NationalWatch

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz warned Iran during an emergency meeting of the Security Council that President Donald Trump “is a man of action” who has “made it clear all options are on the table to stop the slaughter.” 

Waltz said Thursday that, “We all have a responsibility to support the Iranian people and to put an end to the regime’s neglect and oppression of the Iranian nation.” 

Iran has been plunged into turmoil amid recent anti-government protests, with the death toll from those being at least 2,677, the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency told The Associated Press. 

“Colleagues, let me be clear. President Trump is a man of action, not endless talk like we see at the United Nations. He has made it clear all options are on the table to stop the slaughter. And no one should know that better than the leadership of the Iranian regime,” Waltz added. 

Waltz’s remarks came as Gholam Hossein Darzi, the deputy Iranian ambassador to the U.N., accused the U.S. of trying to destabilize the Islamic Republic.

TOP IRANIAN GENERAL THREATENS TO ‘CUT OFF’ TRUMP’S HAND OVER POTENTIAL MILITARY STRIKES

“Under the hollow pretext of concern for the Iranian people and claims of support for human rights, the United States regime is attempting to portray itself as a friend of the Iranian people, while simultaneously laying the groundwork for political destabilization and military intervention under a so-called humanitarian narrative,” Darzi said. 

Waltz dismissed the claim, telling diplomats at U.N. headquarters on Thursday that Iran’s leaders are “afraid of their own people.” 

“I would like to address the allegation put forward by the regime that these inspired protests are somehow a foreign plot to give a precursor to military action. Everyone in the world needs to know that the regime is weaker than ever before, and therefore is putting forward this lie because of the power of the Iranian people in the streets,” Waltz said.

IRAN ALLEGEDLY AIRS 97 ‘COERCIVE CONFESSIONS’ AMID RECORD-BREAKING NORTH KOREA-STYLE INTERNET BLACKOUT

“They are afraid. They’re afraid of their own people. Iran says it’s ready for dialogue, but its actions say otherwise. This is a regime that rules through oppression, through violence, and through intimidation, and has destabilized the Middle East for decades. Well, enough is enough,” he added. 

“The regime’s dereliction of duty to its own citizens is what has put the ayatollahs in the positions they are in today with hundreds of thousands, if not millions, protesting in the streets after decades of neglect and abuse. So everyone should ask themselves, everyone sitting here today, how many people are dead?” Waltz also said.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Thursday that Trump and his team “have communicated to the Iranian regime that if the killing continues, there will be grave consequences.” 

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“And the president received a message as he revealed to all of you and the whole world yesterday, that the killing and the executions will stop. And the president understands today that 800 executions that were scheduled and supposed to take place yesterday were halted. And so the president and his team are closely monitoring this situation, and all options remain on the table for the president,” she added. 

EXCLUSIVE: The Trump administration is firing back at a Democratic Bronx congressman who offered a new-age way for civilians to identify immigration enforcement agents who obscure their identity with masks or lack of names on their uniforms amid civil unrest around the country.

Rep. Ritchie Torres, a Democrat, said he is introducing the Quick Recognition Act next week, which would require ICE and CBP agents to wear uniforms that feature QR codes – the two-dimensional offshoot of barcodes that can link a concrete item to a website or information portal.

At sporting events or in restaurants, they often use QR codes to draw customers to scan them and open webpages to enter contests or access menus. In Torres’ case, scanning the QR code on an officer’s uniform would return their name, badge number and agency that employs them.

The White House said Torres’ bill would spur a “widescale doxxing campaign” and encourage protesters to “approach and interfere with law enforcement operations.”

DEMOCRATIC THINK TANK URGES PARTY TO DROP ‘ABOLISH ICE’ SLOGAN IN NEW MEMO

“This is all because Democrats want to defend criminal illegal aliens,” spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital.

“Surely this cannot be a serious proposal,” she added.

The administration cited DHS data showing ICE officers facing a 1,300% increase in assaults because of Democrats’ “dangerous and untrue smears.”

WHITE HOUSE BLAMES DEMOCRATS FOR ICE VIOLENCE AS MINNEAPOLIS ERUPTS, INSURRECTION ACT THREAT LOOMS

Torres’ office, by contrast, was defiant when asked about such concerns.

“There is nothing the Trump administration fears more than transparency and accountability,” Torres spokesman Benny Stanislawski told Fox News Digital.

Torres also told the Big Apple outlet AMNewYork that the need is “urgent” to “unmask ICE not only physically but digitally.”

OMAR, DEMS DEMAND NOEM IMPEACHMENT, PAINT MINNESOTA WOMAN SHOT BY ICE AS ‘POET’ WHO CHOSE ‘LOVE’

While Torres told the paper he predicts some pushback from law enforcement, he said that scanning QR codes is safer than asking for an officer’s ID.

He noted that most other agencies require officers to identify themselves in their line of duty, calling ICE a “systemically corrupt institution” and added he will oppose any future congressional appropriation that funds ICE more than $1.

A Democratic congressman from Detroit who previously called for President Donald Trump’s impeachment upped the ante this week with his own effort to abolish ICE.

HOCHUL CONFRONTED ICE AGENT, SAID HE WAS ‘TERRORIZING PEOPLE’ BY WEARING A MASK

Rep. Shri Thanedar said that the death of Renee Good in an ICE-involved shooting proves the agency “cannot be reformed and must be abolished.”

Thanedar said in a statement that since its inception in 2003, some legal experts have also argued its duties can be fulfilled more “justly” by other federal agencies.

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“When an agency’s structure consistently produces harm instead of justice, there is no way to reform it. We must fundamentally change the way we approach immigration,” Thanedar said.

Fox News Digital reached out to DHS for comment.

EXCLUSIVE — Republican National Committee (RNC) Chair Joe Gruters says he has “one goal” this year — to make sure the GOP holds its fragile House majority and narrow control of the Senate in November’s midterm elections.

Making Gruters’ mission more difficult: the party in power, which is clearly the Republicans right now, traditionally faces political headwinds and usually loses congressional seats in the midterms.

But the RNC chair, a longtime ally of President Donald Trump, who the president picked last summer to steer the national party committee, says he has a “secret weapon” in order to “defy history” and pick up seats in the 2026 elections.

“I think the President of the United States is our secret weapon… He’s laser focused,” Gruters touted in a national digital exclusive sit-down interview with Fox News.

HOUSE GOP CAMPAIGN CHAIR WANTS TRUMP ‘OUT THERE ON THE TRAIL’ IN MIDTERM BATTLE FOR MAJORITY

Pointing to Trump’s unprecedented agenda during his first year back in the White House, Gruters argued, “I think it’s going to pay huge dividends across the board, whether you’re running for governor, Senate, House, or whether you’re running for a local seat.”

Democrats see it differently, as they spotlight Trump’s underwater approval ratings and deep concerns by Americans over continued high prices.

PERCEPTION VS. REALITY’: TRUMP’S ECONOMY PICKS UP SPEED — BUT VOTERS AREN’T BUYING IT YET

The GOP is also dealing with a low propensity issue: MAGA voters who don’t always go to the polls when Trump’s name isn’t on the ballot.

But Gruters noted that Trump’s made stops in recent weeks in three key midterm election battlegrounds and said that the president’s “going to barnstorm the country with our candidates.”

The RNC chair also spotlighted the party’s formidable fundraising advantage over the rival Democratic National Committee (DNC), noting that “we’re raising a ton of money.”

But he cautioned: “We got to do everything right. We got to make sure we turn our voters out, and we got to make sure that we have people energized. And there’s nobody that can energize our base more than President Trump.”

REPUBLICAN SENATORS HIT BORDER, TOUTING TOUGHER SECURITY AND TAX CUTS, IN 2026 KICKOFF

Gruters, who was interviewed ahead of next week’s RNC winter meeting, also argued that “there’s been nobody that’s been more focused on affordability than President Trump. Look at gas prices, the lowest prices since 2021. Look at egg prices, real pocketbook issues that impact everyday Americans the president is focused on, and he’s not done.”

Deep concerns over inflation boosted Trump and Republicans to sweeping victories at the ballot box in 2024, as they won back the White House and Senate and keep their House majority.

But Democrats say their decisive victories in November’s 2025 elections, and their overperformances in special elections and other ballot box showdowns last year, were fueled by their laser focus on affordability.

“One year into his second term, Donald Trump has made one thing unmistakably clear: He doesn’t care about everyday Americans — he only cares about himself and his billionaire donors. As working families struggle to afford groceries, utilities, and health care, and worry about finding a job, Trump is busy meddling in foreign countries and palling around with executives, failing to address Americans’ top concerns on the economy,” DNC Rapid Response Director Kendall Witmer argued in a statement.

And pointing to November’s midterm elections, Witmer predicted, “Voters won’t forget Trump’s betrayal come midterms — and Republicans will have to answer for it.” 

CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS WIDEN 2026 BATTLEFIELD, ZERO IN ON NEW HOUSE REPUBLICAN TARGETS

But Gruters, who was a certified public accountant (CPA) before taking over the RNC, highlighted the series of tax cuts in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Trump’s signature domestic policy achievement so far during his second term.

“I will tell you that people are very excited about filing their taxes this year. This should be some of the biggest refunds that anybody has gotten,” he said.

The cost of living has been a key issue at the ballot box the past couple of years. And an overwhelming majority questioned in a Fox News national poll conducted last month expressed concern about high prices.

Gruters, promoting Trump’s agenda, told Fox News Digital that from “an affordability standpoint, I think we win hands down based on the policies this president has pushed.”

Democrats disagree.

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Gruters’ rival, DNC Chair Ken Martin, put it bluntly last month at the national party’s winter meeting.

“S— is too expensive,” Martin emphasized.

FIRST ON FOX: One of the nation’s most prominent teachers unions funneled millions of dollars in union funds to far-left activist groups, ballot initiatives, and social justice organizations, according to federal labor filings.

A November Form L-2 disclosure from the National Education Association (NEA) filed in November and obtained by the North American Values Institute (NAVI) shows 2024 fiscal year spending that involved millions given to social justice-oriented groups and far-left causes.

The NEA, which boasts more than 3 million members, sent $300,000 to the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a liberal dark money group Fox News Digital has reported on extensively, and tens of thousands of dollars to the Tides Foundation network, which Fox News Digital previously reported has ties to anti-Israel protests and a variety of far left causes.

Among the largest expenditures was more than $3.5 million sent to Education International, a global teachers federation where NEA President Becky Pringle serves as a vice president. The filing also details hundreds of thousands of dollars flowing to organizations backing ballot initiatives aimed at reshaping education policy and election laws in states, including Ohio, Massachusetts, Arizona, and Wisconsin.

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The union reported spending $500,000 to support a campaign to end standardized testing in Massachusetts, another $500,000 to back an anti-gerrymandering amendment in Ohio, and nearly $500,000 to a progressive political consulting firm specializing in ballot initiatives and canvassing.

In addition to electoral spending, the NEA paid more than $166,000 to Imagine Us LLC, a consulting firm focused on racial equity training and tens of thousands more to groups promoting what they describe as “social justice education,” including curriculum materials centered on race, gender identity, and activism in K-12 classrooms.

TEACHERS UNION SLAMS ‘TRUMP REGIME,’ CLAIMS ICE MURDERED MINNEAPOLIS AGITATOR IN MESSAGE TO SUPPORTERS

NEA sent $350,000 to the Schott Foundation, which describes itself as “a BIPOC-led public fund that pools philanthropic funding and fuels racial and education justice movements.”

“This is the upshot of social justice unionism,” NAVI Director of Research Mika Hackner told Fox News Digital. “Instead of focusing on member’s working conditions, unions spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on pet political projects completely divorced from the needs and wants of most teachers but perfectly in line with the political agenda the union has been co-opted to serve.”

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Fox News Digital reached out to the NEA for comment but did not receive a response.

The NEA has long-faced criticism for focusing on political advocacy and far-left ideology rather than the best interests of students. 

In November, Fox News Digital reported on uncovered documents showing the NEA instructing members on how to go through a gender transition at work, including best practices for using gender pronouns and combating transphobia, while also being provided with literature labeling conservative opposition as “villains.”

Erika Sanzi, senior director of communications for Defending Education, suggested to Fox News Digital at the time that the union’s federal charter should be re-evaluated.

Sanzi said, “Their federal charter was granted because they promised to ‘elevate the character and advance the interests of the profession of teaching; and to promote the cause of education in the United States.’ Seeing as their leadership — and by extension, the organization itself — has morphed into a far-left insane asylum that is actively destroying the cause of education, that charter is no longer defensible.”

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who visited with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem less than a month ago, said in a Thursday post on X he was going to Israel to meet with the foreign leader and his team.

“I am traveling to Israel to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his team at this crucial time in the history of the Middle East. The goal is to build on the historic opportunities created by President Trump’s unprecedented leadership, to stand up to evil, and to support the people who are sacrificing for freedom,” Graham wrote in the post.

“The Trump-Netanyahu alliance has thus far been one of the strongest partnerships in the history of the U.S.-Israel relationship, and I am hopeful it will pay dividends in the near future. We live in a time of great consequence with the Middle East on the verge of previously unimaginable change. Standing together and following through on our commitments only makes us stronger,” he added.

LINDSEY GRAHAM CALLS FOR US TO USE ‘ANY MEANS NECESSARY’ TO STOP THE PEOPLE BEHIND THE KILLING OF IRANIANS

Graham’s announcement comes less than a month after he met with Netanyahu in Israel in December.

In a video posted to X on December 21, Netanyahu welcomed the senator, calling Graham “a great friend of Israel” and “great personal friend.”

GRAHAM SUGGESTS TRUMP ‘HELP’ IRAN PROTESTERS WITH ‘MILITARY, CYBER AND PSYCHOLOGICAL ATTACKS’ AGAINST REGIME

The lawmaker has been advocating for U.S. President Donald Trump to attack Iran.

“President Trump’s resolve is not the question: Question is, when we do an operation like this, should it be bigger, or smaller? I’m in the camp of bigger,” Graham said in footage he highlighted in a Thursday post on X. “Time will tell. I’m hopeful and optimistic that the regime days are numbered.”

TOP IRANIAN GENERAL THREATENS TO ‘CUT OFF’ TRUMP’S HAND OVER POTENTIAL MILITARY STRIKES

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In a Wednesday post on X, Graham wrote, “People often ask me what should we do next when it comes to the murderous, religious Nazi regime in Iran. It’s pretty simple. Stand by the protesters demanding an end to their oppression. But it’s going to take more than standing by them. We must stop those who are responsible for killing the people by any means necessary ASAP. Make The Iranian People Safe Again.”

The White House pushed back Thursday after Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz told President Donald Trump to “turn the temperature down” following a warning from the president that he could invoke the Insurrection Act over unrest in Walz’s state. 

In a “direct appeal” on X, Walz pleaded to Trump to “Stop this campaign of retribution” and said that “This is not who we are.” The Democrat’s comments came after a second U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)-involved shooting in Minneapolis in recent days sparked demonstrations in the streets.

“Tim Walz, Jacob Frey, and Democrat leaders in Minnesota have done nothing but turn up the temperature, smear heroic ICE officers, and incite violence against them — all in defense of criminal illegal aliens,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told Fox News. 

“In Minnesota, ICE has arrested rapists, drug traffickers, domestic abusers, and more, despite Democrat opposition. The Trump Administration will protect the American people and enforce the law without apology. The only statement Tim Walz should be making is an apology. He has repeatedly compared ICE officers to Nazis and lied about their important work, including in his speech just last night,” Jackson added.

AGITATORS CLASH WITH FEDERAL OFFICERS AFTER ANOTHER ICE SHOOTING IN MINNEAPOLIS

The White House’s Rapid Response team also criticized Walz, writing on X, “Tampon, you gave a statewide address last night calling for ICE agents to be prosecuted for enforcing the law, so you might want to sit this one out.” 

“You’re a pathetic failure and total disgrace,” it added. 

The account shared a video clip of Walz speaking on Wednesday.

“Help us establish a record of exactly what’s happening in our communities. You have an absolute right to peacefully film ICE agents as they conduct these activities,” Walz said. “So, carry your phone with you at all times. And if you see these ICE agents in your neighborhood, take out that phone and hit record. Help us create a database of the atrocities against Minnesotans, not just to establish a record for posterity. But to bank evidence for future prosecution.” 

MINNESOTA SUES TRUMP ADMIN OVER SWEEPING IMMIGRATION RAIDS IN TWIN CITIES

Trump warned Thursday that he would invoke the Insurrection Act if people in Minnesota don’t obey the law and continue attacking federal agents there. 

“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. 

The Insurrection Act, an 1807 law, has not been invoked since the 1992 Los Angeles riots.

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The order allows the president to deploy the military to suppress rebellions and enforce federal laws. If invoked, it would grant Trump the authority to federalize the National Guard and deploy active duty forces to restore order. It would temporarily override the Posse Comitatus Act, which normally restricts the use of the military for domestic law enforcement. 

Fox News’ Morgan Phillips, Landon Mion and Patrick Ward contributed to this report. 

EXCLUSIVE: A House lawmaker who fled one Communist dictator will put forward a congressional resolution formally commending President Donald Trump for the humanitarian feat of ousting another, as Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro now sits in a New York prison.

Rep. Carlos Giménez, R-Fla., fled Fidel Castro’s regime in Cuba as a young boy, telling Fox News Digital what Trump and the U.S. military did without American casualties was “extraordinary.”

“I’m introducing a resolution that congratulates President Trump on his actions and also the way in which the arrest was conducted by law enforcement agents, but also facilitated obviously by the armed forces of the United States,” Gimenez said.

“I think that we should congratulate the president for taking the action, but also our own forces in the manner in which they conduct.”

MARCO RUBIO EMERGES AS KEY TRUMP POWER PLAYER AFTER VENEZUELA OPERATION

Trump’s operation was the largest-scale iteration yet of what is being dubbed the “Donroe Doctrine,” a play on words of the 1823 doctrine of President James Monroe that warned foreign European powers against further colonizing the West.

Trump’s doctrine deems the Western Hemisphere a core security responsibility of the U.S., and the Maduro arrest showed his administration will give teeth to Monroe’s policy and pressure hostile governments directly.

“I don’t think there’s no other way to deal with these narco-terrorists. They’re just not going to give up,” Gimenez said of the “Donroe Doctrine” in action in the Caribbean.

HOUSE REPUBLICANS RIP SENATE WAR POWERS PUSH AS ‘POLITICAL THEATER’ AFTER TRUMP’S VENEZUELA RAID

“There was an arrest warrant. There’s a $50 million bounty on his head, $25 million of which was put on by Joe Biden and his administration. The difference is this president actually did something about it and enforced that arrest warrant and went in and got him. And, so, you know, I find absolutely nothing wrong with what he did.”

Gimenez called it a “seismic event” for the west, adding now other strongman regimes around the world are taking notice.

The resolution itself officially commends Trump, the Armed Forces, the Intel community and DOJ for “remarkable success of ‘Operation Absolute Resolve’” in Caracas.

VANCE SAYS CROCKETT ‘DOESN’T KNOW WHAT SHE’S TALKING ABOUT’ ON VENEZUELA MADURO OPERATION

“Whereas, on January 3, 2026, President Donald J. Trump demonstrated extraordinary political courage by authorizing ‘Operation Absolute Resolve’ to apprehend the dictator Nicolás Maduro and dismantle the command structure of the Cártel de los Soles.”

The resolution notes that Maduro and wife Cilia Flores are accused of narco-terrorism conspiracy, conspiracy to import cocaine and conspiracy to possess machine guns, all violations of federal law.

“Whereas, in 2024, the regime finalized its transition to full authoritarianism when its controlled Supreme Court ratified a 15-year ban on the leading opposition candidate, María Corina Machado – [and] to maintain his grip on power, the Maduro regime carried out thousands of extrajudicial killings, tortured political opponents, and terrorized the Venezuelan people, fueling the largest displacement crisis in the history of the Western Hemisphere,” Gimenez’ resolution added, delineating why it was so crucial that Trump took action against a geographically proximate threat.

“[Congress] stands in solidarity with the people of Venezuela and supports a rapid, constitutional transition to free and fair elections to restore the democratic institutions dismantled by the Maduro dictatorship.”

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However, Gimenez warned during his interview with Fox News Digital that not all of Congress is onboard with condemning authoritarian or communist regimes like Maduro’s.

“They do have some [defenders]. Believe me, they’re always, they’ve got people here [on Capitol Hill] defending them, and trying to stop the actions that will lead to democracy and freedom in the Western Hemisphere. They come to the aid and to the defense of these indefensible regimes. We have some here in Congress that do that. They’re not a majority, but they’re here.”

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) pushed back after several Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee held a press conference slamming the Trump administration’s handling of immigration.

House Homeland Security Committee Ranking Member Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., led the news conference and was joined by several high-profile Democrats, including Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn, and Rep. Al Green, D-Texas. The lawmakers not only criticized DHS’s handling of immigration and federal law enforcement’s conduct in Minneapolis. They also called for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s impeachment.

The press conference was held in the wake of the fatal ICE-involved shooting of Renee Nicole Good in Minnesota, which sparked unrest in the state and demonstrations across the country. Thompson described Good as “a wife, a writer, a poet, a devoted Christian and a U.S. citizen.” He also noted that Good had three children. Omar also spoke about Good and said that she died “because she chose love and solidarity over fear.”

Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., took a moment to issue a message directed at Noem specifically.

DHS DEMANDS MN LEADERS HONOR ICE DETAINERS, ALLEGES HUNDREDS OF CRIMINAL ALIENS HAVE BEEN RELEASED UNDER WALZ

“You are terrible at doing your job. You are incompetent. You are shameless. But most of all, you are cruel,” McIver said. “The American people do not want you. We do not want you. And we will do whatever we need to do to make sure you will not hold that post soon. God will judge you and Democrats are going to remove you from office that you never deserved to hold in the first place.”

A Democratic aide told Fox News Digital that lawmakers would continue to introduce legislation in an attempt “to rein in” ICE, but in the meantime, “will continue to do our job to investigate DHS – and Kristi Noem – when this administration breaks the law.”

DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin dismissed the lawmakers and said in a statement emailed to Fox News Digital that the department was doing its job by enforcing the law.

“DHS is a law enforcement agency — enforcing the rule of law passed by Congress. If members don’t like the law, it is quite literally their job to change it,” McLaughlin said.

‘WORST OF THE WORST’: ICE ARRESTS CHILD PREDATOR, VIOLENT CRIMINALS AMID SURGE IN ANTI-AGENT ATTACKS

While members of Congress can propose and pass legislation, Democrats currently do not control either the House or the Senate, making it difficult for them to advance changes without bipartisan support.

“As ICE officers are facing a 1,300% increase in assaults against them, politicians are more focused on showmanship and fundraising clicks than actually removing criminals from our streets,” McLaughlin added. “We hope these members get serious about doing their job to protect American people, which is what this Department is doing under Secretary Noem.”

In addition to McLaughlin’s statement, DHS shared information about several criminal illegal immigrants who had been arrested since Trump’s crackdown began last year.

Hernan Cortes-Valencia

Hernan Cortes-Valencia, who hails from Mexico, had a final order of removal dated Dec. 1, 2016. DHS said that Cortes-Valencia was convicted of sexual assault against a child, sexual assault-carnal abuse and four DUIs.

Sriudorn Phaivan

Sriudorn Phaivan, an illegal immigrant from Laos, had a final order of removal from March 8, 2018, according to DHS. 

The department said that Phaivan was convicted of strongarm sodomy of a boy, strongarm sodomy of a girl, another aggravated sex offense, nine counts of larceny, unauthorized use of a vehicle, four counts of fraud, vehicle theft, two counts of drug possession, obstructing justice, possession of stolen property, receiving stolen property, burglary and check forgery. 

Additionally, Phaivan has pending charges for two counts of receiving stolen property, flight to avoid prosecution or confinement and burglary, DHS said.

Ge Yang

Ge Yang, an illegal immigrant from Laos with a final order of removal from Oct. 16, 2012, has been convicted of strongarm rape, strongarm aggravated assault against a family member, aggravated assault with a weapon, an additional sex offense and domestic violence involving strangulation, according to DHS.

Vannaleut Keomany

Vannaleut Keomany, an illegal immigrant from Laos with a final removal order dated Dec. 17, 2009. He was convicted of two counts of attempting to commit strongarm rape, according to DHS.

Tou Vang

Tou Vang, who is from Laos, was in the U.S. illegally and had a final order of removal dated Oct. 31, 2006. Vang has been convicted of sexual assault and sodomy of a girl under the age of 13 and procuring a child for prostitution, DHS said.

Chong Vue

Chong Vue, an illegal immigrant from Laos, was convicted of strongarm rape of a 12-year-old girl, kidnapping a child with intent to sexually assault her and vehicle theft. Vue has a final order of removal from March 11, 2004.

Kou Lor

Kou Lor, an illegal immigrant from Laos, had a final order of removal that was nearly 30 years old and was dated Aug. 16, 1996. 

He was convicted of sexual assault, rape, rape with a weapon, statutory rape without force, two counts of burglary and shoplifting.

Pao Choua Xiong

Pao Choua Xiong, an illegal immigrant from Laos with a final order of removal dated Jan. 10, 2003, was convicted of rape, fondling a child, two counts of domestic violence, burglary, larceny and disorderly conduct.

Gabriel Figueroa Gama

Gabriel Figueroa Gama, an illegal immigrant from Mexico who was previously removed from the U.S. in 2002, was convicted of homicide, battery, assault and amphetamine possession.

Abdirashid Adosh Elmi

Abdirashid Adosh Elmi is an illegal immigrant from Somalia who was convicted of homicide.

Abdirashid Mohamed Ahmed

Abdirashid Mohamed Ahmed, an illegal immigrant from Somalia with a final order of removal dated Feb. 18, 2022, according to DHS. 

The department said that he was convicted of two counts of negligent manslaughter with a vehicle, two counts of DUI, larceny and damage to property.

Mongong Kual Maniang Deng

Mongong Kual Maniang Deng, an illegal immigrant from Sudan, was convicted of attempt to commit homicide, weapon possession and DUI, DHS said.

Aldrin Guerrero Munoz

Aldrin Guerrero Munoz is an illegal immigrant from Mexico who has a final order of removal dated Dec. 17, 2015, and has been convicted of homicide and assault, DHS said.

Gilberto Salguero Landaverde

Gilberto Salguero Landaverde, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador, had a final order of removal dated June 25, 2025. He was convicted of three counts of homicide, according to DHS.

Aler Gomez Lucas

Aler Gomez Lucas is an illegal immigrant from Guatemala with a final order of removal dated May 24, 2022, according to DHS. He was convicted of negligent homicide with a vehicle and DUI.

Galuak Michael Rotgai

Galuak Michael Rotgai, an illegal immigrant from Sudan, has been convicted of homicide and assault, DHS said.

Shwe Htoo

Shwe Htoo, according to DHS, is an illegal immigrant from Burma who was convicted of negligent homicide with a weapon.

Mariama Sia Kanu

Mariama Sia Kanu, who hails from Sierra Leone, had a final order of removal dated July 5, 2022, according to DHS. The department said that Kanu was convicted of two counts of homicide, four DUIs, three counts of larceny and burglary.

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Thai Lor

Thai Lor, an illegal immigrant from Laos with a final order of removal dated June 15, 2009, was convicted of two counts of homicide, according to DHS.

After a brief series of delay tactics deployed by Democrats, the Senate passed a $174 billion spending package, sending a trio of funding bills to President Donald Trump’s desk.

The move puts Congress one step closer to averting a partial government shutdown, but lawmakers are only halfway through completing and passing the legislation needed to keep the lights on in Washington, D.C.

Neither party is keen to repeat the events of last fall, when Congress shattered the record for the longest government shutdown in history at 43 days. Still, hurdles remain before the fast-approaching Jan. 30 deadline to fund the government.

Despite attempts by Senate Democrats to slow the process, with lawmakers railing against recent actions by the Trump administration in Minnesota and Colorado, the power of jet fumes and an impending week-long break from the Capitol smashed through any resistance.

$174B SPENDING PACKAGE TO AVERT SHUTDOWN CLEARS KEY HURDLE IN SENATE

The three-bill package, known as a minibus, includes legislation to fund commerce, justice, science and related agencies; energy and water development and related agencies; and interior, environment and related agencies.

Comparatively, that package, and a forthcoming two-bill package from the House, are much easier lifts for lawmakers to pass than what’s to come.

Funding the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has proved tricky, given congressional Democrats’ outrage over the agency’s actions in Minnesota.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., was hopeful that a forthcoming package would include that bill, and that it could advance through the House to the Senate in the coming weeks.

“Appropriators are working on another package of the four remaining bills, which I hope will receive the same bipartisan backing that has characterized the appropriations cycle thus far,” Thune said on the Senate floor. “And before the end of the month the Senate will need to process all of these funding bills and get them to the president’s desk.”

But there is an acknowledgment among several lawmakers that Congress will likely have to turn to a short-term funding extension, or continuing resolution (CR), for some remaining funding bills or directly targeted at DHS.

DHS AT CENTER OF PROGRESSIVE REVOLT AS HOUSE ADVANCES $80B SPENDING PACKAGE

Congressional Democrats are demanding restrictions on DHS funding, particularly money that flows to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) following the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE agent last week.

Lawmakers are staying tight-lipped, for now, about what exactly the restrictions could be.

In the upper chamber, Homeland Security Appropriations Chair Katie Britt, R-Ala., said that Republicans had sent a “counteroffer to the Democrats but have yet to hear back from them.”

When asked if, ultimately, a CR for just DHS funding would be acceptable for the time being, she told Fox News Digital, “What I want to do is actually pass a bill.”

“I find it hard to believe that Democrats would give President Trump, in their words, a ‘slush fund’ on DHS,” Britt said. “So I think figuring out a pathway forward is what we need to do for everybody involved. And so I’m continuing to be committed to doing that. Time is of the essence.”

Britt’s opposite on the committee, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., noted that the bill was “obviously the hardest,” but contended that Democrats did not want to try to fix every issue in one fell swoop.

He also believed that a CR wouldn’t fix any of the issues, either.

“A CR doesn’t stop them from terrorizing our citizens, doesn’t stop the violence,” Murphy said. “So, a CR isn’t great. A budget without any constraints on DHS isn’t likely to get a lot of Democratic votes either.”

“That’s one of the difficult things to figure out, is whether there’s any language you can put in a budget that the administration will follow,” he continued. “But yes, I think there are ways that we could write accountability into the budget that would be hard for the administration to avoid.”

The Senate’s passage of the minibus comes after the House advanced its latest two-bill package on Wednesday evening. That bill totaled roughly $80 billion in funding for the State Department and related national security, as well as federal financial services and general government operations.

That legislation easily passed the House in a 341-79 vote on Wednesday evening and is now headed to the Senate for its consideration.

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House appropriators are expected to release the text of their minibus covering the War Department, Labor Department, Education Department, Department of Transportation, and Department of Health and Human Services, among others, in the coming days.

House GOP leaders are hoping to advance that bill, which will likely be the largest by far, next week while the Senate is in recess. The House will be out the following week.

Questions remain about whether DHS funding will be part of that legislation or its own standalone issue, however.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told Fox News Digital on Wednesday, “Right now, there’s no bipartisan path forward for the Department of Homeland Security bill.”

President Donald Trump unveiled his new “Great Healthcare Plan” Thursday, and urged Congress to create and pass legislation with the provisions included in an attempt to lower healthcare costs for Americans. 

The plan, which comes amid a big push from the White House to focus on affordability issues for Americans, calls on Congress to get behind a series of provisions outlined in the plan that stem largely from previous executive orders the president has signed during this term. 

DEMOCRATS HOLD THE GOVERNMENT HOSTAGE OVER SUBSIDIES AMERICANS DON’T WANT 

Specifically, the “Great Healthcare Plan” calls on Congress to codify Trump’s most “favored nations drug pricing” initiative that instructs drug companies to lower costs and keep them in alignment with what drugs in other developed countries cost, according to a White House fact sheet. Trump issued an executive order on the matter in May. 

The plan also aims to maximize price transparency, and require providers or insurers to take Medicare or Medicaid to “prominently post their pricing and fees in their place of business and ensure insurance companies are complying with price transparency requirements,” according to the fact sheet.

17 REPUBLICANS REBEL AGAINST HOUSE GOP LEADERS, JOIN DEMS TO PASS OBAMACARE EXTENSION

The plan also calls for ending taxpayer-funded subsidy payments to insurance companies, and instead of sending those funds to eligible Americans instead — a proposal that Trump has suggested previously. 

“The government is going to pay the money directly to you. It goes to you, and then you take the money and buy your own health care,” Trump said in a video the White House released Thursday. “Nobody has ever heard of that before, and that’s the way it is.”

It’s unclear how the federal government plans to directly distribute funds to Americans, and an administration official told reporters Thursday that the administration is open to working with Congress on that front.

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“These are commonsense actions that make up President Trump’s Great Healthcare Plan, and they represent the most comprehensive and bold agenda to lower health care costs to have ever been considered by the federal government,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Thursday. “Congress should immediately take up President Trump’s plan and pass it into law.” 

Meanwhile, the Senate is prepared to vote on extending the Affordable Care Act subsidies, which were a sticking point during the government shutdown in October and expired at the end of 2025. The House passed extending the subsidies for three years Jan. 8. 

FIRST ON FOX: The Department of Homeland Security says it arrested a man in Minneapolis Wednesday night who assaulted a federal immigration agent while carrying a gun and box of ammunition.

The incident occurred several hours after DHS says a separate agent was attacked by an illegal migrant from Venezuela with a shovel. The illegal migrant was shot in the leg, prompting riots to escalate in the city shortly after. 

“Last night during a riot in Minneapolis, a U.S. citizen was arrested for assaulting officers while carrying a firearm,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Digital. 

“The individual showed up to the protest with a gun and a box of ammunition in a bag. The individual threatened violence against law enforcement officers while pointing at his bag.

TRUMP DRUG CZAR RIPS DEMOCRATS OVER ANTI-ICE RHETORIC PUTTING ‘EVERYBODY’S LIFE IN DANGER’

“After law enforcement deployed crowd control measures to calm an increasingly volatile crowd, the individual kicked a metal smoke canister at officers. He then pushed an officer, and he was arrested for assault,” McLaughlin explained. 

“While being arrested, he stated he had a firearm, which was located along with a box of ammunition. He was not carrying his concealed carry permit. This is not the peaceful protesting that the First Amendment protects.” 

Tensions in Minneapolis have been high as days of riots ravage the city and federal law enforcement officers face off with agitators. 

Riots began shortly after 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good was killed by an ICE agent during an altercation in Minneapolis last week.

ICE HEAD SAYS AGENTS FACING ‘CONSTANT IMPEDIMENTS’ AFTER MIGRANT SEEN RAMMING CARS WHILE TRYING TO FLEE

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem referred to the Good as a “domestic terrorist,” alleging she used her vehicle as a weapon after obstructing ICE agents on the roadway.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey told ICE to “get the f— out of Minneapolis” during a news conference after Good’s death, and Gov. Tim Walz criticized DHS, posting to X that he saw the video, and referred to Noem’s explanation of the incident as a part of a “propaganda machine.”

On Thursday, President Donald Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act if people in Minnesota continue to disobey the law and endanger federal officers.

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“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State,” Trump posted to TRUTH Social. 

Should President Trump invoke the legislation signed into law in 1807, he would be allowed to send National Guardsmen into the area to stabilize control and reduce violence.

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said she presented President Donald Trump with her Nobel Peace Prize medal, describing it as a historic gesture recognizing his commitment to freedom and the fight against tyranny.

Machado spoke with reporters outside the U.S. Capitol Thursday, when she was asked whether she offered her Nobel Peace Prize to Trump.

“I presented the president of the United States the medal … the Nobel Peace Prize, and I told him, ‘Listen to this, 200 years ago, General Lafayette gave Simón Bolívar a medal with George Washington’s face on it,” Machado said. “He kept that medal for the rest of his life. Actually, when you see his portraits, you can see the medal.”

She said Lafayette gave the medal to Bolívar as a symbol of the partnership between the people of the U.S. and the people of Venezuela and their shared fight for freedom against tyranny.

TRUMP PLANS TO MEET WITH VENEZUELA OPPOSITION LEADER MARIA CORINA MACHADO NEXT WEEK

“Two hundred years in history, the people of Bolívar are giving back the heir of Washington, a medal, in this case the medal of the Nobel Peace Prize, as a recognition for his unique commitment with our freedom,” Machado said.

Trump thanked Machado for the medal in a post on Truth Social on Thursday evening.

“It was my Great Honor to meet María Corina Machado, of Venezuela, today,” Trump wrote. “She is a wonderful woman who has been through so much. María presented me with her Nobel Peace Prize for the work I have done. Such a wonderful gesture of mutual respect. Thank you María!”

NOBEL PEACE PRIZE RECIPIENT MACHADO PLEDGES TO RETURN TO VENEZUELA, SEES ‘ALARMING’ INTERNAL CRACKDOWN

Machado’s meeting with Trump came nearly two weeks after the U.S. captured Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and amid lingering questions about her political future. The meeting also followed comments from Trump casting doubt on Machado leading the country rather than endorsing the Venezuelan opposition leader.

“I think it would be very tough for her to be the leader,” Trump told reporters Jan. 3. “She doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country. She’s a very nice woman, but she doesn’t have the respect.”

The Washington Post previously reported Trump was annoyed Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2025, an award he had hoped to receive and that Machado dedicated to him, though the White House said the president’s decisions were based on “realistic decisions.”

KRISTI NOEM DELIVERS TRUMP’S ULTIMATUM TO VENEZUELA’S VICE PRESIDENT FOLLOWING MADURO CAPTURE OPERATION

Still, Machado floated the idea of transferring the prestigious award to Trump last week during an appearance on Fox News’ “Hannity.”

“Did you at any point offer to give him the Nobel Peace Prize?” Sean Hannity asked. “Did that actually happen?”

Machado responded, “Well, it hasn’t happened yet.”

“I certainly would love to be able to personally tell him that we believe — the Venezuelan people, because this is a prize of the Venezuelan people — certainly want to give it to him and share it with him,” Machado continued. “What he has done is historic. It’s a huge step toward a democratic transition.”

Despite her intent, the Norwegian Nobel Institute shut down the idea last Friday.

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“Once a Nobel Prize is announced, it cannot be revoked, shared or transferred to others,” the institute said in a statement. “The decision is final and stands for all time.”

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

Fox News Digital’s Michael Sinkewicz contributed to this report.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem announced Thursday via X that longtime U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) attorney Charles Wall will serve as the agency’s new deputy director as enforcement operations intensify nationwide.

“Effective immediately, Charles Wall will serve as the Deputy Director of @ICEGov,” wrote Noem. “For the last year, Mr. Wall served as ICE’s Principal Legal Advisor, playing a key role in helping us deliver historic results in arresting and removing the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens from American neighborhoods.”

Wall replaces Madison Sheahan, who stepped down earlier Thursday to pursue a congressional run in Ohio. Her departure left ICE leadership in transition at a moment when the agency has faced increasing resistance to enforcement efforts and heightened threats against officers in the field.

The move comes as the Trump administration intensifies immigration enforcement against murderers, rapists, gang members and suspected terrorists living illegally in the U.S., even as sanctuary jurisdictions and activist groups seek to block or disrupt ICE actions.

DHS DEMANDS MN LEADERS HONOR ICE DETAINERS, ALLEGES HUNDREDS OF CRIMINAL ALIENS HAVE BEEN RELEASED UNDER WALZ

ICE officials said Wall brings more than a decade of experience inside the agency.

“Mr. Wall has served as an ICE attorney for 14 years and is a forward-leaning, strategic thinker who understands the importance of prioritizing the removal of murderers, rapists, pedophiles, gang members, and terrorists from our country,” Noem added.

Wall most recently served as ICE’s principal legal advisor, overseeing more than 3,500 attorneys and support staff who represent the DHS in removal proceedings and provide legal counsel to senior agency leadership. 

He has served at ICE since 2012, previously holding senior counsel roles in New Orleans, according to DHS.

‘WORST OF THE WORST’: ICE ARRESTS CHILD PREDATOR, VIOLENT CRIMINALS AMID SURGE IN ANTI-AGENT ATTACKS

DHS has described the appointment as part of a broader effort to ensure ICE leadership is aligned with the Trump administration’s public safety priorities.

The leadership change comes as ICE operations have drawn national attention following protests in Minneapolis after the ICE-involved fatal shooting of 37-year-old Renee Good on Jan. 7.

Administration officials have repeatedly emphasized that ICE’s focus remains on what they describe as the “worst of the worst” criminal illegal aliens, warning that local resistance and political opposition increase risks for officers carrying out enforcement duties.

ICE has recently created a specific landing page where these ‘worst of the worst’ offenders can be viewed with names and nationalities attached.

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“I look forward to working with him in his new role to make America safe again,” Noem concluded.

ICE did not immediately provide additional comment to Fox News Digital.

The Supreme Court is poised to rule soon on President Donald Trump’s use of an emergency wartime law to unilaterally impose sweeping tariffs on most U.S. countries — and which brought to the fore key questions over the “major questions doctrine,” or the limiting principle by which courts can, in certain circumstances, move to curb the power of executive agencies.

During oral arguments over Trump’s tariffs in November, justices honed in on the so-called major questions doctrine — which allows courts to limit the power of executive agencies on actions with “vast economic and political significance” — and how it squares with Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to enact his sweeping global and reciprocal tariffs.

Plaintiffs told the court that Trump’s use of IEEPA to unilaterally impose his steep import duties violates the major questions doctrine, since IEEPA does not explicitly mention the word “tariffs.” Rather, it authorizes the president to “regulate … importation” during a declared national emergency — plaintiffs noted, arguing that it falls short of the standard needed to pass muster for MQD.

“Congress does not (and could not) use such vague terminology to grant the executive virtually unconstrained taxing power of such staggering economic effect — literally trillions of dollars — shouldered by American businesses and consumers,” they told the court in an earlier briefing.

TRUMP TARIFF PLAN FACES UNCERTAIN FUTURE AS COURT BATTLES INTENSIFY

Lawyers for the Trump administration countered that text of the IEEPA emergency law is the “practical equivalent” of a tariff.

“Tomorrow’s United States Supreme Court case is, literally, LIFE OR DEATH for our Country,” Trump posted on Truth Social back in November.

“With a Victory, we have tremendous, but fair, Financial and National Security. Without it, we are virtually defenseless against other Countries who have, for years, taken advantage of us,” Trump continued.

“Our Stock Market is consistently hitting Record Highs, and our Country has never been more respected than it is right now,” he added. “A big part of this is the Economic Security created by Tariffs, and the Deals that we have negotiated because of them.”

While U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer acknowledged to the justices that IEEPA does not explicitly give an executive the power to regulate tariffs, he stressed in November that the power to tariff is “the natural common sense inference” of IEEPA.

But whether the high court will back his argument remains to be seen.

That was the conclusion reached by the U.S. Court of International Trade last year. Judges on the  three-judge panel voted unanimously to block Trump’s tariffs from taking force, ruling that, as commander in chief, Trump does not have “unbounded authority” to impose tariffs under the emergency law. 

“The parties cite two doctrines—the nondelegation doctrine and the major questions doctrine—that the judiciary has developed to ensure that the branches do not impermissibly abdicate their respective constitutionally vested powers,” the court said in its ruling.

The doctrine was also a focus in November, as justices pressed lawyers for the administration over IEEPA’s applicability to tariffs, or taxation powers, and asked the administration what guardrails, if any, exist to limit the whims of the executive branch, should they ultimately rule in Trump’s favor.

Though it’s not clear how much the court will rely on the MQD in its ruling, legal experts told Fox News Digital that they would expect it to potentially be cited by the Supreme Court if it blocks Trump’s tariff regime.

US COURT OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE SIDES WITH TRUMP IN TARIFF CASE

The high court agreed to take up the case on an expedited basis last fall, and a ruling is expected to be handed down within the coming days or weeks.

There’s very little precedent for major questions as a formal precedent cited by the courts, as noted by the University of Chicago College of Law in 2024.

The doctrine was cited formally by the Supreme Court for the first time ever in its 2022 ruling in West Virginia v. EPA, when the court’s majority cited the doctrine as its basis for invalidating the EPA’s emissions standards under the Clean Power Plan. 

Prior to that, the doctrine existed as a more amorphous strand of statutory interpretation — a phenomenon that Justice Elena Kagan noted in her dissent in the same case.

“The current Court is textualist only when being so suits it,” Kagan said then. “When that method would frustrate broader goals, special canons like the ‘major questions doctrine’ magically appear as get-out-of-text-free cards.”

SUPREME COURT FREEZES ORDER TO RETURN MAN FROM EL SALVADOR PRISON

One factor that could play in Trump’s favor is the fact that the tariffs case is to some degree a foreign policy issue, which is an area where executives enjoy a higher level of deference from the court. 

Still, if oral arguments were any indication, the justices seemed poised to block Trump’s use of IEEPA to continue his steep tariff plan. 

Justices pressed Sauer as to why Trump invoked IEEPA to impose his sweeping tariffs, noting that doing so would be the first time a president used the law to set import taxes on trading partners.

They also seemed skeptical of the administration’s assertion that they did not need additional permission from Congress to use the law in such a sweeping manner, and pressed the administration’s lawyers on their contention that EEPA is only narrowly reviewable by the courts.

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“We agree that it’s a major power, but it’s in the context of a statute that is explicitly conferring major powers,” Sauer said. “That the point of the statute is to confer major powers to address major questions — which are emergencies.”

EXCLUSIVE: The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) opened an investigation into the city of Minneapolis Thursday, alleging the city’s housing policies illegally prioritize resources based on race and national origin, Fox News Digital learned. 

“Minnesota has been ground zero for fraud and corruption because it plays a cynical game of racial and ethnic politics,” HUD Secretary Scott Turner told Fox News Digital. “This goes against our values as Americans, united by a common heritage, language, and commitment to equal treatment under law.” 

Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity Craig Trainor sent a letter to Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey Thursday evening informing him that HUD had launched a probe into whether Minneapolis violated the Fair Housing Act and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act through its housing plans, programs and internal equity directives.

The Fair Housing Act is a federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination in housing based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability or familial status. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination based on race or national origin in any program or activity that receives federal funding.

SEC SCOTT BESSENT: HOW TO STOP FRAUD IN MINNESOTA—AND ACROSS THE COUNTRY 

Minnesota has become the focal point of government fraud, as details emerged regarding an alleged sweeping COVID-era scheme involving money laundering and tied to multiple social-services programs. Nearly 100 people, most of whom are from Minnesota’s Somali community, have been charged, while federal prosecutors estimated that the total amount of fraud across various state-administered social services programs could reach more than $9 billion.

Considering the alleged fraud involved taxpayer dollars, HUD officials said evidence suggests that racial politics also extended to Minneapolis’s housing policy. 

The letter argues that Minneapolis has “committed to making available and allocating housing resources based on race and nationality,” raising potential federal civil rights violations. 

HUD specifically cited language in the city’s “Minneapolis 2040” comprehensive plan, as well as the city’s Strategic and Racial Equity Action Plan, as cause for concern. 

Minneapolis 2040, which went into effect in 2020 under Frey, is the city’s comprehensive plan outlining the economic, infrastructure and environmental vision of the city across the next decade and a half. It includes a section focused on establishing “cultural districts,” which are described as “contiguous area with a rich sense of cultural and/or linguistic identity rooted in communities significantly populated by people of color, Indigenous people, and/or immigrants.”

“This plan strives to eliminate disparities among people of color and indigenous peoples compared with white people,” Minneapolis 2040 states.

MINNESOTA HEALTH CARE OWNER CHARGED WITH YEARS-LONG MEDICAID SCAM TOPPING $3M

The letter also cited Minneapolis’ Strategic and Racial Equity Action guide, which instructs city departments to align racial equity goals with their plans, programs and budgets. 

“Minneapolis’s current Strategic and Racial Equity Action Plan claims to tangibly align ‘racial equity goals with department plans and budgets,'” the letter states. “For example, your Community Planning and Economic Development department will prioritize ‘rental housing for Black, Indigenous, People of Color and Immigrant communities’ by ‘leveraging (its) rental licensing authority.’”

“That is not going to fly,” Trainor wrote in his letter to Frey. 

Turner told Fox News Digital that he “will continue to deliver on President Trump’s promise to support affordable housing for American families, in part by dismantling illegal racial and ethnic preferences that deny Americans their right to equal protection under the law.” 

“I am committed to delivering on this promise by thoroughly investigating any housing discrimination involving the City of Minneapolis,” he said. 

Fox News Digital reached out to Frey’s office and the city of Minneapolis’ communications team Thursday evening for comment on the letter but did not immediately receive a reply. 

Fallout from Minnesota’s alleged fraud scandal spilled into the governor’s race in January, when Democratic Gov. Tim Walz ended his re-election bid. 

Walz, who has served as governor since 2019, said the wrongdoing unfolded on his watch. He took responsibility for oversight failures, while arguing Republicans had “sensationalized” the multibillion-dollar figures.

Frey said earlier in January of the fraud that “obviously, everybody could have done more to prevent” it, but that “you do not hold an entire community, any community, accountable for the actions of individuals,” referring to the Somali community. 

Minneapolis has been roiled by protests and agitators clashing with federal law enforcement deployed to the state amid the fraud investigations. The chaos heightened after the fatal shooting of a woman by an ICE agent in early January after she allegedly attempted to use her vehicle as a weapon against a federal officer. 

YOUTUBER TO TESTIFY BEFORE CONGRESS ON MINNESOTA’S MASSIVE $9B FRAUD NETWORK INVESTIGATION

Turner joined Fox News at the start of the new year and said HUD officials were on the ground in Minnesota investigating funds delivered to public housing authorities. 

“We have investigators that are making sure that any HUD-funded programs in Minnesota are being carried out appropriately,” he said. “Also, we just launched an investigation and housing authorities, public housing authorities there in Minnesota. They receive about $108 million in Minneapolis, and also about $46 million in public housing assistance there. So we want to make sure that we’re being good stewards of taxpayer money.”

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Turner reported on X Monday that his department uncovered “up to $84 million in ineligible assistance during Biden’s final year — including $496,000 in improper assistance to 509 dead tenants.”

The Biden administration purchased a pulsed energy weapon suspected of being the type that may have caused “Havana Syndrome” which caused a series of mysterious ailments for U.S. diplomats and government workers in Cuba. 

The weapon was bought at the end of the Biden Administration and has since been tested by the Pentagon, Fox News has learned. House Republicans are demanding answers amid reports of the purchase of the device.

In a letter to Homeland Security Kristi Noem, House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., is asking for information on the procurement process for the weapon, its costs and the findings associated with its year-long testing related to Havana Syndrome, officially known as Anomalous Health Incidents (AHI). 

HAVANA SYNDROME ‘PATIENT ZERO’ REJECTS INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY FINDINGS THAT FOREIGN ADVERSARY ‘VERY UNLIKELY’

“The device in question is described as capable of producing pulsed radio waves and containing Russian components, though it is supposedly not entirely Russian in origin,” the letter states. “Following HSI’s successful acquisition of the device, it was reportedly transferred to DoW, which spent more than a year testing the device and its capabilities.”

Some U.S. intelligence agencies have said a foreign adversary could be behind the mysterious ailment. 

Fox News Digital previously reported that Adam, a former government employee whose identity Fox News agreed to protect, is considered to be “Patient Zero.”

He was first attacked in December 2016 while living in Havana on assignment. During his time on the Caribbean island, Adam experienced multiple attacks and described pressure to the brain that led to vertigo, tinnitus and cognitive impairment.

HAVANA SYNDROME: FOREIGN ADVERSARIES’ MICROWAVE WEAPONS CAPABILITIES EXPLAINED BY PHYSICIST

“While assessments from the Intelligence Community (IC) do not conclusively identify the factors causing AHIs or any foreign actor responsible, an assessment from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) presented a majority view concluding that it was ‘very unlikely’ that a foreign actor ‘used a novel weapon or prototype device to harm even a subset of the U.S. Government personnel,’ with five out of seven agencies agreeing with that assessment,” Garbarino wrote in his letter. 

“However, two agencies dissented from the majority view and assessed that there was a chance that foreign actors may have developed some sort of ‘novel weapon or prototype device’ that could have harmed U.S. personnel,” he added. 

However, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) released the report and held a background call with reporters on Friday explaining that new reporting “led two components to shift their assessments about whether a foreign actor has a capability that could cause biological effects consistent with some of the symptoms reported as possible AHIs.”

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“This shift consequently led two IC components to subtly change their overall judgment about whether a foreign actor might have played a role in a small number of events,” the agency said. 

Fox News’ Liz Friden contributed to this report. 

Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum reinstated the National Coal Council, comprised of dozens of stakeholders from energy firms, utilities, governmental and tribal interests, saying that whether anthracite or bituminous, no industry affects Americans’ lives more.

The council, which will be chaired by Peabody Energy CEO Jim Grech and Core Natural Resources chairman Jimmy Brock, cut its proverbial ribbon at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus four years after then-President Biden dissolved the decades-old consortium.

“It’s crazy that this Coal Council was disabled,” Wright said, calling it a “combination of ignorance and arrogance.”

IN 2026, ENERGY WAR’S NEW FRONT IS AI, AND US MUST WIN THAT BATTLE, API CHIEF SAYS

Burgum spoke to the importance of the coal industry to not just the local economies – like those in his own state of North Dakota – where the mineral is extracted, but across national security, economic and commercial fields.

“No industry that does so much and means so much to every American,” he said.

“But the regulatory red tape onslaught going into this industry was like no other. And so if you’re standing here today and your company is providing reliable, affordable, American, secure-base-load-dispatch of power, you’re a hero to me,” Burgum said.

Wright added that people must only look at history to see what happens to societies that squander their coal reserves if they have them.

He said that while much of the world was still relying on woodburning for energy, England had such a booming industry during the Glorious Revolution of 1707 that it comprised 50% of its energy industry.

The rest of the world did not hit 50% coal power until 1900, when it finally surpassed wood, Wright continued.

BURGUM CALLS CALIFORNIA A ‘NATIONAL SECURITY RISK’ AS ENERGY CHIEF WARNS BLUE STATES ARE SKEWING COST AVERAGES

With the “barbarians at the wall,” the little island country held its own thanks in part to its coal industry, he said of England and later Scotland.

By present-day, the United Kingdom decided to reverse all of that progress and shutter its coal industry, along with similarly-industrious Germany.

BURGUM, ZELDIN, WRIGHT: THIS IS HOW AMERICA WILL ACHIEVE ENERGY DOMINANCE

With the advent of the AI race, Wright said the need for a stable, booming American coal sector is paramount.

“China opened up 93 gigawatts of coal… one gigawatt [can power the entire] Denver Metro,” he said.

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America needs between 50 and 100 GW of additional coal power to win the AI arms race with China, Wright said in response to a question from Fox News Digital.

In September, Wright’s office also announced $625 million would be put toward reinvigorating the U.S. coal industry in response to Trump’s executive order calling for such, and another directive to “strengthen the reliability and security of the U.S. energy grid.”

Wright’s office said in a release that the administration has saved more than 15GW of coal-powered electricity, in part through relaunching the council.

Last July, a DOE analysis found that the loss of coal-fired power plants would make grid reliability unsustainable, while also finding that 100GW more peak-hour supply is needed by 2030.

President Donald Trump’s push for the U.S. to acquire Greenland could carry an estimated price tag of $700 billion, according to reports.

The estimate, reported by NBC News, was said to have been calculated by scholars and former U.S. officials involved in early planning discussions surrounding Trump’s interest in acquiring the 800,000-square-mile island as a strategic buffer in the Arctic against adversaries including Russia and China.

The figure would exceed half of the Defense Department’s annual budget and reflects what officials described as a significant national security priority for the Trump administration.

The reported cost comes as new Reuters polling shows the Trump proposal is unpopular with Americans, but also continues to strain relations with U.S. allies.

EUROPEAN ALLIES WORKING ON PLAN IF US ACTS ON ACQUIRING GREENLAND: REPORT

“The United States needs Greenland for the purpose of national security,” Trump wrote Wednesday in a Truth Social post and warned that if the U.S. does not act, “Russia or China will.”

The president added that “anything less” than U.S. control of Greenland is “unacceptable” and argued that the Arctic territory is vital to American defense interests, including the “Golden Dome” missile defense system in development.

Trump’s renewed push has increased tensions with Denmark and other NATO allies.

As previously reported by Fox News Digital, troops from several European countries deployed to Greenland Thursday for a two-day mission aimed at boosting the territory’s defenses.

France, Germany, Sweden and Norway are participating in the exercise, Fox News said, with leaders saying the mission is intended to demonstrate NATO’s ability to deploy military assets quickly in the Arctic.

TRUMP ISSUES STERN WARNING TO NATO AHEAD OF VANCE’S HIGH-STAKES GREENLAND MEETING

NBC News also reported that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been tasked with developing a proposal to purchase Greenland that will be presented to Trump in the coming weeks.

Rubio and Vice President JD Vance are also expected to meet with officials from Denmark and Greenland in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday.

Trump has vowed to acquire Greenland “one way or the other,” a remark Danish and Greenlandic officials have sharply rejected.

Danish leaders have warned that any military action against another NATO member could jeopardize the alliance itself.

GREENLAND LEADERS PUSH BACK ON TRUMP’S CALLS FOR US CONTROL OF THE ISLAND: ‘WE DON’T WANT TO BE AMERICANS’

A Reuters/Ipsos poll also found just 17% of Americans approve of Trump’s efforts to acquire Greenland, with 47% opposed, and 35% unsure.

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Greenland is the world’s largest island and has a population of roughly 56,000 people with most people living along its ice-free coastline. About 80% of the territory is covered by ice caps and glaciers.

Fishing, hunting, whaling, sealing and tourism are the backbone of its local economy.

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Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on Wednesday called for peace amid escalating protests, a sharp shift in tone after he demanded days earlier that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) “get the f— out” of the city. 

Frey appeared at a late news conference following the shooting of an illegal immigrant from Venezuela in the leg after he allegedly ambushed a federal agent with a shovel. 

“I’m calling for peace,” Frey told reporters. “Everybody has a role in achieving that peace — and we’re going to try and do everything we can to keep it.”

DHS DEMANDS MN LEADERS HONOR ICE DETAINERS, ALLEGES HUNDREDS OF CRIMINAL ALIENS HAVE BEEN RELEASED UNDER WALZ

Frey has repeatedly condemned ICE’s mmigration enforcement operations, and again called for ICE to leave Minneapolis. 

“There’s still a lot that we don’t know at this time, but what I can tell you for certain is that this is not sustainable,” he said. “This is an impossible situation that our city is presently being put in.” 

“We’re in a position right now where we have residents that are asking the very limited number of police officers that we have to fight ICE agents on the street,” he added. “We cannot be at a place right now in America where we have two governmental entities that are literally fighting one another.” 

He said ICE and U.S. Border Patrol agents were “creating chaos,” despite many being confronted, sometimes violently, by protesters upset at the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement campaign. 

“I’ve seen conduct by ICE that is disgusting and intolerable,” he said. 

He urged protesters not to “take the bait” from President Donald Trump. 

JD VANCE, ICE FLIP SCRIPT ON SANCTUARY CITY LEADERS AS ‘CHAOS’ ERUPTS ACROSS MN: ‘THIS IS DANGEROUS’

“And for anyone that is taking the bait tonight, stop,” he said. “That is not helpful … You are not helping the undocumented immigrants in our city. You are not helping the people that call this place home.”

The mayor’s tone is a stark difference from the tirade he unleashed last week following the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an ICE agent. 

“To ICE, get the f–k out of Minneapolis. We do not want you here,” Frey said during a press conference after the shooting. “Your stated reason for being in this city is to create some kind of safety, and you are doing exactly the opposite.”

On Wednesday, Frey maintained that he has not engaged in violent rhetoric. 

“Show a single place where I have encouraged anything other than peace. Show me a single place where we have encouraged violence,” Frey added. 

DHS TAKES VICTORY LAP AFTER ARRESTING OVER 10K ILLEGAL ALIENS IN DEEP BLUE CITY DESPITE VIOLENT RIOTS

The Department of Homeland Security said a federal agent had opened fire on an illegal immigrant who allegedly fled a traffic stop and then beat the agent with a snow shovel.

On Thursday, President Donald Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act if local authorities failed to restore control.

“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of ICE, who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State,” he raged in a Truth Social post.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Thursday pleaded with Trump to “turn the temperature down.”

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ICE responded with a post on X. 

“The buck stops with you, Governor,” the post states. “Tone down the hostile, inflammatory anti-ICE rhetoric. Honor our immigration detainers. And work with ICE to remove criminal illegal aliens from MN streets.”

A federal judge criticized the process by which California’s voter-approved congressional map to redraw districts to favor Democrats in a dissenting opinion, saying the state engaged in “racial gerrymandering.”

Judge Kenneth Lee noted his concerns about race being a factor in his dissent as a panel of judges voted 2-1 to uphold the map.

“California sullied its hands with this sordid business when it engaged in racial gerrymandering as part of its mid-decade congressional redistricting plan to add five more Democratic House seats,” Lee wrote. 

“We know race likely played a predominant role in drawing at least one district because the smoking gun is in the hands of Paul Mitchell, the mapmaker who drew the congressional redistricting map adopted by the California state legislature,” he added. 

DOJ ACCUSES DEMOCRATIC CAMPAIGN ARM OF OBSTRUCTION IN LAWSUIT OVER CALIFORNIA REDISTRICTING

The court rejected a claim by Republicans that the map approved as part of Proposition 50 violated the Voting Rights Act by drawing maps to favor Hispanic and Latino voters.

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The decision allows California to use the map, which could give Democrats more House seats. The California Republican Party said it will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to issue an emergency injunction. 

“The well-reasoned dissenting opinion better reflects our interpretation of the law and the facts, which we will reassert to the Supreme Court,” California GOP Chairwoman Corrin Rankin said in a statement. “The map drawer’s plain statements acknowledging that he racially gerrymandered the Proposition 50 maps, which he and the legislature refused to explain or deny, in addition to our experts’ testimony, established that the courts should stop the implementation of the Prop 50 map. We look forward to continuing this fight in the courts.” 

REPUBLICANS PUSH BACK OVER ‘FALSE ACCUSATIONS OF RACISM’ IN BLOCKBUSTER REDISTRICTING FIGHT

Lee noted that mapmaker Paul Mitchell refused to appear before the panel, but had allegedly publicly boasted to his political allies that he drew the map to “ensure that the Latino districts.”

“In embarking on a mid-decade redistricting plan to create more Democratic-friendly districts, California relied on race to create at least one Latino-majority congressional district,” he wrote. “To be clear, as the majority explains, California began its mid-cycle redistricting attempt after Texas initiated its own redistricting in favor of Republicans. But that larger partisan goal does not negate that California’s Democratic state legislature sought to maintain and expand a racial spoils system.”

Prop 50 was the result of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other Democratic leaders asking voters whether the state should redraw congressional lines by targeting five Republican strongholds. 

The move was a countermeasure to Texas’ efforts to send more Republicans to the House. 

“Republicans’ weak attempt to silence voters failed,” Newsom said in a statement. “California voters overwhelmingly supported Prop 50 – to respond to Trump’s rigging in Texas – and that is exactly what this court concluded.”

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House maps are typically redrawn every 10 years following the census, and the process rarely takes place mid-decade.

Fox News Digital’s Michael Sinkewicz contributed to this report.