NationalWatch

“I hope they have makeup wipes in prison.”

That’s how Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., responded to the arrest of Samuel Theodore Cain, a trans-identifying activist who goes by “Roxie Wolfe” online, after he was charged with allegedly making repeated death threats against the congresswoman. 

Cain, 19, was taken into custody by the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) after months of alleged threats, making him the first known trans activist in the country to be arrested for threatening a sitting member of Congress.

In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, Mace didn’t hold back.

EXCLUSIVE: NANCY MACE TARGETED BY PENNSYLVANIA MAN ARRESTED FOR THREATENING TRUMP

Samuel Theodore Cain is pictured in a booking photo released by South Carolina law enforcement. Cain, a Greenville-area resident, was arrested for allegedly making death threats against U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C. (Greenville County Sheriff’s Office)

“I’ve waited for this for a long time,” she said. “Trans activists have been threatening to kill me every day for over six months, ever since I started filing bills to protect women’s spaces.”

Mace said her top priority has always been protecting her family, her staff and herself from the kind of politically motivated violence she believes is getting worse and is also ignored by the left.

“We live in fear every day, looking over our shoulders because these trans activists fuel violence,” she said. “And yet not one Democrat has spoken up to say it’s wrong.”

Cain allegedly posted violent messages online threatening to kill Mace and her children, describing graphic ways he would harm her. According to Mace, these threats were shared with law enforcement and the public for months.

Investigative journalist Andy Ngo reported Cain had a history of allegedly posting threats and expressing support for far-left causes. 

REP. NANCY MACE’S ALLEGED ATTACKER PLEADS NOT GUILTY TO INCIDENT ON CAPITOL GROUNDS

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., speaks during a hearing with the House Oversight and Accountability committee in the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

In one post, Cain allegedly wrote, “I’M GOING TO ASSASSINATE REPRESENTATIVE NANCY MACE WITH A GUN AND I’M BEING 100% DEAD ASS.”

Ngo’s investigation revealed that Cain’s social media accounts were filled with posts about trans-related topics and support for Democrats. After being contacted by the FBI about his posts, Cain allegedly admitted to making the threat but claimed he “didn’t mean it.”

“We’ve posted the voicemails,” Mace said. “We’ve shared the text messages. They talked about smashing my head into a bathroom floor or shooting me.

“This is who these people are. And still, not a single Democrat has stood up and said, ‘This is unacceptable.’”

Mace said the silence speaks volumes.

“When the left shows you who they are, believe them,” she said. “They are normalizing political violence, and they’re doing it by refusing to condemn it.”

Mace, who has introduced legislation to protect women’s bathrooms and spaces, said this arrest only proves why her efforts matter.

“This matters more than ever,” she said. “We have to protect women. Real men protect women. Real men don’t threaten them. But we can’t do this alone. We need more people to speak out.”

She said real change will only happen when people stop being afraid and start holding dangerous behavior accountable.

“This arrest happened because someone had the courage to act,” she said. “That was Capitol Police. That was SLED. I demanded it too, but they finally said, ‘Not one more.’ That’s what we need — courage, not silence.”

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., speaks to the media outside the Thomas P. O’Neil Jr. House Office Building in Washington D.C. (Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Congressional Integrity Project)

Cain allegedly made many of his threats publicly on social media. Mace said that’s a major problem and called for changes to Section 230, the law that shields tech platforms from liability. According to the DOJ, 230 “provides immunity to online platforms from civil liability based on third-party content and for the removal of content in certain circumstances.”

“You can’t even sue blogs when people post threats or lies,” she said. “There’s no accountability. That has to change. People are being targeted, and these platforms are letting it happen.”

Some on the left have accused Mace of “punching down” for calling attention to her would-be attacker. Mace had a sharp response.

“Only Democrats blame the victim,” she said. “They don’t want to protect women. We’ve seen it in sports, bathrooms, locker rooms and now in politics. They always look the other way.

“There’s a total double standard. Not one Democrat colleague of mine has spoken out since the arrest. Not one.”

Asked what she would say to other lawmakers, especially women, who are scared to speak out on gender and safety issues, Mace was clear.

“Violence against women should always be taken seriously,” she said. “We should believe women. We should protect them. And we should prosecute the people who want to hurt them.

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“If you care about women, prove it. Stand up and say, ‘No more!’”

Mace also revealed to Fox News Digital she’s preparing a victim impact statement and hopes to attend Cain’s bond hearing scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Friday.

“I’m working on it now,” she said. “We’re figuring out logistics, but I plan to be there.”

Education Secretary Linda McMahon questioned Harvard University President Alan Garber’s decision to take a 25% pay cut, saying she’s not sure how that shows the university is changing policies on antisemitism or racial discrimination.

A Harvard University spokesperson told Fox News Wednesday Garber agreed to take a 25% reduction in pay for the 2025-26 school year after the Trump administration cut $2.2 billion in funding to the university.

McMahon was a guest on FOX Business’ “The Evening Edit” Thursday, and she opened up about the situation at the elite Ivy League institution and Garber’s reduction in pay.

“I’m not quite sure today with the president of Harvard, President Garber, taking a salary decrease is somehow a statement that they’re changing their policies on antisemitism or racial discrimination. I don’t think that does a whole lot to solve the problem,” McMahon told host Elizabeth MacDonald. 

HARVARD UPDATES LAWSUIT AFTER TRUMP CANCELS ADDITIONAL $450M IN FUNDING

“And if you just look at some of the stats, I mean, the Harvard Crimson even reported that … in their own research over the last couple of years, 2% to 3% of the faculty are conservative. And you just can’t have that kind of discrepancy without having the theology or ideology be biased across campus.”

Secretary of Education Linda McMahon speaks with Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier after President Donald Trump moved to dismantle her agency. (Fox News/Special Report)

Harvard on Tuesday filed an update to its lawsuit against the Trump administration after another $450 million of research funding was cut.

The Massachusetts school amended the lawsuit hours after the federal government’s Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism announced that eight federal agencies were terminating approximately $450 million in grants over what is described as Harvard’s “radical” and “dark problem” on campus.

“Harvard University has repeatedly failed to confront the pervasive race discrimination and antisemitic harassment plaguing its campus,” the task force said in a statement.

The latest freeze comes in addition to $2.2 billion in funding already withheld and threats by the Trump administration to revoke Harvard’s tax-exempt status. 

HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT TAKES 25% PAY CUT AMID TRUMP ADMINISTRATION FUNDING FREEZE

The Trump administration froze over $2.2 billion in federal funding for Harvard after it failed to address antisemitism and racial discrimination on campus. (Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images)

Harvard filed its initial lawsuit in April to block $2.2 billion in funding from being denied.

In its amended lawsuit, Harvard said much of the funding that was initially frozen has now been terminated, apparently with no hope of restoring it.

McMahon told MacDonald she did not think Harvard has changed its practices, adding the Trump administration has gone to the university to investigate.

“We wanted to sit down with President Garber. I spoke with him,” McMahon said. “We were going to sit down and discuss things, and we had sent a letter … and asked him to come to the table. And his answer was a lawsuit that Harvard filed.”

Since then, she said, there has been other communication with Garber, noting the Trump administration was doing some of the things without taking away the lawsuit.

But she added she is willing to discuss with Harvard officials what the university is doing differently.

TRUMP FROZE FUNDING FOR HARVARD. MONEY TO THESE UNIVERSITIES MAY ALSO BE ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK

Harvard President Alan Garber (Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

McMahon acknowledged Harvard has tried to make changes, including asking the chair of the school’s Middle East Studies department to step down.

She made it clear, though, that the Trump administration is not taking anything off the table.

“It is clear antisemitism on campus is a civil rights violation, and Harvard has argued, as other elite universities have, that … maybe their First Amendment rights are being abridged,” McMahon said. “This is not about the First Amendment. This is civil rights.

“When you put other students at risk, their safety is of concern,” she added. “And their Jewish students will tell us that they’re even afraid to go to activities on campus. That’s clearly civil rights violations. Yes, that does bear investigation, and we’re not taking anything off the table.”

Harvard has become a target of Trump’s broader crackdown on universities, much of which is in response to last year’s anti-Israel unrest that erupted on campuses across the country.

DOES HARVARD DESERVE WAR WITH TRUMP, OR IS GOVERNMENT OVERSTEPPING? CAMPUS REACTS TO FUNDING BATTLE

The Trump administration announced it was freezing over $2 billion in grants and contracts after Harvard University said it would not comply with federal demands regarding antisemitism. (Nicholas Pfosi/Reuters)

On April 11, the Trump administration sent a letter to Garber and Harvard Corporation Lead Member Penny Pritzker outlining the institution’s failures and a list of demands from the White House. In the letter, the administration accused Harvard of failing to uphold civil rights laws and to foster an “environment that produces intellectual creativity.”

The Trump administration threatened to pull federal funding if Harvard did not reform governance and leadership and its hiring and admissions practices by August 2025. The letter emphasized the need for Harvard to change its international admissions process to avoid admitting students who are “hostile” to American values or support terrorism or antisemitism.

Harvard refused to comply with the demands, and Garber said “no government … should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and areas of study and inquiry they can pursue.”

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The Trump administration then froze $2.2 billion in funding to Harvard and is reportedly looking to slash another billion, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The university later filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over its “unlawful” freezing of funds.

Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman, Andrea Margolis, Stephen Sorace and Bonny Chu contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” appears to be in peril as of late Thursday afternoon, ahead of a critical meeting by the House Budget Committee to bring the legislation close to a House-wide vote.

At least three Republicans on the committee are expected to vote against advancing the bill, a multitrillion-dollar piece of legislation aimed at enacting Trump’s priorities on tax, the border, immigration, defense, energy and raising the debt limit.

GOP Reps. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., and Ralph Norman, R-S.C., both told Fox News Digital they would vote against the bill in committee in its current form.

Norman said Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, also would vote against the bill. Roy himself signaled he was opposed to the legislation both on X and in comments to reporters.

ANTI-ABORTION PROVIDER MEASURE IN TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ COULD SPARK HOUSE GOP REBELLION

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is guiding House Republicans through President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.” (AP/Getty Images)

“Right now, the House proposal fails to meet the moment. It does not meaningfully change spending (Medicaid expansion to able bodied, [Inflation Reduction Act] subsidies). Plus many of the decent provisions and cuts, don’t begin until 2029 and beyond. That is swamp accounting to dodge real savings,” Roy wrote Thursday on X.

Other members of the committee also suggested they had concerns.

Rep. Josh Brecheen, R-Okla., told Fox News Digital he wanted the Friday morning meeting delayed.

And Rep. Glenn Grothman, R-Wis., a rank-and-file member who is not known for defying House Republican leaders, said the legislation did not seem “sincere” and would not reveal how he will vote.

With one expected absence for Republicans on the House Budget Committee, the GOP can only afford one “no” vote to still advance the legislation.

Once the bill is passed through the House Budget Committee, it must then come before the House Rules Committee — which sets terms for debating the bill House-wide — before it is weighed by all House lawmakers.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has said he wants the legislation to pass the House by Memorial Day.

Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., said he would vote against the bill in its current form in the House Budget Committee. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via)

“I think we’re on schedule,” Johnson told reporters leaving a conference-wide meeting on the bill Thursday afternoon. 

He also said he was confident Budget Committee Republicans could advance the bill on Friday.

“I’m talking to everybody and I think we’re gonna get this thing done on the schedule that we proposed,” Johnson said in response to conservative concerns.

Both Norman and Roy have complained that the legislation’s provisions aimed at curbing abuse of the Medicaid system and rolling back former President Joe Biden’s green energy subsidies in the Inflation Reduction Act did not go far enough.

Timing is among their key concerns on both fronts. Conservatives have issues with Medicaid work requirements not going into effect until 2029, the end of Trump’s term. They also questioned what they saw as a delay in phasing out green energy tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act. 

“I questioned the timing on work requirements, I questioned the IRS phase-outs. I didn’t get an answer on that,” Norman told reporters after the Thursday afternoon meeting. “My point is, we need to have answers before it hits the floor.”

Clyde told Fox News Digital of his opposition, “I’m a NO on advancing the budget reconciliation bill out of the Budget Committee in its current form.”

“I’m actively involved in negotiations to improve this package, and I’m hopeful that we will do so quickly in order to successfully deliver on President Trump’s agenda for the American people,” he said.

Another issue at hand involves continued tensions over state and local tax (SALT) deductions, which primarily affect high cost-of-living states — and Republicans representing critical swing districts within blue states.

The Trump bill currently would raise the SALT deduction cap from $10,000 for single and married tax filers to $30,000 — a number that’s not enough for a group of moderate House Republicans that’s large enough to sink the final bill.

Conservative fiscal hawks have said higher SALT deduction caps must be paired with deeper spending cuts.

BROWN UNIVERSITY IN GOP CROSSHAIRS AFTER STUDENT’S DOGE-LIKE EMAIL KICKS OFF FRENZY

“SALT is a pay-for,” Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., who is not on the budget committee, said in response to conservatives asking for offsets. 

Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., said he would vote against the bill if SALT deduction caps were not sufficient.  (Tierney L. Cross)

He pointed out that SALT deduction caps would be eliminated entirely if Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), which Republicans want to extend permanently via this bill, is allowed to expire.

“The fact is, if the tax bill expires, the cap on SALT expires, which means it goes back to unlimited. So any cap is a savings within the bill,” Lawler said. “So this idea that we need to find a pay-for, that’s not an us problem. That’s other people’s problems.”

But Rep. Nick LaLota, R-N.Y., another SALT Caucus member, signaled he would be OK with moving up the deadline on Medicaid work requirements in exchange for raising the SALT deduction cap.

House GOP leaders are expected to continue negotiating with both groups, however.

Both Johnson and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said they expected the Budget Committee meeting to go on as planned.

House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, however, seemed less optimistic.

“We’ll see,” he said when asked about the Friday meeting, adding the likely “no” votes are “potentially enough to delay it.”

Congressional Republicans are moving Trump’s agenda via the budget reconciliation process.

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By lowering the Senate’s threshold for passage down to the House’s own simple majority requirement, it allows the party in control of both chambers and the White House to pass vast pieces of legislation while entirely sidelining the minority — in this case, Democrats.

Eleven House committees have cobbled together individual portions of the bill, which will be put back into a framework that the House Budget Committee will consider Friday morning.

Then it must head to the Senate, which will likely amend the bill, which then must sync up with the House before arriving on Trump’s desk for a signature.

Former head of the FBI James Comey is getting lambasted online after he shared a social post that many people perceived as a “hit” on President Donald Trump’s life.

The post included the numbers “86 47” etched in the sand at a beach using seashells. “Cool shell formation on my beach walk…” Comey captioned the Thursday post.

While to some people the numbers may appear innocuous, “86” is frequently used as a call sign for murdering or getting rid of someone, while “47” is for the 47th President of the United States.

HOUSE REPUBLICANS MULL CONSEQUENCES FOR DEMS WHO ‘STORMED’ ICE FACILITY

Former head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation James Comey is getting lambasted online after he shared a social post that many people are taking as a “hit” on President Donald Trump’s life. (AP)

Following backlash on social media over the post, including from at least one lawmaker who called for Comey to be arrested, Comey deleted the post shared to his Instagram and put up a message addressing it.

“I posted earlier a picture of some shells I saw today on a beach walk, which I assumed were a political message,” the subsequent post from Comey read. “I didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence. It never occurred to me but I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down.” 

The FBI, where Comey used to work before he was fired by Trump during his first term, had no comment on the matter, but it was also apparent that people at the top levels of the agency were aware of the post. However, Trump’s new FBI director, Kash Patel, acknowledged on X that agency personnel were “aware” of Comey’s post.

“We are in communication with the Secret Service and Director Curran,” Patel added in his post. “Primary jurisdiction is with SS on these matters and we, the FBI, will provide all necessary support.” 

WHITE HOUSE RIPS HOUSE DEMS TRYING TO HIJACK TRUMP’S GULF OF AMERICA PLANS

James Comey speaks on stage during Former FBI Director James Comey In Conversation With MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace at 92NY on May 30, 2023 in New York City.  (Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)

White House Deputy Chief of Staff and Cabinet Secretary Taylor Budowich also weighed in on X.

“While President Trump is currently on an international trip to the Middle East, the former FBI Director puts out what can clearly be interpreted as ‘a hit’ on the sitting President of the United States—a message etched in the sand,” she wrote on X. “This is deeply concerning to all of us and is being taken seriously.”

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“Arrest Comey,” Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., added in his own post about the matter.

The State Department said nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran have been constructive, and President Donald Trump has been clear about wanting to see diplomacy.

U.S. State Department deputy spokesperson Tommy Pigott was asked during a press briefing Thursday about comments made by Trump, and he said the U.S. and Iran were close to an Iran nuclear deal.

Trump, speaking in Doha, Qatar, said he thinks the U.S. and Iran “are getting close” to making a deal without any violence. In Trump fashion, he said there are two steps — “a very nice step and a violent step” — which he added consists of violence people have never seen before.

The president also said Thursday in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), that the U.S. and Iran have “sort of” agreed to terms on a nuclear deal.

TRUMP SAYS IRAN MUST DITCH ‘CONCEPT OF A NUCLEAR WEAPON’ AHEAD OF MORE TALKS

State Department Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Pigott told reporters nuclear talks between the U.S. and Iran have been “constructive” and that President Trump wants to see diplomacy. (State Department)

“Iran has sort of agreed to the terms. They’re not going to make — I call it, in a friendly way — nuclear dust,” Trump told reporters, suggesting a growing alignment with the terms he has been seeking. “We’re not going to be making any nuclear dust in Iran.”

While Pigott would not comment on private diplomatic conversations or negotiations, he reiterated Trump’s stance on the matter.

“The president has been clear that Iran can never have a nuclear weapon,” Pigott told reporters. “The talks have been described as constructive by the participants in them, and so, again, Iran can never have a nuclear weapon. And the president has been clear. He wants diplomacy. He wants to see a diplomatic solution here.”

Pigott made his remarks as Trump tours the Middle East, making stops in Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

TRUMP CALLS FOR ‘NUCLEAR PEACE AGREEMENT’ WITH IRAN RATHER THAN BLOWING COUNTRY ‘TO SMITHEREENS’

President Donald Trump and UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan talk Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP/Alex Brandon)

Trump, while speaking at the Gulf Cooperation Council in Riyadh Wednesday, reiterated his desire to make a deal with Iran and called for building upon the progress of the Abraham Accords by adding more countries to the historic agreement.

Trump made the comments while addressing leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council as part of his four-day visit to the region. 

TRUMP SAYS HE’LL BE ‘LEADING THE PACK’ TO WAR WITH IRAN IF DEAL PROSPECTS WHITHER AWAY

“I want to make a deal with Iran. I want to do something if possible. But for that to happen, it must stop sponsoring terror, halt its bloody proxy wars and permanently and verifiably cease its pursuit of nuclear weapons. They cannot have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said.

Though Trump said he wants to make a deal with Iran and see Tehran prosper, he also recently accused the Iranian regime of not only hurting its own nation, but the region at large.

“Iran’s leaders have focused on stealing their people’s wealth to fund terror and bloodshed abroad. Most tragic of all, they have dragged down an entire region with them,” Trump said. 

The president pointed to the “countless lives lost” in Iran’s effort to prop up the former Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria, which collapsed in December, and accused its support of Hezbollah for the downfall of Beirut, which he said was “once called the Paris of the Middle East.”

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It is unclear how Trump’s negative comments toward Tehran could affect ongoing nuclear negotiations with Iran.

Still, The Associated Press reported Thursday that a top political, military and nuclear advisor to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, told NBC News Wednesday that Tehran stands ready to get rid of its stockpiles of highly enriched uranium that can be weaponized, agree to enrich uranium only to the lower levels needed for civilian use and allow international inspectors to supervise the process.

In return, Ali Shamkhani, the advisor, said Iran wants an immediate lifting of all economic sanctions.

Fox News Digital’s Bradford Betz and Caitlin McFall and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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…

-Trump highlights potential pay raise for troops, touts military reforms in Qatar speech

-Dems divided on Trump’s executive order aimed at slashing drug prices

–Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts reins in Sotomayor after repeated interruptions

Birthright Debate 

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments Thursday in a challenge to President Donald Trump‘s effort to end birthright citizenship, a case that could more broadly call into question the powers of lower courts to block executive branch actions.  

It’s unclear when the justices will rule, but their decision to fast-track the case means an opinion or order could come within weeks — or even days.

Justices across the ideological spectrum appeared to agree Thursday that the use of universal injunctions has surged in recent years — blocking actions by both Democratic and Republican presidents.

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments Thursday, May 15, on a case involving Trump’s birthright citizenship executive orders. (Getty Images)

White House

WHY WOULD HE GO?’: Trump to skip Russia-Ukraine peace talks, calls Zelenskyy the ‘greatest salesman, maybe in history’

TRUMP OF ARABIA: Trump makes historic UAE trip in first U.S. presidential visit in nearly 30 years

‘VERY SIMPLE’: Trump warns Iran faces ‘violence like people haven’t seen before’ if nuclear deal fails

‘TRUMP’S EXCEPTIONAL EFFORTS’: UAE’s president bestows highest civilian honor on Trump

President Donald Trump is presented the Order of Zayed, the UAE highest civilian distinction, from UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Thursday, May 15, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.  (Alex Brandon/The Associated Press)

‘IT’S THE LAW’: Espionage, constitutional concerns abound from Trump detractors, allies over Qatari jet offer

POLL POSITION: Trump’s poll position improves as president’s approval ratings edge up in new national survey
 

World Stage

‘DESTRUCTION OR DISRUPTION’: Hidden communications devices found in Chinese solar power inverters spark security alarm

Capitol Hill

‘NO DOUBT’: Dem senator says ‘no doubt’ Biden declined cognitively during presidency

Left: Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) appears on “Meet the Press” in Washington D.C., Sunday, Mar. 16, 2025; Right: Former U.S. President Joe Biden poses backstage on opening night of “Othello” on Broadway at The Barrymore Theatre on March 23, 2025 in New York City (Shannon Finney/NBC via Getty Images; Right: Bruce Glikas/WireImage)

TAX-CUT DAY: GOP reps, advocacy group to target competitive House districts in Trump tax-cut push

PLANES, TRAINS, AND INVESTIGATIONS: House Dems open investigation into Trump’s acceptance of $400 million jet from Qatar

Across America 

SUPREME SMACKDOWN: Justice Kagan snaps at Trump lawyer in major case: ‘Every court has ruled against you’

‘DISTURBING’ CONDUCT: US attorney for Massachusetts says interference with ICE operations is ‘disturbing,’ threatens arrests

JUDGE IS IN: Jeanine Pirro sworn in as interim US attorney

Jeanine Pirro sworn in as interim US attorney (Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images)

‘LEAVING AMERICANS VULNERABLE’: US military would be unleashed on enemy drones on the homeland if bipartisan bill passes

NEW GAME: Harvard updates lawsuit after Trump cancels additional $450M in funding

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

A member of the House of Representatives’ progressive “Squad” is reviving legislation aimed at giving reparations payments to Black Americans for slavery.

Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., reintroduced a resolution Thursday that, if passed, could give federal dollars to the descendants of enslaved people brought from Africa to the United States. 

Former Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., who lost her 2024 primary to a more moderate Democrat, introduced the reparations bill in the last Congress. Bush’s bill, unveiled in May 2023, called for $14 trillion to be put toward reparations payments for descendants of slavery in the United States, but it did not go anywhere. 

“We say to the rest of America: If you are truly committed to justice, as you try to say you are, you cannot look away. You cannot turn your back on the demand for reparations, because until there is repair, there will be no justice. And where there is no justice, we will continue to fight. We’re not going anywhere. We are awake. We are organized, and we will win. Reparations now,” Bush said alongside progressive Democrat Reps. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., at Lee’s announcement.

HOUSE DEMOCRAT TO INTRODUCE REPARATIONS PUSH, DECLARES ‘MORAL OBLIGATION’ TO SEND TRILLIONS TO BLACK AMERICANS

Rep. Summer Lee has unveiled a bill aimed at giving reparations payments to descendants of slavery. (Getty Images)

Pressley reintroduced a reparations bill during Black History Month this year with Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., rejecting the “unprecedented onslaught against diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives from the Trump Administration.”

HOUSE DEMS REINTRODUCE REPARATIONS LEGISLATION: ‘WE REFUSE TO BE SILENT’

“Trump’s policies are nothing but anti-Blackness on steroids,” Pressley said Thursday before adding, “This America wants to make America Jim Crow again, and then some.”

“Reparations are a necessary step towards true equity in our country, and a more just future. There is an opportunity for Congress to confront our nation’s racist history of slavery and White supremacy. We must provide the descendants of enslaved Black families with the reparations they were promised,” Tlaib added. 

It’s an effort mounted by progressive Democrats every year, but one that has little chance of passing.

That’s especially true for the 119th Congress, which is controlled by Republicans while President Donald Trump is also in the White House.

House Science Committee Chair Brian Babin introduced a bill this year to block reparations. ( (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images))

One longtime GOP lawmaker, House Science Committee Chair Brian Babin, R-Texas, even introduced legislation earlier this year to pull federal funding from state and local jurisdictions that enacted reparations policies.

“We know there will be pushback,” Lee said Thursday, adding, “Reparations are a proposal to level the playing field, but the only way we could ever have a level playing field is by remedying the harms that have been done by the system.”

But Lee signaled on Wednesday that the long odds would not deter her.

“When we think about the debt that is owed through our country . . . the Trump administration and the Republican Party talks a lot about paying our debts. This is one of them,” Lee told Fox News.

Former Rep. Cori Bush introduced a reparations bill in the previous Congress. ((Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images))

The Pennsylvania progressive argued that the U.S. government crafted policies that intentionally disadvantaged Black Americans.

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“They were not theoretical, but they were harms from government policies and practices and laws. There were real laws that were on the book that caused systemic disadvantages. They created systemic advantages for other people. So you can never have equal footing until you remedy that,” Lee said.

Despite a flurry of polling so far this year indicating the Democratic Party’s favorability sinking to record lows, veteran Democrat strategist and pundit James Carville remains optimistic, as he points to recent ballot box victories by his party.

“You can’t discount people winning elections,” Carville told Fox News Digital on Thursday.

Carville spoke the day after a new survey from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research was the latest to spell trouble for the Democratic Party, six months after they suffered setbacks up and down the ballot at the hands of now-President Donald Trump and Republicans.

The Democratic Party has been in the political wilderness since last November’s elections, when Republicans won back control of the White House and the Senate and defended their fragile House majority. And Republicans made gains among Black and Hispanic voters as well as younger voters, all traditional members of the Democratic Party’s base.

ON THE RISE; NEW POLL INDICATES TRUMP’S APPROVAL RATINGS EDGING UP

Then-Vice President Kamala Harris delivers her presidential nomination acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 22, 2024, in Chicago. The latest public opinion polls indicate the Democratic Party sinking to new favorability lows. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser) (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)

According to the survey, only about one-third of Democrats are very or somewhat optimistic about the future of the Democratic Party. That’s a steep decline from last July, when around six in 10 Democrats said they were optimistic. The survey, conducted May 1-5, points to an increase in optimism among Republicans, with 55% more optimistic about the future of the GOP, up from 47% last summer.

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Since Trump’s return to power earlier this year, an increasingly energized base of Democrats is urging party leaders to take a stronger stand in pushing back against the president’s sweeping and controversial agenda during the opening months of his second administration. And their anger is directed not only at Republicans, but also at Democrats they feel aren’t vocal enough in their opposition to Trump.

And that’s fueled the plunge in the Democratic Party’s favorable ratings, which have hit historic lows in several recent surveys.

The Democrats’ ratings stood underwater in the most recent Fox News national poll at 41% favorable and 56% unfavorable in a survey conducted April 18-21.

That’s an all-time low for the Democrats in Fox News polling. And for the first time in a decade, the party’s standing was lower than that of the GOP, which stood at 44% favorable and 54% unfavorable.

The figures were reversed last summer, when Fox News last asked the party favorability question in one of its surveys.

The Democratic Party’s favorable ratings were well in negative territory in a Pew Research national survey – 38% favorable, 60% unfavorable – conducted in early April and at 36% favorable, 60% unfavorable in a Wall Street Journal poll in the field a couple of weeks earlier.

And national polls conducted in February by Quinnipiac University and in March by CNN and by NBC News also indicated the favorable ratings for the Democratic Party sinking to all-time lows.

Confidence in the Democratic Party’s congressional leadership sunk to an all-time low, according to a Gallup poll conducted early last month.

The confidence rating for Democrats’ leadership in Congress stood at 25% in the survey, which was nine points below the previous low of 34% recorded in 2023.

And the semi-annual Harvard Youth Poll, which was released late last month, indicated that approval ratings for Democrats in Congress among Americans aged 18-29 nosedived.

“I don’t doubt any of that’s true,” Carville told Fox News. “But there’s one thing: We’re winning elections left and right as we’re talking about how the Democratic number or image is low.”

John Ewing, the Democrat-aligned mayoral candidate in Omaha, Nebraska, seen here shaking hands with voters on May 8, 2025, this week defeated the Republican-aligned longtime mayor, to become the city’s first Black mayor.  (Megan Nielsen/Omaha World-Herald via AP)

John Ewing, Jr., a Democrat, this week ousted a longtime Republican mayor in Omaha, Nebraska, a blue dot in a reliably red state. Ewing will become Omaha’s first Black mayor.

Last month, the Democrat-aligned candidate comfortably defeated the Republican-aligned candidate in a Wisconsin state Supreme Court election. The high-profile and expensive campaign grabbed plenty of national attention and outside money.

Democrats have also performed very well so far this year in special elections, including flipping red state Senate seats in Iowa and Pennsylvania.

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In addition to looking back, Carville also pointed ahead to November’s gubernatorial election in Virginia, where Democrats hope to win back the governor’s office in Richmond.

“Let’s see what’s going to happen in Virginia,” said Carville, who first grabbed national attention for his work as a lead strategist on former President Bill Clinton’s successful 1992 presidential campaign.

And Carville predicted that “we’re going to win that.”

Harvard University on Tuesday filed an update to its lawsuit against the Trump administration after another $450 million of research funding was cut.

The Ivy League school amended the lawsuit hours after the federal government’s Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism announced that eight federal agencies were terminating approximately $450 million in grants over what is described as Harvard’s “radical” and “dark problem” on campus.

“Harvard University has repeatedly failed to confront the pervasive race discrimination and anti-Semitic harassment plaguing its campus,” the task force said in a statement.

The latest freeze comes in addition to the already frozen $2.2 billion in funding to the university and threats by the Trump administration to revoke its tax-exempt status. 

HARVARD PRESIDENT CLAIMS ‘UNFOUNDED RETALIATION’ AMID TRUMP FUNDING FEUD

Harvard banners hang outside Memorial Church on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  (Photo by Michael Fein/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Harvard filed the initial lawsuit in April to block the initial $2.2 billion freeze.

In its amended lawsuit, Harvard said much of the funding that was initially frozen has now been terminated, apparently with no hope of restoring it.

A May 6 letter from the National Institute of Health notified Harvard that grants were being cut over allegations of campus antisemitism. It said grants are typically suspended pending an opportunity to take corrective action, but “no corrective action is possible here,” according to the lawsuit.

HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT TAKES 25% PAY CUT AMID TRUMP ADMINISTRATION FUNDING FREEZE

Harvard later received similar letters from the Defense Department, Department of Energy, Department of Agriculture and other agencies, according to the suit. It’s seeking to have those cuts overturned.

People walk through the gate on Harvard Yard at the Harvard University campus on June 29, 2023, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  (Getty Images)

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As the school faces funding challenges from the Trump administration, Harvard University President Alan Garber has agreed to voluntarily take a 25% reduction in pay for the 2025-26 school year. Other leaders at the institution are also making their own voluntary contributions, a Harvard University spokesperson told Fox News on Wednesday.

Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner and Fox News’ Kitty Le Claire, along with The Associated Press, contributed to this report.

FIRST ON FOX: House Democrats are opening an investigation into President Donald Trump and his administration’s acceptance of a $400 million private jet from the Qatari government.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, led his fellow Democrats on the panel in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House counsel David Warrington on Thursday.

They’re specifically asking Bondi to hand over a reported legal memo she wrote that is meant to assert the legality of Trump accepting the plane on behalf of the U.S.

“Any legal memo purporting to make such a claim would obviously fly in the face of the text of the Constitution’s Foreign Emoluments Clause, which explicitly prohibits the President from accepting any ‘present [or] Emolument … of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State’ unless he has ‘the Consent of Congress,'” the letter reads.

MEET THE TRUMP-PICKED LAWMAKERS GIVING SPEAKER JOHNSON A FULL HOUSE GOP CONFERENCE

The House Judiciary Committee’s top Democrat, Rep. Jamie Raskin, is launching a probe into President Trump accepting a plane from Qatar (Getty Images)

“Accordingly, we are writing to request that you provide the Committee on the Judiciary with these memos immediately as their analysis and conclusions are apparently the basis for the President’s decision to disregard the plain text of the Constitution.”

Raskin and the other Judiciary Committee Democrats went so far as to accuse Trump or people in his orbit of soliciting a bribe from Qatar.

“President Trump’s statements expressing displeasure with delays in the delivery of his new Boeing aircraft to serve as Air Force One and the timing of this ‘gift’ suggest that President Trump or a member of his Administration may have improperly solicited this ‘nice gesture’ from the Qatari government,” the Democrats said, citing Trump’s own comments.

“The fact that, according to President Trump, the plane would not remain in service to the United States but would rather be donated to his presidential library after his term concludes further raises the possibility that this ‘nice gesture’ is intended as a bribe to Donald Trump.”

Multiple outlets reported that Bondi and Warrington drafted a legal memo that said it was “legally permissible” for Trump to accept the plane and then have it transferred to his presidential library when he leaves office.

A source familiar with the discussions told Fox News Digital the memo was drafted by the Office of Legal Counsel and signed by Bondi.

But Democrats suggested the memo was likely not sufficient grounds for Trump to bypass Congress on the issue, and pointed out Bondi herself had previously lobbied on Qatar’s behalf.

BROWN UNIVERSITY IN GOP CROSSHAIRS AFTER STUDENT’S DOGE-LIKE EMAIL KICKS OFF FRENZY

Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks to reporters outside the White House, Wednesday, May 7, 2025, in Washington.  ((AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein))

“The Constitution is clear: Congress—not the Attorney General or the White House Counsel—has the exclusive authority to approve or reject a gift ‘of any kind whatever’ given to the President by a foreign government,” the letter said.

“We would also note that, even if the Attorney General had a constitutional role to play here, Attorney General Bondi has a significant and obvious conflict of interest given her prior registration as an official agent of the Qatari government and earned no less than $115,000 per month lobbying on its behalf.”

When reached for comment on the matter, a source close to Bondi said only that the letter was received by the Department of Justice (DOJ).

In addition to looking for the memo itself, the Democratic letter also asked for any communications and other records regarding the Boeing plane’s transfer, and discussions of the gift’s legal justifications.

Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee have little power to compel Trump administration officials to comply, given their status as the minority party in the chamber.

But Raskin has been scrutinizing Trump and his inner circle over family foreign ties since the former president’s first term.

The latest letter comes during Trump’s diplomatic visit to the Middle East, where Qatar was one of his stops.

Trump has defended his acceptance of the plane on multiple occasions, arguing he would be a “stupid person” to not take it, while bashing Democrats for their criticism.

“So the fact that the Defense Department is getting a GIFT, FREE OF CHARGE, of a 747 aircraft to replace the 40 year old Air Force One, temporarily, in a very public and transparent transaction, so bothers the Crooked Democrats that they insist we pay, TOP DOLLAR, for the plane. Anybody can do that! The Dems are World Class Losers!!!” Trump wrote on Truth Social this week.

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Senate Republicans said they knew little when asked by Fox News Digital earlier this week.

Meanwhile, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., skirted around the issue during his most recent weekly press conference.

“I’m not following all the twists and turns of the charter jet. My understanding is it’s not a personal gift for the President of the United States, and other nations give us gifts all the time, but, I’m going to leave it to the administration. They know much more about the details,” Johnson told reporters.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment but did not immediately hear back.

Justice Elena Kagan grilled U.S. Solicitor General John Sauer on the practicalities of ending universal injunctions on Thursday, a major sticking point in a highly watched case centered on birthright citizenship and the power of lower courts to rule against the executive branch. 

Kagan pressed Sauer Thursday on the practicalities of ending universal injunctions and how the higher court should then be tasked with managing the flow of lower court challenges. 

She also noted that the Trump administration has been “losing uniformly” in lower court cases on the “substantive question” in dealing with birthright citizenship.

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

U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Elena Kagan participates in a discussion at the George Washington University Law School on Sept. 13, 2016 in Washington, D.C. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

“If I were in your shoes, there’s no way I’d approach the Court with this case!” Kagan quipped.

After he attempted to answer, she responded that “This is not a hypothetical – this is happening out there.”

John Sauer, then-nominee to be solicitor general, testifies during his Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing in the Dirksen Building on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

“Every court is ruling against you.”

Justices on the High Court agreed in April to hear the case, which centers on three lower courts that issued national injunctions earlier this year blocking President Donald Trump‘s executive order on birthright citizenship. 

President Donald Trump signs an executive order after delivering remarks on reciprocal tariffs during an event in the Rose Garden entitled “Make America Wealthy Again” at the White House in Washington, D.C., on April 2, 2025. (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

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The order reinterprets the 14th Amendment to deny automatic U.S. citizenship to children born in the U.S. if their mother is unlawfully present or temporarily in the country, and if their father is neither a U.S. citizen nor a lawful permanent resident at the time of birth. Trump’s action remains on hold nationwide pending Supreme Court intervention. 

A Supreme Court decision here could have sweeping national implications, setting a precedent that would affect the more than 310 federal lawsuits that have challenged White House actions since Trump’s second presidency began on Jan. 20, 2025, according to a Fox News data analysis.

President Donald Trump‘s executive order aimed at slashing U.S. drug prices has divided Democrats on Capitol Hill, with some cautiously optimistic while others dismissed the move as a bluster.

Most Democratic lawmakers who spoke with Fox News Digital about the order noted they had not read into the details, but the reactions were mostly split.

“It certainly seems more bark than it is bite,” Rep. Richard Neal, D-Mass., the top Democrat on the House Ways & Means Committee, told Fox News Digital. 

Neal said it “strikes me as though it’s another example of the executive order that garners a lot of attention” with little impact, though he noted he was still looking into the details.

ANTI-ABORTION PROVIDER MEASURE IN TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ COULD SPARK HOUSE GOP REBELLION

President Donald Trump signed an order aimed at lowering prescription drug costs. (Fox News)

Rep. George Latimer of New York, a first-term Democrat who unseated a former member of the progressive “Squad,” ex-Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., signaled he was hopeful about the initiative.

“If we can keep drug costs low, that’s a positive thing,” Latimer said. “I don’t, you know, oppose everything the president does, things that help people lower costs. If that’s what this turns into, then yes, it’s a worthwhile idea. But I have to be honest, I’ve got to read it more closely to understand it better.”

Trump announced Monday that he was directing the Department of Health and Human Services to set price targets for pharmaceutical companies.

The president said the order would have pharmaceutical companies set drug prices on par with the lowest prices in other developed countries.

He said, “some prescription drug and pharmaceutical prices will be reduced almost immediately by 50 to 80 to 90%.”

Democratic Rep. Lou Correa, D-Calif., told Fox News Digital when asked about the order, “It’s always a good thing to reduce drug costs.”

“I think it’s a move in the right direction, let’s just see the details,” Correa added.

Rep. Lou Correa said he was optimistic but needed to see more details. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, like Neal, told Fox News Digital he was more skeptical.

“My feeling is that, like his…announcements during his first term, there’s much talk and no meaningful reduction of drug prices,” Doggett said. “It remains to be seen whether any patient in America will see a price reduced on a single drug as a result of this order. So, until I see action, I will not believe that he has truly committed to reducing prices.”

House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., also said he did not believe Trump was “serious” when asked.

“All of this is just a disingenuous effort…on the part of House Republicans and Donald Trump, to pretend like they were looking out for people,” Aguilar said. “If they were serious about it, the policy would be placed within their reconciliation bill. It’s not. This is just a performance effort by the president.”

BROWN UNIVERSITY IN GOP CROSSHAIRS AFTER STUDENT’S DOGE-LIKE EMAIL KICKS OFF FRENZY

Meanwhile, Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., introduced a House bill to make Trump’s order permanent.

“I rise today, to introduce as legislation, President Trump’s executive order for the most favored nation status on drug pricing,” Khanna said on the House floor.

“My legislation will codify President Trump’s executive order, which basically says that Americans should not pay more for drugs than people in other countries and other parts of the world.”

House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguliar said he did not believe President Donald Trump was “serious.” (Fox News Digital)

In an exclusive Fox News interview with Sean Hannity, Trump argued that his executive order should offset Democrats’ concerns with his “big, beautiful” budget reconciliation bill being pushed by Republicans.

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Democrats have accused Republicans of using the bill to gut critical programs like Medicaid for millions of people who need it, while the GOP has contended it was just trying to eliminate waste and abuse within the system.

“It’s the Democrats’ fault that people are being ripped off for years and years. And now I hear Democrats saying, ‘Oh, well, we’re going to not go for the bill.’ It’s going to be very hard for them not to approve of the big, beautiful bill that we’re doing,” Trump said. “We’re doing the biggest tax cuts in the history of our country because people are going to be getting a 50 to a 90% reduction on drug prices.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for a response.

Both Democrats and Republicans have criticized President Donald Trump after he announced the Department of Defense plans to accept a jumbo jet from the government of Qatar, arguing the gift is riddled with both espionage concerns and constitutional questions. But as one expert tells Fox, the latter concern is likely overblown.

Trump ally Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, for example, said during an interview on Tuesday that the acquisition of the plane poses “significant espionage and surveillance problems,” while Democrats such as Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., declared, “Trump cannot accept a $400 million flying palace from the royal family of Qatar. Not only is this farcically corrupt, it is blatantly unconstitutional.”

Reports spread Sunday morning that the Trump administration was expected to accept a $400 million Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet from Qatar’s royal family, setting off concerns that Trump would personally take ownership of the plane and violate the emoluments clause of the Constitution. ABC News reported that Trump would use the jet until the end of his term, when it would be given to his presidential library. 

Trump confirmed and clarified in a Truth Social post later on Sunday that the Department of Defense was slated to receive the gift, while slamming Democrats for their criticism of the offer. 

HOUSE DEMOCRAT CALLS FOR ‘IMMEDIATE’ ETHICS PROBE OF QATARI PLANE GIFT TO TRUMP

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump board Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Jan. 24. (Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)

“So the fact that the Defense Department is getting a GIFT, FREE OF CHARGE, of a 747 aircraft to replace the 40 year old Air Force One, temporarily, in a very public and transparent transaction, so bothers the Crooked Democrats that they insist we pay, TOP DOLLAR, for the plane,” Trump wrote. “Anybody can do that! The Dems are World Class Losers!!! MAGA.”

At the heart of Democrats’ concern over the matter is the emoluments clause in the Constitution, which states: “No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.”

“Trump is literally trying to fly around on a plane from a foreign government while serving as president. That’s a violation of the Constitution. The Emoluments Clause wasn’t a suggestion. It’s the LAW,” Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, said Monday morning following the announcement. 

Hans von Spakovsky, senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation’s Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies, told Fox News Digital on Wednesday that it’s questionable if the emoluments clause even applies to the president, as the Constitution typically stipulates when a clause specifically affects a president and cites the title, such as in the impeachment clause. 

Boeing has had production issues delivering the next generation of the Air Force One fleet on time. (Getty Images)

“The clause was specifically inserted because of concerns by the Founders at the Constitutional Convention over corruption of our foreign diplomats, especially by the French government. It is questionable whether the emoluments clause even applies to the president since he is not named and the Constitution usually names the president when a provision applies to him. That is why the impeachment clause specifically provides that it applies to the ‘president, vice president and all civil officers of the United States.’ If ‘officers’ of the U.S. included the president, there would be no need for him to be separately listed,” von Spakovsky explained. 

He added that the president is the individual “who appoints the ‘officers’ who are subject to the emoluments clause.”

“Antonin Scalia, when he worked at the Justice Department, certainly agreed since he issued an opinion in 1974 pointing out that when the Constitution refers to an ‘officer,’ ‘it invariably refers to someone other than the President or Vice President,’” he continued. 

FLASHBACK: DEM CRITICAL OF TRUMP’S QATARI JET GIFT RODE CAMEL IN EXPENSES-PAID 2021 TRIP TO GULF EMIRATE

The jet offer comes after Trump railed against Boeing for pricey government deals to construct a new fleet of Air Force Ones. Even ahead of his first administration, Trump posted on social media in December 2016 that the Boeing “costs are out of control, more than $4 billion” to build the two aircraft.

Trump in 2018 awarded Boeing a $3.9 billion fixed-price agreement to manufacture two new jets. The construction of the jets, however, is not expected to be completed until 2029. 

The Qatari government is offering a Boeing 747-8 aircraft, like the one shown here. (Getty Images)

“We’re very disappointed that it’s taking Boeing so long to build a new Air Force One,” Trump said during a press conference on drug prices Monday morning. “You know, we have an Air Force One that’s 40 years old. And if you take a look at that, compared to the new plane of the equivalent, you know, stature at the time, it’s not even the same ballgame.” 

TRUMP CLARIFIES OWNERSHIP OF AIRCRAFT IN DEFENSE OF QATAR’S GIFT

“When I first came in, I signed an order to get (the new Air Force One fleet) built,” he continued. “I took it over from the Obama administration, they had originally agreed. I got the price down much lower. And then, when the election didn’t exactly work out the way that it should have, a lot of work was not done on the plane because a lot of people didn’t know they made change orders. That was so stupid, so ridiculous. And it ended up being a total mess, a real mess.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also brushed off concern over the Qatari royal family donating a Boeing jumbo jet to the U.S. Department of Defense, arguing on Monday there will be no quid pro quo arrangement and that the donation is under legal review to ensure full compliance with the law. 

Von Spakovsky said that if the plane is in fact a government-to-government gift – and not a personal gift to the president – the Trump administration is likely in the legal clear to accept the gift. 

“If this gift is being considered as a gift to the government of the U.S., there is no legal issue to consider, since there is no constitutional or legal problem with such a gift. If this is a personal gift to the president, the Justice Department would be weighing the constitutional issue I have raised – whether the emoluments clause even applies to the president,” he said. 

Cherry blossoms in Washington, D.C. (Fox News Photo/Joshua Comins)

Von Spakovsky said such a government-to-government gift “is no different than the thousands of cherry trees gifted to the U.S. by the Japanese government” in 1912 that still draw more than a million tourists to Washington, D.C., each spring. 

Allies of the president, such as Cruz, said espionage concerns weigh heavily over the planned deal, citing Qatar’s ties to terrorist groups. 

“I’m not a fan of Qatar. I think they have a really disturbing pattern of funding theocratic lunatics who want to murder us, funding Hamas and Hezbollah. And that’s a real problem,” Cruz said during an interview Tuesday on CNBC.

“I also think the plane poses significant espionage and surveillance problems,” he added. “We’ll see how this issue plays out, but I certainly have concerns.” 

TRUMP DEFENDS QATAR JUMBO JET OFFER AS TROUBLED BOEING FAILS TO DELIVER NEW AIR FORCE ONE FLEET

Sen. Ted Cruz warned about his concerns over potential espionage if the DOD accepts a Qatari plane. (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)

Democrats, such as Sens. Jack Reed of Rhode Island and Dick Durbin of Illinois also warned that the plane would come with security issues. Reed, for example, claimed in a statement that using the plane as Air Force One “would pose immense counterintelligence risks by granting a foreign nation potential access to sensitive systems and communications.”

While Democrats and some Republicans have criticized Trump over the move, other Republican lawmakers have said they are zoned in on legislative matters and are not looped into the plane issue. 

“I actually haven’t paid attention to it,” Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., previously told Fox News Digital. “I’m sorry to be so out of the loop on that. I’ve just been thinking about Medicaid and about what the House is sending over.”

QATAR OFFERS TRUMP JUMBO JET TO SERVE AS AIR FORCE ONE

Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, another Trump ally, said she didn’t know enough about the deal to comment on it when pressed by Fox News Digital. Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Dan Sullivan of Alaska and Eric Schmitt of Missouri also said they did not know details of the plane. 

Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani welcomes President Donald Trump at the Amiri Diwan in Doha, Qatar, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (Alex Brandon/AP)

Trump is currently in the midst of a four-day trip to the Middle East, including visiting Qatar on Wednesday, where his motorcade was met by dozens of camels, as well as Tesla Cybertrucks in an apparent nod to Department of Government Efficiency official and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

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The plane is not expected to be presented to the president nor accepted by Trump during his trip abroad. 

“The Boeing 747 is being given to the United States Air Force/Department of Defense, NOT TO ME!” Trump posted to his Truth Social account while in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. “It is a gift from a Nation, Qatar, that we have successfully defended for many years. It will be used by our Government as a temporary Air Force One, until such time as our new Boeings, which are very late on delivery, arrive.”

EXCLUSIVE: Americans for Prosperity (AFP) is hosting a day of action on Saturday in competitive congressional districts as House Republicans iron out the details of President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.”

AFP is teaming up with GOP Reps. David Schweikert and Juan Ciscomani of Arizona, Ashley Hinson of Iowa, Tom Barrett of Michigan and Ryan Mackenzie of Pennsylvania for door-knocking, phone banks and grassroots organizing in a show of support for extending Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). 

Canvassers will encourage constituents in Arizona, Iowa, Michigan and Pennsylvania to urge their senators and representatives to extend Trump’s tax cuts as a key component of his “big, beautiful bill.”

“Working families and small businesses throughout the country are counting on Congress to act as soon as possible to renew President Trump’s tax cuts,” AFP Managing Director Kent Strang said in a statement to Fox News Digital ahead of the day of action. 

CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS TARGETING DOZENS OF HOUSE REPUBLICAN-HELD SEATS IN 2026 MIDTERM BATTLE FOR MAJORITY

From left: GOP Reps. David Schweikert of Arizona, Tom Barrett of Michigan and Ashley Hinson of Iowa are joining Americans for Prosperity in a day of action on Saturday. (Getty Images)

“With support from AFP’s activists bringing their unmatched energy and drive this weekend, we can ensure we extend pro-growth tax policy and help Republicans prevent the largest tax hike in history from crushing the middle class.”

REPUBLICANS TO TAKE AIM AT THESE 26 DEMOCRAT-HELD HOUSE SEATS IN 2026 MIDTERMS

AFP is launching their day of action in conjunction with their $20 million “Protect Prosperity” campaign, which the conservative advocacy group has called the single largest investment of any outside group dedicated to preserving the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

As House Republicans searched for alternative ways to offset an extension of the 2017 tax cuts and Trump’s ambitious goals to cut taxes on tips, overtime and Social Security, AFP urged Republicans to offset budget cuts by eliminating former President Joe Biden’s “Green New Deal giveaways.” 

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., left, is leading House Republicans’ negotiations on President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.” (Andrew Harnik)

The House Energy and Commerce Committee debated green energy cuts during their lengthy markup on Capitol Hill this week as part of the House budget reconciliation process. 

Meanwhile, House Republicans debated potentially raising taxes as Trump indicated his support for a small tax hike to fund his “big, beautiful bill.” While rumors swirled among House Republicans for weeks that the White House was floating a tax hike on millionaires, Trump confirmed on Friday he would be “OK if they do.”

However, House Republicans seemed to drop their plans for a new millionaire’s tax hike as the reconciliation began. The House Ways and Means Committee released nearly 400 pages of legislation on Monday that did not include a tax hike. 

Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, R-Pa., flipped his competitive House district from blue to red in 2024.  (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

It’s no coincidence that AFP is focusing its attention on competitive districts in Arizona, Iowa, Michigan and Pennsylvania, as contentious races are expected in 2026. 

In Arizona’s sixth congressional district, Ciscomani won his House seat in 2022 with just over 50% of the vote. Schweikert narrowly won Arizona’s first congressional district by less than 2% of the vote in 2022 and 2024, as one of the most expensive House races in the country last year. 

And while Hinson won by a much larger margin in Iowa’s second congressional district, Democrat Kevin Techau has already announced his campaign to unseat Hinson. 

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Both Barrett in Michigan and Mackenzie in Pennsylvania managed to pick up Republican House seats in 2024, flipping their congressional districts from blue to red. Democrats will likely seek to win those seats back in 2026. 

President Donald Trump blasted President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from Afghanistan and cited his wish to give troops a pay raise in an address to U.S. service members on Thursday.

Trump made the comments during an address to troops at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar during his extended trip to the Middle East.

“My 2026 budget includes across the board – maybe you don’t want to look for the good of the country, you don’t have to take it – pay raises for each and every one of you. Substantial pay raises,” Trump said.

“You are without a doubt the greatest fighting force in the history of the world. That’s the way it is. I said it last night. I said it’s strong. We have the strongest military in the world. It’s not even a contest. We have the best equipment, nobody has equipment like us, nobody has the planes or the missiles or anything else,” he continued.

RUBIO TAKES SOMBER TONE ON RUSSIA-UKRAINE PEACE DEAL: ‘CLOSE BUT NOT CLOSE ENOUGH’

President Donald Trump arrives to address troops at the Al-Udeid air base southwest of Doha on May 15, 2025.  (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

“And as your commander-in-chief, I’m here to say that America’s military will soon be bigger, better, stronger and more powerful than ever,” he added.

Trump went on to criticize Biden, noting the deaths of 13 U.S. troops during the evacuation from Kabul, Afghanistan.

TRUMP CONSIDERS JOINING RUSSIA-UKRAINE NEGOTIATIONS IN TURKEY, UNCLEAR IF PUTIN WILL SHOW

Trump’s speech came less than a day after he on Wednesday signed a series of agreements with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in Doha, Qatar.

President Donald Trump holds up a pen given by Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani as they exchange documents during a signing ceremony at the Amiri Diwan in Doha, Qatar, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (Alex Brandon/AP)

The agreements involved a purchasing agreement by Qatar for Boeing aircraft, as well as letters of intent and “joint cooperation” between Qatar and the U.S. The emir also signed an intent agreement to purchase MQ-9 drone aircraft.

TRUMP SAYS HE’LL DROP SANCTIONS ON SYRIA IN MOVE TO NORMALIZE RELATIONS

Al Thani said he had a “great” conversation with Trump prior to the signing ceremony on Wednesday, adding that the agreements have elevated the U.S.-Qatar relationship to “another level.”

A model of a General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial drone vehicle is displayed during the Farnborough International Airshow. (John Keeble/Getty Images)

U.S. relations with Doha have come a long way since 2017, when Trump accused Qatar of harboring terrorism: “The nation of Qatar, unfortunately, has historically been a funder of terrorism at a very high level,” Trump said at the time.

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From there, Qatar became a major non-NATO ally to the U.S. in 2022 under Biden and is home to Al Udeid Air Base, one of the U.S.’s largest Middle Eastern bases and a key hub for U.S. Central Command operations. 

Fox News’ Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump attended a breakfast with business leaders at the St. Regis Doha hotel in Qatar on Thursday morning where he remained firm that Tehran must choose between never having a nuclear weapon or dealing with “violence like people haven’t seen before.”

Just days before, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian had made comments that calls to dismantle Tehran’s nuclear facilities were “unacceptable,” and that “Iran will not give up its peaceful nuclear rights under any circumstances and will not back down from its rights in the face of pressure.”

Trump suggested Iran may now be informally moving toward compliance with international demands to halt its nuclear weapons ambitions, but emphasized that a final agreement has not yet been reached.

TRUMP OFFERS IRAN CHOICE: DROP NUCLEAR WEAPONS OR FACE ‘MAXIMUM PRESSURE’

Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei and President Donald Trump. (Khamenei: West Asia News Agency, Reuters; Trump: Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

“I want them to succeed. I want them to end up being a great country, frankly, but they can’t have a nuclear weapon. That’s the only thing. It’s very simple,” Trump said. “It’s not like I have to give you 30 pages’ worth of details. There’s only one sentence. They can’t have a nuclear weapon. And I think we’re getting close to maybe doing a deal without having to do this.”

He went on to state simply that there were limited options when it came to the deal and that he personally would rather go the more amicable route.

“There’s two steps. There’s a very, very nice step, and there’s a violent step. There’s violence like people haven’t seen before, and I hope we’re not going to have to do this. I don’t want to do the second step. Some people do. Many people do. I don’t want to do that step,” he said.

Left: Trump made clear that Iran “can’t have a nuclear weapon.” Right: Ayatollah Khamenei examines Iranian centrifuges. (Reuters)

REPUBLICANS URGE TRUMP TO FOLLOW THROUGH ON HIS PLAN TO DISMANTLE IRAN’S NUCLEAR CAPABILITIES

Congressional Republicans are urging Trump to remain committed to a hardline Iran strategy, calling for the complete dismantlement of the regime’s nuclear enrichment capabilities in a letter that drew wide support. 

Trump said at the breakfast that he is working toward a long-term solution that will bring peace to a country that he says “is a very special place with a special royal family.”

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei attends a Nowruz event in Tehran, Iran, on March 21, 2025. Nowruz is considered as the beginning of the new year according to the Iranian calendar. (Iranian Leader Press Office / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)

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 “So we’ll see what happens, but we’re in very serious negotiations with Iran for long-term peace. And if we do that, it’ll be fantastic. And for this country in particular, because you’re right next door. You’re a stone’s throw away, not even right here, a foot away. You can walk right into Iran. Other countries are much further away, so probably it’s not quite the same level of danger, but we are going to protect this country. It is a very special place with a special royal family,” Trump said.

“And the head of the royal family is two heads of the royal family, really, if you think. Great people. And they’re going to be protected by the United States of America. And I think we’re not going to have to do it because I believe very strongly in peace.”

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

The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Thursday on a challenge to President Donald Trump’s effort to end birthright citizenship, and crucially, whether lower courts that have blocked Trump’s policies from taking force nationwide have acted beyond their authority.

Any decision from the 6–3 conservative majority could have sweeping implications for Trump’s presidency as his lawyers spar against an onslaught of lawsuits in federal courts nationwide. 

The Supreme Court arguments are expected to focus on lower court judges in Maryland, Massachusetts and Washington state who issued “universal” injunctions against Trump’s birthright citizenship executive order earlier this year. 

The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court in March to intervene and limit the scope of three lower court rulings to cover only individuals directly impacted by the relevant courts (or potentially, the 22 states that challenged Trump’s executive order). But that’s unlikely to be the primary theme at the center of Thursday’s high-profile debate.

100 DAYS OF INJUNCTIONS, TRIALS AND ‘TEFLON DON’: TRUMP SECOND TERM MEETS ITS BIGGEST TESTS IN COURT

Demonstrators hold up signs during a “Hands Off!” protest against President Donald Trump at the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., on April 5. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Rather, justices are expected to use the oral arguments to weigh the authority of lower courts to issue nationwide, or “universal” injunctions blocking presidential policies — teeing up a high-stakes showdown that pits Trump’s Article II powers against Article III courts.

The hearing comes as Trump and his allies have railed against so-called “activist” judges, whom they have accused of overstepping their powers and acting politically to block Trump’s policies. The president even suggested that a federal judge in Washington, D.C., be impeached for his ruling earlier this year, which prompted a rare public rebuke from Chief Justice John Roberts.

‘ACTIVIST’ JUDGES KEEP TRYING TO CURB TRUMP’S AGENDA — HERE’S HOW HE COULD PUSH BACK

President Donald Trump shakes hands with U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20. (Chip Somodevilla/Pool via Reuters/File)

Trump has signed more than 150 executive orders in his second term, inviting a seemingly unrelenting wave of challenges in court. Many of these orders have been blocked by federal judges across the country, who have restricted Trump’s use of a 1798 wartime immigration law to deport certain migrants, ordered the administration to reinstate certain government personnel and sought to impose limits on Elon Musk’s government efficiency organization, DOGE, among other orders. 

While Trump allies accuse these judges of political bias and overreach, others critical of the administration say the courts have not gone far enough to rein in Trump’s attempts to expand the executive branch’s powers. 

“The second Trump administration has taken the guardrails off of the norms that historically governed the rule of law, and is undertaking steps to enhance the perceived power of the executive branch to the detriment of the two other co-equal branches,” Mark Zaid, a D.C.-based attorney who has sued Trump in several high-profile cases, told Fox News Digitial in an interview to mark his first 100 days in office. 

FEDERAL JUDGES IN NEW YORK AND TEXAS BLOCK TRUMP DEPORTATIONS AFTER SCOTUS RULING

President Donald Trump and U.S. District Judge James Boasberg. (Getty Images)

Justices on the Supreme Court will consider a trio of consolidated cases involving nationwide injunctions handed down by federal judges in Maryland, Massachusetts and Washington state that blocked Trump’s ban on birthright citizenship from taking force.

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But the policy remains widely unpopular. More than 22 U.S. states and immigrants’ rights groups have sued the Trump administration to block the change to birthright citizenship, arguing in court filings that the executive order is both unconstitutional and “unprecedented.”

And to date, no court has sided with the Trump administration’s executive order seeking to ban birthright citizenship, though multiple district courts have blocked it from taking effect.

Democrats remain pessimistic about the future of their party, six months after they suffered setbacks up and down the ballot at the hands of now-President Donald Trump and Republicans.

That’s a key finding in a newly released national poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

According to the survey, only about one-third of Democrats are very or somewhat optimistic about the future of the Democratic Party. That’s a steep decline from last July, when around six in 10 Democrats said they were optimistic.

The Democratic Party has been in the political wilderness since last November’s elections, when Republicans won back control of the White House and the Senate and defended their fragile House majority. And Republicans made gains among Black and Hispanic voters as well as younger voters, all traditional members of the Democratic Party’s base.

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Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 22, 2024, in Chicago. The latest polls indicate the Democratic Party sinking to new favorability lows. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)

The survey, conducted May 1-5, points to an increase in optimism among Republicans, with 55% more optimistic about the future of the GOP, up from 47% last summer.

Since Trump’s return to power, an increasingly energized base of Democrats is urging party leaders to take a stronger stand in pushing back against the president’s sweeping and controversial agenda during the opening months of his second administration. And their anger is directed not only at Republicans but also at Democrats they feel aren’t vocal enough in their opposition to Trump.

And that’s fueled the plunge in the Democratic Party’s favorable ratings, which have hit all-time lows in several new polls so far this year.

According to the AP-NORC survey, only around a third of all respondents have a positive view of the party. The GOP didn’t fare much better, with only around four in 10 adults holding a favorable view of the Republican Party.

KAMALA HARRIS TAKES NEXT STEP IN RETURN TO POLITICAL SPOTLIGHT

Some top Democrats were sampled in the poll.

Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, the longtime progressive champion and 2016 and 2020 Democratic presidential nomination runner-up, was viewed positively by roughly four in 10 Americans. But around three-quarters of self-described Democrats questioned held a favorable view of Sanders.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders participate in a stop on the “Fighting Oligarchy” tour in Bakersfield, California, on April 15, 2025. (Reuters/Aude Guerrucci)

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, the progressive firebrand who has teamed up with Sanders this year for a series of large rallies across the country, was viewed positively by only three out of 10 adults. Around half of Democrats held a favorable opinion of the four-term representative, who is seen as a possible 2028 Democratic presidential contender.

There are also suggestions that Ocasio-Cortez may primary challenge longtime Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York when he’s up for re-election in 2028.

POLL POSITION: WHERE TRUMP STANDS 15 WEEKS INTO HIS SECOND PRESIDENCY

Only 21% of adults view Schumer favorably. A third of self-described Democrats said they view him positively, but that’s a dramatic drop from December, when half of Democrats questioned held a favorable opinion of the 74-year-old senator.

Many Democrats heavily criticized Schumer earlier this year for his support of a GOP-crafted funding bill that kept the federal government from shutting down.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer speaks on Capitol Hill, on April 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

The AP-NORC poll is the latest survey to spell trouble for the Democratic Party.

The Democrats’ ratings stood underwater in the most recent Fox News national poll at 41% favorable and 56% unfavorable in a survey conducted April 18-21.

That’s an all-time low for the Democrats in Fox News polling. And for the first time in a decade, the party’s standing was lower than that of the GOP, which stood at 44% favorable and 54% unfavorable.

The figures were reversed last summer, when Fox News last asked the party favorability question in one of its surveys.

The Democratic Party’s favorable ratings were well in negative territory in a Pew Research national survey – 38% favorable, 60% unfavorable – conducted in early April and at 36% favorable, 60% unfavorable in a Wall Street Journal poll in the field a couple of weeks earlier.

And national polls conducted in February by Quinnipiac University and March by CNN and by NBC News also indicated the favorable ratings for the Democratic Party sinking to all-time lows.

But there’s more.

Confidence in the Democratic Party’s congressional leadership sunk to an all-time low, according to a Gallup poll conducted early last month.

The confidence rating for Democrats’ leadership in Congress stood at 25% in the survey, which was nine points below the previous low of 34% recorded in 2023.

And the semi-annual Harvard Youth Poll, which was released late last month, indicated that approval ratings for Democrats in Congress among Americans aged 18-29 nosedived.

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An ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll conducted in mid-April indicated that more respondents trusted Trump (40%) than Democrats in Congress (32%) to handle the nation’s main problems. The results came even as Trump’s approval ratings have slid into negative territory since returning to the White House.

And a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted late last month suggested Republicans hold a significant advantage over Democrats on two top issues: the economy and immigration.

In her first interview since announcing her bid for Alaska governor, Bernadette Wilson, a former radio host and longtime conservative figure in Alaska, spoke to Fox News Digital about the issues in the race and working with the Trump administration on energy development.

Wilson, a lifelong Alaskan who was born on the Kenai Peninsula and grew up in Anchorage, is a political outsider. Even so, politics does run in her family. Her great-uncle Wally Hickel served as governor, first in the 1960s as a Republican and again in the early 1990s as a member of the Alaska Independence Party.

She noted she comes from a long line of business people, including her grandfather, who “built a good chunk” of the state’s largest city.

“I myself own a garbage company … and we are celebrating our ninth year in business,” she said. She added that her entrepreneurial experience and knowledge of state politics through her family history and own career in radio and activism is a good mix.

RANKED CHOICE VOTING RANKLES ELECTION SEASON

Alaska gubernatorial candidate Bernadette Wilson (Bernadette Wilson for Governor)

Wilson opposes ranked choice voting, in which votes are tallied in a hierarchical manner through several rounds. Conservatives in the red state blamed ranked choice voting for the election of former Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola. Incumbent Gov. Mike Dunleavy is term-limited.

“Ranked choice voting disenfranchises voters. We see that it is … so confusing to them. We see people who don’t understand the process, and it absolutely has got to go. That is mission-critical,” she said.

In other states, ranked choice voting has had mixed reviews. In Virginia, proponents on the right credited it with helping the state party select businessman Glenn Youngkin as its nominee for governor in 2021, which led to a major Republican upset that fall.

ALASKA CAN BE CURE FOR NATION’S ILLS WITH HELP FROM TRUMP ADMIN: GOVERNOR SAYS

Energy is the most important economic topic for Alaska, and Wilson said she looks forward to working with the Trump administration on its stated plan for a domestic energy renaissance if she’s elected.

“Energy is obviously huge for Alaska. Under the Biden administration, Alaska was sanctioned more times than … the country of Iran,” she said.

“We have the ability to lead the rest of the country [in this field].”

Asked about another Trump-related topic, the ongoing tit-for-tat with Canada over claims to make it the 51st state and Ottawa’s bipartisan outrage at American tariffs, Wilson said, as governor, she would want to work on cross-border infrastructure projects.

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Wilson grew up in Anchorage, Alaska, pictured here. (Zihao Chen via Getty Images)

“Obviously, Canada sitting right along the border to Alaska has a huge impact for us. And so getting a railroad through Canada would definitely be a great No. 1 priority when it comes to our interaction with that particular country,” she said.

Wilson faces Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom and State Sen. Click Bishop, R-Fairbanks, in the 2026 contest.

President Donald Trump and his motorcade were greeted by dozens of mounted camels after his plane landed in Qatar Wednesday morning as he continues his four-day trip to the Middle East. 

“We appreciate those camels,” Trump said Wednesday while meeting with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani. “I haven’t seen camels like that in a long time. And really, we appreciate it very much.”

Camels in Qatar greeted President Donald Trump’s motorcade.  (Fox News)

The motorcade traveling from the Doha airport to the Amiri Diwan, which serves as the central hub of the Qatari government, also included red Tesa Cybertrucks in an apparent nod to Tesla CEO and Trump ally Elon Musk, as well as men on horseback. 

SAUDIS DEPLOY MOBILE MCDONALD’S FOR TRUMP’S TRIP TO THE KINGDOM

Trump signed a series of agreements with al-Thani Wednesday as part of the trip, including a purchasing agreement by Qatar for Boeing aircraft, as well as letters of intent and “joint cooperation” between Qatar and the U.S. 

Trump arrived to Doha Wednesday morning, and met with local leaders as well joined a Qatari State Dinner. 

TRUMP SIGNS AGREEMENTS WITH QATAR ON DEFENSE AND BOEING PURCHASES

Wednesday’s deals follow Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia Tuesday, when he signed a “strategic economic partnership” with Saudi Arabia for energy, defense, mining and space-based agreements that amount to $600 billion. Trump said the deal could lead to the creation of two million jobs in the U.S.

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Saudi Arabia also welcomed Trump with grand gestures, including sending fighter jet escorts to welcome Air Force One to the ground and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman greeting Trump on the tarmac. 

The Saudis also rolled out a mobile version of Trump’s beloved fast-food joint, McDonald’s, in Riyadh during his trip.