies on Friday, telling reporters, “I haven’t finalized my schedule for the weekend given, you know, the sensitivities around the government shutdown. I’m still very hopeful that Republicans will decide to show up for work so we can get the government back open.”

“But I support the right of every single American to participate in the rallies that are going to take place this week and showing up to express dissent against an out-of-control administration,” he said.

However, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he would attend one of the protests, as did House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar, D-Calif.

Rep. Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, predicted more top Democratic figures would go but, like Johnson, signaled hope that they would acquiesce to Republicans’ demands when it was over.

“My guess is if they don’t want a primary from the left, they’ll probably find a way to sneak it into their schedule. The real question that’s going to be is, do they have the fortitude after Saturday to come back and open up the government?” Nunn told Fox News Digital earlier this week.

58 HOUSE DEMS VOTE AGAINST RESOLUTION HONORING ‘LIFE AND LEGACY’ OF CHARLIE KIRK

“They should be doing it today. But if they feel like they’ve got to appease their base, then they better come to Jesus on Sunday and figure out a way to help them get back to the business of taking care of the American people.”

House GOP leaders also criticized the rallies at nearly every one of their daily shutdown press conferences this week.

Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said Friday that Schumer was “more concerned” with “impressing the ‘Hate America’ rally crowd that’s coming up here tomorrow than he is about not solving all of our problems tomorrow.”

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And House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo on Tuesday of the rallies’ place in the shutdown fight, “The rumor is that they can’t end the shutdown beforehand, because a small but very violent and vocal group is the only one that’s happy about this.”

“If they shut it down beforehand, then they’ve got to deal with that group beforehand. If they make it through that, then at least they’ve made it through their Hate America rally, and then they can get this thing done,” Emmer said.

The House passed a bill to keep the federal government funded at current levels through Nov. 21, called a continuing resolution (CR), mostly along party lines last month.

It’s since failed 10 times in the Senate, with a majority of Democrats rejecting any spending deal that does not also include an extension of COVID-19 pandemic-era Obamacare subsidies that will expire at the end of this year without congressional action.

SADDLE BROOK, N.J. – With Election Day fast approaching, the Republican nominee in one of only two races for governor in the nation this year is fired up.

“Championship teams finish strong,” Jack Ciattarelli told a crowd of supporters jam-packed into a diner in this northern New Jersey town earlier this week. “Let’s win this race.”

Ciattarelli, who’s making his third straight run for Garden State governor and who nearly upset Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy four years ago, has good reason to be confident.

In a state where registered Democrats still outnumber Republicans despite a GOP surge in registration this decade, two new public opinion polls released this week indicated Ciattarelli narrowing the gap with Democratic gubernatorial nominee Rep. Mikie Sherrill in the race to succeed the term-limited Murphy.

THE POLITICAL BOMB TRUMP EXPLODED IN THE NEW JERSEY SHOWDOWN FOR GOVERNOR

The slightly fresher of the two surveys, a Fox News poll conducted Oct. 10–14, put Sherrill at 50% support among likely voters, with Ciattarelli at 45%. Sherrill’s 5-point advantage was down from an 8-point lead in Fox News’ September survey in New Jersey.

New Jersey and Virginia are the only two states to hold gubernatorial showdowns in the year after a presidential election, and the contests traditionally grab outsized attention and are viewed as political barometers ahead of the following year’s midterm elections.

CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLLING

And this year, they’re being viewed to a large degree as ballot-box referendums on President Donald Trump’s unprecedented and combustible second-term agenda.

While Democrats have long dominated federal and state legislative elections in blue-leaning New Jersey, Republicans are very competitive in gubernatorial contests, winning five out of the past 10 elections.

And Trump made major gains in New Jersey in last year’s presidential election, losing the state by only six percentage points, a major improvement over his 16-point deficit four years earlier.

Ciattarelli, interviewed by Fox News Digital Wednesday in Bayonne, New Jersey, noted that he “made big gains” in his 2021 showing “in Hudson County and Passaic County,” two long-time Democratic Party strongholds.

“And the President did very, very well in ’24 in those very same counties. And if you take a look at who’s been endorsing me, including some very prominent Democrats here in Hudson County, people want change,” Ciattarelli emphasized.

But Ciattarelli is also aiming to energize Republican base voters in what’s likely to be a low-turnout election.

Multiple sources confirmed to Fox News that Trump will hold tele-rallies with Ciattarelli ahead of Election Day. Trump’s teaming up with Ciattarelli may help energize MAGA supporters, many of whom are low propensity voters who often skip casting ballots in non-presidential election years.

And on Wednesday, Ciattarelli was joined at his diner stop, where there was an overflow crowd of a couple of hundred people outside, by Vivek Ramaswamy, the MAGA rockstar who is running for governor next year in his home state of Ohio.

Ramaswamy, the multimillionaire biotech entrepreneur and conservative commentator who pushed an “America First 2.0” platform as he ran for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination before ending his bid and becoming one of Trump’s top supporters and surrogates, told Ciattarelli, “We’re going in Ohio next year, but you’ve got to pave the path this year. We’re counting on you.”

ONLY ON FOX: RAMASWAMY SAYS GOP VICTORIES IN THE 2025 ELECTIONS WOULD ‘SET THE TABLE’ FOR BIGGER WINS IN 2026

Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin, commenting on why Republicans feel bullish about the New Jersey showdown, raised concerns.

“New Jersey is the best place, probably, for Donald Trump to actually stop the Democratic momentum — or at least minimize the Democratic momentum that we’ve seen throughout this year,” Martin said in a Politico interview. 

But the Democratic Governors Association (DGA) is confident of a Sherrill victory next month.

“As numerous polls show her holding a strong lead and earning more than 50% of the vote, Mikie Sherrill is rising to meet the moment in this incredibly competitive race,” DGA Spokesperson Izzi Levy told Fox News. “It’s clear that Mikie has the momentum, and that New Jersey voters are all-in to reject Ciattarelli for a third time this November.”

While Trump isn’t on the ballot, he’s loomed large over the New Jersey gubernatorial election.

At last week’s second and final debate, Sherrill charged that her GOP rival had “shown zero signs of standing up to this president. In fact, the president himself called Jack 100% MAGA, and he’s shown every sign of being that.”

Asked whether he considered himself part of the MAGA movement, Ciattarelli said he was “part of a New Jersey movement.”

CIATTARELLI WELCOMES TRUMP’S HELP IN FINAL STRETCH IN BATTLE FOR NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR

When asked to grade the president’s performance so far during his second term, Ciattarelli said, “I’d certainly give the president an A. I think he’s right about everything that he’s doing.”

“I think that tells us all we need to know about who Jack Ciattarelli’s supporting. I give him an F right now,” Sherrill responded, as she pointed to New Jersey’s high cost of living.

The race in New Jersey was rocked a couple of weeks ago by a report that the National Personnel Records Center, which is a branch of the National Archives and Records Administration, mistakenly released Sherrill’s improperly redacted military personnel files, which included private information like her Social Security number, to a Ciattarelli ally. 

HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING ON THE 2025 ELECTIONS

But Sherrill’s military records indicated that the United States Naval Academy blocked her from taking part in her 1994 graduation amid a cheating scandal.

The showdown was jolted again last week after Sherrill’s allegations that Ciattarelli was “complicit” with pharmaceutical companies in the opioid deaths of tens of thousands of New Jerseyans, as she pointed to the medical publishing company he owned that pushed content promoting the use of opioids as a low-risk treatment for chronic pain.

This week, Trump set off a political hand grenade in the race, as he “terminated” billions of federal dollars for the Gateway Project, which is funding a new train tunnel under the Hudson River connecting New Jersey and New York.

Sherrill, holding a news conference Thursday at a major commuter rail station just a few miles from the site of the tunnels in one of the busiest train corridors in the nation, called the project “critical” as she took aim at Trump and Ciattarelli.

“I’m fighting for the people of New Jersey. He’s fighting to excuse Trump. It’s unacceptable,” Sherrill charged.

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New Jersey traditionally elects a governor from the party out of power in the White House, which this year favors the Democrats.

But Garden State voters haven’t elected a governor from the same party in three straight elections in over a half century, which would favor the Republicans.

One of those political trends will be busted in next month’s election.

Millions have been expected to gather across thousands of locations in the United States on Saturday for a nationwide “No Kings” protest challenging Donald Trump and his GOP priorities. 

Saturday’s demonstrations across the nation mark the second “No Kings” protest since Trump took office. Some Democratic members and candidates for Congress are expected to attend. 

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., did not provide a clear answer when asked if he would attend one of the rallies Saturday, telling reporters he hasn’t “finalized” his schedule. However, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., as well as House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., both told the press they would be in attendance Saturday. 

Republicans have argued that this second mass “No Kings” protest event scheduled for Saturday is simply an effort to distract from the current government shutdown battle and appease their base. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told FOX Business he hoped that Democratic leaders who attended would be more willing to accept the GOP’s plan after the demonstrations were over — but he did not sound overly optimistic.

ANTI-ISRAEL RADICALS FROM ‘GLOBAL INTIFADA’ MOVEMENT JOIN ‘NO KINGS’ PROTESTS

“It’ll be a collection of wild leftist policy priorities, and that’ll be on display for the whole country. After that’s over, I hope there’s a few Democrats over here who will come to their senses and return to governing the country,” Johnson said. “Right now, I don’t think — it’s my assumption and all of ours that they would not make that concession before that rally’s over because they don’t want to face the angry mob. I mean it’s sad, but that’s where we are.”

“My guess is if they don’t want a primary from the left, they’ll probably find a way to sneak [attending a rally] into their schedule,” Rep. Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, told Fox News Digital earlier this week. “The real question that’s going to be is, do they have the fortitude after Saturday to come back and open up the government?”

By around 10:30 a.m. ET, crowds had already begun gathering in New York City’s Times Square, on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. and in Atlanta.

LEADER SCALISE: DEMOCRATS CHEER ‘NO KINGS’ PROTESTS, BUT LET SHUTDOWN DEVASTATE FAMILIES

In the state of Virginia, Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin mobilized the National Guard to help with any potential chaos. 

“I want to be clear that Virginians have a fundamental right to free speech and peaceful assembly, but that right does not include the destruction of property, looting, vandalism, disruption of traffic or violence of any kind — for which there will be zero tolerance,” Youngkin said, according to The Virginia Pilot. 

Virginia-specific protests are expected to take place in Hampton Roads, Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, Newport News and Williamsburg, according the official No Kings website.

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In addition to the protests taking place in the continental United States, protests are also expected in Puerto Rico, Hawaii and Alaska. Protests are also planned for outside the U.S., including in multiple European countries, and there is at least one rally planned in Mexico. 

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

Tomahawks, Tomahawks, Tomahawks. That’s the word buzzing in the ears of Russian President Vladimir Putin, as President Donald Trump weighs providing America’s precision strike missile of choice to Ukraine.   

Since May, Trump has bombed the Houthis in Yemen, obliterated Iran’s nuclear facilities and hit narco-terrorist drug boats in the Caribbean.  Putin has to realize that Tomahawks could soon be in the skies over Russia.

What can Ukraine hit with the 1000-mile range Tomahawks? Start with the Shahed drone factory in Tatarstan, and at least 67 Russian airbases. Tomahawks in Ukraine’s hands rip open Russian energy infrastructure to precision attack with no warning.

ZELENSKYY PITCHES TRUMP ON UKRAINE DRONE-FOR-TOMAHAWK MISSILE EXCHANGE AS PRESIDENT WEIGHS ESCALATION CONCERNS

If Ukraine launches Tomahawks, they’ll be flying as low as 100 feet, hugging the terrain, evading radar. TLAMs can each take separate routes at 500 mph then meet up over the Russian target for a coordinated strike.

Trump is baiting Putin. “Hopefully, they won’t need it,” Trump said of the Tomahawks at Friday’s lunch with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House. Trump said he’d like to “get the war over without Tomahawks” but then went on to describe the missiles as “very dangerous” and “incredible.”

Here’s the backstory on the Tomahawks, and why Trump is keeping them on the table to pressure Putin.  

Built for the Russian target set

First tested in 1972, the Tomahawk Land Attack Cruise Missile or TLAM was actually developed by the U.S. Navy during the Cold War to attack targets on land in the Soviet Union. In case you haven’t seen one up close, the Tomahawk is 20 feet long but just 21 inches wide.  It looks like a white pole with wiglets, but inside is a powerful turbo-fan engine and sophisticated guidance. Today’s Block IV Tomahawks can be retargeted in flight, and loiter over a target for hours, taking electro-optical scans and waiting for other missiles to arrive before detonating. They carry a unitary warhead for harder targets, or dispense cluster munitions over a wide pattern to hit airfields, for example. (Yes, there was once a nuclear TLAM variant with a 200 Kiloton warhead, but they were placed in storage in 1991 and eliminated in 2010.) 

Air Defense Nightmare 

The presence of Tomahawks in Ukraine will set up an almost insoluble air defense problem for Putin. No way can Russia place air defenses at every remote gas pipeline point or cover all the airbases where planes park out in the open.  

Fast delivery

TLAMs could be in Ukraine in 24 hours. The Army Mid-Range Capability missile system is a tractor-trailer missile launcher that can be driven onto a U.S. Air Force C-17 cargo plane. The Army deployed TLAM launcher 8,000 miles away to North Luzon in the Philippines in under 15 hours last year for a wargame. Trump has plenty of time.  

Deterring Putin. The brutal escalation of mass attacks by Russia led Ukraine to ramp up its drone strikes on Russian energy starting in August. According to a Reuters study, Ukraine’s drones have hit 18 pumping stations, plus 32 strikes on refineries. Ukraine’s Liutyi drones have a range of about 600 miles and carry warheads of about 50 pounds. Mixing in TLAMs would intensify pressure on Russian energy, Putin’s single biggest source of government revenue. Zelenskyy has called Ukraine’s drone attacks on Russian energy “the sanctions that work the fastest.”

Don’t worry about depleting TLAM inventory

The U.S. still has about 4,000 Tomahawks in its inventory, and new missiles like the U.S. Navy’s SM-6 are already in action. The U.S. Army deployed its new Dark Eagle long-range hypersonic weapons to Australia in August and will have its first full battery by December. By the way, last year Japan bought 400 Tomahawks for targeting China and North Korea.  

Combat Record

Tomahawks have piled up an incredible combat record since Jan. 17, 1991, when 122 TLAMs hit Iraqi oil and command and control targets at the start of Operation Desert Storm. Eight-hundred TLAMs were fired in Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. Over the years, Tomahawks have hit targets in Iraq, Serbia, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Yemen and, of course, Iran. On June 22, TLAMs hit above-ground “key surface infrastructure targets” in the nuclear complex at Isfhahan, according to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine. The TLAM strikes left the sprawling site visibly damaged and blackened. “We gave it a capper with 30 TLAMS,” as Trump said Friday. 

Putin may yell and scream about Tomahawks for Ukraine. Pay no attention. He’s grumbled about each weapon system, from F-16s to Patriots. And no, Putin does not dare escalate with nuclear weapons in Ukraine, because the wind patterns blow radiation clouds back into Russia.  

As Trump said Friday: “Yeah, its escalation. But we’re going to talk about it anyway.”  

The Trump administration has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to allow the deployment of the National Guard in Chicago to protect federal personnel and federal property amid protests over immigration enforcement in the area.

Solicitor General D. John Sauer, Trump’s top Supreme Court lawyer, urged the justices to step in immediately after a judge ruled last week that National Guard troops sent to Illinois by President Donald Trump to combat crime can remain in the state but can’t patrol or deploy to protect federal property. A federal appeals court had refused to put the judge’s order on hold.

U.S. District Judge April Perry said she found no convincing evidence that a “danger of rebellion” exists in Illinois amid Trump’s immigration enforcement push.

TRUMP’S NATIONAL GUARD TROOPS CAN STAY IN ILLINOIS BUT FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS DEPLOYMENT

Sauer wrote in the emergency filing that the judge’s ruling “intrudes on the president’s authority and needlessly puts federal personnel and property at risk.”

The Trump administration argues in its filing that the case represents a “disturbing and recurring pattern” in which federal officers enforcing immigration law are met with “prolonged, coordinated, violent resistance that threatens their lives and safety and systematically interferes with their ability to enforce federal law.”

“Federal agents are forced to desperately scramble to protect themselves and federal property, allocating resources away from their law enforcement mission to conduct protective operations instead,” the filing states.

“Receiving tepid support from local forces, they are often left to fend for themselves in the face of violent, hostile mobs. Confronted with intolerable risks of harm to federal agents and coordinated, violent opposition to the enforcement of federal law, the president lawfully determines that he is unable to enforce the laws of the United States with the regular forces and calls up the National Guard to defend federal personnel, property and functions in the face of ongoing violence,” it says.

The Supreme Court has asked for the opposition’s response to the Trump administration’s emergency filing by 5 p.m. on Monday. The court is then expected to offer  that the administration file a reply.

The plea to the nation’s top court comes as 11 protesters were arrested Friday outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Broadview, a west Chicago suburb that has become a frequent flashpoint for demonstrations against federal agents in recent weeks.

The filing also further escalates Trump’s standoff with Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, who have staunchly opposed deploying troops. They have called any deployment unconstitutional and insisted the city is not facing the kind of crime crisis the White House claims.

Pritzker fired back at the filing on X, accusing Trump of trying to “invade Illinois with troops” and vowing to defend the state’s sovereignty.

“Militarizing our communities against their will is not only un-American but also leads us down a dangerous path for our democracy,” Pritzker wrote. “What will come next?”

Trump has already deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles, Washington D.C., and Memphis, Tenn., to help curb violent crime. He has said the moves caused crime to plummet in those areas. 

Earlier this week, the president floated the idea of invoking the Insurrection Act to tackle violent crime in Chicago and urged Pritzker to “beg for help” from the federal government.

‘UNTETHERED FROM REALITY’: LAWYERS FOR TRUMP, OREGON, SPAR OVER NATIONAL GUARD DEPLOYMENT IN COURT CLASH

“I could use it if I wanted to. I could use it — that’s a very simple answer. I’m allowed to use the Insurrection Act,” Trump said, after the question was put to him by a reporter aboard Air Force One. 

The Insurrection Act of 1807 gives the president authority to deploy active-duty military or federalized National Guard troops inside the country in limited circumstances, such as to suppress civil disorder, rebellion or obstruction of federal law. It has been invoked about 30 times by roughly 10 presidents, most recently by George H. W. Bush during the 1992 Los Angeles riots, according to The Associated Press.

But on Monday, Trump said he didn’t have to “go there yet” because his administration is “winning on appeal.”

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“You know, we lose with radical-left judges at the lower level, but we’re winning on appeal. So we’ll see what happens,” Trump said.

The conservative-dominated court has handed Trump repeated victories in emergency appeals since he took office in January, after lower courts have ruled against him and often over the objection of the three liberal justices. 

The court has allowed Trump to ban transgender people from the military, claw back billions of dollars of congressionally approved federal spending, move aggressively against illegal immigrants and fire the Senate-confirmed leaders of independent federal agencies.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

President Donald Trump kicked off the week with a major breakthrough brokering a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, and closed out the week seeking to make progress on the next global conflict: Ukraine. 

Trump met with Israeli lawmakers in the Knesset on Monday, before heading to Egypt where he met with leaders there as well as Qatar, Turkey and other regional powers. The president urged countries in the region to “put the old feuds and bitter hatreds behind us.”

“At long last, we have peace in the Middle East, and it’s a very simple expression, peace in the Middle East,” Trump told reporters in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

COULD TRUMP’S GAZA CEASEFIRE PLAN OFFER A BLUEPRINT FOR PEACE IN UKRAINE?

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

The peace deal in the Middle East includes a provision to return the hostages that were still in captivity within 72 hours of Hamas signing off on the deal. It also called for Israeli forces to withdraw its troops and a complete disarmament of Hamas.

Now, Trump has said that he will set his sights on resolving the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, and met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Friday at the White House. 

TRUMP WRITES MESSAGE TO ISRAELIS AFTER ALL LIVING HOSTAGES RELEASED BY HAMAS

While Trump said that there is momentum to solve the conflict on the heels of the peace deal in the Middle East, there is “tremendous bad blood” between Putin and Zelenskyy that is stalling a resolution. 

“They have tremendous bad blood,” Trump told reporters. “It’s really is what is holding up I think a settlement. I think we are going to get it done, and we have to make it long-lasting, as I said in the Middle East, everlasting.” 

“The Middle East is a much more complicated situation. You know, we had 59 countries involved, and every one of them agreed. And it’s, you know, it’s sort of amazing. Most people didn’t think that was doable. This is going to be something I really believe that’s going to get done. I had a very good talk yesterday with President Putin. I think he wants to get it done,” Trump said. 

WORLD LEADERS PRAISE ‘LANDMARK’ ISRAEL-HAMAS PEACE DEAL MEDIATED BY US: ‘NEW HORIZON OF HOPE’

Meanwhile, Zelenskyy said that Trump has a big opportunity to make headway on mediating an end to the conflict. 

“President Trump has really showed for the world that he can manage a ceasefire in the Middle East. And that’s why I hope that he will do this. And we will also have such big success. For Ukraine, it’s a big chance, and I hope that President Trump can manage it,” Zelenskyy said Friday. 

New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rep. Mikie Sherrill is pulling out all the stops in the final push ahead of Election Day, campaigning alongside Democratic Govs. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan and Wes Moore of Maryland, both considered potential 2028 presidential candidates. 

While the Sherrill campaign gears up for high-profile campaign collaborations, former President Barack Obama endorsed Sherrill’s gubernatorial campaign on Friday. 

“This November, we have an opportunity to chart a different path forward — to reject the chaos in Washington and lower costs in New Jersey — and I’m so grateful to have President Obama’s support and endorsement in this race,” Sherrill said in a statement, commending Obama’s leadership on healthcare amid the government shutdown as congressional Democrats seek to extend healthcare premiums set to expire this year. 

Sherrill will rally with Whitmer in Paramus, New Jersey, on Saturday morning. Later, she will join Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin for a “No Kings” rally in Montclair — one of hundreds scheduled across the country in rejection of President Donald Trump’s sweeping, second-term agenda. 

NJ SHOWDOWN: CIATTARELLI PILES ON DEM RIVAL AFTER HEATED DEBATE WITH SCATHING NEW ADS

On Sunday, Sherrill will host a policy roundtable with Moore and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka. Baraka was one of several Democratic candidates who competed for the New Jersey gubernatorial nomination earlier this year. 

FINAL FACEOFF: DEMOCRAT, REPUBLICAN NOMINEES IN KEY RACE FOR GOVERNOR BLAST EACH OTHER ON DEBATE STAGE

Baraka made national headlines during his campaign when he was arrested for trespassing at Delaney Hall, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement holding facility in Newark, while protesting earlier this year. He was later accused of fostering toxic work environments for women.

After the policy roundtable on Sunday, Sherrill and Moore will canvass in Newark before she attends an Oktoberfest event in Hamilton later that day. 

A Fox News survey released Thursday found Sherill ahead of her Republican opponent Jack Ciattarelli by 5 points among New Jersey likely voters (50-45%), down from an 8-point lead in late September (50-42%). As the race to replace Gov. Phil Murphy, who is term-limited in the Garden State this year, Sherrill’s edge has tightened over Ciattarelli, within the poll’s margin of sampling error.

New Jersey is one of two statewide elections in the U.S. this year and will be considered a bellwether ahead of competitive midterm elections expected next year. 

The race for the Garden State’s highest office has become increasingly hostile between Sherrill and Ciattarelli in the final weeks ahead of Election Day. And while Trump isn’t on the ballot, he’s loomed large over the New Jersey gubernatorial election.

At last week’s second and final debate, Sherrill charged that her GOP rival had “shown zero signs of standing up to this president. In fact, the president himself called Jack 100% MAGA, and he’s shown every sign of being that.”

Asked whether he considered himself part of the MAGA movement, Ciattarelli said he was “part of a New Jersey movement.”

When asked to grade the president’s performance so far during his second term, Ciattarelli said, “I’d certainly give the president an A. I think he’s right about everything that he’s doing.”

“I think that tells us all we need to know about who Jack Ciattarelli’s supporting. I give him an F right now,” Sherrill responded, as she pointed to New Jersey’s high cost of living.

While Democrats have long dominated federal and state legislative elections in blue-leaning New Jersey, Republicans are very competitive in gubernatorial contests, winning five out of the past ten elections.

And Trump made major gains in New Jersey in last year’s presidential election, losing the state by only 6 percentage points, an improvement over his 16-point deficit four years earlier.

Sherrill’s news conference came the day after multiple sources confirmed to Fox News that Trump will hold tele-rallies with Ciattarelli. 

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In what’s expected to be a low-turnout election, Trump’s backing could prove crucial for Ciattarelli, who’s making his third run for governor after narrowly losing to Murphy four years ago.

Galvanized by President Donald Trump’s sweeping second-term agenda, a new generation of progressive Democrats is working to redefine the party’s future.

The original “Squad,” a group of young, left-wing lawmakers, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2018 as a referendum on Trump’s first term. 

Now, with Trump back in the Oval Office and Republicans controlling both the House and Senate, a new wave of progressive candidates is emerging across the country. 

The next generation of progressive leaders includes some recognizable names, like mayoral candidates Zohran Mamdani, the “Mamdani of Minneapolis” Omar Fateh, U.S. Senate candidate Mallory McMorrow and progressive congressional candidates Kat Abughazaleh and the “AOC of Tennessee” Aftyn Behn. 

SQUAD 2.0: MEET AMERICA’S NEXT WAVE OF RADICAL DEMOCRATS SHAPING THE PARTY’S FUTURE

Others, such as Saikat Chakrabarti, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed and Justin Pearson, are gaining national attention as discontent among young Democrats grows with each day of the Trump administration’s second act.

YOUNG PROGRESSIVES LOOK TO ZOHRAN MAMDANI, AOC AS FUTURE OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY – UNDER ONE CONDITION

Saikat Chakrabarti

Saikat Chakrabarti arrived on the political scene during the rise of the first “Squad,” running Ocasio-Cortez’s successful 2018 congressional campaign and then serving as her chief of staff. 

The progressive met Ocasio-Cortez when he launched “Justice Democrats,” a political action committee committed to recruiting a new generation of leaders. 

Now, Chakrabarti has become the generational candidate himself, challenging House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi for her congressional district in San Francisco next year — a seat she has held since 1987. 

After 38 years in Congress, Chakrabarti said Pelosi “no longer has the strength for the current fight,” and it’s time for “totally new leadership” in Washington, D.C. 

His policy platform includes a long list of progressive promises, including Medicare-for-all, a wealth tax on the ultra-rich, millions of units of housing, a ban on congressional stock trading, and an end military funding to Israel.

During a phone interview, Chakrabarti told Fox News Digital that his main focus is fixing the “underlying economic anxieties that most Americans are facing” — the same “plan for bold, sweeping economic change” that landed Trump back in the White House last year. 

Chakrabarti’s said a new generation of candidates, like himself, have been inspired to run since witnessing “the complete failure of the Democratic political establishment.”

“I think the people are feeling that the Democratic Party, the establishment, is just sort of weak and slow moving and unable to face the moment,” he added. 

Chakrabarti’s first campaign commitment, according to his website, is to stop Trump’s “authoritarian coup.” 

The congressional candidate described Trump’s deportation mandate led by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement as “a flagrant violation of our constitutional rights and the freedom of speech and everything we hold dear in this country.”

When asked if the party is moving to the left in response to Trump’s second term, he said, “It’s not really a left versus right thing.”

“I think people are looking for real solutions to the problems. People are looking for a change to the system, and I don’t think Donald Trump is doing it, but that’s what Donald Trump articulated in his campaign.”

Overall, Chakrabarti said voters are “very sick and tired of corruption” and the “old guard” that he described as only looking out for themselves, rather than their constituents. 

Dr. Abdul El-Sayed 

Dr. Abdul El-Sayed is one of several progressive candidates vying for Michigan’s open U.S. Senate seat next year. 

“Abdul literally wrote the book on Medicare for All,” according to his campaign website. He wrote “Medicare for All: A Citizen’s Guide,” explaining how the U.S. healthcare system can provide affordable care to all Americans. 

El-Sayed led Detroit’s Health Department after its bankruptcy and restructured Wayne County’s Department of Health, Human & Veterans Services. In 2020, he helped President Joe Biden craft policies to help lower prescription drug prices. 

He believes in abolishing medical debt and that students deserve debt-free and tuition-free two-year apprenticeship programs or a four-year college education. 

Justin Pearson

Tennessee state Rep. Justin Pearson garnered national attention in 2023, just months after taking office, when he was expelled from his Republican-led legislature for protesting a mass shooting in Nashville that killed three 9-year-olds and three adults. 

Pearson was expelled alongside state Reps. Justin Jones and Gloria Johnson, who became known as the “Tennessee Three.” Voters re-elected Pearson weeks later with 94% of the vote. 

He co-founded Memphis Community Against Pollution, a climate justice non-profit. 

Pearson has been endorsed by fellow congressional candidate Chakrabarti’s former PAC, “Justice Democrats,” in his campaign for Tennessee’s 9th Congressional District. 

Pearson also secured an endorsement from “Leaders We Deserve,” a super PAC founded by former DNC vice chair David Hogg, who created a rift in the Democratic Party when he vowed to invest millions to support young, progressives challenging older, incumbent Democrats he said were “asleep at the wheel.”

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Fox News Digital reached out to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, El-Sayed and Pearson but did not immediately receive a response. A Pelosi spokesperson declined to comment. 

New York City organizers embedded in the global intifada to destroy the state of Israel moved Friday to join the controversial “No Kings” protests planned for today, despite the peace deal reached between Israel and Hamas.

“UAW Labor for Palestine” and “NYC Labor for Palestine” quietly posted a call-to-action for the “Palestine Labor Solidarity Contingent” to meet Saturday at 11 a.m. at Duarte Square at the corner of Grand Street and Canal Street in midtown Manhattan and then flow into the #NoKings protests planned to protest President Donald Trump.

They’re not alone. Around the country, anti-Israel blocs are slotting themselves into the “No Kings” protests as a “Palestine Contingent” and “Socialist Contingent,” positioning their messages “front and center,” as Seattle activists put it, “from Providence to Palestine.”

‘NO KINGS’ ORGANIZER DISCOURAGES VIOLENCE FOLLOWING COAST-TO-COAST ARRESTS

The alignment underscores a strategic pivot in the global intifada’s next phase, experts say, carrying the anti-Israel message into any high-energy civic protest, even after Hamas agreed to a ceasefire by linking “Free Palestine” to domestic fights like ICE, police and “fascism.”

Billionaire donor George Soros is reportedly funding many of the organizations leading the “No Kings” protests, like Indivisible, whose co-founders, Leah Greenberg and Ezra Levin, received a $3 million two-year grant last year from Soros’s Open Society Foundations for “social welfare activities.” Details about the “Palestine Contingent” weaving into the “No Kings” protests raises new questions about the way big Democratic donors like Soros are funneling nonprofit dollars into a professional protest industry that is fractious, divisive and partisan, potentially in violation of tax and nonprofit laws.

‘NO KINGS’ MOVEMENT AND WHAT IT WANTS: INSIDE THE MESSAGE DRIVING SATURDAY’S NATIONWIDE PROTESTS

Behind the emotion and patriotic imagery of the protests, a Fox News Digital investigation revealed that the movement’s polished “pro-democracy” branding masks a coordinated network of Democratic tax-exempt nonprofits and labor unions, political action committees, coalitions and for-profit protest consultants that include some of the most virulent activists against Israel, including self-declared socialist groups like the Party for Socialism and Liberation, Democratic Socialists of America and Students for a Democratic Society. 

According to a public database of the protest’s organizers, compiled by the Pearl Project, a journalism initiative, the protest’s “partners” include 265 mostly nonprofit organizations, including some anti-Israel groups, like Jewish Voice for Peace, exploiting their nonprofit benefits to wage a political war against the sitting president. Their nonprofit status shields them from paying taxes on most of their total annual revenues of $2.9 billion, even while they engage in partisan work they aren’t supposed to be doing. Critics say they are allegedly skirting, if not violating, tax and nonprofit laws. Event organizers didn’t return requests for comment.

“They call it ‘No Kings,’ but what they’ve built is an empire of tax-exempt organizations doing the Democratic Party’s work on the taxpayer’s dime,” said Jennica Pounds, a computer scientist who runs a platform, DataRepublican.com, following the money on these organizations. “They are using every excuse in the book, from immigration to Israel, to rage-bait America. There is nothing ‘charitable’ about their professional protest enterprise, and they should be investigated for fomenting so much hate in America behind the shield of ‘charity work.’” 

Already, Trump has said that he has directed the Justice Department to investigate possible violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, has opened an investigation that follows the money to anti-Israel groups, including some of the groups who will be bringing their protest signs to the “No Kings” demonstrations. 

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital, “The Trump administration and the Republican Congress are committed to countering this network of left-wing violence.”

Last week, House Speaker Mike Johnson called the protests a “hate America rally.” Indeed, on June 14, at the “No Kings” protest in Philadelphia, activists from the “Palestinian Contingent,” including activists from the Council on American-Islamic Relations and Democratic Socialists of America, hissed as a woman sang the national anthem. 

“Booooo! Boooooo!” they yelled, covering their faces in keffiyehs, carrying Palestinian flags and heckling bystanders, “Zionist!” 

While organizers insist the movement transcends party lines, its structure tells a different story. 

The protest network’s official “partners” include 24 Democratic political action committees that make no secret of their partisan agenda, dedicated to electing Democratic politicians. Among them are the mega-organizing group Indivisible Action, Hollywood Democrats and the Democratic National Committee’s Washtenaw County Democratic Party in Michigan, Westside Democratic Headquarters in Los Angeles, Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club in northern California, 504 Democratic Club and College Democrats of America.

“They call it ‘No Kings,’ but what they’ve built is an empire of tax-exempt organizations doing the Democratic Party’s work on the taxpayer’s dime.” – Jennica Pounds, of DataRepublican.com,

The motto of Field Team 6, another political action committee, is “Register Democrats. Save the World.” However, those PACs are just one layer of a much larger partisan infrastructure. 

About one-third, or 79 groups, behind the “No Kings” protests hold 501(c)(3) status, meaning their donors receive tax deductions while the groups face strict restrictions to do “charitable” work, not political work. They are supposed to be nonpartisan. Yet most have clearly stated political agendas. 

On its donation page, one of the protest partners, “Build the Resistance,” states a partisan mission to “fight against autocracy, fascism, and donald [sic].” Donations go to Oil and Gas Action Network, a 501(c)(3) that reported $1.9 million in revenues in its last tax filing.

Another 100 are 501(c)(4) political nonprofits that may do limited lobbying but still cannot devote themselves primarily to political work. Meanwhile, 24 are 501(c)(5) labor union nonprofits, like the labor unions marching against Israel in New York and the San Francisco Bay Area, that also have limits on the amount of political work they can do.

It’s clear that the protests are all about politics. The protest’s own internal online “toolkit” mentions Trump 12 times and describes the mobilization explicitly as a direct stand against “the Trump administration,” “Trump and his enablers,” “President Trump’s authoritarian takeover” in a partisan-centered campaign.

In Rhode Island, the “Free Palestine Contingent” activists will march “FROM PROVIDENCE TO PALESTINE” to “FIGHT FASCISM! FIGHT GENOCIDE.” It connects the battles against ICE law enforcement officers and the battles of Palestinians, noting, “Military occupations and ICE violence are wreaking havoc in Black and brown communities in D.C., L.A., Chicago — and here in Providence. On the streets of U.S. cities, the same weapons and surveillance technologies the Israeli military has used to devastate Gaza are being used in escalated ways against us. What we allow fascists to do in Palestine, they will do to the entire world — and it is our duty to resist them and fight for a free Palestine.

In northern California, activists at “Bay Area Labor 4 Palestine” and Service Employees International Union Local 1021 announced yesterday, “The fight for a liberated Palestine is not over and cannot be ignored,” over a graphic for the “No Kings” protest. They instructed followers to “Bring flags, signs, keffiyehs and art” to the “No Kings” march in Oakland, Calif., at Wilma Chan Park off Jackson Street. 

In New York City, the “Palestine Labor Solidarity Contingent” said its message would be very specific: “STOP ARMING ISRAEL! FUND OUR COMMUNITIES, NOT GENOCIDE & OCCUPATION! END ICE, MILITARY & POLICE TERROR…HANDS OF VENEZUELA!”

Across the country, in Washington state, activists from “Seattle Against War” yesterday celebrated local organizers adding an anti-Israel activist, Tariq Ra’ouf, to the official #NoKings speaker lineup, noting it will be a “great opportunity for us to support the demands of Palestinians from the belly of the beast!”

The Party for Socialism and Liberation’s local chapter in Syracuse, N.Y., posted a similar poster with the local chapter of Democratic Socialists of America, which has Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani as its political candidate in New York City.

In Charlotte, N.C., the local chapter of the Party for Socialism and Liberation put out a call to members to assemble at 10 a.m. tomorrow for the local #NoKings protest at First Ward Park: “JOIN THE PALESTINE CONTINGENT @ THE ‘NO KINGS’ RALLY…MEET AT THE PLAYGROUND.”

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With local partners, including the 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Jewish Voice for Peace, activists at the Party for Socialism and Liberation noted that, post-ceasefire, they will “continue to fight for a free Palestine.” Some of the groups in the Palestine Contingent are part of the wider network of publicly acknowledged partners of the protests, like 50501.

In Eugene, Ore., activists with the Party for Socialism and Liberation are rallying members to meet the “Socialist Contingent” at the corner of Mill Road and Eighth Avenue to “march for a free Palestine” and get ICE officers “OUT of our communities.”

In Portland, a local Palestinian American activist announced, “The Nakba Is Still Not Over!” in a reference to the “humiliation” over the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. She summoned activists to the “No Kings” protests: “‼️SHOW UP FOR PALESTINE‼️”

FIRST ON FOX: A Texas Republican called on the Department of Justice on Friday to investigate the National Lawyers Guild, saying the prominent legal group’s activities go beyond defending rioters in court and may extend to supporting Antifa-affiliated violence.

Rep. Lance Gooden wrote in a letter first obtained by Fox News Digital to the DOJ that the National Lawyers Guild has “close ties with left-wing extremists and domestic terrorist organizations like Antifa.”

“The true degree of their involvement in organizing attacks within our country is unclear, but I am deeply concerned that the NLG and its continued support for Antifa extremists pose a direct physical threat to the lives of civilians and law enforcement officers,” Gooden wrote, also noting that he wanted the DOJ to probe the group’s financing.

A DOJ spokesperson confirmed it received Gooden’s letter but had no further comment. Fox News Digital has reached out to the National Lawyers Guild for comment. 

LEFT INSISTS ANTIFA ISN’T A REAL ORGANIZATION DESPITE MULTIPLE VIOLENT, PUBLIC INCIDENTS: ‘MADE UP’

Gooden’s request comes as the Trump administration has zeroed in on Antifa affiliates. President Donald Trump declared Antifa a “domestic terrorist organization” in September, saying the all-black-clad protesters who label themselves as Antifa members are fueling anti-law enforcement riots across the country and causing violence.

The FBI has described Antifa as a decentralized ideology, a feature that has led critics to say Antifa is not a precise label. The Congressional Research Service has said Antifa is a broad term and that its members have a variety of radical views closely aligned with anarchism, communism or socialism. The first group known to adopt the term Antifa was Rose City Antifa in Portland in 2007. On occasion, violent criminals have been cited in court as affiliating with Antifa.

FBI Director Kash Patel told Fox Business this week that, ‘Yes, Antifa exists,” and that the bureau has launched investigations across the country into the funding and organizing efforts behind Antifa.

TRUMP CALLS ANTIFA ‘TERRORIST GROUP,’ FUELING FIGHT OVER FREE SPEECH AND LIMITS OF LAW ENFORCEMENT

Patel’s comments came right after the DOJ brought terrorism-related charges for the first time against defendants that it accused in an indictment of belonging to an “Antifa Cell.” The indictment described Antifa as a “militant enterprise made up of networks” and alleged the defendants engaged in a violent attack on ICE’s Prairieland Detention Center in Texas that left a police officer shot in the neck and wounded.

Gooden accused the National Lawyers Guild, which also gave legal support to defendants accused of rioting during Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, of actively campaigning “against measures aimed at maintaining peace and law and order.”

“This includes demanding the abolishment of prisons and opposing higher penalties for masked rioters who attack people for exercising their constitutional rights,” Gooden wrote.

Gooden also cited a social media post by independent reporter Andy Ngo, who shared a video of protesters outside an ICE facility in Portland that he said featured National Lawyers Guild members interspersed throughout the crowd.

Another video Ngo shared on Friday featured a National Lawyers Guild member encouraging bystanders to give her information about people who were just arrested.

“The NLG is an Antifa legal group that provides guidance to extremists to help them escape justice,” Ngo wrote.

The National Lawyers Guild, a longstanding organization with thousands of members, is a 501(c)(4) and its foundation a 501(c)(3), designations that both qualify for tax benefits, which Gooden said justified a federal probe.

The group self-identifies as progressive and recently said its donations are not used to fund Antifa because mere ideas cannot accept money.

“Antifa is short for antifascism. Antifascism is an idea and a form of resistance to the ever increasing authoritarianism in the United States,” the group wrote on Bluesky on Thursday. “It is not a national organization or nonprofit that takes donations.”

The group said antifascists are advocates for people “ICE agents disappear … off the streets.”

“Antifascists are the Stop Cop City protesters, defending their communities from the expansion of police training grounds,” it continued. “Antifascists are those that show up to protest the National Guard, invading their city.”

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The National Lawyers Guild’s remarks get at the heart of an underlying free speech debate, as First Amendment advocates raise warnings about the Trump administration targeting people who verbally support Antifa or antifascism but remain peaceful.

Hina Shamsi of the American Civil Liberties Union said when Trump called Antifa a domestic terrorist organization he was encroaching on people’s free speech rights.

“President Trump seems hellbent on targeting real or perceived political opponents based on their constitutionally protected beliefs and speech, and we should all be very clear that he is jeopardizing everyone’s First Amendment rights,” Shamsi said.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has once again instructed House lawmakers to remain in their home districts next week, keeping attention — and heat — in Washington on Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., for over a month.

A clerk in the House of Representatives announced on Friday that Johnson is designating Oct. 20 through Oct. 23 as a “district work period,” meaning no votes or House hearings are expected to be held for that time.

It’s part of the pressure strategy Johnson has implemented against Democrats amid the ongoing government shutdown, which is barreling into a fourth week with the GOP’s federal funding plan stalled in the Senate.

The House GOP passed its federal funding plan on Sept. 19, a seven-week extension of fiscal year (FY) 2025 government spending levels, called a continuing resolution (CR). 

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

It was aimed at giving congressional negotiators more time to strike a longer-term deal on FY 2026 spending.

But Democrats, infuriated by being sidelined in the talks, are threatening to reject any deal that does not include an extension of COVID-19 pandemic-era Obamacare subsidies that are set to expire at the end of December.

Democrats reason that millions of Americans are expected to see their healthcare premiums skyrocket even before the subsidies themselves expire at the end of this year, and with no plan in place.

Republican leaders have signaled openness to having those discussions at a later date — albeit not without reforming the system — but are holding firm to their demand that the CR be passed without any partisan policy riders attached.

Johnson told reporters earlier on Friday that he would give House members 48 hours’ notice before they had to return for any votes, something he’s stated both publicly and privately for weeks.

HOUSE PASSES TRUMP-BACKED PLAN TO AVERT GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

But while his House GOP conference is holding largely united behind him, there are several Republicans growing uncomfortable with the lengthy recess period.

Both Reps. Jay Obernolte, R-Calif., and Julie Fedorchak, R-N.D., expressed concern about the extended time at home during a private call among House Republicans earlier this month.

Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., has been more public with his pushback. He told MSNBC live on television Wednesday, “It is absolutely unacceptable to me and I think only serves further distrust.”

And Rep. Dave Valadao, while not explicitly pushing back on Johnson’s decision, told Fox News Digital that he was “kind of torn on that” before blaming Senate Democrats for putting the GOP in this situation.

Meanwhile, Rep. Johnny Olszewski, D-Md., the lone House Democrat who was in the chamber when the district work period was declared, criticized Johnson for keeping the chamber out of session.

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“Congress has been absent here in the House for almost a month when there are critical conversations that need to be happening about reopening the government, lowering the cost of healthcare for millions of Americans, and also moving forward on critical issues,” Olszewski said.

In a sign of a likely lengthy shutdown, the Senate is preparing to hold a standalone vote next week on paying government workers who are forced to work during the shutdown, including active-duty military members.

Asked by reporters if the House would come back to vote on the measure if it passed the Senate, Johnson said Friday, “If we have a viable path, yes, but I suspect the Democrats are going to bat it down again.”

The federal judge assigned to oversee the criminal case against former Trump national security advisor John Bolton is an Obama-era appointee who made headlines during both Trump administrations for halting or pausing some of his most sweeping executive orders. 

U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang, a 2014 appointee to the federal bench in Greenbelt, Maryland, is far from the only judge whose rulings have been viewed by Trump allies as unfavorable to the administration. Dozens of judges have issued temporary orders and injunctions during Trump’s second term aimed at pausing or blocking certain directives while courts consider their merits.

But Chuang is noteworthy for being the judge who in 2017 issued a nationwide injunction blocking Trump’s revised “travel ban” from taking force. The March 2017 executive order suspended travel for 90 days from six majority-Muslim countries — Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen — and paused the entry of asylum seekers for 120 days.

FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TO PAY ‘UNLAWFULLY’ RESTRICTED USAID FUNDS

Chuang ruled that Trump’s order was likely motivated by anti-Muslim sentiment, describing it as a revised “realization” of Trump’s “long-envisioned Muslim ban,” which he had floated repeatedly during his first presidential bid.

“Simply because a decisionmaker made the statements during a campaign does not wipe them from the ‘reasonable memory’ of a ‘reasonable observer,'” he said in the injunction, which was quickly appealed to the 4th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. 

Shortly after Trump took office in January, Chuang again drew the administration’s ire when he blocked Trump and the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from continuing efforts to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development. In a 70-page ruling, he said the actions likely violated the U.S. Constitution “in multiple ways.”

The preliminary injunction was the first to attempt to constrain DOGE, which at the time had already cut 98% of USAID staffers. The 4th Circuit also set aside Chuang’s ruling on appeal several weeks later, clearing the way for DOGE to continue its efforts to gut USAID. 

Chuang has also presided over lesser-known cases, including temporarily suspending in-person requirements for women who were seeking the morning-after pill during the COVID-19 pandemic. That decision was later reversed by the Supreme Court in a 6-3 decision.

SCOTUS RULES ON NEARLY $2 BILLION IN FROZEN USAID PAYMENTS

Trump’s executive actions and orders have sparked 220 lawsuits since January, according to a litigation tracker from Lawfare Media. 

Many of the early actions were blocked by federal judges, including Chuang, through emergency orders or temporary injunctions pending review.

(Court watchers and legal experts attribute this imbalance to congressional inaction, which has prompted an increase in executive orders by the last four presidents and, in turn, more judicial review.)

Like other federal judges who have held up Trump’s agenda, if only temporarily, in his second term, Chuang’s orders have been castigated by the president’s allies and some Republicans in Congress.

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Earlier this year, Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., introduced a House resolution seeking to impeach Chuang and five other federal judges who had challenged Trump administration actions. (The attempt prompted a stern warning from the New York City Bar Association, which cited “grave concerns” about the effort.)

Bolton appeared Friday in federal court in Greenbelt, Md., where he pleaded not guilty to 18 counts.

Bolton’s indictment makes him the third Trump foe to have been indicted in federal court in as many weeks, following the high-profile indictments brought against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James. But his case has not touched off the same concerns or allegations of political retribution as the others.

The investigation into Bolton’s handling of classified materials moved forward in part during the Biden administration, and career prosecutors in the U.S. attorney’s office signed off on the charges — a contrast to the cases against Comey and James, which were brought by Trump’s former attorney Lindsey Halligan.

A magistrate judge ordered Bolton released on the condition that he remain in the continental United States and surrender his passport, which he did. His next court appearance is scheduled for Nov. 21.

The Kremlin has suggested that Russia and the United States build a “Putin-Trump” rail tunnel under the Bering Strait to link the two nations, according to a proposal from one of President Vladimir Putin’s top investment officials.

Kirill Dmitriev, Putin’s investment envoy and head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), outlined the idea Thursday, Reuters reported. 

‘ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE’: B-2 BOMBER, F-35 ESCORT SET STAGE FOR TRUMP-PUTIN TALKS IN ALASKA

The plan calls for a 70-mile rail and cargo tunnel to be built by Elon Musk’s Boring Company within eight years at a projected cost of $8 billion. The project, Dmitriev said, would be funded by Moscow and “international partners.”

“The dream of a U.S.–Russia link via the Bering Strait reflects an enduring vision — from the 1904 Siberia–Alaska railway to Russia’s 2007 plan,” Dmitriev wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “RDIF has studied existing proposals, including the U.S.–Canada–Russia–China railroad, and will support the most viable.”

The proposal came after President Donald Trump reportedly spoke by phone with Putin and agreed to meet in Budapest to discuss ways to end the war in Ukraine.

ALASKA GOVERNOR HOPES FOR END TO UKRAINE WAR AS STATE PREPARES FOR HISTORIC TRUMP-PUTIN SUMMIT

The Bering Strait separates Russia from Alaska. The small Diomede Islands — one controlled by Russia and the other by the U.S. — sit in the middle of the strait, and are separated by 2.4 miles, Reuters reported.

Dmitriev suggested The Boring Company as the builder, citing its tunneling technology as a way to dramatically cut costs.

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“Imagine connecting the U.S. and Russia — the Americas and Afro-Eurasia — with the Putin-Trump Tunnel, a 70-mile link symbolizing unity,” Dmitriev wrote in a post directed at Musk. “Traditional costs are $65B+, but @boringcompany’s tech could reduce it to less than $8B. Let’s build a future together.”

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

After a U.S.-led campaign, the United Nations has postponed a vote on a proposal to impose the world’s first global carbon tax on shipping, delaying the decision by one year.

The rule was expected to come up for a vote this week as part of the U.N. International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) “Net-Zero Framework.” But a majority of member nations voted to defer it after failing to reach consensus amid U.S. opposition.

Backed by the European Union and Brazil, the plan seeks to raise billions from carriers that exceed new emissions limits, channeling the revenue toward climate adaptation and clean-fuel projects in developing nations.

Washington and Riyadh led the opposition. Saudi Arabia introduced a motion Friday to delay discussions for one year, which passed with 57 countries in favor and 49 opposed.

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

The Trump administration came out forcefully against the measure this week, calling it an “unconstitutional global tax” that would drive up energy and consumer prices. In a series of statements, President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz vowed that the United States would vote a “hard no” when delegates meet in London on Friday and urged allies to do the same.

“I am outraged that the International Maritime Organization is voting in London this week to pass a global Carbon Tax,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “The United States will NOT stand for this Global Green New Scam Tax on Shipping, and will not adhere to it in any way, shape, or form. We will not tolerate increased prices on American Consumers OR the creation of a Green New Scam Bureaucracy to spend YOUR money on their Green dreams. Stand with the United States, and vote NO in London tomorrow!”

Administration officials argue the framework would give unelected international bureaucrats the power to tax U.S. companies and consumers while doing little to cut global emissions.

SUPREME COURT MUST FREEZE THE CLIMATE EXTORTION OF OUR ENERGY INDUSTRY

“This week, the UN is attempting to pass the first global carbon tax, which will increase energy, food, and fuel costs across the world. We will not allow the UN to tax American citizens and companies,” Rubio wrote on X.

“This is a bigger deal than I think anybody realizes,” U.N. Ambassador Mike Waltz said on Fox News.

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Supporters counter that a uniform carbon price is the only way to push the shipping industry — responsible for nearly 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions — to meet net-zero targets by mid-century.

The proposal will be decided at the IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee session in London, running through Friday, Oct. 17, where nations must reach consensus for it to take effect.

The Supreme Court on Friday set a Dec. 8 date to hear oral arguments in a case centered on President Donald Trump’s authority to fire heads of independent agencies without cause.

This closely watched court fight could overturn a longstanding court precedent and further expand executive branch powers. At issue is Trump’s attempted firing of Rebecca Slaughter, the lone Democrat on the Federal Trade Commission. Trump fired Slaughter and another Democratic member of the FTC in March, though that commissioner has since resigned. 

Slaughter sued earlier this year to block her removal, and a lower court judge ordered her temporarily reinstated to her role on the FTC while the case continued to play out on its merits.

The Trump administration appealed the case to the Supreme Court in September. The justices agreed to hear the case and stayed the lower court ruling that ordered her reinstated — allowing Trump, for now, to proceed with Slaughter’s removal from the FTC.

APPEALS COURT BLOCKS TRUMP FROM FIRING FEDERAL BOARD MEMBERS, TEES UP SUPREME COURT FIGHT

The court’s willingness to take up the case is seen by many as a sign that the justices plan to revisit the Supreme Court precedent in Humphrey’s Executor v. United States — a 1935 case in which justices unanimously blocked presidents from removing the heads of independent regulatory agencies without cause, and only in limited circumstances.

Justices signaled as much in their directions to lawyers for the Trump administration and Slaughter. 

They ordered both parties to address two key questions in their briefs: whether the removal protections for FTC members “violates the separation of powers and, if so, whether Humphrey’s Executor, should be overruled,” and whether a federal court may prevent a person’s removal from public office, “either through relief at equity or at law.”

Their review of the case also comes as justices have grappled with a flurry of lawsuits filed this year by other Trump-fired Democratic board members, including by National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) member Gwynne Wilcox and Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) member Cathy Harris, two Democratic appointees who were abruptly terminated by the Trump administration this year. 

LAWYERS FOR COOK, DOJ TRADE BLOWS AT HIGH-STAKES CLASH OVER FED FIRING

The Supreme Court in May granted Trump’s request to remove both Wilcox and Harris from their respective boards while lower court challenges played out, though the high court did not invoke the Humphrey’s Executor precedent in the short, unsigned order.

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It also comes as the Supreme Court is slated to hear oral arguments in another key case centered on Trump’s attempt to fire Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, with oral arguments set for January.

The court’s approach in the Slaughter case may signal how it will handle arguments in Trump’s attempt to oust Cook the following month.

An Ohio state legislator is looking to penalize sanctuary cities and push law enforcement to cooperate with federal authorities amid President Donald Trump’s illegal immigration crackdown.

Ohio state Rep. Josh Williams, a Republican running for U.S. House, is introducing the Protecting Ohio Communities Act, known as House Bill 26, which includes a 10% cut in funds from the state for areas deemed to be “sanctuary jurisdictions.”

“We’ve seen Columbus and Cleveland mayors come out and openly say they’re going to defy this legislation within their city limits because we have home rule authority here in the state of Ohio,” Williams told Fox News Digital.

TRUMP ADMIN BLOCKED FROM SLASHING FUNDING FROM DOZENS OF LOCAL GOVERNMENTS OVER ‘SANCTUARY’ POLICIES

Under Ohio’s constitution, home rule authority gives municipalities the “authority to exercise all powers of local self-government and to adopt and enforce within their limits such local police, sanitary and other similar regulations, as are not in conflict with general laws.”

“If you want to have these sanctuary policies, we’re going to defund you,” he added.

Williams said he hopes the Trump administration will follow suit and apply “conditional funding to our states who are refusing to cooperate and even sometimes obstructing our enforcement efforts.”

In the Midwest, one governor in particular has gone toe-to-toe with Trump on immigration enforcement: Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker. Williams accused Pritzker of acting out of anger over Trump’s re-election, and he said it was important for states to back federal policies that Americans voted for.

“The majority of the voters, through a popular vote, elected Donald Trump, and he campaigned on the idea of undergoing the largest immigration enforcement in our nation’s history to remove the millions of illegal immigrants that came across the border during the Biden administration. And we need to support him at every single level to make that happen,” Williams told Fox News Digital.

REPUBLICAN BILL WOULD PUT ‘ANARCHIST JURISDICTIONS’ ON NOTICE, THREATEN FEDERAL FUNDING

Williams also slammed Pritzker and Democratic governors like him for “defying and obstructing federal enforcement efforts” in their states.

“Unfortunately, we have out of touch liberals that are able to afford to live in communities [where] they can avoid the chaos that their policies are creating,” Williams told Fox News Digital. “But the average working family in America can’t afford that.”

Williams, whose hometown is Toledo, cited his own experience living in a poor community and what it means to rely on law enforcement for safety and security.

“When I called 911, I expected law enforcement to respond,” he said. Williams added that law enforcement needs to be able to rely on local partners and know that their counterparts won’t “leave them hanging” because they’re working to enforce federal immigration policies.

The Protecting Ohio Communities Act has a long way to go before it becomes state law. The Ohio legislature’s website shows the bill is in House committee as of Oct. 16.

TOM HOMAN PUTS SANCTUARY CITIES ‘ON NOTICE’ AS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION CRACKS DOWN ON IMMIGRATION

Williams said he believes Ohio has become the “epicenter of national politics,” making it a crucial piece of the Trump administration’s work to crack down on illegal immigration.

“We do have a Buckeye in the White House,” Williams said, referring to Vice President JD Vance, an Ohio native who represented the state in the U.S. Senate before being tapped as Trump’s running mate.

“I think you’re gonna continue to see Ohio be a spotlight for change here for the nation,” he added.

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Williams is looking to take his fight against sanctuary cities beyond Ohio as he campaigns for Congress. Cracking down on illegal immigration is a major part of his U.S. House campaign platform. Williams’ campaign website lists his priorities as defunding sanctuary cities and states, finishing the border wall, deporting criminal illegal immigrants and supporting law enforcement’s immigration efforts.

“It’s critical we empower our brave law enforcement officers to enforce the laws already on the books as well as give them the resources and authority they need to keep our nation safe,” Williams’ campaign website reads.

FIRST ON FOX: The White House railed against the “Democrat shutdown” for “jeopardizing national security” because 80% of the federal agency charged with protecting the U.S. nuclear stockpile will be furloughed in the coming days, the administration told Fox News Digital. 

“The Democrat shutdown is now jeopardizing our national security,” White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers told Fox News Digital Friday afternoon. “By refusing to pass the clean, bipartisan funding extension, the Democrats are causing funds to run out for critical programs, resulting in furloughs of personnel at the National Nuclear Security Administration who manage our nuclear stockpile.

“This is reckless and could be completely avoided if the Democrats simply voted to reopen the government and stopped holding the American people hostage.”

WHITE HOUSE SAYS FEDERAL LAYOFFS COULD HIT ‘THOUSANDS’ AHEAD OF TRUMP, VOUGHT MEETING

An administration official confirmed to Fox Digital that 80% of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s staff will be furloughed because available funds will soon be expended. 

The National Nuclear Security Administration operates within the U.S. Department of Energy, maintains the nation’s nuclear stockpile and works to reduce the threat of nuclear weapons in foreign nations. 

The agency will next enter minimum safe operations, meaning remaining employees will focus on maintaining physical security, cybersecurity, nuclear safety and emergency management, according to an administration official. 

KAROLINE LEAVITT WARNS DEMOCRATS FACE ‘VERY REAL’ CONSEQUENCES IF SHUTDOWN STANDOFF DRAGS ON

“We have not furloughed anyone yet, but we will be out of funds by tomorrow or early next week,” Department of Energy Secretary Chris Wright told Bloomberg News Friday of the upcoming furloughs. “So, we will be forced to do that if this shutdown continues.

“We’ve been paying them to date, but, starting tomorrow, Monday at the latest, we’re not going to be able to pay those workers. If that continues on for long, they may get other jobs,” Wright told Bloomberg, putting “the sovereignty of the country,” at stake.

HERE’S WHAT TRUMP WANTS TO DO TO RESHAPE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT DURING THE SHUTDOWN

The administration official told Fox News Digital at there will be significant impacts on the agency’s nuclear deterrence mission as various offices shutter during the shutdown, and consequences of the shutdown are expected to last beyond the eventual reopening of the government. 

“As our adversaries build more silos and weapons, we will be turning off the lights,” the administration official said. 

Republican lawmakers also have sounded off on the upcoming furloughs, including Alabama Rep. Mike Rogers during a House news conference on Friday. 

“We were just informed last night the National Nuclear Security Administration, the group that handles the nuclear stockpile, that the carryover funding they’ve been using is about to run out,” he said. “These are not employees that you want to go home. They are managing and handling a very important strategic asset for us. They need to be at work and being paid.” 

The U.S. government has been in the midst of an ongoing shutdown since Oct. 1, when Senate lawmakers failed to pass funding legislation for 2026.

The Trump administration and Republicans have since pinned blame for the shutdown on Democrats, claiming they sought taxpayer-funded medical benefits for illegal immigrants. Democrats have denied they want to fund healthcare for illegal immigrants and instead have blamed Republicans for the shutdown.

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“Every day that Republicans refuse to negotiate to end this shutdown, the worse it gets for Americans — and the clearer it becomes who’s fighting for them,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told Fox Digital earlier in October of the shutdown. 

“Each day our case to fix healthcare and end this shutdown gets better and better, stronger and stronger because families are opening their letters showing how high their premiums will climb if Republicans get their way.” 

Comments by Senate leadership have renewed expectations among lawmakers that the chamber will soon entertain sanctions on Russia — even as questions remain about whether President Donald Trump would support them.  

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters on Thursday that he thought the Senate could consider sanctions introduced by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., “in the next 30 days.” 

Trump, in contrast, told reporters on Thursday that “it may not be perfect timing” to impose sanctions on Russia.

The sanctions, which have been in the works for months, may have newfound momentum in Congress amid the Trump administration’s increased support for Ukraine in recent weeks — and as Zelenskyy returned to the U.S. this week to press his case for a more aggressive stance against Moscow. 

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle believe the sanctions bill is ripe for consideration. Senators like Blumenthal said those sanctions could be a missing component to ending the three-year conflict that has so far frustrated attempts at meaningful resolution.

“Leader Thune is right. It’s time to bring the Graham-Blumenthal Russian Sanctions bill to the floor,” Blumenthal told Fox News Digital in a statement. 

“Passing it would show unity across our government in support of confronting Putin’s bloody atrocities against Ukraine. A vote on our bone-crushing sanctions bill within the next 30 days is imperative to bring Putin’s war machine to a grinding halt,” Blumenthal added. 

In its current form, the measure would allow the President of the United States enhanced powers to block energy sales, block visas, halt investment listings, impose tariffs of up to 500%, and more — if the president determines that Russia isn’t engaging in good-faith efforts to end the war.

The bill creates some exceptions for humanitarian reasons.

Despite Trump’s hesitations on Thursday, he’s signaled openness to sanctions before. Graham, the sponsor of the legislation, said it equips the president with an expanded negotiating arsenal.

“Yeah, I hope so. It’s a tool available for the president,” Graham said of the legislation, “It empowers him. It’s up to him how to use it.”

SENATE SIGNALS READINESS TO HIT RUSSIA WITH HARD SANCTIONS IF PEACE DEAL FAILS

In addition to its 84 cosponsors in the Senate, the bill has 113 cosponsors in the House of Representatives.

Despite its broad support, Thune warned there are still aspects of the legislation that need to be addressed before it can be put to a vote.

“There are technical issues that are being worked out between the White House and Senator Graham, obviously, who’s the lead sponsor of the bill,” Thune told reporters on Thursday.

He didn’t expand on what areas might need a second look.

Thune added that to put the kind of pressure on Putin that lawmakers have in mind, the bill would also need the support of the international community. 

“We also need to have it amplified by the Europeans. And that’s one of the things the administration is working on. It doesn’t do any good to have the United States unilaterally going to all these countries and sanctioning them, and then having the Europeans buying energy from them,” Thune said.

EU PREPARING 19TH ROUND OF RUSSIA SANCTIONS AS ZELENSKYY MEETS TRUMP

Renewed expectations about the bill come as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the White House on Friday, making the case that additional striking capabilities are needed to bring Putin to the negotiating table.

DEMOCRATS DOUBTED TRUMP WOULD SECURE UKRAINE CEASE-FIRE IN ALASKA SUMMIT WITH PUTIN

Its sponsor in the House, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., called the bill another way to ramp up the pressure to negotiate. 

“There are moments in history when hesitation carries a cost too great to bear. This is one of them. Bipartisan support for this bill is overwhelming, and every day of delay is a gift to Putin.”

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“We must give the president every tool to end this war and secure peace through strength. That’s how America leads. That’s how freedom prevails. I’m grateful to Leader Thune for recognizing the urgency of this moment, and I encourage Speaker Johnson to continue his leadership on this issue by scheduling a vote as soon as possible,” Fitzpatrick said.

The Senate has recessed for the weekend and will return to Washington, D.C., on Monday.