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Just before leaving office amid a contentious battle over who will succeed her, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard used one of her final acts atop the U.S. intelligence community to spotlight Dr. Anthony Fauci’s role in discussions surrounding the government’s COVID-19 origins review. 

While much of the material is familiar, Gabbard’s release underscores her effort to make questions surrounding Fauci, COVID origins and federal support for virus research part of her closing legacy atop the intelligence community.

As Gabbard fired her final broadside, Bill Pulte, who has received bipartisan criticism over his lack of intelligence experience, is set to take the reins at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence while Trump’s permanent nominee remains stalled.

Jay Clayton, an attorney and former SEC chairman whom Trump nominated to permanently lead ODNI, has seen his confirmation process delayed after the president said he was holding up the nomination to pressure Congress to pass a voter identification measure.

WHY TRUMP PICKED BILL PULTE TO LEAD US INTELLIGENCE AS CRITICS QUESTION HIS QUALIFICATIONS

Pulte is a construction businessman and housing official who served as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. His tenure at the housing agency has drawn controversy over allegations that he used FHFA authority to target Trump’s political opponents, an allegation amplifying concerns among key senators that he may attempt to weaponize the intelligence community at the behest of the president during his interim tenure.

“We don’t need a weaponized DNI, we need professionals there,” Senate Majority Leader Sen. John Thune said of Pulte. Other powerful congressional Republicans, such as Sens. Cornyn, Cassidy, Murkowski, Collins and Tillis, have also voiced opposition to or concern over Pulte taking over ODNI.

Senate Democrats share many of the same concerns as their GOP colleagues.

Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Dick Durbin, Sheldon Whitehouse, Richard Blumenthal, Gary Peters, Adam Schiff, Mark Warner and Ron Wyden have all expressed concerns that Pulte would weaponize America’s intelligence apparatus against Trump’s enemies. Similar to many Republicans, they’ve criticized him for a lack of intelligence experience as well.

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Political observers believe that Clayton would face far less opposition from the Senate over his confirmation. However, the upper chamber has so far proven unwilling to move on the president’s voter identification legislation, complicating his advancement and setting the stage for a showdown between the White House and Congress.

While lawmakers and the president go back and forth over the fate of ODNI, Gabbard has sought to spotlight the Fauci documents on her way out.

The documents she released Thursday night include some information that was already known to the public as well as others that do not appear to have been publicly reported.

ANTHONY FAUCI MAY BE DEPOSED AS GOP INTENSIFIES COVID INVESTIGATIONS IN NEW CONGRESS

Gabbard’s release contains newly declassified documents that show intelligence officials considered but ultimately rejected Fauci as an outside reviewer of their COVID-19 origins assessment, warning he would be seen as having a conflict of interest. 

In a different exchange, intelligence officials tasked with analyzing the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic debated whether to take Fauci’s recommendations on who to interview for their study.

“For those who don’t know me, I’m the [REDACTED] and, as such, leading the [intelligence community’s] 90-day POTUS COVID origin study,” one official wrote in an email. “Per below, Dr Fauci recommended that the IC reach out to the below individuals who were coauthors of the attached paper as part of the study.”

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Another official questioned whether it was prudent for the intelligence community to take the advice of a “policymaker” like Fauci when conducting internal affairs, “particularly given the various strong views on the subject and statements regarding their own conclusions.”

An intelligence official responded by arguing that Fauci should not be considered a policymaker in this context, but rather an important subject-matter expert.

“In this particular case, given Dr Fauci’s background we absolutely would like to follow-up on his outreach suggestions,” they wrote. “In this case he’s not a policymaker….he’s a SME with a wealth of knowledge about current and historical research who probably knows better than most who the real Coronavirus experts are.”

A CIA whistleblower previously claimed that Fauci exerted undue influence over the intelligence community’s assessment of COVID-19’s origins, claims that Gabbard now seeks to amplify with her release.

During the COVID-19 era, conservatives alleged that Fauci and other public health officials downplayed or helped steer scrutiny away from the lab-leak theory despite American financial links to coronavirus research in Wuhan, where the disease originated. Gabbard has framed her trove of documents as a look into how the intelligence community incorporated information from people like Fauci while investigating the virus’ origins.

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“Fauci worked with politicized career leadership in the Intelligence Community (IC) to suppress the truth about his actions, the virus’ lab-leak origins, and his role in directing U.S. funding for this dangerous research that caused immeasurable harm and countless lost lives,” ODNI’s press release accompanying the documents asserts. “These documents expose Fauci’s direct role in influencing and manipulating IC assessments on COVID-19, and how Fauci lied to Congress in 2024, when under oath he denied knowledge of or participation in discussions with intelligence officials about viral research.”

Gabbard left her role at ODNI to care for her husband, who has a rare form of cancer, Fox News Digital first reported.

A simmering rift between President Donald Trump and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni burst into the open Friday after the G7 summit, exposing growing tensions between two leaders whose close political alliance had long positioned Meloni among Trump’s closest allies on the world stage.

“Donald Trump’s statements are completely made up. I am frankly astonished. I don’t ‌know why ⁠the president of the United States behaves like this towards his allies: it is not the first time, moreover,” Meloni said Friday, according to Reuters.

Trump told an Italian news outlet that Meloni “begged” him to take a photo with her during the G7 earlier this week, which sparked strong rebuke from the prime minister and Italian diplomats. Before the recent strain over Iran, Meloni was widely viewed as one of Trump’s strongest allies on the world stage, even attending his 2025 presidential inauguration as the only European leader present.

“She wanted a picture with me so ​badly. I wouldn’t have taken it, but I felt sorry for her,” Trump said to La7 TV channel. “She’s probably happy I talked to her. I didn’t have to talk to her.”

WHO IS GIORGIA MELONI? TRUMP HOSTS ITALIAN PM AT MAR-A-LAGO

Meloni fired back: “I can only say it is disappointing that he does not show the same determination with the enemies of the West and of the United States, whose leaders he instead treats with far greater indulgence.”

“There is one thing he should remember: neither I nor Italy ever beg,” she added.

Representatives from the prime minister’s office told Fox News Digital they have no comment at the moment. Fox News Digital also reached out to the White House.

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There have been looming tensions between the two leaders after Meloni recently distanced herself from the U.S. amid mounting domestic and political pressure over the widening Middle East conflict.

Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani abruptly canceled his U.S. visit Friday following Trump’s remarks over the photo. 

“The serious and offensive words of President Trump towards Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni offend all of Italy. For this reason, I have decided to cancel my visit to the United States scheduled for the next 21 and 22 June,” Tajani wrote on X.

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Tajani was set to attend the Italy–U.S. Business, Investment, Science and Innovation Forum in Miami, Florida. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is scheduled to deliver remarks at the conference on Monday. Rubio recently traveled to Italy last month to smooth over previous tensions with Meloni and Pope Leo XIV.

Fox News Digital reached out to the State Department for comment.

As Trump urged world leaders to take a more active role in the Iran conflict, Meloni notably stayed on the sidelines, underscoring an emerging rift between the longtime allies.

Meloni has previously said she would not support any effort to reduce the U.S. military presence in Italy, drawing a contrast with Trump’s broader push to reposition American forces in Europe.

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Italy remains a key U.S. security hub in Europe, hosting nearly 13,000 active-duty American troops across six bases as of the end of 2025.

Fox News Digital’s Courtney Walsh and Reuters contributed to this report.

A divided Pennsylvania Supreme Court, including two Democrat justices, ordered Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner’s office to face new outside scrutiny over its post-conviction concessions after the state’s high court found the office’s handling of one convicted murderer’s case was unreliable and said similar problems extended beyond just that single case.

Justice Kevin Dougherty, a Democrat, wrote the 4-3 opinion in the case of Levar Brown, a Philadelphia man whose murder convictions became the centerpiece of a broader legal fight over Krasner’s Conviction Integrity Unit and the office’s willingness to concede relief in serious criminal cases. Dougherty was joined by Justice Daniel McCaffery, another Democrat judge on the state’s Supreme Court, and two other Republican judges. The dissenters were all Democrats.  

The 4-3 decision reversed a Philadelphia post-conviction order granting Brown a new trial after Krasner’s office conceded his conviction should not stand and a Philadelphia judge approved the request. It also ordered that, going forward, Philadelphia judges handling post-conviction challenges must notify the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General and allow the office to intervene before granting relief in any case where Krasner’s office concedes that a conviction should be overturned.

The ruling stops short of handing control of the cases to the state attorney general, but it creates a new court-ordered check on Krasner’s office in future post-conviction matters.

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“The prosecutor does not decide whether a defendant is entitled to relief under the Post Conviction Relief Act,” Dougherty wrote for the majority, emphasizing that a judge must independently determine whether a conviction should be overturned even when prosecutors agree with the defense.

The majority concluded that Krasner’s office’s concession in Brown’s case “was not reliable,” finding that Krasner’s office conceded relief when it was not warranted by the existing record, withheld material evidence from the court, submitted a false stipulation of fact, misstated facts in its pleadings, failed to conduct a reasonable investigation and opposed a required evidentiary hearing.

The court suggested that if its concerns in the Brown case were confined to just that case alone, it would not have justified a broader remedy. But the majority opinion said the concerns were evident in other post-conviction cases as well.

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Since 2018, the Philadelphia DA’s office has conceded relief “well over 100 times,” mostly in murder cases, according to the opinion. The court also said there are apparently more than 1,000 cases still waiting to be reviewed by the office’s Conviction Integrity Unit.

The case was brought to the high court by family members of murder victims Michael Richardson and Robert Crawford. Brown was convicted by a Philadelphia jury in the 2004 murder of Richardson and convicted by another Philadelphia jury in the 2005 murder of Crawford, according to the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office.

Two decades later, Krasner’s office conceded that Brown should receive a new trial and argued that relief was due without an evidentiary hearing, the attorney general’s office said.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday praised the ruling, saying his office will now be able to serve as a check on the process for Philadelphia residents and victims’ families.

“As prosecutors, our role is to advocate for victims of crime, for public safety, and for justice,” Sunday said in a statement. “Centuries of experience teach that the best way to achieve that justice is through the adversarial process, with vigorous representation for both sides.”

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Sunday’s office said the court concluded the Philadelphia DA’s concession in Brown’s case was “not reliable” and “recognized that similar concessions in numerous other cases also appeared to be unreliable.”

“The Court directed judges to notify the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General of any concessions before granting relief, and to permit the Office of Attorney General to intervene in future cases where the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office attempts to concede a conviction,” the office said.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office said it is still assessing what the ruling will mean for its workload, budget and personnel.

“We are assessing what yesterday’s Supreme Court of Pennsylvania order will mean for our office’s workload and what impacts it may have on our budget and our personnel,” the OAG Press Team said. “Given the many unknowns involved, including the number of cases concessions will be made in and our response to those concessions, it may be difficult to fully assess these impacts until the process truly begins.”

The office added that it appreciates the court allowing the AG’s office to “serve as a check on this process for the citizens of Philadelphia and ensure that the interests of victims’ families are represented.”

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Krasner’s office did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. But Krasner posted a video response online defending his reform agenda and attacking the ruling as an anti-democratic move that treats Philadelphia differently from other counties.

The video featured images of civil rights icons Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. as Krasner framed criminal justice reform as part of a broader social justice movement.

“Reform can be scary to those who need it,” Krasner said in the video. “Which part don’t you like? The safety or the freedom?”

Krasner said Philadelphia has not had better numbers for “safety” or “freedom” in his lifetime and argued that critics are fighting a national criminal justice reform movement.

“The truth is that criminal justice reform is a national social justice movement,” Krasner said. “And like all other social justice movements, it follows a certain pattern. First they ignore you. We’re past it. Then they laugh at you. We’re past that. Then they fight you. And we have been fighting for eight and a half years. And then the next step – we got to get there – is you win.”

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Krasner said the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, in a “close decision,” ruled that when his office supports a defense position that someone deserves a new trial or release from custody, “we need to have the attorney general’s office looking over our shoulder unlike every other county.”

“Does that help democracy? No,” Krasner said. “It actually undermines the value of a vote in Philadelphia as compared to every other county.”

The majority opinion, however, said the order does not strip Krasner’s office of prosecutorial discretion. Instead, the court said the DA’s office remains free to litigate cases as it sees fit, but that the attorney general’s independent assessment and participation will “enhance the reliability” of post-conviction proceedings and their subsequent decisions.

In dissent, Justice David Wecht warned that the majority was injecting the attorney general into local post-conviction proceedings and interfering with the discretion of Philadelphia’s elected prosecutor. But the majority rejected that argument, saying the attorney general’s role would not override the DA’s discretion and would instead give courts the benefit of an adversarial process before convictions are overturned.

The ruling sends Brown’s case back to the Pennsylvania post-conviction court for further proceedings and sets a new process for future cases where Krasner’s office seeks to concede relief.

President Donald Trump signaled he is likely to back Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel’s upcoming elections, dangling a potentially powerful endorsement even as he has been at odds with the Israeli leader publicly over the tensions in Iran and Lebanon.

“I’ll have to look at who’s running, but I like Bibi very much. I would be most likely to endorse him,” Trump said in an interview with Israeli public broadcaster KAN News, using Netanyahu’s nickname, the Jerusalem Post reported Thursday.

“But I need to see who is running,” Trump added. “I have a good relationship with Bibi, but he needs to be more rational. I am willing to meet with him. He’s doing a very good job; he’s got to be a little bit more rational.”

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The remarks came as Trump has offered increasingly pointed criticism of his longtime political ally, while the U.S. pushes ahead with Middle East diplomacy involving Iran and Lebanon.

Axios reported earlier this month that Trump lashed out at Netanyahu during a call over Israel’s actions in Lebanon, with one U.S. official summarizing Trump’s message as calling the Israeli leader “f—ing crazy.” Trump later confirmed in an interview on the New York Post’s “Pod Force One” podcast that he made the remark, while also saying he likes Netanyahu and works “very well” with him.

The tensions flared again after an Israeli strike in Beirut nearly complicated the signing of the U.S.-Iran deal. Trump told Axios he was “so pissed off” over the strike and said Netanyahu had “no f—ing judgment,” while still insisting the Iran agreement remained on track.

On Wednesday, Trump described recent tensions between he and Netanyahu as a “little dispute” over Lebanon and suggested the Israeli leader “gets a little excited sometimes,” according to the report.

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“I say you can do a little softer touch, maybe you don’t need to bring down a building every time a Hezbollah member walks into it,” Trump also said Wednesday about the Israeli leader.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu has repeatedly highlighted his relationship with Trump in official remarks, calling him “our great friend” and “my personal friend,” and saying the two leaders “speak almost every day” and “decid[e] together,” according to statements released by the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office.

Vice President JD Vance addressed concerns over Iran in an interview with The New York Times published Thursday, saying the U.S. would not lift sanctions if Tehran continues funding terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah.

“They assume that everything that is contemplated that is good for Iran will happen — but that will happen without the Iranians changing any behavior,” Vance said, referring to what he described as a “weird panic” in Israel over the Iran deal.

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“That’s not how the deal is written,” Vance added.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and the Israeli embassy for comment.

After more than 100 days away from Capitol Hill, Rep. Tom Kean Jr., R-N.J., is set to return to Washington, D.C., in the coming weeks.

Kean, 57, will be present for votes during the June 30 session, a spokesperson for the congressman confirmed to Fox News Digital. The two-term New Jersey lawmaker has been sidelined for months with a personal health issue and has yet to disclose the nature of the ailment. 

Kean has pledged to be transparent about his illness once he is back in Washington.

The New Jersey Globe first reported the timing of Kean’s expected return. He previously told the outlet his medical issue did not affect his cognitive health and will not have any chronic complications that could impair his ability to seek a third House term.

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The embattled lawmaker has not been seen in public or cast a vote on the House floor since early March, amounting to 135 missed roll call votes, according to GovTrack.

Kean’s office has still continued to introduce legislation and post on social media. 

The New Jersey Republican is expected return to Washington ahead of November’s midterm elections will be relatively short-lived. With just over 30 legislative days remaining, lawmakers are scheduled to spend nearly all of August and October back home campaigning for reelection. 

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Thursday’s announcement comes as Kean is facing a significant reelection challenge from former Navy helicopter pilot Rebecca Bennett in one of the country’s most competitive House battleground districts.

Bennett, who is expected to lean into her national security background on the campaign trail, defeated several Democrat primary challengers in May to advance to the general election.

She has largely refrained from criticizing Kean during his absence, but said he must be transparent with voters about his health issue.

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Kean, who has the endorsement of President Donald Trump, ran unopposed for the GOP nomination, but his future in Congress remains unclear amid his absence and health concerns. 

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the New Jersey contest in the suburban swing seat as a “toss-up.”

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s approval rating in his state has plummeted to a level below President Donald Trump as the state’s top executive continues to face blowback from the massive fraud scandal that erupted under his watch. 

Walz, who is leaving office in January after announcing he will not run for re-election, has an approval rating of 39% in the state and a disapproval rating of 53% with 8% not sure, according to a new poll conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling and Strategy Inc. for KARE 11, the Minnesota Star Tribune, and the University of Minnesota’s Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

The poll surveyed 800 Minnesota registered voters likely to participate in the November general election via live telephone interviews from June 8-10, 2026 and the numbers represent Walz’s lowest approval rating since taking office six years ago.

On the fraud issue, 45% of voters say they trust Republicans to fix it compared to 38% who chose Democrats and 14% who said neither party.

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The same polling unit registered Trump’s approval rating in the state at 41% this week, which conservatives on social media took notice of.

“Tim Walz has a lower approval rating than President Trump in deep blue Minnesota right now,” Townhall columnist Dustin Grage posted on X. “That’s how toxic the fraud has become for Democrats.”

Over the past year, the Trump administration has taken a major interest in Minnesota and unleashed its fraud task force into the state resulting in raids, arrests, and further investigations into how the fraud was able to grow so quickly in the state.

Another contentious issue revealed by the poll is Minnesota’s new state flag, supported by Walz, that 50% of voters say they disapprove of. 

The state’s new flag has become a cultural and political flashpoint in a state already reeling from one of the largest fraud scandals in U.S. history, heavily involving the Somali immigrant community. The flag was approved by a 13-member commission created by the Democratic-controlled legislature in 2023. Critics of the flag say it is overly simplistic and some have even knocked it as bearing a resemblance to Somalia’s national flag. 

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“Two issues that unite a majority of Minnesotans are the rejection of Tim Walz and his failed policies and our hatred for the Minnesota Somali state flag,” Republican House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, who represents Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District, told Fox News Digital. “The flag is an embarrassment and good on the cities who are actively removing it from their city halls and communities.” 

“President Trump is more popular than Tim Walz in his home state because Minnesotans are sick and tired of Walz siding with illegal aliens and Somali fraudsters over his hardworking, taxpaying constituents.” he continued. “The legacy of Tim Walz will be the fires that destroyed Minneapolis, the fraud that he allowed to be stolen under his watch, and his failures that have harmed our great state.” 

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Fraud appears to have played a significant role in Walz’s cratering approval, which is evidenced by a 10-point drop in his support since last year as the fraud scandal has dominated headlines.

Only 1% of Republicans in the state say they approve of the job Walz is doing to go along with 73% of Democrats and 32% of Independents.

“America rejected Tim Walz in 2024,” Republican Minnesota State Sen. Michael Holmstrom told Fox News Digital. “Now Minnesotans are following suit. The good news for Tim is that, now that his record is on full display, he could soon be the most popular guy in the jailhouse.”

Republican State Sen. Mark Koran told Fox News Digital that the polls “really tell you what Gov. Walz has done to himself.”

“He let his fraud crisis blow up and didn’t do anything to fix it while he was busy shoving all this radical stuff into state government,” Koran said. “After years of extreme far-left ideology and policies that don’t help normal people, Minnesotans have had enough. His legacy is going to be the fraud crisis and desecrating the state flag. Minnesota is just tired of it.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Walz’s office for comment. 

Fox News Digital’s Peter Pinedo contributed to this report

The Senate was nearing a resolution to a key hurdle to revive the nation’s most valuable counterterrorism tool until President Donald Trump blew it up.

The last-minute hitch to the Senate’s march toward reauthorizing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) comes just days after a domestic terror plot was foiled in Washington, D.C.

It’s a program that its champions and critics say is critical to thwarting terror plots abroad and one heavily used by the FBI, which over the weekend foiled a plan to use bomb-laden drones and snipers to potentially kill thousands at Trump’s Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) birthday celebration. 

The Senate was on its way to confirming Trump’s pick to be the next director of national intelligence (DNI), Jay Clayton, in a bid to get one step closer to reauthorizing Section 702, but Trump’s eleventh-hour decision to call off Clayton’s confirmation hearing halted all momentum.

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“It is the single most important program in terms of maintaining national security, and putting Mr. Clayton into the department would have eliminated an obstacle for having that happen,” Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, said. “I’m not sure. I think it’s a mistake for the president to have done this, and, hopefully, he’ll change his mind.” 

FISA reauthorization has long been a policy-based issue on the Hill. Boiled down, the Section 702 program allows the U.S. government to collect intelligence on foreigners abroad who are using U.S. communication systems, and it serves as a major part of Trump’s daily intelligence briefing.

But it also sweeps up communications from Americans who are talking to foreign suspects, and proponents pushing reforms argue that loopholes in the program allow for the surveillance of Americans on U.S. soil.

But it’s now morphed into a deeply political issue on the Hill. Democrats recoiled weeks ago when Trump tapped his Housing director, Bill Pulte, to serve in the interim as DNI. His nomination of Clayton was seen as an olive branch to restart talks. 

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Now lawmakers say they’re back at the starting line after Trump halted Clayton’s confirmation hearing and demanded that his SAVE America Act be attached to the unrelated bill.

“This is why I’m making the case you have to have permanent reform, because you can’t count on any of these people to be there for a very long time, and that’s what we saw today,” Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said. “I’m the longest serving member on the committee, and I have never seen anything quite like this.”

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., contended that Trump’s current position is to “up the ante.” 

“I mean, he’s putting 702 [reauthorization] almost out of reach,” Tillis said. “But he’s got to consciously recognize he’s doing that. We were close before the Pulte announcement. We were back on the right track with the Clayton announcement. Now we’re back to square one.”

Senate Democrats raged at the latest development, and argued that Trump couldn’t care less about the nation’s security.

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“Look, Trump’s actions overnight make it clear he is undermining our national security,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said. “He doesn’t give a damn about the American people’s safety, plain and simple. And every action he takes undercuts our safety for his own ridiculous, sometimes even indiscernible political motivation.” 

What was already a difficult issue based on policy alone has turned into a political slugfest with jabs, parries and haymakers dealing stiff blows to the process. 

Some Republicans believe that Democrats made the issue political and own the current situation.

“They’re just looking for some other reason to pin the tail on the donkey here, but it’s sort of — the ball’s in their court, but a lot of important issues at stake for sure,” Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., said. 

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Some privacy hawks don’t see the current situation as entirely doom and gloom.

While the current compromise three-year reauthorization waiting in the wings can pass if the stars align and the political firestorm abates, there are lawmakers who want another bite at the apple to push for more reforms and see the delay as an opportunity. 

“I welcome the opportunity to, at the very least, to get rid of ridiculous provisions that say that, you know, if you have Wi-Fi in your home or building, that they may then be a FISA obligated provider,” Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., said. “I mean, what in the world?”

Janeese Lewis George, a socialist member of the Washington, D.C., City Council described as “D.C.’s version of [New York City Mayor] Zohran Mamdani,” is likely to become mayor of the nation’s capital after winning the Democrat primary this week. 

Her main opponent, Kenyan McDuffie, conceded on Thursday morning and the ranked-choice primary race was officially called for the far-left candidate by the afternoon.

In a city that leans overwhelmingly Democrat and with no real challengers on the ballot, Lewis George’s primary victory clears the way for her to win November’s general election for mayor. She is poised to replace current Democrat Mayor Muriel Bowser, who on occasion worked with President Donald Trump over the last two years but ultimately opted not to pursue a fourth term at the city’s helm. 

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Lewis George’s challengers were McDuffie and five others who polled very low: Rini Sampath, Gary Goodweather, Ernest Johnson, Hope Solomon and Vincent Orange.

With a more adversarial approach to the current administration, Lewis George’s victory tees up a potential showdown with Trump as the president made cleaning up D.C. during his second term a main goal, maintains a deployment of the National Guard to the nation’s capital and has threatened repeatedly to end home rule for the district.

Opposing Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to D.C. was a central tenet of Lewis George’s platform on the council and during her campaign.

“Like many of you, I am shocked and outraged that President Trump has announced he is weaponizing the Home Rule Act by deploying the National Guard and exercising authority over the Metropolitan Police Department. This is a direct attack on the 700,000 residents of D.C., and we will not stand for it,” she said in a statement when Trump announced the move last August.

While Bowser offered cooperation with the Trump administration on the crime crackdown, which has been focused heavily on juvenile incidents, Lewis George insisted that “federal troops” and “masked ICE agents” were the real threat to the city’s youth.

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“Right now, using the curfew as a tool for our young people is dangerous,” she said during a primary debate. “It is dangerous because we have federal troops who are in our city, masked ICE agents who are in our city, and these are the people enforcing this law and our young people.”

“And these are not individuals who are trained in de-escalation, they are not accountable to D.C. residents.

“As mayor,” she continued, “I think it’s important that we use the right tools, and we don’t put the risk of our youth being harmed or killed without the real oversight that’s necessary.”

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Instead, Lewis George plans to offer even more “youth programming” to keep young people out of trouble.

She has touted a plan to expand universal access to childcare in D.C., “so that no family is spending more than 7% of their income on childcare.”

As a self-described democratic socialist, Lewis George is expected to take the district even further left as Trump and Republicans call for a crackdown on left-leaning policies they say are ruining the nation’s capital.

The candidate has supported the defund police movement and was endorsed by progressive groups like Black Lives Matter, the Working Families Party and the Metro D.C. chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America.

Trump has suggested that he’d order another federal takeover of Washington D.C. if the “crazy socialist” mayoral candidate was elected.

“I wouldn’t like it — and maybe we take back Washington, run it on the federal basis,” Trump said when asked by reporters how he’d respond if a self-described Democratic socialist D.C. council member were to win her bid.

“We won’t put up with it. We’re not going to lose our businesses,” Trump said last week during a press briefing from the White House.

Fox News Digital’s Peter Pinedo contributed to this report.

FIRST ON FOX: Florida Republican Sen. Ashley Moody introduced two bills that would follow the Trump administration’s crackdown on fraud, waste and abuse to protect America’s youngest and oldest, Fox News Digital has learned.

“I’ve fought fraud since my days as attorney general, and I’ve continued that fight as a senator. Serving as an [attorney general] gave me an awareness of the pervasiveness of schemes and emboldened my determination to hold scammers accountable,” Sen. Moody told Fox News Digital. 

“It also opened my eyes to where gaps exist between state and federal law enforcement. I’m closing that divide and introducing targeted legislation to address holes within current law that make it easier for bad actors to exploit vulnerable citizens and programs.”

The proposals follow a growing focus in Washington on combating fraud as the Trump administration moves to strengthen oversight of federal spending and public assistance programs. Moody’s two bills would strengthen safeguards against fraud in childcare programs and help law enforcement authorities go after scammers who prey on seniors.

DR OZ NAMES 5 STATES IN FRAUD CRACKDOWN AS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TARGETS MEDICAID ABUSE

The Stop Child Scams Act aims to strengthen oversight of federal childcare programs by requiring states to improve program integrity measures, submit corrective action plans if payment error rates exceed 5% and increase federal monitoring of high-risk states.

The bill would require states to detail internal controls, fraud investigation and recovery processes, sanctions for fraudulent clients or providers and procedures to verify eligibility.

DAVID MARCUS: FLORIDA SENATOR’S WAVE OF ANTI-FRAUD BILLS SHOULD BE SLAM DUNK

It also permanently bars individuals convicted of childcare fraud from participating in certain federal childcare programs.

The push comes amid heightened focus on large-scale fraud cases, including Minnesota’s $250 million “Feeding Our Future” scheme, which became a national flashpoint after surfacing in 2022 and has led to a wave of convictions in recent years.

Federal agents issued search warrants at various daycare and autism centers in Minnesota last month to investigate “fake” facilities allegedly taking federal money.

Moody also introduced a second fraud bill, STOP Scams Against Seniors Act, which would help states create elder justice task forces to coordinate investigations into financial exploitation, scams and fraud targeting Americans age 60 and older.

The bill incentivizes states to go after fraudsters through federal grant money to establish task forces.

The task forces would coordinate closely with state and local police departments, the FBI, the Department of Justice and other federal law enforcement agencies.

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The program also requires reporting on the number of cases opened and completed, the number of victims assisted, the types of scams identified, the methods used to contact victims and any indicators of organized or transnational criminal involvement.

FIRST ON FOX: Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has made it his priority to carve out “woke” policies from the Pentagon, and a Senate Republican is backing him up in Congress’ annual defense authorization bill. 

As the Senate moves forward with the perennial National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), one of the annual must-pass bills in Congress that authorizes eye-popping sums of taxpayer funding for the Pentagon, Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., scored a quiet win in Hegseth’s fight. 

Banks secured an amendment to the $1.15 trillion policy package that aims to reverse Biden-era diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies that seeped into hiring, communication and training at the Pentagon. 

TRUMP’S IRAN DEAL ‘GIVING A LOT MORE TO GET A LOT LESS’ THAN OBAMA’S, SENATOR SAYS

“President Trump and Secretary Hegseth are turning the Pentagon around by getting rid of the Biden-era DEI nonsense that hurt morale and took focus away from the mission,” Banks said in a statement.

“Our military should be focused on winning wars, not pushing political agendas,” he continued. “I’m proud to have fought for this amendment to reinforce these reforms.”

Banks’ amendment, first shared with Fox News Digital, includes three provisions targeting DEI practices at the Pentagon. 

HEGSETH QUIPS ‘99.9%’ OF DEI INITIATIVES ARE GONE FROM THE MILITARY UNDER TRUMP’S WATCH

It would nix prioritizing diversity for active-duty warrant officers, active-duty officers and reserve officers seeking promotions and instead press promotion boards in their deliberations to focus on merit, qualifications and leadership.

Hegseth has pushed for the Pentagon to focus more on lethality and merit rather than diversity standards. 

“Real toxic leadership is endangering subordinates with low standards. Real toxic leadership is promoting people based on immutable characteristics or quotas instead of based on merit,” Hegseth said last year.

TRUMP’S CRACKDOWN ON TRANS TROOPS: NEW ORDER NIXES PREFERRED PRONOUNS AND RESTRICTS FACILITY USE

Banks’ amendment would also repeal provisions that bar the Pentagon from banning the use of gender identifiers or personal pronouns in official communications, such as emails, in accordance with an executive order from President Donald Trump last year that said “expressing a false ‘gender identity’ divergent from an individual’s sex cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for Military Service.”

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The add-on to the NDAA would also shift focus from DEI training to instead emphasize instruction on military values, like honor, courage, commitment, integrity and excellence.

FIRST ON FOX: Americans are nearly evenly split between favoring Iranian regime change and a negotiated U.S. settlement with Iran, according to a new survey. 

Some 39% of respondents favor a negotiated settlement where Iran’s current government remains in place, with verifiable limits on its nuclear and missile programs, according to the findings of the Reagan Institute Summer Survey, while 36% favor replacing Iran’s current government with one more favorable to the U.S. 

Another 16% favor a weakened regime where the current government stays in place but is significantly diminished militarily and economically, and 8% responded that they don’t know. 

The findings underscore the political challenge facing President Donald Trump as his administration pursues a newly signed memorandum of understanding with Iran. While the agreement seeks to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions through negotiations, Americans remain divided over the ultimate objective of U.S. policy toward the Islamic Republic.

AMERICANS AGREE WITH TRUMP THAT IRAN POSES THREAT TO UNITED STATES: POLL

Republicans who responded to the survey favored replacing Iran’s government by a 2-to-1 margin over a diplomatic deal. 

Republicans were far more likely than Democrats to favor a more aggressive outcome in Iran. Half of Republican respondents said they would prefer to see Iran’s current government replaced with one more favorable to the United States, compared to 25% who said they would favor a negotiated settlement that leaves the regime in place in exchange for verifiable limits on its nuclear and missile programs.

The findings were nearly identical among self-identified MAGA Republicans, 51% of whom favored regime change while 25% backed a negotiated settlement.

SHARP PARTISAN DIVIDE EMERGES OVER IRAN STRIKE, TRUMP’S STRATEGY: POLLS

Democrats, meanwhile, largely favored diplomacy. A majority, 52%, said they would prefer a negotiated settlement with Iran’s current government, while 25% favored regime change. Another 14% favored leaving the regime in place but significantly weakened militarily and economically.

The Reagan Institute Summer Survey was conducted May 26 through June 3 among 1,555 respondents nationwide and carries a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points. The survey used a mixed-mode methodology that included live telephone interviews, an online panel and text-to-web responses.

To better reflect the U.S. population, the results were weighted using demographic benchmarks from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2023 American Community Survey, including age, gender, race, region and education levels. The poll also included an oversample of 331 MAGA Republicans under age 30, a group with a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.

The Reagan Institute is a Washington-based policy organization that advocates the Reagan foreign-policy tradition of “peace through strength” and sustained American leadership abroad.

The findings come as Trump has defended a newly signed memorandum of understanding with Iran as a way to reduce tensions and create a pathway toward a broader agreement addressing Tehran’s nuclear program.

The memorandum establishes a 60-day negotiating period during which the United States and Iran will attempt to reach a more comprehensive deal. The agreement also includes provisions aimed at restoring commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and provides limited sanctions waivers tied to continued negotiations. Several of the most contentious issues, including the long-term future of Iran’s nuclear program, are expected to be addressed in subsequent talks.

Trump has described the arrangement as a means of avoiding a wider conflict while pursuing what he called a “great settlement” with Tehran. He has also argued that the agreement could help stabilize energy markets by reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global shipping route, while creating an opportunity to negotiate additional restrictions on Iran’s nuclear activities.

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The president added that he agreed to a settlement to avoid “economic catastrophe.” 

“I didn’t want to see economic catastrophe. If you kept this going, that could have happened,” he told reporters at the G7 Summit in France. 

House GOP Conference Chairwoman Lisa McClain, R-Mich., rebuked a school board in Richmond, Michigan, after some of its members tried to remove a conservative colleague for missing meetings while on military deployment to the Middle East.

Ray Steir, who received an American flag and a copy of the Congressional Record from McClain on Thursday as a commendation of his work, had been on deployment, attending board meetings remotely, but eventually lost virtual access.

That’s when the board called for his removal, citing a “disservice” caused by his absence.

“One of the board members’ family was taking to social media and putting out misinformation about myself and my wife and things that were not factually accurate and then ultimately calling for my resignation and prompting others to reach out to the district to call for my recall,” Steir recounted.

PARENTS SAY THEY’RE RUNNING FOR LOCAL SCHOOL BOARDS TO FIGHT ‘POISONOUS’ CRITICAL RACE THEORY

The moment is just the most recent clash between Republicans and school boards over policies that, in their view, are gatekeeping schools against diversity of thought and accountability.

“I think education is extremely important and vital,” McClain told Fox News Digital.

“And educators and administrators need to teach children how to think, not what to think. It’s about time that administrators begin to get held accountable for their actions. Good actions and bad actions.”

McClain’s meeting with Steir comes on the heels of a congressional hearing last week where she grilled a superintendent from Virginia over student privacy policy, probing if those policies were being unevenly applied to favor transgender students.

VIRGINIA SCHOOL DISTRICT SLAPPED WITH COMPLAINT ALLEGING NEW CLAIMS IN VIRAL TRANS LOCKER ROOM FIGHT

“The victims got a 10-day suspension and the biological female that did the filming got a one-day suspension,” McClain said, referring to an incident at Stone Bridge High School in Loudoun County where students had been reprimanded for filming in a locker room.

“How does that make sense?”

In Steir’s case, McClain questioned whether the board had targeted Steir on account of just his deployment overseas. Steir had clashed with the board after learning that some of the district’s bathroom policies would have allowed fourth-grade students to use the same bathroom as transgender eighth-grade boys.

“Prior to him filling the seat, the seat was open for two months,” McClain observed. So that logical argument doesn’t exactly make sense to me; it doesn’t really hold a lot of water.”

MICHIGAN PARENT WANTS TRUMP TO ACT AFTER DAUGHTER SHARES LOCKER ROOM WITH TRANS-ATHLETE

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For his own part, Steir believes his case will refocus attention on the importance of the school board and its membership.

“My goal is to continue being an advocate for the community. One of the good things that I think came out of this was that it got so much attention that some of the community members who were unaware of the dynamics that were not being brought to light,” Steir said.  

At Thursday’s ceremony marking the beginning of the Obama Presidential Center’s opening weekend, the master of ceremonies began with a left-wing “land acknowledgment ritual,” for which the entire event was promptly mocked. 

Valerie Jarrett, the former senior advisor to Obama when he was president and the current CEO of the Obama Foundation, kicked things off.

“We’d also like to take a moment to recognize the original inhabitants of the land upon which we are gathered today,” she said. “We honor the Anishinaabe, the Council of Three Fires, the Ojibwe, the Odawa and the Potawatomi nations.”

Land acknowledgments have been mocked as performative left-wing routines completed to commemorate the Native Americans who once lived on the land where an event is happening.

OSCARS FEATURES INDIGENOUS LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT, ROASTED AS ‘PERFORMATIVE NONSENSE’ ON SOCIAL MEDIA 

They are an extension of the belief that the United States exists on “stolen land.”

But as many keen online observers noted, Democrats hosting the Obama Presidential Center’s grand opening have no intention of returning the land to the people they believe are its rightful owners. 

“Wouldn’t they prefer you just give them their land back?” conservative commentator Steve Deace asked sarcastically.

CARVILLE REBUKES DNC OVER WOKE ‘LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT’ LAMENTING TREATMENT OF NATIVE AMERICANS

“Land acknowledgements are funny because the real message is ‘I want to say I care, but I don’t really care or I wouldn’t have built this on land which I just said is yours,’” said Beth Anne Mumford of Americans for Prosperity.

“So you just went ahead and built on that land anyway, huh,” said conservative commentator Stephen Miller 

Townhall senior strategist Siraj Hashmi weighed in with a reference to infamous Chicago rapper Chief Keef.

REWARDING RACISM: HOW TRIBAL POLITICS IS TEARING AMERICA APART

“Pretty disrespectful for the Obama Presidential Center to not acknowledge the current tribe leader of the South Side of Chicago: Chief Keef,” he quipped.

An anonymous user balked at the logic, or apparent lack thereof, of building “a communist monument” on “stolen land” that the new owners refused to give back.

“The mental hurdles are Olympics level,” the user said.

OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL CENTER’S $470M SAFETY NET UNDER SCRUTINY AS SUBCONTRACTORS SAY THEY’RE OWED MILLIONS

Thursday’s event featured high-profile Democrats, including former Vice President Kamala Harris, former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State and failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, along with A-list performers like John Legend, Stevie Wonder and Bruce Springsteen who put on a concert.

Oprah Winfrey, Tom Hanks, David Letterman and others were also present.

The presidential center itself, which cost nearly $1 billion to build and has been embroiled in controversy, will officially open on Friday. It was initially estimated to cost about half that amount.

Despite the explicitly stated goal that the center would help uplift minority-owned contracting businesses by hiring them to work on high-profile projects, some claim they’ve been stiffed and are facing financial ruin, according to a Fox News Digital investigation. 

One subcontractor says his firm is owed $4 million for work it completed on the center.

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The project was announced in 2015, and the site — Jackson Park on Chicago’s South Side — chosen in 2016, but the groundbreaking was delayed until 2021 due to bureaucratic red tape. The project required numerous local and federal approvals to build on the location, which is a historic preservation site, multiple environmental reviews and was subject to several lawsuits.

After construction began, the price tag on the project continuously skyrocketed. The center was scheduled to open in March 2025, but was delayed for another year

Democrats, among them some of the most recognizable names in politics, have accepted millions of dollars in campaign contributions from top employees at firms the Pentagon recently designated as “Chinese military companies” operating in the U.S.

The Department of War on June 8 designated Alibaba, Baidu and BYD as “Chinese military companies,” meaning that the three firms, in the eyes of the U.S. government, are providing assistance to the People’s Liberation Army through its military-civil fusion strategy or other means. Senior employees at these companies, including executives, have donated roughly $2.6 million to Democratic political committees since 2020, a Fox News Digital review of campaign finance filings has found.

Notable individuals and organizations that received contributions from top staffers at these firms include Sen. Adam Schiff, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, former President Joe Biden, Gov. Gavin Newsom, former Vice President Kamala Harris and the Democratic National Committee. 

Donors to Democratic committees from the trio of firms include executives, top-level lawyers, lobbyists and, to a much lesser extent, rank-and-file employees working in areas such as engineering or management. The staffers made some contributions to Republicans as well, though the overall sum was far lower than what Democrats received.

PLATNER’S ANTI-CORPORATE CRUSADE HITS AWKWARD SNAG AS RECEIPTS TELL ANOTHER STORY 

The review included direct contributions, earmarked contributions and donations to joint-fundraising committees reported in campaign finance filings. It did not identify corporate donations from Alibaba, Baidu or BYD to the federal committees.

“American politicians should no longer accept campaign cash from any Chinese companies. Politicians who have been taking campaign cash from companies like Baidu, Alibaba and BYD now realize they were supported by blacklisted Chinese Military Companies,” Michael Lucci, CEO of the national security organization State Armor, told Fox News Digital. “The reason the Pentagon’s list of sanctioned CCP companies keeps expanding is because the Chinese Communist Party imposes a ‘civil-military fusion’ mandate upon all Chinese companies, forcing them to assist in modernizing China’s military with the goal of defeating America.”

“They all end up working to support the PLA. They should all be cut off from U.S. politics,” he added. 

The Pentagon’s Chinese military company designation via its 1260H list does not function as a traditional sanction, as Americans can continue to do business with the company.

Biden-linked committees and joint fundraising vehicles were by far the biggest beneficiaries of the funds, taking in roughly $850,000 from employees at the trio of firms between 2020 and 2024. The DNC, meanwhile, had a haul of around $500,000 while Harris-linked committees brought in roughly $140,000.

TOP CALIFORNIA DEM RUNNING FOR OFFICE TIED TO CHINESE SCHOOL ACCUSED OF US DIPLOMA SCANDAL

Various state Democratic parties also received five-figure support from employees at Baidu, BYD and Alibaba. Newsom, per state campaign finance records, accepted $50,000 from an executive at BYD, an electric-vehicle manufacturer that his administration later awarded a contract. 

Fox News Digital reached the offices of Biden, Harris, Schiff, Pelosi, Newsom and the DNC on Sunday for comment and has not heard back as of publishing.

Pentagon officials are legally required to release a list of what it determines to be Chinese military companies every year. The first such list was released in June 2021 under President Joe Biden.

The Pentagon’s 1260H list identifies Chinese companies the Defense Department says are “Chinese military companies” operating directly or indirectly in the United States. Required by the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, the list is intended to warn U.S. businesses and investors about firms tied to China’s military-civil fusion strategy, though inclusion does not automatically trigger sanctions.

New defense laws, however, have given the list more bite in recent years.

The Pentagon will be barred from directly contracting with companies on the list starting June 30 and is currently banned from contracting with companies who lobby on behalf 1260H-listed firms. In 2027, the ban will be expanded to prevent indirect procurement of goods manufactured by Chinese military companies through supply chain intermediaries.

WALL STREET BANKS HELPED CHINESE MILITARY-LINKED FIRM RAISE BILLIONS DESPITE RED FLAGS, LAWMAKERS FIND

While Alibaba, Baidu and BYD only recently earned formal designations as Chinese military companies, their links to the CCP have been widely reported for years.

The Wall Street Journal, for instance, reported in 2017 that Alibaba was assisting the Chinese government in its surveillance efforts against dissidents, and Chinese state media reported in 2018 that the firm had a large CCP presence within it. Some sources within the company told Reuters in 2019 that the firm had developed an app designed specifically to increase ideological alignment with Chinese President Xi Jinping. 

Alibaba, however, has come out strongly against its inclusion on the Pentagon’s list of Chinese military companies.

NATIONAL SECURITY EXPERTS RAISE CONCERNS AFTER MICROSOFT PROGRAM EXPOSED AS POSSIBLE AVENUE FOR CHINESE SPYING

“There’s no basis to conclude that Alibaba should be placed on the Section 1260H List,” a company spokeswoman told Fox News Digital. “Alibaba is not a Chinese military company nor part of any military-civil fusion strategy. We will take all available legal action against attempts to misrepresent our company.”

That statement also appears in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing made by Alibaba shortly after it was added to the Pentagon’s list.

“Inclusion in the CMC List will not affect the Group’s ability to conduct business as usual in the United States or anywhere in the world because the Group does not do business related to U.S. military procurement,” the SEC filing adds. “The CMC List does not impose any other export controls or sanctions, nor does it prohibit any persons (other than the U.S. Department of Defense) from business dealings with the Group or transacting in the securities of the Company.”

RICKETTS, FETTERMAN TEAM UP FOR CRACKDOWN ON CHINA’S ATTEMPTS TO PURCHASE US FARMLAND

As early as 2015, outlets like Bloomberg News were reporting that the Chinese government was heavily subsidizing BYD. Wang Chuanfu, the founder and CEO of the firm, is a member of the Chinese Communist Party and an ally of Xi. 

BYD did not respond to a request for comment when reached by Fox News Digital on Monday.

In Baidu’s case, China’s Ministry of Science and Technology named the company as part of the country’s “national team” for AI development in 2017, with it later appointed by the CCP’s National Development and Reform Commission to lead China’s first national lab on deep learning technologies, according to state media. The firm, which primarily operates a search engine, reportedly assists the Chinese government in carrying out censorship.     

“We categorically reject the inclusion of Baidu on the list, and there is no credible justification for adding Baidu to the list,” a Baidu spokesperson told Fox News Digital “The suggestion that Baidu is a military company is entirely baseless. We will not hesitate to use all options available to us to have the company removed from the list.”

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The Pentagon has defended its additions to the list.

“After the Department conducted its due diligence, it identified 188 entities that meet the statutory requirement for inclusion on the most recent 1260H List,” a Department of War spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

One year after sending political shock waves across the country with his New York City Democratic primary victory en route to winning election as mayor of the nation’s most populous city, Zohran Mamdani is testing the limits of political power as he takes on the party establishment.

The 34-year-old democratic socialist mayor is teaming up with longtime progressive champion and two-time Democratic presidential nominee runner-up Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., at a get-out-the-vote rally in the New York City borough of Brooklyn on Thursday, less than one week before crucial primary elections.

Mamdani and Sanders are aiming to boost a slate of candidates backed by the mayor, including two who are running against Democratic congressional incumbents, as part of their bid to mold a more progressive party.

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

The left-wing candidates endorsed by Mamdani include political organizer Darializa Avila Chevalier, who is primary challenging Rep. Adriano Espaillat, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus chair, in New York’s 13th U.S. House District, which covers the northern third of Manhattan and a sliver of the Bronx. Espaillat is supported by a slew of party leaders, including New York Gov. Kathy Hochul.

The mayor is also backing former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, who ran against Mamdani last year in the crowded primary field but became one of his biggest backers. Lander is challenging incumbent Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman in the 10th Congressional District, which includes lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn. Goldman’s supporters include former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

And in New York’s 7th, which covers parts of Brooklyn and Queens, Mamdani’s endorsed socialist state Assembly Member Claire Valdez, who is battling Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, who is backed by retiring Rep. Nydia Velazquez, D.N.Y.

The outcomes of the races Mamdani weighed-in on will put to test whether his popularity among New York Democrats translates to coattails in elections.

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“This is the team. This is our year. It’s up to all of us to get them over the finish line,” Mamdani emphasized in a social media post spotlighting Thursday’s rally.

The socialist has been a darling of the far-left for a year and a half. But six months into his tenure as New York City mayor, he can also count former critics within the Democratic Party, including Hochul, as allies. And he’s even earned praise from President Donald Trump.

Trump last year repeatedly claimed Mamdani was a “communist lunatic,” but during an Oval Office meeting in November that grabbed tons of national attention, the president lauded the then-mayor-elect as a “very rational person” who would do a “really good job.”

“It’s crystal clear that Mamdani understands power and how to leverage it,” longtime Democratic strategist Joe Caiazzo told Fox News Digital.

“He remains incredibly popular and it appears he also understands that may not always be the case. That’s why I think you see him flexing his political muscle now. It’s smart politics,” added Caiazzo, a veteran of the 2016 and 2020 Sanders presidential campaigns.

The candidates Mamdani’s backing, including some running for state legislative offices, are mostly showcasing the mayor’s platform of focusing on affordability in a city with one of the nation’s highest costs of living.

Sanders, a New York City native who last year appeared at rallies on Mamdani’s behalf and swore in the mayor at his January inauguration, highlighted on social media, “Now more than ever, we need leaders in Congress who understand firsthand the struggles working people face.”

Mamdani’s support for the trio of congressional candidates, along with Thursday’s rally with Sanders, gives Republicans, who have long cast the mayor as a radical, more ammunition to use him as a cudgel as they work to hold their razor-thin House majority in this year’s midterm elections.

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“Zohran Mamdani’s socialist brand is as toxic as it comes,” National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) National Press Secretary Mike Marinella told Fox News Digital.

“And during a time when Democrats don’t have a leader or a message, he’s exactly the kind of bogeyman we can use against Democrats to truly show who is leading their party and the crazy policies they all support.”

Fox News’ Jessica Sonkin contributed to this report

FIRST ON FOX: Detransitioner Chloe Cole says Planned Parenthood clinics across multiple states had few answers when she sought help reversing the effects of a gender transition, according to a new undercover investigation obtained by Fox News Digital.

The investigation, conducted by pro-life advocacy group Live Action in partnership with Cole, involved calls to Planned Parenthood locations in Idaho, Alaska, New York and Washington, D.C., among other jurisdictions. In the calls, Cole posed as a patient seeking information about detransitioning after previously undergoing a gender transition.

Across multiple conversations reviewed by Fox News Digital, employees described services available for patients seeking gender-affirming care but did not identify detransition-specific programs, treatment pathways or clinical resources when asked about options for individuals seeking to reverse course after transition-related medical treatment.

In one call reviewed by Fox News Digital, Cole asked whether Planned Parenthood offered services for patients attempting to stop or reverse a transition.

UNDERCOVER INVESTIGATION: PLANNED PARENTHOOD PRESCRIBING HORMONES TO MINORS WITH MINIMAL OVERSIGHT

“We only have gender-affirming care services, like for hormones, but not to detransition,” a Planned Parenthood employee told Cole.

When Cole asked whether the organization offered help addressing fertility concerns or other effects associated with prior transition-related treatment, the employee responded: “As in right now, it’s a no, I don’t think we do that type of healthcare.”

The calls form the basis of a new campaign by Live Action urging lawmakers to continue restrictions on federal funding for Planned Parenthood, which the organization says has expanded its transgender-related healthcare services in recent years.

I WAS 15 AND TRUSTED THE ‘EXPERTS’ ON GENDER CARE. TURNS OUT, THEY WERE WINGING IT

For Cole, the issue is personal.

“My name is Chloe Cole. When I was 12 years old, I began the process of trying to change my gender from female to male,” she says in the investigation video.

“At age 15, I even had both of my breasts surgically removed. But I realized that what I was doing was actually harming my body. So at age 16, I began to detransition.”

Cole said she launched the investigation because she wanted to know what resources existed for patients seeking help after regretting a transition.

“I know firsthand the pain of being pushed down the path of transition,” Cole told Fox News Digital in a statement.

“In this investigation with Live Action, I wanted to see what Planned Parenthood would do when someone came back asking for help to detransition.”

‘LOSING THEIR HEALTH’: DETRANSITIONER SOUNDS ALARM ABOUT SEX-CHANGE SURGERIES NEGATIVELY IMPACTING CHILDREN

“What I found was horrifying: Planned Parenthood was ready to help people start transitioning, but had no real answers, no meaningful support, and no services to help them reverse course,” she said.

During the calls, Cole raised concerns about fertility, the effects of cross-sex hormones, breast reconstruction and other questions related to detransitioning. According to the investigation, employees referred her to outside providers, said they were unfamiliar with detransition-related care or stated they were not aware of such services being offered through Planned Parenthood.

In one exchange, Cole told a Planned Parenthood employee, “I had surgery, I’ve been on the drugs, and I need help recovering the things I’ve lost,” while asking what resources might be available to patients seeking to detransition.

DETRANSITIONER TOUTS $2-MILLION LANDMARK MALPRACTICE RULING AS GOOD START, BUT ‘NOT NEARLY ENOUGH’

The employee replied that Planned Parenthood could schedule an appointment with a provider but added, “I don’t think we do that type of healthcare.”

At another point during the call, a staff member said Planned Parenthood facilities typically see patients who are “getting started on gender-affirming care.”

The findings follow a separate undercover investigation reported by Fox News Digital in May that found some Planned Parenthood locations said minors as young as 16 could obtain cross-sex hormones through the organization’s informed-consent model with limited requirements for therapy or mental-health evaluations.

CHLOE COLE ACT AIMED AT BLOCKING MINORS FROM UNDERGOING LIFE-ALTERING TRANSGENDER SURGERIES, GOP LAWMAKER SAYS

At the time, Live Action released recordings from calls to Planned Parenthood facilities in multiple states in which employees allegedly said cross-sex hormones could be prescribed at an initial appointment.

The new investigation focuses instead on what support is available for individuals seeking to discontinue treatment or detransition.

Live Action founder and president Lila Rose said the calls revealed what she described as a one-sided system.

“Live Action’s undercover investigation with detransitioner Chloe Cole exposed Planned Parenthood’s one-way body destruction pipeline,” Rose said in a statement.

“Planned Parenthood is willing to prescribe cross-sex hormones and push vulnerable people further into dangerous so-called ‘gender-affirming care,’ but when someone comes back seeking help to detransition, Planned Parenthood has no answers, no support and no services to help reverse the damage.”

Planned Parenthood’s website states that many of its health centers provide gender-affirming care and lists services including hormone therapy, puberty blockers, surgery referrals and “transition support (social, legal).” The website does not specifically reference detransition-related services on its gender-affirming care page. Not all Planned Parenthood health centers offer the same services, according to the organization.

The organization is using the investigation as part of a broader effort urging Congress and the Trump administration to continue restricting federal funding for Planned Parenthood after current limitations expire.

According to Planned Parenthood’s most recent annual report, the organization received hundreds of millions of dollars in government reimbursements and grants while continuing to provide reproductive healthcare and other medical services nationwide.

Fox News Digital asked Planned Parenthood whether any of its health centers provide detransition-related services, referrals, counseling or medical support to patients seeking to discontinue or reverse prior gender-related medical treatment, and whether it disputes any findings contained in the investigation.

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Planned Parenthood did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Peter Pinedo contributed to this reporting.

The White House took aim at former President Barack Obama ahead of Friday’s grand opening of the Obama Presidential Center, contrasting President Donald Trump’s government construction projects to the 44th president’s.

“President Trump continues to implement long-overdue and necessary renovations to beautify Washington, D.C., and our nation’s treasured monuments as we approach our historic 250th anniversary of independence. Thanks to the Builder-in-Chief, these projects are being completed on time and under budget — a stark contrast to the errantly run Obama administration, which overspent and underdelivered,” White House spokesman Davis Ingle told Fox News Digital when asked for comment about the museum.

The Obama Presidential Center, which opens to the public Friday following a decade of planning and construction, has faced scrutiny over rising costs, construction delays and public infrastructure spending. The White House seized on those criticisms as Trump promotes a series of renovation and construction projects.

“President Trump is ensuring our nation’s capital will be properly honored and maintained in excellent condition for generations to come,” Ingle added.

BUREAUCRATS HIDE TRUE PRICE OF OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL CENTER AS TAXPAYERS HIT WITH INFRASTRUCTURE BILL

An Obama Presidential Center Dedication held Thursday featured a slew of former diplomats, officials and celebrities such as former Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, Oprah, Nancy Pelosi, Kamala Harris, and Steven Spielberg.

Taxpayers footed hundreds of millions of dollars in public infrastructure costs for Obama’s museum that constructed roads, transit, and utility updates around the campus. 

Overall construction costs were reported to be $830 million in 2021 and have likely climbed past the $1 billion mark.

A recent Fox News Digital investigation identified multiple construction firms claiming losses ranging from hundreds of thousands of dollars to tens of millions.

SUBCONTRACTORS SAY THEY’RE OWED MILLIONS, FACE FINANCIAL RUIN, AFTER HELPING BUILD OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL CENTER

Meanwhile, Trump has been on a mission to fulfill last year’s executive order titled, “Making the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful.”

“I will take care of our cherished Capital, and we will make it, truly, GREAT AGAIN! Before the tents, squalor, filth, and crime, it was the most beautiful Capital in the world. It will soon be that again,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post in August.

Obama, along with democratic officials, have taken swipes at Trump over his renovations to Washington, D.C., the White House and America 250 projects, criticizing them as frivolous.

PHOTOS: THE MAKING OF TRUMP’S WHITE HOUSE BALLROOM, A LOOK AT THE CONSTRUCTION PROGRESS

Trump “has been focused on critical issues like paving over the Rose Garden so folks don’t get mud on their shoes, and gold plating the Oval Office and building a $300 million ballroom,” Obama said during a rally in October.

Trump directed the addition of stone pavers in October to the Rose Garden lawn, a change designed to better accommodate press conferences and ceremonial events. There has also been construction at the White House as workers build a ballroom expected to be done before 2028.

“It’s shameful that Trump is building his fancy ballroom while working families struggle to afford a basic meal during the holidays,” wrote former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

TRUMP PULLS BACK CURTAIN ON WHITE HOUSE BALLROOM’S FORTRESS-LIKE DEFENSES ABOVE AND DEEP BELOW

Trump previously said the future White House ballroom will not just be an event venue, but serve as a hardened security structure designed to support presidential operations and large gatherings.

He has also planned installation of a Memorial Circle 250-foot arch for America’s 250th birthday that will be gilded.

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“Your taxes might be going up. But don’t worry — at least $15 million of it is going toward Trump’s arch project,” posted California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press office on X. 

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

The Trump administration’s new framework with Iran grants Tehran immediate oil sanctions waivers while postponing the most consequential nuclear questions for future negotiations, a gamble officials acknowledge carries risks because they expect Iran may not comply. 

“We come in with the full expectation that they will lie and they will cheat,” one senior U.S. official said on a call with reporters Wednesday, arguing that any final agreement would require a verification and enforcement mechanism capable of detecting violations.

The agreement, which establishes a 60-day negotiating period, rests on a bet that Iran can be deterred from violating its commitments through monitoring and enforcement. Administration officials say any sanctions waivers can be clawed back if Iran fails to comply, while critics argue the U.S. is giving up leverage before the toughest nuclear issues have been resolved.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION UNVEILS SWEEPING TERMS OF PROPOSED IRAN AGREEMENT

The memorandum of understanding, unveiled by administration officials on a call with reporters Wednesday, says the Treasury Department will immediately issue waivers allowing Iran to export crude oil, petroleum products and derivatives, as well as access associated banking, insurance and transportation services. 

But the agreement does not immediately require Iran to dismantle its nuclear program, surrender its enriched uranium stockpile or end enrichment. Instead, the deal says the U.S. and Iran will negotiate the “disposition” of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile, with down-blending on site under International Atomic Energy Agency supervision identified as the minimum methodology.

Administration officials defended that language as an early nuclear concession, saying the U.S. continues to push for more.

“Of course that’s a flaw and we will push for more than that. But the fact that they’re conceding to that is a major, major win for the United States of America,” one senior U.S. official said on the call. “They’re saying we will destroy the enriched stockpile, and this is how we’re going to do it at a minimum.”

Down-blending would reduce the enrichment level of the material, but would not remove it from Iran. 

Trump has defended the framework as necessary to avoid a prolonged conflict, closed shipping lanes and a market shock.

“If we didn’t do this deal, we could have dropped more bombs for another three weeks, two weeks, four weeks, two years,” Trump said Wednesday at the G7 summit in Évian, France. “You would never have the Hormuz Strait open … Your market would have, instead of going up, would go down at levels that nobody ever saw before, maybe except for 1929.” 

TRUMP DEFENDS WAR DEAL IN MARATHON PRESSER, USING SEMANTICS ON WHY IRAN IS GETTING $300 BILLION

“I did not want to see economic catastrophe,” Trump added.

The framework drew support from Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a prominent Iran hawk who said after speaking with special envoy Steve Witkoff that he thought the 60-day agreement would be “beneficial.”

“Whether or not the United States can reach an acceptable, verifiable deal with Iran regarding its nuclear program and other issues is yet to be determined, but I see little downside to trying,” Graham said.

Others criticized the deal for offering sanctions relief before Iran had agreed to anything concrete on the nuclear front.

“How do you expect Iran to agree to anything in the future, let alone within 60 days, when you’ve given up all your leverage?” Blaise Misztal, vice president for policy at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, told Fox News Digital.

Broader sanctions relief, a withdrawal of U.S. forces and a $300 billion reconstruction fund are also contemplated as part of a final deal if both sides can reach one within 60 days.

Those who opposed the war now argue that the memorandum is the best deal the U.S. can get after the conflict and blockade.

“The U.S. bargaining position was hurt by the war, not helped by it,” Rosemary Kelanic, director of the Middle East program at Defense Priorities, told Fox News Digital.

Kelanic said Trump is now “buying off Iran to return to something approaching the pre-war status quo” by offering immediate sanctions waivers and unfreezing assets tied to the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

She argued that the immediate waivers are the price Trump has to pay to convince Iran he is serious about diplomacy after launching strikes during negotiations.

“This is like earnest money, right?” Kelanic said. “It’s like upfront cash that shows that he really means it. It’s a costly signal that Trump essentially forced himself to have to make by breaking off negotiations and bombing Iran in the middle of them.”

Iran has framed the memorandum as a test of whether Washington is prepared to act first, rather than simply offer assurances.

“Unfortunately, it must be acknowledged that Iran’s deep mistrust of the United States stems from a long history of wrongdoing by American leaders,” Iran foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Monday in a press briefing. “The United States still has a long way to go before it can earn the trust of the Iranian people.”

The memorandum leaves the key nuclear mechanics to be worked out during the 60-day period, as well as key issues like ballistic missile production and proxy funding. 

“What we have in this deal already suggests that if there is a deal in 60 days on the nuclear issue, that deal is going to be weaker than the JCPOA,” Misztal said, referring to the Obama-era nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

Under the JCPOA, Iran was required to sharply reduce its uranium stockpile, including by removing excess material from the country. Misztal said the new agreement’s minimum standard of down-blending on site suggests Iranian uranium may remain inside Iran.

“That means first of all, no uranium is leaving Iran, which happened under the JCPOA,” he said.

The agreement also guarantees toll-free commercial transit through the Strait of Hormuz for 60 days while Iran, Oman and Gulf states discuss a longer-term framework for administration and maritime services in the waterway.

Behnam Taleblu, senior director at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, warned that the provision raises concerns that Iran could gain a role in regulating a critical international waterway after demonstrating its ability to disrupt global shipping.

“I mean, not just charge a toll, but regulate the crucial international waterway,” Taleblu said. “There can be no doubt over the fact that the Strait of Hormuz needs to be open and open to all, not just whomever Iran and Iran plus its friends can pressure others into.”

“If there is no guarantee of freedom of navigation, the Islamic Republic is going to salami slice the resolve of the Gulf countries and basically try to throw its weight around in this strait again,” he added.

The agreement also calls for the U.S. and regional partners to develop a reconstruction and economic development plan for Iran worth at least $300 billion. U.S. officials have stressed that the provision does not require American taxpayer money, but critics said any funding stream could free up regime resources for other priorities.

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“It doesn’t matter if it’s Chinese money or American money or [United Arab Emirates] money,” Taleblu said. “The more they have access, the less they have to compete over resources and more they can fund what they want to fund.” 

If negotiations collapse during the 60 days, Trump has left resuming military pressure back on the table. “If we think that they’re just dragging us along and kind of bulls**ting us, then we’ll be very quick to pull the plug,” a senior administration official said. 

Republicans aren’t taking President Donald Trump’s deal with Iran well. 

While Congress has still not received the actual memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by Trump and Iranian officials, lawmakers have seen the reports circulating in the media. 

And one of the top Republicans in the Senate warned that while he supported the war’s initial objectives, he feared that the current agreement would undermine those same objectives. 

Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker, R-Miss., shredded the MOU in a statement on Thursday, in which he cautioned that the agreement “negotiates away the victories of Operation Epic Fury in ways that are completely out of step with the president’s goals.”

TRUMP’S IRAN DEAL ‘GIVING A LOT MORE TO GET A LOT LESS’ THAN OBAMA’S, SENATOR SAYS

“Specifically, the $300 billion fund for the reconstruction and economic development of Iran — though not funded by U.S. taxpayers — would make Iran’s payoff under President Obama’s 2015 deal look like a pittance by comparison,” Wicker said. 

The proposed $300 billion fund has given Republicans heartburn as details have emerged in recent days, with some comparing it to the billions that flowed to Iran under former President Joe Biden. 

The agreement stipulates that the U.S. would coordinate with regional partners to develop the fund, which would be finalized as part of the 60-day deal.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION UNVEILS SWEEPING TERMS OF PROPOSED IRAN AGREEMENT

Wicker also took issue with lifting sanctions on Iran and forcing Israel to stand down against Hezbollah, “an Iranian-backed terrorist organization that continues to attack Israel on its northern border.” 

“The Iranian regime has not renounced its ultimate goal — ‘Death to America, Death to Israel,’” Wicker said. “The regime will invest every penny it receives to further that aim.”

“President Trump has pursued peace through strength,” he continued. “I hope the intermediaries working on this deal are not undermining that objective.”

Wicker isn’t alone in his fear that Iran will turn around and use the funds for nefarious efforts. 

REPUBLICANS BAT DOWN BID TO HANDCUFF TRUMP’S WAR POWERS AS PEACE DEAL NEARS

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, warned that “giving billions of dollars to theocratic lunatics who want to murder us is an exceptionally bad idea.” 

“And I think, unfortunately, the president is receiving some really bad advice on this deal,” Cruz told reporters. 

Cruz compared the fund to billions shipped to Iran under the Biden administration, which he charged was the “most catastrophic foreign policy” decision made during the prior administration, and that the “money funded terrorism across the globe in a very real sense.”

“If we give billions of dollars to Iran, that money will be used to murder Americans,” he said. “And so I don’t believe we should do that. And the idea that we would have effectively a Marshall plan for Iran and come in and rebuild Iran after they’ve been the leading state sponsor of terrorism for 47 years — they’ve murdered nearly a thousand Americans — I don’t think that makes any sense.”

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Vice President JD Vance, who has become the public face of the deal, defended the fund during a press briefing at the White House on Thursday, contending that the only way Iran could access that funding, which he vowed was not coming from taxpayers, was “if they comply fully and change their behavior.” 

“So you really have a win-win situation for the United States of America,” Vance said. 

A bipartisan group of lawmakers voiced strong skepticism about President Donald Trump’s newly signed Iran peace deal, arguing the agreement leaves Iran in a stronger position while questioning whether the United States secured enough in return.

Prior to Trump signing the memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Thursday, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, offered some of the sharpest criticism among lawmakers, arguing the deal rewards “theocratic lunatics” of a hostile regime. 

“Giving billions of dollars to theocratic lunatics who want to murder us is not a good idea,” Cruz told Fox News Digital. “I think the president, unfortunately, is receiving bad advice on this deal.”

Other Republicans stormed off when confronted about the new terms.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION UNVEILS SWEEPING TERMS OF PROPOSED IRAN AGREEMENT

The MOU provides immediate sanctions relief, including waivers on Iranian oil exports and access to frozen funds, while establishing a framework for more than $300 billion in reconstruction and economic development. It also sets a 60-day negotiation period aimed at reaching a final accord on Iran’s nuclear program — provisions critics like Cruz argue would provide Tehran with billions in economic benefits.

Democrats were even more brazen in their criticism of the Republican president.

“Iran is now going to be able to export their oil and gas, rake in billions more. It’s going to get access to its frozen assets,” Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said. “And what is Iran giving up for this? Nothing.”

“This is a great deal for Iran,” he told Fox News Digital. “I just don’t understand the thinking at all.”

NUCLEAR EXPERTS WARN IRAN’S URANIUM ‘RIGHT’ IS A MYTH, SAY TRUMP IS RIGHT TO HOLD FIRM

Several lawmakers also questioned whether the agreement secures meaningful concessions on Iran’s nuclear program, the issue that drove the conflict in the first place.

“I think when it comes to the development of nuclear weapons, the language is the same,” Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said. “We went to war for what?”

“Are you kidding?” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., shot-back when asked about the quality of the deal. “Look, everything about this says that Iran is better off now than it was before this war started.”

Other lawmakers questioned whether the agreement could credibly be viewed as a win for the U.S. after months of war.

“My biggest fear is I don’t know how anyone, even as good a salesman as Donald Trump can be, can sell this as a win for the United States,” Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said.

Not every lawmaker opposed the agreement.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., shared a brief but supportive stance, saying: “Peace is better than war.”

TRUMP AGAIN SAYS DEAL IS CLOSE, THEN CONFIRMS A LAST-MINUTE AGREEMENT WITH IRAN, BUT DETAILS STILL SECRET

Several lawmakers also compared the agreement to the Obama-era Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the 2015 nuclear deal Trump withdrew from during his first term.

“The public reporting to me suggests we’re giving up an awful lot more to get a lot less than the JCPOA,” Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said.

Warren argued the outcome of the conflict had effectively brought the administration back to a deal similar to the one Trump once rejected.

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“Remember this whole nuclear deal now?” Warren asked. “No better than what we had back in 2015, back when Barack Obama cut the deal. 

“And that’s where Donald Trump winds us up after all of this?” she continued. “What an embarrassment.”