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President Donald Trump criticized former President Joe Biden’s administration on Monday for allowing “lawlessness to permeate our country” while announcing Peace Officers Memorial Day and police week.

Trump proclaimed Thursday as Peace Officers Memorial Day, continuing a 63-year tradition of honoring fallen officers on May 15. He also declared this week as National Police Week, beginning this past Sunday and going through Saturday.

“This week and always, we honor the courageous men and women serving in law enforcement and memorialize those who sacrificed their lives defending the thin blue line,” he wrote in the proclamation.

In the presidential action, Trump also called out the Biden administration for its “reckless, soft-on-crime policies,” which he said made it harder for police officers to do their jobs.

CELEBRATE LAW ENFORCEMENT DURING NATIONAL POLICE WEEK 

President Donald Trump issued a proclamation on Monday declaring May 11 through May 17 as National Police Week and Peace Officers Memorial Day as its typical date of May 15. (REUTERS/Leah Millis)

“A nation in chaos ceases to be a citadel of liberty. Tragically, the previous administration allowed lawlessness to permeate our country, making it harder for our law enforcement officers to do their jobs,” the president wrote in the order. “Their reckless, soft-on-crime policies emboldened criminals and thugs; wreaked havoc on the sanctity of our homes, businesses, and public spaces; instilled fear; and jeopardized public trust.”

Trump continued by saying he is fulfilling the promises that he campaigned on to make America safe again, including taking authority at the border and “restoring the rule of law in communities nationwide.” 

President Trump said former President Joe Biden’s policies made it difficult for police officers to do their jobs. (JOHN RUDOFF/AFP via Getty Images)

He also said that under his administration, all available resources will be utilized to ensure that officers will be equipped and trained to be the best they can be, qualified officers will be retained and recruiting will focus “on the basis of meritocracy.”

NATIONAL POLICE WEEK IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO SHOW COPS WE HAVE THEIR BACKS 

Trump also called on Congress to codify his executive order mandating the death penalty for those who murder a police officer and to pass a bill enhancing protections for police officers.

President Trump called on Congress to codify his executive order mandating the death penalty for convicted police killers. (Action News Service)

“I stand in steadfast solidarity with those who defend our freedoms and the families who love and support them,” Trump said. “We pray for those who grieve the fallen and pledge that their lives, legacies, and sacrifices will forever be remembered by our grateful Nation.”

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Governors have been asked to direct that the American flag be flown at half-staff on Thursday, and Trump has called on all Americans to observe National Police Week with “appropriate ceremonies and activities.”

On border security, support for Israel and diplomacy with President Donald Trump, Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., has bucked the Democratic Party on key issues since assuming office in 2022. 

A string of media reports emerged this month detailing Fetterman’s alleged cognitive decline and waning support within the Democratic Party. A New York Magazine report sparked questions about Fetterman’s mental stability. Subsequent reports by the Associated Press, detailing an outburst during a union meeting, and by Politico, which indicated he is losing traction among Pennsylvania Democrats, were slammed by several of his Capitol Hill colleagues as a coordinated smear campaign.

In an era of partisan politics, Fetterman has embraced bipartisanship with newly elected Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pa. When McComrick was elected in November, the Pennsylvanians traded jabs for joint dinners as Fetterman built his reputation for being willing to reach across the aisle. Fetterman also met with Trump’s controversial Cabinet picks and worked with Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., to pass the Laken Riley Act this year. 

While Fetterman, who suffered a stroke during his 2022 Senate campaign, shut down questions about his mental fitness amid the relentless reports, it’s not the first time a Democrat has been targeted after falling out of line with the party. 

LEAKS TO MEDIA ABOUT FETTERMAN ARE A COORDINATED SMEAR CAMPAIGN, HILL COLLEAGUES SAY

Former Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, left, Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona have all faced the ire of the Democratic Party. (Reuters | Getty Images)

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., faced the ire of the Democratic Party earlier this year when he joined Fetterman in voting to pass the Republicans’ spending bill and avoid a government shutdown. Schumer, currently Senate minority leader, was slammed by progressive Democrats while the future of party leadership hangs in the balance. 

DEMOCRATIC SENATOR SAYS THERE ‘NEEDS TO BE SPACE’ FOR FETTERMAN IN PARTY AS REPUBLICANS COME TO HIS DEFENSE

Former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., was once a Democrat but later registered as an independent. While she continued to caucus with her party, Sinema ruffled liberal feathers by opposing efforts to eliminate the filibuster rule and opposed former President Joe Biden’s “Build Back Better” plan.

In 2022, Sinema said she was leaving the party, adding that “nothing will change about my values or my behavior.”

Former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Sinema became the first senator to switch parties since the late Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter – then Republican – famously announced that “my change in party will enable me to be re-elected” in 2009.

Soon after Sinema came now-former West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin. Long seen as a moderate thorn in the side of the increasingly liberal Democrats, Manchin often clashed with his former party on environmental issues, given the Mountain State’s reliance on the fossil fuel industry.

Things came to a head in Charleston when then-Gov. Jim Justice held up his bulldog Babydog backward in the legislative chamber and told actress Bette Midler – who had trashed the state over one of Manchin’s such votes – to “kiss her heinie.”

Former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who ran for president as a Democrat in 2020, is now President Donald Trump’s director of national intelligence. (Getty Images)

Former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard was once considered a rising star in the Democratic Party until her comments and behavior drew the ire of party elders like Hillary Clinton. The anti-interventionist Gabbard, who had appeared in the Moscow media, was anonymously slammed by Clinton in 2019 when she said that “somebody who is currently in the Democratic primary” was a “favorite of the Russians.” An advisor later said Gabbard was the figure in question.

Since then, Gabbard has gone on to make a full partisan 180, becoming a member of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet.

During Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s, D-Calif., historic speakership, another Democrat famously bucked the party and ultimately retired soon after trying to proverbially oust the queen.

North Carolina Rep. Heath Shuler became disaffected by the liberal progression of the party and mounted an unsuccessful challenge to Pelosi’s leadership role after Democrats suffered massive losses in the 2010 midterms.

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Shuler, a former then-Washington Redskins quarterback, had been the leader of the moderate Blue Dog Democrat caucus when he took aim at the speakership.

Fetterman’s office did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Saudi Arabian fighter jets appeared to escort Air Force One as President Donald Trump arrived in the country on Tuesday for a meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

“Air Force One about to go wheels down in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia with Saudi F-15 fighter jets bringing us in. On behalf of President Trump, THANK YOU!” White House deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino posted on X while sharing a video of jets flying alongside the U.S. president’s plane.

Two jets flew on the left side of AF1 and three flew on the right.

Scavino also shared a video of the crown prince greeting Trump on a purple carpet after he landed at King Khalid International Airport. The two leaders had a coffee ceremony shortly after greeting one another.

The president brought a slew of administration leaders with him, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Energy Secretary Chris Wright.

Trump arrived at the Royal Court in Riyadh at around 5:30 a.m. EST where he was welcomed with a ceremony and then participated in greetings with Saudi officials and U.S. guests. Trump is expected to have lunch and meetings over a three-hour period.

House Republicans have seemingly dropped plans for a new millionaire’s tax hike to pay for other priorities in President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.”

The Ways and Means Committee, the House’s tax-writing panel, released nearly 400 pages of legislation on Monday, setting the stage for permanently extending Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), as well as a host of other new Trump tax priorities.

That includes no taxes on tipped and overtime wages, both of which are accomplished via new tax deductions.

For Trump’s promise to cut taxes on seniors’ Social Security, the legislation temporarily increases the standard tax deduction that seniors are allowed to take, effective the end of last year through the beginning of 2029.

ANTI-ABORTION PROVIDER MEASURE IN TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ COULD SPARK HOUSE GOP REBELLION

The U.S. Capitol and President Donald Trump (Getty Images/AP Images)

It would also raise the debt limit by $4 trillion – something Trump specifically asked Republican lawmakers to deal with before the U.S. runs out of cash to pay its debts sometime this summer, risking a national credit default.

Notably absent from the sweeping piece of legislation is a proposal floated last week that would have established a new tax bracket for people making $2.5 million per year or more, taxing them at 39.6% – which was the top tax rate before TCJA lowered it to 37%. 

Conservative groups like Americans for Prosperity and the Heritage Foundation fiercely fought any notion of a tax increase on the wealthy.

It was also publicly opposed by a number of leading Republican figures like former Speaker Newt Gingrich and ex-Vice President Mike Pence, along with Pence’s interest group, Advancing American Freedom.

Several House GOP lawmakers told Fox News Digital last week they could not support a millionaire’s tax hike. 

Two people familiar with discussions told Fox News Digital on Monday that they did not expect it to be included before the bill advanced through committee on Tuesday.

But Republicans find other cost-savings in the legislation, including stripping tax-exempt status from “terrorist-supporting organizations” and using artificial intelligence (AI) software to identify and root out improper Medicare payments.

The bill would also dramatically reduce tax breaks for professional sports team owners, a measure known as amortization, which allows those owners to write off a portion of their purchase price.

Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., leads the House Ways and Means Committee. (Tom Williams)

Republicans also target large private colleges and universities, including Ivy Leagues, with higher excise taxes, which are federal duties paid on net earnings of the schools’ investments.

That rate is currently 1.4%. But the legislation would bring it to as high as 21% for the largest schools, like Harvard University and Yale University – as Trump continues to battle the Ivy League over their funding.

The Ways and Means Committee is expected to advance its portion of the legislation on Tuesday afternoon.

It’s just one part of Trump’s so-called “one big, beautiful bill,” which Republicans are working to pass via the budget reconciliation process.

By lowering the Senate’s threshold for passage from 60 votes to 51, it allows the party controlling Congress and the White House to entirely skirt the minority and pass sweeping pieces of legislation – provided they deal with the national debt, taxes or spending.

BROWN UNIVERSITY IN GOP CROSSHAIRS AFTER STUDENT’S DOGE-LIKE EMAIL KICKS OFF FRENZY

Trump wants Republicans to use it to pass his agenda on taxes, the border, immigration, energy and defense.

Meanwhile, the U.S. is currently more than $36 trillion in debt.

House Republicans have pledged to find between $1.5 trillion and $2 trillion in cost savings in other areas to offset the cost of Trump’s new priorities and put the U.S. on a better fiscal path.

The tax legislation also increases the maximum allowed child tax credit (CTC) from $2,000 to $2,500, and includes added tax relief for small business owners who file their company under individual income tax brackets.

It also includes a modest victory for blue state Republicans in increasing the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap from $10,000 to $30,000 for both single filers and married couples. Married taxpayers filing separately get a cap of $15,000.

That maximum amount gets phased out if a person’s income exceeds $400,000, back down to $10,000 once a person’s income hits $500,000.

SALT deductions are primarily aimed at helping people in high-cost-of-living areas, particularly people in the suburbs of Democratic strongholds like New York and Los Angeles.

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Republicans representing those areas have said increasing the $10,000 SALT deduction cap is critical to them remaining in office – and therefore to the GOP keeping the House majority.

Several SALT Caucus Republicans balked at a $30,000 cap last week, blasting it as insufficient. It’s not clear if they will hold up the final bill over it. At least one member of their group, Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., told Fox News Digital she could agree to the new threshold.

The Monday release comes after Republicans unveiled a portion of their tax plan over the weekend. Other details like SALT deduction caps and potential new tax brackets were still being worked out.

U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa, filed paperwork on Monday to run for Iowa governor in the 2026 election.

Feenstra, who was first elected to the U.S. House in 2020, filed the paperwork for “Feenstra for Governor” with the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board, which is needed to launch a gubernatorial campaign, according to the Iowa Capital Dispatch.

The congressman is seeking to replace Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds, who said last month she would not run for a third term in 2026. Feenstra has been considering a gubernatorial run since Reynolds’ announcement.

THIS LONGTIME REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR WILL NOT SEEK RE-ELECTION IN 2026

Rep. Randy Feenstra filed paperwork on Monday to run for Iowa governor in the 2026 election. (Getty Images)

“I’ll tell you right now, I’m focused on fulfilling and making sure that we get Trump’s agenda completed,” Feenstra told reporters on April 23. “However, I always want to do what’s best for our state, and I will continue to look at all aspects of what that looks like.”

Feenstra has not publicly announced a campaign for governor.

The GOP primary in the Hawkeye State could potentially be crowded, although former state Rep. Brad Sherman is the only Republican to have officially joined the race after he launched his campaign in February.

DOGE SENATOR TELLS OUTDOORS GROUP TO ‘GO FISH’ AFTER DISCOVERING MASSIVE GRANT TIED TO HIGH SALARIES

Rep. Randy Feenstra was first elected to the U.S. House in 2020. (Getty Images)

But others have taken steps toward a gubernatorial bid, including Iowa state Sen. Mike Bousselot, who launched an exploratory committee last month, as well as Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird and House Speaker Pat Grassley — the grandson of U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa — who each said they are considering a run for governor.

Iowa Auditor Rob Sand filed paperwork on Monday to run in the state’s Democratic primary.

Feenstra is the only U.S. House member from Iowa considering a run for governor. The other three — U.S. GOP Reps. Ashley Hinson, Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Zach Nunn — all said they will not launch a gubernatorial campaign.

Rep. Randy Feenstra is seeking to replace Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds, who said last month she would not run for a third term in 2026. (Getty Images)

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Before he was elected to the U.S. House in 2020, when he defeated then-incumbent U.S. Rep. Steve King in the Republican primary, Feenstra served as a state senator since 2009. Before that, he was Sioux County treasurer from 2006 until 2008.

Hell hath now frozen over. 

President Donald Trump’s decision to accept a $400-million plane from Qatar, as a gift, has prompted stinging criticism from Laura Loomer.

She’s the hard-right activist who specializes in getting the president to fire top officials and withdraw nominees, or at least claims credit for doing so.

If you’ve lost Loomer, you’re losing the argument.

TRUMP DEFENDS QATAR JUMBO JET OFFER AS TROUBLED BOEING FAILS TO DELIVER NEW AIR FORCE ONE FLEET

President Trump’s decision to accept a $400 million plane from Qatar is raising serious eyebrows – even among his staunchest supporters. (Getty Images | iStock)

Not according to Donald Trump. He told reporters yesterday that this was a “great gesture” by Qatar, done because “we keep them safe,” referring to Qatar and the UAE, which he’ll be visiting after Saudi Arabia.

He said the maintenance costs on the 40-year-old Air Force One planes are astronomical, and noted that the Reagan Library has such a plane. The decommissioned Qatar aircraft will go to a future Trump Library.

But the Gipper’s plane didn’t come from Qatar.

“How are we supposed to ever see the US under the Trump admin designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization,” Loomer wrote, “if the US is now going to accept a $400 million jet from Qatar to fly the US President and his staff around on?”

Calling the episode a “stain” on his tenure, she added: “I love President Trump. I would take a bullet for him. But, I have to call a spade a spade. We cannot accept a $400 million ‘gift’ from jihadists in suits. The Qataris fund the same Iranian proxies in Hamas and Hezbollah who have murdered US Service Members. The same proxies that have worked with the Mexican cartels to get jihadists across our border.”

The media are in an uproar as well, and the story has only grown bigger since it was first reported by ABC News.

HOUSE DEMOCRAT CALLS FOR ‘IMMEDIATE’ ETHICS PROBE OF QATARI PLANE GIFT TO TRUMP

Of course, the luxury 747 will have to be upgraded with secure communications and military equipment. That would take at least till the end of the year. 

But one Pentagon official told the New York Times “we’re talking years, not months.”

Trump consulted Elon Musk, the DOGE leader and head of SpaceX, who told him that the plane could be delivered in a year.

If Trump’s even managed to lose Laura Loomer on this issue, you’d think he’d come to realize he’s barking up the wrong tree. (David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)

Two loyalists – Attorney General Pam Bondi and White House Counsel David Warrington – approved the arrangement, according to the Times. Trump toured the 747 in February when it was parked at the Palm Beach airport.

There was a Plan B that got derailed. The Qataris offered to donate the plane immediately to the future Trump Library.

But administration lawyers said that would violate the Constitution’s emoluments clause – which as Beltway insiders know, bars any federal official from accepting personal gifts from a foreign nation without the approval of Congress. 

The president’s “flood the zone” approach has ensured that this isn’t the only story out there.

He announced that after two days of talks, the U.S. and China reached a 90-day agreement that would reduce tariffs on Beijing from 145% to 30%, and Chinese tariffs would be cut to 10%.

It’s clear that Trump blinked. Having tanked the markets (which soared yesterday), he was under enormous pressure to undo the damage. So now we’re back to square one, roughly where we might have been without igniting a global crisis.

TRUMP SAYS ‘TOTAL RESET NEGOTIATED’ WITH CHINA DURING TARIFF TALKS IN GENEVA

But perhaps Xi Jinping blinked as well. His government was feeling the impact of the sky-high tariffs as well. The Chinese, with considerably less enthusiasm, said the “mistake” would only lead to further negotiations.

Trump also was able to announce a cease-fire in the escalating war between India and Pakistan, thanks to some weekend diplomacy by Marco Rubio and JD Vance.

Trump also was able to announce that Hamas was freeing the last living American hostage being held by the terrorist group.

Edan Alexander thanks President Trump in a handwritten message following his release from captivity in Gaza.  (The White House)

Trump also sided with Vladimir Putin, who wants to meet for peace talks with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who first wants a 30-day cease-fire, so that Moscow doesn’t continue the killing and gain more territory while stalling on any pause in the fighting.

Trump also was able to unveil a plan that he says will lower the cost of prescription drugs by 30 to 80%.

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But circling back to the 747, the president chided ABC’s Rachel Scott when she tried to question him about the plane:

“You’re ABC fake news, right? Only ABC — well, a few of you would… Let me tell you, you should be embarrassed asking that question. They’re giving us a free jet. I could say, ‘No, no no, don’t give us. I want to pay you a billion, or 400 million, or whatever it is’ Or I could say, ‘thank you very much.'”

Scott tried again: “Respectfully, sir, as a businessman, some people may look at this and say, have you ever been given a gift worth millions of dollars and then not —”

“It’s not a gift to me, it’s a gift to the Department of Defense,” Trump said. “And you should know better, because you’ve been embarrassed enough, and so has your network. Your network is a disaster. ABC is a disaster.”

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Whether the president is right or wrong, it seems like these are legitimate questions. And the media are always a great foil for him. So I don’t see him backing down. 

Conservative author, media figure and former Treasury official Monica Crowley was confirmed late Monday to become assistant secretary of state and chief of protocol with the rank of ambassador.

Crowley, who was a longtime former Fox News contributor and foreign affairs analyst, previously served in the first Trump administration and received the Alexander Hamilton Award from the Treasury Department during that time.

“Monica will be the administration representative for major U.S. hosted events, including America’s 250th birthday in 2026, the FIFA World Cup in 2026, and the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028,” President Donald Trump said in a December statement announcing her nomination.

Crowley holds a doctorate in international relations from Columbia University.

DNC VICE CHAIR SLAMS TRUMP AS PUNK, WOULD-BE DICTATOR IN FIERY PA TOWN HALL

Former assistant Treasury secretary Monica Crowley. (Fox News)

The Arizona native grew up in New Jersey and began her career in former President Richard Nixon’s post-presidency, when she worked as a research assistant.

Her book, “Nixon Off the Record,” was published in the wake of that role.

She joined Fox News Channel in 1996 – the same year it hit the airwaves – and often appeared with host Sean Hannity on “Hannity” and its predecessor “Hannity & Colmes,” with the late Alan Colmes.

WHO IS THE DEMOCRATIC GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE ARRESTED FOR TRESPASSING AT ICE DETENTION CENTER?

She also starred in one episode of “House of Cards,” where she played herself – and also hosted the syndicated “Monica Crowley Show.”

She has received several other awards, including Woman of the Year in 2010 from the Clare Boothe Luce Center for Conservative Women.

During Trump’s first term, she backed out of a National Security Council role when allegations of plagiarism in her doctoral dissertation surfaced. Crowley rejected the claims as a “hit job.”

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The U.S. Travel Association lauded her nomination, saying that she will serve a “pivotal role” in the Trump administration.

“The speed with which this decision was made gives us great confidence that … Trump will seek to maximize the opportunities of the decade of sports and events that lies ahead,” said CEO Geoff Freeman.

“Landmark moments [she will be involved in planning] will attract millions of travelers to America and showcase the best of our great nation while creating a lasting benefit to our economy.” 

The Pentagon is ending gender transition treatment for transgender troops, according to a new memo, as officials move to enforce President Donald Trump’s plan to boot transgender troops out of the U.S. military.

Under the instructions, the Defense Department is prohibiting any new hormone treatments or surgical procedures for transgender troops, according to the memo, Reuters reported.

“I am directing you to take the necessary steps to immediately implement this guidance,” Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs Stephen Ferrara wrote in the memo.

HEGSETH ORDERS DEADLINE FOR TRANS SERVICE MEMBERS TO LEAVE MILITARY: ‘OUT AT THE DOD’

The Pentagon is ending gender transition treatment for transgender troops. (Reuters)

One transgender service member described the move as “the latest slap in the face” to honorably serving troops.

“If there was any doubt left, there is not anymore: transgender service members are no longer entitled to the same standard of medical care as their peers,” the service member told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity out of fear of being targeted.

Last month, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth expressed his opposition to gender transition treatment for transgender troops when he re-posted an article on X that said the Pentagon would resume treatments for transgender troops and their dependents.

BIPARTISAN BILL WOULD MAKE IT EASIER FOR MILITARY RECRUITS WITH MEDICAL ISSUES TO LAND DEFENSE JOBS

Under the instructions, the Defense Department is prohibiting any new hormone treatments or surgical procedures for transgender troops. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

“If this is true – we will find any way possible to stop it,” Hegseth wrote. “Taxpayers should NEVER pay for this lunacy.”

Since being confirmed as Pentagon chief, Hegseth has embraced efforts to eliminate diversity initiatives, particularly those applying to transgender troops.

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court gave the green light for the Trump administration to implement its ban on transgender troops in the military, allowing the Defense Department to discharge thousands of current transgender troops and deny new recruits as legal challenges against the move continue to play out in court.

As Pentagon chief, Hegseth has embraced efforts to eliminate diversity initiatives. (AP/Mark Schiefelbein)

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A memo released last week revealed that Hegseth issued instructions to begin kicking out transgender troops who do not voluntarily leave by June 6.

Trump had signed an executive order in January shortly after returning to the White House that reversed a Biden administration policy that had allowed transgender troops to serve.

Officials have said there are 4,240 U.S. active-duty and National Guard transgender troops, although some transgender rights advocates say the number may be even higher.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Former President Donald Trump is embarking this week on a high-stakes tour of the Persian Gulf region, targeting business deals and strategic partnerships with three oil-rich nations: Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

The trip marks Trump’s first major foreign visit of his new term and comes as nuclear negotiations with Iran drag on and as war continues between Israel and the Palestinian terror organization, Hamas, in the Gaza Strip. While business is the official focus, the backdrop is anything but calm.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt described the mission as part of Trump’s broader vision that “extremism is defeated [through] commerce and cultural exchanges.”

Under President Joe Biden, U.S. relations with Gulf states cooled, particularly after Biden vowed to make Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman a “pariah” over the 2018 killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. But Trump has reversed course, embracing a more transactional approach that has warmed ties with regional leaders.

U.S. and Saudi flags flutter along a highway in Riyadh, Saudia Arabia, ahead of President Donald Trump’s arrival on May 12, 2025. (REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed)

“The overall goal here is that the United States is reminding our Middle East allies that we’re here to stay,” said Gregg Roman, executive director of the Middle East Forum. “We’re here to promote our joint interests rather than the abandonment policies under the previous administration.”

Big money, big expectations

Saudi Arabia has already pledged $600 billion in U.S. investments, spanning weapons purchases, technology transfers, artificial intelligence and the stock market. Trump has said he believes the Saudis may ultimately commit up to $1 trillion.

While Saudi leaders aim to diversify their economy away from oil, those massive investments still depend on oil revenues, which could be threatened by Trump’s push to lower global energy prices.

TRUMP STRAINS RELATIONSHIP WITH NETANYAHU AS MIDDLE EAST POLICY INCREASINGLY ISOLATES ISRAEL

President Donald Trump made a historic visit to Saudi Arabia early in his first term in 2017. (Bandar Algaloud/Courtesy of Saudi Royal Court/Handout via REUTERS)

In addition to economic deals, Trump and bin Salman are expected to discuss a possible civil nuclear program and expanded defense cooperation. Such agreements were once linked to a potential Abraham Accords-style normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel.

But Riyadh has made clear it won’t recognize Israel unless Palestinian statehood is on the table, something Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has staunchly opposed. No stop in Israel is scheduled during Trump’s tour.

“Israeli normalization in any Saudi-U.S. project is an outdated option,” said Saudi geopolitical analyst Salman Al-Ansari. “The second Trump administration is doubling down on its strategically autonomous Middle East policy.”

In a possible goodwill gesture ahead of the trip, Hamas released Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander, a move Trump called “monumental” in the push to end the Gaza conflict.

And as the UAE seeks to boost its ties with the U.S. and become a global AI leader by 2030, it’ll need American microchips. The UAE has gone even further than the Saudis, promising $1.4 trillion in U.S. investments over the next decade focused on AI, semiconductors, manufacturing and energy. 

Biden had tightened curbs on AI exports to keep such technologies out of the hands of adversaries at a time when China drew closer to Middle Eastern states, especially the UAE. 

On Thursday, the U.S. announced Trump would rescind the Biden-era restrictions. 

Itinerary: Three days, three power centers

Trump’s whirlwind Gulf visit begins Tuesday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he’ll headline the U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum alongside Saudi ministers, White House crypto czar David Sacks and other business leaders.

On Wednesday, he’ll attend a Gulf Cooperation Council meeting before flying to Qatar for talks with Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and a visit to the U.S. military’s Al Udeid Air Base.

Thursday’s final stop is Abu Dhabi, where Trump will meet UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

4TH ROUND OF US-IRAN TALKS ENDS AS TRUMP SET TO EMBARK ON HISTORIC MIDDLE EAST TOUR

The Qataris are pulling out all the stops to impress: They’ve offered Trump the use of a royal Boeing 747-8, typically reserved for the Qatari royal family, to serve as Air Force One.

Since being named a major non-NATO ally by Biden in 2022, Qatar has deepened its ties with the U.S., hosting American troops and mediating sensitive negotiations, including ongoing back-channel talks between Israel and Gaza.

President Trump’s decision to accept a $400 million plane from Qatar is raising serious eyebrows, even among his staunchest supporters. (Getty Images | iStock)

Doha also maintains close contact with Syria’s new president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, who ousted Bashar al-Assad and is now seeking sanctions relief and normalized ties with the West.

“Regional leaders will have an opportunity to address the situation directly with the president,” said regional expert Jonathan Bass. “Trump is the only man that can lead the way.”

Iran watching closely

While a fourth round of Iran nuclear talks in Oman over the weekend failed to produce a breakthrough, Tehran is expected to keep a close eye on Trump’s Gulf meetings.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi made unannounced visits to both Saudi Arabia and Qatar ahead of Trump’s arrival, likely in hopes of passing messages through those governments to Washington.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei will be monitoring Trump’s visit to his regional neighbors. (Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu via Getty Images)

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But all three of Trump’s host nations, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar, remain wary of Iran’s ambitions.

“The region needs to openly address the problem of the IRGC,” said Bass, referring to Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. “The IRGC is trying to undermine every single country in the region.”

President Donald Trump endorsed his former critic Jack Ciattarelli for governor of New Jersey on Monday.

“Jack Ciattarelli is a terrific America First Candidate running to be the next Governor of a State that I love, NEW JERSEY!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

Trump said Ciattarelli has gone “ALL IN” and that, if elected, he would work closely with the Trump administration to grow the economy, cut taxes and regulations, help secure the border, stop migrant crime, protect veterans, advance American energy and more.

“Also, Jack is the Republican Candidate who is best positioned to STAND TALL against the Radical Left Democrats and, most importantly, ensure a Big Victory in this Very Important Gubernatorial Election, an Election that is being closely watched by the entire World because, we are ending WOKE, and all of the other NONSENSE that goes along with it, AND NOBODY WANTS TO SEE IT COME BACK!,” Trump continued in his endorsement.

AGITATORS CLASH WITH POLICE, ARRETS MADE AS CLERGY MEMBERS DESCEND ON NEWARK ICE FACILITY

Jack Ciattarelli has been endorsed by President Donald Trump for governor of New Jersey.  (Getty Images)

Ciattarelli responded to the endorsement on X, saying he was “truly humbled and honored to receive President Trump’s very strong endorsement today. It’s time to unite our party, win big in November, and make New Jersey affordable and safe again.” Ciattarelli finished his post by saying “When I am Governor, we will.”

Trump and Ciattarelli appear to be turning a new leaf. Ciattarelli was once a harsh Trump critic, going so far as to call Trump a “charlatan” and saying he was “not fit to be President of the United States” back in 2015.

NEWARK MAYOR ARRESTED AS DEM CONGRESS MEMBERS STORM NEW JERSEY ICE PRISON TO CONDUCT ‘OVERSIGHT VISIT’

Ciattarelli seems to have changed his stance on Trump since those comments and was even seen at Trump’s Wildwood, New Jersey, rally in 2020 shaking hands and taking photos with event-goers. 

Ciattarelli appeared to gain popularity, and in 2021 came within three points of defeating Democratic incumbent Governor Phil Murphy. 

Now, he will face Bill Spadea, a conservative radio host, and State Senator Jon Bramnick in the June 10 Republican primary.

Bill Spadea, a conservative radio host, is also running to be the next governor of New Jersey. (Bobby Bank/Getty Images)

In a statement to Fox News Digital, Spadea reacted to Trump’s endorsement of Ciattarelli.

“Donald Trump’s endorsement comes after a years long effort by Jack to lie about his own record,” Spadea said in part. “My resolve to fight for the people of New Jersey has never been greater. I intend to continue fighting for the America First agenda because that is what’s best for the state and our nation.”

Trump threw his considerable political influence into the race for governor of New Jersey on Monday – giving his full endorsement to former critic Jack Ciattarelli. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

The New Jersey Democratic Governors Association (DGA) also blasted the endorsement.

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“This endorsement just confirms what we already knew: Jack Ciattarelli would put Donald Trump before New Jersey,” DGA Communications Director Sam Newton said in a statement. ” As Governor, Ciattarelli would bring Trump’s agenda of higher costs and chaos to Trenton – instead of fighting to protect New Jersey’s freedoms and working to make life more affordable.”

Nick Butler is a reporter for Fox News Digital. Do you have any tips? Reach out to Nick.Butler@Fox.com.

Newark, New Jersey, Mayor Ras Baraka, who was arrested for trespassing while protesting at a federal immigration facility last week, said Monday during a televised gubernatorial debate that his actions were “absolutely” an effective way to protest the president’s immigration clampdown.

Baraka has denied he did anything wrong despite federal authorities arresting him for trespassing at the Delaney Hall detention facility in Newark on Friday. 

During Monday’s debate among Democrat candidates in New Jersey’s open governor’s race, he doubled down on the assertion he did nothing wrong. 

“We haven’t interfered with federal law enforcement,” Baraka said early on in the debate when moderators turned their questioning to Friday’s incident at the ICE detention facility in Newark. “We didn’t go down there to protest. We actually went down there to have a press conference. And the Congress has oversight. And they began to exercise their oversight. It was escalated by Homeland Security. They made an arrest because they got a call to do so. And that’s what happened.”

WHO IS THE DEMOCRATIC GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE ARRESTED FOR TRESPASSING AT AN ICE DETENTION CENTER?

Baraka’s arrest occurred during a protest at Delaney Hall attended by three members of Congress, who said they were in attendance to perform their congressionally-mandated oversight duties related to federal detention facilities. The three lawmakers were outside the facility with a group of protesters when the gates opened to allow an ICE bus in. The lawmakers then rushed through the gates and past security, according to officials from the Department of Homeland Security. 

The arrest came as activists had been calling for access to the facility for days, which is a privately run facility that was revamped as an immigration detention facility this year.  

“We’re not asking for anything that’s incorrect. We ask them to obey our laws,” Baraka said after the incident. “To obey the policies and rules here in the city and the state of New Jersey, not to run roughshod over the Constitution of the United States, the Bill of Rights, the Fourth, the Fifth, the Fourteenth Amendment and everybody on this soil who deserves due process.”

NEWARK MAYOR SPEAKS AFTER BEING RELEASED FROM HSI FACILITY

Newark, N.J., Mayor Ras Baraka speaks during the Democrat gubernatorial primary debate on May 12, 2025. (Steve Hockstein/NJ Advance Media via AP, Pool)

During Monday night’s debate, the other gubernatorial candidates were asked if they thought Baraka’s tactics were “effective” the same way he does and whether they would have done things differently. While, for the most part, all the candidates tip-toed around the question, instead choosing to tout their bona fides in supporting immigration and challenging President Donald Trump, some did express support for Baraka.

“I’m not saying I would do anything differently,” said Rep. Mikie Sherrill, the four-term Democrat representing the state’s 11th Congressional District. “I don’t think the mayor was trespassing. In talking to my congressional colleagues, he was invited in. They asked him to leave, he left, and then he got arrested.”

New Jersey Rep. Josh Gottheimer, left, and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka discuss issues at the New Jersey Democrat gubernatorial primary debate on May 12, 2025. (Steve Hockstein/NJ Advance Media via AP, Pool)

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“Ras didn’t do anything wrong,” Steve Fluop, the mayor of Jersey City and another candidate for New Jersey governor, said in direct response to the moderators’ question about whether they agreed with Baraka’s tactics. 

The rest of the candidates did not directly answer the question before the moderators moved on to the next topic.

The Pentagon is immediately halting all gender transition treatments for transgender troops as it moves to remove them from the military, according to a new memo. 

“I am directing you to take the necessary steps to immediately implement this guidance,” Stephen Ferrara, the acting assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, wrote in a memo dated May 9.

Now the Pentagon will only cover mental health and counseling for gender dysphoria. All other gender dysphoria-related treatments will be referred to the private sector. 

All scheduled and planned transgender surgeries will be canceled, but cross-sex hormone therapy for service members that began prior to the memo may be continued until they separate to prevent health complications. 

Last week, transgender troops were given between 30 and 60 days to leave or risk being removed “involuntarily.” 

PETE HEGSETH DIRECTS MILITARY ACADEMIES THAT ALL FUTURE ADMISSIONS WILL BE BASED SOLELY ON MERIT

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave a deadline for troops to separate last week. (Allison Robbert/AFP/Getty Images)

Active-duty service members have until June 6, one month after the court’s ruling, to leave the military. Reservists have until July 7. 

The development follows a Supreme Court order that allowed a previously blocked ban on transgender military service to move forward.

The Supreme Court’s decision effectively paused a lower court’s injunction, clearing the way for the Defense Department to implement the policy. Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said the ruling allows the department to resume policies focused on “Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth added in that memo that those diagnosed with or showing symptoms consistent with gender dysphoria may choose to leave voluntarily. If they do not, they may face mandatory separation.

PETE HEGSETH SAYS WEST POINT PROFESSOR WHO RESIGNED OVER TRUMP ADMIN EDUCATION OVERHAUL ‘WILL NOT BE MISSED’

President Donald Trump directed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to remove transgender troops from the military. (Getty Images)

The Supreme Court did not rule on the underlying legal arguments but allowed President Donald Trump’s Jan. 27 executive order barring transgender individuals from military service to take effect.

A lower court had temporarily blocked the policy, but Trump administration officials argued that delaying its implementation could harm operational readiness.

Officials defending the policy have said it supports the military’s need for unit cohesion, readiness, discipline and cost efficiency.

Trump’s executive order also directed the Pentagon to revise its medical standards to emphasize combat preparedness and eliminate the use of gender identity-based pronouns within the department.

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The blanket ban on transgender individuals serving in the military had previously been lifted under President Barack Obama in 2014.

The latest policy shift comes as Pentagon leadership under Hegseth moves to dismantle most diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. Last month, he stated that 99.9% of DEI-related policies had been removed. He also announced changes to fitness standards to ensure male and female troops are held to the same requirements for combat readiness.

Harvard University President Alan Garber on Monday sent a letter to Education Secretary Linda McMahon criticizing the Trump administration’s actions against the school while noting both groups share “common ground” on a number of issues. 

“We share common ground on a number of critical issues, including the importance of ending antisemitism and other bigotry on campus,” Garber said. “Like you, I believe that Harvard must foster an academic environment that encourages freedom of thought and expression, and that we should embrace a multiplicity of viewpoints rather than focusing our attention on narrow orthodoxies.”

However, Harvard’s goals are undermined and threatened “by the federal government’s overreach into the constitutional freedoms of private universities and its continuing disregard of Harvard’s compliance with the law,” Garber said. 

CALIFORNIA SHERIFF SLAMS ‘MERITLESS’ UCLA STUDENT LAWSUIT AGAINST POLICE WHO DISMANTLED ANTI-ISRAEL ENCAMPMENT

President of Harvard University Alan Garber addresses the crowd during the 373rd Commencement at Harvard University.  ((Photo by Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe via Getty Images))

“Consistent with the law and with our own values, we continue to pursue needed reforms, doing so in consultation with our stakeholders and always in compliance with the law,” he wrote. “But Harvard will not surrender its core, legally-protected principles out of fear of unfounded retaliation by the federal government.”

Garber’s remarks are in response to a scathing letter last week from McMahon telling the university that it will no longer be eligible for federal grants over its handling of antisemitism on campus. 

“Receiving such taxpayer funds is a privilege, not a right,” she wrote. “Yet instead of using these funds to advance the education of its students, Harvard is engaging in a systemic pattern of violating federal law. Where do many of these ‘students’ come from, who are they, how do they get into Harvard, or even into our country – and why is there so much HATE?”

ISRAEL’S PRESIDENT RELEASES BLISTERING STATEMENT ON US UNIVERSITY ENCAMPMENTS: ‘RESURGENCE OF ANTISEMITISM’

Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon sent a scathing letter to Harvard University President Alan Garber, advising him to not apply for federal grants because they will not be provided. (Getty Images)

“These are questions that must be answered, among many more, but the biggest question of all is, why will Harvard not give straightforward answers to the American public?” she added. 

The Trump administration has frozen $2.2 billion in funding to the university and threatened to revoke its tax-exempt status. 

TRUMP SAYS HE’LL REVOKE HARVARD’S TAX-EXEMPT STATUS

In his letter, Garber listed some of the actions Harvard has taken to address issues on campus, including installing new deans and clarifying the school’s discipline structures and procedures. He noted that Harvard, like many universities, has work to do to foster intellectual diversity on campus. 

Garber also pushed back on McMahon’s claims that Harvard is a “partisan” institution. 

The Trump administration announced it was freezing over $2 billion in grants and contracts after Harvard University said it would not comply with federal demands regarding antisemitism. (Reuters/Nicholas Pfosi)

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“I must refute your claim that Harvard is a partisan institution. It is neither Republican nor Democratic,” he wrote. “It is not an arm of any other political party or movement. Nor will it ever be. Harvard is a place to bring people of all backgrounds together to learn in an inclusive environment where ideas flourish regardless of whether they are deemed ‘conservative,’ ‘liberal,’ or something else, a place where assumptions and claims are tested and challenged, respectfully and thoughtfully, in pursuit of knowledge and truth.”

A federal judge on Monday denied an injunction request to prevent the Department of Homeland Security and Internal Revenue Service from partnering to permit U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE) to access taxpayer information to locate illegal immigrants subject to deportation. 

The order by U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich came amid a lawsuit by Centro de Trabajadores Unidos, an immigrant-rights aid group, against Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. 

“At its core, this case presents a narrow legal issue: Does the Memorandum of Understanding between the IRS and DHS violate the Internal Revenue Code? It does not,” Friedrich wrote in his order. 

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT TELLS FEDERAL JUDGE IT MIGHT INVOKE STATE SECRETS ACT ON HIGH-PROFILE DEPORTATION CASE

An agreement between the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has been filed with a court to allow authorities to further target illegal immigrants subject to deportation.  (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images / Department of Homeland Security)

An earlier memorandum of understanding between DHS and the IRS outlines a process to ensure that sensitive taxpayer data information is protected while allowing law enforcement to pursue criminal violations, a senior Treasury Department official said at the time the deal was reached in April. 

The Treasury Department is committed to protecting the privacy of law-abiding taxpayers, but a criminal exception obligates the agency to assist law enforcement, the official told Fox News Digital at the time. 

Coronavirus / Covid-19 USA Economic Stimulus Checks or Tax Refund stock photo (iStock)

The deal would allow ICE to submit the names and addresses of illegal immigrants to the IRS, who could then cross-check those immigrants’ tax records and provide the immigration agency with current address information.

“The Court agrees that requesting and receiving information for civil enforcement purposes would constitute a cognizable injury, but none of the organizations have established that such an injury is imminent,” Monday’s order states. “As the plaintiffs acknowledge, the Memorandum only allows sharing information for criminal investigations.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Kenneth Homer Bessent and DHS Secretary Kristi Noem (Getty Images)

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As the Memorandum provides, its purpose is to establish procedures enabling “requests for addresses of persons subject to criminal investigation,” the order said. 

The agreement comes as President Donald Trump has continued to ramp up the deportation effort he promised on the campaign trail.

President Donald Trump and his allies have railed against federal judges for blocking key executive orders in his second term, accusing so-called “activist” judges of overstepping their authority and blocking him from delivering on some of his top policy priorities.

Some of Trump’s most sweeping executive orders and actions have been blocked or paused by federal courts to allow for a full hearing on the merits. But the system of checks and balances also means these rulings can be reviewed – either through appeals to the Supreme Court or by Congress, which has the power to pass laws or expand certain executive branch authorities.

It’s all part of an expressly designed system of government that affords each branch, including the presidency, plenty of options for review. 

The Framers “made clear that no one in our system of government was meant to be king– the president included – and not just in name only,” U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell of the District of Columbia said in a ruling earlier this year.

But that’s not to say Trump is without options. Here’s how he could seek to push back against the wave of court actions. 

100 DAYS OF INJUNCTIONS, TRIALS AND ‘TEFLON DON’: TRUMP SECOND TERM MEETS ITS BIGGEST TESTS IN COURT

President Donald Trump delivers a speech marking his 100th day in office in Warren, Michigan, on April 29, 2025. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty)

Lay of the land

Since taking office, Trump’s executive orders have been challenged by hundreds of lawsuits in federal court, though not all have been successful, and some remain in the earlier stages of review.

Plaintiffs have sought to block the dismantling of certain federal agencies, to restore board heads and inspectors general fired by Trump, and to restrict the access of Elon Musk’s government efficiency agency, DOGE, among other things. 

But like the groups filing the lawsuits, the Trump administration also has the ability to appeal any lower court decisions it views as unfavorable or going beyond the scope of the federal court.

In the interim, it can seek an emergency stay to restore the executive order until the case can be heard on its merits.

The Supreme Court has agreed to do so in several major cases. It sided with Trump in removing two federal board members he had fired earlier this year, and which a lower court had reversed.  

Last week, the Supreme Court lifted a lower court order that paused Trump’s ban on transgender military members from taking effect – allowing his order and related policies to proceed, at least for now. 

BOASBERG GRILLS DOJ OVER REMARKS FROM TRUMP AND NOEM, FLOATS MOVING MIGRANTS TO GITMO IN ACTION-PACKED HEARING

President Donald Trump speaks to the media after signing executive orders in the Oval Office at the White House on April 23, 2025. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Working with Congress

The Trump administration can seek more lasting change by working with the Republican majorities in both houses of Congress to codify its biggest policy priorities, shielding the level of review currently afforded to the courts in the absence of any legislation.

According to the Code of Federal Regulations and the Federal Register, a president’s executive order can be revoked or modified only by the president or via the legislative branch, if the president was acting on authority that had been granted by Congress.  

Plaintiffs in federal court have alleged that Trump’s recent executive actions are beyond the scope of what has been authorized by Congress – and, in the absence of clearly written laws, federal judges do have broad authority to interpret the lawfulness of the executive’s actions. 

Critics of the courts have pushed for Congress to curtail this power – either by stripping the funding for federal courts, impeaching judges or eliminating judicial seats, among other things. 

“When federal judges take off their judicial robes and climb into the political arena and throw political punches, they should expect powerful political counterpunches from the Article III project,” Mike Davis, the founder and president of the Article III Project, or A3P, told Fox News Digital in an interview. 

“And when the federal judiciary loses its legitimacy, it loses everything,” Davis said. 

But these steps are highly controversial, and it’s unclear if they could garner the broad support needed from both the House and Senate. 

HERE’S WHY DOZENS OF LAWSUITS SEEKING TO QUASH TRUMP’S EARLY ACTIONS AS PRESIDENT ARE FAILING

President Donald Trump shakes hands with Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts as Melania Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump look on after being sworn in during inauguration ceremonies in the Rotunda of the Capitol on Jan. 20, 2025.  (Chip Somodevilla/Pool via Reuters/File)

Other options

Options available to the White House are more limited by the Constitution. The president can appoint federal judges, but he cannot fire them. The executive branch is also responsible for enforcing court rulings and may either slow-roll or de-prioritize decisions the president disagrees with. 

Meanwhile, Trump allies have also sought to push back on the power of the courts in other, more unorthodox ways.

The America First Legal Foundation, a pro-Trump legal group founded by White House aide Stephen Miller in between Trump’s first and second terms, filed a lawsuit against Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, in his capacity as the official head of the U.S. Judicial Conference, and Robert J. Conrad, the director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, earlier this month. 

The lawsuit accuses both parties of performing certain regulatory actions that go beyond the scope of the “core functions” of the judiciary – and which they argue should put them under the thumb of the executive branch. 

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“An American president is not a king – not even an ‘elected’ one – and his power to remove federal officers and honest civil servants like plaintiff is not absolute,” Howell said in a case involving the reinstatement of two fired federal board members earlier this year. 

A senior staffer for California Rep. Sara Jacobs’ office was the victim of an armed carjacking in a popular Washington, D.C., neighborhood on Friday afternoon, according to a Metropolitan Police Department report. 

Metro Police announced on Sunday two arrests in the armed carjacking that occurred on Friday afternoon in a Harris Teeter parking lot in Washington’s Navy Yard neighborhood. 

In addition to the victim’s personal items, the senior staffer’s government-issued iPhone, MacBook, ID and Capitol parking pass were identified as missing in the police report obtained by Fox News Digital. Jacobs’ office did not provide comment but confirmed the devices were immediately wiped.  

On Friday, around 12:08 p.m., the suspects approached the victim as they exited their car, demanding the victim’s car keys, according to Metro Police. When the staffer refused, one of the suspects brandished a handgun and obtained the keys before the suspects fled the scene in the victim’s vehicle, police said.

FAMILY OF MOM MURDERED IN RITZY DC SUBURB DECADES AGO GETS JUSTICE AS PERP NOBODY EXPECTED PLEADS GUILTY

The Metropolitan Police Department, left, and the U.S. Capitol, right (Getty Images/Fox News Digital)

Officers recovered the victim’s car and a firearm on Saturday, and then arrested two suspects. According to police, a 15-year-old juvenile male of Washington was charged with armed carjacking, and a 14-year-old juvenile male of Maryland was charged with carrying a pistol without a license and unauthorized use of a vehicle.

WOMAN ARRESTED FOR DRIVING INTO FESTIVAL CROWD HOURS AFTER EXPLOSION ROCKED SAME EVENT

As of Sunday, police are still searching for two outstanding suspects whose photos were captured during the incident by surveillance cameras. 

Navy Yard is a popular Washington neighborhood located south of the U.S. Capitol and home to the Washington Nationals baseball stadium. While the neighborhood has transformed over the past decade into an urban hub for congressional staffers and young professionals, it has also been the subject of criticism for its crime. 

Washington Metropolitan Police officers conduct an investigation at the Potomac Avenue Metro Station.  (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said he was walking to the Navy Yard Metro Station for a transit safety event last month when he learned a Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) police officer had just been stabbed in the face. 

The WMATA confirmed the incident to Fox News Digital and said the suspect stabbed the officer “with a sharp metal object” after they did not pay their fare at the station. 

President Donald Trump vowed to clean up Washington while speaking at his “Make America Great Again” rallies on the 2024 campaign trail. Since returning to office this January, Trump has committed to creating a “crime-free capital.”  

Trump vowed to clean up Washington during his third consecutive presidential campaign.  (ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)

“We’re cleaning up our city. We’re cleaning up this great capital,” the president said. “And we’re not going to have crime, and we’re not going to stand for crime,” Trump said at the Department of Justice earlier this year. 

The Jacobs staffer did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

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

The Trump administration has not revealed which administration official was targeted by the Biden administration’s State Department in a “disinformation” dossier compiling previous social media posts that identified them as “purveyors of disinformation.”

Secretary of State Marco Rubio revealed at the most recent Trump administration Cabinet meeting April 30 that an unidentified Trump administration official who was present had been the subject of a State Department dossier detailing alleged promotion of social media “disinformation.” 

Rubio, the State Department and the White House have not yet identified which official the Biden administration targeted. Fox News Digital has reached out repeatedly to the White House regarding the identity of the official, including on Monday, but did not receive replies. 

When asked for an update on the identity of the Trump official, the State Department directed Fox News Digital to Rubio’s April 30 remark, detailing that, “We are going to be turning over these dossiers to the individuals, and they’ll decide whether they want to disclose it or not.”

RUBIO REVEALS OBSCURE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION OFFICE KEPT ‘DISINFORMATION’ DOSSIER ON TRUMP OFFICIAL

The Trump administration has not revealed which administration official was targeted by the Biden administration’s State Department in a “disinformation” dossier compiling previous social media posts that identified them as “purveyors of disinformation.” (Getty Images)

Rubio said during the April 30 Cabinet meeting that a little-known, now-defunct office within the State Department called the Global Engagement Center (GEC) had compiled disinformation dossiers on Americans across the country as part of an effort to “censor” free speech, including an individual who has since joined the Trump administration. 

“We had an office in the Department of State whose job it was to censor Americans,” Rubio said during the meeting. “And, by the way, I’m not going to say who it is. I’ll leave it up to them. There’s at least one person at this table today who had a dossier in that building of social media posts to identify them as purveyors of disinformation. We have these dossiers. We are going to be turning those over to these individuals.” 

Vice President JD Vance interjected, asking, “Was it me or Elon (Musk)? We can follow up when the media is gone,” which drew laughter from the Cabinet. 

RUBIO OVERHAULING ‘BLOATED’ STATE DEPARTMENT IN SWEEPING REFORM

Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks during a Cabinet meeting April 30. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

“But just think about that. The Department of State of the United States had set up an office to monitor the social media posts and commentary of American citizens, to identify them as vectors of disinformation,” Rubio continued. “When we know that the best way to combat disinformation is freedom of speech and transparency.”

Though Rubio did not identify which Trump official the Biden administration kept a dossier on, Elon Musk has previously railed against the Global Engagement Center. 

“The worst offender in US government censorship & media manipulation is an obscure agency called GEC,” Musk posted to X in January 2023. That was more than a year before Musk endorsed Trump in the 2024 presidential race and became a fixture of the administration in his temporary role with the Department of Government Efficiency. 

“They are a threat to our democracy,” Musk added.

RUBIO ANNOUNCES CLOSURE OF STATE DEPARTMENT EFFORT THAT ‘WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD ALREADY’

Former President Barack Obama established the Global Engagement Center in 2016 through an executive order aimed at coordinating counterterrorism messaging to foreign nations before it expanded its scope to also include countering foreign propaganda and disinformation, State Department documents show.

Conservatives have slammed the office as a political weapon to silence free speech, including Rubio in an April op-ed when he cited a 2020 GEC report claiming that a “Russian disinformation apparatus” was behind public speculation that the coronavirus was an “engineered bioweapon” or was created by “research conducted at the Wuhan institute.” 

Marco Rubio said during the April 30 Cabinet meeting that a little-known, now-defunct office within the State Department called the Global Engagement Center (GEC) had compiled disinformation dossiers on Americans across the country as part of an effort to “censor” free speech. (Celal Gunes/Anadolu Agency)

In the years following the pandemic, the Department of Energy under the Biden administration and former FBI Director Christopher Wray said evidence indicated that COVID-19 was the result of a lab leak, while the Trump administration’s CIA reported earlier in 2025 that a lab leak was the likely origin of the virus.

TWITTER BOSS ELON MUSK ACCUSES GOVERNMENT AGENCY OF BEING ‘WORST OFFENDER IN US GOVERNMENT CENSORSHIP’

In 2024, lawmakers did not approve new funding for the office in the National Defense Authorization Act, and it was scheduled to terminate on Dec. 23, 2024. The Biden administration, however, shuffled staffers and rebranded the office. 

It became the Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference Hub just days before Trump’s inauguration, the New York Post reported in January. 

Rubio announced in April that the office would officially shutter. 

Marco Rubio has railed against the office in previous interviews and op-eds, including authoring an opinion piece for the Federalist in April touting that he was dismantling the “censorship-industrial complex” that had gripped agencies such as the State Department. (Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“I am announcing the closure of the State Department’s Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (R/FIMI), formerly known as the Global Engagement Center (GEC),” Rubio said in an April 16 statement announcing the office’s closure. 

“Under the previous administration, this office, which cost taxpayers more than $50 million per year, spent millions of dollars to actively silence and censor the voices of Americans they were supposed to be serving,” he wrote. “This is antithetical to the very principles we should be upholding and inconceivable it was taking place in America. That ends today.” 

WHITE HOUSE PROPOSAL AXES UN, NATO FUNDS AND HALVES STATE DEPARTMENT BUDGET

Though Marco Rubio did not identify which Trump official the Biden administration kept a dossier on, Elon Musk has previously railed against the Global Engagement Center. (Alex Brandon/The Associated Press)

Rubio has railed against the office in previous interviews and op-eds, including authoring an opinion piece for the Federalist in April touting that he was dismantling the “censorship-industrial complex” that had gripped agencies such as the State Department. 

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“Over the past half-decade, bodies like GEC, crafted by our own governing ruling class, nearly destroyed America’s long free speech history,” he wrote in the op-ed. “The enemies of speech had new lingo to justify their authoritarian impulse. It was “disinformation,” allegedly pushed by nefarious foreign governments, that was the No. 1 threat to ‘our democracy.’ To protect ‘our democracy,’ this ‘disinformation’ had to be identified and stamped out.” 

Dozens of clergy members protested outside an ICE facility in Newark, N.J., on Monday, saying they would continue to block the gates accessing the facility until they are arrested.

The group is composed of roughly 50 clergy members from Faith in N.J. and Faith in Action. They linked arms outside the main gate of Delaney Hall Detention Center as they chanted and sang songs.

Several speakers also said prayers for the inmates inside the facility and condemned their detention.

The clergy members say they have “volunteered” to be arrested and that they will attempt to enter the ICE facility.

NEWARK MAYOR ARRESTED AS DEM CONGRESS MEMBERS STORM NEW JERSEY ICE PRISON TO CONDUCT ‘OVERSIGHT VISIT’

Security personnel stand in front of Delaney Hall, a recently re-opened immigration detention center, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

The protest comes days after Democratic lawmakers and protesters on Friday stormed the gate of the facility. Meanwhile, Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin has said the detention center is housing “murderers, terrorists, child rapists and MS-13 gang members.”

The Department of Homeland Security posted on social media about the identities of several inmates.

WHITE HOUSE BLASTS DEMS ‘CROSSING THE LINE’ BY STORMING ICE FACILITY

“The allegations by Newark politicians that Delaney does not have the proper permitting is false. Meet who the New Jersey lawmakers are fighting for,” the DHS wrote.

Recent polling shows an overwhelming majority of Americans, 83%, support the deporting at least some illegal immigrants, according to the Pew Research Center. Roughly 32% of Americans say they support deporting all illegal immigrants, and of those who only support deporting some, 97% are in favor of removing any who have committed violent crimes.

ICE FACILITY DEMOCRATS ‘STORMED’ HOLDS CHILD RAPISTS, MURDERERS: OFFICIALS

A trio of Democratic lawmakers who participated in the “storming” of Delaney Hall last week doubled down on their actions this week, arguing the Trump administration is “weaponizing law enforcement.”

Members of Congress bust into ICE detention facility in New Jersey. (X / @RepBonnie)

Reps. LaMonica McIver, Bonnie Watson Coleman and Rob Menendez, all Democrats from New Jersey, made the comments during a joint appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday. 

“Chaos ensued when someone on the phone above the leaders of ICE who were with us at that facility instructed them to go out of the facility, go to the private property and lock the mayor of the largest city in the state of New Jersey up,” Coleman said.

“That’s absurd. That’s un-American. That’s scary. That’s determination to intimidate people in this country,” she added, claiming the administration is “lying at all levels.”

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Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was also present and was arrested and charged with trespassing. Authorities claim an ICE agent was assaulted in the confrontation, which was caught on camera.

FIRST ON FOX: The United States is set to welcome 49 white South African refugees who are victims of “government-sponsored racial discrimination” in their homeland, according to the State Department. 

The U.S.-chartered flight touched down at Dulles Airport in Virginia on Monday afternoon, when Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau welcomed the group of Afrikaners. 

“Faced with undeniable government-sponsored racial discrimination in South Africa, the first Afrikaner refugees have arrived in the United States,” a senior State Department official said in an exclusive statement to Fox News Digital. 

“The U.S. Refugee Admissions Program was intended for situations like this. Under President Trump’s strong leadership, the State Department has helped to provide a new life for these refugees in America, where they will live in freedom, safety, and opportunity.”

TRUMP TO BRING WHITE AFRIKANERS TO US AS REFUGEES FROM SOUTH AFRICA, IN WAKE OF EXPROPRIATION LEGISLATION

Katia Beeden, life coach and campaigner for White South Africans who want to apply for U.S. refugee status, poses for a picture at her residence in Fish Hoek, Cape Town, South Africa, on April 8, 2025. (REUTERS/Shafiek Tassiem/File Photo)

President Donald Trump first initiated their resettlement with an executive order entitled, “Addressing Egregious Actions of the Republic of South Africa,” directing the State Department to bump up Afrikaners to the front of the line for resettlement. 

South Africans are now able to submit a statement of interest with the U.S. embassy in Pretoria, which will review the documents and contact those who are eligible for the interview process. 

Trump has virtually halted the refugee program for those from war- and famine-ravaged nations like Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. White South Africans say they have been denied jobs and targeted for violence on account of their race. 

Trump’s executive order came in response to a law passed by the South African government allowing it to take private land for public use, sometimes without compensation. Trump claimed the law would be used to target South Africa’s White minority Afrikaner group, descended from Dutch and other European settlers who arrived more than 300 years ago. 

TRUMP, SOUTH AFRICA IN GROWING ROW OVER HOTLY CONTESTED LAND LAW, COUNTRY’S DEALS WITH US FOES

White South Africans supporting President Donald Trump and South African and U.S. tech billionaire Elon Musk gather in front of the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria on Feb. 15, 2025 for a demonstration. (MARCO LONGARI/AFP via Getty Images)

The South African foreign ministry said claims that White South Africans faced a “well-founded fear of persecution” were “unfounded.” 

“It is most regrettable that it appears that the resettlement of South Africans to the United States under the guise of being ‘refugees’ is entirely politically motivated and designed to question South Africa’s constitutional democracy; a country which has in fact suffered true persecution under Apartheid rule and has worked tirelessly to prevent such levels of discrimination from ever occurring again,” spokesperson Chrispin Phiri at the Ministry of International Relations and Cooperation added. 

The Afrikaners’ arrival comes as Trump tries to push back on the racial politics of South Africa, where adviser Elon Musk grew up during apartheid. 

President Donald Trump and South Africa were locked in a diplomatic row over a land expropriation act that Washington, D.C., says will lead to the takeover of White-owned farms. (MARCO LONGARI/AFP via Getty Images)

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The Afrikaner families traveling to the U.S. are largely from farming communities. 

Since apartheid ended in the 1990s, South Africa has sought to atone for segregationist policies, including with the land redistribution law signed in January. The policy came after a 2017 audit found that White South Africans owned three-quarters of individually-owned farms and agricultural property, while making up 7% of the population. Black South Africans had been denied the right to own prime agricultural land during the apartheid era.

A U.S. appeals court will review the Trump administration’s bid to avoid returning a 20-year-old Venezuelan asylum seeker who was deported to El Salvador earlier this year, keeping him in Salvadoran custody for now. 

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed last week to take up Trump’s appeal – staying through May 15 a lower court’s ruling that required the Trump administration to immediately return him to U.S. soil.

The appeals court also ordered plaintiffs in the case to submit their response to the court before noon on Monday. The Trump administration will have through 9 a.m. Tuesday to respond.

At issue is the case of Daniel Lozano-Camargo, a 20-year-old Venezuelan national previously referred to in court documents as “Cristian,” who was deported to El Salvador in March in the Trump administration’s early wave of Alien Enemies Act removals.

FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERS RETURN OF DEPORTED MIGRANT TO US, REJECTING TRUMP REQUEST

More than 250 individuals deported from the U.S. to El Salvador arrive by plane to the country, including alleged members of Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua gang, and members of the MS-13 gang, to be processed in the country’s CECOT maximum security prison. (El Salvador Presidency / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)

U.S. District Judge Stephanie Gallagher, a Trump appointee, ruled in April that his deportation violated an agreement the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) struck in 2024 with Lozano-Camargo and a group of young asylum seekers who had entered the U.S. as unaccompanied children.

Under that agreement, DHS agreed not to deport the migrants in question until their requests for asylum could be fully adjudicated in U.S. court. Last month, Gallagher said Lozano-Camargo’s deportation was a “breach of contract,” since his asylum case had not yet been heard, and ordered the U.S. government to facilitate his release.

A federal judge had ordered President Donald Trump’s administration to facilitate the return of a migrant deported to El Salvador. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

She reiterated that decision in court last week, rejecting a new filing from the Justice Department that said it had determined Lozano-Camargo was eligible for removal under the law, citing his earlier arrest and conviction for cocaine possession in Houston this year. 

Justice Department officials claimed in earlier court documents that Lozano-Camargo was a member of a “violent terrorist gang” but have not linked him to Tren de Aragua. Portions of their most recent court filing have been redacted. 

Gallagher had specifically ordered the Trump administration to make a “good faith request to the government of El Salvador” to “release Cristian, [or Lozano-Camargo], to U.S. custody for transport back to the United States to await the adjudication of his asylum application on the merits by USCIS,” which it had not done.

BOASBERG GRILLS DOJ OVER REMARKS FROM TRUMP AND NOEM, FLOATS MOVING MIGRANTS TO GITMO IN ACTION-PACKED HEARING

A person holds up a sign referencing the Centre for Terrorism Confinement prison in El Salvador during a May Day demonstration against President Donald Trump and his immigration policies in Houston on May 1, 2025. (RONALDO SCHEMIDT / AFP)

Gallagher emphasized in court last week that her decision has nothing to do with the strength of his asylum request, and is based solely on due process protections.

“I don’t think that this is a case about whether or not Cristian is going to eventually get asylum,” she told lawyers for the Trump administration.

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“Process is important. We don’t skip to the end and say, ‘We all know how this is going to end so we’ll just skip that part,'” she said. “Whether he ultimately receives asylum is not the issue. The issue is – and has always been – one of process.”

Still, Gallagher agreed to stay her ruling for 48 hours, giving the administration time to appeal it to the higher court, which it did.