Donald Trump Poll News

EXCLUSIVE: The Club for Growth says it has President Donald Trump‘s back as the president pushes Republican-controlled states to redraw congressional maps in order to create more right-leaning districts to help defend the GOP’s fragile House majority in next year’s midterm elections.

“We’re all in on helping Republicans do redistricting,” David McIntosh, longtime president of the deep-pocketed and influential conservative group, said in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital.

McIntosh highlighted that the Club for Growth’s seven-figure efforts “give Republicans a better shot at winning those extra districts.”

The push by the Club is the latest example of its strong support for the president and his policies, just two years after the group worked to prevent Trump from winning the 2024 Republican presidential nomination amid a bitter feud.

TRUMP TARGETS RED STATE REPUBLICAN LAWMAKERS IN PUSH FOR CONGRESSIONAL REDISTRICTING

Trump and his political team are aiming to pad the GOP’s razor-thin House majority to keep control of the chamber in next year’s midterms, when the party in power traditionally faces political headwinds and loses seats.

Trump is trying to prevent what happened during his first term in the White House when Democrats reclaimed the House majority in the 2018 midterm elections.

Texas was the first Republican-controlled state to pass rare but not-unheard-of mid-decade congressional redistricting, although a ruling by two federal judges threatens to overturn the redrawn map. Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio have also drawn new maps as part of the president’s push.

Indiana, where McIntosh served three terms as a congressman 25 years ago, is the latest battlefield in the high-stakes redistricting showdown pitting Trump and Republicans versus Democrats to shape the 2026 midterm landscape in the fight for the House majority.

TRUMP TURNS UP HEAT ON FELLOW REPUBLICANS IN PUSH TO REDRAW CONGRESSIONAL MAPS AHEAD OF MIDTERMS

“Democrats for years have gerrymandered and Republicans have not, and now it’s time so we can have Republicans in Congress for states like my home state of Indiana, step up to the plate, draw the district, so Republicans can be represented,” McIntosh argued.

Trump has threatened to back primary challenges against Republican state lawmakers in Indiana who are reluctant to pass redistricting.

“I was delighted to see President Trump calling them to do it. And you know, he said, we’re going to start endorsing against you if you don’t do what’s right for the Republican Party and for the nation. Club for Growth will be there to back up his endorsements,” McIntosh said.

And the Club’s political arm, the Club for Growth Action super PAC, which is one of the biggest spenders in Republican primary showdowns thanks to the support of top-dollar conservative donors, is running ads to support the president’s push in right-leaning states across the country.

“We’re way over seven figures when you put together all the different states. And what we’re doing is running ads. We have a new ad today that talks about the need for redistricting,” McIntosh revealed. “We have a program that brings constituent calls into the Senate members, and so they get to hear directly from their voters that they want them to do this.”

It’s not just redistricting.

The Club is spending seven figures in next week’s hotly contested special election for a Republican-controlled vacant House seat in a solidly red congressional district in Tennessee.

“Matt Epps is going to win,” McIntosh said as he pointed to the Trump-endorsed GOP nominee in the race to succeed former Republican Rep. Mark Green, who resigned from office in June to take a private sector job.

“It’s going to be a hard race. They all are, but he’s going to win that race because he’s more in line with Tennessee,” McIntosh said of Van Epps. “I’m confident of him, and we’re going to help him do it.”

SCOOP: TRUMP-ALIGNED MAGA INC. JUMPS INTO HIGH STAKES BALLOT BOX CONGRESSIONAL SHOWDOWN

And looking ahead to next year’s midterms, McIntosh shared that the Club has “already started raising a $40 million fund to keep the House majority, and we’re about 25 million into it.”

“I’m going to keep going, and then we’ll deploy that to make sure Republicans can keep the majority,” he emphasized.

And as they’ve done in the past, the Club, which pushes a fiscally conservative agenda, including a focus on tax cuts and other economic issues, will once again play an influential role in GOP primaries.

“We’re interviewing a lot of candidates now. We’re going to look for the strongest conservative candidate, somebody who wants to continue the economic progress, less regulation, lower taxes, balance the budget, the things that will make America great,” McIntosh said. “And then when we endorse them, we’ll come in with our funding to pay for ads. We’ll recruit and help them raise money. It’s important we get the right Republicans in these primaries, and there are a lot of open seats.”

TOP CONSERVATIVE GROUP VOWS TO ‘WORK CLOSELY’ WITH TRUMP

Democrats are energized coming out of their party’s sweeping victories earlier this month in the 2026 elections.

“Democrats have racked up wins this year by running on affordability and lowering costs, and headed into 2026 our momentum continues to build,” CJ Warnke, communications director for the Democrat-aligned House Majority PAC told Fox News Digital.

Warnke predicted, “As Trump’s poll numbers on the economy continue to plummet and voters see him prioritizing the elite over lowering prices, his broken promises will sink House Republicans. No Republican-held seat is safe, and HMP will do whatever it takes to win the House in 2026.”

McIntosh sees the 2025 elections as “a warning sign, a wake-up call for two things.”

“One, we got to get our voters out, and that’s the job of the party and Club for Growth and groups like us,” McIntosh noted.

But he added that “the party has to explain how our agenda makes life more affordable, how we can lower your insurance costs by forcing the insurance industry to tell you how much they’re charging. We can lower housing by getting rid of all sorts of regulation.”

McIntosh and the Club have had an up-and-down relationship with the president. They opposed Trump as he ran for the White House in 2016 before embracing him as an ally. In the 2022 cycle, Trump and the Club teamed up in some high-profile GOP primaries but clashed over combustible Senate nomination battles in Alabama, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

The Club was on the outs with Trump as the 2024 Republican presidential nomination race got underway. Trump repeatedly criticized McIntosh and the Club, referring to them as “The Club for NO Growth,” and claimed they were “an assemblage of political misfits, globalists, and losers.”

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

However, Trump and McIntosh made peace in early 2024, with Trump saying as he was wrapping up the GOP presidential nomination, that they were “back in love” after the protracted falling out.

Asked about the Club’s relationship with Trump, McIntosh said, “We’re right there with the President, especially in these races … Club for Growth is very aligned with President Trump, and we’re especially in these contested races, we’re going to help him win.”

The Department of Government Efficiency’s centralized office has shuttered, but federal agencies’ individual DOGE teams that work to weed out potential mismanagement and corruption are still in full operation, Fox News Digital learned.

“President Trump was given a clear mandate to reduce waste, fraud, and abuse across the federal government, and he continues to actively deliver on that commitment,” White House spokeswoman Liz Huston told Fox News Digital Monday when asked about DOGE’s current status. 

Reuters first reported that DOGE no longer existed after speaking with Office of Personnel Management Director Scott Kupor earlier in November.  

“That doesn’t exist,” Kupor was quoted as telling the outlet. 

DOGE ENDS 108 ‘WASTEFUL’ CONTRACTS, INCLUDING FOR AN ‘EXECUTIVE TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP TRAINING PROGRAM’

The administration official clarified on X that DOGE’s policies are “alive and well,” adding that the outlet “spliced my full comments across paragraphs 2/3 to create a grabbing headline.”

“The truth is: DOGE may not have centralized leadership under @USDS. But, the principles of DOGE remain alive and well: de-regulation; eliminating fraud, waste and abuse; re-shaping the federal workforce; making efficiency a first class citizen; etc. DOGE catalyzed these changes; the agencies along with  @USOPM and @WHOMB will institutionalize them!” he posted. 

The White House explained to Fox News Digital that individual teams established at federal agencies are still in full operation, while DOGE’s central office has shuttered.

Fox News Digital did not immediately receive comment on when the office officially shuttered and what sparked the closure months ahead of schedule. 

Inception and investigations 

Trump established DOGE under a January executive order that renamed the United States Digital Service — which was founded in 2014 by former President Barack Obama as a technology office within the Executive Office of the President — to the United States DOGE Service. 

Trump’s executive order stated DOGE would continue until July 4, 2026. The executive order included charging agency chiefs with creating their own DOGE teams to find and eliminate overspending or fraud — teams that are still in operation. 

ELON MUSK’S OFFICIAL ROLE AT TRUMP’S DOGE ENDS, BUT HIS POLITICAL IMPACT LINGERS AHEAD OF MIDTERMS

Tech billionaire Elon Musk was the public face of DOGE for months of the administration, serving in the role until May, when fireworks flew between the Trump ally and President Donald Trump over the “big beautiful bill.” 

Musk lambasted the legislation as “outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination,” while Trump accused the billionaire of lashing out over the bill’s cuts to electrical vehicle mandates. Musk is the CEO of electric vehicle company Tesla. 

Trump signed the massive piece of legislation into law on the Fourth of July while championing it would advance his agenda on taxes, immigration, energy, defense and the national debt.

Musk was brought into the DOGE role as a special government employee, meaning he could only serve in the job for 130 days. While Musk has been the public face of DOGE for months, he was not an employee of the United States DOGE Service and did not report to the acting DOGE administrator, Amy Gleason, according to a court filing previously reported by Fox Digital in March. 

Democrats and federal employees have railed against DOGE since its inception, and subsequent investigations and mass terminations at various agencies got underway, including staging protests outside federal buildings in Washington, D.C., and specifically protesting Musk for his involvement with DOGE. 

PROTESTERS RALLY AGAINST TRUMP, MUSK IN ‘HANDS OFF!’ GATHERINGS NATIONWIDE

DOGE’s website touts, as of Monday morning, that it has saved $214 billion via “asset sales, contract/lease cancellations and renegotiations, fraud and improper payment deletion, grant cancellations, interest savings, programmatic changes, regulatory savings, and workforce reductions.” 

The amount translates to $1,329.19 in savings per taxpayer, according to the website.  

The creation of DOGE was celebrated on the campaign trail as a cornerstone policy for Trump as he looked to slim down the size of the federal government, streamline it and cut potential overspending, fraud and corruption. 

Musk played a key role in campaigning for the Trump ticket in battleground states such as Pennsylvania, where he frequently lamented how the federal government was tied up in red tape that handcuffed the private sector from advancing, pointing to his companies SpaceX and Tesla as prime examples of the government hamstringing the tech sector with regulations. 

“SpaceX had to do this study to see if Starship would hit a shark,” Musk said from the campaign trail of how the government became involved in a SpaceX, studying whether a Starship rocket would hit a whale or shark upon landing. “And I’m like… it’s a big ocean. There are a lot of sharks. It’s not impossible, but it’s very unlikely. So we said, ‘Fine, we’ll do the analysis. Can you give us the shark data?'” 

He said at the time that the National Marine Fisheries Service ordered SpaceX to carry out the study. 

TRUMP’S DOGE EFFICIENCY AGENCY SAYS IT SLASHES $25B IN FEDERAL SPENDING AS REHIRING BEGINS

Trump announced just days after his decisive election win in November 2024 that Musk would lead DOGE alongside former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy — who departed the team at the start of the Trump administration and launched a run for Ohio governor in the 2026 race. 

The president celebrated the office would likely serve as the ‘‘The Manhattan Project’ of our time,” as it eyed driving “large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to Government never seen before.”

Trump repeatedly celebrated the office during high-profile events after his inauguration, including during his joint address to Congress in March where he rattled off how DOGE investigations uncovered government funding for bizarre initiatives, such as free housing and cars for illegal immigrants that cost $22 billion, “male circumcision in Mozambique,” and “$20 million for the Arab “Sesame Street” in the Middle East.” 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“Forty-five million dollars for diversity, equity and inclusion scholarships in Burma,” Trump said as he provided examples of federal waste March 4 after thanking Musk and DOGE for its work. “Forty million to improve the social and economic inclusion of sedentary migrants. Nobody knows what that is. Eight million to promote LGBTQI+ in the African nation of Lesotho, which nobody has ever heard of. Sixty million dollars for indigenous peoples and Afro-Colombian empowerment in Central America. Sixty million. Eight million for making mice transgender.”

FIRST ON FOX: A Senate Republican wants to take a legislative shot at New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and his desire to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Sen. Ted Budd, R-N.C., is introducing legislation that would halt some funding to cities that follow through on any International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant to arrest or detain officials from North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries.

The measure, called the “American Allies Protection Act,” is in direct response to Mamdani doubling down on his vow to arrest Netanyahu. Last year, the ICC issued a warrant for the Israeli prime minister’s arrest that has been heavily scrutinized by lawmakers in the U.S. and abroad.

ADL CHIEF WARNS NYC MAYOR-ELECT ZOHRAN MAMDANI POSES A ‘CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER’ TO JEWISH COMMUNITY

Mamdani reiterated his desire to arrest Netanyahu last week before meeting with President Donald Trump. He told local news station ABC7 that New York City was a “city of international law,” that would uphold the court’s arrest warrants, which accused the Israeli prime minister of intentionally attacking civilians and using starvation as a method of warfare.

“I’ve said time and again that I believe this is a city of international law, and being a city of international law means looking to uphold international law,” he said. “And that means upholding the warrants from the International Criminal Court, whether they’re for Benjamin Netanyahu or Vladimir Putin.”

TRUMP REVEALS ‘ONE THING IN COMMON’ HE HAS WITH MAMDANI AFTER OVAL OFFICE LOVE FEST

Budd charged in a statement to Fox News Digital that the U.S. is “not bound by the morally bankrupt” court, and accused Mamdani’s position and comments of not being based in law but rather a means to “virtue-signal to his radical, anti-Israel base.”

“Mayor-elect Mamdani’s pledge to facilitate the arrest of Benjamin Netanyahu is not just ridiculous; it represents a grave threat that could seriously damage America’s relationship with our closest allies and partners,” Budd said.

LEAVITT DOESN’T MINCE WORDS AHEAD OF MAMDANI-TRUMP MEETING: ‘COMMUNIST COMING TO THE WHITE HOUSE’

His legislation would halt any Department of Justice (DOJ) grants from flowing to any city that cooperates with the court and arrests a NATO or U.S. major non-NATO ally. 

There is an override mechanism built in that would allow the president to end the penalty only if cooperation with the court is deemed necessary for national security.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Meanwhile, the issue of Netanyahu apparently did not come up during Trump and Mamdani’s confab. When asked if there was discussion of stopping Mamdani from arresting Netanyahu, Trump said the pair, “Didn’t discuss” the matter.

President Donald Trump spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping via phone on Monday, a White House official confirmed.

The conversation included discussion of U.S.-Chinese relations, Taiwan, and Ukraine, according to China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“President Xi outlined China’s principled position on the Taiwan question. He underscored that Taiwan’s return to China is an integral part of the post-war international order. China and the U.S. fought shoulder to shoulder against fascism and militarism,” the ministry said.

This is a breaking news story. Check back here for updates.

President Donald Trump suggested that the “full benefit” of tariffs has not yet been realized because their impact has been blunted by stockpiles of goods amassed to avoid paying the tariffs— but he suggested that those stockpiles are dwindling and the full force of his tariffs will soon take hold.

“Despite the massive amount of money being made by the United States of America, Hundreds of Billions of Dollars, as a direct result of Tariffs being charged to other countries, the full benefit of the Tariffs has not yet been calculated in that many of the buyers of goods and products, in order to avoid paying the Tariffs in the short term, ‘STOCK UP’ by purchasing far more inventory than they can use,” Trump declared in a Monday morning Truth Social post.

“That heavy inventory purchase is now, however, wearing thin, and soon Tariffs will be paid on everything they apply to, without avoidance, and the amounts payable to the USA will SKYROCKET, over and above the already historic levels of dollars received,” he continued.

TRUMP TRADE OFFICIAL SAYS $2K TARIFF PAYMENTS WON’T FUEL INFLATION AS REVENUES CLIMB

Trump suggested that tariffs will bolster U.S. wealth and security.

“These payments will be RECORD SETTING, and put our Nation on a new and unprecedented course. We are already the ‘hottest’ Country anywhere in the World, but this Tariff POWER will bring America National Security and Wealth the likes of which has never been seen before. Those opposing us are serving hostile foreign interests that are not aligned with the success, safety and prosperity of the USA. They couldn’t care less about us,” he wrote.

But it appears that much of the public does not share the president’s enthusiasm for tariffs.

FOX NEWS POLL: VOTERS SAY WHITE HOUSE IS DOING MORE HARM THAN GOOD ON ECONOMY

A Fox News Poll of registered voters conducted earlier this month found that only 35% approve of how Trump is handling tariffs, while a whopping 63% disapprove.

While 38% approve of his handling of the economy, 61% disapprove, according to the poll.

TRUMP SAYS TARIFF-FUNDED DIVIDEND PAYMENTS FOR AMERICANS WILL BEGIN NEXT YEAR

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

On a question about whether the Trump administration’s economic policies have helped, hurt or not made much difference to them either way personally, the poll found that 46% indicated the administration’s economic policies have hurt them, while just 15% indicated that the policies have helped, and 39% indicated the policies have not made a difference.

The poll was carried out Nov. 14-17, 2025, and included a sample of 1,005 registered voters nationwide, with a 3 percentage point margin of error.

EXCLUSIVE: Making life more affordable for Americans will be a key part of House Republicans’ remaining agenda for this Congress, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Friday.

In an interview with Fox News Digital, the leader of the House of Representatives acknowledged there was a “short amount of time” for lawmakers to be in D.C. before the end of this year but said they would be working toward a number of goals, including President Donald Trump‘s “affordability” agenda.

“We have a lot of executive orders that we want to continue to codify through the end of the year. We’re still doing regulatory reform to end the Biden-era regulations. We did some of that this week,” Johnson said.

“There’s a lot of initiatives left on the table, things for us to do and a short amount of time to do it in.  But we’re really bullish about the ideas that we’re bringing forward over the next few weeks and in the coming months about reducing the cost of living.”

DOUBLING DOWN: TOP HOUSE DEMOCRAT SAYS FOCUS ON HIGH PRICES ‘ABSOLUTELY GOING TO CONTINUE’

He said “affordability” was “the buzzword of the day.”

“We have an affordability agenda, as the president has been touting, and we have to do that in earnest. Healthcare is part of that. But it’s just the costs across the board,” Johnson said.

He blamed the previous Democratic administration’s policies for the high cost of living seen today, arguing former President Joe Biden approved policies that led to higher inflation.

TRUMP FLIPS DEMS’ ‘AFFORDABILITY’ SCRIPT, TURNING BUZZWORD INTO MAGA MATERIAL AS MAMDANI VISIT LOOMS

“We the people rightfully revolted against that, and gave us the power again in January. But the economy is a very complex thing, you don’t flip a switch and just change it all in one week. It takes a while,” Johnson said.

The beginning of Biden’s term was marked by record-high inflation, but that eased somewhat as the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic slowly subsided. Throughout his four years, however, the rise in consumer prices outpaced average wage growth, according to a Texas A&M University analysis.

Republicans promised to lower the cost of living when they took over the levers of power in Washington earlier this year. Johnson said a hallmark of that was Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act,” since rebranded as the “working families’ tax cut.”

SURVEY SAYS: ISSUE THAT HELPED TRUMP AND REPUBLICANS IN 2024 HURT THEM NOW

“By the time we get into the first and second quarter of next year, as Treasury Secretary Bessent has said, we should have an economic boom because of all of these pieces will be coming into play. Taxes will be lower, no tax on tips and overtime, lower taxes on seniors. And then there’ll be more investment because we have all the pro-growth policies and tax policies that will allow the job creators, entrepreneurs, risk-takers, innovators to do what they do,” Johnson argued.

“Everything I just described will happen in due time, and it will. So we’re very bullish about it.”

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Republicans are also expected to spend the next several weeks working on a healthcare package aimed at lowering sky-high premiums many Americans face, while also seeking to reform what they see as a badly flawed Obamacare system.

Several House committees are also expected to advance legislation in the coming weeks focused on lowering energy costs, including fixing an outdated system for permitting new energy projects.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican who recently announced that she will resign from Congress early next year, repudiated the notion that she is eyeing a White House bid.

“I’m not running for President and never said I wanted to and have only laughed about it when anyone would mention it,” the congresswoman declared Sunday in a post on X. 

“Running for President requires traveling all over the country, begging for donations all day everyday to raise hundreds of millions of dollars, arguing political talking points everyday to the point of exhaustion, destroying your health and having no personal life in order to attempt to get enough votes to become President all to go to work into a system that refuses to fix any of America’s problems. The fact that I’d have to go through all that but would be totally blocked from truly fixing anything is exactly why I would never do it,” she explained.

TRUMP REACTS TO MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE RESIGNATION, SAYS HE ‘REFUSED TO RETURN’ HER ‘BARRAGE OF PHONE CALLS’

Greene suggested that securing the presidency requires striking “deals.” 

“And most importantly, I’m not the kind of person who is willing to make the deals that must be made in order to be allowed to have the title. Again, I’m not motivated by power and titles. The Political Industrial Complex has destroyed our country and will never allow someone like me or you to rise to power and actually solve the crises that plague all of us. That would go against its business model,” she wrote.

TRUMP SAYS HE’D ‘LOVE TO SEE’ GREENE RETURN TO POLITICS DESPITE RECENT ATTACKS

Time Magazine claimed in a report that Greene privately told people she has contemplated a 2028 presidential bid, citing two individuals who spoke with Greene about the possibility and three other people familiar with the lawmaker’s thinking, but Greene pushed back against the magazine in her post on X.

“TIME claims ‘sources’ told them I’m running for President in 2028, which means this is a complete lie and they made it up because they can’t even quote the names of the people who they claim said it. That’s not journalism, it’s called lying,” she asserted.

TRUMP CONTINUES HAMMERING MTG AFTER SHE LABELS HIS ATTACKS ‘A DOG WHISTLE TO DANGEROUS RADICALS’

Greene’s resignation announcement came after President Donald Trump had been trashing her on social media.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The lawmaker, who has served in the House of Representatives since early 2021, said her last day in office will be Jan. 5, 2026.

President Donald Trump is kicking off Thanksgiving week with some classic White House holiday traditions.

On Tuesday afternoon, Trump and first lady Melania Trump are expected to take part in one of Washington’s quirkiest traditions, the annual turkey pardon. The lighthearted ceremony takes place in the Rose Garden, where the president spares two lucky birds ahead of Thanksgiving.

THANKSGIVING DINNER COSTS BY THE NUMBERS REVEAL WHAT’S CHEAPER, WHAT’S STILL PRICEY

The White House often lets the public get involved in naming the turkeys, usually selecting from fan submissions. 

This year, the first lady asked people to vote on X, sharing a shortlist of possible names.

Last year’s pardoned turkeys, “Peach” and “Blossom” and the ones before them, “Liberty” and “Bell,” all came from Minnesota.

North Carolina, Indiana, Iowa, South Dakota, Ohio, California, Virginia and Missouri have all sent turkeys to the White House.

THANKSGIVING TRAVEL RUSH IS UNDERWAY AT AIRPORTS NATIONWIDE

Also this week, the first lady will welcome the official White House Christmas tree, marking the start of the season at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

This year’s tree comes from Korson’s Tree Farms in Sidney Township, Michigan, which is about an hour northeast of Grand Rapids. 

The Fraser fir, which will stand in the Blue Room of the White House, will be presented by farm owners Rex and Jessica Korson. The two will also supply a smaller tree for the Oval Office.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The family earned the honor by winning the National Christmas Tree Association’s National Tree Contest in July, the competition that selects the farm supplying the White House Christmas tree each year.

Two of the U.S. military’s top leaders will visit Puerto Rico on Monday to meet with troops and express gratitude for their work supporting missions across the Caribbean and Latin America.

Pentagon officials announced the visit in a memo on Sunday, saying the trip will include meetings with service members stationed in Puerto Rico and sailors operating in the Caribbean.

“Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine and SEAC David L. Isom are visiting Puerto Rico on November 24, 2025, for the second time to engage with service members and thank them for their outstanding support to regional missions,” the media advisory read. “They will also visit and thank Sailors operating at sea for their dedicated, unwavering service in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility.”

Caine and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth marked the first visit in September, when they stopped by on behalf of the Trump administration to show support for troops training on the island.

SECRETARY OF WAR HEGSETH LANDS IN PUERTO RICO AS US RAMPS UP CARIBBEAN CARTEL FIGHT WITH NAVAL FORCES

The meeting took place at Muñiz Air Base in Carolina, outside San Juan, and drew top brass including Puerto Rico National Guard Adjutant General Carlos José Rivera-Román, Public Safety Secretary Brig. Gen. Arthur Garffer, and other senior military leaders.

Hegseth spoke to nearly 300 soldiers at the base, thanking and describing them as “American warriors.” The secretary of war also affirmed that those serving in the Armed Forces will be the best equipped and prepared in the world.

The latest visit comes amid rising tensions in the Caribbean Sea, as the U.S. military expands its naval footprint near Venezuela, part of President Donald Trump’s push to choke off drug flows from Latin America.

SOUTHCOM COMMANDER ANNOUNCES SUDDEN RETIREMENT AMID TRUMP DRUG WAR IN CARIBBEAN

Earlier this month, Hegseth announced the official launch of Operation Southern Spear, a mission targeting narco-terror networks across Latin America.

Hegseth said on X at the time that U.S. Southern Command and Joint Task Force Southern Spear will lead the mission to defend the homeland and dismantle narco-terrorist networks across the Western Hemisphere.

“This mission defends our Homeland, removes narco-terrorists from our Hemisphere, and secures our Homeland from the drugs that are killing our people,” Hegseth said.

HEGSETH ANNOUNCES OPERATION TO REMOVE ‘NARCO-TERRORISTS FROM OUR HEMISPHERE’

Since early September, U.S. military forces have carried out numerous lethal strikes against narcotics vessels operated by designated terrorist organizations in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, destroying dozens of ships tied to Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang and Colombia’s Ejército de Liberación Nacional. The attacks have killed an estimated 82 suspected narco-terrorists, with three survivors.

The campaign began Sept. 2 with a strike that killed 11 alleged members of Tren de Aragua and continued through October and November with a series of targeted operations that eliminated dozens more across known trafficking routes.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

U.S. forces have hit submersibles, fishing boats and high-speed vessels, including one ELN-affiliated craft that drew criticism from Colombia’s president after three men were killed.

Several strikes took place near Venezuela’s coast, while others occurred in the eastern Pacific, where most recent operations have been concentrated.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday that discussions over ending the war in Ukraine have entered a productive phase, while claiming “a tremendous amount of progress” had been made.

Following a round of talks with a Ukrainian delegation in Geneva, Switzerland, Rubio told reporters negotiators had “a very good day today.”

“We had a very good day today. I think we made a tremendous amount of progress, even from the last time I spoke to you,” Rubio said.

“We began almost three weeks ago with a foundational document that we socialized and ran by both sides, and with input from both sides,” he said.

LAVROV OFFERS FACE-TO-FACE MEETING WITH RUBIO AS RUSSIA SIGNALS DIPLOMATIC OPENING AMID UKRAINE TENSIONS

Rubio described how negotiators had been refining the 28-point peace framework that outlines potential conditions for a ceasefire and long-term settlement for Ukraine and Russia.

“Over the last 96 hours or more, there’s been extensive engagement with the Ukrainian side including our Secretary of the Army and others, being on the ground in Kyiv, meeting with relevant stakeholders across the Ukrainian political spectrum in the legislative branch and the executive branch, and the military and others to further sort of narrow these points.”

TRUMP AND ZELENSKYY TO MEET AS POLAND PRESSURES NATO ON NO FLY ZONE OVER UKRAINE

“We arrived here today with one goal: to take what – it’s 28 points or 26 points, depending on which version, as it continued to evolve and try to narrow the ones that were open items. And we have achieved that today in a very substantial way,” he said.

The weekend talks centered on a 28-point plan, which is a framework drafted by the U.S. outlining steps for a possible ceasefire and political settlement.

The document is said to cover security guarantees, territorial control, reconstruction mechanisms, and Ukraine’s long-term relationship with NATO and the EU.

ZELENSKYY WARNS UKRAINE FACES ‘DIFFICULT CHOICE’ AS US PEACE PLAN HITS MAJOR HURDLE

The plan has reportedly evolved through several iterations, narrowing disputes point by point as both sides weigh concessions.

“Now, obviously, like any final agreement, it’ll have to be agreed upon by the presidents, and there are a couple of issues that we need to continue to work on,” Rubio clarified.

While declining to specify unresolved issues, Rubio described the moment as “delicate.”

“This is a very delicate moment, and it’s important – like I said, there’s not agreement on those yet.  Some of it is semantics or language; others require higher-level decisions and consultation; others, I think, just need more time to work through,” he said before touching on some issues.

US AND RUSSIA DRAFT PEACE PLAN FOR UKRAINE REQUIRING MAJOR CONCESSIONS FROM KYIV

“There were some that involved equities or the role of the EU or of NATO or so forth, and those we kind of segregated out because we just met with the national security advisors for various European countries, and those are things we’ll have to discuss with them because it involves them.”

“I don’t want to declare victory or finality here. There’s still some work to be done,” he added.

Suggesting there is intent to ensure Ukraine’s security, Rubio said that they all “recognize that part of getting a final end to this war will require for Ukraine to feel as if it is safe, and it is never going to be invaded or attacked again.”

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“I honestly believe we’ll get there,” he said, and when asked about next steps, Rubio said a possible call between Presidents Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy could happen, adding, “I don’t know. It’s possible. I’m not sure.”

“The deadline is we want to get this done as soon as possible. Obviously, we’d love it to be Thursday,” he added.

You’ll be saying “WOW.”

Famous infomercial pitchman Offer Vince Shlomi – better known as the “ShamWow guy” who advertised the super-absorbent towel on late-night TV – has filed to run for Congress in Texas as a Republican, according to state election records.

The filing, received Friday, was submitted under the name Offer Vince “ShamWow” Shlomi.

Shlomi told Fox News Digital in an interview Sunday that his decision to run for office was ultimately motivated by a desire to “destroy wokeism” and as a tribute to the late Charlie Kirk, whom he called the original “woke buster.” He added that the “political infighting in the country” eventually inspired him to seek office and “make America happy.”

WORLD SERIES CHAMPION MARK TEIXEIRA ANNOUNCES CONGRESSIONAL CAMPAIGN IN TEXAS

The 61-year-old Israeli-American entrepreneur is aiming to unseat Congressman John Carter, R-Texas, the 84-year-old incumbent who is seeking re-election in the district. Carter’s turf includes the northern Austin suburbs, Temple and Fort Hood.

Shlomi is now one of at least five candidates aiming to compete in the primary for Texas’ 31st Congressional District – a reliably red stronghold.

TEXAS REP CHIP ROY ANNOUNCES RUN FOR STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL TO REPLACE KEN PAXTON

Shlomi, president and CEO of the TV marketing company Square One Entertainment, skyrocketed to pop-culture fame in the 2000s with his high-energy pitch videos that helped make the super-absorbent “ShamWow” towel a household name.

His rise to fame, however, was accompanied by several high-profile controversies – including allegations of harassment and physical altercations – before he eventually stepped out of the spotlight in recent years and reportedly worked to clean up his image.

EXCLUSIVE: DAN CRENSHAW GOP CHALLENGER CLAIMS ‘DAYS IN CONGRESS ARE NUMBERED,’ AS RACE HEATS UP

In 2009, Shlomi was arrested in Miami Beach after an alleged violent altercation with a sex worker – an incident that became tabloid fodder after police photos of his face injuries surfaced. 

Earlier in his career, he faced legal battles tied to his 1999 underground comedy film “The Underground Comedy Movie.”

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

In recent years, however, Shlomi has kept a lower profile as he shifted back into marketing and entrepreneurship.

President Donald Trump made a passionate post claiming that the Republican Party is “so UNITED” on Sunday night, amid internal divisions in the party over leadership, tariffs, and legislative priorities.

In a Truth Social post, Trump wrote that the GOP has “never been so UNITED AS IT iS RIGHT NOW!”

“Other than Rand Paul, Rand Paul Jr.(Massie!), Marjorie ‘Traitor’ Brown, and a couple of other ‘lowlifes,’ and other than the fact that many want the Election threatening Filibuster TERMINATED (the Dems will do it in the first minute of their first chance!), and some don’t, there is great spirit and cohesion,” Trump’s post read.

The president also claimed that the Republican Party is “MUCH BIGGER” than it was before he launched his first presidential campaign in 2015.

THE REVOLT OF MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE, NOW DONALD TRUMP’S FIERCEST CRITIC

“Many Millions More Members!” Trump wrote. “We now have the Strongest Border EVER, Biggest Tax Cuts, the Best Economy, Highest Stock Market in USA History, and sooo much more.”

He added, “BUT, THE BEST IS YET TO COME! VOTE REPUBLICAN!!!”

The post came just two days after Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., a Trump loyalist, announced that she was resigning after falling out with the president, who claimed she had “gone Far Left.”

“Americans are used by the Political Industrial Complex of both political parties, election cycle after election cycle, in order to elect whichever side can convince Americans to hate the other side more,” Greene wrote in her resignation statement.

TRUMP GIVES EX-ALLY GREENE NEW NICKNAME AFTER DROPPED ENDORSEMENT, SAYS SHE BETRAYED ‘ENTIRE REPUBLICAN PARTY’

“And the results are always the same — nothing ever gets better for the common American man or woman.”

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., wrote that he was “very sad for our country” after Greene resigned.

“She embodies what a true Representative should be,” said Massie. “Everyone should read her statement; there’s more honesty expressed in these four pages than most politicians will speak in a lifetime.”

Greene’s resignation attracted criticism from Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, who spoke about it on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.

“Honestly, I was like, you’ve got to be kidding me,” Crockett said. “You’re on the other side of the president for one week, and you can’t take the heat.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“Imagine what it is to sit in my shoes, to not only be on the opposite side of him, but to have people like her who are constantly fanning the flames of hate, and imagine what those threats look like when you literally are someone like me.”

Fox News Digital’s Jasmine Baehr and Hanna Panreck contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump‘s administration is rejecting claims that its most recent plan for a peace deal in Ukraine was really a Russian “wish list.”

Confusion arose regarding the deal after lawmakers on Capitol Hill claimed they were told by White House officials that the deal was a proposal from the Russian side. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has since pushed back on that claim, however.

“[Rubio] made it very clear to us that we are the recipients of a proposal that was delivered to one of our representatives,” Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., said at a press conference. “It is not our recommendation. It is not our peace plan. It is a proposal that was received, and as an intermediary, we have made arrangements to share it — and we did not release it. It was leaked.”

According to The Associated Press, Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, said that Rubio told him and his colleagues that it “was not the administration’s plan” but a “wish list of the Russians.”

Rubio responded to this narrative with a post on social media, writing that the peace proposal “was authored by the U.S.”

US AND RUSSIA DRAFT PEACE PLAN FOR UKRAINE REQUIRING MAJOR CONCESSIONS FROM KYIV

“It is offered as a strong framework for ongoing negotiations. It is based on input from the Russian side. But it is also based on previous and ongoing input from Ukraine,” he added.

Rounds released another statement through his press office after Rubio’s response.

“I appreciate Secretary Rubio briefing us earlier today on their efforts to bring about peace by relying on input from both Russia and Ukraine to arrive at a final deal,” Rounds wrote.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

WITKOFF MEETS UKRAINE OFFICIALS IN NEW YORK AHEAD OF EMERGENCY UN SECURITY COUNCIL MEETING: ‘VERY PRODUCTIVE’

Rubio traveled to Geneva on Sunday to meet with Ukrainian officials alongside Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, where they are expected to hash out Kyiv’s misgivings regarding the deal.

Trump himself lashed out at Ukraine over the peace talks in a Sunday statement.

“UKRAINE ‘LEADERSHIP’ HAS EXPRESSED ZERO GRATITUDE FOR OUR EFFORTS, AND EUROPE CONTINUES TO BUY OIL FROM RUSSIA,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

While the current agreement has not been made public, a leaked draft has been reported to include terms that would halt the fighting in Ukraine while giving Russia concessions like control over Ukrainian territory that the Russian military does not yet control, as well as barring Ukraine from membership in NATO.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy did not reject the plan outright in an address last week, but he insisted on fair treatment while pledging to “work calmly” with Washington and other partners in what he called “truly one of the most difficult moments in our history.”

Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

While President Donald Trump and New York Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani doled out praise for each other after their White House huddle Friday, the two have previously not shied away from trading barbs in the past. 

From “nut job” to “communist lunatic,” Trump over the past year has lobbed a series of attacks against Mamdani — targeting his appearance and intellect. 

“He looks TERRIBLE, his voice is grating, he’s not very smart,” Trump said in a social media post in June after Mamdani became the Democratic candidate for mayor. 

Trump once threatened to arrest Mamdani if he refused to comply with federal immigration officials. The comment came after Mamdani said in June that he would stop “masked” U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials from “deporting our neighbors.”

TRUMP SAYS HE WILL MEET NYC MAYOR-ELECT ZOHRAN MAMDANI THIS WEEK

“Well, then we’ll have to arrest him,” Trump told reporters at the White House July 1. “Look, we don’t need a communist in this country, but if we have one, I’m going to be watching over them very carefully on behalf of the nation. We send him money. We send him all the things that he needs to run a government.”

Also in July, Trump told reporters during a Cabinet meeting that New Yorkers shouldn’t vote for Mamdani, and described him as “a man who’s not very capable in my opinion, other than he’s got a good line of bulls—.”

Trump also has repeatedly called Mamdani a “communist” — a term that Mamdani said is a false characterization of his political ideology. Mamdani instead has said that he is a democratic socialist.

TRUMP SAYS MAMDANI MEETING IN THE WORKS: ‘WE’LL WORK SOMETHING OUT’ 

Mamdani has had his fair share of harsh remarks in turn about the president. Mamdani labeled Trump a “despot” in his victory speech after winning New York’s mayoral election Nov. 4. 

“If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him,” Mamdani said. “And if there is any way to terrify a despot, it is by dismantling the very conditions that allowed him to accumulate power.” 

“This is not only how we stop Trump; it’s how we stop the next one,” Mamdani said. “So Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching, I have four words for you: Turn the volume up.”

DAVID MARCUS: MR. MAMDANI GOES TO WASHINGTON BETWEEN ROCK AND HARD PLACE

Mamdani also said in a press conference Nov. 5 after the election that he would seek to “Trump-proof” New York in order to safeguard “those with the least from the consequences of a man with the most power in this country.”

However, the two appeared to forge a new path for their relationship as they found common ground on affordability issues and improving conditions in New York. Trump admitted that the two had more in common than he thought — despite their different views — and that he would be “cheering” for Mamdani as he leads the city. 

“I expect to be helping him, not hurting him — a big help,” Trump said Friday. 

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP 

Trump also brushed off Mamdani’s “despot” comment in the Oval Office Friday, claiming he’s faced worse and that he believes Mamdani will change his tune as the two work together. 

“I’ve been called much worse than a ‘despot,’ so it’s not, it’s not that insulting. I think he’ll change his mind after we get to working together,” Trump said. 

Rep. Eugene Vindman, D-Va., is demanding that President Donald Trump release a 2019 call with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, saying the American people “deserve to know what was said” in the aftermath of Jamal Khashoggi’s murder.

Vindman, a retired Army colonel who once served on Trump’s National Security Council, said the call was one of two that deeply concerned him — the other being the 2019 conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that triggered Trump’s first impeachment. 

Standing beside Hanan Elatr Khashoggi, the slain journalist’s widow, Vindman said Trump “sidelined his own intelligence community to shield a foreign leader” and that transparency is owed to both the Khashoggi family and the country.

“The Khashoggi family and the American people deserve to know what was said on that call,” Vindman said Friday. “Our intelligence agencies concluded that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the murder of Mr. Khashoggi’s husband. When the president sidelined his own intelligence community to shield a foreign leader, America’s credibility was at stake.”

TRUMP SECURES RELEASE OF AMERICAN TRAPPED IN SAUDI ARABIA FOR YEARS OVER ONLINE POSTS

Vindman’s name already is polarizing in Trump-era politics. 

He and his twin brother, Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, became central figures in the first impeachment attempt against Trump, when their internal reporting of Trump’s Ukraine call led to accusations from conservatives that they had undermined an elected president. To Trump’s allies, Eugene Vindman’s demand to release the 2019 Saudi call feels like a replay of that fight — another attempt by a former National Security Council insider to damage the president under the banner of transparency.

Still, his comments land at a revealing moment. Washington’s embrace of bin Salman underscores a familiar trade-off in U.S. foreign policy: strategic security and economic interests over accountability and human rights.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said: “The U.S.-Saudi friendship is now a partnership for the future. President Trump’s historic agreements with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, from defense to investment, will create quality jobs for Americans and will grow our economy. No virtue-signaling. No lecturing. Only results for the American people.”  

Trump’s latest visit with bin Salman brought sweeping defense and investment deals, even as questions over 9/11 and Khashoggi’s murder continue to test that balance. The United States granted Saudi Arabia major non-NATO ally status, formally elevating the kingdom’s defense and intelligence partnership with Washington and clearing the way for expedited arms sales and joint military programs.

Bin Salman also pledged nearly $1 trillion in new Saudi investments across U.S. industries, including infrastructure, artificial intelligence and clean energy. The commitments were announced alongside a Strategic Defense Agreement that includes purchases of F-35 fighter jets, roughly 300 Abrams tanks and new missile defense systems, as well as joint ventures to expand manufacturing inside Saudi Arabia.

Administration officials said the initiatives would create tens of thousands of American jobs and strengthen the U.S. industrial base.

During his appearance with Trump at the White House, reporters shouted questions about Saudi Arabia’s alleged role in the Sept. 11 attacks and the 2018 killing of  Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul — marking a rare moment of public pressure on the crown prince, who typically avoids unscripted exchanges with the press.

Trump accused the press of trying to “embarrass” his guest, but the crown prince offered what sounded like regret for the killing of Khashoggi, even as he denied involvement.

“A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about,” Trump said. “Whether you like him or don’t like him, things happen, but he knew nothing about it … We can leave it at that. You don’t have to embarrass our guest by asking a question like that.”

ABC reporter Mary Bruce had told bin Salman that U.S. intelligence determined he’d signed off on the killing and that 9/11 families were “furious” about his presence in the White House. “Why should Americans trust you?”

“It’s been painful for us in Saudi Arabia,” bin Salman said of the killing, calling it “a huge mistake.” “We’ve improved our system to be sure that nothing happens like that again,” he added.

TRUMP DESIGNATES SAUDI ARABIA AS MAJOR NON-NATO ALLY DURING CROWN PRINCE WHITE HOUSE VISIT

A 2021 report by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence stated: “We assess that Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman approved an operation in Istanbul, Turkey, to capture or kill Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.” Bin Salman has repeatedly denied approving the killing, though he said in 2019, “It happened under my watch, I take full responsibility as a leader.”

The question of Saudi Arabia’s involvement in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks remains one of the most sensitive and unresolved issues in the U.S.-Saudi relationship. While 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi nationals, the U.S. government has never concluded that the Saudi state or senior Saudi officials had prior knowledge of or directed the attacks.

Families of 9/11 victims condemned bin Salman after he invoked Osama bin Laden during his White House remarks, saying the al-Qaeda leader used Saudi nationals to drive a wedge between Washington and Riyadh.

“We have to focus on reality,” the crown prince said. “Reality is that Osama bin Laden used Saudi people in that event for one main purpose: to destroy the American–Saudi relationship. That’s the purpose of 9/11.”

“The Saudi crown prince invoking Osama bin Laden this afternoon in the White House does not change the fact that a federal judge in New York ruled a few short months ago that Saudi Arabia must stand trial for its role in the 9/11 terrorist attacks that murdered 3,000 of our loved ones,” said Brett Eagleson, president of 9/11 Justice, a group representing victims’ families.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

In August 2025, U.S. District Judge George B. Daniels issued a landmark ruling bringing Saudi Arabia under U.S. federal jurisdiction for a 9/11 trial. The court found evidence of a network of Saudi officials inside the U.S. who allegedly provided logistical support to the hijackers, citing “prior planning” and “constant coordination.” Among the materials described in the ruling was a drawing seized from a Saudi government operative showing an airplane with flight-path equations — evidence prosecutors said suggested advance knowledge of the attacks.

Saudi Arabia has denied any role, calling the allegations “categorically false.” 

But for bin Salman, who came to Washington seeking to highlight new security and economic ties, the families’ sharp rebuke was a reminder that the 9/11 case still looms large in the public eye, even as the Trump administration deepens its partnership with Riyadh.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Sunday that potential one-time payments of $2,000 from tariff revenues would not fuel inflation and could provide welcome relief to families.

“This is real money that’s coming in, and we get to decide what to do with it,” Greer told “Fox & Friends Weekend.”

“The $2,000, that’s one option,” Greer said, adding that President Donald Trump is “eager to discuss and explore more” proposals.

TRUMP CALLS TARIFF OPPONENTS ‘FOOLS,’ PROMISES $2K DIVIDEND PAYMENTS FOR AMERICANS

Greer dismissed concerns that the move would stoke rising prices, noting that “this is not some kind of ongoing new welfare program or something that would exacerbate inflation.” He added that he expects American families to welcome the checks. “But I don’t think it would change the overall macroeconomic picture,” Greer said.

Trump vowed earlier this month that revenue generated from duties could fund a $2,000 dividend for low- and middle-income Americans.

TRUMP SAYS TARIFF-FUNDED DIVIDEND PAYMENTS FOR AMERICANS WILL BEGIN NEXT YEAR

The president first floated the idea on Nov. 9 and has since suggested that any remaining funds could be used to help pay down the nation’s soaring $38 trillion debt. Last week, Trump said Americans could see payment checks as soon as next year.

“We’ve taken in hundreds of millions of dollars in tariff money. We’re going to be issuing dividends probably by the middle of next year, maybe a little bit later than that,” Trump told reporters at the White House.

TRUMP SAYS TARIFF REVENUE TO FUND $2K CHECKS FOR AMERICANS, LOWER NATION’S $38T DEBT

Since Trump announced his “Liberation Day” tariffs in April, tariff revenues have climbed sharply from $23.9 billion in May to $28 billion in June and $29 billion in July. 

Total duty revenue reached $215.2 billion in fiscal year 2025, which ended Sept. 30, according to the Treasury Department’s “Customs and Certain Excise Taxes” report. 

So far in fiscal year 2026, which began on Oct. 1, the U.S. has collected $40.4 billion, according to the latest numbers published by the Treasury Department.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP 

The proposal comes at a pivotal moment, with tariff receipts climbing and the Supreme Court reviewing the legality of Trump’s trade measures, a case that could determine the future of his broader trade agenda.

President Donald Trump and former President Barack Obama are polar opposites in many ways, but, as anyone who has sat behind the Resolute Desk, they do share some similarities.

One thing both have in common is overseeing government shutdowns — one under Obama and two under Trump. And even in that sparse similarity, both men operated differently, particularly in the most recent, 43-day closure.

While both congressional battles were centered on Obamacare, Obama put his shutdown at the center of attention, while Trump kept it at more of an arm’s length.

HOW CLOSED-DOOR NEGOTIATIONS AND A GUARANTEE ENDED LONGEST GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN ON RECORD

Romina Boccia, director of budget and entitlement policy at the CATO Institute, told Fox News Digital that a major difference in the Obama and Trump administration’s approaches to their respective shutdowns was that in 2013, Obama wanted the pain of shutdown to be felt by Americans, while Trump kept the focus centered on Washington, D.C.

“During the Obama shutdown, it was more to make it extremely visible, shut down beloved functions — even if you didn’t have to — that affect average Americans,” she said.

Boccia at the time worked for the conservative think-tank the Heritage Foundation at the time and recalled the barricades that were swiftly erected around Washington, D.C.’s many national parks.

Those barricades, both concrete and human, spilled out beyond the nation’s capital and were placed around the hundreds of national parks across America as a stark reminder that the government was closed.

Boccia noted that a direct comparison of the two shutdowns would be difficult given the differing lengths, but that the Trump administration, at least early on, sought to inflict direct pain on congressional Democrats and the federal government.

GOP UNITY SHATTERED BY CONTROVERSIAL MEASURE IN GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN BILL

That was carried out largely by the Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought, who ordered mass firings of furloughed workers and withheld or canceled billions in federal funding to blue cities and states.

“It’s not that this wasn’t a shutdown, it’s just that the choices the administration made were an attempt to focus the impacts of the shutdown this round on the government itself,” Brittany Madni, executive vice president of the Economic Policy Center, told Fox News Digital.

“This was showmanship from President Obama,” Madni continued. “And if you look at what happened over the last 40 something days, it was the exact same playbook by congressional Democrats.”

Madni argued that discussions and debate during the 2013 shutdown were centered largely in Washington, D.C. The latest closure saw some of that, but it also saw Trump continuing to work on trade deals, particularly during his high-profile visit to Asia, which was a point of contention for Democrats on the Hill.

“He was doing his job,” Madni said. “He was doing his job. Meanwhile, congressional Democrats, quite simply, were not.”

Still, there was a shared thread in both shutdowns: Obamacare.

In 2013, congressional Republicans wanted to dismantle Obama’s signature piece of legislation. Fast-forward, Senate Minority Leader Schumer, D-N.Y., led his caucus to push extensions to enhanced Obamacare subsidies.

Boccia said that played a large part in why Obama was at the vanguard during his shutdown.

“He was front and center in the media talking about the shutdown, and because it was over his legacy achievement,” she said.

SENATE REACHES TEMPORARY TRUCE TO END RECORD SHUTDOWN, BUT JANUARY BATTLE LOOMS

It was because his key legislative achievement was under fire that Obama took such a central role in the shutdown, Boccia argued, but for Trump, who tried during his first administration to gut and replace Obamacare, it wasn’t a priority.

“The fact that it was over the Obamacare COVID credits, I think, made the president less necessary and perhaps interested in being the face of the shutdown,” she said. “It was really a congressional battle.”

Madni disagreed that the latest shutdown wasn’t a direct bid by congressional Democrats to go after one of his legislative achievements.

Before the climactic failed vote in the Senate in late September that ushered in the longest shutdown in history, Democrats offered a counter-proposal that would have stripped several provisions from Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” which has so far been the crowning legislative achievement of his second term.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“It’s really important that everyone remembers the subsidy request was one request in a laundry list of radical, incredibly expensive ideas that added up to $1.5 trillion,” Madni said. “Another item in that list was dismantling key portions of the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act.”

“If this was really about the subsidies, then the Democrats would have been willing at any point during the last 43 days to adjust their asks and just make it about subsidies,” she continued. “Not once did they.”

President Donald Trump kicked off the week meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and closed the week meeting with New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani. 

He also signed legislation ordering the Justice Department to release files related to the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. 

Here’s a look at what happened this week. 

Epstein files 

Trump announced Wednesday evening that he put his stamp of approval on a bill instructing the Justice Department to release files related to Epstein — after Congress passed the measure Tuesday.

TRUMP SAYS WHETHER HE WOULD SIGN EPSTEIN FILES BILL 

“I HAVE JUST SIGNED THE BILL TO RELEASE THE EPSTEIN FILES!” Trump wrote in a lengthy message on the Truth Social platform. “As everyone knows, I asked Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, to pass this Bill in the House and Senate, respectively. Because of this request, the votes were almost unanimous in favor of passage. 

“At my direction, the Department of Justice has already turned over close to fifty thousand pages of documents to Congress. Do not forget — The Biden Administration did not turn over a SINGLE file or page related to Democrat Epstein, nor did they ever even speak about him.”

Trump’s ties to Epstein had faced increased attention after Trump’s Justice Department and FBI announced in July it would not unseal investigation materials related to Epstein, and that the agencies’ investigation into the case had closed.

TRUMP CALLS ON HOUSE REPUBLICANS TO VOTE TO RELEASE EPSTEIN FILES: ‘WE HAVE NOTHING TO HIDE’

However, Trump announced Nov. 16 that he backed releasing the documents, claiming that he had “nothing to hide.”

Ultimately, the House voted Tuesday to release the files by a 421–1 margin, following pressure for months from the measure’s ringleaders, Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and other Democrats.

The Senate passed the measure by unanimous consent later Tuesday.

BIDEN’S SAUDI FIST BUMP DREW HEAT IN 2022 — TRUMP JUST ROLLED OUT THE RED CARPET 

Mamdani meeting 

Mamdani visited Trump at the White House Friday, and the two appeared chummy and ready to launch a fresh start in their relationship. The two said they discussed addressing affordability issues and improving conditions in New York. 

Trump said the two had more in common than he anticipated, and that he would be “cheering” for Mamdani as he leads the city. 

“I expect to be helping him, not hurting him — a big help,” Trump said.

EPSTEIN REFERENCED TRUMP IN PRIVATE EMAILS TO GHISLAINE MAXWELL AND OTHERS, NEW RECORDS SHOW 

Trump also brushed off Mamdani’s comment labeling him a despot in his victory speech following the Nov. 4 election, with the president claiming Friday he’s encountered worse and that he believes Mamdani will change his tune as the two work together. 

“I’ve been called much worse than a ‘despot,’ so it’s not, it’s not that insulting,” Trump said. “I think he’ll change his mind after we get to working together.” 

Saudi crown prince meeting

Trump also met with the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House Tuesday, an occasion that included a red carpet rolled across the South Lawn, military honor guard, and an Air Force flyover to elevate the formal state-level welcome.

During bin Salman’s visit, the U.S. announced that it would sell F-35 jets to Saudi Arabia, and that it would now be a “major non-NATO ally” to facilitate military cooperation between the two countries. 

“President Trump approved a major defense sale package, including future F-35 deliveries, which strengthens the U.S. defense industrial base and ensures Saudi Arabia continues to buy American,” the White House said in a statement. 

Trump’s reception of bin Salman is a departure from the Biden administration, who said in 2019 during his presidential campaign that he would make Saudi Arabia “the pariah that they are” because of the death of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

U.S. intelligence agencies concluded in 2021 that bin Salman gave the green light on the operation that took Khashoggi’s life. Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident, was brutally murdered in Istanbul at the Saudi consulate in 2018.

But Trump defended bin Salman Tuesday, and accused a reporter who asked about U.S. intelligence reports linking the prince to Khashoggi’s death of embarrassing bin Salman.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“A lot of people didn’t like that gentleman that you’re talking about,” Trump said Tuesday. “Whether you like him or didn’t like him, things happen, but he knew nothing about it. And would you leave it at that? You don’t have to embarrass our guest by asking a question.”

Even so, bin Salman has dismissed the reports as false. When asked Tuesday about Khashoggi, bin Salman said it’s “painful” to hear of the death of anyone for “no real purpose,” and “we are doing our best that this doesn’t happen again.”

President Donald Trump’s administration is picking up steam in addressing violence against Christians in Nigeria this week, after Trump lashed out at the nation’s government for having “done nothing” to stop the killings.

“I’m really angry about it,” the president told Fox News Radio on Friday. “What’s happening in Nigeria is a disgrace.”

War Secretary Pete Hegseth met with Nigerian National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu last week amid threats from Trump to cut off aid to Nigeria if it “continues to allow the killing of Christians.” Nigerian officials have pushed back on the accusation.

“Hegseth emphasized the need for Nigeria to demonstrate commitment and take both urgent and enduring action to stop violence against Christians and conveyed the Department’s desire to work by, with, and through Nigeria to deter and degrade terrorists that threaten the United States,” the Pentagon said in a statement.

TRUMP THREATENS TO HALT ALL US AID, CONDUCT ‘VICIOUS’ MILITARY ATTACK IN NIGERIA OVER CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION

Jonathan Pratt, who leads the State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs, also testified before Congress on Thursday and said any Pentagon involvement would be part of a broader strategy.

“This would span from security to policing to economic,” he said. “We want to look at all of these tools and have a comprehensive strategy to get the best result possible.”

GUNMEN ATTACK CHURCH IN NIGERIA, KILLING TWO AND KIDNAPPING OTHERS

Recent incidents in Nigeria have included the mass abduction of over 300 children and 12 teachers from a Catholic school on Friday, as well as a shooting at another church that left two people dead. The gunmen also abducted several congregants from the church.

The primary threat comes from the Islamist radical group Boko Haram, as well as its splinter Islamic State of West Africa Province. The groups target primarily Christians, though Muslims of other sects also face attacks.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

On Tuesday, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz held an event highlighting the ongoing violence in Nigeria. During the event, Waltz called the killings of Christians in Nigeria a “genocide wearing the mask of chaos.” He was joined by rap superstar Nicki Minaj, who called for religious freedom for all.

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

President Donald Trump on Saturday purported that Democrats who urged the military to defy illegal orders engaged in “sedition at the highest level” and “should be in jail right now.”

This comes after one of the lawmakers who appeared in the video calling on troops to ignore unlawful orders, Michigan Sen. Elissa Slotkin, was targeted with a bomb threat just days after the clip and Trump’s subsequent statements suggesting the Democrats be executed.

In a Truth Social post on Saturday, Trump argued that the “traitors” who appeared in the video “should be in jail right now, not roaming the fake news networks trying to explain what they said was OK.”

“It wasn’t, and never will be!” he claimed. “It was sedition at the highest level, and sedition is a major crime. There can be no other interpretation of what they said!”

SEN. SLOTKIN’S HOME TARGETED WITH BOMB THREAT DAYS AFTER SHE TOLD TROOPS TO DEFY ‘ILLEGAL’ ORDERS

Trump initially responded to the video message by saying, “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!” He also shared a post from another account that said, “Hang them George Washington would.”

The White House and the president himself later attempted to walk back his comments, saying he did not wish to execute the Democrat lawmakers.

In another post on Saturday, Trump alleged that “many great legal scholars” agree with his position that “the Democrat traitors that told the military to disobey my orders, as president, have committed a crime of serious proportion!”

Slotkin, who previously worked at the CIA and Defense Department, shared the video on Tuesday of herself and other Democrat lawmakers who formerly served in the military and intelligence community encouraging troops and members of the intelligence community to ignore illegal orders from officials.

“This administration is pitting our uniformed military and intelligence community professionals against American citizens,” the lawmakers said. “Like us, you all swore an oath to protect and defend this Constitution. Right now, the threats coming to our Constitution aren’t just coming from abroad but from right here at home. Our laws are clear. You can refuse illegal orders. You must refuse illegal orders. No one has to carry out orders that violate the law or our Constitution.”

SEN. JOHN FETTERMAN ACCUSES TRUMP OF ‘DANGEROUS RHETORIC’

Other lawmakers in the video included Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona and Reps. Chris Deluzio and Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, as well as Reps. Maggie Goodlander of New Hampshire and Jason Crow of Colorado.

Trump administration officials and other Republicans criticized the video, which affirms that refusing unlawful orders is a standard part of military protocol.

Slotkin’s office said on Friday that police responded to her Michigan home following a bomb threat, but that she was not home at the time.

U.S. Capitol Police told her that she would have security at all hours of the day.

“We’ve got law enforcement out in front of my house,” she told MS Now. “It changes things immediately. And leadership climate is set from the top. And if the president is saying you should be hanged, then we shouldn’t be surprised when folks on the ground are going to follow suit and say even worse.”

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

The lawmakers in the video have vowed not to back down despite the threats.

“What’s most telling is that the President considers it punishable by death for us to restate the law. Our servicemembers should know that we have their backs as they fulfill their oath to the Constitution and obligation to follow only lawful orders. It is not only the right thing to do, but also our duty,” they said in a joint statement on Thursday.

“In these moments, fear is contagious, but so is courage. We will continue to lead and will not be intimidated,” the statement added.