Donald Trump Poll News

FIRST ON FOX: United States Senator Tim Sheehy, R-Montana, called out Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum in a scathing letter addressing the large amount of raw sewage and waste the neighboring country has dumped in the Tijuana River.

The letter outlines Sheehy’s concern not only for the health and safety of local residents, but also points out that the toxic leak could potentially be jeopardizing U.S. national security. 

“This continuous discharge is sickening thousands of Americans annually, including U.S. Navy SEALs and Marine special forces who train in the affected waters,” the letter to the president of Mexico reads. “In February 2025, the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General concluded that, absent action, Navy Special Warfare Command would be advised to cancel or relocate up to 75 percent of water training exercises at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado due to elevated bacterial contamination levels.”

EPA CHIEF TAKES ON MEXICAN ‘SEWAGE CRISIS’ FLOWING INTO US WATERS WHERE NAVY SEALS TRAIN

Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum speaks during a press conference at the National Palace, in Mexico City, Mexico, on January 8, 2025. (REUTERS)

Last week, the International Boundary and Water Commission stated that Mexico is dumping 5 million gallons of sewage a day into the Tijuana rRver. The toxic waste then flows up into the United States, and can even make its way into the Pacific Ocean. 

“For decades, Mexico has been dumping toxic waste into the water where our most elite servicemen train, causing serious health issues and harming our readiness,” Sheehy told Fox News Digital. “The problem is only getting worse, and their failure to do anything about it is harming our troops and our national security. Mexico needs to put a stop to this toxic tide immediately.”

While Sheehy is sounding the alarm from Congress, local leaders have also confirmed that the Mexican government’s intentional waste dump has left residents with dangerous and harmful environmental conditions.

SCOOP: BIDEN-ERA GRANT PROGRAM DESCRIBED AS ‘GOLD BAR’ SCHEME BY TRUMP EPA ADMINISTRATOR UNDER SCRUTINY

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer patrols in a truck along the U.S.-Mexico border wall in Imperial Beach, San Diego, on Jan. 25, 2025. (Getty Images)

ARMY TAKES CONTROL OF FEDERAL LAND ALONG NEW MEXICO BORDER TO INCREASE SECURITY, PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT

“This sewage isn’t just disgusting — it’s dangerous. It contains E. coli, antibiotic-resistant bacteria, arsenic and other toxic chemicals,” San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond explained in a recent Fox News op-ed. “Our water is contaminated. Our air is polluted with aerosolized waste. Residents are reporting everything from skin infections to viral pharyngitis — and even family pets have gotten sick after exposure.”

Next Tuesday, Fox News Digital reported that EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin is very aware of the issue, and intends to visit a local treatment facility in San Diego to assess the harmful flow of poisonous waste entering the U.S. from Mexico. A source close to Zeldin told Fox that this is a top priority for President Donald Trump’s environmental leader. 

Montana Republican U.S. Senate candidate Tim Sheehy speaks during a Trump rally at Montana State University on August 9, 2024 in Bozeman, Montana. (Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images)

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“We have heard far too many horror stories of Navy SEALs – some of the bravest and brightest service members in the military – falling ill from training in waters that have been contaminated by Mexican sewage that has flown into our nation,” Zeldin told Fox on Friday. “This has been a human health crisis that has lingered for decades.”

Preston Mizell is a writer with Fox News Digital covering breaking news. Story tips can be sent to Preston.Mizell@fox.com and on X @MizellPreston

Sen. Chris Van Hollen’s, D-Md., sudden trip to El Salvador to try to free deportee Kilmar Abrego Garcia is getting the attention of critics who believe the Maryland Democrat may have violated a 1799 law prohibiting unauthorized diplomacy.

The Logan Act – named for former Pennsylvania Sen. George Logan – stipulates a fine and/or imprisonment for Americans corresponding with foreign officials “with intent to influence the[ir] measures … in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States.”

Logan met with French diplomat Charles de Talleyrand after Paris rebuffed President John Adams, and he attempted to entreat him – in part via a letter from Vice President Thomas Jefferson – to end the Franco-American hostilities of the so-called “Quasi War.”

In that way, several prominent conservatives questioned whether Van Hollen’s actions similarly violated the law.

MORE DEMS WORK TO JOIN VAN HOLLEN IN EL SALVADOR TO PUSH FOR ALLEGED GANG MEMBER’S RETURN TO US

Chris Van Hollen, right, speaks to Kilmar Garcia, left, after visiting him in El Salvador. (Reuters)

“Why hasn’t this U.S. senator been arrested for violation of the Logan Act? It’s illegal to conduct your own foreign policy,” longtime Republican consultant Roger Stone tweeted.

WMAL host Vince Coglianese read the Logan Act statute aloud and asked his audience whether Van Hollen had done what the code outlined. 

“Is Chris Van Hollen violating the Logan Act?” Coglianese said. “Because this is what they accused General [Michael] Flynn of doing … the incoming national security advisor … who was merely having conversations with foreign diplomats [after] people had chosen President Donald Trump.”

Democrats previously seized on the Logan Act when Flynn contacted Russian ambassador Sergei Kislyak prior to Trump being sworn in the first time, which ultimately led to an FBI probe and tanked his public-service career.

Notes from former FBI agent Peter Strzok read, “VP: Logan Act” and suggested then-Vice President Joe Biden floated using it against Flynn, while then-FBI director Jim Comey said the Kislyak correspondence appeared “legit.”

NOT A MARYLAND MAN: GOP BLASTS DEMOCRAT SENATOR FIGHTING FOR RETURN OF SALVADORAN NATIONAL

Kilmar Garcia, a deported Salvadoran national. (Fox)

Fox News contributor Byron York responded to an X question on the matter by saying that he repeatedly argued during the Flynn matter that the act is a “dead letter.”

“But politically, it’s useful to know that Sen. Van Hollen traveled to a foreign country to bash the President of the United States.”

The American Accountability Foundation (AAF) sent a letter to Senate Ethics Committee Chairman James Lankford, R-Okla, asking to probe for violations, according to the New York Post.

AAF’s Thomas Jones said Garcia “is essentially an enemy combatant in the ongoing invasion … by transnational gangs.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Lankford for comment.

The act was last invoked by Trump critics after a book by Watergate journalist Bob Woodward claimed the mogul held several calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin between his terms in the White House.

Trump was lambasted by the “Never-Trump” Lincoln Project and Kamala Harris over Woodward’s book’s claims.

Agents also considered getting Flynn to admit to breaking the Logan Act:

“What is our goal?” one of the notes from ex-FBI counterintelligence chief Bill Priestap read: “Truth/Admission or to get him to lie, so we can prosecute him or get him fired?”

After that situation, Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, R-Pa., unsuccessfully sought a Logan Act repeal.

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Former Black, Manafort & Stone consultant Roger J. Stone Jr., right, one of the conservatives calling for the Logan Act to be invoked. (Reuters)

In the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan suggested it be used against Rev. Jesse Jackson for his travels and communications to Cuba and Nicaragua. 

Trump previously accused both ex-Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Sen. Christopher Murphy, D-Conn., of violating the Logan Act via their contact with Iran in 2019 and 2020.

“It’s literally my job to meet with foreign leaders,” Murphy shot back, citing his position on a Senate Mideast subcommittee.

Ultimately, no one has been successfully prosecuted under the Logan Act, as the namesake Philadelphian himself was essentially grandfathered out.

Fox News Digital reached out to Van Hollen for comment.

FIRST ON FOX: One of the world’s leading liberal ecumenical Christian organizations published a post during Holy Week promoting climate change activism, sparking criticism from some experts who spoke to Fox News Digital.

“Training shows climate justice a moral imperative for churches,” a post on the World Council of Churches website said on Monday as the billions of Christians worldwide began observing Holy Week and commemorating the seven days leading up to Easter.

The post stated: “Exploring how churches can do more for climate justice, the World Council of Churches (WCC), in cooperation with the National Council of Churches in Bangladesh, organized a climate litigation training in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on 11 April.”

In a Thursday post on X, WCC again spoke about climate change saying, “Climate crisis isn’t siloed—neither should our solutions be. At a joint seminar in India, experts push for a nexus approach to land, water & food justice.”

FLASHBACK: BIDEN PROCLAIMED TRANS DAY OF VISIBILITY IN 2024 THAT COINCIDED WITH EASTER SUNDAY

The World Council of Churches has been promoting climate change activism during Holy Week. (Getty/iStock)

“Amidst the poly-crises the world is experiencing now, the role of churches and other faith actors in terms of our contributions to climate justice is more important than ever,” WCC general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr. Jerry Pillay said in Bangladesh. “Our moral voice is necessary for the urgently needed system changes.” 

Last week, WCC announced that it has “debuted its new resource on legal tools for climate justice, the focus was on hope for children—a hope strongly backed by knowledge on how churches can hold financial actors accountable for their role in perpetuating the climate crisis.” 

Fox News Digital reached out to WCC for comment. 

Dan Turner, founder and executive director of Power The Future, likened the climate change push to Christianity’s “long history of a battle against paganism.”

“It is unsurprising that neo-pagans hide behind climate change to pollute religion and push their agenda,” Turner said. “The most Christian countries have the cleanest air and water, and the greatest respect for the Earth.”

EASTER AND PASSOVER FOODS THAT AMERICANS MOST LIKE AND DISLIKE, ACCORDING TO NEW DATA

Children painting Easter eggs. (iStock)

Gabriella Hoffman, Independent Women’s Forum Center for Energy & Conservation Director, told Fox News Digital that it is not “uncommon” for religious institutions to preach the “biblical” teaching of “stewardship of the land” but that climate justice “strays from this teaching by encouraging its adherents to reject positive human interactions with nature.”

“They believe nature supersedes the needs of people. Both interests can be balanced and not at odds with each other,” Hoffman said. 

Steve Cortes, founder of the League of American Workers and a Senior Advisor for Catholic Vote, told Fox News Digital, “During Holy Week, the church should be focused on reflecting on Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, instead of advancing climate hysteria. The church should be spreading the Gospel, not advance divisive legal battles that amplify fear over faith.”

The WCC, which claims 352 member church bodies from more than 120 countries, representing over 580 million Christians worldwide, has a long history of political activism on behalf of liberal causes. 

The organization has “established several highly biased and politicized subgroups,” according to NGO Monitor, some of which have been linked to anti-Israel efforts and BDS activities.

 President Donald Trump, accompanied by a person dressed as the Easter Bunny, welcomes guests with opening remarks during the 141st Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House on April 22, 2019, in Washington, D.C. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

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Last year, the WCC issued a statement in support of the International Criminal Court’s controversial decision to issue an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in response to the fallout from the October 7th terror attack.

Shortly after that attack, the WCC issued a statement calling for “underscor[ing] the necessity of addressing the root causes of the current conflict, which are deeply intertwined with decades of occupation, prolonged sieges on Gaza, and the systematic violation of fundamental human rights.”

The president of a prominent Christian college in Michigan reacted Thursday to President Donald Trump’s battle with Harvard University — and the billions it stands to lose due to a federal funding freeze over its response to on-campus antisemitism.

“We all have a right to free speech, but if you join the academic community, you don’t get to say whatever you want. You can’t go to physics class and talk about English Lit. Also, you can’t spit on people because they’re Jews or denounce them… because that breaks down the friendship that is necessary to the partnership of a college,” Hillsdale College President Larry Arnn told Fox News Digital in an interview.

“Now, having said that, of course — you shouldn’t say ‘dirty Jew.’ It’s perfectly legitimate to say, ‘I don’t agree with it.’ But to say, ‘Israel took that land, and they don’t have a right to it,’ and the response would be, ‘OK, see if you can prove that.’ That’s an academic undertaking,” he said.

TRUMP ADMIN SLASHES OVER $2.2B IN FUNDING TO HARVARD AFTER SCHOOL DEFIES DEMANDS

“Shouting, preventing people from going to class, threatening them personally. That breaks down the academic community. They shouldn’t be doing that. And it’s, you know, because the [1964] Civil Rights Act is written in a certain way; if they permit that kind of activity, Harvard is in violation of that act, and that act applies to every organization in America.”

A college, being an incubator of learning, should especially be an organization to prohibit such virulent behavior outright, Arnn added.

5 CONTROVERSIES EMBROILING HARVARD UNIVERSITY AS TRUMP SEEKS TO CUT FUNDING

Earlier this month, the Trump antisemitism task force froze $2 billion in grants to Harvard, and Trump later floated stripping its tax-exempt status after the school’s administration released a statement saying it would not comply with demands.

Arnn said that, antisemitic behavior or not, there are thousands of stipulations a college must agree to in order to receive funding from the federal Department of Education.

“The government has changed so much since 1960, and it’s all over everything now, including education. And Harvard doesn’t like some recent things it’s been demanded to do, but it’s obeying hundreds of pages of rules that are detailed, and they have to comply with because they have a lot of money from the government,” he said.

Hillsdale College President Larry Arnn is criticizing Harvard University. (Getty)

“So the obvious solution would be, don’t take the money from the government, which is what we do,” he said, referring to Hillsdale.

Arnn said Hillsdale, founded in the mid-19th century in part by friends of then-Illinois attorney Abraham Lincoln, has never been as wealthy as Harvard but remains an exceptional institution.

“The fact that they are defending [themselves] is good, and maybe they should have the complete courage of their convictions and just give [the funding] up,” he said.

If the frozen funds account for the school’s annual federal contribution, it would calculate to $90,000 per student, Arnn added, noting the school also has a large endowment.

“Maybe they could make it on their own,” he said.

“Every transaction at Hillsdale College… is a voluntary transaction… [N]obody comes here unless they want to, they have to sign an honor code to come.”

President Donald Trump froze federal funding to Harvard University. (Getty Images)

Arnn compared Hillsdale’s connections to a politically budding Lincoln to Harvard’s title as the oldest college in the country, and Princeton University’s ties to Founding Fathers like President James Madison.

“If James Madison had come to college here, I would never shut up about it, right? Frederick Douglass spoke on our campus twice. I never shut up about that,” he said.

Arnn cited how the first Trump administration investigated Princeton after figures there publicized its supposed racist structures.

“[Madison] personally took pride in the fact they had kept the word ‘slave’ out of the Constitution, because although they had to make a compromise and not abolish it in certain ways, and that compromise is for a very big reason,” he said.

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Harvard University has been the subject of criticism over its response to antisemitic protests. (Reuters)

“The problem is, we have a set of principles that are perfect, but we will never serve them perfectly,” said Arnn. “[T]he attempt to do so can do a lot of harm depending on what the attempt is.”

“My suggestion [to Harvard] would be to go in the right direction. It’s written in your own history. And you should probably do it with your own resources if you don’t like bureaucrats in Washington telling you what to do,” he said.

In a statement, Harvard President Alan Garber said Harvard will “not surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights,” and “no government… should dictate what private universities can teach, who they can admit and hire…”

Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga., claimed in a post on X that he altered the name plaque outside the office of Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md. The Republican lawmaker’s post included a photo in which the plaque outside Van Hollen’s office says that he represents El Salvador.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen meets with Kilmar Abrego Garcia in El Salvador; the senator later denied drinking from the glasses seen on the table, calling the photo a staged attempt to mislead the public during what has become known as “margarita-gate.” (@nayibbukele via X)

OREGON LAWMAKER LATEST DEMOCRAT TO VISIT EL SALVADOR FOR DEPORTED ILLEGAL MIGRANT ABREGO GARCIA

“Hey [Sen. Van Hollen], I went ahead and changed your office plaque for you,” Collins wrote.

Collins has repeatedly criticized Van Hollen for traveling to El Salvador to meet with accused MS-13 member and illegal immigrant Kilmar Abrego-Garcia. In another post on X, Collins slammed Van Hollen as “traitorous.”

Additionally, when Van Hollen first announced his trip to El Salvador, Collins responded by saying, “If you’re going to advocate harder for illegal gang members than you do American citizens, don’t come back.”

Abrego-Garcia’s deportation sparked an uproar among Democrats, many of whom say that the El Salvadorian national was a hard-working Maryland resident whose right to due process was violated.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia was pulled over by Tennessee Highway Patrol in 2022, according to a DHS report obtained by Fox News. (Department of Homeland Security)

KILMAR ABREGO-GARCIA SUSPECTED OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN REPORT OBTAINED BY FOX NEWS

However, Abrego-Garcia, who entered the U.S. illegally in 2011, remained in the country unlawfully despite being issued a deportation order back in 2019.

Prince George’s County Police Gang Unit identified Abrego-Garcia as a member of the notorious Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) gang in 2019, according to Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). The HSI report also noted that Abrego-Garcia was suspected of human trafficking after a Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper encountered him in December 2022.

According to the HSI report, on Dec. 1, 2022, a Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper stopped Abrego-Garcia after he was “observed speeding,” and noticed eight individuals in the vehicle, but no luggage. Abrego-Garcia said he began driving three days prior from Houston, Texas, to Temple Hills, Md., so the individuals could “perform construction work.” Additionally, the individuals in the car reportedly gave the same address as Abrego-Garica’s home. The report states that the trooper suspected it was a human trafficking incident.

The White House released a splitscreen image overnight to underscore the stark contrast between where Republicans and Democrats stand on illegal immigration.  (The White House, Sen. Van Hollen via X)

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This past week, President Donald Trump hosted Angel Mom Patty Morin, a Maryland resident, at the White House. Morin’s daughter, Rachel, was beaten, raped and killed in Maryland by an illegal migrant from El Salvador in 2023. Patty Morin claims Van Hollen never contacted her after Rachel’s murder.

Fox News Digital reached out to Rep. Collins’ office for comment.

WASHINGTON, DC – Ohio Republican Attorney General Dave Yost, who is running for governor against tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy in the primary, spoke to Fox News Digital about his campaign and what he sees as the key difference between the two campaigns. 

“We do agree on an awful lot of things,” Yost, who was in Washington to celebrate with the national champion Ohio State Buckeyes college football team at the White House, told Fox News Digital about the gubernatorial race. 

“The difference is that I’m running on a record of results, not just rhetoric.”

Part of that record, Yost explained, is his time as the state auditor in Ohio, where he helped uncover $260 million of efficiency savings.

SCOOP: RAMASWAMY SCORES ENDORSEMENT FROM A POWERFUL HOUSE MEMBER IN OHIO GOVERNOR RUN

Vivek Ramaswamy (Right) and Dave Yost (Left) are running for governor as Republicans in Ohio. (Getty Images)

“I was DOGE before DOGE was cool,” Yost said, adding later that “virtually nobody” he talks to in Ohio is opposed to the fraud and waste spending that is taking place with DOGE amid vocal Democratic pushback.

Yost also touted his record on crime and public corruption as the state’s attorney general since 2019 and suggested his experience differentiates him from Ramaswamy. 

“We’ve been fighting for the Constitution, for the rights of Ohioans, fighting public corruption,” Yost said. “More than 170 people have gone to jail because of my work and the work of my team. So, we’ve been in the trenches. We don’t need on-the-job training, and I think that that record of results is going to make a difference for Ohioans.”

OHIO COLLEGE ‘ILLEGALLY FORCING STUDENTS’ TO SHARE BATHROOMS WITH OPPOSITE SEX: WATCHDOG

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost speaks at the Conservative Political Action Coalition annual meeting  (Celal Gunes/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Recent polling shows that Ramaswamy, who has been endorsed by President Trump, Elon Musk, Rep. Jim Jordan and others, holds a commanding lead in the race, but Yost remains optimistic. 

“Obviously, there’s a long way to go, but I love Ohio,” Yost said. “I’ve been getting back out and talking with folks. The reception has been amazing. People are eager for a new America First kind of leadership in Ohio. And I am really excited about where we’re heading.”

One specific issue that Yost believes he has been clearer on where he stands is the death penalty. 

“I don’t know where my opponent is on that,” Yost said. “He hasn’t spoken about it. I imagine that that’s why we have campaigns, and we’ll find out. But look, I support the death penalty.”

Yost explained that “safeguards” must be used, and he emphasized that there are “no do-overs” but said that “we need” the death penalty.

“What do you do with a guy who’s serving life without parole and then he kills a prison guard or a cook inside?” Yost said. “A family loses a loved one because of this murder. Was that a freebie? What, are we gonna give them another life sentence? So, at least in that circumstance, we need to have the death penalty, and then we’re just arguing about when we use it.”

“But the death penalty is not working in Ohio right now. We haven’t abolished it. We still have the promise of it out there as the ultimate justice. We haven’t executed anyone since 2018. The average time that somebody on death row has been waiting for their date with justice is 22 years. That’s not due process, it’s overdue process, and we need to either man up and say, okay, we’re not gonna do this anymore, or we need to go about following the law and bringing the 116 people on death row to their date with justice.”

A person close to the Ramaswamy campaign told Fox News Digital that the team is “looking forward to helping Dave Yost be successful in his next venture, whatever he chooses to do.”

Another local issue in Ohio that Yost told Fox News Digital he is concerned about is the recent push by professional sports teams to secure taxpayer funds for stadiums. 

Yost expressed concerns about taxpayers being on the hook for sums of several hundred million dollars.

“I’m not so sure that the taxpayers ought to be throwing tax money at these big public stadium projects,” Yost said. “I mean, those bonds, those taxes are going to be paid for by people that in a lot of ways can’t afford to go to a pro game. That strikes me as unfair. But beyond that, we have no limiting principle here.”

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Vivek Ramaswamy speaks before Republican presidential nominee former U.S. President Donald Trump takes the stage at the campaign rally at Madison Square Garden on October 27, 2024, in New York City.  (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

“We’ve got all these different sports teams. We already have three of them now, since the Browns said we want $600 million. The Bengals come forward, and they want $350 million, and FC Cincinnati is saying, ‘Well, what about us?’ And pretty soon, we’re spending billions of dollars on sports stadiums that are used in one town a few days a year, when we could be spending that money on any number of other things, whether we’re talking about roads, bridges, economic development, whether we’re talking schools, or we’re talking about tax cuts. None of this makes sense to me. We at least need a plan and a limit. Right now, it looks like the candy store is just open.”

Fox News Digital asked Yost what he hears most often when he travels the state talking to voters, and he said that the economy and “kitchen table” issues are most prevalent, but pointed out that Trump’s tariff policies, which have been much maligned by the Democrats, are more popular than the media lets on. 

“Right now, everybody’s watching as the world economy is being reordered, and unlike what I’m hearing from the disaster predicted by the elite press on the coasts, it’s a much different situation on the ground in Ohio,” Yost said. “I talk to a lot of businesses that think that this is going to be good for them, that the fair and reciprocal kinds of trade are going to bring a new resurgence to Ohio and to their industries, even though they see some pain and that’s what everybody’s talking about right now.”

Ultimately, Yost told Fox News Digital that he believes that his “record of results” shows that he is the candidate with the “experience and the vision and the know-how” to “bring Ohio to the bright future that’s out there for us.”

President Donald Trump met with foreign leaders from El Salvador and Italy this week, advancing negotiations on both trade and immigration issues at the White House. 

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni visited Washington during a pause in steep tariffs against the European Union and other countries that could go into effect in June. But both Trump and Meloni voiced optimism that the two countries would secure a deal before then.

“There will be a trade deal, 100%,” Trump told reporters at the White House Thursday. “Of course there will be a trade deal, they want to make one very much, and we’re going to make a trade deal. I fully expect it, but it’ll be a fair deal.” 

ITALY’S MELONI GOES TO WASHINGTON FOR TARIFF HUDDLE WITH TRUMP 

When asked whether she still considered the U.S. a reliable trading partner due to changes related to tariff policy, Meloni said that she wouldn’t have made the trek to the White House unless it were so. Meloni said her objective for the trip was to invite Trump to meetings on behalf of Italy and Europe to foster a trade negotiation between the two states. 

“I think the best way is that we simply speak frankly about the needs that every one of us has and find ourselves in the middle for that’s useful for all,” Meloni told reporters Thursday.

Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance met with Meloni Friday in Rome to continue discussing economic policies between the two countries. 

Here’s what also happened this week: 

Visit with Bukele

Trump kicked off the week meeting with El Salvador President Nayib Bukele Monday, launching a debate about whether El Salvador should return Maryland resident Kilmar Abrego-Garcia after he was deported there. 

On Monday, Trump administration officials and Bukele agreed that they didn’t have the authority to return Abrego-Garcia to the U.S., even though the Trump administration admitted in court filings that he was deported in an “administrative error.” Even so, the Trump administration has accused Abrego-Garcia of being a member of the MS-13 gang, a designated terrorist group. 

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court upheld in April a lower court’s order that “requires 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.”

President Donald Trump shakes hands with Nayib Bukele, El Salvador’s president, during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, April 14, 2025 (Al Drago for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

While Attorney General Pam Bondi told reporters Monday that El Salvador would call the final shots on whether it would return Abrego-Garcia, Bukele said it was “preposterous” for El Salvador to do so. 

“How can I smuggle a terrorist into the U.S.? I don’t have the power to return him to the United States,” Bukele said.

Additionally, the Justice Department unveiled documents Wednesday detailing domestic violence allegations that Abrego-Garcia’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez, included in a court filing in 2021. Vasquez alleged in the filing that Garcia beat her and that she had documentation of the bruises he left on her.

Feud with Harvard 

The Trump administration also continued to go after federal funding at higher education institutions. 

After Harvard refused to comply with a series of requests from the Trump administration to reform various practices on campus, the administration revealed Monday that it would freeze more than $2 billion in federal funding for the institution.

Harvard University President Alan M. Garber said in a Monday statement that the Trump administration included additional requests unrelated to tackling antisemitism on campus. As a result, Garber said the institution would not bend to those requests, claiming they were unconstitutional. 

WHITE HOUSE SLAMS IVY LEAGUE INSTITUTIONS FOR ‘EGREGIOUS ILLEGAL BEHAVIOR’ AMID TRUMP FEUD WITH HARVARD 

Trump has publicly criticized Harvard University multiple times in recent weeks. (Getty Images | iStock)

Garber said the new requests “direct governmental regulation of the ‘intellectual conditions’ at Harvard,” including auditing viewpoints of student, faculty and staff members on campus, and eliminating all diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, offices and initiatives at Harvard. 

“It makes clear that the intention is not to work with us to address antisemitism in a cooperative and constructive manner,” Garber said. “We have informed the administration through our legal counsel that we will not accept their proposed agreement.”

Prescription drug prices

Trump also signed an executive order Tuesday seeking to combat soaring prescription drug prices.  

The directive instructs Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to standardize Medicare payments for prescription drugs, including those used for cancer patients, no matter where a patient receives treatment. This could lower prices for patients by as much as 60%, according to a White House fact sheet.

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A new White House directive instructs Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Department of Health and Human Services to standardize Medicare payments for prescription drugs.  (iStock/Getty )

The order also includes a provision to match the Medicare payment for certain prescription drugs to the price that hospitals pay for those drugs. That amounts to up to 35% lower than what the government pays to acquire those medications, the White House said.

Drug prices have significantly risen in recent years. Between January 2022 and January 2023, prescription drug prices rose more than 15% and reached an average of $590 per drug product, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. Of the 4,200 prescription drugs included on that list, 46% of the price increases exceeded the rate of inflation.

A Democratic congresswoman from Colorado is the latest lawmaker to announce she will travel to El Salvador to advocate for the release of deported illegal migrant Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia.

Rep. Maxine Dexter, D-Ore., said late Friday she would jet to the South American country following Sen. Chris Van Hollen’s, D-Md., highly publicized visit there this week when he met with Abrego Garcia, who was deported to the country’s “Terrorism Confinement Center” (CECOT) megaprison with other suspected illegal migrant gang members last month.

“A legal U.S. resident has had his due process rights ripped away and is now being held indefinitely in a foreign prison,” Dexter said in a statement. 

“This is not just one family’s nightmare; it is a constitutional crisis that should outrage every single one of us. I will travel to El Salvador to confront this crisis head on. Our constitutional rights are on the line.”   

Rep. Maxine Dexter, D-Ore., is the latest lawmaker to announce she will travel to El Salvador to advocate for the release of deported illegal migrant Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

FEDERAL JUDGE HAMMERS DOJ ON WHEREABOUTS OF ALLEGED MS-13 GANG MEMBER FOLLOWING SCOTUS ORDER

The case has drawn a wedge between Democrats and Republicans. 

The Trump administration argues Abrego Garcia is an MS-13 gang member who is suspected of human trafficking and has a violent history of abusing his wife.

A 2022 Homeland Security Investigations report identified Garcia as a member of MS-13 and a suspected human trafficker. A 2021 domestic violence filing, written by his wife, Jennifer Vasquez, claimed, “I have multiple photos/videos of how violent he can be and all the bruises he [has] left me.”

Democrats say he is a hard-working Maryland resident who has had his due process rights stripped away after being sent to the notorious prison. 

The Supreme Court acknowledges that Abrego Garcia was subject to a 2019 withholding order forbidding his removal to El Salvador, and that the removal to El Salvador was “therefore illegal.” The Court stressed that the government must facilitate his release from custody in El Salvador and treat his case as if he were never deported.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen meeting with Kilmar Abrego Garcia in El Salvador on Friday. (@nayibbukele via X)

WHITE HOUSE PHOTO BLUNTLY SHOWS WHERE PARTIES STAND ON IMMIGRATION AMID ABREGO GARCIA DEPORTATION

Trump administration officials acknowledged in court that his deportation had been an administrative error, although now some top Trump officials say he was correctly removed and contend he’s a member of the notorious MS-13 gang. 

One immigration judge in 2019 found that Garcia had not sufficiently refuted evidence of MS-13 affiliation and was thus removable to anywhere other than El Salvador because of a threat from a rival gang. This is called a withholding order.

On Friday, Trump released an image of Abrego Garcia’s hand showing purported MS-13 gang tattoos. 

On Friday, Trump released an image of Abrego Garcia’s hand showing purported MS-13 gang tattoos.  (President Trump/Truth Social)

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller on Monday said that two courts found Abrego Garcia to be an MS-13 gang member, and he was deported after Trump declared the violent gang a terrorist organization. 

Miller said that when Trump declared MS-13 a terrorist organization, Abrego Garcia was no longer eligible for any form of immigration relief in the United States.

Critics, including Republicans and Trump allies, have questioned why Van Hollen would travel abroad to advocate for someone with alleged gang ties and a record of domestic abuse while remaining silent on victims like Rachel Morin, a Maryland woman murdered by an illegal immigrant in 2023.

The White House released a split-screen image overnight to underscore the stark contrast between where Republicans and Democrats stand on illegal immigration.  (The White House, Sen. Van Hollen via X)

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The White House released a split-screen image to underscore what it says is the stark contrast between where Republicans and Democrats stand on illegal immigration.

One image featured distraught Angel Mom Patty Morin, mother of Rael Morin, being comforted by President Trump in the Oval Office. The other image showed Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., sitting and talking with Abrego Garcia, 29, in El Salvador.

“We are not the same,” the White House captioned the image while tagging Van Hollen.

Fox News’ Greg Wehner, Kerri Urbahn and Jasmine Baehr contributed to this report.

Due to a security law passed 20 years ago, many Americans are now required to update their driver’s license or identification cards to become REAL ID-compliant — or they won’t be able to board U.S. flights.

With the deadline fast approaching on May 7, some conservatives have called on President Donald Trump to do away with the inconvenient requirement that they say violates civil liberties. 

What is REAL ID, and why does it matter? 

On May 7, federal agencies, including the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), will no longer accept driver’s licenses or ID cards that do not have a star in one of the upper corners to represent their REAL ID verification. To become REAL ID-verified, applicants have to provide additional verifying information like Social Security numbers. 

Flyers who don’t have REAL ID verification on their license should plan to use a passport, a passport card, a permanent resident card, military ID or an enhanced driver’s license offered by some states.  

‘MASS SURVEILLANCE’: CONSERVATIVES SOUND ALARM OVER TRUMP ADMIN’S REAL ID ROLLOUT

Sample driver’s license with REAL ID. The star in the top right corner signifies REAL ID.  (DC DMV )

Will travelers get turned away at the airport without a REAL ID?

The TSA says it will begin “phased enforcement” on May 7, but it’s unclear whether that means turning away travelers without proper documentation or subjecting them to additional security screening.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in an FAQ on its website that travelers without “a REAL ID-compliant license or acceptable alternative beginning May 7, 2025, will not be permitted through the security checkpoint.”

In a federal rule established this year, the TSA says its “phased approach” could last two years, with the potential to issue warnings to people without REAL ID verification. 

Access to other federal facilities and nuclear power plants will also require a REAL ID, according to DHS. 

How do you get a REAL ID? 

Drivers who have recently renewed their driver’s license may already have a REAL ID. Check for the star in the upper right or left corner. Otherwise, check with your local Department of Motor Vehicles office on how to get a REAL ID or make an appointment to get a new license. 

You’ll need documentation to show your full legal name, date of birth, Social Security number and lawful status, as well as two proofs of address. If you don’t have your Social Security card, you can provide a W-2 or pay stub with your name and Social Security number on it. 

NO ‘REAL ID’ APPOINTMENTS OPEN IN NEW JERSEY AS RESIDENTS SOUND OFF: ‘GET WITH THE TIMES, NJ’

Americans face lines at the DMV in a rush to get a REAL ID before May 7.  (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)

Why is this happening? 

Congress passed and President George W. Bush signed the REAL ID Act in 2005 after the 9/11 Commission warned that it was too easy for bad actors to obtain a driver’s license.

Implementation of the law has been marred by delays in getting all 50 states and U.S. territories to implement the new requirements and start issuing advanced identification, which the federal government estimated would cost $11 billion in 2007. 

The 2020 deadline was pushed back multiple times due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

TSA senior official Adam Stahl said recently in an announcement that REAL ID “bolsters safety by making fraudulent IDs harder to forge, thwarting criminals and terrorists.”

What’s the backlash? 

Some on the right have cried foul, and questioned why, if previous administrations have delayed the implementation, it is necessary now. 

When Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted a video reminding Americans of the May 7 deadline, former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin responded: “Or what?? Evidently, existing ID requirements for American citizens just aren’t adequate now, so Big Brother is forcing us through more hoops for the ‘right’ to travel within our own country.”

Airline passengers are required to show REAL ID beginning May 7 — but DHS has said it will be a “phased implementation.”  (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Palin continued: “Other administrations delayed this newfangled, burdensome REAL ID requirement. Are you curious why its implementation is imperative now?? And who came up with this?”

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., argued in an X post, “As long as the pilot’s door is locked and no one has weapons, why do you care that someone who flies has government permission? REAL ID provides no benefit, yet presents a serious risk to freedom. If a person can’t be trusted to fly without weapons, why are they roaming free?”

Massie took shots at Trump in a follow-up post: “REAL ID is a 2005 George Bush-era Patriot Act overreach that went completely unenforced until Trump got into office. Let me guess: he’s playing 4D chess and I should just go along with it?”

Trump ally Rep. Mark Alford, R-Mo., rebuked REAL ID critics in his own public statement. 

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“The REAL ID Act was passed way back in 2005, 20 years ago!!!! It’s about time everyone stop dragging their feet. Quit scrolling through social media, quit complaining, get your info together, and get down to the DMV to get your REAL ID,” Alford said Wednesday. 

The White House could not immediately be reached for comment on the criticisms of REAL ID. 

Fox News’ Liz Elkind contributed to this report.

Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., has been crisscrossing the country the past couple of months, taking a lead in amplifying the Democratic Party’s message in resisting President Donald Trump’s aggressive and controversial actions in overturning long-standing government policy and slashing the federal workforce.

But Khanna, the California Democrat who’s in his fifth term in the House and who likely harbors national ambitions in 2028, is not only turning up the volume in his broadsides against Trump and Vice President JD Vance, Trump’s heir apparent, but also against his own party.

“We have to have a whole rebrand of the Democratic Party with a coherent platform and a future-oriented platform, and many leaders need to do that. New leaders, not the old guard. And I hope to be part of that,” Khanna said in an interview with Fox News Digital.

DEMOCRATS’ VICE CHAIR IGNITES CIVIL WAR, TARGETING ‘ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL’ INCUMBENTS IN PRIMARIES

Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., criticizes Vice President JD Vance during a speech at Yale Law School in New Haven, Connecticut, on Tuesday. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)

When asked if party leaders need to be more vocal in pushing back against the Trump administration, Khanna quickly said yes.

“We need more from our leadership. And you know, if you’re not willing to speak up about someone being snatched away from their home and deported without due process, you probably shouldn’t be in elective office as a Democrat right now,” he said. “We need Democrats speaking out, not just on the economy. We need them speaking out on civil liberties, on the rights of immigrants and on the rights of universities.”

DEM RISING STAR EYES VANCE AS KEY LONG-TERM THREAT: ‘NEEDS TO BE DEFEATED’

But Khanna also praised the recent record-breaking marathon Senate floor speech by Sen. Cory Booker D-N.J., and the large rallies across the country being co-headlined by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., acknowledge the cheering crowd during a “Fighting Oligarchy” event in Los Angeles on April 12. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

The Democratic Party is currently in the political wilderness, following last November’s election setbacks, when Republicans won back control of the White House and the Senate and defended their fragile House majority. Republicans also made gains among Black and Hispanic voters, as well as younger voters, all traditional members of the Democratic Party’s base.

Democrats have become increasingly angry and very energized in response to Trump’s moves. That anger is directed not only at Trump and Republicans, but also at fellow Democrats. Many in the party’s base feel their leaders in Congress haven’t been effective or vocal enough in pushing back against the president.

BERNIE SANDERS, AOC AND OTHER ANTI-TRUMP PROGRESSIVES HAUL IN BIG BUCKS FOR 2026 MIDTERMS

And the energy has been evident at town halls this winter and early spring held by both Democratic and Republican members of Congress.

National polls conducted in February by Quinnipiac University, and last month by CNN and by NBC News, indicated the favorable ratings for the Democratic Party sinking to all-time lows.

And a Gallup poll released on Thursday spotlighted that confidence in the Democratic Party’s congressional leadership has sunk to an all-time low.

Looking ahead to next year’s midterm elections, when House Democrats aim to topple the GOP’s razor-thin majority in the House, Khanna said he will continue his brisk pace on the campaign trail.

Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., is interviewed by Fox News Digital at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, on Tuesday. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)

“I’m already going out to more red districts. We did three red districts in California. I’m headed out to Pennsylvania. Was invited to go out to Nebraska, to Nevada, down south to South Carolina,” he said. “So we will be campaigning in red districts. Thousands of people are showing up. I’m very, very confident that we’re going to succeed.”

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This past week, Khanna trained his verbal fire on Vance as he delivered two high-profile speeches in the vice president’s home state of Ohio on Monday and on Tuesday at Yale Law School, where both politicians earned their legal degrees.

In his interview with Fox News Digital in New Haven, Connecticut, ahead of the Yale speech, Khanna was asked if his attacks on Vance were an early 2028 positioning move.

Khanna responded that “what I’m doing is providing an intellectual foundation for the Democratic Party.”

The White House released a splitscreen image overnight to underscore the stark contrast between where Republicans and Democrats stand on illegal immigration.

One image featured distraught Angel Mom Patty Morin being comforted by President Trump in the Oval Office. Morin’s daughter, Rachel Morin, was savagely beaten, raped and killed in Maryland by an illegal migrant from El Salvador in 2023. 

The other image showed Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., sitting and talking with deported illegal alien Kilmar Abrego Garcia, 29, in El Salvador.

The White House released a splitscreen image overnight to underscore the stark contrast between where Republicans and Democrats stand on illegal immigration.  (The White House, Sen. Van Hollen via X)

RACHEL MORIN’S MOTHER TEARFULLY BEGS MEDIA TO ‘TELL THE TRUTH’ ABOUT CRIMINAL ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

Abrego Garcia was deported last month by the Trump administration, which says that he was an MS-13 gang member who also violently beat his wife. 

Van Hollen, who called the deportation “absolutely unjust,” flew to El Salvador to advocate for Abrego Garcia’s release.

“We are not the same,” the White House captioned the image while tagging Van Hollen.

The image of Morin was taken on Wednesday when she visited the White House and spoke to reporters from the White House briefing room, where she called out Van Hollen’s trip to El Salvador. 

She noted that Van Hollen, who represents her state, had never once reached out to her since her daughter was killed. 

Kilmar Abrego Garcia meets with Sen. Van Hollen (X / @nayibbukele)

DEM SENATOR VAN HOLLEN MEETS, SHAKES HANDS WITH ABREGO GARCIA; EL SALVADOR SAYS INMATE WILL REMAIN IN CUSTODY

“To have a senator from Maryland who didn’t even acknowledge – barely acknowledged my daughter and the brutal death that she endured, leaving her five children without a mother, and now a grandbaby without a grandmother, so that he can use my taxpayer money to fly to El Salvador to bring back someone that is not even an American citizen,” Morin said. “Why does that person have more right than I do for my daughter or my grandchildren? I don’t understand this.” 

Following Martinez-Hernandez’s conviction, Van Hollen issued a statement vowing to bolster border security while also “supporting our immigrant communities.” 

Patty Morin appealed to the media to “tell the truth” about violent illegal aliens who were let into the country. Rachel Morin’s killer, Victor Antonio Martinez-Hernandez, allegedly committed a murder in his home country. He was also linked to a home invasion and assault in Los Angeles before moving to Maryland.

Van Hollen flew to El Salvador this week to meet with Abrego Garcia and was denied multiple times. He was granted his request on Thursday night and met with Abrego Garcia on Friday. 

Patty Morin (L), mother of Rachel Morin, speaks as White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt looks on during a daily press briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on April 16, 2025, in Washington, D.C. In 2023, Morin’s daughter was murdered by Victor Martinez-Hernandez, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador who was convicted of first-degree murder and first-degree rape on Monday.  (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

“I said my main goal of this trip was to meet with Kilmar,” Van Hollen wrote on X, along with the picture the White House posted. “Tonight I had that chance. I have called his wife, Jennifer, to pass along his message of love.”

Van Hollen previously said that it was “absolutely unjust and illegal to have this Marylander detained one more day in a notorious prison in El Salvador.”

Garcia who was living in Maryland with his wife and children, was deported to the El Salvadoran megaprison “Terrorism Confinement Center” (CECOT) last month, and officials acknowledged in court that his deportation had been an administrative error, although now some top Trump officials say he was correctly removed and contend he’s a member of the notorious MS-13 gang. 

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Both a federal district court and the U.S. Supreme Court have ordered the Trump administration to “facilitate” his release and return to the U.S. for proper deportation proceedings.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said that Abrego Garcia would not be allowed back into the U.S. unless El Salvador were to decide otherwise. “He is not coming back to our country.” 

Fox News’ Greg Wehner contributed to this report.

A new investigation tracking the current state of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) at colleges and universities from conservative nonprofit Defending Education found that there are still 383 “currently active” DEI offices and programs, with 243 universities maintaining institution-wide DEI offices or programming.

Defending Education, formerly known as Parents Defending Education, is a nationwide grassroots organization that works to “fight indoctrination in classrooms and on campus to promote the reestablishment of a quality, non-political education for all students.” 

In addition to tracking those DEI offices and programs that are still active, the group’s investigation also highlighted that Defending Education uncovered dozens of schools that have taken steps to rebrand or reorganize their DEI efforts, as opposed to shutting them down like others have done. 

MAJOR UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER ACCUSED OF HIDING DEI PROGRAMS, INFLUENTIAL SENATOR CALLS THEM OUT 

Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) is an example of one of the universities that has been accused of attempting to hide their DEI resources. (iStock)

At least 27 universities, colleges or schools within such institutions have taken steps to do this, according to the investigation. Meanwhile, in “a few cases,” schools have moved their online DEI resources behind password-protected web pages, Defending Education also pointed out.

“DEI evangelists at federally funded institutions are hiding race discrimination in an effort to violate federal law and think they won’t be found out. But our latest report demonstrates they already have been,” said Sarah Parshall Perry, Defending Education Vice President and Legal Fellow, who has extensive legal experience in the higher education realm. “Despite a very clear directive from the White House to end ‘DEI’ practices, too many institutions of higher education have simply sent their discrimination underground by renaming or reorganizing race-based initiatives and DEI offices.”

Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) is an example of one of the universities that has been accused of attempting to hide their DEI resources. 

In response to the accusations, a VUMC spokesperson told Fox News Digital at the time that it was undergoing “a thorough review” of its programs to figure out “where revisions may be required to remain in compliance, including updating information on websites and other public platforms.” 

However, today, offices such as the Office of Health Equity, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, and the Office for Diversity Affairs are seemingly still active, according to Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.

WATCHDOG GROUP EXPOSES RED STATE COLLEGE ADMINISTRATOR EXPLAINING ‘LOOPHOLE’ AROUND ANTI-DEI LAW

In response to the accusations of VUMC hiding its DEI resources, a spokesperson told Fox News Digital that it was undergoing “a thorough review” of its programs to figure out “where revisions may be required to remain in compliance.” (iStock)

The White House blasted some of the nation’s premier universities for “egregious illegal behavior,” after Harvard refused to comply with Trump administration demands related to ending their DEI programs. Amid Harvard’s refusal to comply, the administration revealed this week that it would freeze more than $2 billion in federal funding for the institution.

During a press briefing this week, when asked why federal funding was so available to premier Ivy League institutions like Harvard, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said it was a question President Donald Trump frequently ponders himself.

The White House blasted some of the nation’s premier universities for “egregious illegal behavior,” after Harvard refused to comply with Trump administration demands related to ending their DEI programs. (Getty Images | Fox News)

“It’s a question the president has obviously raised in his discussions,” Leavitt said. “I think a lot of Americans are wondering why their tax dollars are going to these universities when they are not only indoctrinating our nation’s students, but also allowing such egregious illegal behavior to occur.”

Perry told Fox News Digital that Defending Education will not stop looking for “discrimination” in higher education, in an effort to make the guarantee of a “colorblind education” for every American student a reality “once and for all.”

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Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment but did not hear back by time of publication.

Fox News Digital’s Diana Stancy contributed to this report.

Tax season is done. 

And this year, Congressional Republicans converted tax season to “sales” season. Republicans and President Donald Trump are pushing to approve a bill to reauthorize his 2017 tax cut package. Otherwise, those taxes expire later this year.

“We absolutely have to make the tax cuts permanent,” said Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Wis., on FOX Business.

“We’ve got to get the renewal of the President’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. That’s absolutely essential,” said Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., on FOX Business.

Rates for nearly every American spike if Congress doesn’t act within the next few months.

CONFIDENCE IN DEMOCRATS HITS ALL TIME LOW IN NEW POLL

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., talks with the media after the House passed the budget resolution on Thursday, April 10, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

“We are trying to avoid tax increases on the most vulnerable populations in our country,” said Rep. Beth Van Duyne, R-Texas, a member of the House Ways and Means Committee which determines tax policy. “I am trying to avoid a recession.”

If Congress stumbles, the non-partisan Tax Foundation estimates that a married couple with two children – earning $165,000 a year – is slapped with an extra $2,400 in taxes. A single parent with no kids making $75,000 annually could see a $1,700 upcharge on their tax bill. A single parent with two children bringing home $52,000 a year gets slapped with an additional $1,400 in taxes a year.

“Pretty significant. That’s an extra mortgage payment or extra rent payment,” said Daniel Bunn of the non-partisan Tax Foundation. “People have been kind of used to living with the policies that are currently in law for almost eight years now. And the shift back to the policy that was prior to the 2017 tax cuts would be a dramatic tax increase for many.”

But technically, Republicans aren’t cutting taxes.

“As simple as I can make this bill. It is about keeping tax rates the same,” said Sen. James Lankford, R-Oklahoma, on Fox.

Congress had to write the 2017 tax reduction bill in a way so that the reductions would expire this year. That was for accounting purposes. Congress didn’t have to count the tax cuts against the deficit thanks to some tricky number-crunching mechanisms – so long as they expired within a multi-year window. But the consequence was that taxes could climb if lawmakers failed to renew the old reductions.

“It sunsets and so you just automatically go back to the tax levels prior to 2017,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa.

A recent Fox News poll found that 45% of those surveyed – and 44% of independents believe the rich don’t pay enough taxes.

Democrats hope to turn outrage about the perceived tax disparity against Trump.

“He wants his billionaire buddies to get an even bigger tax break. Is that disgraceful?” asked Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., at a rally in New York.

“Disgrace!” shouted someone in the crowd.

“Disgraceful! Disgraceful!” followed up Schumer.

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., (R) speaks alongside Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., (L) to reporters during a news conference on the impacts of the Republican budget proposal at the U.S. Capitol on April 10, 2025 in Washington, DC.  (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)

Some Republicans are now exploring raising rates on the wealthy or corporations. There’s been chatter on Capitol Hill and in the administration about exploring an additional set of tax brackets.

“I don’t believe the president has made a determination on whether he supports it or not,” said White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt.

“We’re going to see where the President is” on this, said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent while traveling in Argentina. “Everything is on the table.”

A Treasury spokesperson then clarified Bessent’s remarks.

“What’s off the table is a $4.4 trillion tax increase on the American people,” said the spokesperson. “Additionally, corporate tax cuts will set off a manufacturing boom and rapidly grow the U.S. economy again.”

Top Congressional GOP leaders dismissed the idea.

“I’m not a big fan of doing that,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson on Fox. “I mean we’re the Republican party and we’re for tax reduction for everyone.”

FEDERAL JUDGE TEMPORARILY RESTRICTS DOGE ACCESS TO PERSONALIZED SOCIAL SECURITY DATA

“I don’t support that initiative,” said House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., on FOX Business, before adding “everything’s on the table.”

But if you’re President Donald Trump and the GOP, consider the politics of creating a new corporate tax rate or hiking taxes on the well-to-do. 

Sunrise light hits the U.S. Capitol dome on Thursday, January 2, 2025, as the 119th Congress is set to begin Friday. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

The president has expanded the GOP base. Republicans are no longer the party of the “wealthy.” Manual laborers, shop and storekeepers and small business persons now comprise Trump’s GOP. So maintaining these tax cuts helps with that working-class core. Raising taxes on the wealthy would help Republicans pay for the tax cuts and reduce the hit on the deficit. And it would shield Republicans from the Democrats’ argument that the tax cuts are for the rich.

Congress is now in the middle of a two-week recess for Passover and Easter. GOP lawmakers and staff are working behind the scenes to actually write the bill. No one knows exactly what will be in the bill. Trump promised no taxes on tips for food service workers. There is also talk of no taxes on overtime. 

WHITE HOUSE PHOTO BLUNTLY SHOWS WHERE PARTIES STAND ON IMMIGRATION AMID ABREGO GARCIA DEPORTATION

Republicans from high-tax states like New York and Pennsylvania want to see a reduction of “SALT.” That’s where taxpayers can write off “state and local taxes.” This provision is crucial to secure the support of Republicans like Reps. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., and Mike Lawler, R-N.Y. But including the SALT reduction also increases the deficit.

So what will the bill look like?

“Minor adjustments within that are naturally on the table,” said Rounds. “The key though, [is] 218 in the House and 51 in the Senate.”

In other words, it’s about the math. Republicans need to develop the right legislative brew which commands just the right amount of votes in both chambers to pass. That could mean including certain provisions – or dumping others. It’s challenging. Especially with the slim House majority.

People attend a press conference and rally in support of fair taxation near the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. on April 10, 2025.  (Bryan Dozier / Middle East Images / Middle East Images via AFP)

“There were trade-offs and offsets within that bill that many people are dissatisfied with,” said Bunn of the 2017 bill. “And it’s not clear how the package is going to come together with those various trade-offs.”

Johnson wants the bill complete by Memorial Day. Republicans know this enterprise can’t drag on too late into the year. Taxpayers would see a tax increase – even if it’s temporary – if working out the bill stretches into the fall when the IRS begins to prepare for the next tax season.

It’s also thought that finishing this sooner rather than later would provide some stability to the volatile stock markets. Establishing tax policy for next year would calm anxieties about the nation’s economic outlook.

“The big, beautiful bill,” Trump calls it, adding he wants the legislation done “soon.”

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And that’s why tax season is now sales season. Both to the lawmakers. And to the public.

The U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling early Saturday morning blocking, at least for now, the deportations of any Venezuelans held in northern Texas under an 18th century wartime law.

The justices instructed the Trump administration not to remove Venezuelans held in the Bluebonnet Detention Center “until further order of this court.”

Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito dissented from the majority opinion.

ACLU APPEALS TO SUPREME COURT TO STOP VENEZUELAN DEPORTATIONS; BOASBERG HOLDS EMERGENCY HEARING FRIDAY NIGHT

Venezuelan migrants repatriated from the U.S. gesture seen upon arrival at Simon Bolivar International Airport in Maiquetia, Venezuela, on April 4, 2025.  (JUAN BARRETO/AFP via Getty Images)

The court’s ruling comes after an emergency appeal from the American Civil Liberties Union arguing that federal immigration authorities appeared to be working to resume the removal of migrants from the U.S. under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.

Two federal judges earlier declined to step in and the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has not made any decision.

DEMOCRAT SENATOR VAN HOLLEN MEETS, SHAKES HANDS WITH ABREGO GARCIA

A Venezuelan migrant repatriated from the U.S. walks upon arrival at Simon Bolivar International Airport in Maiquetia, Venezuela, on April 4, 2025.  (JUAN BARRETO/AFP via Getty Images)

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The Alien Enemies Act has only been invoked three previous times in U.S. history, with the most recent being during World War II to hold Japanese-American civilians in internment camps.

The Trump administration claims the act gave them the authority to swiftly remove immigrants they accuse of being members of the Tren de Aragua gang, regardless of their immigration status.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is investigating how Harvard University uses taxpayer money as the school faces scrutiny on civil rights issues like antisemitism.

Committee Chairman James Comer and House Republican Leadership Chairwoman Elise Stefanik sent a letter to the university president, Dr. Alan M. Garber, Thursday afternoon, after the Trump administration halted $2.2 billion in funding to the school. The Department of Homeland Security is also scrapping $2.7 million in grants, and the IRS is weighing an end to the university’s tax-exempt status.

The goal is to ultimately decide “whether legislation is necessary to ensure that institutions of higher education receiving federal financial assistance are no longer able to violate the law while lucratively benefiting from the generosity of the American people.”

JOHN YOO SAYS HARVARD DOES NOT HAVE ‘RIGHT TO FEDERAL GRANTS’ AMID BATTLE WITH TRUMP ADMIN

A drone view shows anti-Israel protesters voluntarily packing up their encampment on the Yard at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., May 14, 2024.  (Reuters/Brian Snyder/TPX Images of the Day)

The committee is asking for “documents and communications” to investigate the issue.

“On April 11, 2025, officials from the General Services Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the U.S. Department of Education wrote to you with a proposed settlement agreement seeking to return Harvard into compliance with civil rights laws,” the letter states.

“Instead of working with the government, you wrote to the Harvard community claiming that efforts to comply with basic civil rights law obligations would ‘surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights,” it continues.

“Even as Harvard is apparently preparing to reject all federal financial assistance so it can avoid complying with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Harvard has received enormous sums from foreign sources, including from authoritarian governments,” the letter added.

HARVARD WON’T COMPLY WITH TRUMP ADMIN’S DEMANDS AMID THREATS OF CUTTING FEDERAL FUNDING

Rep. James Comer, R-Ken., chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, during a hearing in Washington, D.C., July 22, 2024.  (Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

On the possibility of the federal government ending the university’s tax-exempt status, the university told Fox News Thursday it has “no legal basis” to do so.

“The government has long exempted universities from taxes in order to support their educational mission. The tax exemption means that more of every dollar can go toward scholarships for students, lifesaving and life-enhancing medical research and technological advancements that drive economic growth,” a spokesperson said.

President Donald Trump has been a vocal critic of Harvard, saying its hires have been “almost all woke.”

TRUMP ADMIN PAUSES $1B FROM CORNELL, $790M FROM NORTHWESTERN AMID CIVIL RIGHTS INVESTIGATION: REPORT

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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“Harvard is a JOKE, teaches Hate and Stupidity, and should no longer receive Federal Funds,” Trump posted recently.

Antisemitism on American college campuses has become a major focus after anti-Israel protests hit a breaking point in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks. 

Harvard University said it’s reviewing the letter about the oversight investigation.

“Harvard is reviewing the committee’s inquiry, which — like the sdministration’s announcement of the freeze of $2.2 billion in grants and $60 million in contracts, scrutiny of foreign student visas, and consideration of revoking Harvard’s 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status — appears to be a direct response to the university’s commitment to uphold its independence and constitutional rights,” a spokesperson told Fox News Digital in a statement. 

“Harvard continues to comply with the law, and we have made significant strides in combating antisemitism on our campus, strengthening our policies, disciplining those who violate our policies, encouraging civil discourse and promoting open, respectful dialogue. 

“However, complying with the federal government’s demands, which are largely unrelated to combating antisemitism, would undermine our rights under the First Amendment and due process under Title VI and erode academic freedom. Such demands include changing Harvard’s governance structure, ‘reducing the power held by students and untenured faculty’ and submitting to external audits for viewpoint diversity. These demands go well beyond the requirements of federal law.”

President Donald Trump said that Kilmar Abrego Garcia holds an “unbelievably bad” record, following Sen. Chris Van Hollen’s, D-Md., visit to El Salvador to meet with the Maryland resident the Trump administration deported there. 

When asked if Trump encouraged other Democrats to visit Abrego Garcia in El Salvador, the president proceeded to blast the “fake” Democrats for not actually caring about Abrego Garcia, who entered the U.S. illegally from El Salvador in 2011 and that the Trump administration has asserted is a member of the MS-13 gang. 

“They’re all fake, and they have no interest in that prisoner,” Trump told reporters Friday at the White House following a swearing-in ceremony for Dr. Mehmet Oz to oversee Medicare and Medicaid services. “That prisoner’s record is unbelievably bad.”

KILMAR ABREGO-GARCIA SUSPECTED OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN REPORT OBTAINED BY FOX NEWS

From left: Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., President Donald Trump, Dr. Mehmet Oz and Oz’s wife, Lisa, appear at a swearing-in ceremony for Oz to be Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Friday.

The Trump administration deported Abrego Garcia, 29, to El Salvador in what it described in court filings as an “administrative error,” and has since said that it is up to El Salvador whether Abrego Garcia returns to the U.S. Meanwhile, a federal court and the Supreme Court have instructed the Trump administration to coordinate Garcia’s return so that proper deportation hearings can occur. 

The remarks come after the Justice Department unveiled documents on Wednesday detailing domestic violence allegations that Abrego Garcia’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez, included in a court filing in 2021. Vasquez alleged in the filing that Abrego Garcia beat her and that she had documentation of the bruises he left on her.

“At this point, I am afraid to be close to him,” she said, according to the filing. “I have multiple photos/videos of how violent he can be and all the bruises he (has) left me.”

TRUMP CALLS SEN. VAN HOLLEN A ‘FOOL’ AFTER MEETING WITH DEPORTED MS-13 SUSPECT IN EL SALVADOR

Kilmar Abrego Garcia meets with Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md. (X / @nayibbukele)

Additionally, a 2022 Homeland Security Investigations report obtained by Fox News claims that Abrego Garcia was suspected of partaking in labor and human trafficking. The report said that a Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper pulled Abrego Garcia over in 2022 after swerving. The patrol officer found eight other individuals in the car with Abrego Garcia, who had just begun driving three days prior. 

The officer originally believed the incident qualified as a human trafficking case because no luggage was found in the car, but the officer ultimately only wrote up Abrego Garcia for driving with an expired license. 

The report also identified Abrego Garcia as a member of MS-13, a designated terrorist organization under the Trump administration. 

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Kilmar Abrego Garcia was pulled over by the Tennessee Highway Patrol in 2022, according to a DHS report obtained by Fox News. (Department of Homeland Security)

“Abrego Garcia is a MS-13 gang member, illegal alien from El Salvador, and suspected human trafficker,” Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News. “The facts reveal he was pulled over with eight individuals in a car on an admitted three-day journey from Texas to Maryland with no luggage.” 

“The facts speak for themselves, and they reek of human trafficking,” McLaughlin added. 

Meanwhile, Trump has also condemned Van Hollen, a Democrat from Maryland, for even conducting the visit to El Salvador. 

“Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland looked like a fool yesterday standing in El Salvador begging for attention from the Fake News Media, or anyone. GRANDSTANDER!!!” Trump wrote Friday on his Truth Social account. 

Fox News’ David Spunt, Rachel Wolf and Greg Norman contributed to this report. 

President Trump on Friday said that career government employees working on policy matters for the administration will be reclassified “Schedule Policy/Career,” – or at will employees – and will be fired if they don’t adhere to his agenda.

“Following my Day One Executive Order, the Office of Personnel Management will be issuing new Civil Service Regulations for career government employees,” the president wrote on Truth Social Friday afternoon. 

He added, “Moving forward, career government employees, working on policy matters, will be classified as ‘Schedule Policy/Career,’ and will be held to the highest standards of conduct and performance.”

This comes as the Trump administration continues to fire federal employees in an effort to shrink the government. 

FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERS HALT TO TRUMP ADMIN’S CFPB TERMINATIONS

President Trump on Friday said that career government employees working on policy matters for the administration will be reclassified “Schedule Policy/Career,” – or at will employees – and will be fired if they don’t adhere to his agenda. ( Win McNamee/Getty Images))

The administration’s Office of Personnel Management (OPM) estimated the rule change in Trump’s executive order “Restoring Accountability to Policy-Influencing Positions Within the Federal Workforce” would affect around 50,000 employees or 2% of the federal workforce, the White House said in a Friday memo. 

The regulations for civil service employees “with important policy-determining, policy-making, policy-advocating, or confidential duties” will now be considered “at-will” employees, “without access to cumbersome adverse action procedures or appeals, overturning Biden Administration regulations that protected poor performing employees.” 

Protesters rally outside of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management in February in support of federal workers.  (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Trump added in his post: “If these government workers refuse to advance the policy interests of the President, or are engaging in corrupt behavior, they should no longer have a job. This is common sense, and will allow the federal government to finally be ‘run like a business.’ We must root out corruption and implement accountability in our Federal Workforce!” 

SUPREME COURT RULES ON STATUS OF TENS OF THOUSANDS OF FIRED PROBATIONARY EMPLOYEES

The White House said the “rule empowers federal agencies to swiftly remove employees in policy-influencing roles for poor performance, misconduct, corruption, or subversion of Presidential directives, without lengthy procedural hurdles.”

The employees aren’t required to personally support the president, but “must faithfully implement the law and the administration’s policies.”

Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has been working to shrink the government by firing federal workers.  (BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)

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The proposed rule won’t change the status of affected employees’ jobs until another executive order is issued, the White House said. 

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., says the margaritas were fake. The outrage, he says, is real.

Returning from a highly publicized trip to El Salvador to meet with deported illegal immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia, Van Hollen addressed reporters Thursday after landing at Dulles International Airport in Virginia. He attempted to set the record straight on what’s now being dubbed “margarita-gate,” a viral photo posted by Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele that appeared to show the senator and Garcia sitting casually at a table with two salt-rimmed drinks.

“Let me just be very clear,” Van Hollen said. “Neither of us touched the drinks that were in front of us. And if you want to play a little Sherlock Holmes, I’ll tell you how you can know that. … If you sip out of one of those glasses, some of whatever it was — salt or sugar — would disappear. You would see a gap. There’s no gap.

“Nobody drank any margaritas or sugar water or whatever it is.”

KILMAR ABREGO GARCIA SUSPECTED OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN REPORT OBTAINED BY FOX NEWS

Van Hollen claimed the glasses were placed after the meeting began as a staged photo-op, adding that earlier footage shows the table without drinks. Van Hollen accused both El Salvador President Nayib Bukele and the Trump administration of trying to distract from what he described as a constitutional crisis.

“This is a lesson into the lengths that President Bukele will do to deceive people,” Van Hollen said. “And it also shows the lengths that the Trump administration and the president will go to, because when he was asked by a reporter about this, he just went along for the ride.”

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, left, meets with Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., in El Salvador Thursday. (X/@nayibbukele)

Trump had his own take, posting on Truth Social Friday, “Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland looked like a fool yesterday standing in El Salvador begging for attention from the Fake News Media, or anyone. GRANDSTANDER!!!”

The controversy stems from the case of Garcia, a 29-year-old Salvadoran national deported from Maryland last month and placed in the country’s notorious CECOT prison. 

WHITE HOUSE PHOTO BLUNTLY SHOWS WHERE PARTIES STAND ON IMMIGRATION AMID ABREGO GARCIA DEPORTATION

Federal officials have called the deportation an “administrative error” in court. Van Hollen and other Democrats have since argued it violated Garcia’s constitutional right to due process.

But the Trump administration has pushed back, pointing to Garcia’s alleged domestic abuse, gang ties and suspected involvement in human trafficking. 

A 2022 Homeland Security Investigations report identified Garcia as a member of MS-13 and a suspected human trafficker. A 2021 domestic violence filing, written by his wife, Jennifer Vasquez, claimed, “I have multiple photos/videos of how violent he can be and all the bruises he [has] left me.”

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., holds a news conference Friday at Dulles International Airport in Virginia after his visit to El Salvador to meet with deported Maryland illegal immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia. (Pool)

Despite these reports, Van Hollen insists no evidence has been presented in court and that the removal was unlawful. He cited rulings by a federal district court and the U.S. Supreme Court ordering Garcia’s return.

“The government in this case, the Trump administration, is asserting a right to stash away residents of this country in foreign prisons without the semblance of due process,” Van Hollen said, quoting a recent Fourth Circuit decision. “That is the foundation of our constitutional order.”

He added that Judge Paula Xinis, the federal judge who first reviewed the case, found the administration “offered no evidence linking Abrego Garcia to MS-13 or any terrorist activity.”

Kilmar Abrego Garcia, left, meets with Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., in El Salvador on Thursday. (Reuters)

Trump, however, fiercely defended the deportation. In a post on Truth Social and X, he said the Democrats were demanding the return of someone with gang ties and a history of violence, while holding a photo allegedly showing Garcia’s fist with MS-13 gang signs tattooed onto his knuckles.

In his post, President Trump wrote: “This is the hand of the man that the Democrats feel should be brought back to the United States, because he is such ‘a fine and innocent person.’ They said he is not a member of MS-13, even though he’s got MS-13 tattooed onto his knuckles, and two Highly Respected Courts found that he was a member of MS-13, beat up his wife, etc. I was elected to take bad people out of the United States, among other things. I must be allowed to do my job. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

Van Hollen traveled to El Salvador this week after the Salvadoran government initially denied him access to Garcia. After press coverage, he said, officials arranged a meeting at a hotel, which was filmed. He said Salvadoran soldiers had previously stopped him from approaching the prison and that he was surprised by the last-minute permission to meet.

He also revealed that the U.S. had committed $15 million to El Salvador to support detention operations and said over $4 million had already been paid. Van Hollen claimed this funding was unauthorized and pledged to oppose future appropriations.

“I won’t support the use of one penny of taxpayer dollars to keep Abrego Garcia illegally detained in El Salvador,” he said.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., holds a news conference Friday at Dulles International Airport in Virginia following his visit to El Salvador this week to meet with deported Maryland illegal immigrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia. (Pool)

Critics, including Republicans and Trump allies, have questioned why Van Hollen would travel abroad to advocate for someone with alleged gang ties and a record of domestic abuse while remaining silent on victims like Rachel Morin, a Maryland woman murdered by an illegal immigrant in 2023.

The White House drew a sharp contrast, posting side-by-side photos of Trump meeting with Morin’s mother and Van Hollen meeting with Abrego Garcia. The caption: “We are not the same.”

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Asked about the comparison, Van Hollen said his “heart breaks” for Morin’s family but defended his actions as grounded in the Constitution.

“The reason we have courts of law is to punish the guilty, but also to make sure that those who have not committed crimes are not found guilty and arbitrarily detained,” he said.

Fox News’ Rachel Wolf, David Spunt, Greg Norman, Greg Wehner, and Bill Mears contributed to this report.

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…

-Gabbard announces RFK files released months after Trump’s order: ‘Light on the truth’

-Top Dem asks Noem how TSA will prevent ‘major disruptions’ as many travelers still lack REAL ID

-Biden’s vax-focused COVID-19 website obliterated by White House, replaced with ‘true origins’ virus guide

‘We are not the same’

The White House released a splitscreen image overnight to underscore the stark contrast between where Republicans and Democrats stand on illegal immigration.

One image featured distraught Angel Mom Patty Morin being comforted by President Trump in the Oval Office. Morin’s daughter, Rachel Morin, was savagely beaten, raped and killed in Maryland by an illegal migrant from El Salvador in 2023. 

The other image showed Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., sitting and talking with deported illegal alien Kilmar Abrego Garcia, 29, in El Salvador…Read more

The White House released a splitscreen image overnight to underscore the stark contrast between where Republicans and Democrats stand on illegal immigration.  (The White House, Sen. Van Hollen via X)

Abrego Garcia 

HOMELAND SECURITY REPORT: Kilmar Abrego Garcia suspected of human, labor trafficking in Homeland Security report

‘LOOKED LIKE A FOOL’: Trump calls Sen. Van Hollen a ‘fool’ after meeting with deported MS-13 suspect in El Salvador

White House

POLL POSITION: How Trump’s approval rating compares to his presidential predecessors

PUT THAT ON HOLD: Federal judge bucks Trump admin, delays dismissal of of MS-13 leader’s case

CROWN OF THORNS: LGBTQ Christians crusade against Trump’s religiously ‘hostile’ policies during Holy Week

A group of LGBTQ+ Christian leaders gathered outside the U.S. Capitol to reject President Donald Trump’s “anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, with one religious leader telling Fox News Digital the Trump administration is “the most hostile administration to religion in recent memory.” (Fox News Digital)

‘BIG HONOR’: Trump announces a conservative media star, a GOP governor, and others for Homeland Security Advisory Council

CENTURY-OLD LAW: When did the US stop keeping up with the Joneses? The maritime law at the crux of US shipbuilding

‘YOU WANT PEOPLE TO BUY’: Trump says US ‘talking to China end may be in sight amid tariff hikes

World Stage

‘NEVER ALONE’: Huckabee visits iconic holy site in Israel, delivers Trump’s prayer for peace

HAMAS CASH CRISIS: Hamas terror group reportedly buckling under financial strain amid Israeli military gains and growing unrest

Palestinian Hamas militants gather at the site of the handing over of the bodies of four Israeli hostages in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza on February 20, 2025.  (Photo by EYAD BABA/AFP via Getty Images)

‘UNACCEPTABLE’: Chinese firm aiding Houthi attacks on US vessels, as airstrikes kill 74

HOLY WEEK OUTREACH: Pope Francis visits Rome prison during Holy Week

‘MOVE ON’: Rubio says US ready to ‘move on’ within days if no progress on Russia-Ukraine peace deal

Capitol Hill

DEMOCRATS IN DISARRAY: Confidence in Congressional Democrats hits all time low in new poll

The New York Times Editorial Board accused the Democratic Party’ of being in “denial’ over why it lost in 2024.  (Getty Images)

PINK ALERT: Top GOP senator calls out Code Pink, The People’s Forum allegedly pushing CCP propaganda in US

Across America 

UNMASKED: Anti-Israel agitator charged in violent hate crime attack on two Jewish college students

GLOVES ARE OFF: Top GOP lawmaker, Hochul trade barbs amid speculation Trump ally is jumping in gubernatorial race

‘SAFER TODAY’: ICE arrests over 200 illegal aliens in New York City’s ‘most crime-infested neighborhoods’

GATHERING INFO: ICE and DOGE seek sensitive data in crackdown on illegal immigration, waste: report

ICE agents in Los Angeles are frustrated with sanctuary city policies. (Fox News)

UNHEALTHY: HHS probing hospital over firing of nurse who blew whistle on minors getting gender treatments

‘WIDE FISSURE’: Federal judge temporarily restricts DOGE access to personalized Social Security data

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

The American Civil Liberties Union appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday, asking for an emergency injunction against the Trump administration from deporting Venezuelan nationals held in Texas back to South America under the rarely used Alien Enemies Act. 

The Supreme Court previously ruled there are restrictions on how the government can use the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, including that those targeted under it are entitled to a hearing before being deported. 

Hours before appealing to the Supreme Court on Friday, the ACLU had asked two federal judges for an injunction on the deportations. 

One of the judges, James E. Boasberg, scheduled a Friday evening hearing over the request. 

SENATOR CALLS FOR PROBE INTO JUDGE BOASBERG AFTER DEPORTATION CLASH

The American Civil Liberties Union appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday, asking for an emergency injunction against the Trump administration from deporting Venezuelan nationals held in Texas back to South America under the rarely used Alien Enemies Act.  (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Boasberg, who originally ruled on the Alien Enemies Act, previously found probable cause that the Trump administration committed criminal contempt in disobeying his ruling on the deportations. 

The Supreme Court then ruled that only judges in the areas from where migrants are set to be deported have jurisdiction over their cases. 

Boasberg is in Washington, D.C. 

Judges in Colorado, New York and south Texas have temporarily halted deportations in those areas, but there’s no ban for the Venezuelan nationals facing possible deportation from the Bluebonnet Detention Center in northern Texas. 

TRUMP REVEALS THE ONLY DETAIL HE HASN’T DECIDED IN HIS SELF-DEPORTATION PROGRAM

The ACLU has called for a deportation ban on two Venezuelans being held at the center2, saying the administration is accusing them of being members of the Tren de Aragua gang, and any immigrants in the region. 

President Trump on Friday also commented on the case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national who had been living in Maryland and had protections against deportation, who was mistakenly deported to a prison in the county last month. 

Bluebonnet Detention Facility, where Venezuelan men are currently being detained, in Anson, Texas.  (Charles Reed/U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement/Handout via Reuters)

“This is the hand of the man that the Democrats feel should be brought back to the United States, because he is such ‘a fine and innocent person,’” Trump wrote on Truth Social with a picture of him holding a photo that shows tattoos on Garcia’s knuckles. The photo says the symbols on Garcia’s knuckles spell out MS-13. 

A photo of Kilmar Abrego Garcia.  (Fox news)

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“This is the hand of the man that the Democrats feel should be brought back to the United States, because he is such ‘a fine and innocent person,’” Trump wrote on Truth Social with a picture of him holding a photo that shows tattoos on Garcia’s knuckles. The photo says the symbols on Garcia’s knuckles spell out MS-13.  (President Trump/Truth Social)

He continued: “They said he is not a member of MS-13, even though he’s got MS-13 tattooed onto his knuckles, and two Highly Respected Courts found that he was a member of MS-13, beat up his wife, etc. I was elected to take bad people out of the United States, among other things. I must be allowed to do my job. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.