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President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order establishing the first ever self-deportation program which incentivizes illegal migrants to voluntarily leave the country in a free flight and with a cash bonus.

The new program, titled “Project Homecoming,” authorizes government-funded flights and offers money to illegal migrants willing to self-deport. 

Trump announced the signing of the order in a video post on Truth Social and said that the program will end up saving taxpayers “billions and billions” of dollars. 

President Donald Trump announcing the establishment of the first ever self-deportation program which incentivizes illegal migrants to voluntarily leave the country. (@realDonaldTrump via Truth Social)

DHS UNLEASHES POSSIBLE MONEY-SAVING MEASURE FOR ILLEGAL ALIENS TO SELF-DEPORT: ‘SAFEST OPTION’

“We are making it as easy as possible for illegal aliens to leave America. Any illegal alien can simply show up at an airport and receive a free flight out of our country,” Trump said. 

“Illegals can book a free flight to any foreign country as long as it’s not here. You can go anywhere you want.”

Trump added that illegal migrants will be offered a “very important exit bonus” to leave. 

Homeland Security said earlier this week that migrants would be offered a $1,000 stipend each to leave. The department said this will be 70% cheaper for American taxpayers, as it currently costs DHS, on average, over $17,000 to arrest, detain, and deport someone.

“This deportation bonus will save American taxpayers billions and billions of dollars,” Trump said.

Venezuelan migrants deported from the United States arrive at Simon Bolivar International Airport in Maiquetia, Venezuela, Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Cristian Hernandez)

ICE FILES DETAINERS AGAINST 2 ILLEGAL ALIENS, INCLUDING 1 FACING ATTEMPTED MURDER CHARGES FOR SHOOTING SPREE

He advised illegal migrants to use the Homeland Security CBP One app to arrange their deportations. The Biden-era app was previously used to expedite migrants to schedule appointments at official ports of entry before they were paroled into the U.S. That function was ended on the first day of Trump’s second term and the app is now being used to encourage migrants to self-deport and notify some migrants that their legal status has been revoked.

Trump said that there would be stiff consequences for those who do not comply with his order, but added that migrants who have behaved in the U.S. may get a chance to come back in – as long as they follow the rules of the new plan.

“Illegal aliens who stay in America face punishments, including significant jail time, enormous financial penalties, confiscation of all property, garnishment of all wages, imprisonment and incarceration and sudden deportation, in a place, and manner solely of our discretion,” Trump said.

“So to all illegal aliens who book your free flight right now, we want you out of America. But if you’re really good, we’re going to try and help you get back in.”

This split shows the CBP One app and Homrland Security Secretary Kristi Noem ((Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP and Sandy Huffaker/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The White House said the financial incentives will benefit Americans in the long-term, given it estimates that illegal migrants will cost taxpayers $150 billion in FY 2023 alone. 

“Over the last 4 years, the United States has endured a full-scale invasion of aliens entering and remaining in the country illegally, causing a relentless onslaught of crime, vagrancy, violence, and death in countless American communities,” the White House said in a statement.

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“This lawless invasion has also limited the capacity of American schools and hospitals to provide for American citizens and has diverted billions of dollars in Federal, State, and local social services from Americans in need.”

Trump also took a shot at former President Biden, whose administration oversaw record numbers of border crossers.

“What Biden did to this country can never be explained. Will never, ever be accepted. Eventually, when the illegals are gone, it will save us trillions of dollars,” Trump said. 

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, mocked “crazy town” Democrats for defending illegal immigrants like alleged MS-13 gang member and Salvadoran national Kilmar Abrego Garcia over U.S. citizens, saying that many seem to have an incurable case of Trump derangement syndrome.

Cruz’s comments came after several Democratic lawmakers, including Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, traveled to El Salvador to advocate for Abrego Garcia’s return to the U.S. after he was deported to his home country. The remarks also came just before Newark, N.J., Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested Friday after joining several members of Congress in storming an ICE detention facility.

“It is a very bizarre political decision that the Democrats have made,” Cruz said. “They have decided that they are the party of illegal immigrants and the party of gang members.”

“The vast majority of Americans,” he went on, “don’t want more gang members and violent criminals in this country, and it really is a shame the Democrats have gotten so extreme in their hatred of Donald Trump that the one thing they can stand for is more illegals and more gang members.”

DEM IMMIGRATION TALKING POINTS FIZZLE AS DARK PICTURE OF ABREGO GARCIA EMERGES

Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, mocked “crazy town” Democrats for defending Salvadoran illegal immigrants like alleged MS-13 gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia over U.S. citizens.

Bringing up Van Hollen’s and other Democrats’ trips to El Salvador on behalf of Abrego Garcia, Cruz said: “We’re seeing Democrat senators, Democrat house members flying down to El Salvador and putting all their political capital behind the position that we need more illegal immigrants in America, we need more criminals in America, and we need more MS-13 gang members in America.”

“I think Trump derangement syndrome is a real mental illness,” he went on. “I think they hate Donald Trump so much that it has driven them to crazy town. . . . Why is it that Democrats care so much about supporting violent criminal illegal aliens, they care so much about supporting MS-13 gang members?”

Though many Democrats claim that Abrego Garcia is an innocent man who was wrongly deported, the administration has pointed to considerable evidence that he is a member of the MS-13 gang.

According to police and court records shared with Fox News Digital, Abrego Garcia was arrested in Hyattsville, Maryland, in October 2019, at which point he was identified by the Prince George’s County Police Gang Unit as an MS-13 gang member. 

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

An undated photo of Kilmar Abrego Garcia.  (Murray Osorio PLLC via AP)

A federal immigration court in Baltimore further determined that Abrego Garcia was not eligible for release, because he had “failed to meet his burden of demonstrating that his release from custody would not pose a danger to others, as the evidence shows that he is a verified member of MS-13.”

Several DHS sources have confirmed to Fox News Digital records indicating that Abrego Garcia also had been pulled over by a Tennessee highway patrol trooper while driving an SUV belonging to Jose Ramon Hernandez Reyes, another illegal alien who in 2020 confessed to human smuggling across the U.S.-Mexico border.

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Fox News Digital has also reviewed court documents filed by Abrego Garcia’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, alleging that he had seriously beaten and verbally abused her multiple times and mentally abused her children.

In April, the Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s decision ordering the Trump administration to arrange Abrego Garcia’s return. 

MS-13, TREN DE ARAGUA TARGETED FOR DEATH BLOW IN NEW GOP BILL AIMED AT MIGRANT CRIME

Jennifer, Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s wife, cries as Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D) speaks during a press conference after returning from El Salvador, where he had met with the man, on April 18, 2025, at Dulles International Airport in Dulles, VA. (Pete Kiehart for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

The court required the “government to ‘facilitate’ Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador and to ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador.” 

The Trump administration agreed to clear any administrative obstacles keeping Abrego Garcia from returning to the U.S., but Attorney General Pam Bondi has said that returning him is “up to El Salvador if they want to return him. That’s not up to us.” 

After Fox News Digital asked Van Hollen whether he was aware of the domestic violence allegations against Abrego Garcia before he went to visit him in El Salvador, the senator became defensive, saying: “What I said here was these issues need to be litigated in the courts, okay?”

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“What Donald Trump needs to do is put up or shut up in the courts, and he’s just not done that,” he went on.

“My response is, always stick to the Constitution, stick to the due process rights of people who live in America, and if we all do that, then we’ll be doing the right thing for our country.” 

President Donald Trump and his administration inked a major trade deal with the U.K. Thursday, and closed the week gearing up for trade talks with China over the weekend. 

Details of the specific trade plan with the U.K. are sparse, but the deal keeps the existing 10% tariffs in place against U.K. goods while removing some import taxes on items like steel and cars. 

“With this deal, the U.K. joins the United States in affirming that reciprocity and fairness is an essential and vital principle of international trade,” Trump said Thursday. “The deal includes billions of dollars of increased market access for American exports, especially in agriculture, dramatically increasing access for American beef, ethanol and virtually all of the products produced by our great farmers.” 

TRUMP SIGNALS CHINA ‘VERY MUCH’ INTERESTED IN SECURING TRADE DEAL AHEAD OF SWITZERLAND NEGOTIATIONS

President Donald Trump along with Vice President JD Vance and Peter Mandelson, British Ambassador to the United States, third from left, listen as Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain speaks on the speakerphone in the Oval Office at the White House May 8, 2025, following Trump’s U.K. trade deal announcement. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

The deal is the first historic trade negotiation signed following Liberation Day, when Trump announced widespread tariffs for multiple countries April 2 at a range of rates. 

The administration later adjusted its initial proposal and announced April 9 it would immediately impose a 145% tariff on Chinese goods, while reducing reciprocal tariffs on other countries for 90 days to a baseline of 10%. China responded by raising tariffs on U.S. goods to 125%.

Trump also shed some insight into trade negotiations with China, given that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is scheduled to kick off trade negotiations with China in Switzerland Saturday. 

“Scott’s going to be going to Switzerland, meeting with China,” Trump told reporters Thursday at the White House. “And you know, they very much want to make a deal. We can all play games. Who made the first call, who didn’t make them? It doesn’t matter. Only matters what happens in that room. But I will tell you that China very much wants to make a deal. We’ll see how that works out.”

Here’s what also happened this week: 

Meeting with Canada’s prime minister 

Trump also doubled down on his interest in expanding the U.S. during a Tuesday visit with Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney. 

Trump regularly has said he wants Canada to become a U.S. state, and has discussed acquiring Greenland and the Panama Canal for security purposes. However, the matter of Canada isn’t open to negotiation, Carney said. 

“Having met with the owners of Canada over the course of the campaign the last several months, it’s not for sale,” Carney said at the White House Tuesday. “Won’t be for sale ever, but the opportunity is in the partnership and what we can build together. We have done that in the past, and part of that, as the president just said, is with respect to our security, and my government is committed for a step change in our investment in Canadian security and our partnership.”

CARNEY SAYS CANADA IS NOT FOR SALE, TRUMP REPLIES ‘NEVER SAY NEVER’

President Donald Trump meets with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, May 6, 2025.   (Jim Watson/AFP)

While Trump acknowledged that Canada was stepping up its investment in military security, he said, “Never say never” in response to Canada becoming another state. 

“I’ve had many, many things that were not doable, and they ended up being doable,” Trump said.

TRUMP PULLS HIS NOMINATION FOR DC US ATTORNEY, SAYS HE’LL REVEAL NEW PICK SOON 

Meeting with ballet dancer freed from Russian prison 

Trump also met with Russian-American ballet dancer, Ksenia Karelina, at the White House Monday. Karelina faced a sentence of 12 years in a Russian penal colony for treason in 2024, but the Trump administration negotiated her return to the U.S. during a U.S.-Russian prisoner swap in April. 

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Senior Director for Counterterrorism Sebastian Gorka takes a picture of US-Russian ballet dancer Ksenia Karelina and her boyfriend, South African boxer Chris van Heerden, at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, following Karelina’s release from Russia on April 10, 2025. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images)

“Mr. Trump, I’m so, so grateful for you to bring me home and for (the) American government. And I never felt more blessed to be American, and I’m so, so happy to get home,” Karelina said in a video posted by Trump deputy assistant Sebastian Gorka on April 11 upon her return to the U.S.

Karelina, a resident of Los Angeles who was born in Russia, was arrested in 2024 during a trip to visit family in Yekaterinburg, Russia. Russia Federal Security Service arrested her after inspecting her phone and finding a donation to a U.S.-based charity that supports Ukraine. 

Fox News’ Emma Colton contributed to this report. 

House Republicans released a portion of President Donald Trump’s tax agenda late on Friday evening, bringing them one step closer to completing the commander-in-chief’s “big, beautiful bill.”

The legislation includes an increased child tax credit (CTC), a higher threshold for estate tax liability – what Republicans have referred to as the “death tax” – and several other measures.

It also lays the groundwork for making Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) permanent. Republican leaders had warned that failing to do so would lead to a tax increase of over 20% for millions of Americans, if TCJA were allowed to expire at the end of this year.

There is no information in the bill so far about state and local tax (SALT) deduction caps, which have been a significant point of contention between blue state Republicans critical to keeping the House majority, and GOP lawmakers from deeper red, lower-tax states.

SCOOP: REPUBLICANS DISCUSS DEFUNDING ‘BIG ABORTION’ LIKE PLANNED PARENTHOOD IN TRUMP AGENDA BILL

President Donald Trump is helping to get House Republicans’ budget bill over the line. (Getty Images)

Another notable exclusion is a new millionaires’ tax bracket. Trump had floated the idea of a small tax increase on the ultra-wealthy, and a source familiar with his thinking told Fox News Digital earlier this week that Trump was considering allowing a pre-TCJA 2.6% tax hike on people making $2.5 million per year or more.

Those measures and others are not necessarily excluded from the final bill, however. 

The legislation is also expected to include new Trump tax pledges like eliminating taxes on tips, overtime wages and Social Security checks for retirees.

More elements are expected to be added in the coming days via amendments. The full legislation is expected to advance through the Ways & Means Committee, the House’s tax-writing panel, on Tuesday afternoon.

Release of the legislation is a major sign of progress for House GOP leaders, who had been forced to punt their initial planned deadline of having a bill on Trump’s desk by sometime between Memorial Day and the Fourth of July.

But SALT deduction caps and a millionaire’s tax hike are two of the most volatile discussion points.

House Ways & Means Committee Chair Jason Smith said his panel will advance the bill on Tuesday. (Tom Williams)

House Republicans currently have a razor-thin three-vote margin, meaning they can afford to have little dissent and still pass anything without Democratic support.

They’re hoping to do just that, with virtually no Democrats currently on board with Trump’s massive Republican policy overhaul.

Republican lawmakers are working to pass their legislation via the budget-reconciliation process, which lowers the Senate’s passage threshold from 60 votes to 51, lining up the House’s own simple majority threshold.

Reconciliation allows the party in power to effectively skirt the minority and pass broad pieces of legislation – provided they address taxes, spending or the national debt.

Trump wants Republicans to use the maneuver to tackle his priorities on the border, immigration, taxes, defense, energy, and raising the debt ceiling.

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

Both the House and Senate passed frameworks setting the stage for the bill earlier this year.

Now, the relevant committees of jurisdiction on either side must craft policy in line with that framework, before all the parts are fitted into a final bill that must again pass both houses of Congress before being signed into law by Trump.

The most recent portion released by the House Ways & Means Committee would increase the current maximum CTC from $2,000 to $2,500.

It would also boost the maximum deduction for qualified business income, a tax provision known as 199A, from 20% to 22%. That would largely affect small business owners whose entities are taxed under individual income tax rates.

On the estate tax, which is levied on assets after person’s death, it raises the exemption level to $15 million from the current level of roughly $13.9 million.

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Republicans have long criticized the estate tax as a needless financial burden on grieving families, particularly hitting small family-owned businesses. Supporters of the federal estate tax point out that it affects a relatively small number of estates. 

“Seven years ago, the Trump tax cuts sparked an economic boom and provided needed relief to working families. Pro-family, pro-worker tax provisions are the heart of President Trump’s economic agenda that puts working families ahead of Washington and will create jobs, grow wages and investment and help usher in a new golden age of prosperity,” House Ways & Means Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., said in a statement on Friday night.

“Ways and Means Republicans have spent two years preparing for this moment, and we will deliver for the American people.”

Florida state Sen. Jason Pizzo, who announced last month that he was switching from Democrat to no party affiliation, has revealed that he plans a Sunshine State gubernatorial bid.

“Yes I am,” Pizzo said after CBS News Miami’s Jim Defede asked the state senator whether he plans to run for governor.

In a written statement to Fox News Digital, Pizzo declared, “Florida is ready for someone to put people before party, and get back to basics in public service. The state is facing significant fiscal and resiliency challenges, and I’m [the] best one to guide us through.”

SUNSHINE STATE DEM ANNOUNCES SWITCH TO NO AFFILIATION: ‘DEMOCRATIC PARTY IN FLORIDA IS DEAD’

Florida State Sen. Jason Pizzo speaks during the Broward Housing Council 2024 Affordable Housing Workshop on Condo Reform at the Anne Kolb Nature Center in Hollywood, Florida, on Oct. 30, 2024.  (Mike Stocker/South Florida Sun Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Current Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican who is currently serving his second term, is not eligible to run for governor again in 2026.

The state constitution stipulates, “No person who has, or but for resignation would have, served as governor or acting governor for more than six years in two consecutive terms shall be elected governor for the succeeding term.”

FLORIDA STATE SENATOR WHO QUIT DEMOCRATIC PARTY SLAMS IT AS ‘RUDDERLESS’ AND ‘WITHOUT DIRECTION’

U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla. announced a bid for the job in February after President Donald Trump publicly urged him to do so.

DESANTIS SIGNS BILL BANNING FLUORIDE ADDITIVES IN FLORIDA PUBLIC WATER: ‘HYDRATE, NOT MEDICATE’ 

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“Byron Donalds would be a truly Great and Powerful Governor for Florida and, should he decide to run, will have my Complete and Total Endorsement. RUN, BYRON, RUN!” Trump declared in a February Truth Social post.

LEWISTON, MAINE – EXCLUSIVE – Former two-term Gov. Paul LePage of Maine says President Donald Trump is a major reason why he’s coming out of political retirement at age 76 – and he’s eyeing a campaign comeback.

“I never, ever had any aspirations to go to Washington until now,” LePage said this week in his first national interview after launching his bid for the House in Maine’s Second Congressional District, which is a top swing seat the GOP aims to flip in the 2026 midterm elections.

The contest will likely be one of the most closely watched House races in the country next year as the Republicans aim to hold their fragile majority in the chamber.

“Donald Trump, I think, is doing what is necessary in addressing the debt this country is facing. And I think that’s a big, big thing for me,” LePage said as he was interviewed in the Maine city where he was born and raised.

HOUSE REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN CHAIR SPELLS OUT HIS PLAYBOOK TO HOLD THE CONGRESSIONAL MAJORITY

Former Republican Gov. Paul LePage, who is running for the House in 2026 in Maine’s 2nd Congressional District, speaks with Fox News Digital in Lewiston, Maine, on May 7, 2025, in his first interview after announcing his candidacy.  (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)

LePage highlighted, “I have a friend in the White House right now. I know President Trump. I think I can have an audience of President Trump. I know several of his secretaries very well. And so I think this is a good time. It’s a good time for me to go help.”

LePage – the brash and blunt politician who won over blue-collar workers struggling with economic woes, which helped the Republican businessman win election and re-election in the blue-leaning state – was one of the first major GOP elected officials to endorse Trump when the president first ran for the White House nearly a decade ago.

“I was Donald Trump before Donald Trump became popular,” LePage joked at the time, in a line that’s since become famous.

The conservative governor, who grabbed national attention with controversial comments made during his tenure, briefly moved with his wife, Ann, to Florida after finishing his second term in 2019.

“I am done with politics. I have done my eight years. It’s time for somebody else,” he said at the time.

CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS TARGETING THESE HOUSE REPUBLICANS IN 2026 MIDTERM BATTLE

But LePage re-established residency in Maine five years ago and challenged his successor as governor, Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, in the 2022 election.

LePage ended up losing his bid for a third term by 13 points to Mills, but he did carry the 2nd Congressional District in that race.

Moderate Democratic Rep. Jared Golden, a U.S. Marine veteran who deployed to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and who often bucks his own party in Congress, has held the seat since first winning it in 2018.

Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, at a news conference in the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, March 6, 2024, has represented Maine’s 2nd Congressional District since first winning the seat in 2018. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)

But Golden won re-election by a razor-thin margin last year in the district, which is the second-most rural in the U.S. and the largest east of the Mississippi River.

And Trump, who carried the district in the 2016, 2020 and 2024 presidential elections by nine, seven and 10 points, earned an electoral vote each time, as Maine and Nebraska, are the only two states in the union to allocate their electoral votes partially by congressional district.

MAINE’S GOLDEN TAKES AIM AT FELLOW DEMOCRATS OVER POLICY

Golden, in a statement after LePage announced his candidacy, said, “I thought Paul was doing his best work in retirement.”

But the 42-year-old Golden has yet to announce whether he’ll seek re-election next year or instead run for either the state’s Senate seat or the open governor’s office.

In his Fox News interview, LePage reiterated that the nation’s debt is a top motivation for him to return to politics. As of May 8, the national debt was $36,212,886,111,158.26, according to Fox News’ National Debt Tracker. 

“It’s the spending and the debt that this country has, and I’m worried about my grandchildren, great-grandchildren. And I think we have a president now that’s really willing to tackle it, and I’m willing to help,” he said.

But LePage added that “the other thing that is really big is what’s happening in our country with the woke environment. I think I want to be there to help clean that up if we can. Having boys play in girls’ sports is really sad.”

He also highlighted his Tuesday meeting—part of a three-day swing through the congressional district—with Maine student Cassidy Carlisle, whom he described as “the courageous young woman fighting unfair male competition in girls’ sports.”

Maine’s 2nd Congressional District shares a long border with Canada.

When asked if he’ll be spotlighting border security and immigration as major issues in his campaign, Lepage said, “Big time.”

But the controversial tariffs the president placed on nations across the globe last month has strained relations with Canada.

Former Maine Gov. Paul LePage, who’s running a Republican campaign for Congress in 2026, speaks to a voter at a gun shop and indoor firing range, on May 7, 2025, in Poland, Maine. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)

“I’m all for the tariffs,” LePage said. “The tariffs will fix our international trade and lower taxes.”

LePage acknowledged: “Is it going to hurt in the short term? Yeah, it’s going to hurt a little bit in the short term, but I think it’s necessary.”

And he predicted that “the tariffs are going to be a short-term problem. I think they’re going to settle out.”

LePage spoke with Fox News at Lewiston’s Franco Center, a performing arts center and historic site of Franco-American culture located in a former Gothic church built in 1907 for French Canadian immigrants in Maine, which is located alongside the city’s historical mills and canals. 

Former Maine Gov. Paul LePage, who’s running a 2026 Republican campaign for Congress, tours the Franco Center, a performing arts center and historic site of Franco-American culture located in a former Gothic church in the city of Lewiston, on May 7, 2025. Lepage was baptized as a child in the church. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)

The former governor, who survived a troubling and often brutal upbringing, gave Fox News a tour of the many dwellings within blocks of the Franco Center, where he spent his childhood.

The eldest son of 18 children, LePage grew up speaking French in an impoverished home with an alcoholic and abusive father who was a mill worker.

At age 11, he ran away from home after his father beat him and broke his nose. He lived on the streets of Lewiston and often crashed on friends’ couches for a couple of years before earning a living shining shoes, washing dishes at a restaurant, and haling boxes for a local truck driver. 

“I had a very, very, rough upbringing as a youth. We were in welfare, we were in poverty,” he said.

Former Maine Gov. Paul LePage points in the location of a building where he lived during his childhood, in Lewiston, Maine, on May 7, 2025. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)

LePage, speaking in the church where he was baptized and sought refuge during his family troubles, told Fox News, “It feels good coming in this building. This was a special building. A couple of nuns and priests were really helpful in my upbringing.”

He went on to graduate from high school, and with financial help from friends, attended and graduated from college.

He later enjoyed success as a businessman, including greatly expanding Marden’s Surplus and Salvage, a Maine-based discount store chain.

Years later, he ventured into politics, winning election to the Waterville city council and later serving as the city’s mayor before winning statewide office in 2010.

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The former governor says his rough childhood has influenced his political life in a way that not many other politicians can understand.

And he lamented, “Unfortunately, the mentality in the current society is not to help people get out of poverty, but it’s to keep them in poverty.”

“I want to help get them out of poverty,” he said. “I think there are so many programs that we can institute that will elevate people in poverty, rather than keep them.”

The Trump administration plans to bring white Afrikaners from South Africa to the United States as refugees starting next week after saying they are “victims of unjust racial discrimination.”

The arrival of more than two dozen Afrikaners, likely on Monday, comes as the administration has suspended most refugee resettlement programs. 

“What’s happening in South Africa fits the textbook definition of why the refugee program was created,” Stephen Miller told reporters on Friday. “This is persecution based on a protected characteristic — in this case, race. This is race-based persecution.”

The South African government has approved legislation which, under some circumstances, allows for expropriation of land without compensation.

He said the first wave of refugees would be part of a “much larger-scale relocation effort.”

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION MAKES NEW MOVE TO BRING SOUTH AFRICAN REFUGEES TO US AS PRESIDENT BLASTS NATION’S RULERS AGAIN

The Trump administration plans to bring white Afrikaners from South Africa to the United States as refugees starting next week after saying they are “victims of unjust racial discrimination.” (Reuters//Siphiwe Sibeko)

The Afrikaners are expected to be met by a government delegation, including the deputy Secretary of State and officials from the Department of Health and Human Services, according to documents obtained by the Associated Press. 

Amid his immigration crackdown, Trump said in January the U.S. will only admit refugees who “can fully and appropriately assimilate.”

The State Department said: “The U.S. Embassy in Pretoria has been conducting interviews and processing pursuant to President Trump’s Executive Order on Addressing Egregious Actions of the Republic of South Africa. The Department of State is prioritizing consideration for U.S. refugee resettlement of Afrikaners in South Africa who are victims of unjust racial discrimination.”

Afrikaners are mainly descended from early Dutch settlers in South Africa. 

South Africa’s government has criticized the Trump administration’s effort, saying it doesn’t recognize the country’s history of colonialism and apartheid. 

The refugees will be sent to states like Minnesota, Idaho and Alabama. 

JD VANCE CLASHES WITH CBS ANCHOR OVER UNVETTED REFUGEES: ‘I DON’T WANT THAT PERSON IN MY COUNTRY’

Demonstrators attend a protest in support of U.S. President Donald Trump’s stance against what he calls racist laws, land expropriation, and farm attacks in February.  (Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko)

In March, Secretary of State Marco Rubio expelled the South African ambassador in the U.S., calling him a “race-baiting” politician who hates America and President Donald Trump after he said the commander-in-chief is leading a global white supremacist movement.

Rubio also boycotted a G20 foreign ministers meeting in Johannesburg in March. 

In March, Secretary of State Marco Rubio expelled the South African ambassador in the U.S., calling him a “race-baiting” politician who hates America and President Donald Trump after he said the commander-in-chief is leading a global white supremacist movement. ((Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images))

South Africa’s foreign ministry has said the accusations of racial discrimination against Afrikaners are “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,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

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The South African government said it wouldn’t block anyone from leaving the country, but questioned their status as refugees. 

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. 

Nearly two dozen states have banded together, filing an amicus brief to defend the constitutional rights of a Florida family, whose public middle school is accused of secretly “socially transitioning” their 13-year-old daughter without their consent.

The brief, filed on April 30, involves January and Jeffrey Littlejohn, parents in Leon County, Florida, who allege school officials met privately with their child about using a new name and pronouns, and did not inform or involve them as parents. 

School staff allegedly asked the Littlejohns’ daughter which bathroom and locker rooms she wanted to use, which gender she wanted to room with during overnight trips, and if she wanted her parents to be notified.

A three-judge panel from the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta sided 2-1 with the school district in a ruling on March 12, finding school officials “did not act with intent to injure” or “force the child to attend a student support plan meeting,” thus not meeting the “shock the conscience” standard.

The Littlejohns appealed, requesting the court hear the case in full.

EXCLUSIVE: MOM’S FIGHT WITH SCHOOL OVER TEEN DAUGHTER’S GENDER TRANSITION GETS BOOST FROM PARENTS GROUP

Parents display signs at a parental rights rally. (Courtesy of Becket)

The “shock the conscience” standard is often used in due process cases and refers to “egregious and unjust actions” that violate principles of fairness and decency, according to the Liberty Justice Center, which, in addition to the brief filed by the states’ attorneys general, joined the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty and Dr. Erica Anderson, Ph.D., in filing a brief in support of the parents’ position.

“The issue of parental notification policy, or, in this case, the lack of notification policies, is something we’re seeing around the country,” Emily Rae, senior counsel at the Liberty Justice Center, told Fox News Digital. “There are dozens of cases at the state level and federal level juggling this issue, trying to determine what parents’ rights are in this situation.”

States’ attorneys general called the court’s decision “disastrous for parents everywhere,” according to the brief that includes Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, South Carolina, South Dakota, Virginia, West Virginia and Arizona.

TRUMP GUEST WHOSE DAUGHTER WAS TRANSITIONED BEHIND HER BACK SPEAKS OUT

The school district allegedly met with the Littlejohns’ daughter without notifying them. (Courtesy of Becket)

“Purposefully withholding from a parent critical information about supposed medical treatment that a school is providing a student not only violates that right, but does so to a disturbing and constitutionally intolerable degree,” the states’ attorneys general added.

“Parents – not the government – know what’s best for their children,” Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr wrote in a statement. “We will always stand for parental rights and Georgia families.”

The Liberty Justice Center, in conjunction with the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty and Anderson, wrote that school officials are not experts and should not aid in students’ transition.

“To summarize, no professional association recommends that teachers and school officials, who have no expertise whatsoever in these issues, should facilitate a social transition while at school, treating minors as if they are really the opposite sex, in secret from their parents,” the Liberty Justice Center wrote. “Usurping the parents in this way is conscience-shocking.”

PARENTS TELL SCOTUS: LGBTQ STORYBOOKS IN CLASSROOMS CLASH WITH OUR FAITH

A parents’ rights supporter holds up a sign after a California judge halted a school district policy requiring parents be notified if their children change their gender identification or pronouns at school.  (Will Lester/MediaNews Group/Inland Valley Daily Bulletin via Getty Images)

In an interview earlier this year, January Littlejohn, who was one of President Donald Trump’s guests at his address to a joint session of Congress, said the school’s actions had a “destructive” effect on her entire family. 

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Ultimately, she said her daughter worked through the gender confusion, but the issue created a family rift that “took many years to repair.”

The Leon County School District and Carr did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.

While Republicans have celebrated President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration, Democrats have accused the Trump administration’s deportations of violating due process. 

“We need judges that are not going to be demanding a trial for every single illegal immigrant. We have millions of people who have come in here illegally, and we can’t have a trial for every single person. That would be millions of trials,” Trump recently told reporters on Air Force One.

Fox News Digital asked lawmakers on Capitol Hill to respond to Trump’s argument that illegal immigrants are not entitled to due process. 

“People come here and get a legal process called parole and have a right to due process,” said Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz. “We are a country of laws, and we shouldn’t be kicking people out of the country without having that due process.”

FOX NEWS RIDES ALONG AS FLORIDA HIGHWAY PATROL BEGINS ENFORCING FEDERAL IMMIGRATION LAWS ON STATE ROADS

Senators including, from left, Rick Scott, R-Fla.; James Lankford, D-Okla.; and Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., respond to President Donald Trump’s comments about due process.  (Fox News Digital)

According to the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, all “persons” are entitled to due process. While the extent of due process for deporting illegal immigrants has played out in the courts, Kelly made his position clear when pressed by Fox News Digital. 

DEM CONGRESS MEMBERS STORM NEW JERSEY ICE PRISON TO CONDUCT ‘OVERSIGHT VISIT’: ‘PEOPLE DESERVE DIGNITY’

“I’ll also say, throwing out little kids who are U.S. citizens, it’s wrong, it’s dangerous. It is certainly not fair to them or their parents, but it really does affect everybody. I mean, tossing out a 2-year-old who’s a U.S. citizen is crazy,” Kelly said. 

But Republicans who spoke to Fox News Digital weren’t so sympathetic, as they doubled down on their support of the Trump administration deporting illegal immigrants. 

A family of five claiming to be from Guatemala and a man stating he was from Peru walk through the desert after crossing the border wall in the Tucson Sector of the U.S.-Mexico border in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument near Lukeville, Arizona, on Aug. 29, 2023. (AP Photo/Matt York)

“Nobody should be coming into the country illegally,” Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., said. “[Former President Joe] Biden has ruined all this. He’s ruined the whole immigration process. He has tainted immigration. Now we have [Venezuelan President Nicolás] Maduro’s criminals that are coming in, that he sent here. We have all the drug traffickers here. We have terrorists here. These people need to get out of the country. They’re here illegally. I want this country safe.”

Scott’s comments mimic Trump’s accusations on the 2024 presidential campaign trail of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro intentionally sending criminals to the U.S., and blaming former President Joe Biden for the surge in illegal immigration. 

“The law does not require someone to actually have a jury trial,” Sen. James Lankford, D-Okla., countered to Fox News Digital. “A hearing can be done. It’s not a trial. It’s not a jury trial. That’s not the right of someone that’s not legally present in the country.”

Migrants line up outside a migrant re-ticketing center in Manhattan on Jan. 5, 2024. (Barry Williams/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Lankford said illegal immigrants are only entitled to a hearing, not a trial before a jury before deportation, which is supported by the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment. 

“No, it’s not necessary,” said Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., agreeing with Trump. “These people are illegal.”

Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., explained to Fox News Digital that while illegal immigrants are entitled to prior notice before deportation under habeas corpus, the judicial system has not clearly defined how long that window is. 

“Basically, the courts have said under a habeas proceeding, there needs to be notice,” said Schmitt. “But the question is, what does that notice mean? Is it an hour, is it a day or is it a week? I think what you’re ultimately going to see, not under the Alien Enemies Act, but under the habeas cases, is that there’s going to be a relatively short window, and [Trump’s] going to be able to proceed with these deportations.”

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White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller told reporters on Friday that the White House is considering suspending habeas corpus, which he said the Trump administration has the authority to do during “a time of invasion.”

“A lot of it depends on whether the courts do the right thing or not,” Miller said. 

A federal judge on Friday issued a temporary pause on the Trump administration’s plans to restructure various government agencies and cut tens of thousands of federal workers because the government overhaul was not authorized by Congress.

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston put a 14-day pause on the mass layoffs, siding with a group of unions, non-profits and local governments after they filed a lawsuit on April 28.

Illston said Trump may broadly restructure federal agencies, but only in “lawful ways” with approval from Congress.

“The President has the authority to seek changes to executive branch agencies, but he must do so in lawful ways and, in the case of large-scale reorganizations, with the cooperation of the legislative branch,” Illston said. “Many presidents have sought this cooperation before; many iterations of Congress have provided it.”

FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS TRUMP ADMIN FROM DISMANTLING 3 AGENCIES

A federal judge issued a temporary pause on the Trump administration’s plan to restructure various government agencies and carry out mass layoffs. (Reuters/Leah Millis)

“Nothing prevents the President from requesting this cooperation—as he did in his prior term of office,” the judge continued. “Indeed, the Court holds the President likely must request Congressional cooperation to order the changes he seeks, and thus issues a temporary restraining order to pause large-scale reductions in force in the meantime.”

Illston’s ruling was the broadest of its kind against administration efforts to overhaul the federal government, which have been led by Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.

In February, Trump directed agencies to work with DOGE to identify targets for mass layoffs as part of the administration’s plans to restructure the government.

FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERS HALT TO TRUMP ADMIN’S CFPB TERMINATIONS

The ruling was the broadest of its kind against administration efforts to overhaul the federal government, which have been led by Elon Musk and DOGE. (AP Images)

The president instructed agencies to eliminate duplicate roles, unnecessary management layers and non-critical jobs, as well as to automate routine tasks, close regional field offices and reduce the use of outside contractors.

The group of plaintiffs said the administration’s “unlawful attempt to reorganize the federal government has thrown agencies into chaos, disrupting critical services provided across our nation.”

“Each of us represents communities deeply invested in the efficiency of the federal government – laying off federal employees and reorganizing government functions haphazardly does not achieve that,” the groups said in a statement.

Illston scheduled a hearing for May 22 for a potential longer preliminary injunction. She said plaintiffs are likely to suffer irreparable harm without the temporary restraining order, which she said preserves the status quo.

Trump had directed agencies to work with DOGE to identify targets for mass layoffs. (Getty Images)

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The judge said the plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits of some of their claims. They accuse Trump of exceeding his authority and say that DOGE, the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Personnel Management exceeded their authority and violated administrative law.

“The Court here is not considering the potential loss of income of one individual employee, but the widespread termination of salaries and benefits for individuals, families, and communities,” Illston wrote.

Reuters contributed to this report.

FIRST ON FOX: The White House is blasting Democrats for “prioritizing the welfare of illegal aliens over American citizens,” after “outright breaking the law” and storming an ICE facility in New Jersey.

On Friday, Reps. Rob Menendez Jr., Bonnie Watson Coleman and LaMonica McIver, all New Jersey Democrats, entered ICE’s Delaney Hall detention facility in Newark, N.J. and were held up inside the first checkpoint, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News.

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, DHS said.

The mayor of Newark, New Jersey, Ras Baraka, was arrested at the ICE detention facility where the three members of Congress also stormed the gate, demanding they be allowed to conduct an “oversight visit.”

IDENTITY OF SECOND DEPORTED MAN WHO JUDGE WANTS RETURNED TO US REVEALED AS TRUMP ADMIN FIGHTS ORDER

Baraka, a top Democratic gubernatorial candidate, was arrested at the scene for trespassing, authorities said. 

The White House is blasting the Democrats, telling Fox News Digital they are “crossing the line.”

“As always, Democrats are prioritizing the welfare of illegal aliens over American citizens – except now they’re crossing the line between meaningless political street theatre and outright breaking the law,” White House spokesman Kush Desai told Fox News Digital.

BLUE CITY MAYOR SAYS ICE ARRESTS OF DANGEROUS CRIMINALS ARE NOT ‘FOCUSED ON MAKING US SAFER’

Activists have demanded entry into the facility in recent days, saying the GEO Group, the building’s new owner, is unlawfully preventing it from being inspected. A lawsuit filed on behalf of the City of Newark on April 1 alleges that GEO Group failed to permit entry to safety inspectors and violated city construction code, including by conducting electrical and plumbing renovations without proper oversight.

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

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The Department of Homeland Security said the allegations by Newark politicians that Delaney does not have the proper permitting is false. 

Fox News Digital’s Louis Casiano contributed to this report.

Mexico has filed a lawsuit against Google after it changed the label for the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America on its maps platform to match U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order to amend the name of the body of water, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced Friday.

Sheinbaum said at a press briefing that the lawsuit had been filed against the tech giant, without providing additional details.

The lawsuit comes after Sheinbaum threatened in February to sue Google for the name change.

MEXICAN PRESIDENT SIGNALS POSSIBLE LAWSUIT AGAINST GOOGLE OVER GULF OF AMERICA NAME CHANGE

Mexico has filed a lawsuit against Google after it changed the label for the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America on its maps platform. (AP/Fernando Llano)

“We are going to wait. We are already seeing, observing what this would mean from the perspective of legal advice, but we hope that they will make a revision,” Sheinbaum said at the time.

Mexico’s Foreign Relations Ministry has also previously sent letters to Google urging it not to relabel the oceanic basin as the Gulf of America.

Trump signed an order on his first day back in the White House in January to rename the northern part of the gulf to the Gulf of America. The body of water has shared borders between the United States and Mexico, and Trump’s order only carries authority within the U.S.

Trump signed an order on his first day back in the White House in January to rename the northern part of the gulf to the Gulf of America. (Daniel Torok/Chief White House Photographer)

Mexico has argued that the Gulf of America label should only apply to the part over the U.S. continental shelf. The U.S. has control over about 46% of the gulf, Mexico controls about 49% and Cuba controls about 5%, according to Sovereign Limits, a database of international boundaries.

“What Google is doing here is changing the name of the continental shelf of Mexico and Cuba, which has nothing to do with Trump’s decree, which applied only to the U.S. continental shelf,” Sheinbaum said in February.

The gulf appears in Google Maps as the Gulf of America within the U.S., as the Gulf of Mexico within Mexico and Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America) everywhere else. It had been called the Gulf of Mexico for more than 400 years.

GOOGLE MAPS, FAA OFFICIALY ACKNOWLEDGE GULF OF AMERICA AFTER TRUMP DECLARATION: ‘ISN’T IT BEAUTIFUL?’

Google Maps began using Gulf of America for users in the U.S. shortly after Trump’s order. (AP/Google Maps)

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Google Maps began using Gulf of America for users in the U.S. shortly after Trump’s order, citing its “longstanding practice” of following the U.S. government’s lead on these matters. In cases where official names vary between countries, Google’s policy says users will see their official local names.

In February, the Mexican president shared a response from Google’s vice president of government affairs and public policy, Cris Turner, who said the company would not change its policy after Trump’s order.

Sheinbaum’s announcement of the lawsuit comes after House Republicans passed the Gulf of America Act in a 211-206 vote, marking the first step in codifying Trump’s order. The legislation now heads to the Senate.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Google for comment. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, a top House ally of President Donald Trump and a MAGA firebrand with a national following, is passing on a 2026 Senate run.

The three-term conservative lawmaker who represents a solidly red district in northwest Georgia, in a lengthy statement announcing her decision that was posted to social media on Friday night, took aim at Democratic incumbent Sen. Jon Ossoff, a top GOP target whom Republicans view as extremely vulnerable in next year’s midterm elections.

But Greene saved much of her venom for fellow Republicans, many of whom feared a polarizing campaign if Greene became the party’s 2026 nominee in Georgia, and for the institution of the Senate itself.

“Someone once said, ‘The Senate is where good ideas go to die.’ They were right. That’s why I’m not running,” Greene wrote as she announced her decision.

THIS POPULAR CONSERVATIVE GOVERNOR PASSES ON A 2026 SENATE RUN

Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, said she won’t run for Senate. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

And Greene argued, “Here’s the hard truth: the Senate doesn’t work. It’s designed to obstruct the will of the people and protect the Uniparty’s grip on power. Nearly everything requires 60 votes to pass, and even when we have a majority, a pack of Republican Senators always votes “no” on the bills that matter most.”

FIRST ON FOX: REPUBLICAN LAUNCHES SECOND STRAIGHT BID TO FLIP DEMOCRAT-HELD SENATE SEAT IN KEY BATTLEGROUND

Greene’s announcement came four days after two-term Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who was the National Republican Senatorial Committee’s top recruit in battleground Georgia, revealed that he would also pass on a Senate bid.

Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia also said he would not run for Senate. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)

The popular conservative governor, who is term-limited and prevented from seeking re-election in 2026, was the GOP’s dream candidate to take on Ossoff, as Republicans aim to expand their 53-47 Senate majority in next year’s elections.

ONLY ON FOX NEWS: SENATE REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN CHAIR REVEALS HOW MANY SEATS HE’S AIMING FOR IN 2026

Greene, in her statement, claimed, “Beating Jon Ossoff? That would be easy. He’s a silver-spoon progressive who’s never held a real job or worried about putting a roof over his family’s head.”

“So, Jon Ossoff, you can stop with the fundraising emails and campaign ads claiming I’m your opponent. I’m not running,” she added.

Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., speaks during an interview at Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Saturday, April 26, 2025, in Marietta, Georgia. The first-term Democrat is running for re-election in the 2026 midterms. (AP)

While criticizing Ossoff, Greene turned up the volume on her own party, including “the same elites who scoffed at me when I first ran for Congress in 2020.”

“Most elected Republicans, propped up by consultants and rich donors, fail to deliver on their campaign promises. Why? Because their donors and handlers don’t want change. They want to protect their own interests, not yours,” Greene charged.

She took aim at “the Republicans who see Trump as a speed bump,” and argued that “polling has become so dishonest that most people barely pay attention to it anymore. Voters are sick of the consultants who keep getting rich whether we win or lose.”

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Greene described herself as “effective, fearless, and relentless, not because I serve the Republican Party, but because I serve the American people.”

But she added that “I won’t fight for a team that refuses to win, that protects its weakest players, and that undermines the very people it’s supposed to serve… To the elite retreaters, the consultants, and the establishment: consider this your warning.”

In the wake of Kemp’s announcement, GOP Rep. Buddy Carter, who represents coastal Georgia, launched a Senate campaign this week. Other Georgia Republicans expressing interest in running are Reps. Mike Collins and Rich McCormick, state Insurance Commissioner John King, state Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and State Sen. Greg Dolezal.

Georgia-based Republican consultants tell Fox News they expect a crowded and competitive primary.

Greene, earlier this year, said that she was also considering a run for Georgia governor. And in her statement, she didn’t rule out a gubernatorial run in the race to succeed Kemp.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday sent a memo to West Point, the U.S. Naval Academy and the U.S. Air Force Academy, saying that all future admissions will be based solely on merit. 

“The Department owes it to our nation, our Service Members, and our young Americans applying to the MSAs to ensure admissions to these prestigious institutions are based exclusively on merit,” Hegseth wrote in a memo to the academies. 

He added that this would ensure that only the “most qualified candidates” would be admitted.

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

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday sent a memo to West Point, the U.S. Naval Academy and the U.S. Air Force Academy, saying that all future admissions will be based solely on merit.  (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

“Selecting anyone but the best erodes lethality, our warfighting readiness, and undercuts the culture of excellence in our Armed Forces,” he wrote. 

He said the secretaries of the military departments would have 30 days to certify that there will be no consideration of race, ethnicity or sex in applications and that they will be based on merit only. 

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

He said merit can be weighted by athletic talent, prior military service, performance at an MSA preparatory school, or other similar experience.

West Point cadets saluting.  (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

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“The Department must remain steadfast in its pursuit of excellence and never compromise the high standards at our MSAs,” he concluded. “A strong officer corps is essential to ensuring the United States military remains the most lethal the world has ever known.” 

A Massachusetts suspect was charged this week with attempting to assassinate a cabinet nominee, the U.S. Department of Justice said. 

Ryan Michael English, 24, was arrested in January after allegedly attempting to bring a knife and two improvised Molotov cocktails into the U.S. Capitol to assassinate then-Treasury Secretary nominee Scott Bessent during his nomination.

On Thursday, English was charged with the attempted assassination of a cabinet member nominee and carrying a dangerous weapon on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol Building.

English had an initial court appearance on Thursday afternoon.

PHOTOGRAPHER WINS PULITZER FOR ICONIC PHOTO OF BULLET SPEEDING BY TRUMP’S HEAD DURING ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT

A Massachusetts suspect was charged this week with attempting to assassinate a cabinet nominee, the U.S. Department of Justice said.  (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Prosecutors said that English had also originally plotted to kill House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and was inspired by United HealthCare CEO murder suspect Luigi Mangione. 

English walked up to a U.S. Capitol Police officer on Jan. 27 and allegedly stated, “I’d like to turn myself in,” according to initial charging documents. 

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent was allegedly English’s target.  (Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

English claimed to have two Molotov cocktails and two knives and expressed being there “to kill Scott Bessent,” according to court documents. Federal prosecutors said English left home in Massachusetts and traveled to Washington with the intent of killing Hegseth, whom the suspect referred to as a “Nazi,” and Johnson, and burning down the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank near the White House. 

Capitol Police officers found a folding knife and two improvised incendiary devices made of vodka bottles with a grey cloth affixed to the top inside English’s jacket during a search. 

Prosecutors said that English had originally plotted to kill House Speaker Mike Johnson, pictured, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. (Getty Images/AP)

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They found a green lighter in another pocket. 

Fox News’ Danielle Wallace and Louis Casiano contributed to this report.

American author, speaker and theologian Bishop Robert Barron was at the Vatican this week to witness the election of a new pope, and he shared his thoughts with Fox News Digital about Cardinal Robert Prevost’s “intriguing” new papal name.

Papal names are often very symbolic with regard to how a Pope will serve as the leader of the Catholic Church. Typically, Pope’s select the names of predecessors they admire or want to emulate. Prevost ultimately went with Leo XIV in honor of Pope Leo XIII, who served from 1878 to 1903.

“He could have been Francis II, and we would have said, ‘Oh, there he is clearly in the line of Francis.’ He could have been John Paul III, then we would have thought, ‘Oh, he’s very much in that more conservative line.’ He could have been John XXIV, and we say ‘Oh, now he’s a real revolutionary liberal, et cetera,'” Barron said. “The fact that he went back, well over 100 years, to this very interesting and pivotal figure … our new pope was saying, I too, want a critical engagement with the modern world, not simply a ‘no,’ but also not simply a ‘yes,’ not simply an acquiescence to it.”

CARDINAL DOLAN DESCRIBES POPE XIV AS ‘CITIZEN OF THE WORLD,’ WILL BUILD BRIDGES WITH TRUMP

From left to right: Pope John XXIII, Pope John Paul II, Pope Francis I, Pope Leo XIV (Getty Images/Fox News)

Barron pointed out that Leo XIII was a pivotal figure due to the timing of his reign, which came during a moment when the Church was contending with the tremendous political and philosophical upheavals of the 18th and 19th centuries, such as the French and American Revolutions, and the introduction of philosophies such as Marxism. 

“The church’s first reaction [to these changes] was very negative. It was a great ‘no’ to modernity. By the end of the 19th century, I think, with a certain distance and a certain critical intelligence, the church was willing to enter into a more, call it, creative engagement with modernity. And I think Pope Leo the 13th represents precisely that,” Barron said. 

The bishop pointed to the Rerum Novarum to further his point, an encyclical letter issued by Pope Leo XII in 1891.

BEARS STAR CALEB WILLIAMS ISSUES TWO-WORDED REACTION TO POPE LEO XIV’S ELECTION

“In that document, [Leo XII] is a fierce opponent of Marxism, a fierce opponent of socialism and communism, a great defender of private property and of the market economy,” Barron said. “So you say, ‘Okay, there’s that great ‘no’ to the left-wing economic revolutions.’ At the same time, in that same letter, [Leo XII] comes out strongly in favor of the right to form unions. He comes out very strongly in favor of what we call the universal destination of goods.”

Newly elected Pope Leo XIV (Right) took his papal name from the late-19th century Pope Leo XIII (Left). (Getty Images/Fox News)

“In fact, Pope Leo says in that letter, once the requirements of necessity and propriety have been met in your life, the rest of what you own belongs to the poor,” Barron continued. “That’s not a just a standard, boring, mainstream point of view. That’s a pretty revolutionary statement. But notice the lovely balance in that letter between ‘yes’ to private property, the great ‘no’ to socialism and Marxism, but the great ‘yes’ to the universal destination of goods. Leo sets the tone thereby for the rest of Catholic social teaching that followed him.”

In conclusion, Barron said he thinks Prevost’s selection of Leo XIV makes the new pope “a very interesting player” in terms of the debate between the Right and the Left in politics. 

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“[Leo XVI] doesn’t fit – and I’ve said this 1,000 times – he and other great representatives of Catholic social teaching don’t fit into our categories of left and right,” Barron said. “They don’t fit into Democrat-Republican, they’re in a space beyond those distinctions. So, I think that’s what’s perhaps most interesting about him.”

Vice President JD Vance refused to talk politics about the newly elected pope on Friday, calling his election a “great thing.”

“So many people my entire lifetime have said you’re never going to have an American pope,” Vance told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt after being asked for his reaction to his election. “Obviously, now we do, so I think that’s a great thing.” 

Vance added that “We don’t know a whole lot about him, but I just wish him the best, right? I’m a Catholic. He’s now the head of the Catholic Church, and we’ll pray for his wisdom, for his good decisions, and his good health, and hope that he has a long and successful papacy.”

The vice president told Hewitt that something like the election of a new pope can often become “discolored” by politics. 

INCLUSIVE TONE OF NEW POPE ISN’T SITTING WELL WITH SOME IN TEH ‘AMERICA FIRST’ MOVEMENT

JD Vance refused to talk politics about the newly elected pope on Friday, calling his election a “great thing.” (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images; Alberto PizzoliAFP via Getty Images)

“People are asking is he a conservative or is he a liberal,” Vance continued. “Will he attack President Trump and J.D. Vance on certain things, and hasn’t attacked Democrats on other things.”

He said his thoughts on that were that it’s hard to “fit a 2,000-year-old institution into the politics of 2025 America.”

Vance added that as a Catholic convert, he tries “not to play the politicization of the Pope game. I’m sure he’s going to say a lot of things that I love. I’m sure he’ll say some things that I disagree with, but I’ll continue to pray for him and the Church despite it all and through it all, and that’ll be the way that I handle it.”

Vance’s remarks came after news spread of an X account linked to Cardinal Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, that reposted articles earlier this year criticizing the Trump administration on its deportation push. 

He also agreed with Hewitt that it was “disappointing” that reporters asked cardinals in a press conference about Leo’s election about Trump. 

FIRST AMERICAN-BORN POPE INSPIRES FAITH LEADERS ACROSS THE NATION

Vance met with the late Pope Francis last month.  (Vatican Media via AP, HO)

“The Church is so much bigger than politics,” he said, adding that most of the millions of Catholics in the U.S. aren’t worried about whether the pope is liberal or conservative. 

He continued, “There are a lot of views the Catholic leadership holds that are, you know, you might consider on the right side of the spectrum. There are a lot of views they’re going to hold that might be more traditionally on the left side of the spectrum. And then there are a lot of views that don’t map easily onto politics at all.”

Vance said that although the church touches on public policy from time to time, “that’s not really what it’s about.”

“I think it would be better for all of us if we allowed the Church to be about the saving of souls and didn’t try to fit it into a pre-ordained political box,” he concluded.

Pope Leo XIV was elected to succeed Pope Francis on Thursday after the former’s death last month after a health battle. 

President Trump quickly congratulated Leo on his selection on Thursday. 

The newly elected Pontiff, Pope Leo XIV is seen for the first time from the Vatican balcony on May 8.  (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

“It is such an honor to realize that he is the first American Pope,” he wrote in Truth Social Post. “What excitement, and what a Great Honor for our Country. I look forward to meeting Pope Leo XIV. It will be a very meaningful moment!”

However, other conservatives like Steve Bannon, the former White House chief strategist in Trump’s first administration and a Catholic, called Leo the “worst pick ever.” 

Pro-Trump conservative commentator Joey Mannarino took to X to charge that “the new Pope has recently attacked JD Vance, shown solidarity with Kilmar Abrego-Garcia and begged Trump to open the borders like Biden had them. This guy is worse than Francis.”

Conservative radio host Charlie Kirk said in a video on X, “Let’s just say, not so great tweets about having some willingness for open borders. We’ll see kind of how he is on that. Also some George Floyd stuff that I’m not too crazy about.”

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Kirk added that “overall, it seems like he’s a pro-life warrior. There’s a lot yet to learn about this pope, but I hope that he will be a strong advocate for strong borders. And for sovereignty.”

As Republicans search for avenues to extend President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, some Republican lawmakers involved in the process have floated the idea that the nation’s highest earners could see a tax increase in order to usher in cuts for lower-earners. 

For his part, the president is sending signals he tends to agree.

“You know, they’ll go around saying, ‘Oh, this is so terrible.’ What you’re doing is you’re giving up something up top in order to make people in the middle income and the lower income brackets save more. So it’s really a redistribution,” Trump told reporters when asked what his response would be to those Republicans opposed to tax increases on the wealthy.

“I would love to be able to give people in a lower bracket a big break by giving up some of what I have,” the president added.

TRUMP’S TAX HIKE PROPOSAL IS ‘DÉJÀ VU’ OF GEORGE H.W. BUSH’S ‘READ MY LIPS’ MOMENT, EXPERTS SAY

President Donald Trump speaks with reporters as he signs an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, May 9, 2025, in Washington.  (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

He also noted that the move is just “good politics,” dismissing comparisons some political experts have made to one-term Republican President George H.W. Bush, whose broken promise to Republicans that there would be “no new taxes” following his 1988 election victory has been blamed Bush’s failed re-election efforts. 

“Read my lips: No new taxes,” Bush Sr. said during his acceptance speech at the 1988 Republican National Convention. Subsequently, in the face of a ballooning deficit, Bush Sr. ultimately cut a deal with Democrats that raised taxes.

“A lot of people say, don’t do it because of the fact that you have the Bush statement about ‘Read my lips.’ But he lost because of Ross Perot, he didn’t lose because of that statement,” Trump said. “I actually think it’s good politics to do it where richer people give up. And it’s a very small – it’s like a point – but they give it up to benefit the people on lower income.”

TRUMP PUSHES TAX HIKES FOR WEALTHY AS ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ DEADLINE LOOMS

In a post on his Truth Social platform earlier Friday, Trump struck a slightly more cautious tone about the alleged concern that his willingness to increase taxes on the highest earners could spell trouble for him electorally the way it did for Bush Sr. 

He complained that Democrats would point to it repeatedly in an effort to discredit him. However, Trump still contended that the elder President Bush lost because of more than just his broken tax promises, and added that while Republicans should probably not increase taxes on the wealthy, he would be okay with it if they were to do so.

Political experts compared President George H.W. Bush to President Donald Trump after Trump signaled his support for a small tax hike for those at the top.  (Pool/Getty Images)

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“The problem with even a ‘TINY’ tax increase for the RICH, which I and all others would graciously accept in order to help the lower and middle income workers, is that the Radical Left Democrat Lunatics would go around screaming, ‘Read my lips,’ the fabled Quote by George Bush the Elder that is said to have cost him the Election,” Trump wrote Friday on Truth Social. 

“NO, Ross Perot cost him the Election! In any event, Republicans should probably not do it, but I’m OK if they do!!”

The Trump White House is taking aim at Minnesota leaders for not honoring an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer, as an illegal immigrant charged in a criminal vehicular homicide case is not yet in custody.

Ecuadorian national German Adriano Llangari Inga is facing numerous felony and misdemeanor charges for drunk driving last August, which resulted in a crash killing Victoria Eileen Harwell, and hurting her teenage daughter and sister, according to local media outlets.

“An illegal immigrant drove drunk, killed an innocent mother, and is now on the run because Democrats didn’t do their most important job: protect their constituents,” Alex Pfeiffer, White House Principal Deputy Communications Director, told Fox News Digital in an exclusive statement. 

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT MURDERERS COULD FACE DEATH PENALTY UNDER NEW GOP BILL

This split shows President Donald Trump and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. (AP)

“This is precisely why the Trump Administration is taking action to hold these so-called ‘sanctuary’ jurisdictions accountable,” he added.

“U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement placed a detainer on German Llangari Inga, 35, of Ecuador, with the Hennepin County Jail, Minnesota, Aug. 4, 2024, after he was arrested for criminal vehicular homicide,” an ICE spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “The Hennepin County Jail did not honor the detainer and released Llangari without notification to ICE Aug. 6, 2024, and he remains at large. Llangari initially entered the United States in June 2016, was detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, issued an order of expedited removal and placed into removal proceedings.”

The Sheriff’s Department said that they were following the rules put forth by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison on immigration-related matters.

FOX NEWS RIDES ALONG AS FLORIDA HIGHWAY PATROL BEGINS ENFORCING FEDERAL IMMIGRATION LAWS ON STATE ROADS

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“As per guidance from the MN Attorney General’s Office, HCSO cannot lawfully hold individuals in custody based solely on an administrative detainer issued by the Department of Homeland Security or Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). If a judicially-signed warrant is presented to HCSO, ICE will be notified when it becomes the holding agency. In the absence of such a warrant, individuals must be released once all criminal charges or holds have been resolved. HCSO is committed to working with federal and local partners and honoring the constitutional rights of all individuals.”

Fox News Digital contacted Mayor Jacob Frey’s office, the Minneapolis Police Department, and Ellison’s office for comment.

DEMOCRAT MAYOR BLASTED FOR VOWING TO MAKE MAJOR CITY ‘SAFE HAVEN’ FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

Democratic Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey earlier this year said that “Minneapolis will continue to be a safe haven for undocumented immigrants” and added, “We do not enforce federal immigration law.” (Alex Kormann/Star Tribune via AP, File)

President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order last month, cracking down on “sanctuary jurisdictions” that could be at risk of losing federal funding if they do not make changes to their immigration policies, particularly with how certain cities interact with federal law enforcement on immigration cases.

“The term ‘sanctuary city’ is very amorphous, and that’s part of the problem in Trump’s use of it,” Frey told MPR News in an interview last month. 

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“In Minneapolis, we do not enforce federal immigration law, because that’s not our job. We have a separation ordinance in our city that says that our police and our public officials will not collect information as to whether an individual is documented or not. And because we don’t collect any information, our response when Trump or others come asking is very simple: We don’t have any.”

In addition to Frey, several Democratic Minnesota officials defended the state’s sanctuary laws, including Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., who said, “If you are an undocumented immigrant, please know that you are in my thoughts and that I will keep fighting.”

“With President Trump’s immigration policies targeting sanctuary cities like Minneapolis, the fear of ICE raids is very real, and our communities are on high alert,” Minnesota State Sen. Omar Fateh said in January after Trump was sworn in. “Now is the time for bold leadership that stands firm in our progressive values and puts our communities first.”

Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter, with the latest updates on the Trump administration, Capitol Hill and more Fox News politics content.

Here’s what’s happening…

–Veteran advocacy leader defends Trump’s shake-ups at VA, calls for reform to support veterans

-Trump pushes tax hikes for wealthy as ‘big, beautiful bill’ deadline looms

-Former Supreme Court Justice David Souter dead at 85

Trump-district Dem Deletes History of Love for Left

FIRST ON FOX: A Democrat running for Congress in New Jersey who has been positioning herself as a moderate to unseat the sitting Republican in a pro-Trump district, has deleted several social media posts promoting progressive candidates and causes.

Democrat Rebecca Bennett, who is running in the Democratic primary to unseat GOP Rep. Thomas Kean Jr. in New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District, is a Navy veteran and current member of the Air National Guard who has been labeled by local media as a “moderate” in a race the Cook Political Report ranks as “Lean Republican.”

A Fox News Digital review of Bennett’s X account, which was created in July 2011 and recently converted from @BigRedBecks to @RebeccaForNJ07, shows several deleted posts that seemingly drift away from the “moderate” label, including praise of progressive Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren…READ MORE 

Dem. House candidate Rebecca Bennett deleted several tweets praising progressive politicians (Rebecca Bennett for Congress/Getty)

White House

‘I DON’T KNOW HER’: Trump claims ‘I don’t know her’ and ‘listened to’ RFK about surgeon general pick who’s getting MAGA pushback

WORKHORSES: Rubio just got an additional job in Trump’s administration — and he’s not the only one with multiple hats

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of the VA Doug Collins, President Donald Trump and FBI Director Kash Patel.  (Getty Images)

‘WITCH TRIAL’: Letitia James town hall derailed by Trump supporter’s question: ‘Will you apologize?’

Pope Leo XIV

NOT EVERYONE’S PLEASED: Inclusive tone of new pope isn’t sitting well with some in the America First movement

‘SUPER-HAPPY DAY’: Pope Leo XIV, a Villanova grad, introduces himself adorned in symbolism, proverbial religious devotion

Newly elected Pope Leo XIV, Cardinal Robert Prevost of the United States appears on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, at the Vatican, May 8, 2025. (Remo Casilli/Reuters)

HOLY HOMILY: Pope Leo gives first homily as American pontiff, says loss in faith has led to crisis in humanity

World Stage

MILITARY MIGHT: Russia’s Putin hosts China’s Xi at massive Moscow military parade on Red Square

NOT OUR FIGHT: Vance says India-Pakistan conflict ‘none of our business’ as Trump offers US help

Capitol Hill

‘NORMALIZING HOODIES’: OpenAI’s Sam Altman thanks Sen John Fetterman for ‘normalizing hoodies’

Sen. John Fetterman’s sartorial choices meet AI developer Sam Altman’s liking. (Getty)

‘A DISGRACE’: Dems erupt after Trump fires the Librarian of Congress

Across America 

‘WARNING’: $8 gas? New study reveals it may come to a blue state next year, triggering bipartisan concern

CALIFORNIA DREAMIN’: Newsom debuts rapid-response website as critics accuse him of prioritizing presidential ambitions

‘OUTRAGEOUS’: Columbia suspends anti-Israel agitators after takeover, spreading of pamphlets glorifying alleged terrorist

Protest stickers were put on the doors at Butler Library at Columbia University’s campus on May 7, 2025 in New York City. Pro-Palestinian protesters held a demonstration inside the Butler Library on Columbia University’s campus, disrupting finals week. ( Indy Scholtens/Getty Images)

‘VERY PLEASANT CONVERSATION’: Blue state governor touts meeting with CCP official cozying up to Dems: ‘Grateful for the opportunity’

‘AUTHORITARIAN ETHOS’: Columbia faculty rights group condemns university’s handling of library takeover

ZERO TOLERANCE: Republican DA bucks blue state’s ‘broken sentencing’ with tough-on-crime approach

Get the latest updates on the Trump administration and Congress, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.