Donald Trump Poll News

Amid Democrats’ failed attempts to block President Donald Trump’s military action in Iran, some progressive lawmakers are turning their focus to another target.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., recently unveiled a resolution that would prevent Trump from participating in or assisting Israeli military operations in Lebanon absent congressional approval. 

The progressive lawmaker could force the House of Representatives to take up the measure when the chamber resumes session in mid-April. Progressive Reps. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., and Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y., are co-sponsoring the measure. 

Tlaib’s resolution notably does not mention the Iranian-backed terror group Hezbollah, who joined the war against Israel after the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamanei.

DEMOCRATS PRESSURE MIKE JOHNSON TO KEEP HOUSE IN WASHINGTON OVER ‘RAPIDLY DEVELOPING’ IRAN OPERATION

The Lebanon-based terror group has launched rocket attacks on Israel since the start of the Iran conflict, including a coordinated strike with Iran involving cluster munitions earlier in March.

Hezbollah’s attacks were met with Israeli counterstrikes and a major ground offensive by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) in southern Lebanon, aimed at pushing the militant group out of range of Israeli communities.

The United States military has not joined the conflict.

“This ethnic cleansing campaign is only possible because of U.S. support, funded by our tax dollars,” Tlaib, the sole Palestinian-American serving in Congress,” said. “We must act now to stop these crimes against humanity and illegal invasion of Lebanon.”

A spokesperson for Tlaib did not respond to a Fox inquiry about whether she condemned Hezbollah and the Iran-backed group’s strikes on Israel. 

Tlaib’s war powers push comes after a bipartisan resolution targeting Trump’s military authority in Iran failed to pass the House earlier in March.

HOUSE VOTES TO LET TRUMP’S OPERATION EPIC FURY CONTINUE IN IRAN

Tlaib also rolled out a separate resolution that would order the Trump administration to call on Israel to end its military campaign in Lebanon and cut off all weapons transfers to Israel.

The measure similarly does not mention Hezbollah but accuses Israel of plotting “crimes against humanity and genocide” in Lebanon.

“[T]he United States is coauthoring this destruction through the weapons, intelligence, logistics, and diplomatic cover it provides the Israeli Government,” the resolution says in part.

Tlaib is a vocal critic of Israel and has previously faced scrutiny for possible ties to foreign terrorist entities.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Israel severely weakened Hezbollah after the terror group repeatedly attacked the country in support of Hamas after the Oct. 7 attacks. However, the Iran-backed militia has still proven to be a threat in the current conflict.

Hezbollah rocket fire killed two Israelis in northern Israel earlier in March.

War Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly removed multiple officers from a military promotion list — a decision that diverges from standard practice and is now under review at the White House, a U.S. official confirmed to Fox News Digital.

The list included candidates for dozens of senior roles, but four were removed after they had been approved by a promotions board. 

The U.S. official said the officers were not under investigation and were not facing misconduct allegations, and that no formal explanation for the decision was provided to military leadership.

PETE HEGSETH TOUTS HIGHER PHYSICAL STANDARDS FOR MILITARY, SAYS ‘SO BE IT’ IF IT EXCLUDES WOMEN

Fox News Digital has learned that Army Secretary Dan Driscoll initially declined to remove the officers from the promotion list before Hegseth ultimately intervened to strike their names. The disagreement caught the attention of the White House, an official said, which reviews the revised promotion list before it is sent to the Senate. 

Initial New York Times reporting and congressional criticism have focused in part on claims that some of the officers removed were women and minorities, prompting military officials to question whether they were singled out on account of race or gender — an assertion Pentagon officials have strongly disputed.

Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in response: “This story, like many others at the failing New York Times is full of fake news from anonymous sources who have no idea what they’re talking about and are far removed from actual decision-makers within the Pentagon.”

“Under Secretary Hegseth, military promotions are given to those who have earned them,” he went on. “Meritocracy, which reigns in this department, is apolitical and unbiased.” 

Pentagon chief of staff Ricky Buria added: “This is completely false. Whoever placed this made up story is clearly trying to sow division among our ranks and within the department and the administration. It’s not going to work, and it never will work when this department is led by clear-eyed, mission driven leaders unfazed by Washington gossip.”

The Pentagon has not publicly detailed the specific rationale behind the reported removals.

The reported move has drawn scrutiny on Capitol Hill, where senior military promotions require Senate confirmation. Individual lawmakers can delay or block nominations through procedural holds.

Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said that if the reports are accurate, removing officers after a promotion board already has selected them based on merit and performance would be “outrageous” and potentially unlawful.

Military promotions to senior ranks typically are vetted through formal boards and approved as a group, with limited intervention at the individual level.

According to multiple reports, one of the officers removed from the list served in a logistics role during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, while another had previously authored academic work examining why minority service members are more likely to serve in support roles.

The U.S. official said those explanations had not been formally communicated as justification for the decision.

PETE HEGSETH SLASHES MILITARY ‘FAITH CODES’ FROM OVER 200 TO 31 IN PENTAGON CHAPLAIN CORPS OVERHAUL\

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said: “Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth have launched an unprecedented politicization of the military promotion process, most recently, reportedly blocking promotions for Black and female officers,” Wyden said.

Wyden on Wednesday placed holds on the promotions of Marine Lt. Col. Vincent Noble, Col. Thomas Siverts and Navy Lt. Cmdr. Thomas MacNeil, citing past wartime controversies and concerns about judgment.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

The White House could not immediately be reached for comment. 

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Rahm Emanuel is shrugging off the Democratic Party‘s identity debate and emphasizing that the showdown for the Democrats’ 2028 presidential nomination should be about ideas and not gender.

The former Chicago mayor and White House chief of staff to President Barack Obama is mulling a White House run of his own in 2028 in the race to succeed term-limited Republican President Donald Trump. But in a party that has made diversity one of its core tenets, Emanuel will have to face the question: will the Democratic Party elect a straight White male to represent it?

Emanuel told Fox News Digital on Monday that Democrats should be asking potential presidential contenders different questions entirely, such as: “Do you have the ideas of how to make sure the American Dream is alive and well, accessible and affordable to another generation?”

POTENTIAL 2028 DEMOCRATIC CONTENDER PROPOSES 75-YEAR-OLD MANDATORY RETIREMENT FOR POLITICIANS

In the wake of former Vice President Kamala Harris’ defeat to Trump in the 2024 election, former First Lady Michelle Obama made headlines late last year when she emphasized in a conversation posted on YouTube that the U.S. has “a lot of growing up to do” and that the nation is “not ready for a woman” as president.

And former President Joe Biden, in an interview last year on “The View,” argued that Harris lost to Trump because of sexism and racism.

Harris was the second female Democratic presidential nominee to come up short to Trump, following Hillary Clinton’s defeat in the 2016 election.

That’s got some in the Democratic Party suggesting that in order to recapture the White House in 2028, it might be better for the party to nominate a White male as their standard-bearer.

WHITE HOUSE RACE UNDERWAY: WITH 2026 LOOMING, BOTH PARTIES ARE ALREADY PLAYING FOR 2028

While Democrats take pride in their party’s diversity, an Axios article this past weekend, headlined “Some Dems’ 2028 strategy: a straight, White, Christian man,” included quotes from party operatives and strategists suggesting that parts of the American electorate are too biased to back a female or other diverse presidential candidate.

Emanuel disagrees.

“More important is the voters’ take. They’ll make a decision. And so to me, that’s the wrong thing. The question is, do you have the ideas that address the challenges that are facing America, regardless of who’s speaking it,” he said.

Emanuel spoke with Fox News and other news organizations after headlining “Politics and Eggs,” a speaking series at Saint Anselm College’s New Hampshire Institute of Politics that’s a must stop for White House hopefuls visiting the which for a century has held the first presidential primary in the White House race. And hours earlier, on Sunday evening, he was the main attraction at the latest “Stand Up New Hampshire” town hall hosted by top Democratic activists.

Emanuel has been crisscrossing the country in recent months, as he considers a presidential bid, including stops in two other crucial early primary states, Nevada and South Carolina, where he heads later this week.

He said he’ll become a presidential candidate “if I think I have what it takes to answer what I think is ailing the greatest country.”

Emanuel, who hails from the more moderate center-left wing of the party, emphasized that in order to win in 2028, Democrats need to “centralize and ground ourselves in middle class values, tough enforcement at the border, put more police on the beat, and get kids, guns and gangs off the street, and invest in education opportunities.”

“Get to the core of what they expect from us and don’t get caught up in some cultural cul-de-sac that leads nowhere,” he added.

As Democrats look for a fighter in 2028 to win back the White House, Emanuel is showing off his scrappy side.

“These are tough times that require a tough leader that knows how to do tough things and get them done on behalf of the American people. That’s the measure,” he told Fox News Digital.

And Emanuel also repeatedly took aim at Trump and his administration for their handling of the president’s efforts to acquire Greenland and the month-long strikes against Iran.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“It’s a war of choice, and it’s a bad choice,” Emanuel said of Trump. “He could have gotten everything he wanted without going to war.”

And taking another shot, he said, “If they ever run a sequel to ‘Dumb and Dumber,’ I have recommendations for the lead roles, and there’s lots of competition in this administration.”

Vice President JD Vance has long been seen as the heir apparent to President Donald Trump and his MAGA and America First base. While Vance remains the hypothetical clear front-runner ahead of the start of the 2028 White House race, which won’t ignite until after this year’s midterm elections, Secretary of State Marco Rubio appears to be on the rise.

Thanks to an increase in his responsibilities and public profile, most recently around the U.S. operation in Venezuela and the month-long strikes against Iran, Rubio has seen his support for a possible presidential bid soar in recent weeks.

The latest example — Rubio’s strong second-place finish this weekend in the 2028 Republican presidential nomination straw poll at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).

WHITE HOUSE RACE UNDERWAY: WITH 2026 LOOMING, BOTH PARTIES ARE ALREADY PLAYING FOR 2028

Rubio, who was one of more than a dozen Republican contenders who ran and lost to Trump in the tumultuous 2016 presidential race, grabbed 35% of the vote at CPAC when the straw poll results were announced this past weekend, up from a mere 3% a year earlier.

Vance, who is popular with MAGA and America First groups, saw his support slightly edge down to 53% from 61% last year. All the other potential Republican 2028 White House candidates scored in the low single digits in the informal survey of CPAC attendees.

HILLARY CLINTON’S RETURING TO NEW HAMPSHIRE – BUT NOT FOR 2028

The CPAC straw poll follows recent numbers from the Saint Anselm College Survey Center in New Hampshire, the state that has long held the first primary in the GOP presidential nominating calendar, that also showed Rubio surging. And a handful of national polls have also pointed to a rise in support for a hypothetical Rubio bid.

The results are fuel for intrigue over what some in the Republican Party see as a budding rivalry between Rubio and Vance, who describe each other as friends.

“His overall favorability is going up because voters see him as a capable and steady person in the president’s cabinet, and Trump supporters are reacting,” New Hampshire Institute of Politics Executive Director Neil Levesque, who oversees the Saint Anselm poll, told Fox News Digital.

Partially fueling Rubio’s rise is Trump, who has lavishly praised his secretary of state.

The president recently declared that Rubio would go down as “the greatest secretary of state in history.”

Trump has also promoted a Vance-Rubio ticket — calling it “unstoppable” a few months ago—but has not said who should be at the top of the ticket.

But the president did say last year that Vance is “most likely” his heir apparent. “In all fairness, he’s the vice president,” Trump added.

While Vance has demurred when questioned about 2028, he has built a political team of advisers who, if he runs as expected, would quickly build out a presidential campaign.

Rubio, who is crisscrossing the globe as part of job requirements, doesn’t have a similar group of political aides. And Rubio has said he’ll back Vance if the vice president launches a 2028 campaign.

“If JD Vance runs for president, he’s going to be our nominee, and I’ll be one of the first people to support him,” Rubio told Vanity Fair late last year.

Regardless, Republican sources confirm to Fox News that a group of GOP donors who support the secretary of state are quietly working on ways to boost Rubio’s political profile.

That’s not sitting well with some in the president’s political orbit.

“Vice President Vance is the future of the Republican Party and Marco Rubio is one of his closest friends in the administration,” an operative in Trump’s political orbit told Fox News.

“The divisive stories from some donors trying to cause chaos are not helpful,” the operative, who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely, emphasized.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Vance has also weighed in, telling Fox News’ Martha MacCallum last month that “Marco is my closest friend in the administration.”

And the vice president, in his interview on Fox News’ “The Story,” added, “I think it’s so interesting the media wants to create this conflict where there just isn’t any conflict.”

President Donald Trump has spoken with the family of Sheridan Gorman, an 18-year-old college student who was allegedly murdered by an illegal immigrant in Chicago earlier this month, Fox News has learned.

A White House official confirmed to Fox News on Monday that Trump spoke with Gorman’s family, though did not immediately share details about the conversation the president had with her loved ones.

Gorman, a New York native who was attending Loyola University Chicago, was killed at around 1:06 a.m. on March 19 while with friends near a pier in Chicago’s Rogers Park neighborhood.

Officials allege Jose Medina-Medina, 25, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela, fired one shot at the student, killing her.

SLAIN DC INTERN’S MOM URGES SHERIDAN GORMAN’S FAMILY TO ‘FIGHT BACK’ AFTER OBITUARY OLIVE BRANCH

Medina-Medina was apprehended by the U.S. Border Patrol on May 9, 2023, and was released into the U.S. under the Biden administration, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

Gorman was reportedly only a few months away from completing her freshman year.

FATHER OF SLAIN 20-YEAR-OLD KILLED BY ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT ISSUES STARK WARNING AFTER SHERIDAN GORMAN KILLING

Her mother, Jessica Gorman, delivered emotional remarks Saturday at a vigil in Yorktown Heights, vowing a “fight for justice.”

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“I want to say this gently, but honestly, as a mom. I’m angry,” Jessica Gorman said. “I’m like completely heartbroken, and we are going to fight for justice for our sweet Sheridan, and we’re going to fight for change.”

Fox News Digital’s Sophia Compton and Adam Sabes contributed to this report.

FIRST ON FOX: A coalition of more than 20 state attorneys general is urging the Trump administration to expand state authority to combat drones, warning that current federal limits and legal uncertainty are allowing contraband to be flown into prisons with little ability for local officials to stop it.

“We have a situation where drones are being used to drop drugs, cellphones, weapons, razors, knives, whatever it may be behind the wire in a prison,” Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr told Fox News Digital. “It’s causing all kinds of problems.”

In a Friday letter to the White House’s Task Force to Restore American Airspace Sovereignty, Carr led a group of more than 20 state attorneys general from across the country asking for “carefully defined authority” for states to detect, monitor and mitigate unauthorized drones, including stopping them before contraband is delivered.

Airspace in the United States traditionally has been controlled by the federal government, leaving state and local officials with limited authority to respond to drones involved in illicit activity.

UNAUTHORIZED DRONES DETECTED OVER U.S. AIR FORCE BASE HOUSING NUCLEAR-CAPABLE B-52 BOMBERS: MILITARY

The task force was created by President Donald Trump to review drone threats and recommend changes to U.S. airspace policy.

In recent years, however, states and law enforcement groups have increasingly pushed for expanded authority, arguing that federal restrictions have left them able to detect drone threats but not stop them in real time.

Congress has started to respond, including through provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act that would allow trained state and local agencies to take limited counter-drone actions in certain circumstances, such as near prisons and critical infrastructure.

But those authorities remain restricted, and many state officials say they do not go far enough.

US MILITARY SHOT DOWN PARTY BALLOON NEAR EL PASO AFTER SUSPECTING DRONE, OFFICIAL SAYS

Carr said the limitations have created uncertainty for officials responding to drone activity over prisons.

“There is a lot of question as to whether federal law preempts state law,” he said. “It doesn’t say specifically what you’re allowed to do nor what you are prohibited from doing.”

The attorneys general argued in their letter that this lack of clarity has left correctional officials — who often are the first to detect drone activity —without the tools to intervene before contraband is delivered.

Georgia’s Department of Corrections averages around 58 drone incidents per month, but that figure is “just what we know and see,” Carr said. “That’s the problem.”

State officials recorded roughly 500 drone-related incidents over Georgia correctional facilities in 2025, according to Carr, resulting in the seizure of nearly 1,200 cellphones.

“We need to give corrections and law enforcement the tools they need to stop it before it becomes a mass casualty event.”

PENTAGON WATCHDOG WARNS DRONE INCURSIONS REQUIRE ‘IMMEDIATE ATTENTION’ AT US MILITARY BASES

The push from state attorneys general comes amid a broader effort by state and local officials to gain greater authority over drones, particularly as their use in criminal activity has increased.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Law enforcement groups and corrections officials have in recent years urged Congress to expand counter-drone powers, arguing that while agencies can often detect unauthorized drones, they lack the legal authority to stop them.

“Detection without mitigation is not a viable strategy for public safety,” a group of 17 law enforcement groups wrote in a letter to Congress in August 2025. “Now is the time to act to provide law enforcement with the authority and tools necessary to meet this moment.”

“We commend Congress for supporting proposals that provide funding for drone detection and tracking systems. But without corresponding legal authority to mitigate threats, that funding cannot be fully leveraged to protect our people.”

The 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2028 Summer Olympics, which will be hosted in Los Angeles, bring added urgency to the matter.

The White House could not immediately be reached for comment on the letter. 

FIRST ON FOX: The American Bar Association’s expected panelist from its council on law school accreditation ended up no-showing at a conservative Federalist Society event about the ABA’s “monopoly” on law school accreditation.

The Trump administration has accused the ABA of acting as a politicized gatekeeper, executive agencies have restricted their members from attending ABA events, and its diversity-related law school accreditation standards have been regarded as unlawful. Trump’s Attorney General Pam Bondi later escalated that effort by telling the ABA it would no longer receive special access to the judicial vetting process, which followed concerns its rating process for federal judicial nominees was biased as well. .

At the Thursday event, which was held across the street from where the ABA was holding its spring antitrust conference, America First Legal President Gene Hamilton suggested the ABA no-showed because the group’s position on the matter is “indefensible.” 

“I don’t know all the backstory. I mean, I’m just a moderator, but I think that there’s a certain amount – if I was a betting man – my suspicion is that the ABA’s status quo and their position and their involvement in the process is indefensible from the perspective of somebody who tries to present themselves as being an unbiased, uninterested party that is just simply involved in accrediting law schools,” said Hamilton.

DOJ BLASTS ‘PARTISAN’ DC BAR COMPLAINT AGAINST SENIOR TRUMP OFFICIAL

 “When they’re confronted with hard facts and evidence and data and actual experiences from real people, multiple people, not just one person, but multiple people, it doesn’t make for a great environment if you’re trying to maintain an image that does not match reality.”

The panelists at Thursday’s event pointed to what they described as concrete, firsthand clashes with the ABA and the legal institutions tied to it. First Assistant Attorney General of Texas, Brent Webster, for example, argued that the politicization of the legal establishment became real for him when the State Bar of Texas sought to strip him and Attorney General Ken Paxton of their law licenses over litigation Texas had filed after the 2020 election. 

Webster said that fight, which ended with the Texas Supreme Court vindicating him, helped expose to Texas officials how deeply bar institutions had been “radicalized” and contributed to the state’s decision to loosen the ABA’s hold over law-school approval. 

Meanwhile, David Dewhirst, Solicitor General for the State of Florida, made a parallel argument through the experience of St. Thomas University’s law school in Miami, which he said was left in prolonged uncertainty by the ABA over whether its Catholic identity could coexist with the ABA’s nondiscrimination standards, especially on sexual orientation and gender identity. 

TRUMP LAWYER IN JACK SMITH CASE DRAWS CONSERVATIVE BACKING AFTER DOJ PRAISE RATTLES ‘ELITE’ LEGAL CONFERENCE

Together, those stories were presented as real-world examples of the broader complaint underscored at the Thursday event – that the ABA is no longer acting as a neutral professional body, but as an ideological gatekeeper with the power to shape who gets trained, licensed and recognized in the legal profession.

A representative from the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar said former Colorado Supreme Court Justice and Chair-elect of the ABA’s Section of Legal Education and Bar Admissions, Melissa Hart, was not even aware she had been listed as a panelist. They added that the invitation, sent to them on March 13, according to the Federalist Society, was “last-minute” and no one was available to attend, despite the Federalist society telling Fox News that their open invite to the ABA had been confirmed about a week after it was sent.

“From the perspective of the ABA, when they’re under significant pressure right now from both the federal administration, the states and a lot of people waking up to their shenanigans – it makes it a tough time to be in an environment that is a little bit more direct and blunt and to the point,” Hamilton added about the ABA’s absence at the event.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP 

At the event, Hamilton unveiled a new report from America First Legal, which showed ABA’s Standing Committee on Amicus Curiae Briefs, over the last decade, has produced 80% of left-leaning liberal arguments, 20% neutral and zero that are conservatively aligned. In all six cases, the ABA has filed amicus briefs involving Trump, the ABA went against the president or his allies.

“The ABA requires that amicus briefs be authorized by its board of governors and must be consistent with existing ABA policy or involve matters of ‘special significance to lawyers or the legal profession,'” a press release from AFL argued. “Briefs on birthright citizenship, transgender healthcare for minors and the Texas heartbeat law fall well outside that mandate,” AFL said in a press release announcing the new research.  

As artificial intelligence expands into classrooms, workplaces, and homes, a new coalition warns that risks to children and workers are growing faster than efforts to control the new technology.

The newly formed Alliance for a Better Future (ABF) is pushing for AI safeguards as Washington debates regulation.

“We know that we’ve got to decide, is this great new technology going to be something that propels kids into the future or something that causes harm to them?” ABF CEO Janet Kelly told Fox News Digital. 

JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT SLAMS BIG TECH FOR SEXTORTION, THREATS TO CHILDREN WHILE CALLING FOR KEY INTERNET REFORM

“We are on the side of families who want to make sure that it is done well and that it is good for kids, and we believe that that is possible,” Kelly added.

The group is launching as AI spreads quickly into everyday life with little oversight, even as Washington scrambles to catch up. Supporters warn the decisions being made now will shape whether the technology protects families or puts them at risk.

ABF debuted with a striking video featuring congressional testimony from parents whose children were harmed, some driven toward suicide, after interacting with AI chatbots. 

NEW PRO-AI GROUP BACKED BY TRUMP ALLIES PLANS $100M MIDTERM SPENDING PUSH

Positioning itself as both pro-innovation and pro-family, ABF argues AI can deliver enormous benefits but only if developed responsibly. 

“We believe that it’s possible to make great AI with American values, not just Silicon Valley values,” said Kelly, a mother of three.

She added that policymakers must focus on the interests of children, workers and creators, not just the companies building the technology. 

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

ABF plans to engage aggressively at both the federal and state levels, equipped with targeted ads and public education campaigns. The group expects to spend at least eight figures this year to elevate the voices of concerned parents and workers.

The organization builds on earlier battles over online child safety, bringing multiple groups under one umbrella. 

Its policy council is chaired by Dr. Brad Littlejohn of American Compass and includes representatives from the Family Policy Alliance, National Center on Sexual Exploitation, Institute for Family Studies, Heritage Foundation, and American Principles Project.

Everyman host Mike Rowe called out late-night host Jimmy Kimmel for his “tone-deaf” comments mocking new Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin for being a former plumber, admitting he is a “tad butt hurt” by the dig.

The “Dirty Jobs” veteran ripped into Kimmel over his remarks, which some have called elitist. Rowe said he took offense at the “suggestion that skilled workers should never evolve into something new,” asking if Mullin’s career progression from plumbing business owner to Congress and then to a top Cabinet official is “not the embodiment of the American Dream?”

“Being offended is always a choice, and I don’t choose to be offended by a joke, even one that comes at the expense of the skilled tradespeople my foundation tries to elevate,” Rowe wrote on X. “But I am a tad butt hurt by the suggestion that skilled workers should never evolve into something new, and that competence is somehow limited to one vocation.”

He continued, saying “obviously, expertise and skill are important,” adding, “If I need a new kidney, I’d prefer a doctor do the surgery, not a late-night talk show host. But if the doctor in question used to host a talk show, why would I hold that against him?”

JIMMY KIMMEL REFUSES TO BACK DOWN AFTER MOCKING SECRETARY MULLIN OVER PLUMBING BACKGROUND

Kimmel, a regular critic of the Trump administration, took flak last week for using Mullin’s prior experience as a plumbing business owner as evidence that he is unqualified to lead DHS.

“Trump’s got a whole new generation of thinkers lined up, including his newly confirmed secretary of Homeland Security, Markwayne ‘Chuck Mike Bruce Dave’ Melon — Mullin. Maybe melon’s better,” Kimmel said. “He’s the now former senator of Oklahoma. Before he was elected to the Senate, Markwayne Mullin was a low-level MMA fighter and a plumber. That’s right. We have a plumber protecting us from terrorism now. It worked for Super Mario. Why not Markwayne?”

He continued, “But honestly — I mean, if Trump is going to keep picking these unqualified people to run the department, why not have more fun with it? I mean, next time, instead of Markwayne, how about Lil Wayne for Homeland Security? At least we can get a concert out of it, right?”

Kimmel later doubled down, saying, “I’m not upset that the head of Homeland Security used to be a plumber. I’m upset that he isn’t still a plumber.”

The late-night host added, “I wouldn’t put a plumber in charge of Homeland Security for the same reason I wouldn’t call a five-star general to pull a rat out of my toilet … We all have our areas of expertise.”

WATCH: TRUMP GOES VIRAL FOR ILLUSTRATING HOW TO CUT GOVERNMENT WASTE WITH HIS FAVORITE WHITE HOUSE PEN

Kimmel’s remarks were viewed as elitist by many commentators on X, who accused the comedian of mocking working-class professions. Among those offended by the joke was Rowe, who runs a nonprofit to promote skilled trade jobs called mikeroweWORKS.  

He emphasized that “the shortage of skilled tradespeople is now headline news and that closing it is nothing less than a matter of national security.”

“The only sensible thing to do in the wake of a moment this tone deaf is remind America that the skills gap is wide and getting wider,” Rowe wrote. “What we really need in this country are more welders who can talk intelligently about Aristotle, and more philosophers who can run an even bead. More Generals, in other words, who can fix their own toilets, and more plumbers who can hold a powerful government job.”

“This is what Mullin did,” he continued.   

JIMMY KIMMEL SLAMMED FOR DIG AT NEW DHS SECRETARY

“He was a private citizen who mastered an essential skill and then turned that skill into a multimillion-dollar company that employed a lot of people and served a lot of customers. That gave him the freedom to do other things with his life, including a career in public service, which got him into Congress, where he’s spent the last 11 years doing whatever Congressmen do. Now, he has a very consequential position in the Cabinet of the current administration.”

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“Is that not the embodiment of the American Dream?” he asked.

“I get that Jimmy Kimmel might have a problem with Mullin’s politics, but what possible objection could he have about the trajectory of his career, or his desire to do more than one thing with his life?”

Rowe concluded, “I’d love to chat but I’ve gotta pull a rat out of my toilet.” 

St. Paul, MINN. – From Times Square to here in Minnesota’s state capital, communist and socialist activists at the nationwide “No Kings” protests escalated their anti-America campaign and openly called for a nationwide economic strike on May 1, an international communist holiday known as May Day, as key Democratic activists joined their call.

At the rally here in St. Paul, organizers, speakers and activists distributed communist literature, waved flags from socialist governments and revolutionary movements and urged demonstrators to transform the day’s protests into a nationwide shutdown of work, school and commerce.

By early Sunday, Press TV, the propaganda arm of the Islamic Republic of Iran, leveraged news of the protests to tell readers, “Regime change begins at home’: No Kings, No War protests held across US.”

As Fox News Digital reported, about 500 organizations with an estimated combined annual revenue of about $3 billion sponsored and organized the demonstrations, creating a centralized protest apparatus even while organizers tried to market the activists as “grassroots.”

The network included traditional Democratic advocacy organizations, like Indivisible, MoveOn and the American Federation of Teachers, alongside openly socialist and communist groups such as the Party for Socialism and Liberation, Freedom Road Socialist Organization and local chapters of the Communist Party USA, including the Twin Cities Communist Party USA club, which endorsed the St. Paul rally.

500 GROUPS WITH $3B IN REVENUES ARE BEHIND THE #NOKINGS PROTESTS AND COMMUNIST CALL FOR ‘REVOLUTION’

Offstage at the celebrity-filled “No Kings” protest in St. Paul, activists with the Party for Socialism and Liberation sold a manifesto, “Socialist Reconstruction: A Better Future for the United States,” filled with Marxist teachings.

Yards away, near the main stage, Kevin Dwire a candidate for the U.S. Senate from the Socialist Workers Party, sold copies of the “Communist Manifesto” by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, the 1847 work that would transform the next century’s global politics. The group says it is “part of the continuity of revolutionary Marxism,” tracing back to Marx, Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky.

In the middle of the lawn, flags for the Islamic Republic of Iran, Venezuela and Cuba flew next to a flag of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, a self-described Marxist group.

In the back of the lawn, a young man who identified himself only as “Mason” championed the teachings of the Revolutionary Communists of America. A young woman nearby sold copies of Socialist Alternative, which describes itself as a “revolutionary organization working to build a movement for a democratic, socialist society.”

‘NO KINGS’ CALLS ITSELF LEADERLESS, BUT ITS OWN INTERNAL DOCUMENTS TELL A VERY DIFFERENT STORY

Across the country, from Los Angeles to New York City, pro-communist Americans marched alongside traditional center-left Democrats in an alliance that many mainstream media outlets largely portrayed simply as anti-Trump protests.

The ideological adherents themselves, however, were not shy about their beliefs.

In Times Square, members of the Revolutionary Communists of America chanted: “There is only one solution — communist revolution,” while waving red flags bearing the hammer and sickle.

The common refrain from these groups was a call for a nationwide strike on May 1, the traditional May Day holiday long embraced by communist and socialist movements as a day of mass political action.

At the St. Paul rally, that call received support from the stage.

Ezra Levin, the co-founder of Indivisible, the protest’s key organizer, joined the communist call for a national strike and urged protesters to prepare for economic disruption on May Day, similar to a shutdown that saw limited success in Minneapolis during protests on Jan. 23 against Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“I want everyone here to put this on their calendar… It is a tactical goal, an escalation… It is an economic show of force, inspired by Minnesota’s own day of truth and action,” Levin told the crowd.

Levin continued: “On May 1, on May Day, we are saying, ‘No business as usual.’ No work, no school, no shopping. We’re going to show up and say we’re putting workers over billionaires and kings.’”

While Indivisible has participated in May Day coalitions before, the prominence of socialist organizations in the protest ecosystem illustrates the growing influence of the far left within networks that overlap with mainstream Democratic political organizing.

Indivisible Project, a nonprofit whose work is often marketed with just the first word of the group’s name, has received $5 million in recent years from billionaire George Soros’ Open Society philanthropy arm.

POWER COUPLE OF CHAOS: HOW A TYCOON AND ACTIVIST BUILT A ‘REVOLUTIONARY BASE’ AT THE HOUSE OF SINGHAM

Meanwhile, some of the openly pro-communist groups marching alongside Democratic activists are connected to a global activist network funded by Neville Roy Singham, an American-born tech tycoon now based in Shanghai, promoting messaging critical of U.S. democracy and sympathetic to China’s political model.

That network includes media and organizing hubs such as the People’s Forum, BreakThrough BT Media Inc.’s BreakThrough News, CodePink, the ANSWER Coalition and the Party for Socialism and Liberation, which have received funding and support through the Singham network. 

Over the years, Singham, who sold his tech company for approximately $800 million in 2017, has provided $22.4 million to People’s Forum, $1.3 million to CodePink and $1.1 million to BreakThrough BT Media Inc. The ANSWER Coalition and Party for Socialism and Liberation have received support through their relationships with the People’s Forum.

 The network has funded conferences, media outlets and activist organizations promoting narratives that portray the United States as a “fascist” and “hyper-imperialist” power while defending the authoritarian governments of China, North Korea, Venezuela, Cuba and the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The theme echoed throughout the protests, where demonstrators warned of rising “fascism” in the United States.

In the hours after the protests ended, the activist networks celebrated the demonstrations online. In Los Angeles, CodePink posted video showing its banner in the middle of a protest where demonstrators chanted: “Hey, hey, ho ho, Donald Trump has got to go.”

BreakThrough News shared videos from protests in San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Houston and Gainesville, Fla., declaring: “Massive demonstrations took place as part of the ‘No Kings Day.’”

The outlet blasted what it described as Trump’s “right-wing agenda of endless wars and deportations.”

The ANSWER Coalition circulated video showing Indivisible, CodePink and the Party for Socialism and Liberation marching together in Chicago, writing that the “people of Chicago take the streets to stand against Trump’s agenda.”

Indivisible Chicago responded with three fire emojis, revealing the emerging synchronicity between traditionally Democratic groups and openly pro-communist organizations.

The ANSWER Coalition operates out of the People’s Forum in New York City, which also celebrated the demonstrations online with the caption, putting its stamp on the day: “No Kings Day NYC.”

Leaders tied to some of these activist groups, including CodePink co-founders Jodie Evans and Medea Benjamin, have participated in delegations to Venezuela, Cuba, the Islamic Republic of Iran, North Korea and China, strengthening relationships with governments frequently at odds with U.S. foreign policy. Evans married Singham in 2017, as he started funding this network in the U.S.

Back in St. Paul, even some socialist activists expressed skepticism about those alliances.

Dwyer, the Socialist Workers Party leader selling copies of Marx’s manifesto, shook his head when discussing China’s political system. “China socialism is capitalism,” he said.

The young activist from the Revolutionary Communists of America also distanced himself from China’s government, describing it as a betrayal of communist ideals, while he openly embraced communist ideology. “We are against imperialism,” he told Fox News Digital.

As the rally wound down and crews dismantled stage equipment, the protest grounds began to empty.

A demonstrator propped a Party for Socialism and Liberation sign against a porta-toilet.

Nearby, two American flags lay discarded in the grass beside a heap of garbage bags, an emptied bag of Cheez-It visible among the trash.

Kyle Schmidbauer contributed to this report.

A political newcomer and former reality star running in Virginia’s Democratic senatorial primary is causing an uproar in his party after breaking with them on gerrymandering and a slew of new gun control efforts.

Mark Moran, a former contestant on the HBOMax series “FBoy Island” and previously a Wall Street banker, is challenging longtime Senate Intelligence Committee ranking member Mark R. Warner, D-Va., whom he calls an “oligarch” who is no longer serving his constituents.

Warner is the former richest and now fourth-richest senator, with a net worth upwards of $200 million, and is running for his fourth term despite a snippet unearthed by Moran showing him pledging to serve only two.

“Since the establishment is already mad at me, here’s another truth: Virginia Democrats are completely wrong on the Second Amendment,” Moran said on X after invoking the ire of Virginia’s top Senate Democrat for opposing her politically-charged redistricting effort.

YOUR 2A RIGHTS ARE ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK AS VIRGINIA DEMS PLOT INSANE GUN BANS

“After facing a personal safety issue, I got a gun. It made me realize how extreme our party’s stance has become,” Moran said. “Dan Helmer’s (loser) July 1st ban literally classifies regular handguns as ‘assault firearms’ so the government can take them away.”

Helmer, a Democratic state delegate from Fairfax, did not respond to a request for comment. He already launched a bid to run in one of the newly-drawn, allegedly gerrymandered congressional districts that have yet to be approved by the voters on April 21.

Moran said the Founding Fathers crafted the Second Amendment to protect the U.S. from tyranny.

“[That is] whether that tyranny comes from Donald Trump or a state legislature trying to disarm you. Our right to protect ourselves shall not be infringed,” Moran said.

The Falls Church native’s comments irritated a handful of other Democratic figures within a few hours of his post, including Democratic strategist Adam Parkhomenko — the founder of “Ready For Hillary” when the former first lady was eyeing the White House in the mid-2010s.

GOP-LED COUNTIES PUSH BACK AGAINST DEMOCRAT’S REDISTRICTING CHARGE, TESTING VIRGINIA’S CONSTITUTIONAL LIMITS

“Go be a p—- in someone else’s party. We’re not doing that anymore,” Parkhomenko said on X in response to Moran.

Virginia Senate President L. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, who has posted at-times raunchy memes celebrating Democrats’ flip of the governorship and push to draw out all but one Republican congressman in Virginia, lambasted Moran’s tweet on that matter, spurring his gun rights commentary.

“Anyone against our redistricting efforts to stand up to Donald Trump doesn’t share our values as Democrats,” Lucas said in a statement on X. “If you want to oppose redistricting, you picked the wrong primary to run in. [By the way] I endorse Mark Warner.”

Moran had called his fellow Democrats’ cartographical creativity “extremely anti-democratic and that it is a reactionary policy to Donald Trump that was created by DC consultants.”

He noted that Virginia voters already approved a resolution in 2019 to remove the legislature from redistricting considerations and slammed the new maps for “slic[ing] up Arlington and tak[ing] away the voices of everyone outside Northern Virginia.”

“In every local Democratic committee I’ve been in, when this issue comes up, nobody can defend it, it’s just ‘well this is what the party says is best’ — NO. The Democratic Party loses because of reactionary maneuvers and because it doesn’t have a big bold vision for the future,” he said.

VIRGINIA DEM ADMITS REDISTRICTING PUSH AIMS TO ‘STOP TRUMP’, NOT ABOUT ‘FAIRNESS’

“I can’t hold my tongue any longer despite what this will do to me with the Dems in Virginia.”

Moran also has spoken out against the proliferation of data centers in Virginia, sucking up power from the grid in both West Virginia and Virginia and allegedly increasing costs on residential consumers.

He posited a plan to tax the data centers to create a free-college fund.

While Moran came across moderate on those issues, a report from the New York Post showed his campaign platform includes abolishing ICE and passing Medicare-for-All, which the paper said places him to Warner’s left on those key issues.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“This year is the 250th anniversary of our country; now is the time for a peaceful revolution against the billionaires, the tech oligarchs, the data centers and all the other big money interests,” he said in a statement obtained by the Post.

Fox News Digital reached out to Warner’s campaign, Moran’s campaign and Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s office for comment.

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., is calling on prosecutors to try, convict and punish the undocumented killer of Stephanie Minter, arguing that he must face American justice before he’s ordered to leave the country.

Kaine said he fears deportation could be a form of leniency.

“I’m not sure that if he’s deported, [that] he will really face the punishment that he should face. If you do a deportation now, what’s the guarantee he would really face severe consequences for what he’s done?” Kaine said.

“I think he should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law and then possibly deported after that, but I wouldn’t want him to escape accountability for the crime.”

TRUMP ADMIN ASKS SPANBERGER, VIRGINIA OFFICIALS NOT RELEASE ILLEGAL CHARGED WITH GROPING HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS

Authorities are charging Abdul Jalloh, a 32-year-old Sierra Leone native, with the murder of Stephanie Minter after authorities found her dead at a bus stop in Fairfax, Virginia last month.

Jalloh had already been arrested more than 30 times before his fatal confrontation with Minter, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Among others, his previous charges included rape, malicious wounding, assault, drug possession, identity theft, trespassing and more.

Local authorities dropped previous charges against Jalloh, allowing him to walk free.

IGNORED ICE DETAINERS ‘PUT LIVES AT RISK,’ DHS SAYS, TARGETING NEWSOM, PRITZKER, HEALEY

Kaine believes this time should be different.

“I think he should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law and then possibly deported after that,” Kaine said.

Jalloh has been charged with second-degree murder.

Even as questions remain about why Virginia authorities let Jalloh go, Kaine, who served as governor of Virginia from 2006 to 2010, posited that ICE may have failed to follow through on requests to detain Jalloh ahead of Minter’s murder.

“My experience when I was governor — and this is now 15 or 20 years ago — is that we would normally let ICE know before we let anybody out of prison in Virginia, and then they wouldn’t show up,” Kaine said.

VIRGINIA PROSECUTOR’S RECORD ON VIOLENT OFFENDERS SCRUTINIZED AFTER ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CHARGED IN MOM’S MURDER

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“We would give them two-weeks notice [and say] ‘Hey, here’s somebody who’s here, come pick them up,’ and they wouldn’t show up. That was more my experience.”

Fox Digital reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment.

President Donald Trump said Sunday that the military is constructing a “massive complex” beneath a planned White House ballroom, which he said will feature bulletproof glass and drone-proof protections while being funded entirely by private donors.

The project, which Trump said is designed to accommodate large events and visiting dignitaries, would expand capacity at the White House, where he said existing rooms are too small for major gatherings.

“The military is building a massive complex under the ballroom, and that’s under construction, and we’re doing very well,” Trump said. 

Trump said the underground construction is already underway and tied to broader security measures surrounding the site, describing the ballroom as serving a dual purpose tied to what is being built beneath it.

DEMS MOVE TO SET LIMITS ON TRUMP’S DONOR-FUNDED WHITE HOUSE BALLROOM, CLAIMING ‘BRIBERY IN PLAIN SIGHT’

The ballroom itself will include a range of security upgrades, including reinforced materials and structural protections designed to guard against modern threats.

“We have all bulletproof glass. We have drone-proof roofs, ceilings,” Trump said. “Everything is drone-proof and bulletproof, and unfortunately, we’re living in an age where that’s a good thing.”

Trump said the project is being privately funded and will not rely on taxpayer dollars, emphasizing that the ballroom is being financed through personal contributions and outside donors.

FEDERAL JUDGE QUESTIONS TRUMP AUTHORITY ON WHITE HOUSE BALLROOM PROJECT

The ballroom proposal was approved in February by the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, which fast-tracked the roughly $400 million project following a unanimous vote of 6-0.

The project will be built on the site of the former East Wing, which was demolished in October, and is expected to significantly expand the White House’s capacity for large events.

Previous administrations have long relied on temporary structures to host major gatherings, as the old East Wing dining room had just a 200-seat capacity.

MICHELLE OBAMA TAKES SWIPE AT TRUMP’S DEMOLITION OF WHITE HOUSE EAST WING

“All of the money paid is paid by myself and donors…it’s all donors,” Trump said. “There’s not one dime of government money going into the ballroom.”

He added that construction is progressing quickly and remains on track, describing the effort as both ahead of schedule and under budget as work continues.

“We’re ahead of schedule and under budget,” Trump said.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Trump also described the ballroom as being designed to match the look and scale of the White House, including its height and architectural style, calling it a tribute to the historic building.

“I think it’ll be the greatest ballroom anywhere in the world,” Trump said. “It pays total homage to the White House, which is, I think, very important.”

A new survey highlights President Donald Trump’s continued dominance within the conservative movement.

According to a poll of more than 1,600 attendees at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), held this past week from March 25–28, an overwhelming 96% said they approve of the job Trump is doing as president.

An additional 94% agreed with the statement that Trump has been “the best president in my lifetime.”

Support for Trump’s policy agenda was similarly strong.

The survey found that 91% of respondents back tariffs aimed at reducing the trade deficit and boosting American workers and businesses. 

TRUMP GETS HIGH MARKS FROM REPUBLICANS WHEN TICKING OFF ECONOMIC ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Another 89% support Trump’s military action in Iran to remove Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and halt the country’s nuclear program, while 92% approve of the arrest of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.

Other leading Republicans also received high marks among respondents.

Vice President JD Vance earned a 92% approval rating, while House Speaker Mike Johnson received 84%.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune trailed with 57%.

1 IN 4 AMERICANS BACK TRUMP’S IRAN STRIKES, MOST SAY HE’S TOO QUICK TO USE FORCE: POLL

Within Trump’s Cabinet, Secretary of State Marco Rubio ranked as the most popular, with 42% naming him their favorite.

He was followed by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard.

The poll also offered an early glimpse at the GOP’s future.

In a hypothetical 2028 Republican primary, Vance leads with 53% support, ahead of Rubio at 35%, with all other contenders in single digits.

SCATHING REPORT CLAIMS NATION’S OLDEST LABOR UNION ‘BETRAYED’ MAGA MEMBERS THROUGH ‘SHOCKING’ SPENDING

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

On the Democratic side, respondents identified California Gov. Gavin Newsom and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani as the most articulate figures on the political left.

Founded in 1964, CPAC is the nation’s oldest conservative grassroots gathering and promotes the values of “life, liberty, and property.”

Among survey participants, 86% were from the South, and the average age was approximately 49.

An African nation is calling for Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., to be extradited after Vice President JD Vance claimed during an interview that the lawmaker committed immigration fraud.

The Republic of Somaliland, a partially recognized state in the Horn of Africa, reacted in a post on X to the claim that Vance made in a podcast interview with conservative commentator Benny Johnson.

“Deportation? Please you’re just sending the princess back to her kingdom. Extradition? Say the word …” the post read.

In the interview, Vance said he has spoken with White House immigration advisor Stephen Miller about potential legal action against Omar, saying, “We think Ilhan Omar definitely committed immigration fraud against the United States of America.”

TRUMP ACCUSES TIM WALZ AND ILHAN OMAR OF USING ICE PROTESTS TO DISTRACT FROM MASSIVE STATE FRAUD

“We’re trying to look at what the remedies are,” Vance said. “That’s the thing that we’re trying to figure out is what are the legal remedies now that we know that she’s committed immigration fraud — how do you go after her, how do you investigate her, how do you actually do the thing, how do you build a case necessary to get some justice for the American people?”

Omar has denied accusations from President Donald Trump and the White House that she married her brother to enter the United States. In December, she called the accusations “bigoted lies,” writing on social media that Trump was obsessed with her.

“He needs serious help,” Omar wrote on X at the time. “Since he has no economic policies to tout, he’s resorting to regurgitating bigoted lies instead.”

Omar’s Chief of Staff, Connor McNutt, told Fox News Digital in an emailed statement that the vice president’s claim is a “ridiculous lie.”

“This is rich coming from someone who literally said they were willing to ‘create stories’ to redirect the media,” the statement said. “This is a ridiculous lie and desperate attempt to distract from the pedophile protection party’s unpopular war of choice, increasing gas prices, and rapidly dropping polling numbers.”

COMER PROBES SUDDEN WEALTH JUMP TIED TO ILHAN OMAR’S HUSBAND, EYES LINK TO MINNESOTA FRAUD

Somaliland’s post about Omar, who is from Somalia, comes amid criticism over her opposition to the recognition of an independent Somaliland and her defense of Somalia’s territorial claims.

Somaliland has acted as a self-governing territory since 1991, maintaining internal security and building its own democratic institutions.

While most in the international community, including the U.S., do not recognize Somaliland as an independent country, Israel became the first U.N. member state to recognize the self-declared state.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced last year that Israel had established full diplomatic relations with Somaliland, describing the move as being in the spirit of the United States-brokered Abraham Accords.

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

FIRST ON FOX: One of the nation’s most prominent railroad unions is facing new scrutiny after a watchdog report alleged its leadership is quietly working against the political views of its members who support President Donald Trump’s agenda.

The report, released by the American Accountability Foundation (AAF), claims the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), one of the nation’s oldest labor unions, is run by leaders who are endorsing and promoting Democratic policies and candidates despite a membership base that data suggests largely supports the president.

The report, which alleges the union “betrayed” its MAGA members, points to the union’s endorsement of the Harris-Walz ticket in the 2024 election cycle, as well as its ties to prominent Democrats, including Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and former Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, who is running for Senate again.

While BLET has touted Republicans in recent years, including earlier this year when it applauded Vice President JD Vance and the bipartisan reintroduction of the Railway Safety Act (RSA), the report highlights repeated criticism of Trump-era policies, including transportation regulations, immigration enforcement and the conservative-backed Project 2025 agenda, alongside praise for the policies of the Biden administration.

WORKERS SAY ‘I LIKE UNIONS, I JUST DON’T LIKE MY UNION’ — HERE’S WHAT THEY’RE DISCOVERING

A review of the union’s social media account by AAF shows numerous examples of the union opposing various moves by the first Trump administration during his presidential campaign against incumbent Joe Biden, which the report describes as evidence of “woke leadership.”

“In the lead-up to the 2024 election, BLET issued 14 tweets that criticized the actions of the first Trump administration while praising the Biden administration’s railroad policies,” the report says. “The messaging was clearly intended to skew union members toward the Democratic presidential ticket. In these tweets, they attacked nearly every major Trump-era rail policy decision while framing the Biden administration’s actions positively.”

The union’s public support of Democrats had a financial angle as well, as the report states that the organization spent more than $26 million on political activity in recent years, with the vast majority supporting Democratic candidates and causes to a degree that AAF referred to as “shocking.”

According to the report, 99% of the union’s party committee donations went to Democrats.

“For example, in the 2016 cycle, BLET donated $15,000 to the DNC when they were the nexus for GOTV for the Hillary Clinton campaign but never donated a dollar to the RNC,” the report says. “In 2024, long after it had become clear that industrial union membership was strongly behind President Trump, the BLET leadership still hadn’t gotten the message, making 24 different donations to Democrat party committees for a total of $53,400 and a mere two donations to Republican committees for a spare $2000.”

LEAKED TEACHERS’ UNION K-12 TRAINING PRESENTATION RAILS AGAINST TRUMP ADMINISTRATION, RED STATES

According to the report, the divide reflects a broader shift in American politics, with blue-collar workers increasingly backing Trump while union leadership remains entrenched in traditional left-leaning positions.

The report goes beyond the union’s spending on politics and delves into what it calls “waste and abuse” in the form of millions of dollars of member dues being shelled out for travel, hotels and “swag.”

“While it’s bad enough that BLET spent over $5,000,000 on hotels and conferences, even more concerning is the fact that the union spent over $2,000,000 on casinos and resorts alone,” the report says. “The union appears more concerned with staying at entertaining destination resorts than they do being thrifty with their members’ dues.”

Recent polling shows that labor unions like BLET consist of a large number of workers who support Trump, including Teamsters polling that shows a 60/40 breakdown in favor of Trump and exit polling from the 2024 election that shows working-class voters without a college degree went 56% for Trump and 42% for Harris. 

The report also points to leadership compensation as part of the disconnect, noting multiple top officials earning over $200,000 annually, with the union president and vice president each making more than $300,000.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“The men pulling America’s freight voted for President Trump because they believe in secure borders and putting American workers first,” AAF President Tom Jones said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

“But their union bosses are busy living large on member dues and carrying water for the Left. They’ve turned a blue-collar brotherhood into a woke political machine that’s doing everything it can against the Trump-Vance agenda, and likewise, against everyday railroad workers. Every BLET member should be asking where their hard-earned dollars are really going.” 

In a statement to Fox News Digital, a BLET spokesperson said: “We do not comment on false press releases by dark money groups who have no accountability to the truth.”

Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, intended to hit President Donald Trump amid nationwide “no kings” protests, but instead Republicans argued her comment admits the flimsy case being made.

“Donald Trump is not, never will be, and has never been a king. #NoKings,” Hirono’s Saturday morning X post read as left-wing protesters marched in various anti-Trump demonstrations.

The remarks landed with rare agreement from figures on the right, though.

“So you agree – you think your ‘no kings’ rallies are stupid…,” replied Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, who once backed Trump’s 2024 Republican primary opposition from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

JANE FONDA WARNS AMERICA FACES ‘EXISTENTIAL’ CRISIS AS SHE URGES TURNOUT AT ‘NO KINGS’ PROTESTS

“Roger that!” Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, wrote on X.

Social media reacted in wild agreement even from the right, with some noting that the 2024 November election was a “no kings” protest and some referencing Independence Day as America’s true “no kings” protest.

NANCY PELOSI SWIPES AT TRUMP, ACCUSING HIM OF CROWNING HIMSELF AS ‘KING’

One post even noted the irony of “no kings” protests in London, where the United Kingdom actually has a king.

More than 3,200 events had been planned in all 50 states, after the two previous nationwide events attracted millions of participants.

Large rallies took place in New York, Dallas, Philadelphia and Washington, but two-thirds of “no kings” events were happening outside major cities, a nearly 40% jump for smaller communities from the movement’s first mobilization last June, organizers said.

LEADER SCALISE: DEMOCRATS CHEER ‘NO KINGS’ PROTESTS, BUT LET SHUTDOWN DEVASTATE FAMILIES

Video and photos shared on social media showed protesters marching for “no kings,” while waving red flags associated with communist dictatorships.

“These Hate America Rallies are where the far-left’s most violent, deranged fantasies get a microphone and House Democrats get their marching orders,” National Republican Congressional Committee spokesman Mike Marinella wrote in a statement Saturday.

“Voters will punish Democrats for gleefully standing shouder-to-shoulder with radicals who call for assassinations and violence.”

JOHN CUSACK TELLS TRUMP TO ‘GO TO HELL’ AT CHICAGO ‘NO KINGS’ PROTEST

Trump has long rebuked the “no kings” protest mantra.

“I’m not a king — I work my a– off to make America great,” Trump said during last October’s congressional recess protests. “That’s the difference.”

Trump rebuked the protests as “small, crazy, and totally out of touch with real Americans.”

CHIP ROY SAYS DEMOCRATIC PARTY TAKING ITS ‘DYING BREATHS’

Hirono was not the only Democratic figure targeted for social media trolling Saturday. The RNC Research X account shared video of Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., getting emotional during a “no kings” rally speech, rebuking America as no beacon of hope but “authoritarianism.”

‘NO KINGS’ PROTESTS LARGELY COMPRISED OF PEOPLE FROM ONE DEMOGRAPHIC: EXPERTS

Omar and Minnesota’s Democratic Gov. Tim Walz have been under fire for allegations of fraud among the Somali community in their state, and Vice President JD Vance last week alleged to have evidence that Omar violated immigration law.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, replied to a Fox News investigation that revealed “no kings” protests were backed by a network of 500 organizations, finding many tied to socialist and communist groups.

“Lefty billionaires & communists,” Cruz wrote. “There’s a shock….”

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

The first “no kings” event, on Trump’s birthday, June 14, last year, drew an estimated 4 million to 6 million people across roughly 2,100 sites nationwide. The second mobilization in October involved an estimated 7 million participants in more than 2,700 cities, according to a crowdsourcing analysis published by prominent data journalist G. Elliott Morris.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

A new pro-AI political group is jumping into the 2026 midterms with plans to spend more than $100 million, marking a major escalation in efforts to shape U.S. tech policy.

The organization, Innovation Council Action, is championed by tech investor and White House AI adviser David Sacks and is closely aligned with President Donald Trump’s agenda. It plans to support candidates who favor deregulation while opposing those pushing for stricter AI rules.

The move underscores how artificial intelligence is quickly becoming a central political battleground, with deep-pocketed groups preparing to reward allies and pressure critics ahead of the elections.

TRUMP NAMES DAVID SACKS CO-CHAIR OF TECH ADVISORY COUNCIL, EXPANDING AI, CRYPTO ROLE

“President Trump has made it clear, America will win the AI race against China, period. He built the framework, he’s leading from the front, and this organization exists to make sure he doesn’t fight that battle alone,” Taylor Budowich, founder of Innovation Council, told Fox News Digital.

“The cavalry is coming to back up the policymakers who stand with the president and will hold accountable the ones who don’t,” Budowich added.

Trump has made AI a cornerstone of his policy agenda, calling for a single federal regulatory framework instead of a patchwork of state laws, while pushing to accelerate development of infrastructure like data centers and strengthen U.S. competitiveness against China.

AI POWER PLAYERS POUR CASH INTO COMPETITIVE PRIMARIES AS 2026 MIDTERMS HEAT UP

Innovation Council Action enters an increasingly crowded field of AI-focused political spending. Leading the Future, another pro-industry group, has reported raising $50 million from tech figures including Greg Brockman, Joe Lonsdale and Marc Andreessen.

Meta is also backing a separate super PAC expected to spend roughly $65 million, with a focus on state-level races.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Innovation Council Action has been quietly building its presence in Washington, opening a D.C. office and raising funds since late last year. 

The group has also developed a scorecard ranking lawmakers based on their alignment with Trump’s AI agenda, a tool expected to guide its political spending in the months ahead, according to Axios.

Jet fuel prices in the U.S. have more than doubled in a matter of weeks as Middle East tensions squeeze supply, fueling concerns airlines could run short of fuel.

Prices jumped from about $2.17 to $4.57 per gallon by March 27, according to the Argus U.S. Jet Fuel Index. Airlines warn inventories could run dry within weeks, raising the risk of higher airfares and flight cancellations.

Airlines are already adjusting. United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said the carrier will cut about 5% of planned flights in the near term as fuel costs surge, warning that if prices persist, jet fuel alone could add $11 billion in annual expenses.

MAPPED: WHERE GAS PRICES ARE RISING THE FASTEST FROM THE IRAN CONFLICT

United is also scaling back service during off-peak periods and suspending select international routes, including Israel and Dubai due to the conflict.

Meanwhile, Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said the jet fuel spike added as much as $400 million in costs in March alone. He said the airline is moving quickly to pass those higher costs on through fare increases.

American Airlines also expects fuel to add about $400 million to its first-quarter expenses. 

The impact is also spreading beyond U.S. carriers.

European airline chiefs, including executives from Lufthansa and Air France-KLM, warned that a prolonged conflict in the Middle East will push fares higher and strain already tight fuel supplies, with some cautioning that jet fuel could run out if disruptions persist.

Airlines are already acting on those pressures. Air France-KLM plans to raise long-haul ticket prices, while Cathay Pacific and several Asian carriers are increasing fuel surcharges. SAS said it will cancel about 1,000 flights in April due to rising costs, while Qantas and Thai Airways are also adjusting fares and schedules.

THE UNLIKELY TOOL TRUMP IS EYEING TO TACKLE RISING OIL PRICES AMID THE IRAN CONFLICT

Jet fuel, one of airlines’ largest expenses, is especially volatile due to thin inventories, specialized storage and limited spot trading, which can amplify price swings when supply tightens.

The Middle East exports about 1.1 million barrels per day of jet fuel—roughly 15–17% of global consumption—according to Jaime Brito, executive director of refining and oil products at OPIS.

Much of that supply moves through the Strait of Hormuz, where tanker traffic has slowed sharply amid rising regional tensions.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

Just 21 miles wide at its narrowest, the waterway between Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Oman is a critical energy choke point.

The waterway carries roughly 20 million barrels of oil per day and about one-fifth of global liquefied natural gas, along with significant volumes of jet fuel.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is calling for Republicans to provide Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) with enough funding to last a decade.

He believes Republicans can do that without the support of a single Democrat.

“We can do it with just 50 votes,” Cruz said.

Lawmakers in the Senate agreed early on Friday to advance funding for DHS that includes the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the Coast Guard, the Secret Service and seven other agencies — even as gridlock over ICE remains firmly in place.

SCHUMER, DEMS BLOCK DHS FUNDING AGAIN, TRUMP INTERVENES TO PAY TSA AGENTS

Cruz believes that Democrat opposition to funding the agency will only continue, promoting the possibility of future shutdowns.

“I think we may very well be in a world where these Senate Democrats will never again vote to fund ICE, that they’re simply saying, ‘shut down,’” Cruz said.

Like the rest of DHS, funding for ICE lapsed on February 14 when Democrats made their support for the agency conditional on a set of 10 operational reforms.

Among other items, Democrats had called for a ban on masks for ICE agents, stiffer warrant requirements for apprehending suspects in public, a ban on roaming patrols and requirements for clearly visible identification — demands Republicans argued would handcuff Trump’s immigration enforcement goals.

Cruz believes Republicans can still advance funding without meeting any of those demands through a process called “reconciliation” that would allow Republicans to get around a filibuster.

“You need 60 votes to pass funding for the government. We only have 53 Republicans, and so we need at least seven Democrats. Reconciliation, which is how we passed the [Big Beautiful Bill] last year, we can do with just Republicans,” Cruz said.

DHS SHUTDOWN BREAKTHROUGH COMES AT COST FOR REPUBLICANS AS FUNDING FIGHTS NEARS END

THUNE, GOP BLAST DEMS IN DHS STANDOFF AS LANKFORD SAYS THEY FEAR ICE OVER IRAN

“And so, what I’ve argued to my colleagues is let’s take up reconciliation, and let’s fund ICE for the next decade, because the Democrats are going to vote against ICE funding for the foreseeable future, I think, potentially forever,” Cruz said.

While lawmakers can’t use that vehicle to change existing policies or set new ones, Cruz argues Republicans can certainly use it to add to ICE’s existing provisions, putting the agency’s funding beyond the influence of another shutdown.

In some ways, it’s a plan Republicans have already done once before.

Republicans funded ICE to the tune of $75 billion last year through Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill. Cruz’s plan would take the same principle and extend it. At levels from 2025, base funding ICE and its removal operations for 10 years would cost roughly $100 billion.

Cruz believes passing those appropriations is consistent with the mandate Republicans received when they won over a governing trifecta in the 2024 elections.

SENATE REPUBLICANS MOVE TO REOPEN DHS WITH NEW PLAN, WAIT FOR DEMOCRATIC BUY-IN

“The American people said, enough. President Trump and Republican Congress have an incredible record of success on securing the border. We have seen illegal border crossings drop 99%. We’ve seen the murder rate across the country drop 20%. We’ve seen the drug overdose rate nationally drop 20%.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP

“It is literally the case that there are thousands of Americans alive today because President Trump was reelected, and because we have a Republican House and Senate.”

Instead of passing the Senate’s plan, the House advanced its own package late Friday night, which would extend DHS funding at current levels for two months, buying more time for lawmakers to continue negotiations over ICE.