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FIRST ON FOX: A group of House Republicans wants to award former President Trump the Congressional Gold Medal.

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., is leading a Congressional resolution to bestow the honor on Trump “in recognition of his exceptional leadership and dedication to strengthening America’s diplomatic relations during his presidency,” according to legislative text obtained by Fox News Digital.

It’s backed by six fellow House Republicans, including House GOP Deputy Whip Guy Reschenthaler of Pennsylvania, and Reps. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Andy Ogles of Tennessee, Randy Weber of Texas, and Mike Waltz of Florida.

MICHAEL COHEN TESTIMONY TO CONTINUE AFTER EX-LAWYER REVEALS SECRET RECORDINGS OF TRUMP IN NY TRIAL

“President Trump’s fearless leadership reestablished America as a respected and admired global power,” Luna told Fox News Digital. “It is time we recognize a president who put our country first and secured global peace through bold diplomacy. Despite the liberal media’s attempts to spread fear, America and the world were undoubtedly safer under President Donald Trump. One of our duties in Congress is to honor those who have contributed significantly to our nation, and that’s why I’m introducing this legislation.”

Notably, it’s also co-sponsored by House Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good, R-Va., who had a rocky relationship with some members of Trump’s orbit earlier this year.

MASSIVE TRUMP BEACH RALLY IN DEEP-BLUE NJ DRAWS STARK CONTRAST TO BIDEN’S BEACH WEEKEND: ‘BIDEN COULD NEVER’

Good originally endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for president before backing Trump when the former dropped out. He’s since emphatically thrown himself behind the ex-president’s re-election bid.

“President Trump did more in four years on behalf of the American people than any president in my lifetime. He secured our border, achieved historic peace in the Middle East, and implemented policies that helped our economy prosper,” said Good. “The last three years of a failed Biden administration have only served as a stark contrast to President Trump’s record.”

Meanwhile, Ogles hailed Trump’s “contributions to the American heritage and stalwart defense of the American way of life” and Weber said “every patriotic American knows our country was unequivocally better off four years ago under his stewardship.”

TRUMP BLASTS ‘HIGHLY CONFLICTED’ JUDGE AFTER MICHAEL COHEN’S FIRST DAY OF TESTIMONY WRAPS

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It’s highly unlikely that the Democrat-controlled Senate will take the bill up, but it’s more evidence that Trump remains the de facto leader of the GOP.

Alongside the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Congressional Gold Medal is the highest civilian award in the U.S.

The Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected former President Donald Trump’s attempt to end a gag order that has prevented him from speaking publicly about many aspects of the case. 

“We find that Justice Merchan properly weighed petitioner’s First Amendment Rights against the court’s historical commitment to ensuring the fair administration of justice in criminal cases, and the right of persons related or tangentially related to the criminal proceedings from being free from threats, intimidation, harassment, and harm,” the First Department of the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division wrote in its order Tuesday. 

Trump’s legal team now has the opportunity to appeal the gag order to the New York Court of Appeals.

“The gag order imposed by conflicted Judge Juan Merchan in the lawless Manhattan DA case is unconstitutional and un-American. The threat to throw the 45th President of the United States and the leading candidate in the 2024 presidential election in jail for exercising his First Amendment rights is a Third World authoritarian tactic typical of Crooked Joe Biden and his comrades,” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung told Fox News Digital. 

MICHAEL COHEN TESTIMONY TO CONTINUE AFTER EX-LAWYER REVEALS SECRET RECORDINGS OF TRUMP IN NY TRIAL

The rejected appeal comes as Trump, as well as his allies, have repeatedly and consistently railed against the order as “unconstitutional” and preventing Trump from defending himself from critics’ attacks. 

Presiding Judge Juan Merchan imposed the gag order on Trump before his criminal trial in New York began, ordering the presumptive Republican presidential nominee not to make or direct others to make public statements about witnesses, counsel in the case or about court staff, the DA staff or family members of staff.

TRUMP TRIAL VEEPSTAKES? TRUMP ALLIES SHOW UP IN FORCE AHEAD OF MICHAEL COHEN’S SECOND DAY OF TESTIMONY

After the trial kicked off, Merchan ruled that Trump violated the order on 10 occasions, resulting in a combined $10,000 fine. The violations stemmed from messages posted by Trump on Truth Social and the campaign’s website. 

In the judge’s initial gag order ruling, he threatened Trump with jail time if he further violated the order, while also lamenting not being able to fine Trump more than $1,000 for each violation. Merchan wrote in the order that if Trump carries out “continued willful violations” of the gag order, he could face “incarceratory punishment” if “necessary and appropriate.”

MASSIVE TRUMP BEACH RALLY IN DEEP-BLUE NJ DRAWS STARK CONTRAST TO BIDEN’S BEACH WEEKEND: ‘BIDEN COULD NEVER’

Merchan also lamented that the dollar amount of the penalties “unfortunately will not achieve the desired result in those instances where the contemnor can easily afford such a fine.” 

MICHAEL COHEN TESTIFIES HE SECRETLY RECORDED TRUMP IN LEAD-UP TO 2016 ELECTION

Trump responded to the threats of jail earlier this month as a “sacrifice” he was willing to make to protect the Constitution. 

“I have to watch every word I tell you people. You ask me a question, a simple question I’d like to give it, but I can’t talk about it because this judge has given me a gag order and [says] you’ll go to jail if you violate it,” Trump said last week.

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“And frankly, you know what? Our Constitution is much more important than jail. It’s not even close. I’ll do that sacrifice any day.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson accused New York City justice officials of committing “atrocities” against former President Trump in an impassioned set of remarks outside the Manhattan Criminal Court on Tuesday.

Johnson is the latest Trump ally to descend on the Big Apple as the ex-president stands trial for accusations he falsified business documents to cover up a hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels in the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election.

“It’s impossible for anybody to deny, that looks at this objectively, that the judicial system in our country has been weaponized against President Trump. The system is using all the tools at its disposal right now to punish one president and provide cover for another,” Johnson said, referring to GOP-led accusations that President Biden has been shielded by his own Justice Department.

“And meanwhile…among the atrocities here, the judge’s own daughter is making millions of dollars doing online fundraising for Democrats.”

MICHAEL COHEN TESTIFIES HE SECRETLY RECORDED TRUMP IN LEAD-UP TO 2016 ELECTION

Johnson also echoed accusations that Judge Juan Merchan’s daughter, Loren Merchan, is profiting off of the trial via her firm Authentic Campaigns, which has done work for top Democrats like Vice President Kamala Harris and Rep. Adam Schiff, R-Calif., according to the industry site Campaigns & Elections.

Trump himself is under a partial gag order after lobbing similar accusations.

“It’s so corrupt, it’s so corrupt and everybody knows it,” Johnson continued on Tuesday. “If [Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg] thinks the American people will believe these absurd charges, take a look at the turnout at Trump events.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Authentic Campaigns and the New York Courts system for comment, as well as a spokesperson for Bragg.

MICHAEL COHEN’S CREDIBILITY ISSUES, BRAZEN TIKTOK USAGE RAISE MEDIA EYEBROWS AHEAD OF TESTIMONY

Johnson further argued that the Manhattan trial was the latest in a series of “partisan witch hunts” against Trump, and vowed the House of Representatives would look at ways to “rein in” Special Counsel Jack Smith. Smith is investigating Trump for his alleged efforts to upend his 2020 election loss and his handling of classified documents after leaving office.

“That one is so egregious, the trial’s been indefinitely postponed,” Johnson said of the classified documents case. “I’m working with Chairman [Jim] Jordan of the House Judiciary Committee and Chairman [James] Comer of our Oversight committee on measures to rein in the abuses of Special Counsel Jack Smith.”

He said the multiple cases against Trump amount to “election interference.”

NY V TRUMP: COHEN TESTIFIES TO PAYING STORMY DANIELS FROM HIS OWN POCKET

The Louisiana Republican is the highest-ranking federal official to show public support for Trump so far, demonstrating the commanding hold he has over the GOP, including Johnson’s own razor-thin House majority.

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In addition to Johnson, former 2024 presidential candidate-turned-Trump surrogate Vivek Ramaswamy also planned to attend the ex-president’s trial on Tuesday.

Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., also posted on X, formerly Twitter, that he was in attendance.

“Great to meet with President Trump today prior to us heading to the courtroom. I’m honored to stand with the President, as America stands with him, and I view this victimless sham indictment as political theater and interference,” Mills wrote.

Co-defendants in the Georgia election interference case against former President Trump have filed notices of appeal to the Georgia Court of Appeals in their bid to have Fulton County District Attorney Fani WIllis disqualified. 

Last week, the appeals court said that it would hear the case raised by Trump and several co-defendants that Willis should be disqualified from the case because she had an “improper” affair with special counsel Nathan Wade, whom she hired. 

Mark Meadows, Rudy Giuliani, Cathy Latham and Michael Roman all filed their notices of appeal Monday in the case, joining former Georgia GOP head David Shafer in kicking off the briefing processes before the court, WSB-TV reported. 

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee ruled in March that Wade had to be removed in order to keep Willis from disqualification in the sweeping racketeering case against Trump.

MEET FANI WILLIS’ GOP CHALLENGER FOR THE TOP PROSECUTOR JOB IN DEEP-BLUE GEORGIA

Trump and several co-defendants alleged Willis and Wade were romantically involved prior to his hiring and that she financially benefited from the relationship. Both Willis and Wade denied those allegations.

Judge McAfee allowed the defense to appeal his ruling, and the appeals court announced last week that they will hear the defense’s case to still have Willis disqualified.

“President Trump looks forward to presenting interlocutory arguments to the Georgia Court of Appeals as to why the case should be dismissed and Fulton County DA Willis should be disqualified for her misconduct in this unjustified, unwarranted political persecution,” Trump lawyer Steve Sadow said in a statement.

A court date has not yet been set.

GEORGIA SENATORS FIND LITTLE OVERSIGHT OVER HOW FANI WILLIS SPENDS TAXPAYER DOLLARS: ‘LIKE THE WILD WEST’

McAfee’s ruling in March said that the defendants “failed to meet their burden of proving that the District Attorney acquired an actual conflict of interest in this case through her personal relationship and recurring travels with her lead prosecutor.”

“However, the established record now highlights a significant appearance of impropriety that infects the current structure of the prosecution team — an appearance that must be removed through the State’s selection of one of two options,” he wrote, adding that Willis and her whole office can choose to step aside, or Wade can withdraw from the case.

Wade subsequently resigned from his post as special prosecutor.

The co-defendants had alleged that Willis benefited financially by hiring Wade because they were in a pre-existing relationship when he was hired in 2021 and would vacation together. 

Both Wade and Willis denied they were in a romantic relationship prior to his hiring and that the couple would split the costs of their shared travels. Willis said she reimbursed Wade for her share of the trips in cash.

In his March order, McAfee said while Willis’ “reimbursement practice” was “unusual and the lack of any documentary corroboration understandably concerning,” he ultimately decided that the defendants did not present “sufficient evidence” that expenses weren’t “roughly divided evenly.” 

NATHAN WADE SPEAKS OUT ON ‘WORKPLACE ROMANCE’ WITH FULTON COUNTY DA FANI WILLIS: ‘AMERICAN AS APPLE PIE’

He also said that “the evidence demonstrated that the financial gain flowing from her relationship with Wade was not a motivating factor on the part of the District Attorney to indict and prosecute this case.”

In February, Judge McAfee held a two-day evidentiary hearing, when the defense, led by attorney Ashley Merchant, set out to expose a money trail that would mean Willis has a conflict of interest in the case against Trump and should be disqualified.

“[T]he Court finds that the record made at the evidentiary hearing established that the District Attorney’s prosecution is encumbered by an appearance of impropriety,” McAfee wrote in his order.

“As the case moves forward, reasonable members of the public could easily be left to wonder whether the financial exchanges have continued resulting in some form of benefit to the District Attorney, or even whether the romantic relationship has resumed.”

“Put differently, an outsider could reasonably think that the District Attorney is not exercising her independent professional judgment totally free of any compromising influences. As long as Wade remains on the case, this unnecessary perception will persist,” he said.

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When the defense in March submitted a joint motion for a Certificate of Immediate Review, McAfee said that his Order on the Defendants’ Motions to Dismiss and Disqualify the Fulton County District Attorney issued March 15 “is of such importance to the case that immediate review should be had” and allowed the defendants to ask the Georgia appeals court for an opportunity to appeal, which the court granted on Wednesday.

Jury selection continues for Democratic New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez’s federal corruption trial on Tuesday morning. As of Monday afternoon, zero jurors were seated for the trial, which is taking place in a Manhattan courtroom and expected to continue through the end of June.

By Monday afternoon, the judge excused 38 of 152 jurors for various reasons pertaining to why they could not be present for the case. That leaves 114 jurors who will return this morning for continued selection.

Jurors will be expected to discern whether evidence against Menendez and two New Jersey businessmen, Fred Daibes and Wael Hana, shows they were part of a bribery scheme, including meddling in criminal investigations and taking actions benefiting the governments of Egypt and Qatar. 

All three have pleaded not guilty. Co-defendant Jose Uribe has pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against the other defendants. A trial for the senator’s wife, who is also charged, is delayed until at least July for health reasons. 

This is the second time in a decade that Menendez has been accused in a federal corruption case. 

BOB MENENDEZ’S CORRUPTION CASE CO-DEFENDANT PLEADS GUILTY TO 7 COUNTS, COOPERATING WITH INVESTIGATORS

Menendez was charged by federal prosecutors with obstruction of justice in another superseding indictment unsealed in March relating to a multiyear alleged bribery scheme involving the Egypt and Qatar governments.

The 18-page indictment is wrapped into Menendez’s existing charges already against him and his co-defendants – including his wife, Nadine – for allegedly acting as a foreign agent and accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes to benefit the Egyptian government through his power and influence as a senator.

The indictment comes after Uribe accepted a plea deal and agreed to cooperate last week. The charges on Tuesday also alleged Menendez committed conspiracy, bribery, acting as a foreign agent, extortion and wire fraud.

DEMOCRAT SEN BOB MENENDEZ FACING INDICTMENT ON BRIBERY CHARGES

Prosecutors also state in the new indictment that Menendez instructed his lawyers to inform the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York in 2022 about his awareness of businessman Wael Hana issuing a payment exceeding $23,000 for Nadine’s home mortgage and the money that Uribe contributed for her new luxury vehicle.

Menendez also allegedly advised his attorneys to disclose to the prosecutor’s office that he later discovered the funds were actually loans, when “In truth and in fact, and as Menendez well knew,” the mortgage and car payments were made prior to 2022 “and they were not loans, but bribe payments,” prosecutors wrote in Tuesday’s indictment.

TRUMP, HOUSE DEMS DEFEND TEXAS CONGRESSMAN ACCUSED OF ACCEPTING MEXICAN BRIBES, BUT FOR VERY DIFFERENT REASONS

Menendez is also accused of accepting bribes and gifts in exchange for helping to benefit Qatar as part of a corruption scheme from 2021 through 2023.

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Menendez, along with his wife and the three New Jersey businessmen, were first charged in the federal bribery scheme on Sept. 23. Hana, Daibes, the senator and Nadine Menendez have pleaded not guilty.

Fox News Digital’s Daniel Wallace and Jennifer Johnson contributed to this report. 

A Republican primary runoff for a North Carolina congressional district on Tuesday could demonstrate yet again the strong influence former President Donald Trump has on GOP politics across the country.

Voters will choose between attorneys Kelly Daughtry and Brad Knott in the runoff for the reconfigured 13th Congressional District. Daughtry finished first, and Knott second, in the March 5 primary. GOP candidates for the statewide offices of lieutenant governor and state auditor are also on runoff ballots.

Trump endorsed Knott in April. Weeks later, Daughtry suspended her campaign, when early voting was already underway. The runoff continued on Tuesday with both names on the ballot. Knott must win the most votes to ensure victory; he’s reminded his supporters that they need to get out and vote.

NORTH CAROLINA GOP ELECTS TRUMP-ENDORSED EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AS ITS NEXT CHAIRMAN

If Daughtry were to win, but turned down the nomination, local Republicans would choose a replacement to take on Democrat Frank Pierce in November.

Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, won North Carolina, the country’s ninth-largest state, in both the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, and the state is expected to be a presidential battleground this fall. Turnout for Tuesday’s runoffs is expected to be very low, however. Democrats have no primaries.

The former president has a history of intervening in North Carolina politics. This year marks the second time he has endorsed a Daughtry opponent; in a 2022 primary for the 13th District, he backed her challenger and then-political newcomer Bo Hines, who won the primary.

Trump also endorsed then-U.S. Rep. Ted Budd in the 2022 GOP primary for U.S. Senate. Budd easily defeated former Gov. Pat McCrory, then went on to win the general election. In the recent March primary, Trump also backed first-time candidate Addison McDowell, who ended up winning the 6th Congressional District race.

A total of 14 candidates had initially competed this year for the 13th District seat, which represents all or parts of eight counties in or close to the capital of Raleigh. The district was retooled to the right by the Republican-controlled legislature, prompting current Democratic U.S. Rep. Wiley Nickel not to run for reelection. The seat is one of three the GOP expects to add to the U.S. House from North Carolina in the fall election, thanks to redistricting.

Daughtry was the top fundraiser and the top vote-getter in the March 5 primary, but she failed to garner at least 30% of the vote, the amount required to avoid a runoff. The second-place finisher must officially request a runoff for it to take place, and Knott did so.

Despite those advantages, Daughtry essentially ended her campaign earlier this month in response to Trump’s April 5 endorsement of Knott, a former assistant U.S. attorney from Raleigh.

Daughtry said the endorsement made clear to her “that a pathway to victory is no longer feasible.”

“I believe in the democratic process and respect the endorsement of our President,” she said in a written statement.

In a social media endorsement, Trump called Knott a “Strong Patriot” who would support law enforcement, secure the U.S.-Mexico border and protect gun rights.

As for Daughtry, the daughter of a longtime Republican legislative leader, Trump called her a “RINO” — Republican in Name Only — and someone who “is no friend to MAGA,” a reference to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan. He said Daughtry had contributed to the campaigns of some Democratic candidates in the past.

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In other races Tuesday, the runoff for lieutenant governor features Hal Weatherman, a former chief of staff to then-Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, and Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O’Neill. Forest finished first in the primary’s initial 11-candidate field. The winner will take on Democratic state Sen. Rachel Hunt, daughter of former four-term Gov. Jim Hunt.

The GOP auditor’s runoff features candidates Jack Clark and Dave Boliek. The winner will take on Democratic State Auditor Jessica Holmes. Libertarian Party candidates also are running for auditor and lieutenant governor.

GOP runoff voting is open to registered Republicans and unaffiliated voters who either voted in the March Republican primaries or didn’t vote at all.

Prosecutors will continue their questioning of Michael Cohen on Tuesday after the ex-Trump attorney spent a full day on the stand Monday testifying against former President Trump in his criminal trial.

Cohen is said to be the star witness for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and his team as they try to prove the former president falsified business records related to a $130,000 payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.

Bragg charged Trump with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges and maintains his innocence.

Cohen, who once famously said he would “take a bullet” for Trump, his former longtime boss and friend, testified against him about his role in arranging the alleged hush-money payment to Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election in an effort to keep her allegations of a sexual encounter with Trump in the early 2000s from becoming public. 

MICHAEL COHEN TESTIFIES HE SECRETLY RECORDED TRUMP IN LEAD-UP TO 2016 ELECTION

Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger led the questioning.

Cohen testified Monday that working at the Trump Organization was “fantastic” and working for Trump “was an amazing experience.”

Cohen testified that he spoke to Trump multiple times a day and often lied for his boss, saying he did so because “it was needed in order to accomplish the task.”

“The only thing on my mind was to accomplish the task and to keep him happy,” Cohen said. 

Hoffinger asked Cohen if it was accurate to describe himself as a “fixer” for Trump, to which he replied, “It’s fair.”

But as for the payment to Daniels, Cohen testified that in October 2016, he told Trump that Daniels must be paid to quiet her claims ahead of Election Day the following month.

When Daniels emerged, Cohen said Trump was “really angry with me.”

Cohen recalled Trump telling him: “’I thought you had this under control, I thought you took care of this.’” 

Cohen said he explained to Trump that he had taken care of Daniels’ allegations as far back as 2011, but as the story resurfaced, Trump directed Cohen to “just take care of it,” calling the situation a total disaster and reasoning that it would hurt the campaign’s chances with women voters.

MICHAEL COHEN’S CREDIBILITY ISSUES, BRAZEN TIKTOK USAGE RAISE MEDIA EYEBROWS AHEAD OF TESTIMONY

The ex-Trump attorney testified that he spoke with Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg about how to fund the payment, with Weisselberg saying he was not in a position to initially foot the bill.

“I ultimately said, ‘OK, I’ll pay it,’” Cohen testified, noting the urgency behind the matter as the election was just days away. Cohen described to the court that Daniels’ claims would have been “catastrophic to Mr. Trump and the campaign” if he did not take control of the situation and iron out the NDA and payment to Daniels. 

Weisselberg, according to Cohen, said, “Don’t worry, we’ll make sure you get paid back.” 

Cohen said he did not discuss the matter with his wife and decided to gather funds through a home equity line of credit instead of drawing the money from his personal account.

“My wife was CEO of the household, [she] would not understand $130,000 missing from our joint account,” he said.

Cohen and Weisselberg informed Trump that Cohen would be using personal funds to front the payment, to which Trump responded, “cGood, good,” according to the testimony. 

Cohen said he was “doing everything that I could and more in order to protect my boss, which is something I had done for a long time. But I would not hand out a 130k NDA for somebody else.”

He also said he would not have proceeded with a payment to Daniels without Trump’s approval first, saying that “everything required Mr. Trump’s sign-off … on top of that, I wanted the money back.”

The ex-Trump lawyer went on to say he opened a bank account with First Republic Bank to transfer the funds to Daniels, but he testified that when he did so, he fraudulently described the account as one that would deal with “management consulting.”

Cohen further testified that he was not truthful regarding the intent of the account as he did not believe the bank would allow him to proceed if they knew it would be used to pay a former pornography actress.

The prosecution introduced call logs from Oct. 26, 2016, showing that Cohen called Trump twice to get his “sign-off” and to ensure he had Trump’s approval for the deal.

NY V TRUMP: COHEN TESTIFIES TO PAYING STORMY DANIELS FROM HIS OWN POCKET

Cohen ultimately wired the funds to Daniels’ attorney, Keith Davidson, telling the court that he marked the payment as a “retainer” even though it was “to execute the NDA” and to obtain exclusive rights to Daniels’ claims.

The funds were wired on Oct. 27, 2016.

Cohen went on to explain that he used “DD” as the initials for Trump’s pseudonym, David Dennison, in the nondisclosure agreement paperwork with Daniels. He said the fake name was needed because “the purpose was to make sure his name did not appear anywhere.”

Also during testimony Monday, Cohen admitted to secretly recording conversations with Trump without his permission ahead of the 2016 election. The conversation was about a $150,000 payment to former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker after he worked to silence ex-Playboy model Karen McDougal and her claims of an affair with Trump.

Pecker had pressed Cohen that Trump needed to pay him back, with Cohen secretly recording Trump on Sept. 6 of the election year as proof Trump planned to pay Pecker, according to the testimony. Cohen added that in addition to easing Pecker’s mind that he would be repaid, he also made the recording to keep Pecker “loyal” to Trump.

The recording was played for the jury, which included Cohen telling Trump that he needed to “open up a company for the transfer of all of that info regarding our friend David,” referring to Pecker.

“So, what do we got to pay for this? One-fifty?” Trump is heard saying.

TRUMP, DEFENDERS SHOW UP IN FORCE AHEAD OF COHEN TESTIMONY

Cohen argued in his testimony that Trump knew Pecker had purchased the rights to McDougal’s claims of an affair and agreed to pay $150,000.

“He already knew based upon conversation with David, which is why he mentioned the number 150,” Cohen said.

Cohen testified that he recorded the exchange on his iPhone while sitting across a desk from Trump, who was unaware he was being recorded.

Also Monday, Cohen testified that he “didn’t want that role” of chief of staff but had “wanted my name included … to at least be considered.”

“It was more about my ego,” he said.

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After turning down an offer to be assistant general counsel in the White House, Cohen said he personally pitched Trump on the possibility of being named the personal attorney to the president.

“I thought that he would need it because there were still outstanding matters we were dealing with, and every president has a personal attorney,” he said.

Cohen said he presented the idea to Trump, who a day or two before the inauguration officially made Cohen the title of personal attorney to the president.

Voters in Maryland, Nebraska and West Virginia head to the polls on Tuesday in some competitive and contentious Democrat and Republican primaries that in a couple of cases will tee up crucial general election showdowns that may decide the House and Senate majorities.

The most high-profile of the May 14 primary contests is in Maryland, where Republicans are aiming to flip a Senate seat long held by the Democrats in one of the bluest states in the nation.

Popular former two-term Gov. Larry Hogan is considered the overwhelming front-runner for the GOP Senate nomination in a field of more than a half dozen Republican candidates.

“We like where Larry’s at,” Senate Republican campaign committee chair Sen. Steve Daines of Montana told Fox News Digital last week. “We know that’s going to be a tough race because Maryland is a blue state, but it’s a Hogan state first and foremost.”

WHY SENATE GOP CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE CHAIR IS CAUTIOUSLY OPTIMISTIC ABOUT WINNING BACK MAJORITY

With Democrats hoping to protect their fragile 51-49 majority in the Senate, Hogan’s late entry into the Maryland Senate race in February gave them an unexpected headache in a state that was previously considered safe territory.

As Hogan cruises toward the GOP nomination, the Democrat Senate primary in the race to succeed retiring longtime Sen. Ben Cardin is grabbing the spotlight. It’s a battle between big bucks and high-profile endorsements between the two leading contenders in the 10-candidate field, and it’s also a fight over whether electability outweighs diversity.

“If Larry Hogan wins,” three-term Rep. David Trone, one of the wealthiest members of Congress, says in his closing campaign commercial, “we lose more than the majority. We lose a woman’s right to choose – could lose Social Security. And with Trump knocking on the door, lose democracy itself.”

THIS SENATE CANDIDATE CAUGHT ON CAMERA SCREAMING AT REPORTER

Trone, the co-founder and co-owner of Total Wine and More, has dished out more than $50 million of his own money to his campaign.

“The polls say I’m the only candidate who can beat Larry Hogan. And I intend to use every ounce of my energy to do just that. The stakes are just too damn high,” he said in one of his final ads.

Trone has massively outspent Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, a Black woman who steers Maryland’s second-most populous county, which is located in suburban D.C. But he’s also sparked controversy with a couple of verbal miscues.

Meanwhile, Alsobrooks enjoys the backing of much of the state’s Democrat establishment, including endorsements from Gov. Wes Moore, Sen. Chris Van Hollen and five House members.

Alsobrooks, pushing back in a recent ad on insinuations from Trone that she’s not experienced enough to handle the Senate, argued that “while my opponent focuses on fighting, I’ll focus on working for you.”

Pointing to Alsobrooks and Trone, Hogan told Fox News’ Mark Meredith on the eve of the primary that “I don’t know which one’s going to limp out of that primary. But we’ll be ready.”

While Democrats control the Senate now, Republicans are looking at a favorable election map this year with Democrats defending 23 of the 34 seats up for grabs.

TRUMP EDGES BIDEN IN THESE KEY BATTLEGROUND STATES

Three of those seats are in red states that former President Trump carried in 2020: Ohio, Montana and also West Virginia, where Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin is not running for re-election.

“The first state that we know that we’re going to win at this point is West Virginia,” Daines said. “There’s one pickup seat right there.”

Republican Gov. Jim Justice of West Virginia, who is term-limited, is the favorite to win Tuesday’s GOP Senate primary.

A billionaire businessman who owns the state’s famed Greenbrier Resort and a Democrat who became a Republican seven years ago, Justice is part of a crowded field of GOP candidates where conservative Rep. Alex Mooney is his main competitor.

The Republican nominee will be considered the overwhelming favorite in November to flip the Democrat-held seat. Don Blankenship, a former coal company CEO who was convicted of conspiring to violate federal mine safety standards, is running in a field that also includes Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott, who has Manchin’s endorsement, and Marine Corps veteran Zach Shrewsbury, who has the backing of progressive groups.

While Republicans aim to recapture the Senate majority for the first time in four years, Democrats are looking to take back control of the House, which they lost by a razor-thin margin in the 2022 midterms.

And one of the Republican-held seats they are eyeing is Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District, which is anchored by Omaha and its surrounding suburbs.

Four-term Republican Rep. Don Bacon, a retired Air Force brigadier general, is one of 16 Republican members of Congress representing a district that President Biden carried in the 2020 election.

He’s facing a challenge from his party’s right flank from candidate Dan Frei, who is backed by Nebraska’s state GOP. A primary victory by Frei would be considered a political gift to Democrats as they aim to flip the district in November.

In a very rare occurrence, both of Nebraska’s Republican senators are up for election this year and both face nomination opposition in Tuesday’s primary.

Sen. Deb Fischer is seeking a third six-year term in the Senate. Sen. Pete Ricketts, a former governor, is running to finish the remaining two years of the term of former GOP Sen. Ben Sasse, who stepped down in 2023 to become University of Florida president.

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In West Virginia, with Justice term-limited and running for the Senate, the GOP gubernatorial primary is taking center stage. 

State attorney general Patrick Morrisey, the 2018 Republican Senate nominee, former state Rep. Moore Capito (the son of Sen. Shelley Moore Capito and grandson of the late Gov. Arch Moore Jr.), auto dealer Chris Miller (son of Rep. Carol Miller), and West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner are among the candidates.

Huntington Mayor Steve Williams is unopposed for the Democrats’ gubernatorial nomination.

All three states will be holding presidential primaries, where Biden and Trump – who’ve both long since clinched their respective Democrat and Republican nominations – look to pad their delegate totals.

But Tuesday’s primaries could provide further headaches for both candidates, with the likelihood of more “uncommitted” votes in the Democrat primaries to protest the president’s support for Israel in its war with Hamas in Gaza. In the GOP contests, expect a small percentage of continued support for former U.N. Ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who was the final Trump challenger for the Republican nomination before ending her White House bid more than two months ago.

Fox News’ Mark Meredith, Matthew Reidy, Jamie Vera, Deirdre Heavey and James Levinson contributed to this report.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

If Michael Cohen’s testimony yesterday had a familiar ring, that’s because his main role at the outset was to confirm the account of the National Enquirer’s publisher.

While there were bits and pieces of news, prosecutors walked through meetings, phone calls, e-mails and texts with Donald Trump and others as he vouched for just about everything David Pecker had told the jury.

But if there’s one line that jumped out at me, it was this: When Trump confided he would soon launch his first campaign in 2015, Cohen says his boss told him: “There’s going to be a lot of women coming forward.” That would prove to be prescient.

And the following year, when Cohen warned Trump that former Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal was alleging an affair, the future president’s response was: “She’s very beautiful.”

STORMY ALLEGES ONE-NIGHT STAND WITH TRUMP, AGREED TO LIE FOR HER $130,000 PAYOFF

Cohen’s credibility as Trump’s “fixer” – prosecutors raised the word, knowing the defense would – will come under fierce attack. He is a convicted liar who has served time in prison. That may well be the ballgame. The trial could easily turn on whether the Manhattan jury believes he is telling the truth now.

There is little question about Cohen’s motivation. He has been on a crusade against the man he served for 10 years ever since their public break. In fact, Judge Juan Merchan told the prosecution on Friday to warn Cohen to make no further comments, given Trump’s complaints that he was being attacked but under the gag order could not respond.

This came after Cohen posted a TikTok picture of himself wearing a T-shirt showing an orange head behind bars. No, not much mystery there.

One interesting tidbit came up as Cohen described being “on top of the world” during the decade he worked for Trump. He had billed $100,000 worth of work for a Trump entertainment unit. The real estate developer then offered him a job, then said, perhaps half-jokingly, that he’d be fired the first day if he brought up the unpaid bill. Cohen’s job was then to pressure law firms into lowering their bills.

During this time, D.A. Alvin Bragg’s prosecutor asked, would Cohen lie for Trump? “Yes ma’am.” Would he bully for Trump? “Yes ma’am.”

Cohen’s description of a summer 2015 meeting with Trump and Pecker matched the publisher’s account. The Enquirer would run positive stories about Trump, negative stories on some of his opponents, and Pecker would warn the “Apprentice” star if someone else had a negative story and try to suppress it.

Cohen would preview articles and covers in advance, as Pecker had said – such as a false allegation that Hillary Clinton had a brain injury – and would tell Trump, in part, to get credit.

The first test came when the Trump Tower doorman who the Enquirer paid $30,000 for what proved to be an utterly bogus story about what tabloids always call a love child. Cohen advised they add a $1 million penalty if the man violated the agreement.

NY V. TRUMP: COHEN TESTIFIES TO PAYING STORMY DANIELS FROM HIS OWN POCKET

Next up was Karen McDougal, who the prosecution has decided not to call as a witness, perhaps to avoid giving Trump a point on which to appeal.

The catch-and-kill payment would cost the Enquirer $150,000. Trump approved, and in the call that Cohen taped, suggested they pay in cash, but his lawyer said a check would make the transaction look legitimate.

Meanwhile, Pecker was “angry’ and “upset,” saying that was too much money for him to hide from the CEO of his parent company.

Meanwhile, McDougal and her lawyer rejected the deal, Cohen feared she was talking to ABC, but then they accepted the agreement.

Pecker wound up telling Cohen to forget the reimbursement. The reason? A cover shoot with McDaniel for Men’s Health – which along with fitness columns was the cover for the deal – sold better than expected, and they were planning a second one. That was worth at least $150K, Cohen was told.

The other extremely important answer from Michael Cohen involved the payment to Stormy Daniels, whose demand he regarded as “catastrophic” after the “Access Hollywood” tape. Cohen asked Trump about his wife. 

According to his testimony, Trump said just get it past the election. If he won, the Stormy Daniels business would become irrelevant, and if he lost, no one would care.

Cohen declared: “He wasn’t thinking about Melania. This was all about the campaign.”

KENNEDY COVER-UP: FAILING TO DISCLOSE A BRAIN-EATING WORM AND OTHER PROBLEMS

This is a crucial distinction. For Trump to be worried about protecting his wife and family – as former aide Hope Hicks, not a hostile witness, contended – was legitimate. Doing it for campaign reasons opens the door to a political manipulation and ultimately the falsification of records charge.

The rest of the story predictably plays out. Cohen stalled on providing the money. Daniels canceled the deal, her lawyer telling Cohen she was going with the Daily Mail instead. Trump was mad, telling Cohen he thought this had been taken care of. Then the deal was back on. 

After speaking to Trump, Cohen went to the bank on Oct. 16, 2016 and transferred the money from his home equity line of credit, buying the life rights to Stormy’s tale. Cohen testified that he would not have done this without the approval of Trump, who said, “Don’t worry, you’ll get your money back.” (And he eventually did.)

A last scare: When the Wall Street Journal reported on Nov. 4, just before the election, on the Enquirer’s deal with McDougal, Cohen consulted several times with Hicks on the best spin for the press. He had Stormy’s denial but sat on it after concluding the story wasn’t getting much attention.

Cohen was relaxed during the testimony, say reporters in the courtroom, but to me the most salient point is this:

What alternative version of events can Trump’s attorneys possibly offer to Cohen’s testimony? His account is backed up by emails, texts, call records, encrypted Signal messages, bank transfers and one audiotape. Those are beyond question. Can the defense argue that Cohen, David Pecker and Keith Davidson, the lawyer for both Daniels and McDougal, are all lying?

They can challenge Cohen’s motivation, but not the well-documented sequence of events.

The Trump team will obviously say that Cohen lied many, many other times. That he got involved in the dirty taxi medallion business. That he spent time in prison. That he’s made money by turning on Trump, that he’s become a national figure and cable pundit by turning on Trump. All true, and perhaps that will be enough to discredit him.

The rest of the day was spent inoculating Cohen against the eventual cross-examination. Cohen said he was “beyond angry…truly insulted, personally hurt” when Trump cut his 2016 bonus by two-thirds.

Cohen wanted to be mentioned for White House chief of staff, though it wasn’t a good fit, because of ego. He wanted to be Trump’s personal lawyer for no fee, which Trump granted at the last minute, meaning Cohen could charge companies big bucks as someone with access to the new president. And he was reimbursed for the $130,000 hush money payment, plus a bonus, at Trump’s direction.

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Look, sleeping with a porn star or Playboy model is not a crime. Signing an NDA is not a crime. 

But if all 12 jurors agree that Michael Cohen was telling the truth on the stand, the former fixer may get his fix after all.

Former President Trump was joined by a bevy of high-profile supporters Monday morning outside the Manhattan courtroom, where the NY v. Trump trial will hear from key witness Michael Cohen. 

As Trump spoke to the media early Monday morning, Republican supporters such as Ohio Sen. JD Vance, New York Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville, his son Eric Trump, and others were seen standing behind the 45th president for what is anticipated to be an action-packed day in court.

“I’m proud to be in New York today to support my friend and president, Donald Trump. Americans see this case for what it is—a political circus. The left can lie about President Trump all they want, but the American people aren’t buying it,” Tuberville said in comment provided to Fox News Digital on Monday morning.  

Trump’s comments ahead of court Monday focused on his argument that the case is a “baseless, politically motivated prosecution” promoted by the Biden administration, while highlighting a recent poll showing him leading Biden in key battleground states. 

MICHAEL COHEN’S CREDIBILITY ISSUES, BRAZEN TIKTOK USAGE RAISE MEDIA EYEBROWS AHEAD OF TESTIMONY 

“The New York Times just came out with a poll that shows us leading everywhere by a lot. This is the cover story. And I think you’ll find it very interesting, but I’m sure you’ve all read it. Leading in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Michigan, Georgia and Nevada. Nevada, we are leading actually by 12 points, which is generally a Democrat state,” Trump said. 

Trump’s 16th day on trial kicks off with testimony from his former personal attorney Michael Cohen. 

The case revolves around the alleged falsification of business records. Prosecutors say Cohen paid adult film actress Stormy Daniels $130,000 to quiet her claims of the alleged extramarital sexual encounter with Trump. Prosecutors allege the Trump Organization reimbursed Cohen and fraudulently logged the payments as legal expenses, and are working to prove that Trump falsified records with the intent to commit or conceal a second crime.

Trump has pleaded not guilty in the case. 

Daniels took the stand last week, saying she met Trump in 2006 at Lake Tahoe during a celebrity golf tournament. She alleged that the pair had sex in Trump’s hotel room during the event, which Trump has repeatedly denied in public comments. Daniels also described to the court how she got into the pornography business after working as an exotic dancer as a teenager.

Legal experts subsequently sounded off that Daniels’ testimony was irrelevant to the case and that some of her remarks should not have been admitted into the record. The Trump legal team twice motioned for a mistrial, but were denied by presiding Judge Juan Merchan. 

MICHAEL COHEN EXPECTED TO TAKE THE STAND AS NY V. TRUMP TRIAL RESUMES

Cohen has been slammed as a “grifter” by some critics in the lead-up to his testimony, and has been vocal in his condemnation of Trump after he no longer served as his attorney. 

“Trump 2024?” Cohen said in a TikTok video last month. “More like Trump 20-24 years.

On Friday, Judge Merchan called on New York prosecutors to instruct Cohen to stop making comments about the case and Trump ahead of taking the stand. Cohen, unlike Trump, is not under a gag order in the case. 

MASSIVE TRUMP BEACH RALLY IN DEEP-BLUE NJ DRAWS STARK CONTRAST TO BIDEN’S BEACH WEEKEND: ‘BIDEN COULD NEVER’

Fox News contributor and constitutional law expert Jonathan Turley has called Cohen a “serial perjurer” who profits off the case, a sentiment that has been echoed by other legal experts. 

“Cohen has always been open as a grifter,” Turley recently wrote. 

JD VANCE SLAMS NY V. TRUMP TRIAL AS DEM EFFORT TO DISTRACT THAT THE ‘WORLD IS ON FIRE’ UNDER BIDEN

“He continues to act to his nature. The problem is a political and legal system that enables him as a serial liar,” Turley continued.

TRUMP SUPPORTERS FLOCK TO MASSIVE NEW JERSEY CAMPAIGN RALLY TO HEAR FORMER PRESIDENT SPEAK AMID ONGOING TRIALS

“This week, convicted perjurer and disbarred attorney Michael Cohen will take a break from getting paid to trash Trump on TikTok – to trash Trump in the courtroom,” attorney Mike Davis, who served as a law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, told Fox News Digital.

Monday’s day in court follows Trump holding a massive rally in the historically deep blue state of New Jersey on Saturday, where the 45h president said “over 100,000 people” joined him on the beach in Wildwood. 

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“I think we’re probably leading in New Jersey. We had a rally – over a 100,000 people this weekend. A lot of the mainstream media didn’t want to say how many people, they didn’t want to cover. But in fact… I hear the big crowd was not shown by the mainstream media,” Trump said Monday. 

Fox News Digital’s Brian Flood and David Rutz contributed to this story. 

Former President Donald Trump slammed Judge Juan Merchan as “highly conflicted” after Michael Cohen wrapped up his first day of witness testimony in the New York v. Trump trial Monday. 

“We have a corrupt judge, and we have a judge who is highly conflicted, and he’s keeping me from campaigning,” Trump said outside of the courtroom. “He’s an appointed New York judge. He’s appointed. You know who appointed him? Democrat politicians. He’s appointed. He’s a corrupt judge and he’s a conflicted judge. And he ought to let us go out and campaign and get rid of this scam.” 

“This day is truly going to go down as a day of infamy for the New York legal system, which… the whole world is laughing now at the New York weaponized legal system,” Trump added. 

Trump has repeatedly slammed Merchan as “conflicted” and politically biased, including railing against him on Truth Social ahead of the trial, when he called on the judge to recuse himself, citing Merchan’s daughter and her work as a political consultant for Democratic politicians. 

MICHAEL COHEN TESTIFIES HE SECRETLY RECORDED TRUMP IN LEAD-UP TO 2016 ELECTION

Fox News Digital reached out to the New York state court system for comment.

“Judge Juan Merchan, who is suffering from an acute case of Trump Derangement Syndrome (whose daughter represents Crooked Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff, and other Radical Liberals, has just posted a picture of me behind bars, her obvious goal, and makes it completely impossible for me to get a fair trial) has now issued another illegal, un-American, unConstitutional ‘order,’ as he continues to try and take away my Rights,” Trump posted on Truth Social in March after he was given a gag order limiting what he could publicly say about the case. 

Trump has since slammed Merchan for the gag order, including after the New York judge fined Trump $10,000 for violating the order 10 times. Merchan warned Trump that if he continued violating the order, he could be tossed in jail, which Trump said is a “sacrifice” he’s willing to make. 

“I have to watch every word I tell you people. You ask me a question, a simple question I’d like to give it, but I can’t talk about it because this judge has given me a gag order and [says] you’ll go to jail if you violate it,” Trump said in remarks earlier this month. 

“And frankly, you know what? Our Constitution is much more important than jail. It’s not even close. I’ll do that sacrifice any day.”

TRUMP, DEFENDERS SHOW UP IN FORCE AHEAD OF COHEN TESTIMONY

Monday was an action-packed day in court, hearing testimony for the first time from former Trump personal attorney Michael Cohen. The case focuses on Cohen paying former pornographic actress Stormy Daniels $130,000 to allegedly quiet her claims of an alleged extramarital affair she had with the then-real estate tycoon in 2006. Trump has denied having an affair with Daniels.

Prosecutors allege that the Trump Organization reimbursed Cohen and fraudulently logged the payments as legal expenses. Prosecutors are working to prove that Trump falsified records with the intent to commit or conceal a second crime.

MICHAEL COHEN’S CREDIBILITY ISSUES, BRAZEN TIKTOK USAGE RAISE MEDIA EYEBROWS AHEAD OF TESTIMONY 

Cohen took the stand Monday morning, where he detailed to the court that he spent his own funds to pay Daniels $130,000 in order to execute a non-disclosure agreement and obtain rights to her claims of the affair. In October 2016, according to Cohen’s testimony, he told Trump that Daniels must be paid in order to quiet her claims ahead of Election Day the following month. He testified that he spoke with Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg about how to fund the payment, with Weisselberg saying he was not in a position to initially foot the bill. 

MICHAEL COHEN EXPECTED TO TAKE THE STAND AS NY V. TRUMP TRIAL RESUMES

“I ultimately said, ‘OK, I’ll pay it,’” Cohen testified, noting the urgency behind the matter as the election was just days away. 

Cohen said he did not discuss the matter with his wife, and decided to gather funds through a home equity line of credit instead of drawing the money from his personal account. 

MASSIVE TRUMP BEACH RALLY IN DEEP-BLUE NJ DRAWS STARK CONTRAST TO BIDEN’S BEACH WEEKEND: ‘BIDEN COULD NEVER’

“My wife was CEO of the household, [she] would not understand $130,000 missing from our joint account,” he said. 

Cohen’s testimony also included detailing that he secretly recorded Trump in 2016 regarding another payment to former Playboy model Karen McDougal. McDougal also claimed having an affair with Trump in 2006, which the 45th president has repeatedly denied. Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker purchased exclusive rights to her story to bury the claims ahead of the 2016 election, according to trial testimony. 

Cohen said he secretly recorded Trump in September of 2016 to share with Pecker as proof Trump planned to reimburse Pecker for purchasing the potentially damaging story, according to the testimony. Cohen added that in addition to easing Pecker’s mind that he would be repaid, he also made the recording in order to keep Pecker “loyal” to Trump. 

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Cohen said Trump was unaware he was being recorded at the time. 

Cohen is anticipated to return to the stand Tuesday morning, when court will begin at 9:30 a.m. 

The White House on Monday pushed back on reports from the Times of Israel and Washington Post that it is offering “sensitive intelligence” to Israel on the whereabouts of Hamas leaders, if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declines to engage in a full-scale invasion of Rafah.

President Biden has in recent days warned Israel against incurring into the southern Gaza city, threatening to halt munitions shipments if an invasion commences.

Four people familiar with the situation told the Washington Post the administration is offering intel on Hamas tunnels and the hideouts of its leaders if Israel pulls back.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, a National Security Council spokesperson said the U.S. continues to help the IDF target Hamas leadership.

BIDEN’S HOLD ON ISRAEL WEAPONS SHIPMENT STUNS RETIRED US GENERAL: ‘THIS IS A TURNING POINT’

“[T]hat work continues on an ongoing basis. We’re not holding anything back,” the official said.

“We believe [Hamas chief Yahya] Sinwar should and indeed must be held accountable for the horrors of the October 7 attack.”

Former Trump National Security Council official Victoria Coates told Fox News Digital late Monday that intelligence sharing is the “bedrock of our security partnership with Israel.”

“It’s unique and extremely sophisticated, and if one partner is not fulfilling their obligations, it calls the whole thing into question,” Coates said.

“So, if the administration has information on Hamas leadership, which… still holds eight Americans — five alive and three dead in Gaza — and isn’t sharing that with the Israelis and hasn’t shared it with the Israelis, this is deeply troubling.”

Coates, who is now the Heritage Foundation’s national security and foreign policy institute vice president, said that, if true, the report depicts the Biden administration as playing a “political game” versus a battle for the survival of the Jewish State.

BIDEN DONORS RAGE OVER HIS PLEDGE TO PAUSE WEAPON SHIPMENTS TO ISRAEL: ‘BAD, BAD, BAD DECISION’

When asked about allegations that the Biden administration has been playing politics with the Israel issue, Coates indicated Biden’s need to win the youth vote, which she described as more in favor of the Palestinians than any other U.S. age bloc.

“That’s what elected Biden in 2020 and staved off the red wave in 2022. So they know they need the 18-to-24 group. And what’s been revealed over the last six months is that group is strongly pro-Palestinian, if not overtly pro Hamas,” she said.

“And so I think that’s actually the demographic they’re pandering to.”

Ric Grenell, who served as both Trump’s intel chief and ambassador to Germany, called the president’s behavior an “impeachable offense.”

“Let’s be clear, Joe Biden is using U.S. intelligence as a weapon to first demand help from Israel to win Michigan — when he should be providing every piece of intel we have in order to bring the American hostages held by Hamas home,” Grenell said on X, formerly Twitter.

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Meanwhile, Fox News radio host Guy Benson called the report, “surreal.”

According to the Post report, Biden and senior aides have also offered to help construct food delivery systems and shelter for Palestinians evacuated from Rafah. 

The White House has tried to sway the Israelis to conduct only targeted strikes within Rafah versus the tack threatened by Jerusalem, as well as hope more granular intelligence assistance to Israel could dissuade them from major offensives.

In an interview with CBS News on Sunday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. government retains the same objectives as the Israelis.

“We want to make sure that Hamas cannot govern Gaza again,” Blinken said.

Vivek Ramaswamy, the multimillionaire former biotech executive and former presidential candidate, will join former President Donald Trump Tuesday in court. 

He will spend the entire day with Trump as the former president’s criminal trial continues, a spokesperson for Ramaswamy confirmed to Fox News Digital.

“The best proof that the Trump trial is a sham: if DJT had done the exact *opposite* of the alleged crime, they’d still be prosecuting him & have an even stronger case,” Ramaswamy said in a statement. 

This story is breaking. Please check back for updates.

Republicans slammed President Biden for a newly proposed Department of Homeland Security rule that they claim is just an election-year move to help him in a close match with former President Trump. 

“Biden is announcing these new rules on criminal migrants because they have released migrants with links to terrorism into America and are now scrambling to cover themselves in case we have an attack before the election,” said Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., on X, formerly Twitter.

DHS announced the proposed rule change, which would move up “statutory bars to asylum” in the evaluation process, last week. 

DEMS PLAN TO REVIVE BORDER BILL REJECTED BY REPUBLICANS AHEAD OF NOVEMBER ELECTION

A DHS official told Fox News Digital that the proposed rule would not change any eligibility standards but would only move the assessment of security threats up in the process. 

“This rule would enable DHS to more quickly remove those who are subject to the bars and pose a risk to our national security or public safety,” read a press release from the department. 

“During his first 100 days, President Biden took 94 executive actions to OPEN the border,” wrote Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., on X. “Now, just months before an election, he finally took an obvious step that should have been taken years ago.”

She called the move “small and necessary,” but claimed, “It does nothing to address the larger border crisis he created.”

SCHUMER MAY LET CONTROVERSIAL BIDEN NOMINEE WITH ‘PROBLEMATIC’ TIES QUIETLY EXPIRE: EXPERT

This sentiment was echoed by Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., who said on X: “Less than 6 months before an election, he is attempting 1 small change the narrative on our chaotic border – they already have the authority to do so much more, but they won’t.” 

The White House did not provide comment to Fox News Digital over the criticism. 

VULNERABLE DEMOCRATIC SENATOR BACKS LAKEN RILEY IMMIGRATION BILL AHEAD OF TOUGH RE-ELECTION IN RED STATE

While Republicans were suspicious of the Biden administration’s motivations for the change, not every Democrat was happy with it either. 

An advocate for the rights of asylum-seekers, Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., said on X: “I’m closely reviewing the Administration’s proposed rule. Concerned that moving the asylum bars to the initial credible fear interview stage risks returning legitimate asylum seekers to danger.”

“To improve the asylum system we must fully fund it and provide access to counsel,” he added. 

“The proposed rule we have published today is yet another step in our ongoing efforts to ensure the safety of the American public by more quickly identifying and removing those individuals who present a security risk and have no legal basis to remain here,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement regarding the rule. “We will continue to take action, but fundamentally it is only Congress that can fix what everyone agrees is a broken immigration system.”

BIDEN ADMINISTRATION GRANTED SANCTIONS RELIEF TO ARAB NATIONS JUST BEFORE PRESIDENT’S ISRAEL AID THREAT

Mayorkas recently made history by becoming only the second Cabinet official to be impeached, with the House passing two articles against him. The previous Cabinet-level impeachment occurred more than 100 years prior. However, the secretary was not removed from office as Senate Democrats were able to swiftly dismiss the articles upon delivery. 

The proposal comes just months ahead of the presidential election in November, which is shaping up to be a close rematch between Biden and Trump. 

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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is also seeking to shift attention back to the border in the legislature, where he is strongly considering reviving a border bill that nearly all Republicans opposed, per a source familiar. 

Several incumbent Democratic senators face significant challenges in the upcoming elections, where the party will fight to hold onto its Senate majority. 

Michael Cohen, who served as former President Trump’s personal attorney, testified in Manhattan court that he used his own funds to pay a former pornographic actress $130,000 to quiet her claims of an alleged affair with Trump. 

Cohen took the stand in the NY v. Trump case Monday, where he told the court that as the 2016 election came down to the wire, he took out a line of credit on his home in order to pay Stormy Daniels $130,000 in order to execute a non-disclosure agreement and obtain rights to her claims of the affair. Daniels alleges she had an affair with Trump in 2006 during a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, though Trump has repeatedly denied the allegations. 

In October 2016, according to Cohen’s testimony, he told Trump that Daniels must be paid in order to quiet her claims ahead of Election Day the following month. He testified that he spoke with Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg about how to fund the payment, with Weisselberg saying he was not in a position to initially foot the bill. 

“I ultimately said, ‘OK, I’ll pay it,’” Cohen testified, noting the urgency behind the matter as the election was just days away. Cohen described to the court that Daniels’ claims would have been “catastrophic to Mr. Trump and the campaign” if he did not take control of the situation and iron out the NDA and payment to Daniels. 

MICHAEL COHEN TESTIFIES HE SECRETLY RECORDED TRUMP IN LEAD-UP TO 2016 ELECTION

Weisselberg, according to Cohen, said, “Don’t worry, we’ll make sure you get paid back.” 

Cohen said he did not discuss the matter with his wife, and decided to gather funds through a home equity line of credit instead of drawing the money from his personal account. 

TRUMP, DEFENDERS SHOW UP IN FORCE AHEAD OF COHEN TESTIMONY

“My wife was CEO of the household, [she] would not understand $130,000 missing from our joint account,” he said. 

Cohen and Weisselberg informed Trump that Cohen would be using personal funds to front the payment, to which Trump responded, “good, good,” according to the testimony. 

Cohen said he was “doing everything that I could and more in order to protect my boss, which is something I had done for a long time. But I would not hand out a 130k NDA for somebody else.”

MICHAEL COHEN’S CREDIBILITY ISSUES, BRAZEN TIKTOK USAGE RAISE MEDIA EYEBROWS AHEAD OF TESTIMONY 

Cohen said he also would not have proceeded with a payment to Daniels without Trump’s approval first, arguing “everything required Mr. Trump’s signoff… on top of that, I wanted the money back.” 

The former Trump attorney continued in his testimony Monday that when opening a bank account with First Republic Bank in order to transfer the funds to Daniels, he fraudulently described the account as one that would deal with “management consulting.” He argued to the court that he was not truthful regarding the intent of the account, as he did not believe the bank would allow him to proceed if they knew it was to pay a former pornography star. 

MICHAEL COHEN EXPECTED TO TAKE THE STAND AS NY V. TRUMP TRIAL RESUMES

Cohen wired the funds to Daniels’ attorney Keith Davidson, telling the court that he marked the payment as a “retainer,” even though it was “to execute the NDA” and to obtain exclusive rights to Daniels’ claims. The funds were wired on Oct. 27, 2016. 

NY v. Trump revolves around the alleged falsification of business records. Prosecutors say Cohen paid Daniels $130,000 to quiet her claims of the alleged extramarital sexual encounter. The District Attorney’s Office alleges the Trump Organization reimbursed Cohen and fraudulently logged the payments as legal expenses, and they are working to prove that Trump falsified records with the intent to commit or conceal a second crime. 

Trump has pleaded not guilty in the case. 

MASSIVE TRUMP BEACH RALLY IN DEEP-BLUE NJ DRAWS STARK CONTRAST TO BIDEN’S BEACH WEEKEND: ‘BIDEN COULD NEVER’

Trump has slammed the case as a “scam” promoted by the Biden administration ahead of the 2024 election, and touted Monday to the media that he’s leading President Biden in battleground states. 

“The New York Times just came out with a poll that shows us leading everywhere by a lot. This is the cover story. And I think you’ll find it very interesting, but I’m sure you’ve all read it. Leading in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Michigan, Georgia and Nevada. Nevada, we are leading actually by 12 points, which is generally a Democrat state,” Trump said Monday morning. 

Monday’s day in court follows Trump holding a massive rally in the historically deep-blue state of New Jersey on Saturday, where the 45h president said “over 100,000 people” joined him on the beach in Wildwood. 

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“I think we’re probably leading in New Jersey. We had a rally – over a 100,000 people this weekend. A lot of the mainstream media didn’t want to say how many people, they didn’t want to cover. But in fact… I hear the big crowd was not shown by the mainstream media,” Trump said Monday. 

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Democrats are plotting a potential revival of a bipartisan-negotiated border package that was panned by Republicans earlier this year. 

A source familiar with the discussion told Fox News Digital the Democratic leader from New York told his colleagues during a weekly policy luncheon last week that he is strongly considering raising the issue of border legislation once again in the upper chamber.

Schumer’s office did not provide comment to Fox News Digital when asked about the claim.

SCHUMER MAY LET CONTROVERSIAL BIDEN NOMINEE WITH ‘PROBLEMATIC’ TIES QUIETLY EXPIRE: EXPERT

“Our bipartisan bill was the closest Congress has been in decades to fixing our southern border – until Donald Trump blew it all up for political gain,” the majority leader told his colleagues last week in floor remarks. 

The package was the result of a months-long discussion between designated negotiators, Sens. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., and James Lankford, R-Okla.

However, many Republicans expressed frustration during the negotiation process due to what they called a lack of transparency. Senators were often left to rely on reports of the packages’ contents and broader ideas, many of which elicited concerns. 

By the time the text of a border bill was released in February, many GOP lawmakers were already against it.

Former President Trump also came out against the bill shortly after the text was made available, pushing Republicans to oppose it. 

VULNERABLE DEMOCRATIC SENATOR BACKS LAKEN RILEY IMMIGRATION BILL AHEAD OF TOUGH RE-ELECTION IN RED STATE

Many Republicans took issue in particular with the measure’s so-called “border emergency” provision that would effectively shut down the border when illegal crossings hit 5,000 a day for multiple days. The president could also choose to trigger this with the number at 4,000 a day. 

But for Republicans who have been highlighting the border issue for years, many have stated repeatedly that it needs to be considered an emergency and shut down right away, not once a threshold is met. In a recent interview with Fox News Digital, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., reflected on the issues with the negotiated bill. “The nastiest part of that was the 4,000 migrants threshold that gave the president discretion to stop processing asylum claims,” he said. 

“That implies that Congress doesn’t believe the president has discretion right now,” he said. “The president does.”

“And then, even worse, that discretion went away after three years,” Johnson added, referring to the fact that the border provision would expire in three years. 

BIDEN ADMINISTRATION GRANTED SANCTIONS RELIEF TO ARAB NATIONS JUST BEFORE PRESIDENT’S ISRAEL AID THREAT

All hopes for the measure were squashed just days after the text was revealed – it only garnered 50 of the necessary 60 votes to move forward. Forty-nine senators voted against it. Four Republicans voted with Democrats to overcome the procedural hurdle, while six Democrats defected. 

Lankford’s office did not provide comment to Fox News Digital when asked if he would support the bill he helped negotiate again. 

Democrats in the upper chamber have continued to reiterate their support for the stalled bill, especially as the 2024 election map features several incumbent Democrats in difficult match-ups in states where voters consider the border a top issue. 

Schumer’s potential move to re-up the measure would come just months before the pivotal elections. 

“I assume that almost anything done between now and the election will be perceived as a political exercise and not taken seriously by the voters,” predicted Republican strategist John Feehery. “The problem for Democrats is that Republicans will make them vote on the Trump immigration plan which unites the Republicans and divides the Democrats and put vulnerable Democrats in a very tough spot.”

Per fellow GOP strategist David Kochel, Democrats might be looking to revive the bill “because they see the damage the border crisis is doing to Biden and the Democrats, and they need to try and change the narrative to blame Republicans for being obstructionists.”

BACKERS OF ANTI-ISRAEL RADICALS ARE FUNDING DEM RIVAL’S SENATE RUN, RED-STATE REPUBLICAN SAYS

National Republican Senatorial Committee communications director Mike Berg said in a statement: “Joe Biden could secure the border tomorrow by reinstating President Trump’s policies that he unilaterally canceled. The truth is, Biden and Democrats intentionally opened our border and allowed a full-scale invasion of our country. They are only pretending to care about the issue now because it has become a political problem.” 

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., did not provide comment to Fox News Digital. 

“It’s definitely a smart decision to reintroduce the bipartisan border bill,” said Democratic strategist Kaivan Shroff. 

“By putting the bill back into focus, Schumer will once again call the GOP’s bluff on the important issue,” he predicted. 

He added that it further presents “an opportunity to shift some focus back to a domestic policy issue – the border – at a time when the two main stories for months have been about Israel and the Trump trials.”

Eric Schultz, senior adviser to former President Obama, claimed, “There’s no more devastating proof point of Republicans’ phoniness than their rejection of an immigration border bill that their own colleagues negotiated.”

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“They are so obliged to Donald Trump that they’d turn a blind eye to the issue they pretend to care the most about, and turn their backs on each other,” he said, noting a second rejection of the measure would prove Republicans are not operating in “good faith” on the border. 

As for the fate of the Senate bill if it managed to pass the upper chamber, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., would be unlikely to bring it to the floor. A spokesperson for his office said in a statement: “Senator Schumer and Senate Democrats already have a House-backed bill that has bipartisan support which will solve the southern border catastrophe engineered by the Biden administration, but they’re letting it collect dust in the Senate.”

Republicans in Louisiana are pushing legislation that would add popular abortion pills to the state’s list of “controlled dangerous substances.”

The provision comes as an amendment in a larger abortion bill that would criminalize instances in which someone administers an abortion pill to a pregnant woman without her consent. The amendment would add both mifeprestone and misoprostol to the list of controlled substances.

Louisiana would be the first state to make such a move, according to the Washington Post.

If the legislation passes, an individual who possesses the pills without a valid prescription or practice could be subject to fines or even incarceration.

FOR A LOUISIANA LAWMAKER, EXEMPTING INCEST AND RAPE FROM THE STATE’S ABORTION BAN IS PERSONAL

The move comes in an election year when Democrats have sought to place the abortion issue front and center for voters. Republicans have struggled to adopt a universal position on the issue after achieving their decades-long goal of ending Roe v. Wade.

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Former President Trump has adopted the position of allowing states to determine for themselves how to regulate abortion, something that was not an option under Roe. Meanwhile, Democrats have pushed to impose Roe’s standards – more liberal ones – nationwide via federal legislation.

Independent 2024 presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. announced his support for abortion “even if it’s full term” last week.

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RFK made the shocking admission during an interview with Sage Steele.

“I have been probably one of the leading, arguably one of the leading people in this country for medical freedom and for bodily autonomy,” Kennedy told Steele. “I think with abortion, every abortion is a tragedy. Many of them leave permanent trauma on the woman. But I think, ultimately, I don’t trust government to have jurisdiction over people’s bodies. I think we need to leave it to the woman, her pastor and to, you know, her spiritual advisers or physician, whatever, to make those decisions.”

“So, in other words, keeping it as is with Roe v. Wade having been overturned and leaving it up to the states to determine if and when a woman can have an abortion,” Steele followed.

“No, I wouldn’t leave it to the states,” Kennedy responded. “We should leave it to the woman. We shouldn’t have government involved.”

“Even if it’s full term,” Steele said.

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“Even if it’s full term,” Kennedy confirmed, later adding, “I think we have to leave it to the woman, not the state. I think we should do everything in our power to make sure that never happens and everything that we can do. But I think, ultimately, you know, nobody sets out to do that. And there are always some kind of extenuating circumstances that would make a mother make that kind of choice, a terrible, terrible choice which is, you know, you can’t overstate how bad that is. And I think, ultimately, we have to trust women.”

Democrats hold a major advantage in four of this year’s crucial battleground Senate races, but President Biden isn’t getting that same good news, according to a series of New York Times, Philadelphia Inquirer and Siena College polls released early Monday.

The Democratic incumbents, or likely nominees, in the Arizona, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin Senate races all lead their respective GOP opponents, or hypothetical opponents, with less than six months to go until the general election in November, but the president trails former President Trump in almost every single battleground state, often by a significant margin.

Incumbent Democratic Sen. Bob Casey leads his Republican challenger, Dave McCormick, 46%-41% in Pennsylvania, while, in Wisconsin, incumbent Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin leads Republican Eric Hovde 49%-40%.

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The races in Arizona and Nevada show a closer margin, with likely Democratic nominee Ruben Gallego leading Republican Kari Lake 45%-41%, and incumbent Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen leading Republican Sam Brown 40%-38%, respectively. The poll did not include Brown’s primary challenger, former U.S. Ambassador to Iceland Dr. Jeffrey Gunter, who is expected to pose a formidable challenge for the GOP nomination.

Trump leads Biden in a head-to-head matchup in nearly every battleground state, including Arizona, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Georgia and Michigan. However, in Wisconsin, Biden held a 47%-45% lead.

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s inclusion in the polls largely boosts Trump to a bigger advantage. In Arizona, the former president garners 42% of the vote to Biden’s 33% and Kennedy’s 10%, and in Nevada, 41% support Trump, 27% Biden and 12% Kennedy.

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Trump and Biden tie in Wisconsin at 38% with Kennedy at 9%, and Trump’s lead in Pennsylvania grows by four points, 40%-36%, with Kennedy at 10%.

Biden also trails Trump in Georgia, 39%-31%, with Kennedy at 9%, and in Michigan, 38%-36%, with Kennedy also at 9%.

Minority groups that have traditionally supported Democrats appear to be trending away from Biden and toward either Trump or Kennedy. Collectively, Hispanic voters in the battleground states are split at 31% between Biden and Trump, but 14% say they support Kennedy.

BIDEN GETS BOOST FROM MAJOR HEALTH CARE GROUP WARNING TRUMP POSES ‘THREAT TO PUBLIC HEALTH’

Biden still holds a significant advantage with Black voters in the same states with 49% support, but 14% say they are backing Trump and 11% Kennedy.

Just 36% of voters in battleground states say they approve of the job Biden is doing as president, with 60% disapproving.

Trump also edges Biden when it comes to favorability – 45% say they view the former president favorably and 53% unfavorably. Just 40% say they view Biden favorably, with 59% viewing him unfavorably.

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Senate races in Montana, Ohio, West Virginia, Michigan and Maryland are also expected to be pickup opportunities for Republicans in November. Considering the Democrats’ one-seat margin in the Senate, Republicans just need to win two of the races and hold their other seats up for re-election in order to win control of the chamber.

Republicans will only need to win one of the races to control the chamber if Trump wins the White House, since his vice president would serve as the tie-breaking vote.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Former President Trump’s former attorney secretly recorded the president ahead of the 2016 election, according to Cohen’s witness testimony Monday. 

Cohen testified during Trump’s 16th day in court that he secretly recorded Trump on his iPhone on Sept. 6, 2016 – just weeks before the general election – regarding a payment to former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker. According to the testimony, Pecker had paid former Playboy model Karen McDougal $150,000 to purchase her story that she had an affair with Trump and to subsequently quiet her claims ahead of the election. 

Pecker had pressed Cohen that Trump needed to pay him back, with Cohen secretly recording Trump on Sept. 6 of the election year as proof Trump planned to pay Pecker, according to the testimony. Cohen added that in addition to easing Pecker’s mind that he would be repaid, he also made the recording in order to keep Pecker “loyal” to Trump. 

TRUMP, DEFENDERS SHOW UP IN FORCE AHEAD OF COHEN TESTIMONY

The recording was played for the jury, which included Cohen telling Trump he needed to “open up a company for the transfer of all of that info regarding our friend David,” referring to Pecker. 

MICHAEL COHEN’S CREDIBILITY ISSUES, BRAZEN TIKTOK USAGE RAISE MEDIA EYEBROWS AHEAD OF TESTIMONY 

“So what do we got to pay for this? One-fifty?” Trump is heard saying. 

Cohen argued in his testimony that Trump knew Pecker had purchased the rights to McDougal’s claims of an affair and agreed to pay $150,000. 

“He already knew based upon conversation with David, which is why he mentioned the number 150,” Cohen said. 

Cohen testified that he recorded the exchange while holding his iPhone while sitting across a desk from Trump. Trump was unaware he was being recorded at the time. 

MICHAEL COHEN EXPECTED TO TAKE THE STAND AS NY V. TRUMP TRIAL RESUMES

The case revolves around the alleged falsification of business records. Prosecutors say Cohen paid adult film actress Stormy Daniels $130,000 to quiet her claims of the alleged extramarital sexual encounter with Trump. Prosecutors allege the Trump Organization reimbursed Cohen and fraudulently logged the payments as legal expenses, and are working to prove that Trump falsified records with the intent to commit or conceal a second crime.

Trump has pleaded not guilty in the case. 

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Daniels took the stand last week, saying she met Trump in 2006 at Lake Tahoe during a celebrity golf tournament. She alleged that the pair had sex in Trump’s hotel room during the event, which Trump has repeatedly denied in public comments. Daniels also described to the court how she got into the pornography business after working as an exotic dancer as a teenager.

Former President Trump has the edge in five of the six key battleground states where he was narrowly edged by President Biden four years ago, according to new polls.

The surveys, released Monday by the New York Times, Siena College and the Philadelphia Inquirer, suggest that discontent over the economy and the Israeli-Hamas war in Gaza, and a deterioration in support for Biden by younger, Black and Hispanic voters, “threaten to unravel the president’s Democratic coalition.”

Biden topped Trump by razor-thin margins in the 2020 election in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin to win the White House.

However, according to the new polls, with just under six months to go until Election Day, Trump leads Biden among registered voters 49%-42% in Arizona, 49%-39% in Georgia, 49%-42% in Michigan, 50%-38% in Nevada, and edges the president 47%-44% in Pennsylvania, with Biden narrowly on top in Wisconsin 47%-45%.

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The 2024 rematch between the Democratic president and his Republican predecessor was closer among the narrower pool of likely voters. Trump held the advantage in five states – Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin – with Biden edging ahead in Michigan.

The surveys’ findings were similar when third-party and independent candidates were added to the mix, including Democrat turned independent White House contender Robert F. Kennedy Jr. 

The longtime environmental activist and high-profile vaccine skeptic, who is the scion of the nation’s most storied political dynasty, was grabbing around 10% support across the six states. The polls suggested Kennedy was drawing roughly equally from both Biden and Trump.

POLLS INDICATE DEADLOCKED RACE WITH SIX MONTHS UNTIL ELECTION DAY

The new surveys, conducted April 28 through May 9, come as Trump makes history as the first current or former president to stand trial in a criminal case. Additionally, they were also conducted amid a massive ad blitz by the Biden campaign across the key battleground states.

However, “the polls offer little indication that any of these developments have helped Mr. Biden, hurt Mr. Trump or quelled the electorate’s discontent,” the New York Times writes.

The surveys spotlight that voters are dissatisfied and itching for change. Nearly seven in 10 said that the nation’s political and economic systems need major changes, or should be entirely torn down.

Nearly three-quarters said they believe Trump will bring major changes if he wins in November, compared to less than a quarter saying the same thing about the president.

The polls also indicate Trump is making gains with voters who overwhelmingly supported Biden four years ago.

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Trump and Biden are roughly tied among voters 18–29 years old and Hispanic voters. The surveys also suggest the former president is grabbing over 20% of Black voters’ support, which, if it stands on Election Day, would be the highest level of backing by Black voters for a GOP presidential nominee in generations.

The polls suggest the economy continues to pull Biden down. Even though jobs are soaring and the stock market is booming, inflation remains a major issue for voters, even though it has cooled over the past year. More than half of those surveyed said they believe the economy is still “poor.”

However, the president remains in contention, as the surveys point to Biden holding ground with older voters and White voters, whom the polls highlight “are much less likely to demand fundamental changes to the system and far likelier to say that democracy is the most important issue for their vote.”

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Abortion remains a potential problem for Trump. Nearly two-thirds of voters questioned in polls say that abortion should always or mostly be legal, including 44% of those supporting the former president.

Over 4,000 voters in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin were questioned in the polls, with an overall sampling error for all respondents of plus or minus 1.8 percentage points. The margin of error in the six states ranged from plus or minus 3.6 to 4.6 percentage points.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.