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Massachusetts has seen a spike in illegal migrants arrested for sex offenses over the last several months as the state and city of Boston have pledged to resist President-elect Donald Trump’s plans for mass deportations.

Since August, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) officials have arrested 26 illegal migrants in the Boston area for sex crimes against children ranging from child rape to sexual assault to distributing child pornography.

Many of these migrants were previously removed from the U.S. only to later illegally re-enter the country.

As recently as Dec. 3, an illegal migrant, Adrian Patricio Huerta-Nivelo, 25, was removed by ICE after it was discovered he was wanted for rape of a minor in his home country of Ecuador.

ICE NABS ANOTHER ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT IN MASS. CHARGED WITH CHILD SEX CRIME, AS GOV SNUBS TRUMP DEPORTATIONS

Flags fly above Boston City Hall on Nov. 11, 2021.  (Lane Turner/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

Nivelo’s removal came just a day after the Boston City Council unanimously voted to reaffirm a 2019 measure restricting Boston police’s ability to cooperate with ICE in deporting illegal migrants. The measure seeks to protect immigrant communities from “unjust enforcement actions” and restricts Boston police’s ability to cooperate with ICE and bans police from keeping migrants in custody for possible deportation unless there is a criminal warrant.

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey has also vowed that state police would “absolutely not” assist Trump in the mass deportations operation.

Despite this, a spokesperson for Healey denied that Massachusetts is a “sanctuary state,” telling Fox News Digital that “as a former prosecutor and attorney general, the governor believes violent criminals should be deported.”

Boston officials have been largely silent on the series of sex crimes against residents in the city. Mayor Michelle Wu, a Democrat, and the Boston City Council did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

MIGRANT ACCUSED OF VIOLENT CRIMES ARRESTED BY ICE AFTER MASSACHUSETTS COURT REFUSED TO HONOR DETAINER

In this undated photo, ICE agents arrest an illegal immigrant. (Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE))

November

Boston ICE officials arrested six illegal migrants for sex crimes against children in November.

One of the most recent arrests, announced by ICE on Dec. 5, involved a 46-year-old Honduran national named Salvador Castro Garcia, who is charged with indecent assault and battery of a child under 14.

Garcia was previously deported in 2001 but then re-entered the country at an unknown location and time. ICE took Garcia into custody on Nov. 21 after he was released on bail by the Brockton District Court.

In addition to Garcia, Boston ICE ERO officials arrested Felix Meletz Guarcas, a 45-year-old Guatemalan national, on Nov. 20 after he was charged with multiple counts of sexual assault of a minor.

‘SANCTUARY’ CITY MAYOR VOWS SHE WILL DEFY TRUMP’S MASS DEPORTATION PUSH: ‘CAUSING WIDESPREAD FEAR’

Felix Meletz Guarcas, 45, an illegal immigrant from Guatemala, is charged with sexually assaulting a child in Rhode Island.  (ICE)

According to an ICE statement, the Rhode Island Department of Corrections refused ICE’s request to hold Guarcas in custody, forcing agents to make a dangerous arrest in a public parking lot. ICE is currently holding Guarcas in custody pending a hearing before an immigration judge.

On Nov. 18, Boston ICE officials arrested Belardis Tapia Gonzalez, a Dominican national charged with second-degree child molestation-sexual assault, and Alexandre Romao De Oliveira, who was charged with rape of a child in his home country of Brazil.

Billy Erney Buitrago-Bustos, a 42-year-old Colombian migrant, was arrested by ICE in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, on Nov. 15 after being charged with rape of a child by force, statutory rape, and aggravated rape against a minor.  

On Nov. 12, ICE arrested Guatemalan illegal migrant Mynor Stiven De Paz-Munoz, 21, in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, after he was charged in Massachusetts with rape of child by force, rape of a child and indecent assault and battery against a minor.

ICE arrested three illegal immigrants in Massachusetts this week for alleged forcible rape of children. (ICE)

October

Boston ICE ERO arrested three illegal migrants for child sex crimes in October.

Officials arrested Andre Tiago Lucas, 36, from Brazil, on Oct. 31. Lucas fled his native country after being convicted of the rape of a 13-year-old child.

Two more migrants – Colombian national Mateo Hincapie Cardona, 28, and 20-year-old Guatemalan national Selvin Alex Galvez-Mejia – were arrested by Boston ICE ERO on Oct. 29 and Oct. 18, respectively.

Cardona is charged with enticing a child under 16, distribution of obscene matter, and lascivious posing and exhibiting a child in the nude. Mejia is charged with rape and indecent assault and battery against a minor.

June 2, 2022: ICE agents conduct an enforcement operation in the U.S. interior. ((Immigration and Customs Enforcement))

September

Boston ICE officials arrested nine illegal migrants charged with sex crimes against children in September.

Maynor Francisco Hernandez-Rodas, a 38-year-old Guatemalan national, was arrested by Boston ICE ERO on Sept. 20. He was charged with forcibly raping a Massachusetts minor.

Within a single week, seven illegal migrants – Abraham Malpica, Sept. 13, Angel Gabriel Deras-Mejia, Sept. 12, Enrique Alberto Ortiz-Brito, Sept. 12, Felix Alberto Perez-Gomez, Sept. 11, Gean Do Amaral Belafronte, Sept. 11, Jefferson Jerome, Sept. 11, Bryan Daniel Aldana-Arevalo, Sept. 10, Elmer Sola, Sept. 10 – were arrested by Boston ICE officials for sex crimes.

On Aug. 1 Jorge Luis Castro-Alvarado, 28, Guatemala, was arrested after raping a Massachusetts resident.

Mayor Michelle Wu on February 14, 2023 in Boston, Massachusetts  (Matt Stone/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images)

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August

In August, six illegal migrants – Akim Marc Desire, 18, Haiti, Warley Neto, 24, Brazil, Elmer Perez, 49, Guatemala, Cory Bernard Alvarez, 26, Haiti, Marc Kervens Beauvais, 34, Haiti, Jackson Bento-Pinheiro, 35, Brazil – were arrested by Boston ICE for sex crimes against children.

Before President Biden was inaugurated as the nation’s 46th president, he and his administration put its staunch support of transgender issues at the forefront of its policies. 

In the waning days of the Biden administration, Fox News Digital revisited the Biden administration’s support of transgender issues, including a handful of controversies that elicited backlash from conservatives. 

“The president’s belief is that trans rights are human rights,” former White House press secretary Jen Psaki said within the administration’s first month in office during a press conference. 

One day before Biden was inaugurated, he announced the nomination of a person who would become the first known transgender woman to hold an office that required Senate confirmation: Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine. The announcement was soon followed by Biden, in his official capacity as president, rolling back Trump-era trans policies, celebrating holidays championing the trans and LGBTQ communities at large, and pledging support to transgender individuals during each of his State of the Union addresses. 

BIDEN OFFICIAL RACHEL LEVINE SAYS EARLY MEMORIES WERE OF TRANSGENDERISM, QUESTIONING BIOLOGICAL SEX

Assistant Secretary for Health Dr. Rachel Levine (Joe Hermitt/The Patriot-News via AP, File)

Following Biden’s successful nomination of Levine to the Department of Health and Human Services, a job Levine still holds, Biden again underscored his administration’s explicitly pro-trans stance when he rolled back the first Trump administration’s ban on trans members of the military. 

Under the Trump administration in 2018, the 45th president officially authorized the Pentagon to ban transgender individuals from joining the military, with limited exceptions, after making the pledge to do so in 2017.

Biden bucked the policy on his fifth day in office through an executive order, saying it was “the right thing to do” and in the “national interest” of the country. 

President Biden gestures after signing an executive order on advancing equality for LGBTQI+ individuals and handing the signing pen to Javier Gomez of Florida during a pride event at the White House June 15, 2022. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

“President Biden believes that gender identity should not be a bar to military service, and that America’s strength is found in its diversity,” the White House said in January 2021. “This question of how to enable all qualified Americans to serve in the military is easily answered by recognizing our core values.”

The White House said at the time that America “is stronger, at home and around the world, when it is inclusive,” adding that “the military is no exception.”

3 MONTHS AND 28 DAYS: LGBTQ EVENTS CLOG CALENDAR AS WHITE HOUSE FACES BACKLASH OVER EASTER ANNOUNCEMENT

The Biden administration has also elevated trans and LGBTQ holidays across the last four years, including issuing messages of support of “Transgender Day of Visibility” each year.  

“Transgender rights are human rights – and I’m calling on every American to join me in uplifting the worth and dignity of transgender Americans. Together, we can stamp out discrimination and deliver on our nation’s promise of freedom and equality for all,” he posted to his X account in March 2021. 

First lady Jill Biden walks onstage during a Pride celebration on the South Lawn of the White House on June 26, 2024. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

International Transgender Day of Visibility was created by activists more than 10 years ago and is celebrated each year on March 31. The holiday came under fierce fire earlier this year, however, as it fell on the same day as Easter Sunday – t​​he most holy holiday for Christians. Conservatives, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., ripped the White House’s decision to recognize Transgender Day of Visibility on Easter, calling it an attack on Christianity.

“We call on Joe Biden’s failing campaign and White House to issue an apology to the millions of Catholics and Christians across America who believe tomorrow is for one celebration only – the resurrection of Jesus Christ,” Karoline Leavitt, who served as the Trump campaign’s press secretary before being named as Trump’s White House press secretary, said at the time. 

White House spokesperson Andrew Bates told Fox News Digital at the time that Biden, as a Christian, was working to bring “people together” with the event.

“As a Christian who celebrates Easter with family, President Biden stands for bringing people together and upholding the dignity and freedoms of every American,” Bates said. 

BIDEN SAYS HE ‘DIDN’T DO THAT’ WHEN ASKED ABOUT EASTER BEING ‘TRANS VISIBILITY DAY,’ DESPITE PROCLAMATION

Fox News Digital previously reported that the White House has celebrated or commemorated seven other holidays focused on LGBT issues, including National Coming Out Day in October; Lesbian Day of Visibility in April; International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia in May; Pride Month in June; Spirit Day in October; Intersex Awareness Day in October; and Transgender Day of Remembrance in November. 

Sam Brinton, who worked as a Department of Energy deputy assistant secretary, speaks onstage during a Trevor Project event on June 11, 2018, in New York City. (Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for The Trevor Project)

The Biden administration came under fire in 2022 when one of the U.S. government’s first “non-binary” officials was accused of stealing airport luggage on multiple occasions. Non-binary is understood as an individual who does not exclusively identify as male or female. 

EMBATTLED FORMER BIDEN OFFICIAL ACCUSED IN MULTIPLE AIRPORT THEFTS ENDS 2023 FREE

Sam Brinton, a biological male, worked as the Department of Energy deputy assistant secretary, but made national headlines in 2022 when accused of stealing luggage at airports. Brinton was charged with stealing a woman’s suitcase at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport in September and another at Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas in July. The DOE said, amid outrage over the case, that Brinton was no longer employed by the department. 

Las Vegas police booked Sam Brinton at a Clark County, Nevada, detention center. (Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department)

Biden also hosted what was billed as the White House’s largest Pride celebration in its history in 2023. During that event, a transgender model and activist, Rose Montoya, came under fire for going topless and cupping their bare breasts while standing on the South Lawn of the White House. The incident was slammed by conservatives as an “international embarrassment” and Montoya was subsequently banned from visiting the White House. 

“This behavior is inappropriate and disrespectful for any event at the White House. It is not reflective of the event we hosted to celebrate LGBTQI+ families or the other hundreds of guests who were in attendance,” the White House said in response to the controversy. “Individuals in the video will not be invited to future events.”

WHITE HOUSE CONDEMNS TRANS ACTIVIST FOR GOING TOPLESS AT PRIDE MONTH EVENT: ‘INAPPROPRIATE AND DISRESPECTFUL’

Rose Montoya attends The TransLatin Coalition’s 10th Annual GARRAS Fashion Show Fundraiser at Pacific Design Center on Nov. 16, 2024, in West Hollywood, California. (JC Olivera/Getty Images)

The administration has also invited notable transgender individuals to the White House over the last few years, including hosting “Jeopardy!” champion Amy Schneider in 2022, and held a sit-down discussion with transgender internet influencer Dylan Mulvaney – who was embroiled in the Bud Light commercial controversy in 2023. The Biden admin also saw the elevation of transgender retired Navy officer and activist Shawn Skelly as assistant secretary of defense for readiness in 2021, a role Skelly still holds. 

Shawn Skelly attends Out Magazine’s #OUT100 Event on Nov, 9, 2017, in New York City. (Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for OUT Magazine)

The White House celebrated the progress of the trans community under Biden’s administration in a comment to Fox Digital. 

“President Biden is proud to stand up for the dignity of every single American, and to have achieved historic progress for the following values that Fox Corporation shares and includes in their employee handbook: transgender Americans deserve an ‘environment free of harassment, discrimination, or retaliation, and without fear of consequences or transphobia for living openly,” Bates said. 

BUD LIGHT HASN’T FULLY REBOUNDED AS ONE-YEAR MARK OF DYLAN MULVANEY FIASCO APPROACHES: ‘VERY STUBBORN BOYCOTT’

Jeopardy champion Amy Schneider speaks in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House on March 31, 2022. (Nicholas Kamm/AFP via Getty Images)

Biden has also supported the transgender community each year during his State of the Union addresses, vowing in his first year that the “president has your back.” 

“To all transgender Americans watching at home, especially young people who are so brave, I want you to know your president has your back,” Biden declared during his first State of the Union address in 2021.

In 2022, he said: “The onslaught of state laws targeting transgender Americans and their families is wrong. As I said last year, especially to our younger transgender Americans, I will always have your back as your president, so you can be yourself and reach your God-given potential.”

Dylan Mulvaney accepts the Streamy Award for Breakout Creator onstage at The Streamy Awards on Aug. 27, 2023, in Los Angeles. (Rich Polk/Penske Media via Getty Images)

“Let’s also pass the bipartisan Equality Act to ensure LGBTQ Americans, especially transgender young people, can live with safety and dignity. Our strength is not just the example of our power, but the power of our example. Let’s remember the world is watching,” Biden said in his 2023 State of the Union address. 

The U.S. Embassy to the Holy See, which is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, also showed their support for the LGBT community under the Biden administration by flying the pride flag during June each year. 

US RAISES PRIDE FLAG AT EMBASSY TO THE HOLY SEE

Trump’s second administration is expected to be a departure from Biden’s unequivocal support of promoting transgender issues. The president-elect vowed on the campaign trail that he will ban biological males from women’s sports, as well as vowing to remove “woke” ideology from the military – though no decision has been made if that policy will include removing trans individuals from the military. 

“On Day One, I will revoke Joe Biden’s cruel policies on so-called ‘gender affirming care’ – ridiculous – a process that includes giving kids puberty blockers, mutating their physical appearance, and ultimately performing surgery on minor children. Can you believe this?” Trump said in a campaign video last year of his plan to “protect children from left-wing gender insanity.” 

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“I will sign a new executive order instructing every federal agency to cease all programs that promote the concept of sex and gender transition at any age. I will then ask Congress to permanently stop federal taxpayer dollars from being used to promote or pay for these procedures, and pass a law prohibiting child sexual mutilation in all 50 states. It’ll go very quickly.”

FIRST ON FOX: A new 16-page House GOP memo shows Republican lawmakers are claiming victory on issues like Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), border security, and green energy in Congress’ annual defense policy bill.

The 1,800-page bill, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), was released on Saturday evening and details how $895.2 billion allocated toward defense and national security will be spent.

“The [fiscal year 2025] NDAA builds upon the gains made in the FY24 NDAA to end the radical woke ideology being forced on our servicemen and women and restores the focus of our military on lethality,” a page of the House Armed Services Committee’s memo on the bill said.

The document, obtained by Fox News Digital, touts key wins that GOP negotiators believe they scored in the bipartisan talks.

DOZENS OF PROMINENT VETERANS SIGN ONTO LETTER SUPPORTING ‘OUTSTANDING’ HEGSETH NOMINATION AMID CONTROVERSIES

Speaker Mike Johnson is expected to hold a vote on the NDAA this week. (Getty Images)

The page pushing back on “woke ideology” said the NDAA “guts DEI bureaucracy” by extending a Pentagon hiring freeze on DEI-related roles and stopping all such recruitment until “an investigation of the Pentagon’s DEI programs” can be completed.

It also bans the Defense Department from contracting with advertising companies “that blacklist conservative news sources,” according to the memo.

The memo said the NDAA also guts funding for the Biden administration’s “Countering Extremist Activity Working Group” dedicated to rooting out extremism in the military’s ranks.

The annual defense policy bill also does not authorize “any climate change programs,” and prohibits the Pentagon from issuing climate impact-based guidance on weapons systems.

On border security, a cornerstone issue for Republicans, the memo touted the NDAA’s support for “deployment of National Guard troops” to support Border Patrol at the southwest border.

TRUMP FLOATS DESANTIS AS POTENTIAL DEFENSE SECRETARY REPLACEMENT IF HEGSETH FALTERS

The House Armed Services Committee, led by Rep. Mike Rogers, is out with a new talking points memo on the NDAA. (Getty Images)

A significant portion of the document stressed quality of life improvements for U.S. service members secured in the NDAA, a focus of much bipartisan discussion over the last year. That includes a 14.5% pay increase for junior enlisted troops and increasing access to child care for service members, while also providing job support to military spouses.

All the while, the memo emphasized that the $895 billion in spending the NDAA directs only represents a 1% increase over fiscal year 2024 levels.

The memo gives insight into Republican plans for national security in the new year, when the GOP will control all the major levers of power in Washington, D.C., after commanding victories in the 2024 election.

Measures highlighted by the memo on countering China and Iran are likely to get wide bipartisan support. The NDAA itself normally passes with a healthy margin of both Republicans and Democrats, save for progressives and conservatives traditionally critical of the military industrial base.

But a provision touted by Republicans in the memo – one that bans funding for transgender medical treatments for children of service members – has sparked partisan frustrations.

Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, cited the measures when he told Politico that he did not know if he could support the NDAA.

GOP TENNESSEE AG REACTS TO ORAL ARGUMENTS IN SUPREME COURT TRANSGENDER RIGHTS CASE: ‘FEEL REALLY GOOD’

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“It’s the Republicans taking advantage of a partisan wedge issue,” he told the outlet.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., praised the limitations on progressive policies in the NDAA.

“We remain determined to confront increasingly hostile threats from Communist China, Russia, and Iran, and this legislation provides our military with the tools they need to deter our enemies,” Johnson said in a statement.

“This legislation includes House-passed provisions to restore our focus on military lethality and to end the radical woke ideology being imposed on our military by permanently banning transgender medical treatment for minors and countering antisemitism.”

The bill is expected for a vote sometime this week.

President-elect Trump reacted Sunday morning to the news that Syrian dictator Bashar Assad had fled Syria after rebels stormed the capital city of Damascus.

“Assad is gone,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social. “He has fled his country. His protector, Russia, Russia, Russia, led by Vladimir Putin, was not interested in protecting him any longer. There was no reason for Russia to be there in the first place. They lost all interest in Syria because of Ukraine, where close to 600,000 Russian soldiers lay wounded or dead, in a war that should never have started, and could go on forever.”

“Russia and Iran are in a weakened state right now, one because of Ukraine and a bad economy, the other because of Israel and its fighting success,” his post continued. “Likewise, Zelenskyy and Ukraine would like to make a deal and stop the madness. They have ridiculously lost 400,000 soldiers, and many more civilians. There should be an immediate ceasefire and negotiations should begin.”

SYRIAN DICTATOR BASHAR ASSAD FLEES INTO EXILE AS ISLAMIST REBELS CONQUER COUNTRY

President-elect Trump reacted Sunday morning to the news that Syrian dictator Bashar Assad had fled Syria. (Getty Images)

Trump added: “Too many lives are being so needlessly wasted, too many families destroyed, and if it keeps going, it can turn into something much bigger, and far worse. I know Vladimir well. This is his time to act. China can help. The World is waiting!”

Assad, who used chemical weapons multiple times on his population, and his British-born wife, Asma al-Assad, fled with their three children, according to Syrian television reports, although it was not known where they were headed.

A video statement from a group of men on Syrian state TV said that Assad had been overthrown and that all prisoners had been released.

“Assad is gone. He has fled his country,” Trump wrote. (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)

The man who read a statement said the Operations Room to Conquer Damascus is calling on all opposition fighters and citizens to preserve state institutions of “the free Syrian state.”

“Long live the free Syrian state that is to all Syrians and all” their sects and ethnic groups, the statement said.

Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali said early Sunday he did not know where Assad was.

ISLAMIST REBELS IN SYRIA CATCH ASSAD, PUTIN, IRAN REGIMES OFF GUARD GIVING US NEW MIDEAST HEADACHE

Portraits of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, left, and his late father and predecessor, Hafez, hang on the wall of a destroyed apartment in the southern Lebanese town of Bint Jbeil, August 17, 2006.  (PATRICK BAZ/AFP via Getty Images)

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Crowds of Syrians gathered in the central squares of Damascus to celebrate Assad’s departure.

Syria has been embroiled in a bloody, nearly 14-year civil war as Islamist rebels sought to overthrow Assad and end more than 50 years of Assad family rule over the Syrian Arabian Republic.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

An incoming Missouri state lawmaker introduced a bill to provide $1,000 to people who report illegal migrants to authorities.

Republican state Sen.-elect David Gregory proposed a measure that would offer $1,000 to any person who turned in an illegal migrant who is subsequently arrested.

SB 72 would allow the state’s Department of Public Safety to “develop an information system for people to report violations of this act which shall include a toll-free telephone hotline, e-mail and online reporting portal.”

BLUE STATE COUNTY TEES UP VOTE ON ‘KNEE-JERK’ RESOLUTION TO PROTECT ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS FROM DEPORTATIONS

Immigrants line up at a remote U.S. Border Patrol processing center after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border on December 7, 2023, in Lukeville, Arizona. (John Moore/Getty Images)

The bill would also create the “Missouri Illegal Alien Certified Bounty Hunter Program” which would allow local citizens to serve as bounty hunters “for the purpose of finding and detaining illegal aliens” in the state.

Only bail bond agents and surety recovery agents may apply to the program to serve as bounty hunters.

The proposal would also make it a felony for anyone to be in the state as an illegal migrant.

ANOTHER MAJOR BLUE CITY DOUBLES DOWN ON VOW TO OBSTRUCT TRUMP’S MASS DEPORTATION PLAN

Migrants wait in line to enter the shelter set up by the authorities for migrants as migrants wait for an appointment through the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) one application in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, on May 23, 2023. (Christian Torres Chavez/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

“As I ran for State Senate, I promised to make Missouri a national leader in combating illegal immigration,” Gregory said in a post on the social media platform X.

“Now, I’m following through with my promise. SB 72 makes it a felony to be here illegally and the bill will finally allow Missouri law enforcement to find and arrest illegal immigrants,” he continued. “We need all hands on deck to ensure we catch illegal immigrants BEFORE they commit violent crimes.”

Migrants board a state-sponsored bus to New York outside the Mission: Border Hope non-profit organization in Eagle Pass, Texas, on Monday, March 11, 2024. (Christopher Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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President-elect Trump has promised mass deportations in his second administration.

FIRST ON FOX: A new report looked at company statements, annual reports and other publicly available documents from every Fortune 500 company and found that virtually all of them have maintained their commitments to “diversity, equity and inclusion” (DEI) despite a trend of private companies relinquishing these commitments amid growing criticism.

Walmart, last week, became the latest major company to roll back its DEI commitments. The private sector’s move away from such commitments, which include race-based hiring practices or other preferential treatment provided based on someone’s immutable characteristics, has been strong enough that it spurred a cohort of 49 Democratic lawmakers in the House of Representatives to pen a letter several weeks ago to the country’s Fortune 1000 companies, urging them not to give in to pressure to dismantle their DEI commitments. The lawmakers argued that such commitments help provide for a fairer shot at the American Dream for “everyone.” 

The effort to ensure that “everyone” is given a fair shot is a main reason why Walmart decided to begin rolling back some of its commitments.

“Our purpose, to help people save money and live better, has been at our core since our founding 62 years ago and continues to guide us today,” Joe Pennington, the director of Walmart’s global press office, told Fox News Digital. “We’ve been on a journey and know we aren’t perfect, but every decision comes from a place of wanting to foster a sense of belonging, to open doors to opportunities for all our associates, customers and suppliers and to be a Walmart for everyone.”     

While pressure on private companies to relinquish their DEI commitments has yielded some change, 485 of the country’s 500 largest companies continue to maintain some form of DEI commitment, according to a new report from the right-leaning Heritage Foundation.

‘THIS S— HAS TO STOP’: FORMER JILL BIDEN SPOX RIPS DEMS FOR ‘VILIFYING’ DEI CRITICS AS ‘WHITE SUPREMACISTS’

Researchers spent weeks combing through various documents and communications belonging to all of these companies, and developed a user-friendly database so that readers can see the commitments for themselves.

Jonthan Butcher, the report’s lead author, told Fox News Digital that he thinks public pressure is very influential when it comes to getting private companies to relinquish what he described as discriminatory DEI commitments. Sources familiar with Walmart’s decision to roll back their DEI policies indicated that public pressure, in addition to feedback from customers and associates, was an aspect that spurred some of the company’s changes.

“I think that when the pressure has been applied one by one … businesses recognize that when they’re called out, they don’t have any way to defend themselves and say, ‘Well, what we’re really doing is wholesome.’ No one has tried to say that,” Butcher said. “Instead, they’ve simply backed away. And appropriately so.”

TRUMP’S CHOICE FOR FCC CHAIRMAN SAYS AGENCY ‘WILL END ITS PROMOTION OF DEI’ NEXT YEAR

Criticism over workplace DEI commitments was bolstered following last year’s affirmative action ruling from the Supreme Court that barred racial preferences in university admissions.

Some of the major companies highlighted in Butcher’s report include Nike and UnitedHealth Group. 

Nike, for example, was found to have a page on its website about “representation and pay” that asserts, “NIKE is focused on its workforce representation, starting with women globally and racial and ethnic minorities in the United States.” Meanwhile, UnitedHealth Group states on its “People & Culture” webpage that the company strives to provide patients with “culturally relevant care” and seeks to “advance a diverse health care workforce.” 

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Fox News Digital reached out to both Nike and UnithedHealth Group for comment but did not receive a response.

Butcher ultimately said he believes Americans are waking up to the racially discriminatory elements of DEI practices, noting that the point of his research is to continue leveraging that momentum.

President-elect Donald Trump is expected to roll back several of President Joe Biden’s green energy policies and initiatives when he assumes office in 2024. 

While on the campaign trail, Trump vowed to lift the Biden administration’s “war on energy” and “disastrous” energy policies.

“They annihilated your steel mills, decimated your coal jobs, assaulted your oil and gas jobs and sold off your manufacturing jobs to China and other foreign nations all over the world,” Trump said of the current administration.

Trump appointed North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum to head his newly formed National Energy Council, and former Rep. Lee Zeldin to head the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) – two pro-energy appointees who are expected to take aim at several of Biden’s policies. Here are five ways Trump could overturn several of those in short order:

1. The Paris Climate Agreement

The Paris Agreement, established at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in 2015, is a legally binding treaty among nearly 195 parties who are committed to international cooperation on climate change.

BIDEN BLOCKS NEW MINING IN REGION THAT PRODUCES ABOUT 40% OF NATION’S COAL: ‘IT’S A DISASTER’

Donald Trump (Evan Vucci)

Trump officially withdrew from the treaty in 2020, but Biden reinstated the U.S. to the climate agreement after taking office in 2021.

The Trump campaign told Politico in June that the president-elect would be in favor of withdrawing the U.S. from the treaty for a second time if re-elected.

2. Electric vehicle mandate

The EPA announced a final rule in March under the Clean Air Act to set new emissions standards that would require up to two-thirds of new cars sold to be electric vehicles by 2032.

The new standards would affect “light-duty vehicle manufacturers, independent commercial importers, alternative fuel converters, and manufacturers and converters of medium-duty vehicles,” according to the EPA’s final rule.

House Republicans have taken steps to block the mandate, passing the Congressional Review Act (CRA) in September to block the “out-of-touch regulation” from being enacted.

Trump tapped former gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin to head the Environmental Protection Act (EPA) under his administration. (Jason DeCrow)

3. EV tax credit

Biden is currently offering a tax credit of up to $7,500 to incentivize the purchase of greener vehicles. 

However, sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters that Trump plans to ax the tax credit as part of his sweep of Biden’s climate agenda.

One of Trump’s strongest allies, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, revealed in July that he supports getting rid of the credit. “Take away the subsidies,” Musk posted to X, saying that “it will only help Tesla.”

Companies that are financially sound, such as Tesla, could benefit if the playing field for electric vehicles is narrowed, while the smaller companies that rely on the tax credit for consumer affordability could face setbacks, analysts suggest.

TRUMP’S ENERGY AGENDA CAN MAKE AMERICA AFFORDABLE AGAIN

4. Federal coal leases

Biden’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) recently approved an amendment to the Resource Management Plan (RMP) to ban new federal coal leases, essentially blocking any new federal mining leases in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin, the country’s largest coal-producing region, by 2041. 

This region produces about 40% of the nation’s coal. BLM, however, will allow for existing coal leases to continue to be developed.

Aerial photo of water holding ponds on private and public lands in the Tongue River and Powder River area of northern Wyoming near the Montana border.  (William Campbell.)

Following the decision, Trump’s transition team reinforced the idea of the president-elect’s campaign promise to bolster American-made energy.

“Families have suffered under the past four years’ war on American energy, which prompted the worst inflation crisis in a generation. Voters re-elected President Trump by a resounding margin, giving him a mandate to implement the promises he made on the campaign trail, including lowering energy costs for consumers,” Karoline Leavitt, Trump-Vance Transition spokeswoman, said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

5. Waste Emissions Charge

Biden’s EPA recently announced that it will try to “incentivize” the oil and gas industry to reduce methane emissions by imposing a Waste Emissions Charge, allowed under the Inflation Reduction Act. 

EXPERT TOUTS TRUMP’S ENERGY SECTOR NOMINATIONS, OUTLINES HOPES FOR ADMINISTRATION AGENDA TO SPARK ENERGY BOOM

Under the Biden administration’s new rule, certain oil and gas facilities would be charged $900 per metric ton of “wasteful” emissions in CY 2024, $1,200 for CY 2025 and $1,500 for CY 2026.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency’s sign, on the headquarters in Washington, D.C. (Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto)

Trump-supporting oil-advocacy groups and House lawmakers slammed the fee, with the American Petroleum Institute releasing a policy road map for the incoming Trump administration to hit back against the EPA’s final rule.

“Energy was on the ballot” in the 2024 elections, American Petroleum Institute President and CEO Mike Sommers told Fox News Digital in a statement following Trump’s victory in November.

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In electing Trump, Sommers said that voters had “sent a clear signal that they want choices, not mandates, and an all-of-the-above approach that harnesses our nation’s resources and builds on the successes of his first term.”

The Biden administration on Saturday announced a $988 million aid package to Ukraine to ensure it “has the tools it needs to prevail in its fight against Russian aggression.” 

“This administration has made its choice. And so has a bipartisan coalition in Congress. The next administration must make its own choice,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Saturday at the Reagan National Defense Forum in California. “But, from this library, from this podium, I am confident that President Reagan would have stood on the side of Ukraine, American security and human freedom.” 

The aid package is provided through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative and “will provide Ukraine with munitions for rocket systems and unmanned aerial systems,” a release from the administration said. “This package also includes support for maintenance and repair programs to help Ukraine reconstitute its forces and build and sustain combat power.” 

The announcement came as President-elect Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy while at a ceremony commemorating the reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris on Saturday after a devastating fire there in 2019. 

ZELENSKYY FEARS DANGER IF UKRAINE LOSES UNITY, DEFEAT IF US CUTS FUNDS, 1,000 DAYS AFTER WAR BEGAN 

The Biden administration on Saturday announced a $988 million aid package to Ukraine to ensure it “has the tools it needs to prevail in its fight against Russian aggression.”  (Andrew Cabalero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

During the campaign, Trump and running mate JD Vance heavily criticized the Biden administration’s support for Ukraine after Russia’s 2022 invasion, and Trump said he would end the war before even entering office without offering further details. 

Vance also suggested earlier this year that the best way to end the war was for Ukraine to cede the land Russia has seized and for a demilitarized zone to be established, a proposal Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy flatly rejected. 

FLORIDA REP CALLS OUT DEMOCRATS FOR ‘ESCALATING’ CONFLICT IN UKRAINE

French President Emmanuel Macron, center, poses with President-elect Donald Trump, left, and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Élysée Palace in Paris Saturday.  (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

Recently, Zelenskyy has said he is more open to negotiations in the war and has called for Ukraine to be allowed to join NATO. 

The Biden administration has committed to giving Ukraine as much aid as possible before Trump takes office in January. 

“In September, the president announced a surge in security assistance for Ukraine to put Ukrainian forces in the strongest possible position before he leaves office,” National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in a statement Monday while announcing $725 million in aid to Ukraine. 

Secretary Lloyd Austin  (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

“Between now and mid-January, we will deliver hundreds of thousands of additional artillery rounds, thousands of additional rockets and other critical capabilities to help Ukraine defend its freedom and independence.” 

Last month, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, “President Biden has committed to making sure that every dollar we have at our disposal will be pushed out the door between now and Jan. 20.” 

Saturday’s announcement marks the administration’s 22nd aid package through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative. 

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This week, House Speaker Mike Johnson rejected a request by the administration for Congress to authorize $24 billion in additional funding.

“It is not the place of Joe Biden to make that decision now,” Johnson said. “We have a newly elected president, and we’re going to wait and take the new commander in chief’s direction on all that. So, I don’t expect any Ukraine funding to come up now.”

Congressional leaders have agreed to terms for this year’s defense policy bill, with nearly $900 billion in spending, new limits on transgender-related medical care and a significant raise for young U.S. service members.

Roughly 1,800 pages detailing the new National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), legislation that outlines U.S. defense and national security priorities each fiscal year, were released Saturday evening.

The bill details policy for $895.2 billion in federal spending.

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said the bill “refocuses our military on its core mission of defending America and its interests around the globe by supporting law enforcement operations and the deployment of the National Guard to the southwest border, expediting innovation and reducing the acquisition timeline for new weaponry, supporting our allies and strengthening our nuclear posture and missile defense programs.”

DOZENS OF PROMINENT VETERANS SIGN ONTO LETTER SUPPORTING ‘OUTSTANDING’ HEGSETH NOMINATION AMID CONTROVERSIES

Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will need to navigate passage of the NDAA this month (Reuters)

It includes a 14.5% pay raise for junior enlisted troops, according to the Republican leader’s office.

Another provision says “medical interventions for the treatment of gender dysphoria that could result in sterilization may not be provided to a child under the age of 18,” referring to the transgender children of U.S. service members.

The measure sparked backlash from the Human Rights Council, which called it an “attack” on military families.

“This cruel and hateful bill suddenly strips away access to medical care for families that members of our armed forces are counting on, and it could force service members to choose between staying in the military or providing health care for their children,” HRC President Kelley Robinson said in a statement.

TRUMP FLOATS DESANTIS AS POTENTIAL DEFENSE SECRETARY REPLACEMENT IF HEGSETH FALTERS

President Biden speaks to members of the 82nd Airborne Division at the G2A Arena March 25, 2022, in Jasionka, Poland. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

The bill also includes border security elements Republicans had previously pushed for, including a bipartisan initiative to create a Northern Border Mission Center under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

According to Johnson’s office, it would also “fully support the deployment of National Guard at the southwest border to intercept illegal aliens and drugs.”

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Ala., touted the significant pay raise for junior troops. He also said the NDAA “puts our service members first by boosting compensation, improving housing, supporting the spouses of service members, increasing access to child care and ensuring access to medical care.” 

Other provisions also place limits on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI)-based recruitment and the teaching of critical race theory in military-run schools.

GOP TENNESSEE AG REACTS TO ORAL ARGUMENTS IN SUPREME COURT TRANSGENDER RIGHTS CASE: ‘FEEL REALLY GOOD’

House Armed Services Committee Chair Mike Rogers touted the bill’s pay raise for junior troops. (Getty Images)

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The House is expected to vote on the NDAA next week.

The policy bill traditionally has passed with wide bipartisan support, save for some progressives and conservatives who are normally critical of the U.S. defense industrial complex.

However, it’s not immediately clear how many Democrats will be put off enough by its anti-DEI and anti-transgender medical care provisions to vote against the must-pass legislation.

President-elect Trump and Prince William shook hands at the re-opening ceremony of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris on Saturday, and afterward held a sit-down meeting at the British Embassy ahead of Trump’s inauguration. 

Trump and William also separately met with world leaders at Notre Dame, including French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. 

William was seen shaking hands and speaking with first lady Jill Biden, who represented the United States at the ceremony in place of President Biden. 

Prince William was asked to represent Britain at the event and after the ceremony, he and Trump reconvened at the British Embassy in Paris to discuss the “special relationship” between the U.K. and the U.S. 

SOCIAL MEDIA REACTS TO TRUMP ‘DOMINATING WORLD LEADERS’ WITH MACRON HANDSHAKE DURING MEETING IN FRANCE

President-elect Donald Trump talks to Prince William in Notre Dame Cathedral on Saturday in Paris.  (Ludovic Marin, Pool via AP)

Fox News Digital has reached out to Kensington Palace and the Trump transition team for comment. 

The meeting was the pair’s first since Trump won the election. They last met during his first term in 2019 when Trump made a state visit to the U.K. 

William also met with President Biden in 2022, while he was there for his Earthshot Prize. 

Prince William and President-elect Trump inside the British Embassy in Paris on Saturday.  (Reuters/Piroschka van de Wouw)

Trump also met with then-Prince Charles in 2019 and Clarence House said at the time that the two have a “good working relationship.”

Prince William and President-elect Trump attend a meeting at the British Embassy in Paris as part of ceremonies to mark the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris on Saturday.  (Reuters/Piroschka van de Wouw)

TRUMP MEETS WITH MACRON, ZELENSKYY AHEAD OF THE NOTRE DAME REOPENING CEREMONY IN PARIS

Trump told ITV in 2019 that he was supposed to meet with Charles for 15 minutes during his state visit, but they ended up talking for over an hour about the environment. 

Trump met with Prince William at the UK Ambassador’s Residence in Paris on Saturday.  (Reuters/Suzanne Plunkett)

“He is really into climate change, and I think that’s great. I mean, I want that. I like that,” Trump told ITV in 2019. “What he really wants, and what he really feels warmly about, is the future. He wants to make sure future generations have climate that is good climate, as opposed to a disaster. And I agree.”

First lady Jill Biden met with Prince William at Notre Dame Cathedral on Saturday.  (Thibault Camus/Pool via Reuters)

King Charles also contacted Trump last summer via a letter after his assassination attempt. 

President Trump and first lady Melania Trump with Queen Elizabeth in 2019.  (Alastair Grant – WPA Pool/Getty Images)

The president-elect also met with the late Queen Elizabeth during the 2019 visit. 

President Trump speaking with Prince Charles in 2019.  (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

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Notre Dame has been under renovation since a devastating fire damaged the nearly 900-year-old cathedral, probably the most famous in Paris, in 2019. 

President-elect Trump met with world leaders ahead of the reopening ceremony of the Notre Dame Cathedral as he steps back onto the global stage following his election victory.

Trump traveled to France on Saturday to attend the reopening of Notre Dame, the famous cathedral that suffered serious damage during a fire five years ago. The trip marks Trump’s first international trip since he was elected to a second, non-consecutive term in office.

Trump’s diplomacy was on full display during the trip as he met with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée Presidential Palace in Paris. The pair was later joined by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

“It’s a great honor for French people to welcome you five years later,” Macron said of Trump. “And you were, at that time, president for the first time. And I remember the solidarity and your immediate action. So, welcome back again. We are very happy to have you here.”

‘BREATHTAKING SPEED’: TRUMP’S PARIS TRIP MARKS RETURN TO GLOBAL STAGE AS LEADERS TURN ‘THE PAGE’ ON BIDEN

France’s President Emmanuel Macron (C), US president-elect Donald Trump (L) and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky pose before a meeting at the Élysée Presidential Palace in Paris on December 7, 2024. (Sarah Meyssonnier)

Ahead of the meeting, Trump said the world leaders would be talking about how “the world is going a little crazy right now.”

“We have a great relationship. As everyone knows, we accomplished a lot together,” Trump said of Macron. “And the people of France are spectacular.”

DAVID MARCUS: TRIUMPHANT TRUMP AT NOTRE DAME SIGNALS AMERICA AND THE WEST ARE BACK

Trump is expected to meet with Prince William, who is attending the event in place of his father, King Charles III, after the ceremony, according to Kensington Palace.

French President Emmanuel Macron (R) shakes hands as he welcomes U.S. President-elect Donald Trump (L) before a meeting at the Élysée Presidential Palace in Paris, France, on December 7, 2024. (Mustafa Yalcin)

President Biden is not expected to attend the event, however, First Lady Jill Biden will be present.

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William was scheduled to meet with the First Lady at the UK residence in Paris, but due to weather, the meeting was canceled, and the two will meet at the ceremony.

President-elect Trump attended the reopening ceremony of the Notre Dame Cathedral alongside First Lady Jill Biden and several other prominent world leaders.

Notre Dame was reopened on Saturday, five years after a fire caused serious damage to the landmark Gothic cathedral.

Trump was seated between French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte Macron, during the ceremony, which was also attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Prince William.

Also in the same row as Trump was First Lady Jill Biden, who attended the event with her daughter, Ashley. President Joe Biden was not present.

TRUMP MEETS WITH MACRON, ZELENSKYY AHEAD OF NOTRE DAME REOPENING CEREMONY IN PARIS

First Lady Jill Biden (CL) speaks with President-elect Donald Trump during a ceremony to mark the re-opening of the landmark Notre Dame Cathedral in central Paris on December 7, 2024.  (Thibault Camus)

Trump and the first lady greeted one another ahead of the ceremony.

Tesla CEO and close Trump ally Elon Musk also attended the ceremony.

The president-elect met privately with Macron and Zelenskyy ahead of the ceremony and was expected to meet with Prince William following the event.

President Emmanuel Macron’s wife Brigitte Macron (CL) talks with President-elect Donald Trump (CR) as they sit alongside daughter of President Joe Biden, Ashley Biden (L), First Lady of the United States Jill Biden (2L) and French President Emmanuel Macron (R) inside Notre Dame Cathedral ahead of a ceremony to mark the re-opening of the landmark cathedral, in central Paris, on December 7, 2024.  (Ludovic Marin)

The $740 million restoration project was funded by donations from 150 countries and involved the application of carpentry methods dating back to the 13th century. 

NOTRE DAME RISES FROM THE ASHES AS A SYMBOL OF HOPE

Sources familiar with the president-elect’s plans told Fox News that Trump’s attendance was at the invitation of Macron, who was the first foreign leader to congratulate Trump after his election win over Vice President Kamala Harris in November, CNN reported. 

Guests stand as the doors to Notre Dame Cathedral open during a ceremony to mark the re-opening of the landmark cathedral, in central Paris, on December 7, 2024.  (Ludovic Marin)

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About 50 heads of state were expected to be in attendance, Paris Police Chief Laurent Nuñez said in an interview published by French media outlet Le Parisien, but he did not specify who or from which countries. 

Social media users erupted over President-elect Trump’s “dominating” handshake with French President Emmanuel Macron at their meeting in Paris Saturday.

Trump traveled to France to attend the reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, his first international trip since winning the 2024 presidential election. Ahead of the event, Trump met Macron, and the two shook hands in a gesture that quickly went viral online.

“President Trump is back to dominating world leaders with his handshake,” one user, George, wrote in a post on X. “Macron is going to need a hand massage after all that twisting and pulling Trump did to him.”

TRUMP MEETS WITH MACRON, ZELENSKYY AHEAD OF THE NOTRE DAME REOPENING CEREMONY IN PARIS

French President Emmanuel Macron, right, shakes hands as he welcomes U.S. President-elect Trump before a meeting at the Élysée Presidential Palace in Paris Dec. 7, 2024. (Mustafa Yalcin)

“President Trump manhandles French President Emmanuel Macron with one of the most dominating handshakes I’ve ever seen,” said commentator Drew Hernandez. “We are so back.”

DAVID MARCUS: TRIUMPHANT TRUMP AT NOTRE DAME SIGNALS AMERICA AND THE WEST ARE BACK

Colin Rugg wrote, “7 years later and the handshake battle continues between Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron.”

During a meeting in 2017, during Trump’s first term in office, the two world leaders had a 29-second handshake and appeared to be tugging back and forth as they walked with their wives.

French President Emmanuel Macron meets with President-elect Trump at the Élysée Palace Dec. 7, 2024, in Paris (Oleg Nikishin)

“The Trump-Macron handshake is hilarious,” author John Lefevre said in a post on X. “Because it happened twice. And you know Macron was told to prepare and probably practiced and then still got dominated.”

Trump’s handshakes with world leaders have gone viral over the years, including when he pulled in Russian President Putin’s arm during a handshake at the G-20 Summit in 2019.

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Trump attended the reopening ceremony alongside political figures, including first lady Jill Biden and Prince William.

As Pete Hegseth continues to rally support for his nomination to lead the Department of Defense, a conservative research group has compiled a list of “woke” senior officers they want him to sack should he be confirmed to lead the Pentagon.

In a letter obtained by Fox News Digital, the American Accountability Foundation (AAF) sent a letter to Hegseth with a list of 20 general officers or senior admirals whom it says are excessively focused on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) and other similar left-wing initiatives. Eight of those 20 are women.

Those on the list in many cases seem to be targeted for public comments they made either in interviews or at events on diversity, and in some cases for retweeting posts that promote diversity. AAF says that focusing on such policies is an impediment to national security, while some miliary leaders have expressed concern about the list.

DOZENS OF PROMINENT VETERANS SIGN ONTO LETTER SUPPORTING ‘OUTSTANDING’ HEGSETH NOMINATION AMID CONTROVERSIES

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to defense secretary, is seen before a meeting with Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., in Hart building on Dec. 5. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images, left, US Army, right.)

“The woke takeover of the military is a major threat to our national security,” AAF President Thomas Jones wrote in the letter to Hegseth dated Tuesday and first published by the New York Post.

“As global tensions rise, with Iran on the march, Russia at war, and China in the midst of a massive military buildup, we cannot afford to have a military distracted and demoralized by leftist ideology,” he added. “Those who were responsible for these policies being instituted in the first place must be dismissed.”

The term “woke” is often used in reference to progressive, politically correct stances on race, gender ideology and other hot-button topics.

The group posted on X that the woke leaders need to be fired on day one. “Wokeness has no place in the military,” the group wrote. 

On Friday, the AAF doubled down on its position. 

“Many don’t want to hear this, but it’s the truth: DEI in the military is going to get people killed. STOP IT NOW BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE,” AAF posted on X.

Hegseth, a former Minnesota National Guard officer who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, has embraced Trump’s effort to end programs that promote diversity in the ranks and fire those who reflect those values. He has long railed against the military embracing DEI policies instead of meritocracy, complaining it also diverts focus away from war preparedness. 

TRUMP FLOATS DESANTIS AS POTENTIAL DEFENSE SECRETARY REPLACEMENT IF HEGSETH FALTERS

Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be defense secretary, is joined by his wife Jennifer Rauchet, as they walk through the basement of the Capitol, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein) (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

If confirmed to the role, Hegseth would be in charge of 1.3 million active-duty service members and the nearly 1 million civilians who work for the military.

Some of those on the list include Air Force Col. Ben Jonsson, who penned an op-ed in July 2020 demanding his white colleagues “to give a damn” and “address our blind spots around race,” according to the letter.

Also in the AAF crosshairs is Navy vice admiral Jeffery Hughes, who spoke at DEI summit in 2022 and underscored the importance of DEI recruiting “exceptional talent.”

Air Force Maj. Gen. Elizabeth Arledge also made the list and was noted by AAF for making “woke posts” on her social media.

In one post, Arledge shared articles that featured “discussions of whiteness in org[anization] theory and the ways in which whiteness (verb) has become naturalized as the ideal in orgs.”

Navy Vice Admiral Shoshana Chatfield was also listed and panned for a 2015 speech where she bemoaned that lawmakers in the House of Representatives at the time were 80% males, proclaiming that “our diversity is our strength.”

Navy vice admiral Shoshana Chatfield was one of 20 people on the list. (Noam Galai/Getty Images for Ellis Island Honors Society))

Karoline Leavitt, a spokesperson for the Trump transition team, said in a statement that “No policy should be deemed official unless it comes directly from President Trump.”

A defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the list said senior leaders are hoping that once Trump is sworn in, they will be able to discuss the issue further. They are prepared to provide additional context to the incoming administration, the official told The Associated Press, which reports it is not publishing the names to protect service members’ privacy.

Former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Friday that the list would have “considerable, wide and deep consequences.” He said when military members see people singled out, they will start focusing on their own survival rather than the mission or their job.

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Multiple sources confirmed to Fox News that Trump is reportedly considering nominating Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as defense secretary in place of Hegseth amid allegations against him.

But Hegseth brushed off the potential replacement, telling reporters that he was prepared to fight. 

“As long as Donald Trump wants me in this fight, I’m going to be standing right here in this fight, fighting to bring our Pentagon back to what it needs to be,” he said. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

READ THE LETTER BELOW. APP USERS CLICK HERE.

The 13 members of the House’s bipartisan panel investigating the assassination attempt of President-elect Trump huddled around a microphone in the Rayburn House Office Building early Thursday afternoon. The task force had just concluded its hearing exploring what went wrong and how to fix problems at the Secret Service. 

“We tried to set the tone that this was going to be a serious and bipartisan effort,” said Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., the top Democrat on the task force. “And that’s exactly what you see here. And that’s exactly how it played out.”

“We never identified as Republicans or Democrats. We have identified as task force members,” declared Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Penn., who chaired the effort.

The committee forged common ground about how the Secret Service had failed its mission in Butler, Penn., when gunman Thomas Crooks nearly killed Mr. Trump. They are pleased with some reforms at the Secret Service, such as increased use of drones, automated robot “dogs” on the property of the incoming President’s golf club in Florida and enhanced communication with local law enforcement.

Trump is surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents at a campaign rally. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH REQUIRED TO SUBMIT TRUMP FINDINGS TO DOJ BEFORE LEAVING. WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

Bipartisan lawmakers also expressed frustration that they never got to examine the body of Crooks. They still haven’t determined a motive. Nor have they established whether Crooks worked alone or had help.

“The Department of Justice to this point has not provided this task force with information about the digital devices,” lamented Rep. Laurel Lee, R-Fla., who served on the committee.

“And that’s still a black hole to this day?” asked yours truly.

“Correct,” replied Lee.

Acting Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe was the lone witness at the hearing.

He declared “there will be accountability and that accountability is occurring.” Yet he didn’t cite specific examples of discipline.

“It is essential that we recognize the gravity of our failure. I personally carry the weight of knowing that we almost lost a protectee,” added Rowe at the hearing. “I have reflected extensively on the agency’s substandard performance during the advance for the Butler rally.”

U.S. Secret Service Acting Director Ronald Rowe testifies before a Joint Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and Senate Committee on the Judiciary hearing examining the security failures leading to the assassination attempt on Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)

That’s all well and good. But no one will remember any of that. And in fact, no one will remember that the committee embodied one of the best examples of significant bipartisanship in Congress in years.

That’s because of a thermonuclear fracas which erupted between Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Tex., and Rowe.

I have covered Congress for decades. I’ve seen former Rep. Bob Walker, R-Penn., slam the gavel down so angrily that the head broke off and spiraled into the well of the chamber. I’ve seen a near fist-fight between lawmakers early in the morning of January 7, 2021, hours after the Capitol riot. Just last year, Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., challenged Teamsters President Sean O’Brien to a fight during a hearing. Never mind that Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., chased former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., through the halls on the same day. Burchett said McCarthy elbowed him in the kidneys.

But I have never observed a verbal brawl between a lawmaker and a witness like the Fallon-Rowe tilt.

Both men utterly exploded in anger, barking at each other and jabbing their index fingers.

Various accounts said the two “sparred.” If this was sparring, then Ali versus Frazier was afternoon tea at the Willard.

“You are out of line!” thundered Rowe. “You are out of line, Congressman!”

“Don’t try to bully me!” fumed Fallon. “Don’t try to bully me!”

“Do not invoke 9/11 for political purposes!” yelled Rowe. “I was there out of respect!”

“Oh, that’s a bunch of horse hockey!” retorted Fallon. “You endangered President Biden’s life! Vice President Harris’s life, because you put those agents out of position!”

CONSERVATIVES WORRY CONGRESS WON’T HAVE ‘SPINE’ FOR SPENDING OVERHAUL AFTER DOGE MEETINGS

Anything of substance about improvements by the Secret Service or after-action reviews fell by the wayside. This was now the main event. And no one would recall much else.

Here’s some context on what lit the fuse to his melee:

From the dais, Fallon held up a picture of President Biden, Vice President Harris, President-elect Trump along with President-elect and Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, standing at Ground Zero on 9/11 of this year. Fallon notes that Rowe is in the picture, near the principals. One photo displayed by Fallon even circled Rowe in red.

Fallon asked Rowe whether he was the “Special Agent in Charge” or “SAC” that day. That’s where things spiraled out of control.

“Actually, Congressman, what you’re not seeing is the SAC of the detail out of the picture’s view,” said Rowe.

His voice then grew gravelly with just a splice of disdain.

“That is the day where we remember the more than 3,000 people that have died on 9/11,” said Rowe, his verbal timbre rising. “I actually responded to Ground Zero. I was there going through the ashes of the World Trade Center. I was there at Fresh Kills (Landfall in New York).”

That’s when Fallon sneered at Rowe.

“I’m not asking you that! I’m asking you if you were the Special Agent in Charge!” hollered Fallon.

“I was there to show respect!” countered Rowe. 

“You were not!” shot back Fallon.

Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas, on the House steps of the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, December 6, 2022. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

INCOMING GOP SENATE MAJORITY LEADER UNVEILS LEGISLATIVE AGENDA FOR TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S 1ST 30 DAYS

Fallon asserted that Rowe was not serving as a true protective agent that day. He suggested that Rowe essentially shoved other agents out of the way for political purposes – endangering the lives of protectees.

“You know why you were there? Because you wanted to be visible, because you were auditioning for this job that you’re not going to get!” said Fallon.

He suggested that Rowe wanted the “acting” removed from his title.

“Did you have a radio with you? Did you wear a vest? Did you wear a weapon? No,” said Fallon.

“I did, sir!” growled Rowe.

Before the hearing, I asked Rowe whether he wanted to become the permanent Secret Service Director. He didn’t respond.

Fallon alleged that Rowe’s positioning asserts that the lives of President Biden and Vice President Harris were endangered. He implied that lessons have not been learned after the Butler, PA, assassination attempt.

After the hearing, Fallon claimed that Rowe’s positioning at the event was a “vanity project.”

I asked Fallon whether the verbal contretemps would “distract from the bipartisanship.”

“That wasn’t the intent,” Fallon replied.

Fallon pinned the blame on Rowe, saying “he started screaming.”

Rowe left the Capitol complex before reporters could ask for his take on the mayhem.

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I asked Fallon if there was anything else he should expect after the clash.

“If there’s a bag of heroin in my car, or I get a rope around my neck and get un-alive, you’ll know why,” said Fallon.

The Trump assassination attempt is already radioactive. And while the committee tried to focus on the failures and what had gone wrong, all that most people will remember is one of the most volatile quarrels in the history of Congressional hearings.

While Washington is enveloped in battles over President-elect Donald Trump’s nominees, a different but equally raucous appointments battle boiled over this week just 300 miles down US-1 from the nation’s capital.

North Carolina Republicans, seeing their veto-proof supermajority slip away by a single legislative seat in the state House, are trying to override outgoing Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s disapproval of a bill that would move gubernatorial authority over the NC Board of Elections to the State Auditor’s office.

The Senate overrode the veto but not without an uproar that led to the gallery being cleared. The House is poised to attempt its complementary override, but the GOP’s plans have hit a snag there.

The proposal was part of a bill chiefly geared toward Hurricane Helene relief, and was lambasted by Democrats as a power grab, in part due to the fact the GOP flipped the executive branch office with Auditor-elect Dave Boliek – but failed to see their gubernatorial candidate, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson best Gov.-elect Josh Stein.

NC OVERRIDES VETO OF ICE-TRUMP AGENCY COOPERATION

US-64 enters North Carolina from Tennessee near Hothouse, as a sign denotes the long drive across the state to the Outer Banks. (Charlie Creitz)

However, Robinson – as the Senate’s presiding officer – moved to clear the gallery after raucous protestations and chants of “Shame, Shame, Shame!” erupted above lawmakers preparing to vote on the veto override. Robinson has thus far had to do so twice, according to Carolina Public Press.

As the eventually successful vote was about take place, a woman shouted “[the law] destroys the will of the voter – it’s voter suppression!”

“It restructures the entire state constitution.”

Robinson, without raising his voice, spoke into his mic that the woman was “disrupting … the legislative process.”

When a gallery-watcher shouted that the bill lacked any “reasonable relief for hurricane victims,” Robinson banged his gavel and called out, “Clear the gallery.”

“Everybody’s gotta go,” he said, as police calmly ushered spectators out, threatening those who remained with arrest.

“You can bang that gavel,” one man was heard taunting Robinson as he left.

NC JUDGE SENDS PROSPECTIVE JUROR TO JAIL OVER COVID MASK VIOLATION

North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)

State Sen. Natasha Marcus, D-Huntersville, was heard on video captured by the Raleigh News-Observer calling out to Robinson that he could not clear the whole gallery, because many people were respectfully watching the vote, and saying the capitol is “the people’s house.”

Before he vetoed the bill, Cooper told NBC Charlotte that the legislation “really didn’t provide immediate and direct funding to western North Carolina” despite being labeled as Helene relief. He called it a “massive power grab.”

Jim Stirling, a research associate at the North Carolina-based John Locke Foundation, has done a deep dive into the controversy, and his group filed an amicus brief with lawmakers in a recent lawsuit related to the matter.

“It is not under the purview of the governor to execute all laws. The other executive agencies of the executive branch or indeed other executive elected officials are in charge of executing law. Not just the governor,” Stirling said.

“Under [Cooper’s] argument, he says effectively that all appointments must be under him because he’s in charge of executing the law, and he has the power of appointment on this.”

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Overriding the veto, however, could render part of the lawsuit moot, he said.

The lawsuit will “probably need to be restarted based on the argument that these appointments must be under the governor, not any other executive agency (like the auditor),” he said.

Neither Cooper nor Robinson responded to a request for comment. 

In moving election boards’ appointment power to the state auditor’s office, the state board’s activities would remain independent of Boliek and the executive branch, but his office would control its appointments and funding, according to NBC Charlotte.

What would change would be the current Democratic control of the elections board, an official told the outlet. The state auditor would also be able to appoint chairpersons in all 100 Tarheel State counties.

Currently, Cooper – and would-be Stein – also appoint the state board’s members, who must consist of three majority-party and two minority-party individuals.

Attempts to move appointment powers away from the governor’s office have been subject to lawsuits in recent months and years. The most recent ruling, in Cooper v. Berger, held that an attempt to move appointment powers to the legislature unlawfully infringed on the executive branch’s express power in that regard.

A prior case, McCrory v. Berger – bearing the name of Cooper’s predecessor, Republican Gov. Patrick McCrory – resulted in a state supreme court ruling holding that some appointments made by legislators violate separation of powers.

In the state House, three Republicans from the Helene-ravaged western part of the state voted against the bill, with one, Rep. Mark Pless of Canton, saying it had nothing “that was going to send money to the many needs in Western NC – it was simply moving money from one account to another.”

Pless, however, said the election board appointments portion appears “allowable by the legislature,” according to FOX-8. The veto-override in the lower chamber, therefore, could come up just short if the trio do not change their original positions.

FIRST ON FOX: Fresh off ousting longtime Montana Democrat Sen. Jon Tester, Republican Sen.-elect Tim Sheehy is outlining his priorities for the next Congress and outlining what his party’s agenda will look like in the Senate. 

“I ran to make Montana affordable again and make America strong again,” Sheehy, who defeated Tester in Montana by seven points in a key race that helped Republicans flip the Senate, told Fox News Digital about his plans to move forward President-elect Donald Trump’s agenda. 

“That means a secure border, safe streets, cheap gas, cops are good, criminals are bad, boys are boys, and girls are girls. For too long, status quo politics in Washington have led our country to the brink, and it is past time to rein in our runaway federal bureaucracy, cut waste, restore common sense, and build a transparent government that is actually accountable to everyday Americans.”

Sheehy said he plans to “strap rocket-boosters to the Trump agenda” when he takes office in January in order to “get our country back on track.”

JEFF BEZOS TELLS ELITE AUDIENCE HE’S ‘VERY OPTIMISTIC’ ABOUT TRUMP’S ANTI-REGULATORY AGENDA

Sen.-elect Tim Sheehy, right, told Fox News Digital he plans to “strap rocket boosters” to the Trump agenda. (Getty Images)

“My promise to every Montanan is simple: As your senator, I will always fight for Montanans, put America First, and do the right thing in office because it’s the right thing for Montana and America.” 

Part of getting the country back on track, according to Sheehy, is immediate action at the southern border. 

“We’ve got to seal the border on day one, and that’s exactly what President Trump has vowed to do,” Sheehy said. “In the Senate, we must support the America First agenda and pass enduring legislation that will finally put an end to the senseless border crisis that flooded our communities with drugs and crime the last four years.” 

Republicans across the country campaigned on the economy and specifically the issue of inflation and raising costs, which Sheehy said would be a top focus for him in the Senate. 

INCOMING GOP SENATE MAJORITY LEADER UNVEILS LEGISLATIVE AGENDA FOR TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S 1ST 30 DAYS

Then-Sentate candidate Tim Sheehy speaks during the second day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee on July 16, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds)

“One of my top priorities is working to bring down prices for families and boost real wages for the hardworking Americans – farmers, miners, loggers, truck drivers, electricians, plumbers, and carpenters – who put food on our tables and keep our economy running,” Sheehy said. 

“That means we must bring back our resource economy, especially in Montana, because we do it better, safer, and more efficiently here in America than anywhere else, and we must unapologetically put an end to the radical, job-killing Green New Deal agenda that has devastated our forestry, mining, and energy exploration industries. We must unleash American energy across the board.” 

Sheehy told Fox News Digital that protecting public lands, a key issue in a state like Montana with large swaths of rural areas, will be at the top of the agenda. 

“Another key priority will be protecting our communities and public lands from wildfires,” Sheehy explained. 

“As recently as August, I was water-bombing fires and protecting our communities. I know firsthand the devastation wildfires can cause and have a unique perspective on how the federal government has failed on this issue. I will fight for Montanans to be able to better manage our own federal lands and ensure radical environmentalists aren’t steering our federal policy when it comes to public lands.” 

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Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., arrives for the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense hearing on the “Fiscal Year 2025 Budget Request for the National Guard and Reserves,” in the Dirksen Building on Tuesday, June 18, 2024. (Tom Williams)

Sheehy, a combat veteran, told Fox News Digital that when it comes to foreign policy, it is critical for the military to focus on winning wars as opposed to social issues. 

“As a combat veteran myself, who is married to a combat veteran, I know we must rebuild our military, ensure our forces are ready to fight and win wars, and prioritize combat lethality – not social initiatives – for our brave men and women in uniform to keep them and our great nation safe,” Sheehy said. 

Republicans will head into the next Congress holding a 53-47 Senate majority along with razor-thin control of the House of Representatives.

Trump reportedly called into a Tuesday meeting to speak with the Republican senators as they discussed legislative priorities, as he will have to work closely with the chamber to move forward his own agenda. 

“He was thrilled with his victory,” Sen. John Barrasso, R–Wyo., said of Trump’s call, the Hill reported. “We have a mandate and an opportunity to do the sorts of things that we campaigned upon in terms of lowering prices, in terms of the border, in terms of getting America back on track.”

Fox News Digital’s Aubrie Spady contributed to this report

Former President Obama declared that if “one side” attempts to cement “a permanent grip on power” through “suppressing votes,” “politicizing” the military or weaponizing the judiciary and criminal justice system to target opponents, “a line has been crossed.”

His comments came even as many Americans believe that President-elect Trump has been unfairly targeted in unwarranted politically motivated cases. 

Obama made the comments during a speech on Thursday during the Obama Foundation’s Democracy Forum. The speech marked his first public remarks following the 2024 election.

“You see, it’s easy to give democracy lip service when it delivers the outcomes we want. It’s when we don’t get what we want that our commitment to democracy is tested,” he said.

‘DEPORTER-IN-CHIEF’ OBAMA SURPASSED DEPORTATIONS UNDER TRUMP’S FIRST TERM

Former President Obama moderates a conversation with Manu Meel, co-founder and CEO of BridgeUSA; Ainka Jackson, founding executive director of the Selma Center for Nonviolence, Truth and Reconciliation; and Nika Kovač, director of Slovenia-based Institute 8th of March, during the Obama Foundation’s 2024 Democracy Forum in Chicago on Thursday. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

During his first term in office, Trump was acquitted in the Senate after two separate but ultimately unsuccessful impeachment efforts, and in the wake of his White House tenure, he has been slapped with multiple indictments, which many viewed as lawfare against the Republican figure.

While some Republicans have advocated for President Biden to be impeached, the GOP has not done so, even with control of the House chamber.

During the speech, Obama also advocated for “pluralism.”

“It means that in a democracy we all have to find a way to live alongside individuals and groups who are different than us,” he said.

Obama’s remarks came after Biden made a comment earlier this year that many perceived as him referring to Trump supporters as “garbage.” In a post on X, Biden distanced himself from the remarks and claimed he was referring to the “hateful rhetoric about Puerto Rico spewed by Trump’s supporters at his Madison Square Garden rally as garbage” instead.

‘OBAMA BROS’ TRASH BIDEN FOR MAKING DEFENDERS LOOK ‘STUPID’ WITH HUNTER PARDON: ‘TYPICAL, LYING POLITICIAN’

Former President Obama addresses the Obama Foundation’s 2024 Democracy Forum in Chicago on Thursday. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Democrats have consistently launched invective against Trump — including Biden, who said that the Republican was a “genuine danger to American security” — but it was Trump who was the target of several assassination attempts in the run-up to the 2024 election.

Obama, in his remarks, insisted that he is “convinced that if we want democracy as we understand it to survive,” people must work for a renewed dedication to pluralist principles. 

“Because the alternative is what we’ve seen here in the United States and in many democracies around the globe: Not just more gridlock, not just public cynicism, but an increasing willingness” among “politicians and their followers to violate democratic norms, to do anything they can to get their way, to use the power of the state to target critics, and journalists, and political rivals, and to even resort to violence” to obtain and retain power. 

OBAMA RELEASES ELECTION DAY VIDEO SAYING ‘THIS IS GOING TO BE CLOSE’

Former President Obama moderates a conversation with Manu Meel, co-founder and CEO of BridgeUSA; Ainka Jackson, founding executive director of the Selma Center for Nonviolence, Truth and Reconciliation; and Nika Kovač, director of Slovenia-based Institute 8th of March, during the Obama Foundation’s 2024 Democracy Forum in Chicago on Thursday. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

The former president added that bridge building represents the “best tool” to create “lasting change.”

“Pluralism is not about holding hands and singing ‘Kumbaya.’ It is not about abandoning your convictions and folding when things get tough. It is about recognizing that in a democracy power comes from forging alliances and building coalitions and making room in those coalitions not only for the woke but also for the waking,” he said.

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Obama served two consecutive terms spanning from early 2009 through early 2017, when he was succeeded by Trump.

Special Counsel Jack Smith is required to submit to the Justice Department a report summarizing the results of his dual investigations into President-elect Trump — an action that will put a formal end to his two-year probe and one that will punt all next steps, including whether to make public the results of the report, to outgoing Attorney General Merrick Garland.

Smith — a longtime prosecutor who worked in The Hague and at the Justice Department, including as chief of the DOJ’s Public Integrity Section — was tapped by Garland in 2022 to investigate both the alleged effort by Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election, as well as Trump’s keeping of allegedly classified documents at his Florida residence. 

Justice Department regulations mandate that a special counsel submit to the attorney general a confidential report detailing the findings of their investigation after it is concluded, and explaining any prosecution or declination decisions they reached as a result of the probe.

In Smith’s case, the prosecution decision is immaterial, given Trump’s status as president-elect and longstanding Justice Department policy against bringing criminal charges against a sitting president. 

TIM WALZ ADMITS HE WAS SURPRISED BY ELECTION DEFEAT: ‘THOUGHT THE COUNTRY WAS READY’

Special Counsel Jack Smith arrives to give remarks on a recently unsealed indictment including four felony counts against former President Trump in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 1, 2023. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

But he still must outline the investigation and its findings in his report to Garland, who will then decide whether to share it publicly. 

Notably, Garland has opted to release the reports from two other special counsels whose investigations concluded during his tenure — publishing both the summary reports submitted by John Durham, who was tapped by then-Attorney General Bill Barr in 2019 to review law enforcement and intelligence gathering during the 2016 presidential campaign and the origins of the Trump-Russia probe, as well as the final report from Robert Hur, a former U.S. attorney whom he tapped in 2023 to investigate President Biden’s handling of classified documents.

These reports were made public at the same time as they were shared with members of Congress. But it is unclear whether Garland will move to do the same with Smith’s findings, given their sensitivity and Trump’s status as president-elect.

The Justice Department declined to respond to Fox News’s request for comment on the status of the report or whether Garland plans to share it publicly. 

Smith has long pointed to Dec. 2 as the deadline for his team to submit their final status reports to the federal judges in the D.C. and the 11th Circuit Courts summarizing the results of their investigations into the cases against Trump, which were dismissed without prejudice late last month.

Under Justice Department regulations, a special counsel is required at the conclusion of their work to “provide the Attorney General with a confidential report explaining the prosecution or declination decisions reached.”

TRUMP’S AG PICK HAS ‘HISTORY OF CONSENSUS BUILDING’

Special Prosecutor Jack Smith recently requested to dismiss charges he brought against Trump in a case alleging his interference in the certification of the 2020 election. (Bill OLeary/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Garland has the authority to decide whether to make Smith’s report public before Biden leaves office, or whether to punt it to the incoming Trump administration. 

It is unclear how he will act, however, and the Justice Department did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for more information on the matter.

Attorney General Merrick Garland is seen before his Senate Judiciary confirmation hearing in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 27, 2021. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Smith had indicted Trump in D.C. earlier this year on charges stemming from the former president’s alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election outcome, and his team also brought federal charges against Trump in Florida in the classified documents case. 

Trump, for his part, had railed against the special counsel investigation as a politically motivated “witch hunt” and vowed during his presidential campaign to fire Smith “within two seconds,” if elected. Smith, for his part, is expected to resign before Trump’s inauguration, and his team of prosecutors has moved in recent weeks to wind down their cases against Trump.

‘IT’S A SETBACK’: DEMOCRATS CRITICIZE BIDEN OVER HUNTER PARDON

President-elect Trump and Special Counsel Jack Smith. (Fox News Digital)

Late last month, Smith filed motions to vacate deadlines in both cases against Trump following his election, citing an Office of Legal Counsel memo that states it is against Department of Justice policy to investigate a sitting president for federal criminal charges and is a violation of the separation of powers doctrine. 

They have also cited a July Supreme Court decision that widened the criteria for immunity for sitting presidents.

Smith’s team stressed in their most recent court filing that their motion to vacate the case is based solely on the Office of Legal Counsel policy, and not on the merits of the investigation itself.

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“That prohibition is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the Government’s proof, or the merits of the prosecution, which the Government stands fully behind,” Smith’s office wrote in their motion to dismiss the election interference case.

“The Government’s position on the merits of the defendant’s prosecution has not changed. But the circumstances have,” they added. 

President-elect Trump is in Europe this weekend for his first overseas trip since his commanding victory in last month’s presidential election.

Trump will meet with Emmanuel Macron after the French president invited him to attend Saturday’s star-studded VIP event for the official reopening of the newly restored Notre Dame Cathedral, five years after a devastating fire wrecked the centuries-old Paris landmark.

First Lady Jill Biden will also attend the ceremonies, but it’s Trump who will be holding court with world leaders.

The president-elect’s appearance will serve as Trump’s unofficial return to the global stage, and it is another reminder that he is quickly becoming the center of the world’s attention.

TRUMP RETURNING TO EUROPE FOR FIRST TIME SINCE ELECTION

President-elect Donald Trump takes the stage before he speaks at the FOX Nation Patriot Awards, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, in Greenvale, N.Y.  ((AP Photo/Heather Khalifa))

“This is without question a major moment in French history and the fact that Macron wanted to share it with Trump speaks to the significance of what Trump is achieving even before he gets to the Oval Office again, said Brett Bruen, a public affairs and strategic communications veteran, and former U.S. diplomat who served under both Democratic and Republican administrations.

“He is being feted quite literally in Paris with all the glitz and glamour,” Bruen, president of the Global Situation Room, added.

WHY BIDEN’S PARDON OF HIS SON HUNTER IS A POLITICAL GIFT FOR TRUMP

And Bruen and other analysts give credit to Macron for inviting Trump to this weekend’s festivities.

“This is a really smart move by Macron to get things rolling in the right direction when it comes to U.S.-French relations under Trump,” he said. “But let’s also not forget the fact that Macron is both badly weakened in his own country and on the European continent…[Macron] may see in Trump an opportunity to restore his lost luster as the European leader who can most effectively engage with the new American president.”

French President Emmanuel Macron greets then-President Donald Trump at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, July 13, 2017.   REUTERS/Stephane Mahe – RTX3BBC8 (REUTERS/Stephane Mahe)

Trump has taken a slew of calls in the weeks since the November election from international leaders congratulating him on his White House victory. 

The trip to Paris comes a week after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hastily made an unannounced stop in Mar-a-Lago to dine with Trump after the president-elect threatened a trade war with Canada and Mexico. 

DEMOCRATIC GOVERNORS SAY THEY’RE THE ‘LAST LINE OF DEFENSE’ AGAINST TRUMP

Trump argued that Canada had failed to prevent large amounts of drugs and undocumented people from crossing the northern border into the U.S. and also pointed to America’s massive trade deficit with Canada.

According to reporting from Fox News’ Bret Baier, Trump suggested to Trudeau that Canada could become the 51st state.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with President-elect Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Florida on Friday to discuss topics like the economy, illegal immigration and a proposed 25% tariff. (Justin Trudeau X)

Trump has also weighed in recently on a number of international conflicts. In the volatile Middle East, the president-elect warned this week in a social media post that there would be “ALL HELL TO PAY” if Hamas does not release all the hostages held in Gaza before he is inaugurated on Jan. 20.

News of Trump’s invitation to Paris came earlier this week as President Biden was on a history-making trip to Angola, as he became the first American president to visit the sub-Saharan African nation.

But Biden, likely on his last overseas trip before Trump takes over in the White House next month, is already being overshadowed on the world stage by his predecessor and successor.

“While President-elect [Trump] is still weeks away from taking the oath of office, loyalties and the attention of world leaders has shifted to the incoming President and from Washington to Mar-a-lago with breathtaking speed,” Wayne Lesperance, a veteran political scientist and president of New England College, told Fox News.

President Joe Biden stands for national anthems with Angola’s President Joao Lourenco, at the presidential palace in the capital Luanda, Angola on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis) (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Matt Mowers, a veteran GOP national public affairs strategist and former diplomat at the State Department during Trump’s first administration, made the case that “Biden’s essentially been a lame duck” for months and that “world leaders have been shifting their gaze to the next administration.

While members of the Biden White House would likely disagree with such sentiments – especially after the current administration played a large role in hammering out the cease-fire that halted fighting in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah – it is undeniable that world leaders have already started to engage directly with the incoming president and administration.

While the spotlight traditionally shifts from the outgoing to the incoming president, Mowers argued that “it is more pronounced this time because the difference in the Biden and Trump approach to foreign policy is so different.”

Mowers emphasized that Trump is already aiming “to shape world events” by “being bold, not timid, in the statements he’s putting out, and the world is already reacting to that kind of American strength.”

“World leaders that want to get something done… have to engage with Trump,” he added.

Matthew Bartlett, a Republican strategist who served at the State Department during Trump’s first term, told Fox News that “the world is demanding leadership” and that “the Oval Office has been replaced by Mar-a-Lago.”

The Washington Post editorial board lamented President Biden’s decision to pardon Hunter Biden, stating the move benefits President-elect Trump’s claims that the DOJ has been weaponized against him.  (Getty Images)

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Lesperance, pointing to Biden’s swing through Africa, noted that lame duck presidents’ final weeks are “usually filled with celebratory moments and efforts to cement one’s legacy. Often the focus is on their role on the world stage on behalf of America and its allies.’

However, he argued that “Biden’s pronouncements on Ukraine, Gaza and the importance of climate change go largely ignored by world leaders. Instead, they focus on Trump’s picks for his foreign policy team and pronouncements about changes in U.S. foreign policy position. It’s pretty evident that while Biden attempts a victory tour, the world has turned the page.”