NationalWatch

President Donald Trump on Friday announced the 2026 G20 Summit will be hosted at his Doral resort in Miami, Florida.

Trump shared the decision during a news conference in the Oval Office, noting the location was ideal due to its proximity to the airport.

“It’s going to be a very exciting thing to host the G20,” Trump said. “As we celebrate our nation’s 250th anniversary next year, the United States will have the honor of hosting exactly that. The G20 summit right here in America, for the first time in nearly 20 years.”

TRUMP DORAL MAKES RETURN TO PGA TOUR WITH $20M PURSE MIAMI CHAMPIONSHIP IN 2026

National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett will act as the lead coordinator of the summit, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will organize the agenda, according to the president.

Trump noted he would not make any money from the event.

During his first term, the Trump administration considered the Doral resort to host the 2020 G7 summit, though the idea was abandoned due to “media & democrat crazed and irrational hostility,” Trump wrote in an October 2019 social media post.

TRUMP LOOKS TO SKIP G20 SUMMIT IN SOUTH AFRICA AFTER VIRAL OVAL OFFICE MEETING

Citing Florida’s warm December weather, Trump added Miami Mayor Francis Suarez “really wanted it.”

Suarez said “it puts us on the global map,” highlighting the positive economic boost.

The president confirmed he will not be attending the 2025 G20 in South Africa, instead sending Vice President JD Vance in his place.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP TO ATTEND FIFA CLUB WORLD CUP FINAL AT METLIFE STADIUM IN NEW JERSEY

The international forum includes 19 developing and developed countries seeking solutions to economic and financial issues. 

They include Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States, along with the European Union and the African Union, according to the G20 website.

Meeting locations, dates and attendees vary from year to year.

Trump said he has already invited Polish President Karol Nawrocki, who visited the White House Wednesday.

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The last time the U.S. hosted a full G20 Summit was in 2009 in Pittsburgh during the Obama administration.

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

Rev. Franklin Graham, one of the nation’s most prominent Christian voices, is standing behind Vice President JD Vance after his profane rebuke of senators in a heated social media post over Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 

In an exclusive statement to Fox News Digital, Graham acknowledged that while he admired Vance’s stand, the vice president’s “salty” choice of words could have been better.

“We have had many vice presidents who have used salty language, but the point Vice President Vance was making is correct,” Graham said in the statement. 

“Could he have used a better choice of words? In my opinion, yes; but I appreciate the vice president standing up for Secretary Kennedy, who is trying to buck a very corrupt system and is trying to improve the health of the American people. God bless Secretary Kennedy and Vice President Vance.”

VP VANCE CURSES OUT SENATORS AFTER HEATED KENNEDY HEARING: ‘FULL OF S— AND EVERYONE KNOWS IT’

The exchange followed Vance’s viral X post declaring senators were “full of s—.” Kennedy endorsed the message, one day after more than 1,000 current and former HHS employees called for Kennedy’s resignation.
 

The clash unfolded during a contentious Senate Finance Committee hearing Thursday where Sen. Ron Wyden pressed Kennedy over health policies and accusations of promoting conspiracy theories. Kennedy pushed back, defending his record and policies aimed at challenging pharmaceutical companies.

Vance quickly jumped to Kennedy’s defense on X. 

“When I see all these senators trying to lecture and ‘gotcha’ Bobby Kennedy today all I can think is: You all support off-label, untested, and irreversible hormonal ‘therapies’ for children, mutilating our kids and enriching big pharma. You’re full of s— and everyone knows it,” Vance wrote.

Kennedy reposted the comment, thanking him.

“Thank you @JDVance. You put your finger squarely on the preeminent problem,” RFK wrote.

TRUMP STANDS BY RFK JR. AFTER HEATED SENATE HEARING: ‘I LIKE THE FACT THAT HE’S DIFFERENT’

That defense extended beyond Vance. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also backed Kennedy, framing Democrats’ criticism as proof the secretary is “over the target” in challenging entrenched interests.

This is not the first time Graham has weighed in on political leaders’ language. He previously urged President Donald Trump to cut down on his profanity. 

“Your storytelling is great, but it could be so much better if you didn’t use foul language,” Graham wrote in a letter to Trump, citing Matthew 12:36: “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak.”

Graham later shared with the Deseret News that Trump often remembered the admonition in his speeches. 

“It seems like when he slips momentarily, my letter comes to his mind, and he tells the audience about it. So, it must have struck a chord with him,” Graham said. “The president, his pulpit — his microphone — is huge. That microphone goes a long way.”

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Graham closed his statement to Fox News Digital with a blessing: “God bless Secretary Kennedy and Vice President Vance.” 

Representatives for Vice President Vance did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Fox News’ Alexandra Koch contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump has his sights on a new version of Air Force One as delays and cost overruns continue to plague Boeing’s long-awaited presidential aircraft replacements.

The most recent data from 2020 says at least 20 planes make up the executive fleet. A newly constructed plane has not been added in nearly 27 years. Some of those currently in service are expected to stay flying for another 13 years.

“They’re not building the plane fast enough. I mean, they’re actually in default,” Trump said about Boeing in a February interview with Sean Hannity.

Air Force One is used to designate any Air Force aircraft carrying the commander in chief. There are currently two highly customized Boeing aircraft that were deployed in 1990 when George H.W. Bush was president. The planes have since carried presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Trump, Joe Biden and now Trump once again.

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO: THE QATAR AIR FORCE ONE JET

“I miss Air Force One,” Bush said at an event for Veterans in 2014. “In eight years, they never lost my baggage.”

The two forthcoming Boeing planes have been plagued by delays due to the complex technology needed onboard Air Force One.

“They’ve got to debug it, make sure there’s no signal intelligence risks. And I think just to make it secure against any potential military attacks. It was ironic for a long time. It was one of the prince’s planes, which I think they were trying to sell. And now they’re giving it to the U.S., and it’s costing quite a bit to update,” Jay Solomon, a staff writer for the Free Press, said.

The Qatari jet is estimated to have a faster timeline than the two Boeing planes, but it still needs some of the same technology to make it Air Force One.

“If you look at it just through economics, maybe it makes sense, but I still think the fact that we’re allowing a foreign country to gift something of that magnitude to a sitting president — on top of all these other concerns — I think it’s a risk, and it’s not a good look,” Soloman said. 

Air Force One is required to have four engines, unlike most of today’s passenger planes, which have two. Onboard is the highest level of classified communications and external protection against foreign surveillance. The planes are equipped with air-to-air refueling capabilities so they can fly for as long as needed. Air Force One is built for the worst possible scenarios, like nuclear war, so that the president can still command military forces from the sky.

“They’re extremely complex, and I’m not going to go into it, but they’re not like a normal plane. You know, it’s not like building a 747 normal,” Trump said during his Middle East Trip on “Special Report” in May.

TRUMP ACCEPTS JET FROM QATAR, WILL REFIT TO SERVE AS AIR FORCE ONE, DOD SAYS

Air Force officials say it is possible to add some of the security features to the Qatari jet, but it’s unlikely to have the full suite of technology by Trump’s February timeline.

“Initially, it was supposed to be like, ‘Maybe he’ll get it done by the end of his presidency,'” Solomon said.

Four modified Boeing 757s or C-32As are the newest planes in the executive fleet. Those were added in 1998 and 1999. The Air Force is studying potential replacement options, but the current planes will continue to fly until 2038. The aircraft are primarily used by the vice president, Cabinet members, members of Congress and other officials.

“Even today, and regardless of the airplane, we have to operate it differently based on the threat environment that even the current or any of the future aircraft will go into. Again, can’t talk in detail about that, but that is always a consideration,” Air Force Secretary Troy Meink said during a June Senate Hearing. 

Air Force One isn’t the only aging plane; much of the executive fleet is more than two decades old. The aircraft have undergone modernization modifications, but officials have questioned the timeline for major updates as several incidents have taken place over the years.

INSIDE AMERICA’S 6TH-GEN ARSENAL: B-21, F-47, AND THE FUTURE OF AIR DOMINANCE

In 2014, Obama was forced to switch planes during a campaign event in Philadelphia after a minor mechanical problem was reported on Air Force One.

In 2021, Vice President Kamala Harris’ plane requested an emergency return to Joint Base Andrews as she began her first foreign trip overseas to Guatemala and Mexico.

Most recently, Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s plane was forced to turn around while en route to Munich in February due to a mechanical issue.

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The newest aircraft among the executive fleet are the Marine One Helicopters. Biden first rode in the newly designed Marine One in 2024 during the Democratic National Convention. Updating those took nearly two decades and, in some cases, replaced helicopters flying since the 1970s.

The Boeing 777X is expected to be the next new major commercial aircraft. It’s scheduled to enter service in 2026 after a nearly six-year delay with Lufthansa taking the first flight. The modernized plane is designed to have a folding wingtip, a touchscreen flight deck and wider cabin space.

Joe Kennedy III on Friday denounced his cousin Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as “a threat to the health and wellbeing of every American” in a blistering social media post. 

The rare public rebuke comes one day after RFK Jr.’s contentious Senate hearing, deepening a family feud that has fractured one of America’s most famous political dynasties.

Kennedy’s statement, viewed more than 1.2 million times, opens the curtain behind the extraordinary rift inside the political dynasty. 

Once synonymous with Democrat unity, the Kennedys are now split over RFK Jr.’s embrace of President Donald Trump and his appointment to HHS Secretary under a “Make America Healthy Again” agenda. Joe Kennedy’s demand that his cousin resign marks a dramatic escalation of the feud.

INTO THE ARENA: HOSTILE DEMOCRATS, SKEPTICAL REPUBLICANS TEAR INTO KENNEDY ON THE HILL

In 2024, five of RFK Jr.’s siblings issued a joint statement blasting his endorsement of Trump as “a betrayal of the values that our father and our family hold most dear. It is a sad ending to a sad story.” 

Caroline Kennedy later urged senators to block her cousin’s cabinet nomination, writing in a January 2025 letter that he was a “predator” who was “addicted to attention and power” and “unqualified” to lead HHS.

On Sept. 4, RFK Jr. appeared in a hearing before the Senate Finance Committee. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., accused him of firing CDC scientists and replacing them with “cranks” and “conspiracy theorists” who were “endangering children, leaving parents confused and scared.”

TRUMP STANDS BY RFK JR. AFTER HEATED SENATE HEARING: ‘I LIKE THE FACT THAT HE’S DIFFERENT’

As Joe Kennedy wrote in his post, “None of us will be spared the pain he is inflicting… Those values are not present in the Secretary’s office. He must resign.” 

His cousin Jack Schlossberg, President John F. Kennedy’s grandson, piled on in real time, mocking RFK Jr.’s testimony: “RFK LOSER is choking so badly LIVE.”

With Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s controversial tenure in Trump’s cabinet, the Kennedy dynasty’s divisions are now spilling into public view with some of the sharpest blows coming from within.

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The Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is running for New York City mayor, met with Rev. Al Sharpton on Friday. 

Cuomo shared a photo of the meeting at a New York City restaurant on his social media, writing, “Great breakfast catching up with my old friend, @real_sharpton.”

Sharpton also shared the photo on his social media, saying they had a “breakfast meeting,” and that Democratic candidate and front-runner for mayor, Zohran Mamdani – who identifies as a Democratic socialist — would be on his MSNBC show “PoliticsNation” this weekend. 

Cuomo was likely reaching out to the politically influential Sharpton for an endorsement, the New York Post reported, saying the former governor – who resigned in 2021 amid sexual misconduct allegations – asked the civil rights activist to “have an open mind” about the race. 

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

“I’m very impressed with Mamdani, but I’ve known Andrew for 40 years, going back to the ’80s with his father,” Sharpton told the Post, referring to late former Gov. Mario Cuomo.

The meeting comes as current Democratic Mayor Eric Adams, who dropped out of the Democratic primary and is running as an Independent, is rumored to be considering dropping out of the race for a potential job offer in the Trump administration. Adams has denied planning to drop out. 

TRUMP SAYS CUOMO’S GOT A ‘GOOD SHOT’ OF BEATING MAMDANI IN NYC MAYOR ELECTION

A recent Sienna College poll shows Mamdani ahead of his opponents by double digits with 44% support, 25% for Cuomo, 12% for Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa and 7% for Adams.

Sharpton had previously called on Cuomo to drop out of the race after Mamdani beat him in the Democratic primary. 

“I think, in the best interest of the legacy of Andrew Cuomo, that he ought to let them have the one-on-one race,” he said, referring to Mamdani and Adams during an interview on MSNBC in July. “He can endorse one or the other, and let them have a battle over what is best for New York.”

 Cuomo spokesman Rich Azzopardi told the Post: “Governor Cuomo and Reverend Sharpton have stood side by side for decades, fighting for justice and progress. They meet from time to time over breakfast to discuss issues critical to the city, the state, and the nation. Today’s meeting was both productive and positive.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to Cuomo and Sharpton for comment. 

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The election will be in November. 

An attorney representing the Department of Homeland Security and ICE has notified high-profile illegal immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia that he will be deported to the tiny African nation Eswatini, after the alleged gang member’s lawyers said he fears persecution in 22 other countries. 

According to a removal notice shared with Fox News by ICE sources, the agency notified Abrego Garcia that in light of his claims of fear of persecution or torture in nearly two dozen other countries, “we hereby notify you that your new country of removal is Eswatini, Africa.” 

“Dear Mr. Abrego Garcia,” the notice reads, “As you know, the United States seeks to remove you from the United States based on your final order of removal. Currently, you are designated to be removed to Uganda. Your attorney has informed us, however, that you fear persecution or torture in Uganda.”

The ICE notice states, “That claim of fear is hard to take seriously, especially given that you have claimed (through your attorneys) that you fear persecution or torture in at least 22 different countries.” 

ABREGO GARCIA CASE PROMPTS KEY DOJ OUSTINGS, CLEARS WAY FOR TRUMP DEPORTATION AGENDA

The notice lists 22 countries, including El Salvador, Uganda and twenty Latin American countries. 

“Nonetheless,” the notice states, “we hereby notify you that your new country of removal is Eswatini, Africa.” 

DHS also reposted a copy of the notification on its official X account with the caption, “Homie is afraid of the entire western hemisphere.”

Following his March deportation to his home country of El Salvador, Abrego Garcia has become a cause célèbres for many Democrats charging the Trump administration of denying immigrants their due process. He was returned to the U.S. in June and is currently standing trial for human smuggling related to a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee in which he was found transporting several non-citizens across the country. 

ABREGO GARCIA HEARD SAYING TWO WORDS DURING ICE ARREST

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has also alleged that Abrego Garcia is a member of the Salvadoran MS-13 as well as a “human trafficker, serial domestic abuser, and child predator.”

He is currently being kept at an immigration detention center in Virginia while his case is ongoing after U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, an Obama appointee, ruled to temporarily block Abrego Garcia’s deportation to Uganda. 

Chris Newman, an attorney for Abrego Garcia’s family, has categorically denied DHS’ allegations, telling Fox News Digital, “None of those things are true, full stop.”

ABREGO GARCIA RENEWS PUSH FOR ASYLUM IN US, REVEALS NEW COUNTRY WILLING TO ACCEPT HIM

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He said that “in essence” what the Trump administration has done “is to use the highest office in the land to blackmail an innocent man into sacrificing his constitutional rights.”

President Donald Trump on Friday endorsed Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson as she runs to succeed retiring GOP Sen. Joni Ernst in Iowa.

Hinson — a former TV news anchor who is in her third term representing Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District, which covers the northeastern portion of the state — showcased her support for Trump as she launched her Senate campaign on Tuesday.

“I’m running to be President Trump’s top ally in the United States Senate,” she said. And in a Fox News Digital interview this week, Hinson highlighted that she’s “proud to stand” with Trump.

Trump, in a social media post, said, “I know Ashley well, and she is a WINNER!” 

HINSON LAUNCHES SENATE BID IN RACE TO SUCCEED IOWA’S ERNST

“I know Ashley well, and she is a WINNER! A Loving Wife and Proud Mother of two sons, Ashley is a wonderful person, has ALWAYS delivered for Iowa, and will continue doing so in the United States Senate,” the president said. 

“Ashley Hinson will be an outstanding Senator, and has my Complete and Total Endorsement – SHE WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN!”

Trump’s support followed earlier endorsements from Senate Majority Leader Sen. John Thune and the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), which is the Senate GOP’s campaign arm.

“We need conservative fighters in the Senate — and that’s exactly what we’ll get with Ashley Hinson,” Thune wrote early Friday as he endorsed Hinson.

And NRSC chair Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina said, “Having traveled Iowa with Ashley, I know she is the fighter the Hawkeye State needs to deliver President Trump’s agenda in 2026 and beyond.”

Hinson doesn’t have the GOP primary field to herself. Former state Sen. Jim Carlin and veteran Joshua Smith had already entered the primary ahead of Ernst’s announcement.

But the support from Trump, Thune, and the NRSC will further boost Hinson, who was already considered the frontrunner for the nomination, and will likely dissuade any others from entering the primary. The president’s clout over the GOP is immense, and his endorsement in a Republican primary is extremely influential.

Hinson’s campaign launch came a few hours after Ernst, in a social media video, officially announced that she wouldn’t seek re-election in next year’s midterms.

“After a tremendous amount of prayer and reflection, I will not be seeking re-election in 2026,” the 55-year-old Ernst, who was first elected to the Senate in 2014, said in a video posted to social media.

TRUMP NOT ON BALLOT BUT FRONT-AND-CENTER IN 2025 ELECTIONS

Ernst, a retired Army Reserve and Iowa National Guard officer who served in the Iraq War, had been wrestling for months over whether to run for re-election in 2026. And in her video, she said, “This was no easy decision.”

Ernst first grabbed national attention 11 years ago with her “make ’em squeal” ads as she won the high-profile Senate election in Iowa in the race to succeed retiring longtime Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin.

And Ernst highlighted in her video that “11 years ago, Iowans elected me as the first female combat veteran to the U.S. Senate, and they did so with a mission in mind – to make Washington squeal. And I’m proud to say we have delivered. We’ve cut waste, fraud, and abuse across the federal government.”

Hinson, in a social media post, thanked Ernst for her “incredible service to our state and nation” as well as for her friendship. “Iowa is better off thanks to your selfless service,” she said.

In an Iowa radio interview on Tuesday, she said that among her priorities as she runs for the Senate are “secure borders, keeping men out of girls’ sports, cutting taxes for our working families, standing up for Iowa agriculture and helping our young Iowans who are trying to buy a house and start a family.”

Hinson also pledged to campaign across all 99 of Iowa’s counties, starting with a kick-off event on Friday.

And as she entered the race, Hinson was endorsed by Republican Sens. Jim Banks of Indiana, Katie Britt of Alabama, and Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma.

House Majority Leader Rep. Steve Scalise, Majority Whip Rep. Tom Emmer, House Republican Leadership Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik and Iowa House Majority Leader Bobby Kaufmann also backed Hinson.

Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) communications director Maeve Coyle, following Hinson’s announcement, argued that “Republicans failed to convince Joni Ernst to run for reelection, and now they may be stuck with Ashley Hinson, who has repeatedly voted to raise costs and make life harder for Iowans by voting to slash Medicaid, cheering on the chaotic tariffs that threaten Iowa’s economy, voting against measures to lower the cost of insulin, and threatening Social Security.”

Responding, Hinson told Fox News Digital, “I think they’re misinformed at best.”

And she charged that “when I hear the lies and the fearmongering coming out of the left, it’s to only cover up for the fact that they have no message and no real leader other than Bernie and AOC and now Mamdani in New York,” as she referred to Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani.

“If that’s the direction they want to take our country, I think Iowans are going to reject that wholeheartedly,” she predicted.

FOUR KEY SENATE SEATS THE GOP AIMS TO FLIP IN NEXT YEAR’S MIDTERM ELECTIONS

Iowa was once a top battleground state that former President Barack Obama carried in his 2008 and 2012 White House victories. But the state has shifted to the right in recent election cycles, with President Donald Trump carrying the state by nine points in 2016, eight points in 2020, and by 13 points last November.

Republicans currently hold both of the state’s U.S. Senate seats – Ernst and longtime Sen. Chuck Grassley – and all four of Iowa’s congressional districts, as well as all statewide offices except for state auditor, which is held by Democrat Rob Sand, who’s running for governor next year.

But Democrats in Iowa are energized after flipping two GOP-held state Senate seats in special elections so far this year.

Five Democrats are already running for Senate in Iowa. The field includes state Rep. Josh Turek, a Paralympian wheelchair basketball player, state Sen. Zach Wahls, Knoxville Chamber of Commerce executive director Nathan Sage and Des Moines School Board Chair Jackie Norris.

“An open seat in Iowa is just the latest example of Democrats expanding the senatorial map,” Lauren French, spokesperson for the Democrat-aligned Senate Majority PAC, said in a statement.

But Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), said in a statement, “The NRSC is confident Iowans will elect a Republican to continue fighting for them and championing President Trump’s agenda in 2026.”

SENATE DEMOCRATS RECRUITING TOP CANDIDATES IN PUSH TO WIN BACK MAJORITY

Republicans are aiming to not only defend, but expand, the current 53-47 Senate majority in next year’s elections.

Senate Republicans enjoyed a favorable map in the 2024 cycle as they flipped four seats from blue to red to win back the majority.

But the party in power – the Republicans – traditionally faces political headwinds in the midterm elections. Nevertheless, a current read of the 2026 map indicates the GOP may be able to go on offense in some key states.

In battleground Georgia, which Trump narrowly carried in last year’s White House race, Republicans view first-term Sen. Jon Ossoff as the most vulnerable Democrat incumbent up for re-election next year.

They’re also targeting battleground Michigan, where Democratic Sen. Gary Peters is retiring at the end of next year, and swing state New Hampshire, where longtime Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen decided against seeking a fourth six-year term in the Senate.

Also on the NRSC’s target list is blue-leaning Minnesota, where Democratic Sen. Tina Smith isn’t running for re-election.

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But the GOP is defending an open seat in battleground North Carolina, where Republican Sen. Thom Tills decided against seeking re-election. And Republicans will likely be forced to spend resources to defend Sen. Jon Husted of Ohio – who was appointed to succeed former senator and now-Vice President JD Vance – as he faces off next year against former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown.

Meanwhile, Democrats are also targeting moderate Sen. Susan Collins – who has yet to announce her expected 2026 re-election — in blue-leaning Maine. 

New York Mayor Eric Adams held a press conference on Friday in which he dispelled widespread rumors that he would drop out of his bid for re-election and vowed to stay in the race, saying, “I’m running, and I’m going to beat Mamdani.” 

Adams, who was elected mayor as a Democrat in 2022, is running as an independent and facing an uphill battle against the Democratic Party’s mayoral nominee, Zohran Mamdani, a Ugandan-born Muslim and socialist. Former New York Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo is also running as an independent after losing to Mamdani in the Democratic primary race in June.

Adams took aim at both Mamdani and Cuomo during his Friday press conference, saying, “I have two spoiled brats running for mayor.” 

“I want to be clear with you,” said Adams, “Andrew Cuomo is a snake and a liar. I am in this race and I’m the only one that can beat Mamdani.” 

ANDREW CUOMO CHALLENGES MAYORAL OPPONENT ZOHRAN MAMDANI TO 5 DEBATES ACROSS EACH OF NYC’S BOROUGHS

“This is such a pivotal and important period, and we have to get it right,” he went on. 

“They were born with silver spoons in their mouths. Not like working class New Yorkers. I’m a working-class New Yorker. They are not like us,” he said. “They’ve never had to fight. They never had to struggle. They never had to go through difficult times like you and I had to go through, New Yorkers.”

He took particular aim at Cuomo, accusing him of having “a career of pushing black candidates out of races.” 

He also addressed rumors that he is in discussions with President Donald Trump about possibly joining his administration. 

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

“There’s a lot of reports that I’m in Washington on Monday, those reports are wrong. I’m not,” said Adams. “I’ll be moving throughout this city in the five boroughs that made me mayor in the first place. I’m running for reelection, and I’m going to tell New Yorkers every day why I believe I should be the mayor of the city of New York in 2026.”

He acknowledged that he is significantly behind Mamdani in the polls, but dismissed this, saying, “I hear the polls, I hear the comments, I hear the pundits. 

“But those are the same polls that stated eight weeks out that Andrew Cuomo was up by 36 points, and even his poll had him up by ten points, those are the same polls as stated he was going to walk into becoming the mayor of the City of New York, who he believes is a consolation prize because he made the determination to step down [as governor].” 

DNC AGAIN EMBRACES MAMDANI DESPITE COMMUNIST RHETORIC, REFUSAL TO DENOUNCE GLOBALIZE THE INTIFADA: ‘BIG TENT’

“I’m running, and I’m going to beat Mamdani, and I’m going to continue the success that this city has witnessed,” he said. 

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“I committed myself and dedicated myself to a city that I love, and I’m going to continue to do that. This polo shirt that I’m wearing that says Eric Adams, Mayor of the City of New York, I’m going to wear that for another four years.”

The Hyundai facility currently under construction near Savannah, Georgia, that was just the subject of a massive immigration raid, was previously touted by former President Joe Biden and other politicians as a win for manufacturing jobs in the United States.

Homeland Security Investigations said that 475 people who were in the country illegally, primarily from South Korea, were arrested as part of the operation at the under-construction battery plant. However, the car company claimed nobody detained was “directly employed” by them. 

The incident brings renewed scrutiny regarding construction sites of large projects as the Trump administration continues to investigate illegal worksite practices.

“It’s great to be here to announce the more than $10 billion in new investment in American manufacturing. This new commitment of $5 billion for advanced automotive technology and $5.5 billion investment to open a new factory near Savannah, Georgia, is going to create more than 8,000 new American jobs,” Biden said while visiting South Korea in May 2022.

LOUISIANA RACETRACK ICE RAID NETS MORE THAN 80 ILLEGAL MIGRANTS DURING WORKSITE ENFORCEMENT OPERATION

“Our administration is setting ambitious standards to cut pollution in cars and trucks and boost — boost fuel economy standards for those continuing to operate on gasoline,” he later added.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, touted the project last February in an X post praising the “momentum” of the project. 

The effort is a partnership between Hyundai and LG Energy Solution to bolster EV development in the U.S.

HSI said that some of the workers who were arrested were employed by subcontractors on the construction site, which has since been paused, whereas the already open EV manufacturing facility on the campus was not impacted. Fox News Digital reported that ICE and other law enforcement agencies were part of the operation.

“As of today, it is our understanding that none of those detained is directly employed by Hyundai Motor Company,” Hyundai told Fox News Digital in a statement. “We prioritize the safety and well-being of everyone working at the site and comply with all laws and regulations wherever we operate.”

FEDERAL AGENTS ARREST HUNDREDS AT HYUNDAI PLANT CONSTRUCTION SITE IN GEORGIA

LGES also said they “will fully cooperate with the relevant authorities.”

Operations on worksites have become a noteworthy element of the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration. 

CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE

Federal authorities butted heads with some Democratic officials in California at a cannabis farm, which resulted in children being found to be working at the plant.

16 IN CUSTODY AFTER IMMIGRATION RAID AT LA HOME DEPOT, DHS SAYS

“We need construction to cease immediately,” a man wearing an HSI vest in a video posted to social media said at the site on Thursday, adding that they have a warrant. “We need all work to end on the site right now.”

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In a statement to Fox News Digital, a DHS spokesperson said that this is a “complex case” that required help from numerous federal agencies as well as the Georgia State Patrol.

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

Fox News Digital’s Michael Dorgan, Rachel Wolf and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

Republican leaders in Virginia are blasting state Democrats for playing politics and usurping the courts after they blocked 14 of GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s university board appointments last week, bringing the total to 22 blocked appointments since June.

The latest blockade comes just months before the state will elect a new governor and amid a push by the Trump administration to get Virginia universities to dismantle their diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. Just last month, one of the schools’ boards, George Mason University (GMU), voted to both retain and give a raise to their president, who has defended the university’s DEI policies against the Trump administration.

“Last week, eight Democrat Senators continued their partisan campaign to irreparably harm higher education in Virginia by voting to remove highly qualified Virginians who have been productively serving on the Boards of Visitors for UVA, VMI, and George Mason,” Youngkin said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “In my view, a single Senate committee does not have the legal authority to perform duties that the Constitution and Code explicitly assign to the full General Assembly … I am confident in our position.”

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Youngkin added that “even more concerning” was that the Democrats blocking his appointments apparently provided no explanation for their actions. However, Democrats have signaled that they believe Youngkin’s nominees hold views that are too extreme.

Fox News Digital reached out to numerous Virginia Democrats, including the Democratic chairman of the committee that voted to block Youngkin’s appointments, Aaron Rouse, and Democratic candidate for governor, Abigail Spanberger, but did not hear back.

The blockade was initiated and approved by the Democrat-led Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections, chaired by Rouse. Youngkin and other Virginia Republicans argue the committee’s unilateral move to block the board appointees violated state law requiring the full legislative body to approve the removal of gubernatorial appointees, as opposed to a single committee.

A circuit court judge ultimately sided with Democrats, allowing the appointees to be temporarily blocked by the committee. But Republicans subsequently appealed the matter, and it is currently awaiting a ruling by the Virginia Supreme Court.  

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“We have a job to do as this committee, not only to protect our colleges and universities, but make sure that appointees and potential appointees are upholding the values and principles set forth by the Commonwealth,” Rouse said during last week’s hearing where 14 more Youngkin appointees were blocked. Meanwhile, in a letter sent to Youngkin last week, Democrat leaders in Virginia acknowledged that the rejections were “unprecedented,” but declined that they were at all “partisan.”

“This unprecedented level of rejection reflects not partisan obstruction, but genuine concerns about the qualifications, backgrounds, and intentions of your appointees,” the letter stated, according to the Virginia Mercury. “The pattern of inappropriate nominations and acquiescence to outside political influence has created significant uncertainty and instability within our higher education system at a time when these institutions need steady, qualified leadership.”

Democrats stated that the governor should suspend further appointments until they can confer with him further on the matter.

But Republicans fear that Democrats are throwing away talent and setting a precedent that will prevent the best and brightest from wanting to serve the state’s higher education institutions. Some of the members that were blocked by Democrats include the former president of Mastercard, who served under both Republican and Democrat governors, and the former president of the Northern Virginia Technology Council, according to state Sen. Glen Sturtevant. Former Virginia attorney general and deputy secretary of Homeland Security under Donald Trump Ken Cuccinelli was also one of the appointees blocked.

“What is the intent to make such broad strokes, and to remove so many?” asked Virginia state Sen. Tara Durant during last week’s roughly 10-minute meeting that resulted in 14 of Youngkin’s appointees getting shot down. “This is really kind of unprecedented. We have a long list of people who have a wealth of experience and I think the broader question it begs is what will happen in the future to dissuade those who are willing to serve the Commonwealth in this capacity.”

Republicans, like state Sen. Bill DeSteph, also pointed out the state Supreme Court was currently adjudicating whether gubernatorial appointments to university boards can be blocked by legislative committees, as opposed to needing approval from the whole General Assembly.

“Calling this meeting while the Supreme Court of Virginia is actively considering this very matter was inappropriate and irresponsible,” DeSteph said. 

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During the committee vote to block 14 more appointees, the Virginia Republican said that Democrats appeared to either be trying to influence the Supreme Court, or usurp the court’s authority. “Before we vote on this, we should allow the Supreme Court the opportunity to rule on this. This is actively in front of them,” he said. 

Democrats’ blockade has reportedly led to disruptions for at least one of the universities involved. 

At GMU, the Board of Visitors lacks enough members required to constitute a quorum to conduct official business, the Washington Post reported. 

Meanwhile, the school is facing multiple federal civil rights investigations related to alleged racial hiring quotas and the implementation of other DEI initiatives. 

Additionally, last month, GMU’s board voted to both retain and give a 1.5% raise to President Gregory Washington, who has reportedly refused to comply with Trump administration directives pertaining to DEI.      

The University of Virginia has also faced federal scrutiny under the Trump administration for its implementation of DEI initiatives.

Fox News Digital reached out to the UVA, GMU and VMI boards for comment but did not immediately hear back.

Rep. Yassamin Ansari, D-Ariz., sparked a social media firestorm on Thursday for saying she does not “give a sh–” whether people in her district can vote for her in a rebuke of President Donald Trump’s immigration policies.

During a press conference on Capitol Hill on Thursday, Ansari was asked about her use of the term “constituents” while criticizing the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts.

“So, I didn’t realize this was such a controversy until the right-wing media started attacking me for using the word, so I Googled the word constituent. The definition of constituent is somebody who is part of a community, doesn’t matter what their legal status is,” Ansari said.

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“If somebody is an asylum seeker, if somebody has a green card, if somebody is a U.S. citizen, if somebody lives in the community, I represent them,” she added, responding to a question from a Daily Caller News Foundation reporter. “Constituent does not mean voter. I don’t care if none of these individuals can vote for me. I don’t give a sh–. I care about making sure that the United States government with our taxpayer dollars, is treating people with dignity and respect.”

The comments triggered some backlash on X, including from one of her Republican colleagues.

“A Member of Congress who brags she had to ‘Google’ the word constituent has no business writing laws,” Rep. Pat Harrigan, R-N.C., posted. “Constituents are hardworking American citizens, the people who elect you. Not illegal aliens. Not asylum shoppers. When you say ‘I don’t care if they can’t vote for me’” you admit it. You don’t represent Americans, you represent everyone but them.”

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Ansari fired back at his post directly, saying his “selective hearing is showing” and that he missed the purpose of her remarks, which focused on alleged mistreatment at the Eloy Detention Center in Arizona.

“The women I met have committed no crimes— seeking asylum is not a crime, fyi. This press conference was about a woman named Yari, who was a green card holder from my district, who has leukemia, is coughing up blood, and has been denied an oncologist for nearly 7 months,” she replied.

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Harrigan replied, saying with a lengthy post that Yari, a cancer patient who Ansari was spotlighting during the press conference, had “been seen by medical staff 13 TIMES and cleared EVERY time. When arrested, she told law enforcement she had NO medical issues and took NO meds.”

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Other X users expressed their frustration with her remarks.

“Can someone please explain to me what sort of national identity or heritage or culture we are supposed to share with foreigners who get elected and see their primary job as serving the interests of other foreigners?” conservative digital strategist Logan Hall posted.

“The Democrats can’t even hide it anymore,” Florida GOP chair Evan Power posted.

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“She doesn’t swear an oath to preserve, protect and defend the idea that every illegal alien in the country be treated with dignity and respect…These people are insufferable morons,” conservative radio host Derek Hunter posted.

Ansari said in a separate post that her position is an example of being empathetic toward others.

“Right-wing media is perplexed that an elected official might actually care about someone who can’t vote for them. It’s called representing ALL residents—regardless of immigration status. That’s how our Constitution (and empathy) works,” she wrote.

Fox News Digital reached out to Ansari’s office, ICE and DHS.

Department of Justice officials have had several internal meetings about putting limitations on transgender people’s ability to purchase firearms, Fox News Digital has learned.

The DOJ officials’ conversations are in an early stage and no concrete steps have been taken, according to conversations with multiple sources.

But the discussions surrounding two hotly contested issues for Republicans — preserving Second Amendment rights and tightening policies related to transgender people — are happening.

One source pointed to a “pattern” of shootings carried out by transgender people, including the recent tragedy at a Catholic Church in Minnesota. Robin Westman, who was named Robert through 2019, killed two children and injured more than a dozen others before dying by suicide. Westman’s firearms were purchased legally, according to the Associated Press.

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Another source said the DOJ’s discussions about banning transgender people from buying or owning guns have involved the Office of Legal Counsel, which provides legal advice to the executive branch. The source indicated that the DOJ officials are currently thinking through a feasible legal framework. Such discussions would likely rope in the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), which is part of the DOJ and has authority over federal rules related to firearms.

When asked about the talks, a DOJ spokesperson downplayed the discussions targeting transgender people, telling Fox News the department has been examining numerous options to address the correlation between shootings and mental health but that it has not come up with anything specific.

“The DOJ is actively evaluating options to prevent the pattern of violence we have seen from individuals with specific mental health challenges and substance abuse disorders,” the spokesperson said. “No specific criminal justice proposals have been advanced at this time.”

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One of the sources said DOJ officials “are reviewing ways to ensure that mentally ill individuals suffering from gender dysphoria are unable to obtain firearms while they are unstable and unwell.”

People with mental health conditions are typically not banned from purchasing guns under current laws, which the Supreme Court reaffirmed as recently as 2024 in United States v. Rahimi.

But in some instances, such as a court deeming someone mentally incompetent, that information is supposed to crop up during a background check and block a customer from obtaining a gun license. 

Gun rights advocates were quick to respond to word of the DOJ’s efforts to find ways to restrict transgender people from buying or owning guns.

The Firearms Policy Coalition threatened to sue if the DOJ’s conversations materialized into concrete policy proposals.

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“If the Trump Administration — or any administration — unwisely and immorally chooses to wield the force of government in conflict with the Constitution, federal law, or our values, FPC will take aggressive action to defend the rights of peaceable people, just as we have many times before,” the group said in a statement.

The Firearms Policy Coalition’s stated mission is to “eliminate bans on constitutionally protected arms, carry in public, the personal manufacture of weapons, and non-dangerous legal adults.”

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The DOJ’s actions align with Trump’s string of executive actions when he took office that were designed to change policies regarding transgender people. The president said in his orders that only two sexes existed, male and female; that people with gender dysphoria cannot serve in the military; and that students would violate Title IX if they competed in sports exclusive to their opposite sex.

Fox News reached out to the White House for comment on the DOJ floating the idea of banning transgender people from purchasing guns.

Fox News’ David Spunt and Jake Gibson contributed to this story.

President Donald Trump, aiming to defeat Democratic Party nominee Zohran Mamdani in New York City’s high-profile mayoral election, is urging rival candidates to drop out.

“I don’t think you can win unless you have one on one,” Trump told reporters before a White House dinner with leading tech industry executives on Thursday night.

Mamdani, the 33-year-old Ugandan-born socialist state lawmaker from the New York City borough of Queens, who has gained notoriety for his history of communist and antisemitic rhetoric, shocked the political world in June as he defeated former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and nine other candidates by double-digits to capture the Democratic Party’s mayoral nomination.

Cuomo, who resigned as governor in 2021 amid multiple scandals, is running in the general election as an independent candidate. So is Mayor Eric Adams, the embattled incumbent who announced earlier this year that he would bypass the Democratic primary amid plummeting approval ratings.

MAMDANI AND CUOMO DEBATE OVER DEBATES IN NYC MAYORAL SHOWDOWN

Also on the ballot is Guardian Angels co-founder Curtis Sliwa, who for a second straight election is the Republican mayoral nominee.

But Mamdani is the clear polling frontrunner in a city where Democrats dominate the political landscape. And a victory in November would make him the first Muslim and first millennial mayor of the nation’s most populous city.

Mamdani surged to a primary victory thanks to an energetic campaign that put a major focus on affordability and New York City’s high cost of living. It was fueled by a grassroots army of supporters and backing from top national progressive champions, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

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And Mamdani made smart use of social media platforms, including TikTok, as he engaged low-propensity voters. His far-left proposals include eliminating fares to ride New York City’s vast bus system, making CUNY (City University of New York) “tuition-free,” freezing rents on municipal housing, offering “free childcare” for children up to age 5 and setting up government-run grocery stores.

Trump, a native New Yorker who nowadays calls Florida home, once again weighed in on the race, saying, “I would like to see two people drop out and have it be one on one. And I think that’s a race that could be won.”

The president also reiterated his claim that Mamdani is a communist.

“I’d prefer not to have a communist mayor of New York City. And, you know, that’s what he is based on his policy. If you look at his statements in the past,” Trump said.

WHITE HOUSE SILENT ON REPORT THAT TRUMP ALLIES HAVE WEIGHED LURING ADAMS TO ADMINISTRATION TO UNDERCUT MAMDANI

Trump did not say which candidates he would like to see drop out. And asked by reporters if he’s encouraged any of the mayoral contenders to exit the race, Trump said, “No.”

Top Trump advisors are trying to persuade Adams and Sliwa to drop out of the race by offering them positions in the president’s administration, the New York Times reported this week.

And the New York Post reported that Trump wants the candidates to bow out by next week.

The New York Times and New York Post have also reported that Adams has told a small group of friends and advisers that he is considering job opportunities that would prompt him to suspend his mayoral re-election campaign. 

And both newspapers also reported that while in Florida on Tuesday, Adams met with top Trump envoy and advisor Steve Witkoff.

But the mayor and his campaign publicly reiterate that he’s not exiting the race.

“Not dropping out,” Adams campaign spokesperson Todd Shapiro told Fox News’ Henry Naccari.

On Friday, Adams doubled down, saying in a statement, “I am still running for re-election.”

But in what appeared to be an acknowledgment of the reported job offer in the Trump administration, the mayor wrote, “While I will always listen if called to serve our country, no formal offers have been made.”

Sliwa emphasized in a Fox News Digital interview last month: “I’m not dropping out. I’m a major party candidate. Let the independents play musical chairs and decide who to drop out.”

He has reiterated in recent days that he’s not dropping out and has said that he has no interest in working in the Trump administration.

Cuomo, speaking with reporters on Thursday, said he had “no idea” whether the reports on Trump trying to clear the field for him were accurate, and he said he hadn’t spoken to Trump or Adams.

“I know nothing about that speculation,” the former governor said.

Trump’s comments on the mayoral race came hours after Cuomo challenged Mamdani to five different debates across all five New York City buroughs.

Cuomo argued that Mamdani had failed “to give a straight answer” to reporters’ questions and had changed his mind “on everything” he has said on the campaign trail.

“When you try to ask [Mamdani] a question, he will simply not answer, and he obfuscates. And, frankly, you guys let him get away with it,” Cuomo said. “I won’t let him get away with it. And New Yorkers won’t let him get away with it.”

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But Mamdani shot back with a proposal of his own: debate Trump.

“Let’s cut out the middle man. Why should I debate Donald Trump’s puppet when I could debate Donald Trump himself?” Mamdani’s campaign told Fox News Digital in a statement. “If Donald Trump is serious about intervening in the mayoral race, he should come to New York City and debate me directly about why he’s cutting SNAP benefits for hungry New Yorkers to give tax breaks to his wealthy donors.”

Meanwhile, in a sign of its fundraising prowess and grassroots strength, the Mamdani campaign on Friday announced that it had officially reached New York City’s $8 million spending cap, and said it would urge supporters to stop donating.

Fox News’ Courtney De George contributed to this report.

BALTIMORE – President Donald Trump is eyeing Baltimore for his next crime crackdown, but while residents agree the city needs change, they remain divided over whether deploying the National Guard is the answer.

Fox News Digital spoke with 17 locals in Baltimore on Wednesday about what a National Guard deployment would mean for their community. While many worried it would raise tensions and inspire riots, others said the troops could serve as a crime deterrent. 

When asked if Trump should step in and send troops to the city, Tasha, a young mother who was pushing her baby in a stroller outside the Department of Social Services, said, “Yes, I do, because right now our city needs it. Baltimore is on fire right now. We need as much help as we can get.”

Joseph, a Penn-North resident, said the National Guard’s presence would deter drug dealers and users from loitering on the streets around his home. There was a homeless woman sleeping on his front stoop while Fox News Digital spoke to him on Wednesday. 

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“I think it would make it a lot better,” Joseph said. 

Daren Muhammed, a local radio host who called Penn-North “ground zero,” said “all options should be placed on the table and made available” to clean up the streets he calls home. 

“My feeling is if the federal government’s offering help, one’s foolish to turn it down,” Anthony, a Baltimore resident for 30 years, said. 

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Every Penn-North resident who spoke to Fox News Digital on Wednesday recognized the city has a crime issue. 

More than two dozen people were hospitalized in a mass drug overdose event in Penn-North in July. Meanwhile, three out of the seven homicides in Baltimore during August were in the nearby Park Heights, according to local reports. 

Between people selling and using drugs on the corner as one police car was parked just down the street, Tasha said that in Penn-North, “everything is back out here running like it didn’t even happen a month ago.”

Baltimore Mayor Brandon M. Scott celebrated “historic reductions in violent crime” in a statement released on Monday, touting 91 homicides and 218 nonfatal shootings in 2025, which he said are 29.5% and 21% drops. 

“We’re good; we don’t need or want the National Guard here in Baltimore,” Scott said in response to Trump’s potential plans, while promoting a statistic that Baltimore is experiencing its lowest homicide rate in 50 years. 

Gov. Wes Moore, D-Md., has reiterated the same stats and even invited Trump for a public safety walk through Baltimore.

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“As President, I would much prefer that he clean up this crime disaster before I go there for a walk,” Trump wrote back on Truth Social, as the president continues to signal his willingness to send troops. 

Statistics compiled by the nonprofit research institute Just Facts show that Baltimore’s 2024 murder rate is still 6.8 times the average for all metropolitan areas in the nation and that if the murder rate stays the same as it was in 2024, roughly 1 in every 38 people in the city will have their lives cut short by murder at some point during the course of their lives. 

“I don’t think they need to bring the troops in,” Sarah, who said she is homeless and an addict, told Fox News Digital. “I think that is going to get an uproar. It’s going to start a riot.”

Sarah said she has witnessed robberies, thefts and shootings but said it would be “absurd” to send the National Guard, adding, “We’re not in war zone.”

Trayvon, a young man from Baltimore who was hanging around outside the CVS Pharmacy in Penn-North on Wednesday, said the National Guard is “not going to change s–t” in a “rebellious city that ain’t been shown love in forever.”

“I think anyone who’s lived here through Freddie Gray, through a curfew, through almost having martial law in a certain kind of way, having the ramp closed off and locked off to come in after a certain hour, literally being blocked from it if you were on that side of town, with the Guard there and a couple of other different departments, I think psychologically it’s not probably best for people who probably still haven’t healed,” Baltimore local, Ashley, said in neighboring Bolton Hill. 

Freddie Gray was a 25-year-old Black man from Baltimore who died in police custody in 2015. The National Guard was deployed to Baltimore after his death sparked protests that devolved into riots, igniting a national debate about racism and police brutality. 

“The day when the people cannot control themselves and cannot police themselves will be the end of everything,” another woman from Baltimore said in Bolton Hill. “That’s what we are seeing right now. Nobody will save us – not the National Guard, not the police.”

Ronette, a woman who spoke to Fox News Digital while passing by the Department of Social Services in Penn-North, agreed, arguing that Baltimore can take care of itself. 

“We don’t need Trump coming in the door,” she said. 

Another Baltimore resident, George, said Trump threatening to deploy troops is merely a “stunt,” while a woman wearing a face mask outside her home in Bolton Hill said it would “raise tensions much higher than they already are.”

Will Hanna, a combat veteran from Baltimore, said the city needs federal help but not from the National Guard.

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“I think there are some resources that we haven’t exhausted as a city and as a state,” Hanna said. “I think that we still can bring the state troopers here.”

Trump has floated the idea of sending federal troops to Baltimore, similar to his recent move to send troops to Washington, D.C., to “quickly clean up the crime” if Maryland Gov. Wes Moore says he needs help.

“Chicago is a hellhole right now, Baltimore is a hellhole right now,” Trump said earlier this month. “We have a right to do it because I have an obligation to do it to protect this country, and that includes Baltimore.”

EXCLUSIVE: The Biden administration “weaponized the full weight of the federal government against Christians,” according to Trump leadership, laying out in a new report the “numerous instances” of past anti-Christian bias and recommendations to protect faith in America.

Fox News Digital exclusively obtained the report published by the Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias, created by President Donald Trump and chaired by Attorney General Pam Bondi.

TRUMP ANNOUNCES EXECUTIVE ORDER CREATING TASK FORCE TO ‘ERADICATE ANTI-CHRISTIAN BIAS’

The task force had a clear mandate to ensure that “any unlawful and improper conduct, policies, or practices that target Christians are identified, terminated, and rectified.”

The task force was directed to deliver an initial assessment, which Fox News Digital exclusively obtained Friday. The report provides an overview of “the damage that can be done when religious liberty is not protected and preserved for all Americans.”

“The Task Force makes this commitment: the federal government will never again be permitted to turn its power against people of faith,” the report states. “Under President Trump and Attorney General Bondi’s leadership, in partnership with all members of this Task Force, the rule of law will be enforced with vigor, and every religion will be treated with equality in both policy and action.”

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The report added: “The days of anti-Christian bias in the federal government are over. Faith is not a liability in America—it is a liberty.”

After a preliminary review of federal agencies and departments, the task force uncovered “numerous instances of anti-Christian bias during the Biden administration.”

FLASHBACK: FBI INTERVIEWED PRIEST, CHURCH CHOIR DIRECTOR AHEAD OF ANTI-CATHOLIC MEMO, HOUSE GOP FINDS

“Joe Biden weaponized the full weight of the federal government against Christians and trampled on their fundamental First Amendment rights,” White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers told Fox News Digital. “Unlike Joe Biden, President Trump is protecting Christians, not punishing them.”

The Task Force found that the Department of Defense, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Department of Labor all “deprioritized, mishandled, or denied requests for religious exemptions to the Biden administration’s COVID-19 mandate.”

The Task Force also found that at the Department of Education the Biden administration “attempted to impose record-breaking fines on some of the nation’s largest Christian universities, including Liberty University ($14 million) and Grand Canyon University ($37.7 million).” 

TRUMP GATHERS CEOS FOR UNPRECEDENTED FAITH, ECONOMY MEETING TO RENEW US ‘SPIRITUALLY AND FINANCIALLY’

At the Department of Homeland Security, the task force found that Customs and Border Protection omitted Christian perspectives from a directive for detainees but deliberately noted accommodations for Islam, Rastafarianism and sects of Judaism.

At the Justice Department, the task force found that the Biden administration lacked an effort to “address and prosecute violations of the law where anti-Christian bias was demonstrated by the persecutors.”

“Instead, during that time, the DOJ pursued novel theories of prosecution against those speaking or demonstrating based upon their Christian faith,” the report states.

The task force also found that the Department of Justice, under the Biden administration, arrested and convicted approximately two dozen individuals under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act for praying and demonstrating outside abortion facilities.

“Yet, the same DOJ refused to apply the FACE Act to protect places of worship and crisis pregnancy centers,” the report states.

At the FBI, the task force pointed to the bureau’s memo asserting that “radical-traditionalist” Catholics were “domestic terrorism threats.”

At the Treasury Department, the task force pointed to the many “pro-Christian groups” that have been “debanked.”

TRUMP SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDER ESTABLISHING WHITE HOUSE FAITH OFFICE

The task force found that, under the Biden administration, the Department of State provided “limited humanitarian relief to Christians relative to other populations and offered muted responses to attacks on Christians compared to other groups.”

Also at the State Department, the task force said it discovered evidence that “preferential employment practices were afforded” for those of non-Christian religions, while Christian employees “were disfavored.”

“It was particularly concerning that employees were less likely to be permitted leave for observation of certain Christian holidays as opposed to non-Christian ones.”

Officials also said the State Department imposed “radical LGBTQ gender ideology on foreign governments and State employees, including the forced usage of preferred pronouns and rainbow flags, violating the sincerely held religious beliefs of many Christians and other Americans of faith.”

The task force also found that the Department of Labor dismantled its office of faith-based initiatives and replaced it with a diversity, equity and inclusion office.

INSIDE THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S WHITE HOUSE FAITH OFFICE

The task force also said that the Department of Housing and Urban Development “discriminated against Christian perspectives in its marketing, treating social media posts celebrating Christian holidays, such as Palm Sunday, Good Friday, and Easter, differently than posts celebrating other religious or interest group holidays, including Pride Month, Ramadan, and Diwali.” 

Officials said Housing and Urban Development took down the Christian posts and left up the others.

The task force held its first meeting in April. Prior to the meeting, members of the task force conducted initial reviews of their respective agencies to identify any unlawful anti-Christian policies, practices or agency conduct during the Biden administration.

Officials said that the task force is not finished with its inquiry, but merely just beginning, and will continue its work to investigate the full scope of anti-Christian bias that “pervaded the federal government during the Biden administration.”

A final report is expected by February 2026.

Trump also signed an executive order establishing a White House Faith Office in February. 

The office empowers faith-based entities, community organizations and houses of worship “to better serve families and communities,” according to the White House. 

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The office is housed under the Domestic Policy Council and consults with experts in the faith community on policy changes to “better align with American values.” 

A former Biden White House official did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

FIRST ON FOX: Ohio Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno is introducing legislation aimed at penalizing companies who outsource jobs and operations overseas while at the same time providing financial support to avenues that create American jobs. 

The bill, introduced on Friday and known as the “Halting International Relocation of Employment Act” or “HIRE Act”, creates a 25% tax on “outsourcing payments” which are defined as any money paid by a U.S. company or taxpayer to a foreign person whose work benefits U.S. consumers.

The bill also includes anti-abuse language to prevent tax avoidance via U.S. territories and requires U.S. firms to fully disclose all outsourcing payments and contracts. Companies will also be prohibited from deducting any outsourcing payments.

Money raised by the penalty on spending on overseas workers will be used to support apprenticeship programs in the United States as well as workforce development programs.

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Additionally, the legislation, if passed through Republican-controlled Congress and signed by the Republican president, would prohibit companies from treating outsourcing payments as base erosion payments when they calculate their Base Erosion and Anti-Abuse Tax.

“While college grads in America struggle to find work, globalist politicians and C-Suite executives have spent decades shipping good-paying jobs overseas in pursuit of slave wages and immense profits—those days are over,” Moreno told Fox News Digital in a statement.

US WILL BE ‘FLOODED WITH JOBS’ AS FOREIGN NATIONS AVOID TARIFFS, TRUMP SAYS

“It’s time to fight for working class Americans and ensure they can work and retire with dignity. If companies want to hire foreign workers instead of Americans, my bill will hit them where it hurts: their pocketbooks.”

Moreno’s bill comes amid the backdrop of the Trump administration touting its efforts focusing on employment within the United States to jobs for U.S. born citizens, highlighted by news reported by Fox Business last month that American-born job growth surged by close to 2 million in the last 12 months as jobs among foreign-born individuals declined during the same period, according to data by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

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Simultaneously, the number of foreign-born individuals 16 and over holding jobs in the U.S. decreased by nearly half a million, 452,000, from July 2024 to the same month in 2025. The number of foreign-born jobs in the U.S. in July was 32,066,000, down from 32,518,000 in the same month last year, a 1.39 percent decrease. 

Fox News Digital’s Peter Pinedo contributed to this report

EXCLUSIVE: Hours before Rep. Ashley Hinson of Iowa kicks off a statewide campaign swing as she runs to succeed retiring GOP Sen. Joni Ernst, she landed the backing of the top Senate Republican.

“We need conservative fighters in the Senate — and that’s exactly what we’ll get with Ashley Hinson,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune wrote early Friday as he endorsed Hinson.

And Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), which is the campaign arm of the Senate GOP, wrote, “Having traveled Iowa with Ashley, I know she is the fighter the Hawkeye State needs to deliver President Trump’s agenda in 2026 and beyond,” as he and the NRSC backed her.

On the eve of the endorsements and Hinson’s campaign event in West Des Moines, where she was born and raised, she highlighted in an exclusive Fox News Digital interview that she’s “proud to stand” with President Donald Trump.

HINSON LAUNCHES SENATE BID IN RACE TO SUCCEED IOWA’S ERNST

“We have a common sense approach in Iowa, and I don’t want to see Iowa look like California. I think we need to see the country look more like Iowa,” she said.

 “Iowa does things right,” she added.

Iowa was once a top battleground state that former President Barack Obama carried in his 2008 and 2012 White House victories. But the state has shifted to the right in recent election cycles with Trump carrying the state by nine points in 2016, eight points in 2020, and by 13 points last November.

Republicans currently hold both of the state’s Senate seats – Ernst and longtime Sen. Chuck Grassley – and all four of Iowa’s congressional districts, as well as all statewide offices except for state auditor.

And while Democrats in Iowa are energized after flipping two GOP-held state Senate seats in special elections so far this year, Hinson sees her support for the president as a plus as she runs for the Senate.

TRUMP NOT ON BALLOT BUT FRONT-AND-CENTER IN 2025 ELECTIONS

“When I look at what message we’re out selling, it’s what exactly they voted for in the last election. Iowans overwhelmingly sent President Trump to the White House,” Hinson noted.

Hinson, who highlighted that she won her own House re-election by 15 points last November, said “we’re executing on what I heard on the campaign trail, which was that they wanted lower taxes.”

“So what did we do? We delivered,” as she pointed to the sweeping GOP domestic policy bill that the president signed into law on July 4, which extends the 2017 tax cuts and includes no tax on tips and overtime for many workers.

Hinson said she is looking “forward to the campaign and showing Iowans again why conservative, solid leadership, being a strong ally of President Trump, and making sure we’re going to continue to deliver on those promises, so he has a full four years to do that.”

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) took aim at Hinson after she declared her candidacy.

DSCC communications director Maeve Coyle argued that Hinson “has repeatedly voted to raise costs and make life harder for Iowans by voting to slash Medicaid, cheering on the chaotic tariffs that threaten Iowa’s economy, voting against measures to lower the cost of insulin, and threatening Social Security. In 2026, Iowans will reject Republicans’ efforts to rip away health care and spike costs for hardworking families.” 

“I think they’re misinformed at best,” Hinson said in response.

FOUR KEY SENATE SEATS THE GOP AIMS TO FLIP IN NEXT YEAR’S MIDTERM ELECTIONS

And she charged that “when I hear the lies and the fearmongering coming out of the left, it’s to only cover up for the fact that they have no message and no real leader other than Bernie and AOC and now Mamdani in New York,” as she referred to Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani.

“If that’s the direction they want to take our country, I think Iowans are going to reject that wholeheartedly,” she predicted.

Hinson also highlighted that she’s “been out doing public town halls. I just finished my 46th and 47th public town hall in the district, and talking about what 47 [Trump] is doing to make our country better, cleaning up the mess of 46 [former President Joe Biden].”

During some of her town hall meetings in Iowa this spring and summer, Hinson grabbed national attention as she faced disruptions, including jeers, boos, and heated questions from constituents. The backlash was directed at her support for the GOP’s tax and spend bill, which Trump at the time called his One Big Beautiful Bill.

“I think that it is really important to be transparent and accessible, and I will go out and defend our agenda anytime, anywhere, and talk with Iowans,” she said.

But she lamented that “unfortunately, what we’ve seen is, like in my town halls last week, people just wanted to stand there, yell and have a camera in my face to try to get a viral clip. I don’t think that’s productive. That’s why I answered their questions in a cool, calm and collected way, because I’m trying to change that by getting out and answering those questions.”

SENATE DEMOCRATS RECRUITING TOP CANDIDATES IN PUSH TO WIN BACK MAJORITY

Hinson doesn’t have the GOP primary field to herself. Former state Sen. Jim Carlin and veteran Joshua Smith had already entered the primary ahead of Ernst’s announcement.

And five Democrats are already running for Senate in Iowa. Among them are state Rep. Josh Turek, a Paralympian wheelchair basketball player, state Sen. Zach Wahls, Knoxville Chamber of Commerce executive director Nathan Sage and Des Moines School Board Chair Jackie Norris.

Ernst, who announced on Tuesday that she wouldn’t seek a third six-year term when she’s up for re-election in 2026, first grabbed national attention in 2014 with her “make ’em squeal” ads as she won the high-profile Senate election in Iowa in the race to succeed retiring longtime Democratic Sen. Tom Harkin.

“11 years ago, Iowans elected me as the first female combat veteran to the U.S. Senate, and they did so with a mission in mind – to make Washington squeal. And I’m proud to say we have delivered. We’ve cut waste, fraud, and abuse across the federal government.”

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Hinson told Fox News that “Sen. Ernst is my friend. I look up to her, and you know, her efforts in the Senate. I think every Iowan is proud, and Iowa is so much better as a result of her leadership.”

And looking ahead, she said “I absolutely would love to campaign side by side with with Joni.”

Ex-White House spokesman Andrew Bates is appearing on Capitol Hill Friday morning as the House Oversight Committee continues its probe into allegations of a cover-up by former President Joe Biden’s inner circle.

Bates was a core member of Biden’s communications team for nearly his entire four-year term, rising from deputy to senior deputy press secretary by the time the Democratic leader left office in January 2025.

He’s the 11th former Biden official to appear for the House Oversight Committee’s probe and the ninth to do so voluntarily.

LONGTIME BIDEN AIDE SAYS HE STOOD TO EARN UP TO $8M HAD PRESIDENT WON RE-ELECTION

Three ex-Biden aides – Anthony Bernal, Annie Tomasini, and ex-White House physician Kevin O’Connor – were compelled to appear via congressional subpoena.

House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, R-Ky., has been investigating whether Biden’s senior aides covered up signs of mental decline in the former president, and whether any executive decisions were signed off on via autopen without the then-leader’s full awareness.

They’re looking in particular at the litany of clemency orders that Biden signed in the latter half of his term.

RON KLAIN DODGES REPORTERS AFTER MARATHON GRILLING IN BIDEN COVER-UP PROBE

“You served as Senior Deputy Press Secretary in the White House during former President Joe Biden’s Administration. You also served in communications roles during the 2020 Biden campaign and during the Obama-Biden Administration. Other than Karine Jean-Pierre, you were one of the most prominent public-facing defenders of former President Biden’s mental acuity,” Comer wrote to Bates in late June.

“The scope of your responsibilities—both official and otherwise—and personal interactions within the Oval Office cannot go without investigation, given the mounting evidence that President Biden was incapacitated for much, if not all, of his single term,” the letter continued.

Democrats, by contrast, have painted the investigation as an unnecessary look backwards.

Comer had previously described the Democratic side’s questioning of Biden witnesses as trivial, accusing them of spending little to no time trying to glean any meaningful information.

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He said after the interview of another Biden spokesman, Ian Sams, “The Democrats’ questioning…may have lasted three minutes. They let him read an opening statement, and they did their basic: what’s your favorite color? And who’s your favorite cartoon character?”

Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., the top Democrat on the committee, said ahead of Bates’ interview on Thursday, “I think the important thing about that investigation is Republicans, surely on the Oversight committee, they seem obsessed with the healthcare of Joe Biden and Joe Biden’s health.”

“They should be putting their efforts and focus on the healthcare of the American public, versus obsessing about Joe Biden and what he did, he didn’t do. That’s in the past, we’re trying to move forward,” Garcia said.

Senate Democrats found unlikely allies in Senate Republicans during a fiery hearing, where Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was grilled for his stance on vaccines.

Kennedy’s testimony before the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday was billed as a discussion on President Donald Trump’s healthcare agenda, but it quickly turned into a tongue-lashing from lawmakers, who accused the secretary of lying to the panel about how he would operate the HHS and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

While a barrage of heated exchanges between Kennedy and Democrats were expected, it was heat from Senate Republicans on the panel, including a pair of doctors turned legislators, who stood out.

RFK JR DENIES TELLING FORMER CDC DIRECTOR TO APPROVE VACCINE RECOMMENDATIONS

“I support vaccines. I’m a doctor. Vaccines work,” Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said. “Secretary Kennedy, in your confirmation hearings, you promised to uphold the highest standards for vaccines. Since then, I have grown deeply concerned.”

“The public has seen measles outbreaks, leadership at the National Institutes of Health questioning the use of mRNA vaccines, the recently confirmed director of Center for Disease Control and Prevention fired,” he continued. “Americans don’t know who to rely on.”  

When asked what he would do to ensure that vaccine guidance was clear, Kennedy said, “We’re going to make it clear, evidence-based and trustworthy for the first time in history.”

HHS SECRETARY ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR TO FACE SENATE PANEL AFTER CDC TURMOIL

The hearing came on the heels of a week of turmoil at the CDC, where Kennedy fired former CDC Director Susan Monarez, which led to several senior officials resigning from the agency. Before that, the secretary had cleaned out the federal government’s vaccine recommendation panel and handpicked his own members to serve, and he also moved to cancel $500 million in mRNA vaccine contracts.

Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., also serves as the chair of the Senate’s health committee and was the decisive vote to confirm Kennedy. He argued that Kennedy’s actions on vaccines appeared to counter his support for Trump’s Operation Warp Speed, a sweeping executive program by the Trump administration at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic that jump-started the production of vaccines.

He noted that both Trump and Kennedy have vowed “radical transparency” when it came to the administration’s healthcare agenda, but countered that the secretary’s move to put new members on the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices appeared to be a conflict of interest.

SENATORS DEMAND OVERSIGHT, REJECT VACCINE GUIDANCE AS ILLEGITIMATE AS CDC TURMOIL RAGES

“I am concerned though, because many of those that you have nominated for the [Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices] board… have received revenue as serving as expert witnesses as plaintiffs for attorneys suing vaccine makers,” Cassidy said. “If we put people who are paid witnesses for people suing vaccines, that seems like a conflict of interest, real quickly do you agree with that?”

“No I don’t,” Kennedy said, arguing that while it may seem like a bias, it was not a conflict of interest.

Not every Republican doctor on the panel went after Kennedy. Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., has long been an ally of the secretary’s and gave him room to address accusations that he was anti-vaccine.

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“Saying I’m anti-vaccine is like saying I’m anti-medicine,” Kennedy said. “I’m pro-medicine, but I understand some medicines harm people, some of them have risks, some of them have benefits that outweigh those risks for certain populations, and that’s true with vaccines.”

Marshall agreed that he was not “anti-vax either,” and he listed several vaccines that he believed were good but argued that it was the transparency and approach to vaccines under the HHS and CDC that he was after.

“What I feel the difference is sometimes my friends across the aisle feel like there’s a one-size-fits-all, that they should be telling parents what to do,” Marshall said. “And what you and I are fighting for is that we want to empower parents to make these decisions.”

FIRST ON FOX: Texas Rep. Nathaniel Moran is turning tariffs into a debt-cutting tool, unveiling legislation that would funnel billions in new trade revenues into a trust fund aimed solely at shrinking America’s staggering $37 trillion national debt.

The Tariff Revenue Used to Secure Tomorrow (TRUST) Act would establish a special account at the Treasury Department called the Tariff Trust Fund. Starting in fiscal year 2026, any tariff money collected above the 2025 baseline level would automatically go into this fund. By law, that money could only be spent in one way: to shrink the federal deficit whenever the government is running in the red.

TRUMP SAYS US WOULD BE ‘DESTROYED’ WITHOUT TARIFF REVENUE

“President Trump’s bold use of tariffs has already proven effective in bringing foreign nations back to the negotiating table and securing better trade deals for America. That short-term success has produced record-high revenues, and now we need to make sure Washington doesn’t squander them,” Moran told Fox News Digital.

“The TRUST Act ensures those dollars go where they are needed most—toward reducing our national debt and protecting the financial future of our nation.”

Moran’s legislation comes after the U.S. collected more than $31 billion in tariff revenues in August, the highest monthly total so far for 2025. Total tariff revenue for 2025 has reached more than $183.6 billion, according to the “Customs and Certain Excise Taxes” data released on Aug. 29 by the Treasury Department. 

TRUMP CALLS TARIFF WINDFALL ‘SO BEAUTIFUL TO SEE’ AS CASH SAILS IN

Tariff revenues rose steadily from $17.4 billion in April to $23.9 billion in May, before climbing to $28 billion in June and reaching $29 billion in July. At the current pace, the U.S. could collect as much tariff revenue in just four months to five months as it did during the entire previous year. At this point in fiscal year 2024, tariff revenues were at $86.5 billion.

The surge in revenue coincides with a federal appeals court ruling that President Donald Trump overstepped his authority by using emergency powers to impose sweeping global tariffs.

In its Aug. 29 decision, the court said the power to set such tariffs rests squarely with Congress or within existing trade policy frameworks. The ruling does not affect tariffs imposed by other legal authorities, such as Trump’s levies on steel and aluminum imports.

Attorney General Pam Bondi announced the Justice Department will appeal the decision to the Supreme Court. In the meantime, the court allowed the tariffs to remain in place through Oct. 14. 

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent previously said that the Trump administration could apply part of the tariff revenue toward lowering the national debt.

The nation’s debt, which is the amount of money the U.S. owes its creditors, is nearing $37.4 trillion as of Sept. 3, according to the Treasury Department. 

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The staggering figure has intensified the long-standing debate in Washington over government spending, taxation and efforts to rein in the ballooning deficit.

“Complacency is no longer an option. We must act with urgency and begin to bring down our national debt immediately,” Moran added in a statement.

Bessent has also previously said that tariffs could generate more than $500 billion in revenue for the federal government. U.S. businesses pay these import taxes to the federal government, but the cost often falls on consumers, as companies raise prices to offset the economic burden.