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The Abdul-El Sayed campaign on Thursday launched an attack aimed at White House aide Natalie Harp just a week after attacking second lady Usha Vance in a similarly vicious manner.

After President Donald Trump’s edict renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America during a heated trade battle with Canada the El-Sayed campaign waded into the fray on X.

“If we’re just renaming everything now… When are we making this official?” the campaign said in its post, adding a doctored image of the official White House webpage for first lady Melania Trump, crossing out her name and replacing it with Harp’s.

The post was quickly criticized by conservatives on social media.

HOUSE DEM’S ‘LAKE NATALIE’ JAB AT TRUMP AIDE SETS SOCIAL MEDIA ABLAZE: ‘STAY CLASSY’

“This is just such a weak, phoned-in effort,” GOP communicator Matt Whitlock posted on X. “My four year-old could come up with better burns than this.

“Weird how much time this campaign spends talking about other people‘s wives. When Abdul’s not talking about (and clearly thinking a lot about) the vice president and his wife, apparently he’s thinking about President Trump and his wife?”

“That boy Abdul is drowning, and his team keeps throwing him bricks,” journalist James David Dickson posted on X.

“So this is just gross, right?” Conservative advocacy group Michigan Forward posted on X.

SECOND LADY USHA VANCE FIRES BACK AT POINTED JAB FROM DEMOCRATIC SENATE NOMINEE ABDUL EL-SAYED

“A lil more sexism and misogyny from the Left,” political commentator Melik Abdul posted on X. “This time, it’s from the Guy who plays foootsie with Hasan Piker.”

Harp is a longtime Trump supporter who credited his first-term “right to try” order for saving her life after a serious battle with bone cancer. She then joined the second Trump administration as an aide to the president.

In recent weeks, Harp has become the subject of intense media scrutiny and online speculation about the nature of her relationship with Trump.

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In a post over the weekend responding to Vice President JD Vance’s comments that his grandfather, whom he called Pawpaw, would be shocked to know that El-Sayed is a serious U.S. Senate contender, the socialist-aligned candidate from Michigan responded by invoking second lady Usha Vance, who is of Indian descent.

“So do we think JD is taking Usha with him back in time to meet Papaw, or no…,” El-Sayed wrote on X.

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Fox News Digital reached out to El-Sayed’s campaign.

The Trump administration has started construction of a section of a border wall in Arizona despite objections from a Native American tribe.

The wall is part of a $46 billion effort to shore up the southern border with 30-foot steel bollard walls, vehicle barriers, and technology designed to stop illegal immigration and smuggling.

However, the Tohono O’odham Nation has said the construction will damage land sacred to the tribe, The Associated Press reported.

MULLIN TELLS CONGRESS PRIMARY BORDER WALL WILL BE DONE BY JUNE 2027, SECONDARY WALL BY SUMMER 2028

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said the desert spanning the Tohono O’odham Nation, which sits on both sides of the border, is a major corridor for drug smuggling.

“The project will close one of the most dangerous smuggling and trafficking corridors on the Southwest border: remote desert that has facilitated decades of drug loads, migrant deaths, and cartel activity,” said CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott.

TRUMP TO SHRINK 2 UTAH NATIONAL MONUMENTS BY 90%

The tribe, which has 37,000 members, including many who live in Mexico, sued the federal government in June in an attempt to halt the project.

The lawsuit argued the construction would cause “significant devastation” on the reservation, including the destruction of mountain peaks sacred to the tribe.

TRUMP SCORES MAJOR IMMIGRATION VICTORY AS JUDGE CLEARS WAY TO END TPS PROTECTIONS FOR THOUSANDS OF SOMALIS

A federal judge rejected the argument, siding with the government and noting that the border wall would be built on a 60-foot-wide buffer zone of federally owned land called the Roosevelt Reservation.

“Defendants have not yet articulated plans to construct outside the Roosevelt Reservation,” U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington, D.C., wrote in his opinion.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION NAMES ROSARIO ‘PETE’ VASQUEZ TO SERVE AS NEXT US BORDER PATROL CHIEF

The tribe said the construction still constitutes trespassing, even if the project is contained to the Roosevelt Reservation. The tribe set up “No Trespassing” signs this week and said masked CBP agents set up a vehicle blockade to stop tribal police from removing the contractors.

“The contractors, who are on the Nation illegally, were accompanied by agents as they worked on three separate locations near the border with drill trucks to conduct soil sampling and other activities,” tribal officials said in a statement.

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The tribe said it was exploring other legal means to remove the contractors.

Fox News Digital has reached out to CBP and the Tohono O’odham Nation for comment.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is making affordability a focal point of his agenda as the potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender moves to tackle housing costs — seizing on an issue that hurt Democrats politically while converging with pieces of President Donald Trump’s deregulatory housing agenda before the midterms.

Newsom’s biggest recent housing reforms in California came before Trump’s March 2026 executive order on regulatory barriers, but the two are pushing some of the same ideas, including faster approvals, fewer regulatory hurdles and more housing construction.

“This is a pattern that we’ve seen a couple times with Democrats, where they will fight tooth and nail against economic common sense, but if it starts pulling the wrong way for them, then they’ll come around to reality. So you know he’s focusing on a lot of things that Trump has been championing,” economist Peter St. Onge told Fox News Digital. “…These are things that the free-market economists have been championing for decades.”

St. Onge said while Newsom’s “transformation has been certainly striking,” California’s struggle to rebuild after the Palisades fire underscores whether that shift will translate into results.

THE KEY STRATEGY RED STATES ARE USING TO LOWER HOUSING COSTS REVEALED

“We saw this with the Palisades fires where thousands of houses were burned. And people go through… and look at exactly how many houses are under construction and it’s pretty close to zero. The regulatory blockade is insurmountable,” said St. Onge.

Newsom has embraced some of the same supply-side housing tools Trump has pushed nationally, including faster approvals, fewer regulatory barriers and efforts to reduce construction costs. California enacted its major recent reforms in June 2025, before Trump issued a housing-specific executive order targeting regulatory barriers in March 2026.

The push comes after Democrats notched big wins in 2025 by campaigning on affordability, reclaiming ground on an issue that had worked in Trump’s favor in 2024.

The Golden State governor signed a housing package in June 2025 to exempt certain projects from California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and streamline environmental review for qualifying housing and infrastructure development. Some Coastal Commission housing appeals were limited and new residential building standards through 2031 were placed on hold.

Newsom followed those changes in July by signing another housing package aimed at streamlining affordable-housing financing and project reviews.

“We can’t speak to the Trump administration’s approach, because he hasn’t done anything. Trump’s failed economic policies and tariffs (also called taxes on Americans) have increased prices and shut down supply chains – slowing building across the country,” Newsom director of communications Tara Gallegos told Fox News Digital when approached for comment.

“In contrast, in California, Governor Newsom has enacted historic reforms in California to boost affordability, accelerate housing production, and hold local governments accountable for planning and building the housing their communities need,” Gallegos added.

$104,200 SALARY IN ORANGE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA CONSIDERED ‘LOW-INCOME’ BY STATE OFFICIALS

Trump already made reducing regulatory barriers to home construction part of his federal housing agenda. He signed an executive order in March directing agencies to identify ways to speed permitting, reduce regulatory costs and encourage state and local governments to ease barriers to new construction.

The White House’s Economic Report of the President, published in April, went further by recommending specific state and local reforms, including by-right approval for code-compliant projects, deadlines of no more than 60 days for a right-to-build decision and 30 days for later permits and inspections, limits on certain fees, third-party inspections and fewer green-energy mandates.

“Unlike incompetent Governor Gavin Newscum, President Trump has been laser-focused on making housing more affordable. The President signed an Executive Order prohibiting large Wall Street firms from purchasing single-family homes, directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to purchase $200 billion in mortgage bonds that helped drive rates to four-year lows, and cut unnecessary red tape at a historic pace to boost supply, speed construction, and lower costs,” White House spokesperson Davis Ingle told Fox News Digital .

“The President will not stop fighting until the American Dream of homeownership is within reach for every American, which is why he continues to sign bold new executive orders and calls on Congress to pass further legislation,” added Ingle.

John Gibbs, Thomas A. Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies Director at The Heritage Foundation, told Fox News Digital that housing is better handled by state and local governments.

.TRUMP SCORES MAJOR WIN AS CONGRESS PASSES HOUSING CRACKDOWN ON WALL STREET INVESTORS

“While California’s recent efforts to streamline approvals and limit local barriers to development reflect policies to increase housing supply that many economists across the political spectrum support, it is important to recognize that housing supply is ultimately governed primarily by state and local governments, not Washington,” said Gibbs.

The president and governor both have different powers in their pockets they can use.

Newsom can directly use state power to override local zoning, streamline CEQA/permitting and pressure cities to build. Trump’s levers are largely federal — mortgage finance, federal regulation, GSEs and incentives/guidance to states.

“Federal policymakers have far greater control over demand-driven housing policies such as mortgage guarantees, federal mortgage insurance programs, the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), and monetary policy, than they do over local zoning and land-use decisions,” Gibbs explained.

Manhattan Institute senior fellow Judge Glock also Fox News Digital there are contrasts to the president and Newsom’s plans.

TRUMP’S AFFORDABILITY PLAN FACES CONSERVATIVE PUSHBACK AS POCKETBOOK ISSUES LOOM OVER MIDTERMS

“One problem is that many of Newsom’s housing laws contain handouts to unions or to environmental groups that further drive-up housing prices, such as requirements for union labor or for solar-paneled roofs,” said Glock. “The Trump administration, by contrast, has tried to limit such requirements for new housing.”

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“The Trump administration has also focused more on trying to expand cities outward and allowing more single-family homes, while Newsom has focused on densifying existing areas and building more apartments,” he added.

The social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, has uncovered a massive suspected Chinese bot farm conducting “influence operations” online in the United States, including pushing an anti-artificial intelligence and anti-data center narrative.

This comes as a national debate rages over the costs and benefits of continuing to develop artificial intelligence at breakneck speed and the massive data centers required to power it. The debate also has immense political implications, dividing parties internally as many members of the GOP break with President Donald Trump on AI and data centers.

As this national conversation unfolds, X’s Global Government Affairs account said the platform’s safety team identified a bot farm of approximately 200,000 inauthentic Chinese accounts “involved in influence operations.”

The X team said that within the bot farm, 200 accounts were found posting “in a manner that could manipulate a legitimate debate about American AI and energy policy.”

BLANCHE URGED TO INVESTIGATE ALLEGED FOREIGN INFLUENCE IN FIGHT AGAINST DATA CENTERS

According to the platform, posts by these accounts contained claims that AI data centers are driving up household electricity prices and straining the grid. The X team said other accounts also posted AI-generated cartoons depicting data center developers enriching themselves at the public’s expense.

One image shared by the team depicted horrified citizens across from data center developers with bags of cash with the caption, “Data centers get subsidized while we foot the bill!” Another image read that “the AI industry is booming, but the costs are being borne by ordinary people.”

Earlier this summer, OpenAI announced that it had banned a “cluster of ChatGPT accounts that likely originated in China” that were being used to generate a “covert influence operation” primarily targeting U.S. audiences. OpenAI said the accounts generated short comments and images similarly claiming that data centers and AI were increasing electricity demand and causing higher costs.

The influence campaigns were discovered as debate rages over AI. Critics of AI development say the data centers required to power it harm the environment, drive up electricity costs and decrease neighborhood property values. Proponents, meanwhile, say AI data center development is critical to national security and boosts local economies by creating jobs.

REPORT: CHINESE PROPAGANDA, SINGHAM NETWORK, FOREIGN DARK MONEY LINKED TO CAMPAIGNS AGAINST DATA CENTERS

Speaking at the White House earlier this week, Trump suggested that the AI industry needs “a little public relations help,” pointing to a May Gallup poll that showed a majority of Americans oppose data centers being built in their communities.

He said that local communities and states should want to welcome data centers because “the jobs are enormous, and the money paid, the taxes paid are just enormous.”

“And if you don’t take it, you’re going to be left behind because there are plenty of places that want it,” he added.

Meanwhile, Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., has warned that China benefits from “overreaction” to “AI doomsdaying” in the U.S. as the two countries compete for dominance in the industry.

Fetterman wrote that “AI supremacy and energy dominance underpins our national security.”

FETTERMAN ALIGNS WITH TRUMP ON AI PUSH, WARNS CHINA BENEFITS FROM US ‘OVERREACTION’

Following the discovery of the Chinese influence campaign, X’s Global Government Affairs team wrote that “we take seriously any attempts to undermine the integrity of the global town square and suspend accounts that violate our Authenticity policy.”

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The platform said it remains “committed to maintaining an open and authentic platform where people debate topics of public interest.”

Fox BUSINESS‘ James Cirrone and Fox News Digital’s Michael Sinkewicz contributed to this report.

A House Democrat’s jab at one of President Donald Trump’s most loyal aides prompted a firestorm on social media.

Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., is getting heat from the right and praise from the left after she quipped about Trump’s decision to rename Lake Ontario. 

“Let’s just call it Lake Natalie so we know you’ll start protecting our Great Lakes,” she wrote on X.

Trump signed an order on Thursday renaming one of the five Great Lakes “Lake America” amid an ongoing trade dispute with Canada.

HOUSE DEM DEBBIE DINGELL PLACES TRUMP’S LAKE ONTARIO NAME CHANGE IN THE CROSSHAIRS

Dingell’s comment appears to be aimed at Trump aide Natalie Harp, a close confidante of the president, whom Democrats have seized on after she was reportedly one of the small group of people who joined Trump on a separate plane after a potential Iranian plot to take down Air Force One.

The comment has prompted fierce backlash from Trump allies who accuse Democrats of unfairly targeting a White House aide trying to do her job — a sentiment that was on full display online this week.

JON OSSOFF DODGES ON WHY HE INVOKED TRUMP AIDE’S NAME DURING GEORGIA CAMPAIGN RALLY

“You’re being exactly who I said Democrats were all along. You don’t care about protecting women from sexism/misogyny. You just care if they have an R behind their name,” GOP commentator Melik Abdul wrote on X.

Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Robert “Buzz” Patterson said, “Wow. Stay classy, Michigan.”

OBAMA STRATEGIST TURNS ON RISING DEM STAR OVER VIRAL TRUMP ATTACK: ‘GRATUITOUS AND UNNECESSARY’

“Ouch! Not so nice to a young woman staffer .. i suspect your target is the President but it is not nice to the young staffer.. why does she deserve this ? …this all started with a snarky comment by a dem senator,” veteran news anchor Greta Van Susteren wrote.

Van Susteren was referencing a comment by Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., that kicked off the frenzy over Harp in the first place. Ossoff said during a rally that Trump would rather “build his ballroom and travel with Natalie” than do the job of president.

CNN, MS NOW HAVE MENTIONED TRUMP AIDE NATALIE HARP HUNDREDS OF TIMES SINCE OSSOFF’S VIRAL JAB

“Is this the new move when a dem wants to pretend they’re relevant?” former Trump spokeswoman Elizabeth Pipko wrote on X.

Pundit Rich Baris wrote, “We’re starting to see glimmers of the Ole’ Democrat crazy we all have come to know in the Trump Era.”

But left-wing social media circles cheered Dingell on.

“Debbie wins the Internet today, full stop,” wrote former conservative lawyer and failed congressional candidate George Conway.

Democrat Janice Hough wrote, “Rep. Debbie, I was not familiar with your game.”

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“Debbie hits a grand slam,” quipped Norman Ornstein, contributing editor for The Atlantic.

Former secretary of state and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton found herself on the wrong end of social media criticism after taking issue with President Donald Trump’s move to rename Lake Ontario amid a heated trade war with Canada.

“It’s Lake Ontario,” Clinton posted on Thursday, inserting herself into the debate stemming from Trump’s executive order instructing the Department of Interior to refer to the lake as “Lake America” from now on.

Clinton, whose X account does not allow replies, was immediately mocked by conservatives over her failed presidential run against Trump as the post surpassed 3 million views in just a few hours.

“It’s not President Hillary Clinton…and never will be,” conservative commentator CJ Pearson posted on X.

CLINTON’S EYEBROW-RAISING SOCIALISM TAKE SPARKS BRUTAL MOCKERY: ‘DEFINITION OF INSANITY’

“Trump Controls the News Cycle Volume 87187585124782,” former Trump DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin posted on X.

“It’s President Donald J. Trump,” the Republican National Committee (RNC) posted on X.

“And you’ll never be President,” Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., posted on X.

‘CAPTAIN CANADA’ FIREBRAND UNLOADS ON TRUMP WITH PROFANE ONE-LINER AS TRADE WAR ESCALATES

“Loser says what?” conservative commentator Jillian King Anderson posted on X.

“Democrats preferring Canada to America is the least surprising thing I’ve seen all day,” conservative commentator Michael Knowles posted on X.

“Hillary’s out here shooting blanks ,” conservative radio host Vince Coglianese posted on X.

Trump’s move to rename the lake, which sits on the U.S.-Canada border, came amid a breakdown in trade between both nations, with Trump accusing Ottawa of unfair trade practices.

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The U.S. imposed new 50% tariffs on Canadian goods such as wine, furniture and dairy products, while Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said U.S. trade demands proved Washington wanted to “destroy our major industries,” including autos, steel and aluminum.

“Canada has been ripping us off for a long time on trade,” Trump said Thursday. “Very sadly, even the military, you know, we defend Canada for nothing. We don’t get anything. They don’t pay us to defend Canada.”

Trump previously used geographic names to make political statements, ordering the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America in January 2025.

“The Lake of America was something I’ve been thinking about for a long time, actually. As you know, we took something called the Gulf of Mexico — we changed it — and now it’s very routinely the Gulf of America,” Trump said in the Oval Office on Thursday.

Several prominent Democrats have come out against the name change, including New York’s Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul who said New York, which borders the lake’s southern side, “won’t be calling it that.”

Fox News Digital’s Louis Casiano contributed to this report

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One year ago this week, Texas passed a new congressional redistricting map, giving President Donald Trump his first major victory in his push to give Republicans a big boost heading into the midterm elections by drawing more right-leaning districts.   

One year later, as they fight to hold their razor-thin House majority, Republicans are the big winners, with partisan redistricting netting them at least 10 additional right-leaning congressional seats in time for the midterms.

Democrats and left-leaning pundits repeatedly railed against Trump’s efforts and charged they would “shred our country’s democracy.”

Top Democrats aimed to fight fire with fire but fell short. Their efforts to keep pace with the GOP were derailed following major court rulings by the Supreme Court and Virginia’s top court earlier this year, which were seen as major legal victories for Republicans. And the GOP scored another redistricting win earlier this month in Missouri, when a judge allowed a new map, backed by Trump and passed last year by Republican state lawmakers, to be used in November’s elections.

BLOCKBUSTER SUPREME COURT RULING IGNITES REDISTRICTING WARS ACROSS SOUTHERN STATES

Progressive pundits that cast Trump’s push for Texas to redraw its congressional map before the 2026 midterms as a threat to voting rights and democracy. Among them was former MSNBC anchor Joy Reid.

She branded the fight a “Voting Rights 911” and later titled a segment on “The Joy Reid Show” as “Texas’s War on Democracy Through Gerrymandering.”

John Oliver, host of “Last Week Tonight” on HBO, was also among a group of pundits that criticized the redistricting push as a power grab by Trump and the GOP.

Oliver said gerrymandering was the practice of manipulating maps “to get the outcome you want,” and called it “putting a heavy thumb on the scale of who gets elected.”

Fox News Digital reached out to representatives for Reid and Oliver to see if they continue to stand by their criticism, but didn’t receive responses by the time this story was published.

It wasn’t just pundits who spoke out.

Top Democrats also took action, after Trump, aiming to prevent what happened during his first term in the White House when Democrats reclaimed the House majority in the 2018 midterms, first floated the idea of rare, but not unheard of, mid-decade congressional redistricting.

After Texas led the way last summer, Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin called a ruling by the conservative-dominated Supreme Court to greenlight the redistricting a victory for a “rigged map” meant to protect the GOP from midterm accountability.

“But it will backfire,” Martin predicted.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who led a successful redistricting effort in his Democrat-dominated state last year to negate the GOP gains in Texas, emphasized, “California will not sit idle as Trump and his Republican lapdogs shred our country’s democracy before our very eyes.”

TWIN COURT RULINGS RESHAPE HOUSE BATTLEFIELD AS DEMOCRATS FIGHT UPHILL REDISTRICTING BATTLE

And Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York, who considered but decided against redrawing congressional maps in the blue-leaning state, charged that Trump and Republicans were aiming to “erode our democracy and drag us toward authoritarianism.”

A veteran Republican strategist sees the Democrats’ arguments as hypocritical.

“The left’s overcharged political rhetoric is undermined by Governor Gavin Newsom’s willingness to spearhead a power grab in his state that eliminated at least 5 GOP congressional seats,” Colin Reed told Fox News Digital.

Reed argued that “Democratic leaders had the same goal as Republicans with mid-decade redistricting; they just weren’t as successful, but their intent makes any complaints about democracy ring hollow.”

But Democrats stand by their resistance.

“Elected leaders in every state should respond aggressively to this unAmerican attempt to rig control of congress for a generation,” John Bisognano, executive director of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, told Fox News Digital.

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While Texas and California were the first major battlegrounds in the redistricting war, the fight quickly spread from coast-to-coast.

Republican-controlled Florida, Missouri, and Ohio and swing state North Carolina, where the GOP dominates the legislature, drew new maps as part of the president’s push.

But in blows to Republicans, a Utah district judge late last year rejected a congressional district map drawn by the state’s GOP-dominated legislature and instead approved an alternate that created a Democratic-leaning district ahead of the midterms.

And Republicans in Indiana’s state Senate in December defied Trump, shooting down a redistricting bill that had passed the state House.

But Democrats were dealt a major blow this spring when the Virginia Supreme Court struck down the Democrat-controlled state’s congressional redistricting ballot measure, which would have produced up to four more left-leaning House seats.

DEMOCRACY ’26: STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE FOX NEWS ELECTION HUB

Concurrently, a blockbuster decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that gutted key portions of the landmark Voting Rights Act – ruling that race should not dictate the redrawing of legislative districts – gave a handful of GOP-dominated Southern states the greenlight to move forward with redistricting.

The legal rulings locked in an advantage for Republicans in this year’s battle for the House. Now it’s up to voters to decide which party will control Congress.

But the redistricting fight is far from over.

Democrat-controlled New York is taking steps toward redistricting in time for the 2028 elections.

So is blue state Maryland, but a court ruling on Wednesday dealt Democrats a setback. A Maryland court blocked Democrats from adding a congressional redistricting initiative to the November ballot on Wednesday. The Democrat-backed effort would have allowed Maryland residents to vote on an amendment to the state constitution to let lawmakers redraw district maps ahead of the 2028 elections.

Meanwhile, battleground Georgia, where Republicans currently control the governor’s office and state legislature, is also mulling a move.

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“The gerrymandering crisis Trump started last year is is not over. We expect him to continue demanding new congressional maps that manipulate voting districts to protect Republicans despite what American voters want,” Bisognano told Fox News Digital.

He urged state leaders to speak out and draw “responsive maps to ensure the national congressional map reflects the make up and the will of the American people.”

A Los Angeles councilwoman’s celebration of a newly painted neighborhood crosswalk has drawn online mockery after critics seized on the months-long timeline and glossy “street infrastructure” rollout for what they said amounted to a basic city service.

Los Angeles Councilmember Nithya Raman, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, is facing online mockery after celebrating the completion of a neighborhood crosswalk project, which was first raised by the Los Feliz Neighborhood Council late last year, in a post on X. The post featured before-and-after images and thanked her field team for “continuing to problem-solve, push for solutions, and make our streets safer.”

“Dear Lord, Nithya. Your standards are so incredibly low,” responded Richard Grenell, Presidential Envoy for Special Missions amid Donald Trump’s second term. “They didn’t even fix the street, they painted over cracks. And it took them a year…..”

“Holy s—t, my sides…Nithya Raman’s big accomplishment is taking 9 months to paint 7 yellow stripes over a cracked street?” quipped former L.A. mayoral candidate and reality television star Spencer Pratt. “How dumb do you have to be to post this? BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA”

DEM’S MELTDOWN OVER ‘TERRORIST SYMPATHIZER’ HASAN PIKER TRIGGERS INSTANT CONSERVATIVE MOCKERY: ‘YIKES’

“This is beyond parody,” responded conservative commentator Ben Shapiro. “Eight months to paint some yellow lines. Huge infrastructure victory! Make her mayor!”

“They’re calling it the most ambitious infrastructure project since the Golden Gate Bridge,” added the Manhattan Institute’s Chris Rufo.

AOC’S SOCIALIST CREDENTIALS FACE FRESH SCRUTINY AFTER GLARING 7-YEAR GAP SURFACES: ‘VERY CONVENIENT’

Fox News Digital reached out to Raman’s office and Pratt for comment but did not receive a response before publication.

Raman’s announcement labeled the work “Improving Our Neighborhood Street Infrastructure” and included before-and-after photos showing yellow crosswalk markings across the cracked roadway. She said the Los Feliz Neighborhood Council had brought the issue to her office in late 2025.

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The post did not specify the project’s cost, when physical work began, which city department performed it or whether the work involved safety improvements beyond the painted markings.

The race to build the infrastructure behind artificial intelligence is creating a new boom for America’s blue-collar workforce, as construction firms scramble to fill jobs building data centers, power systems and the facilities that keep the technology running.

The rapid buildout is putting a new premium on skilled trades, with data centers requiring armies of workers to prepare sites, pour concrete, install electrical systems and handle the infrastructure needed to bring them online.

“For many years, there’s been a lack of focus just in general from what is the benefit of a career in the trades,” explained Cole Renken, general manager of Merlo America, the U.S. division of Italian construction equipment manufacturer Merlo Group.

“It’s a very stable income, very stable lifestyle that you can provide for,” he added.

ONE OF AMERICA’S OLDEST MANUFACTURERS SAYS AI IS CREATING JOBS — NOT REPLACING THEM

Now, the AI infrastructure boom could bring renewed attention to those careers.

U.S. construction spending is projected to climb from $2.22 trillion in 2026 to $2.85 trillion by 2031, according to a new report from Merlo America developed with predictive sales intelligence firm BiltData.ai. Industrial construction, which includes factories and data centers, is projected to reach $684 billion by 2031, representing 24% of total U.S. construction spending.

Much of that growth is being driven by the infrastructure needed to power AI, cloud computing and 5G, with data centers emerging as a major source of construction and industrial activity. And building those facilities requires skilled workers at nearly every stage of a project.

Renken said large projects require heavy-equipment operators to prepare sites and logistics workers to coordinate materials, followed by concrete workers, electricians, plumbers and other skilled trades as construction progresses. Electrical workers, he said, could face particularly high demand.

A SOUTHERN STATE JUST TOOK THE TOP SPOT IN ONE OF THE WORLD’S FASTEST-GROWING INDUSTRIES

And the jobs don’t necessarily disappear once construction is complete.

Brittany Kaiser, CEO of AI infrastructure company Alpha Compute, told Fox News Digital that data centers require workers not only to build the facilities and energy infrastructure, but also to install equipment, monitor operations, perform maintenance and support future expansion.

“These are projects that can provide hundreds or thousands of jobs over many, many years,” Kaiser said. “It’s not a quick construction project.”

She described data centers as “a constant construction project,” requiring workers across construction, electricity, energy development, monitoring and maintenance as facilities grow and expand.

That ongoing demand could create opportunities for surrounding communities, particularly for workers who can be trained for specialized positions.

“It’s jobs that can also be taught and trained,” Kaiser said. “So it’s very possible to engage with the community on education and training initiatives to allow people to get access to these higher paying jobs that they didn’t have a skill set for before.”

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But as projects multiply, finding enough skilled workers could become a challenge.

Renken said shortages in the trades have persisted throughout much of his career and could intensify as more projects come online.

The boom, he said, is also a reminder that even the most advanced technology depends on physical infrastructure and the skilled workers needed to build and maintain it. That need, he said, could bring new attention to skilled trades that have long been overshadowed by the focus on high-tech jobs.

“To me, it has been kind of an overshadowed market that hasn’t gotten the attention that it needs,” he said.

President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America, a move that came amid a trade war with Canada. 

“The Lake of America was something I’ve been thinking about for a long time, actually. As you know, we took something called the Gulf of Mexico — we changed it — and now it’s very routinely the Gulf of America,” Trump said in the Oval Office.

The president said he has directed Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and the department to update the Geographic Names Information System to reflect the name change. 

TRUMP JUST EXPANDED HIS TARIFF PLAYBOOK WITH A POWERFUL TRADE WEAPON NO PRESIDENT HAS EVER USED

The order called Lake Ontario a “tremendous asset” to the United States. 

“The United States is the greatest protector of the Great Lakes, including the body of water currently known as Lake Ontario,” the order states. “Without the security and investment provided by the United States, this freshwater system would not be open for shipping, recreation, and responsible use to the same extent as it is today.”

The order said the U.S. Coast Guard supplies nine of the 11 ice-breaking vessels on the Great Lakes, securing commercial shipping lanes free of charge. The U.S. has also invested nearly $4 billion in protecting the Great Lakes freshwater ecosystem in the last decade, while Canada “has invested far less in similar initiatives over the same period.”

On X, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Lake Ontario comes from the “Wendat word Ontari’io, which, appropriately, means ‘the lake is beautiful, the lake is big.'”

“The name is more than 400 years old, predating both the Confederation of Canada and the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America,” Carney wrote. “We know that America is changing. Their trading relationships, their foreign policies, their national monuments, their hydronyms. Canadians also know that naming reality means calling it Lake Ontario – then, now and always.”

The move to rename the lake, which sits on the U.S.-Canada border, came amid a breakdown in trade between both nations, with Trump accusing Ottawa of unfair trade practices.

OPINION: TRUMP MUST CLOSE THE BACK DOOR CHINA USES TO EXPLOIT NORTH AMERICAN TRADE

Trump floated renaming Lake Ontario, one of the Great Lakes, hours before Carney’s announcement of reciprocal tariffs on U.S. imports. 

The U.S. imposed new 50% tariffs on Canadian goods such as wine, furniture and dairy products, while Carney said U.S. trade demands proved Washington wanted to “destroy our major industries,” including autos, steel and aluminum, FOX Business previously reported.

“Canada has been ripping us off for a long time on trade,” Trump said Thursday. “Very sadly, even the military, you know, we defend Canada for nothing. We don’t get anything. They don’t pay us to defend Canada.”

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He said that Canada wants to “be treated like a state” and “we just can’t do that anymore.” Trump angered Canadian officials last year when he advocated for Canada to become the 51st U.S. state. 

Trump even jokingly floated renaming the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

“So, if you think about it, we have a gulf and we have a lake,” he said. “Now, all we need is an ocean. So maybe we’ll have to change the name of the Atlantic and or the Pacific. Maybe we’ll change them both.”

Trump previously used geographic names to make political statements, ordering the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. 

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman is backing a once-futuristic answer to America’s fight over AI data centers: Move them into Earth’s orbit.

Isaacman said Wednesday that solar-powered facilities in space could tap the sun’s energy without competing for the land, water and grid capacity required by sprawling data centers proposed across the country.

“Let’s take our data centers, put them in Earth orbit, take advantage of that free fusion reactor that’s out there for us and use that to ensure we do win the space race for sure, but the AI race, too,” Isaacman said in an interview with Nexstar DC.

Isaacman’s idea comes as voters push back on the data center boom. A Fox News poll this summer found 70% of voters oppose building AI data centers in their own area, while 79% said construction should slow to address environmental and community concerns rather than move as quickly as possible to maintain a competitive edge over China.

TRUMP TO HONOR ARTEMIS II ASTRONAUTS WHO TRAVELED FARTHER FROM EARTH THAN ANY HUMANS IN HISTORY

Half of those opposed said environmental issues, including energy and water use, pollution and noise, were their chief concern.

The idea comes with its own engineering problems. AI chips produce immense heat, and satellites would have to release it through large radiators. Operators would also need cheap, reliable launches, radiation-resistant hardware and laser links fast enough to connect thousands of computers spread across orbit.

That has not stopped companies from trying to turn the concept into a business. Google has called Project Suncatcher a “moonshot” to place its TPU chips on solar-powered satellites linked by lasers. It plans to launch two prototype satellites by early 2027 to test its hardware in orbit and determine whether the satellites can share data fast enough for AI workloads.

PETER NAVARRO: TRUMP’S ARTEMIS VISION IS NOW FLYING — AND CHINA IS PAYING ATTENTION

SpaceX is pursuing a more aggressive version. Its proposed AI1 satellite would stand about 98 feet tall, have a wingspan of roughly 246 feet and carry up to 175 kilowatts of average AI computers, according to the company. SpaceX says it is building a Texas factory intended to produce thousands of the satellites as early as late 2027.

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Small-scale tests are already underway. Startup Starcloud launched a satellite carrying a Nvidia H100 chip in November and says it later ran a version of Google’s Gemini model and trained a small language model in space. Starcloud plans its first commercial mission, Starcloud-2, for 2027.

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SpaceX has also asked the Federal Communications Commission for authority to deploy as many as 1 million orbital data-center satellites between 500 and 2,000 kilometers above Earth. The satellites would use optical links to communicate with one another and SpaceX’s Starlink network. The FCC has accepted the application for review but has not approved the constellation.

President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order renaming Lake Ontario “Lake America,” then joked that the Atlantic and Pacific oceans could be next.

“As you know, we took something called the Gulf of Mexico, we changed it, and now it’s very routinely the Gulf of America,” Trump said.

“So if you think about it, we have a gulf and we have a lake. Now all we need is an ocean,” he continued. “So maybe we’ll have to change the name of the Atlantic and or the Pacific. Maybe we’ll change them both.”

VANCE SAYS CANADA FRIENDLIER TO CHINA ON TRADE THAN TO US: ‘INSANITY’

Trump declared the Lake Ontario change “official, effective immediately” while announcing the order.

“And finally, it’s the purpose of this more than anything else is we’re going to be changing the name of Lake Ontario, effective immediately to Lake America,” Trump said. “That’s going to take place right now as I signed the order.”

‘CAPTAIN CANADA’ FIREBRAND UNLOADS ON TRUMP WITH PROFANE ONE-LINER AS TRADE WAR ESCALATES

The president said the administration had “filed all the necessary papers, documents, everything else” and notified the relevant parties.

“So we’ve done everything that you have to do. And this is official, effective immediately,” Trump said.

CANADA REPORTEDLY SCRAPS JOINT BRIDGE CELEBRATION WITH US AFTER TRUMP RENEWS TARIFF THREAT

The order directs Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, working with the Board on Geographic Names, to take steps within 30 days to rename the lake in the federal Geographic Names Information System and remove references to “Lake Ontario.” 

It also directs the board to ensure federal maps, contracts, documents and agency communications use the new name.

TRUMP BLAMES CANADA FOR WILDFIRE SMOKE, SAYS POLLUTION COSTS SHOULD BE ADDED TO TARIFFS

The order does not control the name used by Canada, which borders the lake along with New York.

It is not Trump’s first effort to put an American stamp on a major body of water.

On his first day back in office, Trump signed Executive Order 14172, “Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness,” directing the federal government to use “Gulf of America” in place of the Gulf of Mexico.

TRUMP JUST EXPANDED HIS TARIFF PLAYBOOK WITH A POWERFUL TRADE WEAPON NO PRESIDENT HAS EVER USED

Trump later signed a proclamation declaring Feb. 9, 2025, the first “Gulf of America Day” while aboard Air Force One over the newly renamed gulf en route to Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans.

“Today, I am very honored to recognize February 9, 2025, as the first ever Gulf of America Day,” Trump wrote in the proclamation.

CHAD WOLF: CANADA CAN’T EXPECT FREE TRADE WHILE LEAVING OUR NORTHERN BORDER VULNERABLE

Burgum said at the time that the Interior Department had implemented Trump’s instruction from the executive order.

The Lake America order invokes that same policy, arguing that the United States is the “greatest protector” of the Great Lakes system. 

It points to nearly $4 billion in U.S. freshwater ecosystem investment over the last decade, as well as the Coast Guard’s fleet of icebreaking vessels.

SENATORS REJECT TRUMP’S CALL TO MAKE CANADA PAY FOR WILDFIRE SMOKE: ‘RIDICULOUS’

“The United States has invested nearly $4 billion in protecting the Great Lakes freshwater ecosystem in the last decade, while Canada has invested far less in similar initiatives over the same period,” the order states.

The order also cites the lake’s historic role in American trade, settlement, defense, commerce and energy, arguing it remains a major economic and strategic resource for the United States.

“In recognition of this flourishing economic resource and its critical importance to our Nation’s economy and its people, I am directing that the Lake officially be renamed as Lake America,” Trump wrote.

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Trump’s comments about renaming the Atlantic and Pacific appeared to be a joke. He announced no executive action or formal effort targeting either ocean.

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

The Trump administration spent months insisting Iran did not control passage through the Strait of Hormuz.

But after Iran and Oman unveiled a proposed framework that Tehran says would exclude military vessels if finalized, the White House would not say whether President Donald Trump would accept any restriction on U.S. warships under the arrangement.

U.S. Central Command, meanwhile, rejected Iran’s underlying claim of authority.

“Iran does not control the Strait of Hormuz,” CENTCOM spokesperson Capt. Tim Hawkins told Fox News Digital. “The strait is an international waterway that commercial vessels continue to transit with U.S. military assistance.”

IRAN FAILS TO STRIKE DEAL WITH US AS DEADLINE PASSES AND TRUMP CALLS FOR ‘WHITE FLAG OF SURRENDER’

Fox News Digital asked whether Trump would accept a restriction on U.S. military vessels if the proposal becomes binding, whether American forces would be expected to comply and whether U.S. warships retain the right to operate in the strait regardless of any future arrangement. The White House did not respond.

Hawkins said U.S. forces have helped nearly 1,500 vessels transit the strait since early May.

The silence marks a shift after months in which the administration publicly challenged Iranian efforts to dictate passage through Hormuz. Secretary of State Marco Rubio repeatedly called a proposed toll system illegal and unacceptable, while Trump threatened Oman this month if it “gets in the way” of a U.S. deal with Iran.

TRUMP THREATENS ‘UNPRECEDENTED’ ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES FOR ANY NATION AIDING IRAN

The administration has also spent months applying military and economic pressure aimed at reopening the strait on U.S. terms. American forces have struck Iranian military targets, protected commercial shipping and maintained a blockade of Iranian ports, while the administration expanded sanctions through its new Operation Economic Outcast campaign.

Those measures have helped push some ships back through Hormuz, but traffic remains far below pre-war levels.

Oil flows through the strait stood Monday at about 5 million barrels per day, down from more than 20 million barrels per day before the war, according to Reuters, which cited provisional Vortexa tracking data.

Iran is now pursuing a reopening arrangement that, by its account, would preserve a measure of control over the waterway while excluding foreign military vessels.

Oman and Iran announced a proposed framework Monday to reopen the strait through a joint temporary navigational corridor and a joint mine-clearing project.

Their joint statement said technical talks would continue on a permanent corridor, future administration of the strait, traffic management and security services, leaving key terms unresolved.

Iranian officials filled in some of those blanks Tuesday.

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Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said the temporary arrangement would route commercial ships entering the Persian Gulf through Iranian waters, with outbound traffic moving through Iranian and Omani waters. He said the proposal would exclude military vessels if it becomes binding.

Separately, Sepah News, an outlet run by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, quoted IRGC spokesman Hossein Mohebbi as saying Iran and Oman had reached agreements on “each country’s share of the strait’s waters” and the two countries’ “share of its revenues.”

Mohebbi also accused the U.S. of obstructing the talks.

US CLAWS BACK KEY CONCESSION TO IRAN AFTER FRESH ATTACKS ON COMMERCIAL SHIPS IN STRAIT OF HORMUZ

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But Oman’s public statement did not mention a military-vessel ban, transit fees or revenue sharing, and described the framework as proposed. Iranian officials also told Reuters the arrangement was not yet final.

That leaves the arrangement’s most consequential question unresolved: whether Iran can use the emerging commercial shipping framework to restrict American military access to the strait — and what the Trump administration intends to do if Tehran tries.

A federal judge on Thursday again blocked President Donald Trump’s executive order limiting mail-in voting, halting the directive, at least for now, for a second time with only about a week before the first mail ballots are expected to be sent out for the upcoming midterm elections.

U.S. District Court Judge Indira Talwani issued a 14-day temporary restraining order blocking enforcement of the new U.S. Postal Service rule implementing the order.

The ruling is likely to be quickly appealed and could soon make its way back to the Supreme Court, days after the nation’s highest court handed down a procedural decision that allowed the administration to move forward.

Thursday’s ruling comes after Democrats and voting rights groups refiled their lawsuits to comply with the recent Supreme Court decision. The high court did not address the legality of Trump’s order, only finding that Talwani had acted too soon.

JACKSON RIPS INTO SUPREME COURT COLLEAGUES’ ‘SERIOUS LEGAL ERROR’ ON TRUMP MAIL-IN VOTING ORDER

The administration has now issued a formal rule governing how states must prepare and submit mail ballots for USPS acceptance, effectively taking the legal fight back to square one.

The case will have a significant impact on November’s midterms, as nearly one-third of Americans vote by mail and election officials argue there is not enough time to amend their systems to comply with the new directives.

The Postal Service said it will not accept outbound mail ballots if states do not submit required recipient information through its portal and meet the rule’s envelope and barcode requirements.

“Plaintiff states have neither time nor funds to design new mail ballots, seek approval of the new designs, order production of mail ballots, update their own election management systems, train election officials to use the USPS portal and upload citizen data to the portal, all before the midterms,” Talwani wrote in Thursday’s ruling.

A hearing in the case is scheduled for Sept. 3.

USPS WOULDN’T DELIVER BALLOTS IN STATES THAT REFUSE TO FORK OVER MAIL-IN VOTER INFO UNDER PROPOSED RULE

Democrats and voting rights groups argue that the Postal Service rule and Trump’s order are unconstitutional. They say the Constitution grants states, as well as Congress in some cases, the authority to establish election rules, noting that the president and Postal Service do not have that power. USPS, however, says the rule does not determine voter eligibility or compare submissions with state voter rolls, and that states retain control over who may vote by mail.

“This rule is a clear attempt by the federal government to interfere in elections it has no power to control. Today, a federal court halted it before this administration could wreak havoc on our elections,” New York Attorney General Letitia James, one of two dozen Democrat attorneys general who filed one of the lawsuits, said in a statement.

Trump’s first executive order, which was issued last year, was blocked on those grounds.

The order attempted to change election procedures, including by requiring additional physical documentation to register to vote, such as a U.S. passport, a REAL ID or military ID indicating U.S. citizenship or a government-issued photo ID accompanied by proof of citizenship.

Trump has long criticized mail-in voting, which he falsely attributes to his 2020 election loss to former President Joe Biden. But Trump himself uses mail-in voting to cast his ballot as a registered voter in Florida.

FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION FROM RESTRICTING MAIL-IN BALLOTS AHEAD OF MIDTERMS

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According to a 2025 report by the Brookings Institution, mail-in voting fraud was recorded in only about four cases out of every 10 million mail ballots cast, contradicting claims by Trump and his allies that election fraud is widespread. The analysis covered general elections from 2016 through 2022 and relied in part on a database that its source says is not comprehensive.

Trump issued the executive order targeting mail-in voting in March, leading to legal challenges. 

In a separate case, a federal judge in Washington declined earlier this year to block the order at that stage, finding the challenge premature because the administration had not yet implemented the directive.

The Supreme Court struck down one of those holds earlier this week.

Talwani removed the second injunction a short time later. The plaintiffs then refiled their challenges, pointing to the Postal Service’s publishing of its final rule, in an effort to build a stronger case.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Minnesota’s progressive Attorney General Keith Ellison accused Texas Gov. Greg Abbott of turning the Lone Star State into a “sanctuary state for violent criminals” after an ICE agent charged in the shooting of a man in Minneapolis was released from a Texas jail, escalating a politically charged extradition fight between the two states.

Christian Castro, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent charged in connection with a non-fatal January shooting in Minneapolis, was released Thursday from a south Texas jail after a federal judge denied Minnesota’s emergency request to keep him in custody and compel Abbott to sign the extradition warrant. Texas law generally limits pre-extradition detention to 90 days, and Abbott has not yet decided whether to approve Minnesota’s request.

“This is not politics — this is not a game,” Ellison said in a statement after Castro’s release. “If a governor can delay extraditions and cherry-pick cases according to their political tastes, then no state will be able to hold fugitive criminals accountable.”

COLORADO DA PURSUES ASSAULT CHARGE AGAINST FEDERAL IMMIGRATION OFFICER, DHS CONDEMNS ‘POLITICAL STUNT’

Meanwhile, Ellison wrote on X that by “refusing to extradite Castro, Greg Abbott is turning Texas into a sanctuary state for violent criminals.”

“You guys are such bad lawyers. You showed up unprepared, uninformed & unpersuasive. You don’t know the law & it showed,” Abbott wrote on X in response to Ellison’s post calling Texas a “sanctuary state for violent criminals.”

“Minn. is the literal definition of a sanctuary state because you refuse to assist in enforcing immigration laws,” Abbott shot back. “I’ll put Minneapolis at the top of the list for future bus drop offs if we ever have a President like Joe Biden again.”

Castro faces four felony counts of second-degree assault and one misdemeanor count of falsely reporting a crime – charges filed by a Minnesota state court. He is accused of firing through the front door of an occupied north Minneapolis home during an ICE operation in January, striking Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in the leg. Castro has maintained that he acted in self-defense.

EXCLUSIVE: LA ICE DIRECTOR REVEALS OFFICERS FOLLOWED HOME, HARASSED AS POLICE FAIL TO HELP IN SANCTUARY CITY

Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty’s office filed the underlying state charges against Castro following an investigation by Minnesota’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. The Trump administration initially cast the episode as an attack on an ICE officer, but ICE later placed Castro and another agent on administrative leave after its acting director said they appeared to have made “untruthful statements” about what happened.

Minnesota prosecutors say surveillance video and other evidence contradict Castro’s account that he fired after being attacked with a broom and snow shovel. Federal assault charges initially filed against Sosa-Celis and another man were later dismissed after prosecutors said new evidence was “materially inconsistent” with the original allegations.

WATCH: HOUSTON FACES $110M HIT AS TEXAS GOV LAYS DOWN LAW ON ‘SANCTUARY’ POLICIES

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Abbott has said Texas is investigating whether Castro qualifies as a fugitive subject to extradition, noting that the agent returned to Texas on federal orders rather than voluntarily fleeing Minnesota. The governor’s office praised the judge’s ruling, accusing Minnesota of trying to force a deadline on Abbott’s review.

Fox News Digital asked Abbott’s office about how the governor was planning to act on Minnesota’s extradition request and for clarification on Texas’ review of Castro’s fugitive status, but did not receive a response before publication.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin responded to criticism from Texas Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico about the deportation of a young boy who was detained with his father by federal immigration authorities.

Victor Martinez Nieto and his 5-year-old son, Liam Tadeo, were both deported Tuesday. The pair were detained by authorities in Austin, Texas, earlier this month while on their way to a soccer match.

On Wednesday, Talarico, who has highlighted the case in his criticism of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement agenda, said Tadeo, who was slated to start kindergarten this week, should have spent his first day of school in a classroom.

DEM’S STUNNING IDEAL STANDARD FOR IMMIGRATION DETENTION CONDITIONS RESURFACES AMID TEXAS SENATE BID

“ICE kidnapped Liam Tadeo on his way to a soccer game with his dad,” Talarico wrote on X. “Liam should be in kindergarten. Instead, our government has thrown him in a prison camp hundreds of miles from home.”

On Thursday, Talarico posted that Liam had been deported.

HOMAN BLASTS DEM HYPOCRISY ON DEPORTATIONS, RECALLS PAST WHEN ‘OBAMA GAVE ME AN AWARD’ FOR ENFORCING BORDER

Looking to set the record straight, Mullin said Talarico “won’t tell the American people the full story.” He said the boy was deported with Martinez Nieto at his father’s request.

“ICE does NOT separate families,” Mullin wrote. “Parents are asked if they want to be removed with their children or ICE will place the children with a safe person the parent designates. In this case, both the father and son were deported together.”

BIDEN JUDGE OVERRULED ON KEY TRUMP IMMIGRATION POLICY

Mullin noted that parents are responsible for what happens to their children “just as any U.S. citizen parent who breaks the law is when they are arrested.”

The father and son were both held at the Dilley Immigration Processing Center.

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Fox News Digital has reached out to the family’s attorney. Martinez Nieto was arrested by immigration officers in November 2025 and deported in February. He later reentered the United States illegally, The Austin American-Statesman reported.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday responded to President Donald Trump’s executive order to rename Lake Ontario to “Lake America” amid his ongoing trade war with Canada, saying her state would continue using the old name.

“New York won’t be calling it that,” Hochul, a Democrat, wrote on X.

Trump’s order, directs the Interior Department and Board on Geographic Names to update federal records and provide guidance so federal references reflect the new name.

But Canada and international bodies are not required to adopt the new name.

TRUMP RENAMES LAKE ONTARIO ‘LAKE AMERICA’ AMID INTENSIFYING US-CANADA TRADE DISPUTE

“The name Lake Ontario comes from the Wendat word Ontari’io, which, appropriately, means ‘the lake is beautiful, the lake is big.’ The name is more than 400 years old, predating both the Confederation of Canada and the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America,” Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a statement.

“We know that America is changing. Their trading relationships, their foreign policies, their national monuments, their hydronyms. Canadians also know that naming reality means calling it Lake Ontario — then, now and always,” he added.

U.S. states are also not bound by the order and can continue using “Lake Ontario” on state maps, highway signs and tourism materials. Hochul, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and Vermont Gov. Phil Scott were among state leaders who criticized or mocked the move.

“And I just renamed Lake Michigan Lake Wisconsin. See, I can sign napkins that say things, too,” Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, wrote on X alongside a video of himself writing “Lake Wisconsin” on a McDonald’s paper napkin and signing the bottom.

Vermont Gov. Phil Scott, a Republican, called Trump’s move to rename the lake over the trade feud “petty and disappointing.”

“We should be at the negotiating table, finding a path forward that strengthens both the U.S. and Canadian economies. Further escalating tensions does nothing to help American or Canadian families and businesses,” Scott said.

The name Lake Ontario is also commonly traced to an Indigenous word translated as “lake of shining waters,” and includes around 5.6 million Americans and Canadians in its watershed, according to the Center for Great Lakes Literacy. The lake borders Canada’s Ontario province and New York, connecting the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean through the St. Lawrence Seaway.

Hochul has criticized Trump for the trade war with Canada, saying earlier this week that the president is “treating our allies as enemies” and that “American families continue to suffer because of it.”

TRUMP TAUNTS CANADA ON RENAMING LAKE ONTARIO THE ‘LAKE AMERICA’ AMID RISING BORDER TRADE RIFT

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New York is among many states expected to be hit hard by the trade war with the U.S.’s northern neighbor. U.S. goods and services traded with Canada totaled an estimated $872.3 billion last year, according to U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer’s office.

Carney said the Canadian government would impose retaliatory tariffs on the U.S. beginning Sept. 8 in response to the Trump administration’s new 50% tariffs on about $20 billion worth of Canadian goods, which took effect earlier this month.

The prime minister said Canada “will match Washington’s new tariffs dollar for dollar in order to protect Canadian workers, farmers, families, and businesses.”

Social media is in a frenzy over a report that police raided the home of Rep. Ilhan Omar’s son over allegations against his roommate.

Minneapolis police raided the home of Adnan Hirsi earlier this week and confiscated guns and ammunition before arresting his roommate, Abdulrahman Abdi, Alpha News reported. 

Hirsi, Omar’s son, has not been implicated in any wrongdoing, nor was the congresswoman implicated in the incident.

CAUGHT ON CAMERA: SQUAD DEM SQUIRMS WHEN PRESSED ON VANCE DOJ FRAUD PROBE

But the report’s mention that the suspect shares an apartment with the progressive lawmaker’s son was enough to make her right-wing critics on social media erupt.

“Nothing to see here. Move along,” Steve Ferguson, a small business owner with nearly 300,000 followers on X, posted.

Right-wing activist Benny Johnson wrote, “Not a good look for Ilhan Omar.”

Online influencer “Spitfire” wrote on the site, “This Omar investigation is getting more interesting by the day.”

“Anyone shocked that a horrible person would be a horrible mother? What do you expect from someone who marries their brother?” Townhall columnist Derek Hunter wrote, referencing an unproven online conspiracy theory that Omar previously was married to her brother, which she has denied.

REP ILHAN OMAR’S DAUGHTER STRIKES HARD-CORE COMMUNIST POSE AS MOM BATTLES CLAIMS SHE IS RICH

Commentator Gunther Eagleman called to “deport Ilhan Omar and her family.”

“Ilhan Omar: Supports violent jihad. Ilhan’s daughter: Arrested during pro-Hamas campus riots; traveled to Cuba with a CCP-linked group. Ilhan’s son: Home raided by police; guns and ammunition seized,” Eitan Fischberger, a former staff sergeant in the Israeli military and a current opinion columnist, wrote.

The report itself was also shared without comment by former Trump advisors Corey Lewandowski and Sean Spicer.

The report said a search warrant was executed Tuesday at the home Abdi shares with Hirsi, and that guns and ammunition were recovered. Abdi was reportedly arrested earlier in the day. No wrongdoing by Hirsi was reported.

The Minneapolis Police Department declined to comment when reached by Fox News Digital.

Fox News Digital did confirm that Abdi was arrested by Minneapolis police and booked just after noon on Tuesday. He was released just before midnight the next day, records show.

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Omar is a staunch advocate for gun control. Fox News Digital reached out to her office for comment on the incident.

The Republican National Committee is escalating its fight with New Jersey election officials over voter roll records, threatening legal action as it seeks information related to noncitizens found on the state’s rolls.

The RNC sent formal National Voter Registration Act violation notices Wednesday to New Jersey‘s secretary of state, and election officials in Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Somerset and Union counties.

The committee is seeking records related to noncitizen removals, citizenship verification efforts and other voter roll maintenance activities. Officials have until Sept. 15 to produce the records or potentially face litigation, according to the RNC.

“Democrat (Gov.) Mikie Sherrill admitted what the RNC already uncovered through public records requests: noncitizens are on New Jersey’s voter rolls,” RNC Chairman Joe Gruters said in an RNC release. “Now, election officials are refusing to turn over records explaining how it happened.

“Voters deserve answers, and the RNC is putting officials on notice: comply with the law, hand over the records, or face legal action.”

NEW JERSEY GOVERNMENT UNDER CONGRESSIONAL INVESTIGATION AFTER EXPLOSIVE REVELATIONS ON NONCITIZEN VOTERS

The RNC claims Bergen County records identified 134 noncitizens removed from New Jersey voter rolls between January 2023 and August 2026.

Of those, 91 registrations were linked to the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC), according to the committee.

Sherrill’s administration has separately disclosed that a software error at the MVC improperly registered approximately 6,600 people to vote between June 2023 and June 2024, before she took office.

DEMOCRATS CONCEDE NJ VOTER-ROLL FAILURE WAS ‘HORRIBLE’ — BUT REJECT BROADER FRAUD FEARS

Her administration said approximately 5,100 people affected by the error were removed from the voter rolls because they had no separate registration or attestation of eligibility.

Another approximately 1,450 registrations were changed to rejected status pending further review by county election officials.

The state said approximately 340 people newly registered because of the software error voted. It also identified approximately 220 people affected by the error who voted, but had previous registrations or separate attestations indicating they may have been validly registered.

Sherrill said county officials had been directed to resolve remaining cases before the November election.

HOUSE REPUBLICANS CONFRONT NJ GOVERNOR OVER 6,600 NONCITIZENS REGISTERED TO VOTE IN ALLEGED SOFTWARE FAILURE

She has also accused the Trump administration of seeking greater federal control over state voter rolls and resisted federal efforts to obtain nonpublic voter information, calling the effort a “phishing expedition here in New Jersey.”

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The governor’s office has said its investigation into the MVC error remains ongoing.

The RNC, New Jersey secretary of state’s office, and Sherill’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Democrat Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro joined a multistate lawsuit against the Trump administration Thursday challenging new conditions on federal family planning grants, including requirements aimed at ensuring taxpayer resources do not support elective abortion and promoting “life-affirming” services.

Shapiro announced the lawsuit by accusing the Trump administration of making it harder for low-income Pennsylvanians to access what he called “lifesaving reproductive care and family planning services,” specifically pointing to cancer screenings and testing for sexually transmitted infections.

But the 63-page complaint also challenges abortion-related provisions in the Trump administration‘s new requirements for Title X grants, including a directive that recipients “maintain strict separation from prohibited activities” and contribute to broader U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) efforts to “safeguard life-affirming, lawful, and ethical program delivery.”

PLANNED PARENTHOOD ACROSS MIDWEST AT RISK DUE TO LACK OF FEDERAL FUNDS AFTER 3 FACILITIES CLOSE IN MICHIGAN

Live Action blasted Shapiro’s characterization in a statement to Fox News Digital, accusing him of fighting to keep taxpayer dollars flowing to Planned Parenthood.

“Governor Shapiro is calling Planned Parenthood’s services ‘lifesaving care’ while fighting to keep taxpayer dollars flowing to the nation’s largest abortion chain,” Noah Brandt, vice president of communications and government affairs at Live Action, said. “There is nothing lifesaving about abortion.”

FEDERAL APPEALS COURT BLOCKS MAILING OF ABORTION PILLS IN RULING WITH NATIONWIDE EFFECT

Brandt said women deserve access to cancer screenings, prenatal care and other medical services, but argued that does not require taxpayers to subsidize Planned Parenthood.

“Governor Shapiro should stop hiding the abortion industry behind euphemisms and be honest about what he is defending: the killing of our youngest children,” Brandt added.

Title X funding is already prohibited from being used for abortion. Shapiro’s lawsuit challenges the Trump administration’s additional conditions aimed at “life-affirming” program delivery.

The administration’s new funding terms state that HHS will prioritize programs that uphold federal abortion-funding protections and “do not use taxpayer resources to promote or support elective abortion.”

COALITION OF 25 STATES SUES TRUMP ADMIN OVER MEDICAID WORK RULE DESIGNED TO PREVENT FRAUD

Recipients are also expected to maintain “strict separation” from prohibited activities, according to language reproduced in the lawsuit.

The states argue the rules could cost providers Title X funding even when abortions are performed outside the federally funded program.

Pennsylvania received $12,729,659 in Title X family planning funding in fiscal 2026, according to the complaint.

SUPREME COURT KEEPS BROADER ACCESS TO ABORTION PILL MIFEPRISTONE IN PLACE WHILE LEGAL FIGHT CONTINUES

Shapiro’s administration has backed Medicaid coverage for abortion, increased reimbursement rates for abortion services and joined legal efforts seeking expanded access to mifepristone.

The filing marks Shapiro’s second lawsuit against the Trump administration in as many days.

On Wednesday, the potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender joined a coalition challenging new federal requirements for mail-in ballots ahead of the November midterms.

SUPREME COURT KEEPS BROADER ACCESS TO ABORTION PILL MIFEPRISTONE IN PLACE WHILE LEGAL FIGHT CONTINUES

Neither Shapiro’s office nor the White House responded to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.

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The lawsuit, led by New York, Maryland and Massachusetts, and joined by more than 20 mostly blue states and governors, asks a federal court in Maryland to block the administration from applying the challenged conditions to Title X applicants and grantees.

Fox News Digital’s Alec Schemmel contributed to this reporting.