NationalWatch

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Saturday said the judge who ruled that the Pentagon must allow transgender troops should report to military bases since she is “now a top military planner.”

U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes in Washington, D.C., issued a preliminary injunction last week blocking the Pentagon from enforcing President Donald Trump’s executive order banning transgender people from serving in the military.

Trump’s Jan. 27 order said “expressing a false ‘gender identity’ divergent from an individual’s sex cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for military service” and instructed the Department of Defense to update its medical standards for military service and pronoun policies.

TRUMP ADMIN ASKS FEDERAL JUDGE TO DISSOLVE INJUNCTION BARRING TRANSGENDER MILITARY BAN

The president’s order said that “beyond the hormonal and surgical medical interventions involved, adoption of a gender identity inconsistent with an individual’s sex conflicts with a soldier’s commitment to an honorable, truthful, and disciplined lifestyle, even in one’s personal life.”

In her ruling, the judge said Trump’s order contains language that is “unabashedly demeaning,” adding that the policy “stigmatizes transgender persons as inherently unfit.”

Hegseth responded to the ruling on the social media platform X.

PENTAGON TO APPEAL JUDGE’S DECISION BLOCKING TRANSGENDER BAN, HEGSETH SAYS

“Since ‘Judge’ Reyes is now a top military planner, she/they can report to Fort Benning at 0600 to instruct our Army Rangers on how to execute High Value Target Raids…after that, Commander Reyes can dispatch to Fort Bragg to train our Green Berets on counterinsurgency warfare,” he wrote.

The judge delayed her order until Friday morning to allow time for the Trump administration to appeal, which it said it would do.

Reyes said in her decision that the executive order likely poses constitutional rights violations.

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“The court knows that this opinion will lead to heated public debate and appeals. In a healthy democracy, both are positive outcomes,” Reyes wrote. “We should all agree, however, that every person who has answered the call to serve deserves our gratitude and respect.”

“Indeed, the cruel irony is that thousands of transgender servicemembers have sacrificed – some risking their lives – to ensure for others the very equal protection rights the Military Ban seeks to deny them,” the judge added, noting that the defendants, on the other hand, “have not shown they will be burdened by continuing the status quo pending this litigation, and avoiding constitutional violations is always in the public interest.”

First he was a “knucklehead” now he’s a “smarta–.” 

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, said Saturday that he was making a joke when he made a comment last week mocking Tesla and its CEO Elon Musk for the company’s recent downward trend in the stock market.

Walz attempted to clarify his comments during a town hall in Rochester, Minnesota.

“This guy bugs me in a way that’s probably unhealthy,” Walz said, referring to Musk. “I have to be careful about being a smarta–. I was making a joke. These people have no sense of humor. They are the most literal people.”

“But my point was, they’re all mad, and I said something I probably shouldn’t have about a company,” he continued.

TIM WALZ CHEERS TESLA SOCK TUMBLE, BUT MINNESOTA STATE EMPLOYEES’ PENSION OWNS OVER 1M SHARES

Earlier in the week, the governor was holding an event in Wisconsin when he mocked Tesla’s falling stock.

“Some of you know this. On the iPhone, they’ve got that little stock app. I added Tesla to it to give me a little boost during the day — $225 and dropping,” Walz said. “And if you own one, we’re not blaming you. You can take dental floss and pull the Tesla thing off.”

As of March, Tesla’s stock is down 41.4% year-to-date.

There have been a series of recent vandalism incidents targeting Tesla vehicles in a protest against Musk for his role in President Donald Trump’s administration.

Walz further criticized Musk on Saturday for his role in the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, in which the billionaire tech executive seeks to cut the federal workforce as a cost-cutting initiative for the federal government.

SUSPECTED TESLA ARSONISTS HIT WITH FEDERAL CHARGES IN ACTS OF ‘DOMESTIC TERRORISM’: AG

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“They’re all butthurt about the Tesla thing, but they don’t care about the disrespect they have shown to employees at the Minneapolis VA who care for our veterans, and they fire them. They don’t care,” the governor said.

“Maybe it’s just me. If I’m the richest man in the world, I’m like out on the streets handing out money,” he added. “It’d be fun as hell just to help people out. Go help people out. Not this guy.”

President Donald Trump signed more executive orders this week — including one to upend the Department of Education — battled the judicial branch, and spoke to both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. 

On Thursday, Trump announced plans to work with Congress to upend the Department of Education. Closing down an agency requires the approval of Congress, according to the U.S. Constitution. 

“We’re not doing well with the world of education in this country, and we haven’t for a long time,” Trump said Thursday before signing the executive order. 

A White House fact sheet on the executive order said the directive aims to “turn over education to families instead of bureaucracies” and instructs Education Secretary Linda McMahon to “take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return education authority to the States, while continuing to ensure the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely.”

Trump said Thursday programs for Pell Grants, student loans for undergraduate students, and others that provide resources for children with special needs would continue to exist, just under different agencies.

“They’re going to be preserved in full and redistributed to various other agencies and departments that will take very good care of them,” Trump said.

Those in favor of shuttering the agency have pointed to the “Nation’s Report Card,” the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) released every two years, released on Jan. 27. The exam tests fourth and eighth grade students and found almost stagnant math scores for eighth graders compared to 2022. Reading scores dropped two points at both grade levels.

As a result, Trump said without evidence that new efforts to upend the Department of Education would allow states like Texas to provide education comparable to countries like Norway, Denmark and Sweden.

“And then you’ll have some laggards, and we’ll work with them,” Trump said. “And we can all tell you who the laggards will be, right now, probably, but let’s not get into that.”

Here’s also what Trump did this week: 

Calls to impeach federal judge 

Trump called for the impeachment of Judge James Boasberg of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in a social media post Tuesday, prompting Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to issue a rare statement condemning Trump’s remarks.

Trump’s pushback stems from Boasberg issuing an order on Saturday halting the Trump administration from deporting migrants allegedly part of the Tren de Aragua gang under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. The law permits deportation of natives and citizens of an enemy nation without a hearing.

The flights carrying the migrants continued to El Salvador, and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Sunday the order had “no lawful basis” since Boasberg issued it after the flights departed from U.S. airspace.

JUDGES BLOCKING TRUMP’S ORDERS ARE ACTING ‘ERRONEOUSLY,’ WHITE HOUSE SAYS

In response to Boasberg’s order, Trump said the judge should be impeached. However, Roberts said that “it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision.” 

Boasberg’s order is one of multiple injunctions issued against the Trump administration, blocking various executive orders he’s signed since taking office in January. The White House has accused judges of behaving as partisan activists to stop Trump’s agenda. 

“I would like to point out that the judges in this country are acting erroneously,” Leavitt said in a Wednesday news briefing. “We have judges who are acting as partisan activists from the bench.”

Plans for new, next-gen F-47 fighter jet

Trump also announced that Boeing had won out among defense companies for a contract to build the Air Force’s next-generation fighter jet, known as the F-47. 

“I’m thrilled to announce that at my direction the United States Air Force is moving forward with the world’s first sixth-generation fighter jet,” Trump said Friday in the Oval Office at the White House. “Nothing in the world comes even close to it, and it’ll be called the ‘F-47,’ the generals picked that title.” 

BOEING TO BUILD NEXT-GEN ‘F-47’ US FIGHTER JET, TRUMP ANNOUNCES

The Next Generation Air Defense initiative that the Biden administration put on the back burner will oversee the effort. The Trump administration revived the program, a move that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said Friday “sends a very direct, clear message to our allies that we’re not going anywhere, and to our enemies that we will be able to project power around the globe.” 

An experimental version of the jet has been covertly flying for “years,” according to Trump. 

“The F-47 will be the most advanced, most capable, most lethal aircraft ever built,” Trump said. 

Calls with Putin, Zelenskyy 

Trump also spoke with both Putin and Zelenskyy this week over the phone, amid ongoing efforts to end the war in Ukraine. 

Following the calls, both Russia and Ukraine agreed to a limited ceasefire against energy. The next step is for respective teams to conduct meetings to navigate how to reach a full ceasefire, according to the White House. 

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“Technical teams will meet in Saudi Arabia in the coming days to discuss broadening the ceasefire to the Black Sea on the way to a full ceasefire,” the White House said in a statement Thursday. “They agreed this could be the first step toward the full end of the war and ensuring security. President Zelenskyy was grateful for the President’s leadership in this effort and reiterated his willingness to adopt a full ceasefire.”

The Associated Press and Fox News’ Rachel Wolf contributed to this report. 

President Donald Trump revoked the security clearances of Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Kamala Harris, Liz Cheney and several other opponents who either severely criticized or acted against him.

The White House released a memo on Friday that read: “I have determined that it is no longer in the national interest for the following individuals to access classified information:  Antony Blinken, Jacob Sullivan, Lisa Monaco, Mark Zaid, Norman Eisen, Letitia James, Alvin Bragg, Andrew Weissmann, Hillary Clinton, Elizabeth Cheney, Kamala Harris, Adam Kinzinger, Fiona Hill, Alexander Vindman, Joseph R. Biden Jr., and any other member of Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s family.”

TRUMP STRIPS SECURITY CLEARANCES FROM LAW FIRM TIED TO JACK SMITH CASES

Earlier this month, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard announced that she had revoked the security clearances of several people listed in Trump’s memo and blocked them from having access to classified information. She said “the 51 signers of the Hunter Biden ‘disinformation’ letter” also had their clearances rescinded.

“The President’s Daily Brief is no longer being provided to former President Biden.”

In addition to having their security clearances revoked, the individuals listed in Trump’s memorandum have had their “unescorted access to secure United States Government facilities” rescinded.

TRUMP REVOKES SECRET SERVICE PROTECTION FOR ADULT BIDEN CHILDREN HUNTER AND ASHLEY

Several people listed in Trump’s memo mostly dismissed it in social media posts reacting to the news. Both Zaid and Eisen said it was “like the third time” their security clearances were revoked. Kinzinger posted a video saying that he “retired a year ago from the military” and doesn’t have a clearance before calling the president a “dumba–.”

The security clearance memo comes just days after Trump announced that he was stripping Hunter and Ashley Biden of their Secret Service protection.

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“Hunter Biden has had Secret Service protection for an extended period of time, all paid for by the United States Taxpayer. There are as many as 18 people on this Detail, which is ridiculous!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Please be advised that, effective immediately, Hunter Biden will no longer receive Secret Service protection. Likewise, Ashley Biden who has 13 agents will be taken off the list.”

While under federal law, former presidents and their spouses receive life-long Secret Service protection, but that protection ends for members of their immediate family when they leave office. According to the Associated Press, both Trump and Biden extended protection for their children before leaving office.

President Donald Trump suggested that convicted Tesla arsonists serve out their expected decades-long sentences in El Salvador prisons. 

“I look forward to watching the sick terrorist thugs get 20 year jail sentences for what they are doing to Elon Musk and Tesla,” Trump wrote Friday on TRUTH Social. 

“Perhaps they could serve them in the prisons of El Salvador, which have become so recently famous for such lovely conditions!” the president added. 

TRUMP WARNS OF JAIL TIME FOR TESLA VANDALS, ANYONE FUNDING THE ATTACKS: ‘WE ARE LOOKING FOR YOU!!!’

The message comes as the FBI is investigating an uptick in attacks against Tesla vehicles and facilities nationwide of domestic terrorism, as top Trump adviser Elon Musk’s company has become a target of protesters and arsonists. 

Meanwhile, the Trump administration is also facing pushback in federal court over deportation flights to El Salvador. Salvadorian President Nayib Bukele announced last week that the first 238 alleged members of the Venezuelan criminal organization, Tren de Aragua, a U.S. designated terror group, had arrived, releasing video of Salvadorian troops transferring men from planes to his Terrorism Confinement Center, known as CECOT. He said they’d stay for one year, though that was “renewable.” 

U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi on Thursday announced charges against three individuals accused of using Molotov cocktails to set fire to Tesla cars and charging stations.

“The days of committing crimes without consequence have ended,” Bondi said in a statement. “Let this be a warning: if you join this wave of domestic terrorism against Tesla properties, the Department of Justice will put you behind bars.”

The Justice Department said one defendant, also armed with a suppressed AR-15 rifle, was arrested after allegedly throwing approximately eight Molotov cocktails at a Tesla dealership located in Salem, Oregon. Another was arrested in Loveland, Colorado after allegedly attempting to light Teslas on fire with Molotov cocktails. Authorities said that defendant was later found in possession of materials used to produce additional incendiary weapons.

In Charleston, South Carolina, a third defendant wrote “profane messages” against Trump around Tesla charging stations before lighting the charging stations on fire with Molotov cocktails, the Justice Department said. 

TESLA VEHICLES, DEALERSHIPS TARGETED WITH ARSON, GUNFIRE AND VANDALISM IN AT LEAST 9 STATES: FBI

The DOJ said each defendant faces serious charges carrying a minimum penalty of five years and up to 20 years in prison.

“People that get caught sabotaging Teslas will stand a very good chance of going to jail for up to twenty years, and that includes the finders,” Trump wrote on TRUTH Social Thursday, adding: “WE ARE LOOKING FOR YOU!!!”

Tesla vehicles and dealerships have been subjected to arson, vandalism and gunfire in at least nine states, and some of the most prominent cases were reported in left-leaning cities in the Pacific Northwest, like Portland, Oregon, and Seattle. 

An Oregon man faces charges after allegedly throwing several Molotov cocktails at a Tesla store in Salem, then returning another day and shooting out windows. In the Portland suburb of Tigard, more than a dozen bullets were fired at a Tesla showroom last week, damaging vehicles and windows, the second time in a week that the store was targeted.

Four Cybertrucks were set on fire in a Tesla lot in Seattle earlier this month. On Friday, witnesses reported a man poured gasoline on an unoccupied Tesla Model S and started a fire on a Seattle street.

In Las Vegas, several Tesla vehicles were set ablaze early Tuesday outside a Tesla service center where the word “resist” was also painted in red across the building’s front doors. Authorities said at least one person threw Molotov cocktails — crude bombs filled with gasoline or another flammable liquid — and fired several rounds from a weapon into the vehicles.

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“Was this terrorism? Was it something else? It certainly has some of the hallmarks that we might think – the writing on the wall, potential political agenda, an act of violence,” Spencer Evans, the special agent in charge of the Las Vegas FBI office, said at a press conference. “None of those factors are lost on us.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Dozens of Tesla vehicles were damaged at a dealership in Ontario, Canada, Hamilton Police Service (HPS) confirmed to Fox News Digital. Authorities said that the incident occurred overnight on March 18, and that the “damage included deep scratches and punctured tires.”

HPS told Fox News Digital that officers are still working on getting footage from the Tesla vehicles as, “some vehicle camera systems were recording during the mischief incident.” They were also able to obtain “limited” footage from the area. As of Saturday, it was still too early in the investigation for HPS to determine a motive or how many people were involved. HPS said they do not have any suspects.

The night before this incident, police in London, Ontario, were reportedly called to the scene of a fire that is allegedly being investigated as suspicious. On March 17, a Tesla was set on fire, causing an estimated $140,000 in damage, London Police Service said in a press release.

​PRESIDENT TRUMP SUGGESTS SENDING TESLA VANDALS TO EL SALVADOR’S NOTORIOUS PRISONS

Vandalism and attacks on Tesla vehicles and dealerships have been on the rise over the last few weeks. Many of the attacks appear to be politically motivated acts against Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk due to his work with the Department of Government Efficiency.

The Trump administration began cracking down on Tesla vandals earlier this week, with Attorney General Pam Bondi saying the string of attacks was “nothing short of domestic terrorism.” She vowed that the Department of Justice (DOJ) would “continue investigations that impose severe consequences on those involved in these attacks.”

TESLA VEHICLES, DEALERSHIPS TARGETED WITH ARSON, GUNFIRE AND VANDALISM IN AT LEAST 9 STATES: FBI

On Thursday, the DOJ announced that three individuals were charged in connection with the “violent destruction of Tesla properties.” The defendants face charges that carry a minimum penalty of 5 years in prison, but could face up to 20 years behind bars.

“The days of committing crimes without consequence have ended,” Bondi said in a DOJ statement. “Let this be a warning: if you join this wave of domestic terrorism against Tesla properties, the Department of Justice will put you behind bars.”

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On Friday, President Donald Trump floated the idea of Tesla vandals serving time in El Salvadorian prisons in a post on Truth Social.

“I look forward to watching the sick terrorist thugs get 20 year jail sentences for what they are doing to Elon Musk and Tesla,” Trump wrote. “Perhaps they could serve them in the prisons of El Salvador, which have become so recently famous for such lovely conditions!”

Since January 2025, Tesla vehicles have been targeted in at least nine states, according to the FBI. The bureau has urged the public to “exercise vigilance” near Tesla properties.

Fox News Digital’s Alexandra Koch and Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.

President Trump said Friday he liked the idea of the United States joining the British Commonwealth after a report claimed King Charles III would make an offer. 

“I love King Charles,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Friday morning while linking to an article citing a Daily Mail report that said the monarch would secretly offer the U.S. associate membership in the Commonwealth during Trump’s second state visit to Britain. “Sounds good to me!” 

Trump also reposted the same report about the king’s “secret” offer of membership late Saturday morning. 

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

PRINCE WILLIAM VIEWS TRUMP RELATIONSHIP AS KEY TO MONARCHY ‘S FUTURE: EXPERT

The British Commonwealth, created in 1926, is made up of 56 countries, including Australia and Canada, most of which were originally British colonies. The monarch is the head of the Commonwealth, whose maintenance was a major priority of Queen Elizabeth II. 

Membership is voluntary. 

The U.S. was part of the British Empire before winning independence after the Revolution. 

India was the first country to decide to remain within the Commonwealth after gaining independence in 1947. 

Trump had a friendly relationship with the late queen and always spoke highly of her. 

“I got to know her very well, and, you know, I got to know her in her ’90s, OK, but she was great,” Trump told Fox News’ Mark Levin in 2023. “This is a woman … 75 years she reigned, and she never made a mistake.”

Trump has also praised Charles and the heir to the throne, Prince William, whom he met with in December in Paris, but he had fewer nice things to say about Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle. 

TRUMP ACCEPTS SECOND STATE VISIT TO UK, REVEALS LETTER FROM KING CHARLES

The president is scheduled to meet with King Charles during a rare second state visit later this year. He met with the late queen and Charles during his first state visit in 2019. 

The Daily Mail said Commonwealth membership was first floated during Trump’s first term, and this time around the hope is that it would ease tensions between the U.S. and Canada as the countries trade tariff threats. 

“This is being discussed at the highest levels,” a member of the Royal Commonwealth Society told the Daily Mail. “It would be a wonderful move that would symbolize Britain’s close relationship with the U.S.

“Donald Trump loves Britain and has great respect for the royal family, so we believe he would see the benefits of this. Associate membership could, hopefully, be followed by full membership, making the Commonwealth even more important as a global organization.” 

Late last month, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer presented Trump with Charles’ invitation for a second state visit while the two politicians were meeting in the Oval Office. 

“I think that just symbolizes the strength of the relationship between us. This is a very special letter. I think the last state visit was a tremendous success,” Starmer said. “His majesty the king wants to make this even better than that.” 

Trump responded, “The answer is yes. On behalf of our wonderful first lady Melania and myself, the answer is yes, and we look forward to being there and honoring the king and honoring, really, your country. Your country is a fantastic country.” 

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Trump described Charles as “beautiful” and a “wonderful man.” 

“I’ve gotten to know him very well actually, first term and, now, a second term,” he added. 

A Democratic candidate for Congress in Florida is being criticized for pushing “radical gender ideology” after resurfaced social media posts show him advocating for children to receive gender transition treatment. 

“Banning health care for any human being is a violation of human rights,” Josh Weil, Democratic candidate for Congress in FL-06 posted on X, then known as Twitter, in March 2021.

“#TransRightsAreHumanRights and while we’re at it #MedicareForAll so that all trans children have free, and safe access to the medical services they need.”

Weil was responding to a post from the ACLU that said, “BREAKING: Arkansas has become the first state to ban health care for trans youth.”

TRUMP ADMIN ASKS FEDERAL JUDGE TO DISSOLVE INJUNCTION BARRING TRANSGENDER MILITARY BAN

In another post, Weil objected to a bill in Iowa that, according to the user he responded to, “would require teachers to give parents 7-days notice if they plan to ask their kids about their preferred pronouns.”

“In addition to all the harm this will do to trans and enby [nonbinary] youth, this bill will 100% result in a loss of teachers,” Weil posted on X. “Every time, in every state, whenever lawmakers try to drop their baggage and bs on teachers, teachers leave.”

FORMER NCAA RUNNER DEMANDS ‘STOLEN’ CHAMPIONSHIP BE RETURNED AFTER LOSS TO BIOLOGICAL MALE

Fox News Digital reached out to the Weil campaign but did not receive a response. 

“Democrats have learned absolutely nothing,” NRCC Spokeswoman Maureen O’Toole told Fox News Digital. 

“Not only are they lighting donors’ money on fire by investing in a district where they have no path to victory, but they’re also choosing to invest in a candidate who has pushed radical gender ideology that is wildly unpopular with voters. Josh Weil is so dangerous, even AOC and David Hogg – the vice chair of the DNC – are running from him.”

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Weil, a public school teacher from Orlando, is running against Republican State Sen. Randy Fine to replace former GOP Rep. Michael Waltz, who moved into the Trump administration to serve as the president’s national security adviser. 

Early voting has started in the election, which will be held on Tuesday, April 1. 

Facing criticism from the media and even from his state’s governor, the head of Oklahoma’s education system is defending a recently approved high school history curriculum that teaches about irregularities and “discrepancies” in the 2020 election.

In an interview with Fox News Digital, Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters, a Republican, said that the state is “in the middle of a dramatic turnaround” in education, made possible by President Donald Trump’s dismantling of the federal Department of Education.

According to Walters, the changes are being spurred on by Oklahoma parents and grandparents, who he says are demanding the state “get back to the basics” of education and eliminate any left-wing or legacy media-driven narratives in school curricula.

“We want these parameters around our standards so that we know our kids are going to be taught facts, not have a left-wing agenda pushed on them,” he said. “I think that that’s going to continue to be what parents and grandparents here demand. So, I think that we need to be listening to them.”

EDUCATION LEADERS SAY TRUMP DISMANTLING KEY GOVERNMENT AGENCY ‘SAVED EDUCATION’

Perhaps the most controversial change among the state’s educational reforms is a recently approved set of Oklahoma Academic Standards for Social Studies document that instructs high school teachers to instruct students to “identify discrepancies in 2020 elections results by looking at graphs and other information, including the sudden halting of ballot-counting in select cities in key battleground states, the security risks of mail-in balloting, sudden batch dumps, an unforeseen record number of voters, and the unprecedented contradiction of ‘bellwether county’ trends.”

The change has been widely lambasted by the media and by some leaders in the state.

The New York Times reported state Rep. John Waldron, who is vice-chair of the Oklahoma House Democratic caucus, slammed Walters, saying the “superintendent campaigned to end indoctrination in our schools, but what he is doing instead with these new standards is promoting his own brand of indoctrination.” 

Meanwhile, a representative for Oklahoma Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt told Fox News Digital that the change is “just another distraction from making sure kids can read.” 

EXCLUSIVE: RED STATE SUING SCHOOL DISTRICT FOR ILLEGALLY TEACHING CRITICAL RACE THEORY

Walters, however, is refusing to budge. He claimed that by including discussion about the 2020 election, the state is not pushing a particular viewpoint but rather encouraging students to be “critical thinkers.”

“The left doesn’t want kids to look at the numbers, look at the data and ask questions about the election. Look, we’ve never had an election like 2020. I mean, literally all of the processes were changed leading up to it. Our kids need to do a deep dive in that,” he said. “We’re going to make sure when our kids study history, they’re looking at numbers, are looking at data, they’re looking at what the historical records show us.”

Walters believes this is a “crucial step in ensuring when teachers talk about the 2020 election, [they tell students to] look at the numbers, look at the data.”

“Let students do that deep dive. I think it makes them better students. I think it makes them more well-rounded people,” he said. “I also think it teaches them to think for themselves when you move into the future. Hey, don’t take anybody’s word for it. Do your own research. Do your own study. I think that’s a really important message that we’ve got to get across to our kids.”

LINDA MCMAHON: MY VISION FOR ELIMINATING THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

Though already approved by the state Board of Education, the standards still need approval from the legislature or governor.

While he said he is “optimistic” the legislature will approve the curriculum, Walters took aim at Stitt, accusing him of being a “never Trumper.”

“It’s really unfortunate,” he said. “If the governor wants to come out and force students and tell them that Joe Biden won the 2020 election and that he doesn’t want them to look at facts or think about it, that’s way out of step with Oklahomans.”

SCOOP: HOUSE REPUBLICAN MOVES TO CODIFY TRUMP ORDER TO DISMANTLE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

In response, Abegail Cave, a representative for Stitt, said the governor was more concerned about declining test scores in the state. She accused Walters and some members of the education board of being “more focused on making headlines and political wins than they were actually making sure Oklahoma kids could read.” 

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Cave called the idea that Stitt is a never Trumper “ridiculous.”

“He voted for Donald Trump and he’s not a never Trumper. That’s again Ryan Walters trying to spin the narrative and muddy the waters for no reason,” she said. 

Cave pointed out Stitt’s recent public appearances praising Trump’s actions against the federal Department of Education, saying “the governor is a firm believer that we should leave education to the states.”

A top former Bush administration lawyer is warning the White House not to begin ignoring court orders amid its standoff over President Donald Trump’s deportation flights under the Alien Enemies Act.

“I worry that there might be some people in the administration who would actually like to defy a judicial order. Which I think would be a terrible mistake,” John Yoo, Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of California at Berkeley, told Fox News Digital in an interview on Tuesday.

More than a dozen injunctions have been levied to at least temporarily block Trump policies across the country, including his deportation flights, birthright citizenship reforms and Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) efforts. Republican allies of the president have accused “activist judges” of seeking to override the executive in an improper breach of the co-equal branches of government.

Yoo, who previously served as deputy assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Counsel at the Department of Justice (DOJ) during former President George W. Bush’s first term, said such a fight between the executive and judicial branches could threaten the legal system as a whole.

“There’s only been one time in our history a president has refused to carry out a judicial order. And that was Abraham Lincoln at the start of the Civil War,” Yoo said. “It’s almost something that really should only happen when the existence of the country is at stake, because if presidents don’t obey judicial orders, then they deprive the judiciary of their primary means for carrying out their decisions.”

VANCE KNOCKS GLOBALIZATION’S ‘CHEAP LABOR’ AND LAUDS ‘AMERICA’S GREAT INDUSTRIAL COMEBACK’ AT AI SUMMIT

“If the courts can’t render reliable decisions, then our legal system doesn’t function. If our legal system doesn’t function, the country is in really bad shape,” he added.

The White House has repeatedly said it has not disobeyed any lawful court orders.

U.S. District Judge James Boasberg issued an emergency order on March 15 to halt deportation flights of suspected gang members to El Salvador for a period of 14 days.

The Trump administration has pointed out that the judge’s written order was issued after two planes carrying alleged gang members were already in the air, arguing it was too late to turn the planes around at that point. A third plane that took off after the first two was not carrying any Alien Enemies Act deportees, the administration said. 

“As I said from the podium and will continue to say, all of the flights that were subject to the written order of the judge took off before the order was pushed in the courtroom. And the president is well within his… Article II power and his authority under the Alien Enemies Act to make these decisions,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday. 

“And we think it’s egregious that a single district judge is trying to tell the President of the United States who he can and cannot deport from our soil, especially when it comes to designated foreign terrorists.”

DOJ lawyers argued that Boasberg’s verbal order to turn the planes around, issued shortly before the written order, is non-enforceable.

Josh Blackman, a constitutional law professor at South Texas College of Law Houston, said the case was “complex,” but warned judges should be careful not to overstep their authority on matters with coequal branches of government.

“The judge held a hearing where, apparently, the ACLU presented oral arguments. The judge then issued an oral order where a DOJ lawyer was on the line. But the government was not able to make any arguments. The judge also did not give the government the time to take a timely appeal,” Blackman told Fox News Digital on Tuesday.

“As a result, a judge is now inquiring why the government did not turn a plane around in international waters. Things are not so simple. Judges are losing sight of the fact that they are a coequal, and not superior, branch of government.”

THESE ARE THE JUDGES GOING TOE TO TOE AGAINST TRUMP’S AGENDA 

Yoo also noted the case was complex and said both parties were in uncharted territory, but pointed out that verbal orders have been valid in albeit very different circumstances.

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“That’s playing a little cute, is what appears to have happened,” he said Tuesday of the administration’s argument on the verbal order. “But maybe that’s the case.”

Yoo noted that often judges would make one-word rulings, such as denying motions, which are usually only then found in the written transcript of the proceedings, but he made clear the situation now was vastly different.

“This is an unprecedented exercise of judicial power, in response to an unprecedented claim of authority by the president,” Yoo said.  

Boasberg is currently considering whether the Trump administration violated his court order, which the White House denies. A Friday hearing on whether to maintain the ban quickly grew contentious when the judge accused DOJ lawyers, without specifics, of being “disrespectful” in the court filings. The administration said Boasberg was engaging in a “judicial fishing expedition,” according to Reuters.

Local leaders and an immigration expert are slamming Boston’s Democratic Mayor Michelle Wu for prioritizing left-wing politics above safety, saying the mayor has proved that she “continues to prioritize political agendas over the safety of Boston residents, particularly women and children.”

Wu, who has previously said that Boston would not cooperate with ICE immigration enforcement operations, delivered a raucous “State of the City” address on Wednesday in which she reiterated “we stand with immigrants.”

Addressing immigrants directly, Wu said, “You belong here.”

“No one tells Boston how to take care of our own, not kings, and not presidents who think they are kings. Boston was born facing down bullies,” she said. 

DEMOCRAT MAYOR BLASTED FOR VOWING TO MAKE MAJOR CITY ‘SAFE HAVEN’ FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

This take, however, enraged some local leaders who say that harboring illegal immigrants from ICE poses a serious threat to local citizens.

Massachusetts GOP spokesperson Logan Trupiano told Fox News Digital that “there is simply no justifiable reason for her to stand in the way of this critical progress.”

Despite her claim in the speech to be speaking for all 700,000 Boston residents, Trupiano pointed out that “polling consistently shows that the majority of Americans support these efforts.”

“Mayor Wu must move beyond fearmongering and the mischaracterization of ICE and federal authorities,” he said, adding, “The city’s sanctuary policies have led to the release of dangerous individuals back into our communities, undermining public trust and security.” 

BUCKING BIG-CITY TREND: MAJOR TEXAS CITIES NOW ALERTING ICE OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ENCOUNTERS

He also pointed to the recent spike in arrests of illegal immigrant child sex predators and other serious criminals in the Boston area.

“ICE has apprehended child predators, drug dealers, and gun runners – individuals responsible for heinous crimes that threaten public safety,” said Trupiano. “Given the recent arrests made by ICE in Massachusetts and Boston, it is hard to understand why Mayor Wu continues to oppose the Trump administration’s efforts.”  

Meanwhile, former immigration judge and Center for Immigration Studies policy expert Andrew Arthur told Fox News Digital that sanctuary policies endanger not only citizens but also immigrant communities.

“Sanctuary policies actually harm people in immigrant communities that are sanctuaries because they know that the cops aren’t going to turn those people over to ICE, they’re going to turn them back out onto the streets. So, they don’t want to come forward [to report crimes], because they’re afraid that they’re going to be retaliated against,” he explained.

BLUE SANCTUARY STATE OPERATING AS ‘CONTROL’ CENTER FOR VICIOUS MIGRANT GANG: ACTING DEA CHIEF

“Street cops want criminals off the street,” he went on. “They want to help ICE. It’s only poorly reasoning public officials that ever promote these policies.”

“What we’ve created is a sanctuary for criminals,” said Arthur. “Immigration enforcement is the best way to protect not only communities but immigrant communities in particular.”

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Jon Fetherston, a former Massachusetts migrant shelter director who lives in the Boston area, told Fox News Digital that Wu’s policies “prioritize political agendas over the safety of Boston residents” and have “emboldened criminal networks, making our communities more dangerous.”

He said that Wu’s “Trump Derangement Syndrome” has “made all of us unsafe, especially women and children.”

‘BRING IT ON’: SHERIFF PUSHES BACK AFTER BLUE STATE LEADERS SUE TO STOP IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT

He pointed to the recent arrests of Guatemalan national Sostenes Perez-Lopez, who was charged with two counts of indecent assault and battery on a child in Brighton, and Bilal Karayigit, an illegal Turkish national, who was apprehended in Burlington after being charged with raping a Massachusetts resident.  

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“Tom Homan cannot get to Boston fast enough!” he said. “Continuing on this path not only endangers our communities but also undermines the rule of law.”

Kitty Dukakis, the wife of former Massachusetts governor and 1988 Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis, has died at the age of 88, Fox News Digital has confirmed.

Her son, John Dukakis, said that the wife and mother of three died Friday night “surrounded by family.”

“She was born on December 26, 1936, and lived a full life fighting to make the world a better place and sharing her vulnerabilities to help others face theirs,” he said in a statement. “She was loving, feisty and fun, and had a keen sensitivity to people from all walks of life. She and our dad, Michael Dukakis, shared an enviable partnership for over 60 years and loved each other deeply. Thank you to all who have touched our lives over the years or who were touched by our mother.”

MICHAEL DUKAKIS BASHES TRUMP, SAYS VOTERS MUST ‘GET THIS GUY OUT OF THE WHITE HOUSE BEFORE HE DESTROYS US’

The Washington Post and the New York Times both reported that John Dukakis said his mother’s cause of death was complications from dementia and that she died at her home in Brookline, Mass. 

Kitty Dukakis was the first lady of Massachusetts during her husband’s three nonconsecutive terms and supported Michael Dukakis during his unsuccessful presidential run against Vice President George H.W. Bush. 

In what was considered a pivotal moment of the campaign, Michael Dukakis was asked by CNN moderator Bernard Shaw during the first presidential debate, “Governor, if Kitty Dukakis was raped and murdered, would you favor an irrevocable death penalty for the killer?” He responded flatly, “No, I don’t, Bernard,” and went on to reiterate his opposition to the death penalty. 

Kitty Dukakis later said her husband admitted “I really blew it,” with an answer that was widely perceived as emotionless and tone-deaf. She also condemned the question as “outrageous.”  

DUKAKIS CALLS PROGRESSIVE ‘DEFUND THE POLICE’ PUSH ‘NUTS,’ SAYS IT TAKES AWAY FROM PROVEN COMMUNITY POLICING

In her 60s, Kitty Dukakis, supported by her husband, became an advocate for electroconvulsive therapy to treat depression. She authored books opening up about her addiction to diet pills and alcohol. 

She was of Jewish background, though her husband was Greek Orthodox. A longtime advocate who was involved in projects on subjects including the homeless, refugees, and AIDS, Kitty Dukakis was appointed by former President Jimmy Carter, and by former President H.W. Bush, her husband’s former rival, to commissions that led to the creation of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. 

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Her father was Ellis Dickson, the first violinist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and a conductor of the Boston Pops. She detailed a more complicated relationship with her mother, Jane (Goldberg) Dickson, in her first book, “Now You Know.” 

EXCLUSIVE – Marking Down Syndrome Awareness Day, Bishop Robert Barron’s publishing company, Word on Fire, is releasing a groundbreaking new book specifically designed to help adults with Down syndrome and other intellectual disabilities, who are disproportionately targeted for abortion, to pray.

Written by Mark Bradford, an advocate for persons with intellectual disabilities, the book – titled “Let Us Pray: Catholic Prayers for All Abilities” – features simplified traditional prayers, large print for readability, and an accessible font for those with dyslexia and other reading challenges.

Persons with Down syndrome are significantly more likely to be targeted for abortion. Between 67 and 87 percent of babies prenatally diagnosed with Down syndrome are aborted, according to a study published by the NIH.  

KIDS WITH DOWN SYNDROME CAN LIVE ‘ABUNDANT LIVES,’ DAD TELLS FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR

There are an estimated 250,000 persons with Down syndrome in the United States, and millions more with other types of intellectual challenges.

Despite this, there has been no prayer book designed for adults with these learning challenges … until now.

“Prayer is meant for every one of us,” Louisville Archbishop Edward Kurtz writes in the book’s foreword.

Kurtz, who grew up with an older brother with Down syndrome, called the book a “beautiful gift” for those who desire to grow in their faith but have no means to do so.   

VANCE VOWS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION WILL BE ‘BIGGEST DEFENDERS OF RELIGIOUS LIBERTIES,’ CATHOLICS

Bradford told Fox News Digital that he was inspired to create the new book when he saw his 20-year-old son Thomas Augustine – who has Down syndrome – having to use a book with “horrible illustrations” designed for small children to pray the rosary.

“There are no resources like this for adults with intellectual disabilities,” he explained. “I want this to be a resource that provides something beautiful to encourage adults with disabilities, and really anyone whose reading level is around the 3rd to 6th grade, to develop a habit of prayer using a book that was prepared just for them.”

Fox News Digital obtained an exclusive copy of the book. Bradford explained that through the book’s visually striking but not childish imagery, easy-to-read text, and engaging layout, it can help anyone, especially those with learning challenges, to form a habit of prayer.

According to Bradford, even the typeset chosen for the prayers is a unique font designed by a typographer in Holland specifically to assist dyslexic readers.

CATHOLIC BISHOP INVITES AMERICANS TO ‘TAKE THE TIME TO FOCUS ON THE LORD’ DURING 10,000 HOUR PRAYER CAMPAIGN 

“Let Us Pray” includes four main sections: “Making a Habit of Prayer,” “Getting More Involved at Sunday Mass,” “Devotions” and “Prayers for Special Times,” which includes “Prayers for Your Life’s Purpose” and “Prayers When Someone You Love Has Died or Is Dying.”

The book even includes a portion on “Prayers to End Abortion,” which acknowledges the “very sad” reality that many Down syndrome babies are selected for abortion because of their disability.

“When some women find out they are going to have a baby, they are very sad and afraid. They don’t want their baby — sometimes especially if they find out the baby will have Down syndrome or another disability,” the book reads. “They need us to pray for them every day so that they say yes, just like Mary did, and have their special baby to love.”

There is also a section at the end of the book for the reader to write down their own prayers.

CHRIS PRATT CALLS FAITH THE ‘BEST PART’ OF HIS LIFE AFTER TEAMING UP WITH HALLOW APP 

Despite the stigma often associated with Down syndrome and other learning disabilities, Bradford said that through “Let Us Pray,” he wants to send the message that “EVERY human person made in God’s image is called into a relationship with him.”

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“Those living with intellectual disabilities can have a rich and fruitful prayer life,” he said. “That needs to be honored with resources that encourage prayer and the development of that relationship with their creator that happens through prayer.”

Elon Musk has threatened to sue after former Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., used a recent TV appearance on CNN to call President Donald Trump’s top adviser a “Nazi” and a “thief.” 

“I’ve had enough. Lawsuit inbound,” Musk wrote on X on Friday, replying to a clip of Bowman’s recent round table discussion on CNN.

Bowman, who was defeated in last July’s Democratic primary by a centrist pro-Israel candidate, told a panel of commentators that the “American people do not trust Elon Musk and Elon Musk is incompetent in his position.” 

TRUMP FLOATS IDEA OF CONVICTED TESLA ARSONISTS SERVING SENTENCES IN EL SALVADOR PRISONS: ‘LOVELY CONDITIONS’

“How do we know? Because they fired tens of thousands of people, was challenged in court. The court said the people have to go back, and now the people are coming back,” Bowman told CNN.

“He’s incompetent. He’s a thief. He’s a Nazi. And people don’t trust him,” Bowman claimed of Musk. 

Left-wing media accused Musk of doing a “Nazi salute” when the tech billionaire addressed a crowd on Trump’s Inauguration Day. 

His mother, Maye Musk, called on her son to sue CNN and other outlets for peddling the “Nazi salute” narrative. 

Other Democrats have lauded fascist claims against Musk, including Bowman’s former fellow “Squad” member, Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., who said last month Musk was a “Nazi nepo baby.”

JEWISH TESLA OWNER DEMANDS HATE CRIME CHARGES AFTER CYBERTRUCK DEFACED WITH SWASTIKA

Bowman, a former member of the progressive, left-wing “Squad” of Democrats of color in the House of Representatives, was defeated by George Latimer in July’s Democratic primary in New York’s 16th congressional district. Bowman, who accused Israel of “genocide” during its war against Hamas terrorists, claimed that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the deep-pocketed pro-Israel group, spent millions to “brainwash” voters against him. 

The House notably censured Bowman in 2023 for pulling a fire alarm in the Capitol to interrupt government shutdown negotiations. 

Those who supported Musk’s potential legal action included conservative journalist Andy Ngo, who notably garnered recognition after being assaulted by Antifa rioters in Portland, Oregon, in 2019. 

“Accusing people of crimes is not protected opinion. CNN is putting itself at risk of liability for bringing on guests who repeat potentially defamatory claims unchallenged,” Ngo wrote. 

“Sue him! Defamation against conservatives can’t go unaddressed or it will never end,” Rep. Mike Lee, R-Utah, wrote from his personal X account.

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“Fight back!” Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., also wrote. 

Large campaign rallies and town halls are pillars of election year politics, but two months into President Donald Trump‘s second term, town halls are erupting across the country. 

While Republicans have largely been told to stay home, Democrats seem to be driving the narrative for the first time since Trump returned to the White House. 

Democrats last week launched a coordinated effort to host “People’s Town Halls” in all 50 states after disruptive protests led Republican leadership to advise against hosting in-person town halls. The first week of town halls brought a new wave of political drama and engagement resembling that of an election year. 

“When folks get out of the DC bubble and into communities across the country, there is one undeniably clear trend emerging: Americans are feeling betrayed by Republicans. Across party lines, people are furious that their lives, jobs, retirement, and health care are being cast aside to enrich the already ultra-wealthy. The reception to the People’s Town Halls has been thunderous — and we’re keeping them going through all 50 states. Americans want to be heard and Democrats are listening,” DNC Chair Ken Martin told Fox News Digital in a statement. 

CHAOS ERUPTS AT GOP LAWMAKER’S TOWN HALL AFTER LEFT-WING GROUPS PROMOTE PROTESTS

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., rallied nearly 12,000 Arizonans in Tempe on Thursday night on the second stop of a three-state West Coast swing. Thousands of supporters have cheered on Sanders at each stop of his “Fighting Oligarchy” tour. The rallies reject Trump’s executive reach and Elon Musk’s efforts to slash federal bureaucracy through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which Sanders argues is wreaking havoc and turning the country into an oligarchy. 

Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., the former vice presidential candidate, has been crisscrossing the country himself, targeting Republican districts where he says representatives are refusing to meet with their constituents. Walz exchanged barbs with Musk this week after he joked about regularly checking Tesla’s stock for an ego boost, which was down 41.4% year-to-date as of March amidst a string of violence against Tesla. 

“Sometimes when I need a little boost, I look at the @JDVance portrait in the White House and thank the Lord,” Musk replied on X to Walz’s comment at the “The People vs Musk” event on Tuesday. 

FLORIDA DEMS STAGE TOWN HALLS IN GOP DISTRICTS FEATURING ‘MISSING’ POSTERS OF THEIR COLLEAGUES

Democrats have been without a clear party leader since Trump defeated former Vice President Kamala Harris in November 2024. While Sanders’ rallies began last month, Walz launched his own town hall-style event after Politico first reported that the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) advised House Republicans against hosting in-person town halls. 

Progressive protest groups last month organized disruptions at Republican-held town halls and local legislative offices, effectively shutting them down. Some lawmakers, including Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., reported safety concerns following threats of violence. Many Republicans have opted for tele-town halls as a result, citing productivity in a controlled environment. 

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson joined the Republican town hall deterrence, telling reporters that Republicans shouldn’t give “professional protesters” a forum to sell their soundbites and make headlines. Trump called the protesters ‘paid troublemakers’ and said it was ’all part of the game for the Democrats.’ After two months of playing defense, it seems Democrats have the ball in their court. 

BERNIE SANDERS, AOC TAKE AIM AT TRUMP AND MUSK, AS WELL AS DEMOCRATS, AT WESTERN RALLIES

Like Walz, Democrats individually capitalized on the narrative that Republicans aren’t showing up for their constituents, and town halls began popping up in red districts across the country. Following their big November losses, the Democrats’ town halls have become an opportunity for lawmakers to score points with the slew of Americans infuriated with Trump’s second term and Musk’s DOGE cuts. 

Last Friday, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) seized the chance to present a united front following weeks of Republican criticism that Democrats lack clear messaging during Trump’s second term. 

The DNC’s coordinated effort includes the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), the Association of State Democratic Committees (ASDC) and Democratic state parties to “hold vulnerable Republican members of Congress accountable for their refusal to face their constituents and answer for their votes to put billionaires above working people.”

The DNC’s initial launch included at least nine town halls in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska and Pennsylvania. As of Friday, there were at least 11 more town halls scheduled this weekend and next week. The DNC and Democratic state parties have held a total of 22 events so far in 13 states, the DNC tells Fox News Digital. 

As Democrats’ town halls find their way to every corner of the United States, David McIntosh, president of Club for Growth, a top conservative group, is now urging Congressional Republicans to participate in town halls, Fox News confirmed. 

Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., was the only House GOP lawmaker whose office set up an in-person town hall this week while Congress is in recess. It ended in chaos on Tuesday night as angry Democratic protesters accused Republicans of trying to gut critical government programs. The audience questions accused Trump and Flood of not supporting the “rule of law.” The crowd repeatedly booed any mention of Musk or DOGE. 

DEM LEADER SWINGS THROUGH GOP-HELD DISTRICTS AFTER ‘CLOWN SHOW PROTESTS’ HALTED TOWN HALLS

But Democrats’ town halls haven’t been without their own political theater. The Florida Democratic Party created “missing” posters of Republican representatives for their town halls. One by one in Clearwater on Saturday, Pinellas County constituents took turns addressing a “missing” poster of Rep. Ana Paulina Luna, R-Fla. Conservatives on social media slammed the “missing” posters as “nothing authentic or compelling.”

“I have never seen the national Democratic Party in such chaos and confusion. Whether it’s childish stunts on the floor of Congress or performance art with their fake town halls, there is nothing authentic or compelling about their message, their tactics, or their delivery,” Republican consultant Frank Luntz replied on X to photos from the event. 

Luntz compared the Democrats’ latest move to holding posters during Trump’s joint address to Congress and the coordinated effort by protest groups to disrupt Republican town halls. Others on social media called it “embarrassing.” Luna’s spokesperson said she has been available at “numerous events” and that the Florida representative doesn’t “work for the leftist mob.” 

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Pro-Palestinian protesters disrupted a town hall hosted by Rep. Sean Casten, D-Ill., on Wednesday, when a woman yelled about U.S. support for Israel and a man jumped on stage. Police had to shut down the event and escort constituents out of the venue, CNN reported. 

Voters also expressed their frustration to Democratic lawmakers that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer had appeased Republicans by voting to fund their continuing resolution to keep the government open last week. Reps. Glenn Ivey, D-Md., Arizona Sens. Ruben Gallego and Mark Kelly, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Rep. Janelle Bynum, D-Ore., and Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., all faced backlash from their constituents at town halls on the lack of Democratic leadership in Washington, Politico reported. 

Fox News’ Kellianne Jones, Elizabeth Elkind and Aubrie Spady contributed to this report.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has agreed to a 10-year, $1.4 trillion investment framework, the White House announced on Friday, saying it will “substantially increase the UAE’s existing investments in the U.S. economy.”  The White House said the investments would be in AI infrastructure, semiconductors, energy, American manufacturing and more.

The White House said in a press release that the UAE agreed to the framework after President Donald Trump hosted the UAE National Security Advisor, HH Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, for a meeting in the Oval Office.

IRAN’S LEADER WARNS US COULD RECEIVE ‘SEVERE SLAPS’ FOLLOWING TRUMP’S THREAT TO HOUTHIS

STUDENTS WHO SAW CAMPUSES DEVOLVE INTO ANTI-ISRAEL CHAOS WITNESS FIRST-HAND SUCCESSES OF ABRAHAM ACCORDS

The sheikh thanked Trump for “the warm welcome and hospitality” in a post on X. He said their discussions focused on the future of U.S.-UAE relations.

“The UAE remains committed to strengthening its economic ties with the U.S. by accelerating investments in artificial intelligence, advanced technology, infrastructure, energy, and healthcare – key pillars for sustainable growth and development,” Sheikh Tahnoon added.

According to the White House, investments in the framework include Abu Dhabi-based MGX, BlackRock, Microsoft and Global Infrastructure Partners working with NVIDIA and xAI to support “U.S. AI leadership.” The group will mobilize up to $100 billion to support the build-out. Additionally, Emirates Global Aluminum is expected to invest in America’s first new aluminum smelter in 35 years. 

“These significant investments underscore the close ties between the United States and the United Arab Emirates, and the strong relationship between President Trump and President Sheikh Mohamed,” the White House wrote.

While in D.C., Sheikh Tahnoon met with several members of the Trump administration, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz.

TRUMP HOLDS ‘VERY GOOD’ CALL WITH ZELENSKYY FOLLOWING DEAL WITH PUTIN

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Trump also wrote about the meeting in a post on Truth Social, saying, “UAE and the U.S. have long been partners in the work to bring peace and security to the Middle East and the world. Discussions also included ways for our countries to increase our partnership for the advancing of our economic and technological futures.”

The Trump administration asked a D.C.-based federal judge to dissolve a previous injunction blocking the Pentagon’s ban on transgender troops. 

In a Friday filing, the government argued that President Donald Trump’s executive order barring transgender individuals from serving in the military is not an overarching ban but instead “turns on gender dysphoria — a medical condition — and does not discriminate against trans-identifying persons as a class.”

The government cited new guidance that the Department of Defense expects to implement, were it not for the ongoing litigation, that clarifies “the phrase ‘exhibit symptoms consistent with gender dysphoria’” solely applies to “‘individuals who exhibit such symptoms as would be sufficient to constitute a diagnosis.'”

PENTAGON TO APPEAL JUDGE’S DECISION BLOCKING TRANSGENDER BAN, HEGSETH SAYS

The filing cites a memo sent on Friday with the new guidance. 

Under the requirements, a party requesting to dissolve a preliminary injunction must demonstrate “a significant change either in factual conditions or in law” that shows that continued enforcement of the order would be “detrimental to the public interest.” 

“The March 21, 2025, guidance constitutes a ‘significant change,’” the filing reads. “Whereas the Court has broadly construed the scope of the DoD Policy to encompass all trans-identifying servicemembers or applicants, the new guidance underscores Defendants’ consistent position that the DoD Policy is concerned with the military readiness, deployability, and costs associated with a medical condition — one that every prior Administration has, to some degree, kept out of the military.”

JUDGE WHO BLOCKED KEY TRUMP EXECUTIVE ORDER HAS LONG HISTORY OF LEFT-WING ACTIVISM, DEM DONATIONS

The Trump administration further requested that, if the motion to dissolve was denied, the court should stay the preliminary injunction pending appeal.

During a Friday hearing, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes, a Biden-appointed federal judge, expressed that she wanted the Defense Department to push back their implementation deadline of the ban, allowing for more time in the appeals process. Reyes gave the government a 3 p.m. Friday deadline to circle back with her. 

“I don’t want to jam up the DC Circuit, that’s my main concern here,” Reyes said during the in-person hearing. “My chambers worked incredibly hard to get out an opinion on time.”

“Use your considerable charm and skill to get your clients to agree to this,” she told government lawyers. 

Reyes issued a preliminary injunction in favor of the plaintiffs earlier this week, writing that the plaintiffs in the suit, which include transgender individuals, “face a violation of their constitutional rights, which constitutes irreparable harm” that would warrant a preliminary injunction. 

Reyes continued on to say that the “President and Defendants could have crafted a policy that balances the Nation’s need for a prepared military and Americans’ right to equal protection.”

Reyes wrote at the time that they “still can.”

FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS TRUMP’S TRANSGENDER MILITARY EXECUTIVE ORDER

“The Military Ban, however, is not that policy,” she continued. “The Court therefore must act to uphold the equal protection rights that the military defends every day.”

“The Court’s opinion is long, but its premise is simple. In the self-evident truth that ‘all people are created equal,’ all means all,” Reyes wrote. “Nothing more. And certainly nothing less.”

At issue in the case is a Jan. 27 executive order signed by Trump requiring the Defense Department to update its guidance regarding “trans-identifying medical standards for military service” and to “rescind guidance inconsistent with military readiness.” 

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth previously said Wednesday the Pentagon would be appealing Reyes’ decision.

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“We are appealing this decision, and we will win,” Hegseth posted on X. 

Fox News’ Jake Gibson, Andrew Mark Miller, Cameron Cawthorne and Morgan Phillips contributed to this report. 

President Donald Trump, with the stroke of a pen, signed an executive order this week to begin the longstanding conservative goal of demolishing the Department of Education.

“Today we take a very historic action that was 45 years in the making,” Trump said at a White House signing ceremony. “It’s about time.”

Trump has been on a tear since returning to the White House two months ago, flexing his political muscles to expand presidential powers as he’s upended longstanding government policy and made major cuts to the federal workforce through a flurry of executive orders and actions. 

Trump has signed close to 100 executive orders since his inauguration, according to a count from Fox News, which far surpasses the rate of any recent presidential predecessors during their opening weeks in office.

CHECK OUT WHAT THE LATEST FOX NEWS NATIONAL POLL SAYS ABOUT PRESIDENT TRUMP 

The president touts that “a lot of great things are happening” and that “things are doing very well,” but it’s clear that Americans are divided on the job Trump’s doing so far in his second tour of duty in the White House. 

Trump’s approval rating stood at 49% in the latest Fox News national survey, with 51% giving the president a thumbs down in the survey, which was conducted March 14-17.

PROBLEMATIC POLL NUMBERS FOR THE DEMOCRATS 

The Fox News poll is the latest national survey to Trump’s approval rating slightly underwater, and it’s also the latest to indicate a massive partisan divide over the president and his agenda.

Ninety-two percent of Republican respondents approved of the president’s performance, while an equal percentage of Democrats gave Trump a big thumbs down. More than six-in-ten independents said they disapproved of the job Trump is doing.

The president’s 49% overall approval rating matches the all-time high for Trump in Fox News polling, which he last reached in April 2020, near the end of his first term in office. And that’s six points higher than where he stood at this point in his first administration (43% approval in March 2017).

Trump’s poll numbers were almost entirely in negative territory in most surveys for the entirety of his first term in office.

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“The difference is largely a function of the consolidation of the Republican base,” Daron Shaw, who serves as a member of the Fox News Decision Team and is the Republican partner on the Fox News Poll, noted. 

“The party’s completely solidified behind him,” added Shaw, a politics professor and chair at the University of Texas, who noted that Trump’s current rock-solid GOP support wasn’t the case at the start of the first term, when he had troubles with some Republicans.

Shaw highlighted that “Democrats were consolidated against Trump in 2017. They’re consolidated against him now.” 

Pointing to recent polls indicating Democratic Party favorability at all-time lows, he said “they don’t like their own party very much, but they all agreed that they don’t like Trump.”

While Trump’s poll numbers are superior to where he stood eight years ago, there’s been a bit of slippage.

An average of all the most recent national polls indicates that Trump’s approval ratings are just below water. Trump has seen his numbers edge down slightly since returning to the White House in late January, when an average of his polls indicated the president’s approval rating in the low 50s and his disapproval in the mid-40s.

Contributing to the slide – the economy and jitters that Trump’s tariffs on both foes and friends will spark further inflation, which was a pressing issue that kept former President Biden’s approval ratings well below water for most of his presidency.

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The latest Fox News poll as well as other recent surveys point to growing skepticism about Trump’s economic actions and policies.

Shaw says it all comes down to independents. 

“If the Republicans are locked down in favor of Trump and Democrats locked down in opposition, it’s just independents,” he said.

Polls indicate independents are currently giving Trump a thumbs down on his handling of the economy.

But Shaw offered that “if inflation comes down a bit, if there’s some growth, those numbers are going to flip. That’s what independents do. They go with the times.”

President Donald Trump called the U.S.-Canada border an “artificial line” while also declining to say whether Canada would lean right or left if it were to become a state. 

Trump’s Friday comments were made during a press conference in the Oval Office amid controversy over the president speaking of Canada as the “51st state.”

Fox News’ Peter Doocy asked the president whether he would be “concerned” about whether Canada “would be a very, very blue state.”

CANADIAN POLITICIAN CLAIMS TRUMP ADMIN’S ’51ST STATE’ RHETORIC IS AN ‘ACT OF WAR’

“It’s just an artificial line that was drawn in the sand or in the ice,” Trump said. “You add that to this country – what a beautiful landmass. The most beautiful landmass anywhere in the world. And it was just cut off for whatever reason.”

“It would be great,” he continued. 

Trump circumvented the question, saying, “I don’t care who winds up there.”

“Frankly, [it] probably would do better with the liberal than the conservative, if you want to know the truth,” he responded. 

CANADA ‘RAGE ROOM’ LETS VISITORS SMASH TRUMP, VANCE, MUSK PORTRAITS TO RELEASE TARIFF ANGST

Trump referenced former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during the exchange, whom he has notably called “Governor Trudeau.”

Trudeau resigned as leader of the Liberal Party and the country’s prime minister in early January, following increased pressure and criticism from within his own party and threats levied by then-President-Elect Trump. 

Former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney won the Liberal leadership earlier this month, replacing Trudeau. 

“I think Canada is a place like a lot of other places – if you have a good candidate, the candidate’s going to win,” Trump said. 

CANADA’S NEW PM AND TRUMP CRITIC MARK CARNEY ACCUSED OF BEING OUT OF TOUCH WITH THE ‘COMMON MAN’

Canadian MP Charlie Angus recently claimed the Trump administration had committed an “act of war” over Trump repeatedly referring to Canada as the U.S.’ “51st state” and for leveling tariffs on the nation. 

“Well, I think Marco Rubio probably needs to be sent back to school, because when you say that someone doesn’t have a right to have a country, that’s an act of war. When you rip up, arbitrarily, trade agreements and threaten and say you’re going to break a country, that’s an act of war. And Canadians have responded in kind,” Angus said during an interview earlier this week with the MeidasTouch Network.

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Trump leveled a 25% tariff on all imports of steel and aluminum from other nations in early March, while Canada specifically is set to face a 25% tax on all imported goods beginning April 2. The tariffs have sparked boycotts of U.S. goods. 

Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report. 

The Trump administration will revoke the temporary legal status of more than half a million migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela who entered the U.S. legally, according to a notice posted Friday in the Federal Register.

The roughly 532,000 migrants have been told to leave the country before their humanitarian parole and accompanying work permits are canceled on April 24, giving them a month from when the notice is formally published on March 25.

The migrants were allowed to fly directly to the U.S. after applying from abroad under a policy started during the Biden administration that was designed to open legal migration pathways, but President Donald Trump suspended the program when he returned to office in January.

The program, CHNV, allowed the migrants and their immediate family members to fly into the U.S. if they had American sponsors. They could then remain in the country for two years under a temporary immigration status known as parole.

DHS’ KRISTI NOEM SAYS TRUMP ADMIN WILL RESUME CONSTRUCTION OF 7 MILES OF SOUTHERN BORDER

Launched in 2022, the program first applied to Venezuelans before it was expanded to additional countries.

The Biden administration had argued that CHNV would help reduce illegal crossings at the southern border and allow better vetting of people entering the country amid an influx of migrants entering through the U.S.-Mexico border.

Trump’s Department of Homeland Security criticized the Biden administration on Friday, arguing that the program failed to achieve its goals, the BBC reported.

The agency said in a statement that Biden officials had “granted them [migrants] opportunities to compete for American jobs and undercut American workers; forced career civil servants to promote the programs even when fraud was identified; and then blamed Republicans in Congress for the chaos that ensued and the crime that followed.”

But the notice in the Federal Register said some migrants in the U.S. under CHNV may be allowed to remain in the country on a case-by-case basis.

CHNV helped about 213,000 Haitians enter the U.S. amid deteriorating conditions in their home country, as well as more than 120,700 Venezuelans, 110,900 Cubans and more than 93,000 Nicaraguans, according to the BBC.

Last month, DHS announced plans to end another immigration designation, temporary protected status, or TPS, for 500,000 Haitians living in the U.S. legally. TPS was given to migrants from designated countries facing unsafe conditions, including armed conflict.

The agency also ended TPS for Venezuelans living in the U.S., although this is being challenged in court.

JUDGE GIVES MAHMOUD KHALIL LEGAL TEAM MORE TIME TO REVIEW IMMIGRATION CASE

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Trump’s efforts to remove legal and illegal migrants from the U.S. since taking office in January as part of his immigration agenda have faced numerous legal obstacles.

The Trump administration is also reportedly dismantling internal watchdogs for DHS, including its Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, which investigated allegations of abuse and discrimination within immigration enforcement, according to Bloomberg News.