NationalWatch

President Joe Biden’s former chief of staff and a fixture of his re-election campaign, Ron Klain, privately announced during Biden’s disastrous debate performance: “We’re f—ed.”

“2024: How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost America,” a new book released Tuesday by journalists Josh Dawsey of The Wall Street Journal, Tyler Pager of The New York Times and Isaac Arnsdor of The Washington Post, is the latest analysis of how Biden lost the White House. 

The authors described how, during the June 2024 debate, “Biden’s aides winced as the president started answering the first question about the economy and voters who felt they were worse off under his presidency.” 

And backstage, as Biden stumbled over an answer that questionably ended with, “We finally beat Medicare,” back in the holding room, Klain stood up and announced, “We’re f—ed,” according to the authors. 

BIDEN AIDES PUSHED FOR EARLY DEBATE TO SHOW OFF BIDEN’S ‘STRENGTH,’ EXPOSE TRUMP’S ‘WEAKNESS,’ BOOK SAYS

Mike Donilon, Bruce Reed and Klain were among those leading Biden’s final prep ahead of the debate, according to the book. 

FLASHBACK: THE DEBATE NIGHT AGAINST TRUMP THAT THREW BIDEN’S REELECTION CAMPAIGN INTO A FREE FALL

Despite Klain expressing doubt internally, Klain continued to defend the president amid calls from donors and politicians for Biden to step down. 

On June 30, 2024, Klain reshared an X post that urged Americans to ignore the “news reports” with “anonymous sources about Dem donors calling for Biden to withdraw.”

“We are the Democratic Party! These people don’t get to decide to oust a pro-labor pro-people President,” Klain said on July 4, 2024, in response to The New York Times reporting about the Democrats’ pressure campaign against Biden. 

According to the book, after the debate, Klain called Jeff Zients, his successor as Biden’s chief of staff, to say he was “disturbed that Biden was planning to spend the weekend at Camp David.”

“We have an emergency,” Klain told Zients, according to the book. “We have a crisis on Capitol Hill, and the crisis is going to accelerate.”

But Zients insisted Biden was going to Camp David to be with his family, instead of Klain’s plan to appease the progressive wing of the party with a bold second-term agenda. 

“I have no f—ing clue why he’s going to Camp David this weekend,” Klain said, according to the authors. “He needs to be working the phones, day and night.”

Even before the debate, when concerns about the first octogenarian president’s ability to lead the country through a second term came to a boiling point, Klain had concerns, as portrayed in the book. 

Klain had overseen debate prep for every Democratic presidential candidate since 2004, according to the authors. Between Biden’s cold, a shorter prep window than usual and staffers privately expressing concern, debate prep in Camp David did not quite go as planned, the authors claimed.

“This is going to be really touch and go in Atlanta,” Klain told Donilon and Reed ahead of the debate, according to the book. 

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Fox News Digital has written extensively dating back to the 2020 presidential campaign about Biden’s cognitive decline and his inner circle’s alleged role in covering it up.

When reached for comment, Klain told Fox News Digital, “I have nothing to add.”

Biden did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

President Donald Trump slammed a reporter for asking about Jeffrey Epstein during a high-profile Cabinet meeting Tuesday, calling the disgraced financier “this creep.”

“Can I just interrupt for one second?” Trump said after a reporter directed an Epstein question at Attorney General Pam Bondi. “Are you still talking about Jeffrey Epstein?”

“This guy’s been talked about for years. You’re asking. … We have Texas, we have this, we have all of the things. And are people are still talking about this guy, this creep?” Trump asked. “That is unbelievable.”

“Do you want to waste the time?” Trump said to Bondi. 

“I don’t mind answering,” she responded, before Trump again returned to admonishing the question. 

The Department of Justice (DOJ) and FBI released a memo Sunday that ended theories about an alleged Epstein client list, concluding there was no such list detailing the names of the world’s elite who allegedly took part in Epstein’s history as a sexual predator. The DOJ also concluded the disgraced financier did in fact commit suicide in his New York jail cell in 2019. 

BONDI UNDER SIEGE AFTER DOJ REVEALS NO EPSTEIN CLIENT LIST

“I mean, I can’t believe you’re asking a question on Jeffrey Epstein,” Trump continued. “At a time like this, where we’re having some of the greatest success and also tragedy with what happened in Texas. It just seems like a desecration. But you go ahead.” 

The reporter had asked if Epstein had “worked for an American or foreign intelligence agency,” as well as why a minute of jailhouse footage the day Epstein committed suicide is missing from the footage released by DOJ.

FBI BOSSES INSIST JEFFREY EPSTEIN KILLED HIMSELF AFTER REVIEWING HIS FILE

“I was asked a question about the client list, and my response was, ‘it’s sitting on my desk to be reviewed,’ meaning the file along with the JFK, MLK files as well,” Bondi said, referring to an interview she had on Fox News in February and was asked about the allegedly Epstein client list. 

“That’s what I meant by that. Also, to the tens of thousands of video, they turned out to be child porn downloaded by that disgusting Jeffrey Epstein,” she continued, saying no such videos would be released or “see the light of day.” 

Bondi continued that she was unaware of Epstein allegedly working for an American or foreign intelligence agency and that she would check in on the matter, before also addressing why a minute of footage was missing from the videos of Epstein’s jail cell the day he died. 

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“And the minute missing from the video, we released the video showing definitively that the video was not conclusive, but the evidence prior to it was — showing he committed suicide,” she said. “And what was on that, there was a minute that was off the counter and what we learn from Bureau of Prisons was every …. every, night, they redo that video. It’s all from like 1999, so every night the video is reset and every night should have the same minute missing. So we’re looking for that video, to release that as well, showing that a minute is missing every night.” 

“And that’s it on Epstein,” she said. 

Just days before a gunman ambushed Border Patrol agents in McAllen, Texas, on Monday, congressional Democrats voted nearly uniformly against a resolution condemning the Los Angeles riots and the anti-ICE rhetoric that led to the tensions in June.

Michigan resident Ryan Louis Mosqueda, 27, was allegedly armed with tactical gear and a rifle when he opened fire on Border Patrol agents as they arrived at a Border Patrol annex facility in McAllen, Texas, in the Rio Grande Valley on Monday. The gunman was killed, but a McAllen police officer was shot in the leg, and a Border Patrol agent and a staffer were also hurt, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The department said all three are in “non-critical condition.”

Law enforcement believes the attack was a purposeful ambush targeting Border Patrol officials, who play a different role than ICE but serve a major role in how the federal government enforces immigration and border policies.

ICE AGENTS TARGETED IN 2 AMBUSH ATTACKS IN RECENT DAYS

All but seven Democrats voted against a resolution, championed by Rep. Young Kim and the California Republican delegation, on June 27, which passed, that “expresses gratitude” toward both local and federal law enforcement, including ICE.

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“Peaceful protests are a constitutional right, but vandalism, looting, violence, and other crimes are not. Protecting public safety shouldn’t be controversial, which is why I am leading the California Republican delegation in a resolution to support law and order as we continue to see unrest,” Kim said in a statement at the time.

“I hope Governor Newsom can come together with President Trump to stop the riots, lower the temperature, and keep our communities safe,” she continued.

SHOOTER WHO OPENED FIRE ON BORDER PATROL AGENTS IN SOUTH TEXAS IDENTIFIED BY POLICE CHIEF

Still, the resolution sparked debate, as it said President Donald Trump was justified in sending the National Guard to Los Angeles amid civil unrest, which many Democratic leaders have argued acted as an instigator. Gov. Gavin Newsom even sued the administration over the deployment.

“The unrest in Los Angeles was sparked by Donald Trump’s reckless and inflammatory actions. Like Rep. Kim, we believe violence – especially against law enforcement – is never acceptable. That’s why the Governor condemned it over a dozen times, clearly and repeatedly, from the start, and sent state law enforcement to keep the peace. We look forward to Rep. Kim applying the same standard to a resolution condemning the January 6th insurrection and the brutal assault on U.S. Capitol police,” a spokesperson for Newsom told Fox News Digital at the time.

DHS attributes political rhetoric to the 700% surge in assaults on ICE agents. In Alvarado, Texas, 11 individuals are now facing charges for the “planned ambush” at the Prairieland Detention Center, which resulted in a local police officer being shot in the neck, according to Fox 4.

BORDER AGENT AMBUSH SHOWS DEMS NEED TO ‘TONE DOWN RHETORIC,’ WHITE HOUSE SAYS, PUSHING AOC TO MEET WITH ICE

Axios reported Monday that Democrats in Congress have faced pushback from their voter base over their response to the Trump administration, saying they are not going far enough.

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“What I have seen is a demand that we get ourselves arrested intentionally or allow ourselves to be victims of violence, and… a lot of times that’s coming from economically very secure White people,” a lawmaker told the outlet.

Some Democrats, like Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, New Jersey Rep. LaMonica McIver and New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, were each arrested for protest actions involving ICE, and McIver recently pleaded “not guilty” for allegedly “impeding and interfering” with federal agents outside a Newark ICE detention facility in May.

Fox News Digital’s Peter Pinedo contributed to this report.

A resurfaced photo of New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani flipping off a statue of Christopher Columbus is sparking backlash online and with some members of the Italian-American community. 

“Take it down,” Mamdani posted in June 2020, along with a photo showing what is presumably his gloved hand raising the middle finger toward a statue of the famed Italian explorer in Astoria, New York.

Some in the Italian community took offense to the post, according to a New York Post report, including Columbus Heritage Coalition President Angelo Vivolo.

“We will defend Columbus Day and Columbus statues,” Vivolo said. 

NY TIMES GRAPPLES WITH LIBERAL OUTRAGE OVER ITS MAMDANI COLLEGE APPLICATION REPORT

“He is being disrespectful to the Italian American community.” Vivolo added. “If you offend one community, you offend all communities.”

Joseph Scelsa, the founder and president of the Italian American Museum, suggested it is unwise for Mamdani to alienate Italians, who the New York Post reported make up 8% of the population of New York City. 

“To eliminate such a large population of people would be a travesty,” Scelsa said. “It’s not inclusive. It’s exclusionary. Who’s to say who is a hero and who is not a hero? Columbus is our hero.”

SOME WEALTHY NEW YORK ELITES SURPRISINGLY BACK NYC SOCIALIST CANDIDATE WHO WANTS TO TAX THEM MORE

The backlash to the post could also be found coming from conservatives on social media. 

“Not gonna happen,” actor Joe Piscopo posted on X. 

“This guy needs to be stopped,” YouTuber Joey Salads posted on X. 

“The most defining characteristic of the left is ingratitude,” journalist Megan Basham posted on X. 

“He disrespects the critical role Italians and Catholics played in the founding of our nation,” former Trump official Ezra A. Cohen posted on X. “Shameful.”

“What a disgusting socialist,” Florida GOP Chair Evan Power posted on X. 

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“so u can be a nepo baby anchor baby who’s never had a job in your life and potentially become mayor of America’s largest city simply on the force of hating white people hard enough,” Foundation for Freedom Online executive director Mike Benz posted on X. 

“This communist clown needs to be sent back,” Federalist CEO Sean Davis posted on X. 

Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani’s campaign but did not receive a response about the post, which is still visible on his X account as of Tuesday morning. 

Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist, rocked the political landscape last month when he was victorious in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary despite running on a platform filled with left-wing priorities and a track record that includes previous calls to defund the police.

Mamdani, who was born in Uganda to parents from India, has become a target for moderate Democrats and Republicans over his socialist views and recently faced controversy after it was reported he identified as Asian and African American while applying to college.

Mamdani is set to face off against several candidates in the general election this November, including current Mayor Eric Adams, who is running as an independent, Republican Curtis Sliwa, and former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. 

First lady Jill Biden’s political rise coincided with the end of her husband’s political career, according to a new book about how President Joe Biden lost the White House. 

One year after Biden’s consequential debate performance, the first octogenarian president’s age has inspired congressional investigations and books detailing his alleged cognitive decline. 

“2024: How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost America,” is the latest to tackle the inner workings of the Biden administration. 

The book, released Tuesday by journalists Josh Dawsey of The Wall Street Journal, Tyler Pager of The New York Times and Isaac Arnsdor of The Washington Post, details the influential role Jill Biden played in her husband’s administration.

‘MASSIVE CONSPIRACY’: EX-DNC INSIDER SAYS PARTY WENT TO GREAT LENGTHS TO HIDE BIDEN’S MENTAL DECLINE

As Jill Biden gained political influence, so did Anthony Bernal, the first lady’s chief of staff and senior advisor and an assistant to the president. 

INSIDE JILL BIDEN’S POLITICAL RISE AMID HER HUSBAND’S COGNITIVE DECLINE: BOOK

He was subpoenaed to testify on July 16 after refusing to appear before the committee investigating the alleged cover-up of Biden’s mental decline, which argued that executive privilege did not apply to him.

According to the book, Bernal accused Anita Dunn, a veteran Democratic political strategist who served in the Biden and Obama administrations, of being disloyal for pushing for more transparency about the Biden family. 

There was a “near-total ban” on discussing Hunter Biden, the journalists wrote in their new book, as Hunter’s federal trial fell in the middle of his father’s re-election campaign in June 2024. 

Jill Biden, with Bernal by her side, went to great lengths to attend Hunter Biden’s federal trial, often traveling long distances from overseas trips or campaign events. 

She attended the first three days of the trial, flew to France to join the president at the D-Day commemoration and then returned to Wilmington less than 24 hours later for the fifth day of the trial. 

As described in “2024,” West Wing staffers were surprised when Jill Biden arrived at the trial. Most senior aides had no idea the first lady planned to attend, revealing her willingness to act independently. 

But while Jill Biden demonstrated her independence from the White House, Bernal was right there with her leading the East Wing. 

“He quickly bonded with Jill Biden and never left her side, becoming unflinchingly loyal to her and using his proximity to her to exert power wherever he decided. It was often unclear if the opinion he was expressing was his own or the first lady’s. Sometimes, when donors or voters asked her questions, Bernal would jump in to answer,” the authors said. 

Just as Jill jumped to Hunter’s defense during his high-profile trial, she became the president’s staunchest supporter following his disastrous debate performance against President Donald Trump.

“Joe isn’t just the right person for the job,” the first lady said at a fundraiser soon after the debate. “He’s the only person for the job.” 

The book alleges that Jill Biden had always played the “role of the protective spouse, encouraging the president to eat vegetables, keeping him on time, and questioning staffers when she felt they erred.”

In one such case in January 2022, a Biden aide apologized to the first lady when she questioned why they allowed a press conference to go on for too long, according to the book. 

As Biden struggled to successfully defend his debate performance, with donors and Democratic politicians growing weary, and “her husband in the fight of his political life, Jill was making clear: The Democratic Party had to stick with Joe,” the authors said. 

After the debate, the Bidens took a pre-planned family trip to Camp David.

“The president was not entertaining the idea of dropping out of the race; he was taking stock of how bad things really were,” the authors said of Biden’s trip to Camp David. 

The authors described how dropping out “was not even a consideration” at Camp David, and how the first lady was part of those in the inner family circle who persuaded Biden to stay in the race, despite mounting pressure from party leaders and donors to step down. 

Biden huddled with his family in Camp David during the last few days of June, then appeared for debate damage-control interviews on network TV in the weeks following, referring to the debate as a bad night and blaming a cold for his off-night.

“Biden also acknowledged he needed more sleep and said he told his staff that he should not participate in events that start after 8 p.m. But his message was clear: He was staying in the race,” the authors said. 

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Less than a month after the debate, and one week after an assassination attempt on Trump, Biden announced he was suspending his re-election campaign, and later endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee. 

Fox News Digital has written extensively dating back to the 2020 presidential campaign about Biden’s cognitive decline and his inner circle’s alleged role in covering it up.

A Biden spokesperson did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

South Carolina Republicans say they’re ready to give California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom “a HUGE Southern welcome” when he arrives in the key presidential primary state on Tuesday.

Newsom is teaming up with the South Carolina Democratic Party for two days of meetings with voters in the state that officially held the first primary in the Democrats’ 2024 calendar.

The trip by the term-limited governor with a large national profile is sure to spark plenty of 2028 speculation, since Newsom is considered a potential contender for the next Democratic presidential nomination.

Republicans in the GOP-dominated state are taking notice.

TWENTY-ONE DEMOCRATS WHO MAY WANT TO RUN FOR THE WHITE HOUSE IN 2028

“Gavin Newsom is bringing his Crazy California agenda to Trump Country. It’s up to us to show him what real leadership looks like,” the South Carolina GOP said in an email to supporters.

The email included Newsom’s itinerary during his Tuesday-Wednesday swing, which is full of stops at cafes, coffee shops, community centers and churches.

SUCCEEDING TRUMP IN 2028: SIX REPUBLICANS TO KEEP YOUR EYES ON

“The dates, times, and locations are listed below,” the South Carolina GOP said. “Show up loud, proud, and decked out in your Trump gear and flags.”

State GOP chair Drew McKissic, in a separate statement, argued that “Gavin Newsom should go sell Crazy California somewhere else. He won’t find many takers here.”

It was a similar message from South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, who earlier this year launched a Republican campaign for governor in 2026.

“We don’t need Gavin Newsom’s twisted version of America in the Palmetto State,” Wilson argued in a statement. “If Gavin Newsom wants to test his national message here, he’ll be met by a united conservative front that knows exactly what’s at stake.”

The South Carolina Democratic Party, which announced Newsom’s trip last week, said it’s part of their effort to bring national Democrats to parts of the Palmetto State that they say have long been overlooked and “left behind” by Republican officials.

SUCCEEDING TRUMP IN 2028: SIX REPUBLICANS TO KEEP YOUR EYES ON

“Governor Newsom leads the largest economy in America and the fourth largest in the world, and he’s coming to meet folks in towns that have been hollowed out by decades of Republican control,” state party chair Christale Spain said in a statement.

Newsom stopped in South Carolina in January of last year to campaign on behalf of then-President Joe Biden during the state’s 2024 presidential primary. Newsom also visited Nevada, another early-voting state in the party’s primary calendar.

And Newsom traveled last summer on behalf of Biden to New Hampshire, the state that for a century has held the first-in-the-nation presidential primary. 

The former president was the Democrats’ 2024 standardbearer before dropping out of the race last July following a disastrous debate performance against now-President Donald Trump. Vice President Kamala Harris replaced Biden at the top of the Democratic national ticket.

South Carolina, New Hampshire and Nevada are vying for the lead-off position in the next presidential election cycle, and the Democratic National Committee is expected to decide on their 2028 calendar by early 2027.

Newsom has long been thought to harbor national ambitions and is considered one of many Democrats who may make a run for the party’s 2028 presidential nomination.

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The two-day swing through South Carolina will give Newsom an opportunity to make connections not only with voters, but also with local party and elected officials. The relationships forged this week could possibly pay dividends down the road for Newsom if he eventually decides to launch a 2028 presidential campaign.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suggested that business magnate Elon Musk push for balanced budget and congressional term limit amendments to the U.S. Constitution, rather than build a new political party.

Musk, who has been beating the drum about the need to rein in government spending, announced that he is launching a new political party called the America Party. 

“Backing a candidate for president is not out of the question, but the focus for the next 12 months is on the House and the Senate,” he noted in a post on X.

ELON MUSK INDICATES HIS NEW POLITICAL PARTY WILL BE PRO-GUN, PRO-BITCOIN: ‘THE SECOND AMENDMENT IS SACRED’

DeSantis is not on board with the idea. 

The governor suggested that if Musk funds candidates in competitive Senate and House contests, Democrats will likely win.

But DeSantis acknowledged that the GOP has an issue with people running on spending less, but then failing to do so. “There’s a gap between the campaign rhetoric, and then the performance,” he said.

ELON MUSK CONNECTS WITH INDIE ANDREW YANG ON BILLIONAIRE FORMER TRUMP ALLY’S THIRD PARTY PUSH

He explained that he does not believe “electing a few better people” will alter the “trajectory” on the debt issue.

DeSantis said that the “incentives” in D.C. will “lead to these outcomes, really, regardless of the outcome of elections at this point,” asserting that a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution is needed.

TRUMP SAYS HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH ONE-TIME RIVAL DESANTIS NOW A ‘9.9’

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Musk “would have a monumental impact” if he got involved, DeSantis said, adding that the U.S. also needs term limits for lawmakers.

FIRST ON FOX: As Planned Parenthood sues the Trump administration for provisions of the “big, beautiful bill” defunding abortion providers, pro-life medical groups are urging Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to reexamine the FDA’s broad approval of abortion drugs.

In a letter obtained by Fox News Digital, six anti-abortion medical organizations, representing approximately 30,000 medical professionals, urge Kennedy and FDA Commissioner Martin Makary to reinstate safety guards on the abortion pill mifepristone that have been removed since it was first approved in 2000.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, medication abortion accounts for 63% of all U.S. abortions. The most common form of medication abortion method involves ingesting mifepristone, a pill that cuts off progesterone flow to the womb, essentially starving the fetus of nutrients. A second pill, called misoprostol, is then ingested to expel the dead fetus.

Under the Biden administration, the FDA significantly expanded its approval of mifepristone, allowing the drugs to be obtained via telemedicine, without in-person doctor appointments and to be mailed.  

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In the letter, the groups, which include the American Association of Pro-Life OBGYNs, the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine and the American College of Family Medicine, warn that the latest data on mifepristone “strongly suggests” that hundreds of thousands of women have been harmed by using the drug.

Planned Parenthood states on its website that chemical abortion is “safer than many other medicines like penicillin, Tylenol, and Viagra.” The letter, however, calls mifepristone “a high-risk abortion-inducing drug that is known to cause serious adverse effects and medical emergencies, including hemorrhage, sepsis, and incomplete abortions requiring surgical intervention.”

The letter cites two reports released this May, one by the Foundation for the Restoration of America and the other by the Ethics and Public Policy Center, that they say showed as many as one out of every nine women using mifepristone suffered serious adverse events.

The studies claimed that, based on an analysis of health insurance records covering 330 million U.S. patients of 860,000 women receiving mifepristone prescriptions, 10.93% of those women experienced sepsis, infection, hemorrhaging, surgical intervention or another serious adverse event within 45 days following use of the drug.

HHS BRINGS BACK HUNDREDS OF STAFF FOLLOWING FORCE REDUCTION IN LATEST REHIRING MOVE

Based on this, the letter says that real-world data on mifepristone use “shows real patients experience very real medical emergencies at an alarming rate – a rate that is consistent with what our members are seeing in their clinical practice.”

“The data strongly suggest that mifepristone poses a far greater risk of causing harm than previously stated. In fact, the risk of serious complications may be 22 times higher than previously disclosed,” the letter states.

In light of this, AAPLOG and the other groups signing onto the letter are urging the FDA to conduct its own evaluation of real-world data to determine the overall safety of mifepristone in both the adult and adolescent populations.

The groups also urge Kennedy and Makary to reinstate reporting of all adverse events related to mifepristone use and reinstate the pre-2016 Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies on the drug’s use, including limiting the use of the drug to seven weeks of gestation and requiring in-person dispensing as well as follow-up appointments.

WISCONSIN SUPREME COURT DECIDES ABORTION CASE THAT PROMPTED MOST EXPENSIVE JUDICIAL ELECTION IN US HISTORY

The letter stressed that requiring ultrasounds is also essential to confirm the gestational age of the fetus, which the groups said is “crucial to accurately dating a pregnancy and determining the risk of complications.”

 “A basic tenet of medical ethics is informed consent – which requires a review of accurate risks and benefits of any proposed intervention that is specific to the patient sitting in front of us which is based on actual data, not ideologically-driven rhetoric,” the letter states. “Women deserve to know the true risk of serious adverse events and medical emergencies after using mifepristone – no matter how politically charged the discussion surrounding this drug.”

“Americans must be able to trust that no matter what, the FDA will rely on the most robust safety standards before and after approving any drug and that they can have truly informed consent by knowing what the risks to taking FDA-approved drugs are,” the letter says.

The FDA’s broad approval of mifepristone has been the subject of intense legal debate in recent years, including in the Supreme Court. In 2024, the Supreme Court dismissed a case brought by the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine challenging the FDA’s abortion pill approval on the grounds that the group lacked standing.

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At the time, Dr. Jack Resneck Jr., then president of the American Medical Association, claimed that restricting mifepristone “would have devastating health consequences for people living in states where abortion is still legal.”

Resneck claimed that “hundreds upon hundreds of peer-reviewed clinical studies and decades of evidence-based research disprove the assertions of the plaintiffs in this case and demonstrate the safety of mifepristone,” which he said, “has a safety profile comparable to ibuprofen.”

After the Ethics and Public Policy report was released, Dr. Céline Gounder, a CBS News medical contributor and editor-at-large for public health at KFF Health News, disputed the findings, accusing the study of lacking transparency and not disclosing its data source, according to CBS. 

Gounder also said the study lacked a comparison group to examine how experiences compare to pregnant women not taking mifepristone. 

A spokesperson for Danco, mifepristone’s manufacturer, also told the outlet that the company “stands confidently behind the product’s established safety and efficacy record.”

GOP REP SPEAKS OUT AFTER BEING FORCED TO EVACUATE OFFICES OVER THREATS FROM PRO-ABORTION ACTIVISTS

In a statement emailed to Fox News Digital, Dr. Christina Francis, an OB-GYN and CEO of AAPLOG, said the FDA’s deregulation of mifepristone “subjects pregnant women to an unacceptably low standard of care, leaving them vulnerable to life-threatening complications, and empowers abusers and traffickers who wish to force unwanted abortions on their victims.”

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“Our doctors have seen the devastating impact this recklessness has had on patients, which makes clear the dire need for the FDA to reprioritize women and girls by reexamining the drug’s safety and reinstating basic safeguards that should never have been lifted,” she said.

The other groups that signed onto the letter are the Christian Medical and Dental Association, the American College of Pediatricians and the Coptic Medical Association of North America.

Salena Zito, a veteran political reporter with more than 20 years of storytelling experience, is telling her own story in her book, “Butler: The Untold Story of the Near Assassination of Donald Trump and the Fight for America’s Heartland.”

Zito’s novel, released Tuesday, takes readers back to July 13, 2024, when a young shooter unleashed gunfire into the crowd at President Donald Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. 

“I didn’t get down,” Zito told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview ahead of the release. “There was this inner voice that told me, ‘You have a job to do, continue doing it.’”

When 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks began firing toward Trump, Zito found herself in the Secret Service’s secure perimeter, right by the stage where Trump was delivering his remarks.  

FOX NATION REVEALS NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN FOOTAGE FROM TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT IN BUTLER

“Time has these layers that happen,” Zito said. “It’s not remembering them. It’s experiencing them. It’s this interesting thing that happens. I see a sea of navy blue suits immediately surround him. Then, I hear the second four shots. I still didn’t get down.”

PHOTOGRAPHER WINS PULITZER FOR ICONIC PHOTO OF BULLET SPEEDING BY TRUMP’S HEAD DURING ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT

As a gun owner, Zito recognized the sound of the gunshots right away. But as a journalist, she quickly began to commit the historic moment to memory as it was unfolding. 

In an interview with Fox News Digital, Zito described the scene she saw first-hand, that was caught on video by the network pool camera and watched across the world.

Just over eight minutes into Trump’s speech, Zito was standing in the “buffer” with her daughter, her son-in-law and a Trump campaign aide, Michel Picard. It was Picard who finally brought Zito to the ground. 

“Michel Picard takes me down and lies on top of me and covers me,” Zito explained. “This young man didn’t have to do this. He will always be a hero in my heart. He lies on the top of my daughter. My son-in-law has already taken my daughter down.”

Zito said, even from that vantage point, she could still see and hear the situation unfolding as Trump shouted out for his shoes, someone called out for a medic and a woman screamed. 

“I had my recorder on my phone because I thought I was going to be recording the rally, his speech. I wanted to make sure I got the nuance. I always do that. I could see, and I could hear everything that was happening.”

She said Trump was saying, “USA,” from the ground as the crowd began to chant. When the Secret Service helped Trump onto his feet, he shouted, “Fight! Fight! Fight,” Zito said she saw a different side of Trump, which is revealed in her book. 

The journalist, who is a political reporter for the Washington Examiner, is a special contributor for the Washington Post and has been a columnist for the New York Post, said Trump must have called her seven times in the 24 hours after the shooting. 

Zito was slated to interview Trump ahead of his rally in Butler, but such is the case with presidential campaign schedules, the interview time kept slipping. Zito was planning to fly with Trump to Bedminster, N.J., to interview him after the rally. 

Trump recovered from his near assassination with little more than a bullet graze to the ear, thanks to the immigration chart he was turning his head to face. One rally attendee, firefighter Corey Comperatore, was killed, and two others were critically injured by Crooks’ gunshots. 

Comperatore shielded his wife and daughters from the shots, saving his family. Trump honored their family when he returned to Butler to finish the rally later that year. 

“This book is for everyone,” Zito told Fox News Digital. “First of all, it was a witness to history. And it’s told in a way that is very conversational and told in way that’s very real and authentic. I tell the story exactly the way that it happened.”

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“But it’s also a book about understanding why place and rootedness [are] so important in American politics. There have been very few Republicans or Democrats that have understood that. It is part of America’s experience, no matter what happens next, that there’s a light shining on it, so that you understand people better.”

Democrats and media outlets across the country have been quick to politicize the devastating flooding in Texas that killed at least 91 people by blaming climate change, President Trump, race and government cuts. 

“It is hard to make the Texas flood tragedy worse, except to know that on the same day Trump signed a bill cratering solar and wind energy that is vital in the battle against the climate change making these torrential rains more frequent,” former Washington Gov. Jay Inslee posted on X on Saturday as bodies were still being recovered in Texas. 

“I think climate change is obviously a part of it,” Dem. Rep. Joaquin Castro told CNN. “These floods are happening more often.”

“’Waste, fraud & abuse’ is a handy mantra,” Former Obama aide David Axelrod posted on X on Sunday. “And they surely exist, in & out of government. But cutting vital services like the weather service has predictable, hazardous consequences – especially when catastrophic weather events are becoming more frequent!”

TEXAS SUMMER CAMP EVACUATED 70 STAYING NEAR RIVER AHEAD OF FLOODING: ‘SAW IT COMING’

“Accurate weather forecasting helps avoid fatal disasters,” Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., posted on X in response to reports that a specific meteorologist position in the area was unfilled at the time of the flood. “There are consequences to Trump’s brainless attacks on public workers, like meteorologists.”

Murphy was one of several critics on the left to invoke Trump’s name. 

“It only took 9 days for Trump’s cuts to the [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration] to kill dozens of children in Texas when Tropical Storm Barry landed this week,” Grant Stern, the executive editor of Occupy Democrats, wrote on X. 

“The people in Texas voted for government services controlled by Donald Trump and Greg Abbott,” added Ron Filipkowski, former federal prosecutor and the editor-in-chief of MediasTouchNews. “That is exactly what they (sic) getting.” 

Isaiah Martin, a Democratic candidate for Texas’s 18th Congressional District, called for an immediate congressional investigation into “the Republican DOGE cuts to NOAA and the National Weather Service.”

TEXAS FLOOD SURVIVORS SHARE HARROWING STORIES, SEARCH CONTINUES FOR THOSE STILL MISSING

“We saw the affects (sic) this weekend,” Martin wrote on X. “Trump defunded these agencies and we DEMAND answers. There MUST be *swift* accountability!” 

“Trump & Musk gutted the National Weather Service. The result was predictable: A bad forecast leading to the death of children in a horrific flood,” added California state Sen. Scott Wiener.

Additionally, several media outlets joined Democrats in placing blame on budget cuts and suggesting the National Weather Service was understaffed at the time of the flooding despite an Associated Press report that said the NWS office in the area had extra staff on duty at the time of the flooding.

“Reminder: The staffing shortages at the National Weather Service’s San Angelo and San Antonio offices doubled under the Trump administration,” the official X account of the Democratic Party wrote on X in a post that was lambasted by conservatives on social media. “These jobs are meant to coordinate disaster response and save lives.”

“The Big Ugly Bill’s elimination of climate action laws and cutbacks in the National Weather Service couldn’t come at a worse time as the deadly flooding in Texas has shown,” Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., posted on X. “Those incidents are likely to get worse as Republicans ignore the reality of climate change.”

Some incorporated race into the equation, including Sade Perkins, a former member of the Houston Food Insecurity Board, who suggested in a heavily criticized video the intense media coverage of the event was because the young girls who were killed at a summer camp in the flood’s path were White. 

Several meteorologists have pushed back in recent days on Democratic claims that Trump administration cuts to NOAA, NWS and other government agencies directly contributed to the tragedy. 

“The event has nothing to do with climate change,” meteorologist Chris Martz posted on X. “And, the tragedy had nothing to do with DOGE cuts.If you are someone who has exploited this catastrophe because you just don’t like Trump, you need to take a serious look in the mirror.”

Tom Fahy, legislative director for the National Weather Service Employees Organization, told NBC News that weather forecasting offices were adequately staffed, and “they issued timely forecasts and warnings leading up to the storm,” but he added that unfilled leadership positions were “clearly a concern.”

“All I’ll say is this. The National Weather Service issued a flood watch for Kerr County more than 12 hours ahead of the catastrophic flood. A flash flood warning was issued for Hunt & Ingram 3 HOURS before the Guadalupe started to climb,” said Texas-based meteorologist Avery Tomasco. “They did their job and they did it well.”

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White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson called it “shameful and disgusting” to see that, in the wake of this tragedy, people are politicizing what took place.

”It’s shameful and disgusting that in the wake of tragedy, the left’s first instinct is to lie and politicize a disaster to target their political opponents. False claims about the NWS have been repeatedly debunked by meteorologists, experts and other public reporting,” Jackson said. “The NWS did their job, even issuing a flood watch more than 12 hours in advance. The Trump administration is grateful to the first responders who sprung into action to save hundreds of lives during this catastrophe, and will continue to help the great state of Texas in their recovery efforts.”

In a lengthy thread on X outlining the timing of the government’s response, the Department of Homeland Security said “the mainstream media is deliberately lying about the events leading up to the catastrophic flooding in Texas.”

Fox News Digital’s Alec Schemmel contributed to this report

FIRST ON FOX: A Senate Republican believes that regime change is the best long-term “solution” in Iran as a fragile ceasefire between the Islamic Republic and Israel continues to hold.

The truce between Israel and Iran came late last month, and so far has put a hold on the fighting that took place over the course of 12 days in the region, which began when the Jewish State struck Iranian targets on June 13. It culminated in a U.S. strike on Iranian nuclear sites with bunker-busters in an operation greenlit by President Donald Trump.

Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., who serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and previously held a position as chair of the Senate GOP’s campaign arm, told Fox News Digital that he is cautiously optimistic that the truce will hold, but warned that Iran’s deep-seated aggression towards Israel could be the ceasefire’s undoing — unless a new regime took over.

SENATE SHUTS DOWN KAINE’S ATTEMPT TO CHECK TRUMP’S WAR POWERS

“I’m of the opinion that the longer-term solution in Iran is going to be regime change,” Daines said. “Because until you have a regime that recognizes the legitimacy of the Jewish state of Israel and their right to exist, and believes that Israel should not be destroyed, I don’t think we’re going to bring the peace that we need, that we all aspire to see between Iran, Israel and, frankly, in the Middle East.”

Daines’ sentiment comes ahead of an expected meeting between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday at the White House. 

‘THE MISSION WAS ACCOMPLISHED’: SENATE REPUBLICANS PUSH BACK AGAINST LEAKED REPORT ON IRAN STRIKES

There is a bipartisan push between Reps. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., and Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., to further arm Israel with B-2 bombers and bunker-busting bombs, but most lawmakers, including Daines, don’t believe that the U.S. should get involved in toppling the current regime and installing a new one.

The U.S. was involved in regime change in the country in the 1950s, when then-Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh was removed and the door was opened for Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi to take control of Iran. In 1979, the Islamic Revolution took place, which removed Pahlavi from power and saw the birth of the current regime.

Daines argued that any change must come from within, because “otherwise, it’s just a matter of time before that regime would lose its legitimacy.”

“Regime change is risky because you may end up with something worse than what you have,” Daines said. “Now in this case, the bar is set awfully low in Iran, but you could get an equivalent type of philosophy, or maybe something a little better.”

‘NOT OUR ROLE’: LAWMAKERS CAUTIOUS OVER MIDDLE EAST PEACE, NOT READY FOR REGIME CHANGE

“I think we need to have a regime that recognizes that Iran and their long-term prosperity will be tied to growing closer to the West and being an ally of the West and not being an ally of China, Russia, North Korea,” he continued.

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“A ceasefire is not the end. It’s a means. A ceasefire just says, ‘OK, we’re still at war, but we’re not going to shoot for a while.’ That’s what a ceasefire is,” Daines said. “A lasting peace will be when the Iranian leadership recognizes the legitimacy of Israel as a Jewish state.”

“Until that happens, I think Iran will remain a threat, particularly if the regime, whether it’s the current regime or a regime that changed that has a similar ideology as the current regime, that Israel must be destroyed,” he continued. “That is not a peaceful outcome. That’s just delaying what could be a future development of nuclear capabilities and some kind of a first strike by Iran, either against Israel or against the United States.”

Donald Trump has just had the best few weeks of his presidency. 

No question. No argument. Period, end of paragraph. 

It began with a bold gamble to send pilots to destroy Iran’s nuclear sites. 

Then Trump managed to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Iran. 

TRUMP’S ACHIEVEMENTS EMBOLDEN HIM TO BE EVEN MORE AGGRESSIVE

Meanwhile, as Trump delayed his sky-high tariffs, the stock market hit record highs. 

And he won a $16-million settlement from CBS’s parent company in his lawsuit against unfair editing by “60 Minutes.” That means he has now beaten two of the three broadcast networks, having won the same sum from ABC in a suit involving a crucial mistake by George Stephanopoulos. 

And after days of pressure and arm-twisting, he managed to pass the Big Beautiful Bill. 

Make no mistake, the bill was always going to pass. What were Republicans going to say, never mind, we just tanked the president’s main legislative priority because we didn’t like this or that? 

They didn’t need Democratic votes, under so-called reconciliation. And Trump controls the GOP. So its members fell into line. 

Now the question is why, through this successful stretch, has Trump continued to draw such negative coverage?

TRUMP SIGNS ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL’ BILL IN SWEEPING VICTORY FOR SECOND TERM AGENDA, OVERCOMING DEMS AND GOP REBELS

For starters, many in the media just can’t stand the guy. And this has largely been true since 2015. So anything that helps him must be wrong and must be denigrated. 

Even the successful strike on Iran drew only scattered instances of grudging praise, when under any other president there would have been standing ovations. 

The press immediately reframed this as a debate over whether the bunker-busting bombs had only set back Iran’s nuclear program by a few months. 

In fairness, that’s what the preliminary, classified Intel report leaked to the press said. And there’s nothing wrong with reporting that accurately, even though the assessment was made with low confidence. 

But Trump wants reporters for CNN and the New York Times, which broke the story, fired over this, and with an FBI leak probe under way, says he may force journalists to reveal their confidential sources. 

Once the White House could no longer blame anonymous sources, there is nothing wrong with quoting a government report – even if if turns out to be wrong. 

The cease-fire between Israel and Iran was fine, but that quickly morphed into chatter about why Trump couldn’t pull off an end to the fighting between Israel and Hamas, a far more difficult task. 

AFTER SETBACK TO IRAN’S NUCLEAR PROGRAM, TRUMP EXPECTED TO LEVERAGE MILITARY SUPPORT IN NETANYAHU MEETING

Not to mention his freezing of weapons shipments to Ukraine, when despite his “very disappointing” call with Vladimir Putin, who promptly unleashed the biggest drone and missile attack against Kyiv since the illegal invasion of its sovereign neighbor. 

Perhaps the president is learning what has been obvious to the rest of us: Putin has no conceivable interest in peace. 

Everyone had to report the stock market surge, though not with the enthusiasm of the earlier plunge, and Trump yesterday announced that he’d hit Japan and South Korea, two allies, with a 25 percent hike in tariffs. But they don’t take effect till Aug. 1, so this could just be another negotiating tactic. 

There was almost no television coverage of Trump’s $16 million settlement with Paramount, which is nothing more than the news business protecting its own. If this had been any other kind of company – with the backstory that someone like Shari Redstone needed administration approval to sell the company and pocket $2 billion – the press would have gone haywire. 

Now there’s a new twist. Fox’s Charlie Gasparino, writing for the New York Post, reported the Paramount settlement includes a side deal between Trump and for the buyer David Ellison, son of tech mogul Larry Ellison, for him to run $15 to $20 million in advertising supporting causes backed by the president. 

And Trump confirmed it. 

“We did a deal for about $16 million plus $16 million, or maybe more than that in advertising,” he told reporters. 

Paramount denied any knowledge of the side deal. 

SUBSCRIBE TO HOWIE’S MEDIA BUZZMETER PODCAST, A RIFF ON THE DAY’S HOTTEST STORIES

The president has also been drawn into a war of words with Elon Musk, calling him a “train wreck” who’s gone “off the rails” in forming a third party and raising the Epstein files again. Musk says the lack of an Epstein client list is the “final straw” – he had once apologized for raising it – and there’s no difference between the Republican and Democratic parties. 

But there was one moment, in my view, that was a misstep by Trump.

The president had no need to negotiate with Democrats, who strongly opposed a tax cut tilted toward the wealthy while making deep cuts to Medicaid.

“Every Democrat in Congress voted against the ‘Big, Beautiful Bill…They wouldn’t vote only because they hate Trump, but I hate them, too, you know? I really do. I hate them. I cannot stand them, because I really believe they hate our country.”

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I don’t believe the overwhelming majority of Democrats hate their country. And that was hardly a unifying message on July 4 weekend. Maybe many in the media hate him and he was just counterpunching. But he didn’t need to go there.

On the other hand, Donald Trump has been getting terrible coverage since 2015, and he’s clearly grown tired of it.

The Trump administration revoked the terrorist designation for Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, the militant group who overthrew President Bashar al’Assad and assumed control of the Syrian government. 

The group was formed as Syria’s al-Qaeda branch. In an astounding turnaround, the group’s interim leader Ahmed al-Sharaa went from a $10 million U.S. bounty on his head to the de facto leader of Syria who scored a meeting with President Donald Trump in June. 

Al-Sharaa had been campaigning hard for a relationship with Washington and sanctions relief: He offered to build a Trump Tower in Damascus, ease hostilities with Israel, and give U.S. access to Syria’s oil and gas. He worked to soften the image of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham and promised an inclusive governing structure. 

“In consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Treasury, I hereby revoke the designation of al-Nusrah Front, also known as Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (and other aliases) as a Foreign Terrorist Organization,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote in a memo made public Monday. 

TRUMP TO SIGN ORDER LIFTING SANCTIONS ON SYRIA

The move comes a week after Trump signed an executive order ending sanctions imposed on Syria. Trump said he’d lift the sanctions on Syria to give the nation, ravaged by decades of civil war, a chance at economic development. 

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that lifting sanctions would help Syria “reestablish ties to global commerce and build international confidence,” while continuing to prevent “Assad, his cronies, terrorists, and other illicit actors from attempting to destabilize Syria and the region.” 

HTS, a Sunni Islamist group, emerged out of Jabhat al-Nusra, Syria’s former al-Qaeda affiliate. The State Department under Trump in 2018 added HTS to the existing al-Nusra foreign terrorist designation.

WHY SYRIA PLAYS A KEY ROLE IN TRUMP’S PLANS FOR MIDDLE EAST PEACE

Some sanctions still will need to be lifted by Congress. In a bipartisan pairing from opposite sides of the political spectrum, Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., recently introduced legislation to lift sanctions on Syria. 

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U.S. sanctions have included financial penalties on any foreign individual or company that provided material support to the Syrian government and prohibited anyone in the U.S. from dealing in any Syrian entity, including oil and gas. Syrian banks also were effectively cut off from global financial systems. 

More than 211 million people were active registered voters for the 2024 general election.

And over 158 million voters cast ballots in last year’s presidential election.

Those figures are according to a report issued to Congress by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC), which has been conducting election administration and voter surveys of federal elections for two decades.

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The commission touts that it “provides the most comprehensive source of state- and local jurisdiction-level data about election administration in the United States.”

More than 85% of voting-age Americans registered as active voters last year — the highest level on record, according to the report.

WHAT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLLS SHOW

And voter turnout was the second highest in the past five presidential elections, trailing only the 2020 election.

The turnout of 64.7% of the citizen voting age population in the U.S. was a slight 3% drop compared to four years earlier.

Nearly three-quarters of those who voted last year cast their ballots in person — with 35.2% voting in person ahead of Election Day and 37.4% voting on Election Day.

IT’S NEVER TOO EARLY TO LOOK AHEAD TO THE 2028 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

According to the report, 30.3% voted by mail. That’s a drop from the 43% who voted by mail during the 2020 election, which, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, was the highwater mark for mail-in balloting.

But the report noted that the percentage of people who voted by mail in 2025 was “still larger than the percentage of the electorate that voted by mail in pre-pandemic elections.”

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President Donald Trump won back the White House in last year’s election, with Republicans taking back control of the Senate and holding on to their razor-thin majority in the House.

More than two dozen children have died from the devastating flash floods gripping Texas’ Hill Country, which is home to popular youth summer camps, including Camp Mystic, a Christian girls’ summer program that holds deep roots with Texas politicians and presidential families stretching back decades. 

Flash floods inundated Kerr County, Texas, and the surrounding area in central Texas’ Hill Country early on the Fourth of July holiday. Warnings over the flooding were issued Thursday, but the devastation hit the area in the early morning hours of Friday, taking residents by surprise. 

Kerr County, Texas, is home to a handful of youth summer camps, including Camp Mystic, a Christian girls summer camp established in 1926 by University of Texas football and basketball coach “Doc” Stewart. 

At least 27 campers and counselors were confirmed dead, and the camp was devastated by the waters that flooded the Guadalupe River and tore through the surrounding communities, according to Camp Mystic’s website.

TEXAS FLOODING KILLS MORE THAN 80 AS SEARCH CONTINUES FOR DOZENS OF PEOPLE

“Today I visited Camp Mystic. It, and the river running beside it, were horrendously ravaged in ways unlike I’ve seen in any natural disaster,” Abbott posted to X Saturday. “The height the rushing water reached to the top of cabins was shocking. We won’t stop until we find every girl who was in those cabins.” 

The camp describes itself as one that focuses on promoting spiritual growth and bringing out the best in campers during their stays, according to its website. 

“Camp Mystic is a private Christian summer camp for girls,” the camp says on its website. “Established in 1926, Mystic is nestled among cypress, live oak, and pecan trees in the hill country of west-central Texas on the banks of the beautiful Guadalupe River. Mystic is located near the geographical center of Texas, 18 miles northwest of Kerrville. The staff at Mystic strives to provide young girls with a wholesome Christian atmosphere in which they can develop outstanding personal qualities and self-esteem.” 

TEXAS SUMMER CAMP EVACUATED 70 STAYING NEAR RIVER AHEAD OF FLOODING: ‘SAW IT COMING’

Camp Mystic has long and deep roots with Texas politicians and their families, including former first lady Laura Bush, who worked as a counselor there while attending Southern Methodist University in her youth, and former President Lyndon B. Johnson, who sent his daughters to the camp. 

Jenna Bush Hager, daughter of former President George W. Bush and Laura Bush, said in a media appearance on Monday that her mother worked as a drama counselor at the camp in her youth, while many of her friends attended the camp or sent their children to the camp. 

“My mom was a counselor there, but also so many of my friends were raised at this camp,” Bush Hager said on NBC’s “Today” show Monday. “Texas camps are institutions, as you just heard, where were many family members — generations — this camp was 100 years old, so grandmothers, mothers, kids have all gone there.”

“The stories that I heard over the last couple days were beautiful and heartbreaking,” she said. “Texas has a type of resilience where they’re generous people, where people want to reach out and help.”

NEW JERSEY COAST GUARD SWIMMER RESCUES NEARLY 200 PEOPLE IN DEADLY TEXAS FLASH FLOODS

The former first daughter continued that families flock to the Hill Country’s summer camps despite the hot Texas weather because “of the love that’s there.”

“Texas camps are really special because you’re thinking about 90-degree weather, no air conditioning,” she added. “My kids are at camp in Texas, and my husband said, ‘Why are we sending our kids to Texas, to camp? It’s hot!’ And it’s because of the love that’s there.”

Former President George W. Bush released a statement on the devastation and death Sunday, saying he and his wife are heartbroken by the loss.

TEXAS FLOODING VICTIMS INCLUDE DALLAS CATHOLIC SCHOOL SISTERS, CAMP COUNSELOR, WALMART EMPLOYEE

“On this day of prayer, Laura and I are holding up our fellow Texans who are hurting,” he said on Sunday of the tragedy. “We are heartbroken by the loss of life and the agony so many are feeling. Those who have lost their precious children are facing a grief no parents should ever know. We are grateful to the first responders and volunteers who are working to find the missing and comfort the grieving at Camp Mystic and along the Guadalupe. We know our words cannot help, but we believe the prayers of so many Americans will,” 

The camp also drew multiple generations from former President Lyndon B. Johnson’s family. A digital copy of Texas Monthly’s May 1975 edition outlined that Johnson’s two “daughters were also Mystic campers,” while the Texas Tribune reported recently that the 36th president’s granddaughters and great-granddaughters also attended the camp.

YOUNG TEXAS CAMP SURVIVOR DESCRIBES HARROWING MOMENT SHE PREPARED FOR WORST DURING DEADLY FLOOD

The camp, across its nearly 100 years in operation, has seen multiple Texas political families take part, including former Govs. Dan Moody, Price Daniel and John Connally sending their daughters to the camp, according to Texas Monthly, while James Baker, who served as chief of staff to former Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, also sent his daughter and a granddaughter to Camp Mystic. 

Republican Texas Rep. August Pfluger’s daughters and Georgia Republican Rep. Buddy Carter’s granddaughters were attending the camp during the flooding and survived the tragedy. 

The camp’s longtime director and co-owner, Dick Eastland, was among those who tragically died in the floods while trying to rescue the campers. Eastland purchased the camp in 1974, Fox Digital previously reported. 

“Camp Mystic’s Dick Eastland no doubt gave his life attempting to save his campers,” Pfluger wrote on X of the death. “For decades he and his wife Tweety poured his life into loving and developing girls and women of character. Thank you Mr. Eastland. We love you and miss you.”

TEXAS SCHOOL GATHERS SUPPLIES TO HELP FLOOD-IMPACTED LOCALS AFTER SPOTLIGHT MOVES ON

President Donald Trump signed a disaster declaration Sunday for Kerr County, Texas, and told the media he will likely visit the area Friday. 

“These families are enduring an unimaginable tragedy, with many lives lost, and many still missing,” Trump posted to Truth Social Sunday of the devastation in Texas. “The Trump Administration continues to work closely with State and Local Leaders. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem was on the ground yesterday with Governor Greg Abbott, who is working hard to help the people of his Great State. Our incredible U.S. Coast Guard, together with State First Responders, have saved more than 850 lives. GOD BLESS THE FAMILIES, AND GOD BLESS TEXAS!”

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“We wanted to leave a little time. I would have done it today, but we’d just be in their way. Probably Friday,” Trump added in comment to reporters from New Jersey on Sunday when asked about plans to visit. 

Fox News Digital’s Stephan Sorace contributed to this report. 

After Zohran Mamdani, New York City’s leading mayoral candidate, pledged to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he visits the city, Netanyahu responded to questions about whether he’s worried. 

In December, Mamdani, who identifies as a democratic socialist and is the Democratic Party’s nominee for New York City mayor, said, “as mayor, New York City would arrest Benjamin Netanyahu.”

“This is a city that our values are in line with international law. It’s time that our actions are also,” Mamdani said, referring to the International Criminal Court issuing an arrest warrant against Netanyahu as well as Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. 

Netanyahu met with President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday evening to discuss a range of topics, including Iran and Israel’s ongoing war with Hamas.  

NETANYAHU SURPRISES TRUMP WITH FORMAL NOBEL PEACE PRIZE NOMINATION DURING HISTORIC WHITE HOUSE MEETING

When asked whether he was worried about the possibility of facing arrest in America’s largest city, Netanyahu said, “I’m not concerned about that.”

The prime minister added, “I’m going to come there with the President Trump and we’ll see.” 

He went on to say that Mamdani’s threat is “silly in many ways, because it’s just not serious.”

Trump also chimed in, saying, “We don’t know who the mayor is going to be yet, but this is a communist. He’s not a socialist. He’s a communist, and he’s said some really bad things about Jewish people.”

TOP IRANIAN CLERIC CALLS FOR TRUMP’S EXECUTION

“He might make it,” Trump said. “But, you know, it all comes through the White House. He needs the money through the White House. He needs a lot.

“He’s going to behave. He’ll behave. He better behave. Otherwise, he’s going to have big problems.” 

Hearkening back to an earlier question asked by reporters, Netanyahu said, “what is serious” is whether there can be a two-state solution in Gaza that does not pose an existential threat to the Israeli people. 

“Look, there’s enough craziness in the world, but I guess it never ends,” he said. “After October 7th, people said the Palestinians had a state, Hamas state in Gaza, and look what they did with it. They didn’t build it up. They built down two bunkers into terror tunnels, after which they massacred our people, raped our women, beheaded our men, invaded our cities and our towns and our kibbutzim and did horrendous, horrendous massacres, the kind of which we didn’t see since World War two and the Nazis, the Holocaust.”

ISRAEL HAMMERS HOUTHIS WITH AIRSTRIKES, REBELS RESPOND AMID RED SEA FLARE-UP

“So people aren’t likely to say, let’s just give them another state. It’ll be a platform to destroy Israel,” he added. “We’ll work up a peace with our Palestinian neighbors, those who don’t want to destroy us, and we’ll work out a peace in which our security, the sovereign power of security, always remains in our hands.”

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“Now, people will say it’s not a complete state. It’s not a state, it’s not that, we don’t care,” he said. “You know, we vowed, ‘never again.’ Never again is now, it’s not going to happen again.”

As Elon Musk moves forward with forming a third party in hopes of rocking the nation’s longstanding two-party system, the world’s richest person is reaching out to a one-time presidential candidate who has started his own independent party.

Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX who spent the first four months of President Donald Trump’s second administration as a special White House advisor steering the recently created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), spoke with Andrew Yang, Fox News has confirmed.

A source familiar with the conversation said that the two discussed Musk’s push to create the “America Party,” which Musk aims to field some candidates in next year’s midterm elections.

TRUMP DISMISSED MUSK’S MOVE TO FORM THIRD PARTY 

“I’m excited for anyone who wants to move on from the duopoly,” Yang said in a statement to Fox News. “And I’m happy to help give someone a sense of what the path looks like.” News of the conversation was first reported by Politico.

Yang grabbed national attention in the 2020 election cycle, as the entrepreneur went from an extreme longshot to briefly being a contender for the Democratic presidential nomination. 

But Yang soured on the two-party system after an unsuccessful 2021 run for New York City mayor. He then formed the independent Forward Party, which has been recognized in a handful of states and aims to eventually gain ballot access from coast to coast.

ELON MUSK LAUNCHES ‘AMERICA PARTY’ AFTER TRUMP SIGNS HISTORIC SPENDING BILL: ‘WASTE & GRAFT’

Yang and Musk are far from strangers. Musk in 2019 supported Yang’s unsuccessful presidential bid. 

Musk became the top donor of the 2024 election cycle, dishing out nearly $300 million in support of Trump’s bid through America PAC, a mostly Musk-funded super PAC aligned with Trump.

Trump named Musk to steer DOGE soon after the November election, and the president repeatedly praised Musk during his headline-making and controversial tenure at the cost-cutting effort.

But a feud between Musk and Trump broke out days after Musk left the White House in late May, as Musk dubbed the administration’s massive landmark spending bill – which Trump called his “big, beautiful bill” – a “disgusting abomination,” which he said would sink the nation into unsustainable debt.

POLL POSITION: MUSK’S FAVORABILTY AMONG REPUBILCANS PLUNGES AFTER FEUD WITH TRUMP

Musk also argued that Trump would not have won last year’s presidential election without all of his support. 

Musk announced the launch of the “America Party” on his social media platform X on Saturday, a day after Trump signed the sweeping domestic policy package into law. The measure narrowly passed the Senate and House last week along near party-line votes in the Republican-controlled chambers.

Trump on Sunday ridiculed Musk’s move.

“I think it’s ridiculous to start a third party,” Trump told reporters. “It’s always been a two-party system, and I think starting a third party just adds to confusion.

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The president added that “third parties have never worked. So, he can have fun with it, but I think it’s ridiculous.”

Starting an independent or third party, and gaining ballot access in states across the country, is extremely difficult.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that he had sent a letter to the Nobel Prize Committee to nominate President Donald Trump for the peace prize.

Trump and Netanyahu met at the White House on Monday to discuss developments in the Middle East.

While speaking to reporters, Netanyahu spoke about the relationship between Israel and the U.S.

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“I want to express the appreciation and admiration not only of all Israelis, but of the Jewish people and many, many admirers around the world, for your leadership, your leadership of the free world, your leadership of a just cause, and the pursuit of peace and security,” he said. “The president has an extraordinary team, and I think our teams, together, make, an extraordinary combination to meet challenges and seize opportunities.

“But the president has already realized great opportunities. He forged the Abraham Accords. He’s forging peace as we speak, in one country and one region after the other,” Netanyahu continued. “So, I want to present to you, Mr. President, the letter I sent to the Nobel Prize committee. It’s nominating you for the peace prize, which is well-deserved.”

Trump accepted the letter, saying he was unaware of the nomination and thanking the prime minister.

The nomination comes just weeks after the U.S. struck Iran’s nuclear program following previous strikes levied by Israel in an effort to end Tehran’s atomic ambitions. 

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Trump on Monday said Iran was no longer the “bully of the Middle East” and said Tehran would be holding nuclear talks with the U.S. in the “next week or so.”

Though when asked how negotiations with Hamas stood in a move to end the war in Gaza and return the hostages held there for over 630 days, neither the U.S. nor Israeli officials would comment on what the “hold up” was. 

When asked if there can be a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians – a policy the U.S. has long backed – Trump pushed the question to Netanyahu who said “overall security” will always remain in the hands of Israel.

“I think Palestinians should have all the powers to govern themselves, but none of the powers should threaten us,” Netanyahu told reporters. “And that means that certain powers, like overall security, will always remain in our hands. 

“No one in Israel will agree to anything else, because we don’t commit suicide,” he added.

The Israeli leader then said he believes that Jerusalem can establish “peace between us and the entire Middle East with President Trump’s leadership” in a direct nod to the president’s push to expand the Abraham Accords. 

Nations like Saudi Arabia have said they are uninterested in normalizing ties with Israel until peace is established for the Palestinians, but other nation’s positions on establishing diplomatic ties remains unclear. 

The U.S. Envoy for Lebanon and Syria suggested earlier on Monday that both nations could be looking to improve diplomatic relations. 

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Trump said he removed sanctions on Syria this year to give them “a chance,” and suggested he would like to lift the “biting sanctions” on Iran as well.

“I’d like to see Iran build itself back up in a peaceful manner, and not going around saying ‘Death to America, Death to the USA, Death to Israel,’ as they were doing,” he said. “They have such potential.”

A federal judge on Monday prevented the Trump administration from enforcing part of a massive tax and spending bill that would block Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood health centers.

The temporary restraining order by Judge Indira Talwani in Massachusetts blocks the “big, beautiful bill’s” provision to defund the family planning provider. 

At issue is the provision in the new tax and spending bill signed into law by President Donald Trump on July 4 that eliminates one year of Medicaid payments from Planned Parenthood health centers because the organization also provides abortions.

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A White House official told Fox News Digital that the Trump administration is committed to ending the use of federal taxpayer dollars to fund or promote elective abortions. The official noted that the administration’s stance is a commonsense position that the overwhelming majority of Americans agree with.

On Monday, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts and Planned Parenthood Association of Utah filed a lawsuit in federal court.

“The prohibition specifically targets Planned Parenthood Federation of America and its member health care providers in order to punish them for lawful activity, namely advocating for and providing legal abortion access wholly outside the Medicaid program and without using any federal funds,” the lawsuit states. 

SUPREME COURT RULES AGAINST PLANNED PARENTHOOD IN MEDICAID FUNDING DISPUTE

If allowed to stand, Planned Parenthood said the provision would have “devastating consequences” for the more than 1 million patients who use Medicaid as their insurance at Planned Parenthood health centers across the country to get birth control and cancer screenings, among other services. 

Dominique Lee, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, said the organization has a long history of fighting for sexual and reproductive freedom.

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“The Trump administration’s hell-bent ambitions to close our clinics and abandon our patients won’t stop us. Let me be crystal clear: We are not intimidated. We were built for this moment,” she said. “Here in Massachusetts, we fight back, and we will never be bullied into turning our backs on health care or human rights.”

A shooter who allegedly opened fire on Border Patrol agents outside a federal building in McAllen, Texas, has been identified by authorities as 27-year-old Michigan resident Ryan Louis Mosqueda. 

An active shooter armed with tactical gear and a rifle opened fire upon Border Patrol agents as they arrived at a Border Patrol annex facility in McAllen, Texas, in the Rio Grande Valley on Monday. Law enforcement believes the attack was a purposeful ambush targeting Border Patrol officials.

In a press conference after the shooting, McAllen Police Chief Victor Rodriguez identified the suspected shooter as Mosqueda, saying he allegedly opened fire on the agents, firing “many, many dozens of rounds” at the building.

Rodriguez confirmed that the suspect was killed on the scene by agents returning fire. 

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According to the police chief, there is no known motive yet for why Mosqueda allegedly opened fire on Border Patrol agents. 

He said the suspect is associated with an address in Michigan and that he arrived at the scene driving a vehicle with Michigan plates. He also mentioned that the suspect’s car had spray-painting on it with “some language on it,” possibly Latin, that he could not decipher. 

According to Rodriguez, Mosqueda was reported missing from an address in nearby Weslaco and “an hour and a few minutes later he was at this particular location, opening fire on a federal building.” 

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In a statement emailed to Fox News Digital, a spokesperson for FBI San Antonio said that McAllen police received calls of shots being heard by a local Border Patrol facility near the McAllen International Airport at approximately 5:53 a.m. 

The spokesperson said the armed suspect, who they did not identify as Mosqueda but rather an “adult male,” “engaged the law enforcement officers responding to the scene and officers returned fire.” 

According to the spokesperson, one responding officer was injured in the gunfire and was transported to a local hospital for treatment. The officer is now in stable condition. 

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The FBI representative said there is “currently no threat to public safety that we are aware of” and that the investigation is ongoing.

According to a statement by DHS on X, two officers and a Border Patrol employee were injured during the shooting, including one shot in the knee. 

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