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President Donald Trump has decided to remove security clearances for several Democrats, including former Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, and New York Attorney General Letitia James, both of whom are vocal Trump critics. 

Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Biden’s Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, and attorneys Andrew Weissmann, Mark Zaid and Norm Eisen.

The move comes a day after Trump stripped his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, of his security clearance and his access to presidential daily briefs. 

Security clearances have been revoked for Antony Blinken, Letitia James and Alvin Bragg. (Getty)

“There is no need for Joe Biden to continue receiving access to classified information,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social Friday night.

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He added the precedent was set by Biden himself.

“He set this precedent in 2021, when he instructed the Intelligence Community (IC) to stop the 45th President of the United States (ME!) from accessing details on National Security, a courtesy provided to former Presidents,” Trump wrote.

Alexandra Koch contributed to this report. 

Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have been told to remove words frequently associated with progressive gender ideology from research manuscripts that they intend to publish.

A screenshot of a leaked internal email sent out to CDC staff, obtained by the newsletter Inside Medicine, showed a list of terms and phrases that must be removed from scientific manuscripts produced by the agency’s researchers and intended for publication. 

Those terms included: “gender,” “transgender,” “pregnant person,” “pregnant people,” “LGBT,” “transsexual,” “non-binary,” “nonbinary,” “assigned male at birth,” “assigned female at birth,” “biologically male” and “biologically female.” According to the Washington Post, the list includes about 20 terms. They indicated that the directive also ordered the removal of any use of “they/them.” 

LGBT ACTIVISTS MOBILIZE TO CHALLENGE TRUMP’S ‘EXTREME GENDER IDEOLOGY’ EXECUTIVE ORDERS

The rule affects manuscripts under review, as well as those accepted but not yet published, no matter whether they are intended for internal circulation only or circulation outside the CDC.

A CDC spokesperson told Fox News Digital that “All changes to HHS and HHS division websites/manuscripts are in accordance with President Trump’s January 20 Executive Orders.”

After taking office last month, President Donald Trump signed a slew of Day One executive orders, including one that attempts to root out “gender ideology extremism” and restore “biological truth” to the federal government. Meanwhile, in line with that order, the Trump administration’s Office of Personnel Management issued a memo a little over a week later calling on all federal agencies to “take prompt actions to end all agency programs that use taxpayer money to promote or reflect gender ideology.”

FEDS SPENT MILLIONS STUDYING TRANS MENSTRUATION, STRENGTHENING GAY RIGHTS IN THE BALKANS, DATABASE REVEALS

LGBT advocates and medical organizations sued the Trump administration over his executive order barring federal funds from going toward transgender surgeries for those under the age of 19. (Getty Images)

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In addition to the terms, CDC web pages titled “Supporting LGBTQ+ Youth | Adolescent and School Health” and “April 18 is National Transgender HIV Testing Day” have also been removed.

The removal of the terms may make it hard to read surveys and research that utilizes them as demographic identifiers, The Post reported. 

“If you are trying to optimize society, you can’t just pretend some people aren’t in it,” executive director of the National LGBTQI+ Cancer Network, Scout, who legally goes by only one name, told The Post.

President Donald Trump has tasked SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk with scrutinizing wasteful spending at the Department of Education and the Pentagon through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Musk is leading.

DOGE is tasked with eliminating government spending and waste and streamlining operations and is expected to influence White House policy on budget matters.

“I’ve instructed him to go check out Education, to check out the Pentagon … and, sadly, you’ll find some things that are pretty bad. But I don’t think, proportionally, you’re going to see anything like we just saw,” Trump told reporters Friday about his plans for Musk during a press conference while hosting Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. 

USAID STAFFERS STUNNED, ANGERED BY TRUMP ADMIN’S DOGE SHUTDOWN OF $40B AGENCY

Elon Musk, pictured here, is leading the Department of Government Efficiency. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

On Monday, Trump and DOGE launched an effort to shutter the U.S. Agency for International Development, a group that works to deliver aid to impoverished countries and development assistance. 

The group has come under scrutiny from DOGE, and, in an X audio message, Musk said Sunday he was “in the process” of “shutting down USAID” for corrupt spending and that Trump reportedly agreed. 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, now acting director of the independent agency, said Monday that USAID was not “functioning” and that the organization isn’t a “global charity.” 

“It needs to be aligned with the national interest of the U.S.,” Rubio said. “They’re not a global charity. These are taxpayer dollars. People are asking simple questions. What are they doing with the money? 

“We are spending taxpayers’ money,” he said. “We owe the taxpayers assurances that it furthers our national interest.”

WHAT IS USAID AND WHY IS IT IN TRUMP’S CROSSHAIRS?

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said USAID was not “functioning” and that the organization isn’t a “global charity.”  (Mark Schiefelbein/The Associated Press)

DOGE has been tasked with cutting $2 trillion from the federal government’s budget through efforts to slash spending, government programs and the federal workforce.

Musk has faced some backlash for his interference in governmental affairs thus far. For example, Senate Democrats have accused DOGE of conducting a “hostile takeover” after reports emerged Musk had access to the Treasury Department’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service’s central payment systems. 

The Department of Education and the Department of Defense have some of the largest budgets of government agencies. For fiscal year 2024, the Department of Education received a budget of $79.1 billion, while the Department of Defense received a budget of $841.4 billion, according to government documents. 

Meanwhile, Trump has signaled he’s seeking to eliminate the Department of Education through an executive order. 

Even so, Congress would need to pass legislation to completely disband an agency under Article II of the Constitution. 

MUSK’S DOGE TAKES AIM AT ‘VIPER’S NEST’ FEDERAL AGENCY WITH GLOBAL FOOTPRINT

President Donald Trump has tapped Linda McMahon, former administrator of the Small Business Administration, to lead the Department of Education. (Mike Segar/Reuters )

Trump told reporters Tuesday that while he has tapped Linda McMahon, former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), to lead the Department of Education, he wants her to eventually lose her job. 

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“What I want to do is let the states run schools,” Trump said. “I believe strongly in school choice. But in addition to that, I want the states to run schools, and I want Linda to put herself out of a job.”

Fox News’ Stephen Sorace and Emma Colton contributed to this report. 

Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) chief Elon Musk’s efforts to clean up waste and fraud in the federal government will soon shift its focus to the Social Security Administration (SSA) in a move likely to create a firestorm with Democrats.

The SSA, created by the Social Security Act under President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1935 and tasked with establishing a federal benefits system for older Americans, will soon become a focus of DOGE, according to a report from Semafor that was not denied by the White House when contacted by Fox News Digital.

While several Democrats — including Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., in a post on X — have been quick to accuse this move as being aimed at slashing Social Security benefits for the elderly, several areas with potential waste exist in the agency that don’t involve cutting current benefits. 

Just Facts, a nonprofit research institute, previously reported that the agency disbursed roughly $2 billion in fraudulent or improper payments in 2022, which it calculated was enough “to pay 89,947 retired workers the average annual old-age benefit of $21,924 for 2023.”

‘DISTURBING’: WHISTLEBLOWER FUMES AT BIDEN-ERA AGENCY PROMOTING DEI PROGRAM AS DEPARTMENT’S ‘MISSION’

Elon Musk’s DOGE efforts are set to focus on Social Security. (Getty Images)

Just Facts explained that through a policy known as “administrative finality,” once the “SSA mistakenly overpays a beneficiary for more than four years, it does not recover past overpayments and deliberately continues to make future overpayments excepting cases of fraud.”

The SSA sent roughly 7,000 federal employees disability benefits in 2008 while they were still taking wages from federal jobs, according to a 2010 report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

The GAO estimated that about 1,500 of those individuals “may have improperly received benefits” since their wages went beyond maximum income thresholds. The GAO investigation also found that over 71,000 “stimulus checks” were sent by the Obama administration to people who were deceased, including 63,481 people whose deaths had been previously reported to the agency.

MEET THE YOUNG TEAM OF SOFTWARE ENGINEERS SLASHING GOVERNMENT WASTE AT DOGE: REPORT

Musk’s team has moved to slash USAID’s $40 billion spending budget. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

“Social Security will not be touched, it will only be strengthened,” President Donald Trump said during a press conference on Friday. “We have illegal immigrants on Social Security and we’re going to find out who they are and take them out.”

Trump added, “We’re going to strengthen our Social Security, etc. We’re not going to touch it other than to make it stronger. But we have people that shouldn’t be on, and those people we have to weed out, most of them, or many of them, so far, have been illegal immigrants.”

On Friday afternoon, White House Principal Deputy Communications Director Alex Pfeiffer posted a report on X from the Center for Immigration Studies in 2021 that said, “We estimate that there are 2.65 million illegal immigrants with Social Security numbers.”

Trump added that DOGE will go through “everything” when it comes to waste and fraud in the federal government.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, a spokesperson for the SSA said, “We remain focused and vigilant on the integrity of our programs and take seriously our responsibilities to deter fraud, waste, and abuse.”

The Social Security Administration was created by the Social Security Act under President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1935. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)

DOGE has dominated news headlines over the past week as Musk’s team has moved to slash USAID’s $40 billion spending budget and put on leave the vast majority of its employees, as photos of the sign at the door of the agency’s Washington, D.C., headquarters being taken down have circulated on social media.

Musk has said that both he and Trump “agreed” that the agency should be “shut down.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has been named acting director of the independent agency, on Monday echoed the sentiment, telling reporters, “USAID is not functioning.”

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“It needs to be aligned with the national interest of the U.S. They’re not a global charity, these are taxpayer dollars. People are asking simple questions. What are they doing with the money?” Rubio continued. “We are spending taxpayers’ money. We owe the taxpayers assurances that it furthers our national interest.”

Democrats held a rally outside the Treasury Department earlier this week blasting the DOGE efforts as a threat to democracy. 

“Elon Musk is a Nazi nepo baby, a godless lawless billionaire, who no one elected,” Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., said at a rally, sparking pushback from conservatives on social media.

“Elon, this is the American people. This is not your trashy Cybertruck that you can just dismantle, pick apart, and sell the pieces of.”

Fox News Digital’s Stephen Sorace contributed to this report.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has taken a satirical jab at President Donald Trump’s effort to rename the Gulf of Mexico and annex Greenland. 

A straight-faced Pritzker released a choreographed video on Friday, with fake camera shutter clicks going off in the background, where he asserts that he is renaming Lake Michigan to “Lake Illinois,” poking fun at Trump’s recent executive order where he changed the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America.

Pritzker trolls Trump by sarcastically renaming Lake Michigan as “Lake Illinois,” jokes about annexing Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Vincent Alban/Getty Images, left, Stephen Maturen/Getty Images, right.)

PRITZKER BASHES TRUMP ORDER ON BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP: ‘WE WILL NOT FOLLOW AN UNCONSTITUTIONAL ORDER’

“The world’s finest geographers, experts who study the Earth’s natural environment, have concluded a decades-long council and determined that a great lake deserves to be named after a great state,” Pritzker said. 

“So today, I’m issuing a proclamation declaring that hereinafter, Lake Michigan shall be known as Lake Illinois. The proclamation has been forwarded to Google to ensure the world’s maps reflect this momentous change.”

Trump signed Executive Order 14172 on his first day back in office which changed the name of the ocean basin. The order also renamed the highest peak in North America to “Mount McKinley,” reversing the 2015 decision to call it by its centuries-old name Denali.

Google has said it will make Trump’s changes once the Department of the Interior updates the Geographic Names Information System. As of today, Google Maps still refers to it as the Gulf of Mexico.

In the video, Pritzker then switches his attention to Green Bay, a Wisconsin city near Lake Michigan. And just like how Trump vowed to take over Greenland from Denmark, Pritzker pledged to snap up Green Bay from The Badger State.  

“In addition, the recent announcement that to protect the homeland, the United States will be purchasing Greenland… Illinois will now be annexing Green Bay to protect itself against enemies, foreign and domestic,” Pritzker said. 

In the video, Pritzker jokingly pledged to annex Green Bay from Wisconsin.   (@JBPritzker)

TRUDEAU SAYS TRUMP IS SERIOUS ABOUT CANADA BECOMING 51ST STATE: REPORTS

“I’ve also instructed my team to work diligently to prepare for an important announcement next week regarding the Mississippi River.”

“God bless America and bear down,” Pritzker said, a nod to Wisconsin’s Green Bay Packers, one of Chicago Bears’ biggest rivals.

The video comes on the heels of a Justice Department lawsuit filed against the state of Illinois and the city of Chicago for allegedly interfering with federal immigration enforcement with its sanctuary polices.

The lawsuit claims that several state and local laws are designed to interfere with the federal government’s enforcement of federal immigration law in violation of the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution.

Trump signed Executive Order 14172 on his first day back in office, which changed the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. (REUTERS/Carlos Barria)

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Pritzker and Trump have also clashed over Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship, with Pritzker declaring the move unconstitutional. 

Trump’s order, “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship,” asserts that the 14th Amendment of the Constitution does not automatically confer American citizenship to individuals who are born within the United States. 

They also feuded during Trump’s first term in office when Pritzker claimed the state only recovered a quarter of its requested personal protective equipment from the federal government.

One of the attorneys representing anonymous FBI agents suing the Department of Justice to block the public identification of agents who investigated Jan. 6 is a longtime anti-Trump lawyer who worked with House Democrats on President Donald Trump’s first impeachment. 

Norm Eisen is an attorney, CNN legal analyst and expert at the Brookings Institution public policy think tank who previously served as the U.S.’ ambassador to the Czech Republic and special counsel for ethics and government reform under the Obama administration, when he earned the nicknames “Dr. No” and “The Fun Sponge” for reportedly ensuring the administration abide by ethics rules. 

Eisen appeared in court on Thursday for a hearing before U.S. District Judge Jia M. Cobb involving a pair of lawsuits filed by two groups of FBI agents who investigated the Jan. 6 breach of the Capitol Building as well as former special counsel Jack Smith’s investigations and cases against Trump. 

Eisen serves as executive chair of State Democracy Defenders Fund, which filed a lawsuit Tuesday on behalf of the FBI agents who investigated Trump-related cases. State Democracy Defenders Fund is a nonprofit that bills itself as focused on defeating “election sabotage” and “autocracy in 2025 — and beyond.”

FBI AGENTS SUE TRUMP DOJ TO BLOCK ANY PUBLIC IDENTIFICATION OF EMPLOYEES WHO WORKED ON JAN. 6 INVESTIGATIONS

Norm Eisen is an attorney, CNN legal analyst and expert at the Brookings Institution public policy think tank who previously served as the U.S.’ ambassador to the Czech Republic.  (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

“Credible reports indicate the FBI has been directed to systematically terminate all Bureau employees who had any involvement in investigations related to President Trump, and that Trump’s allies in the DOJ are planning to publicly disseminate the names of those employees they plan to terminate,” State Democracy Defenders Fund wrote in its press release of the emergency order to block the public release of FBI personnel names involved in the Jan. 6 investigation. 

Fox News Digital took a look back on Eisen’s rhetoric and actions across the past few years and found that he has repeatedly been at the forefront of the legal cases against Trump, notably serving as co-counsel for the House Judiciary Committee during the first impeachment of Trump beginning in 2019. 

FBI AGENTS GROUP TELLS CONGRESS TO TAKE URGENT ACTION TO PROTECT AGAINST POLITICIZATION

House Democrats tapped Eisen — who early in his career specialized in financial fraud litigation and investigations — to help lead the first impeachment against the 45th president, which accused Trump of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress related to allegedly seeking foreign interference from Ukraine to boost his re-election efforts in 2020. The House adopted two articles of impeachment against Trump, but the Senate ultimately voted to acquit him. 

Norm Eisen served as special counsel for ethics and government reform under the administration of former President Barack Obama.  (Melina Mara/Getty Images)

Eisen revealed following the impeachment effort that he initially drafted 10 articles of impeachment against Trump, not just two, which would have included issues such as “hush money” payments to former porn star Stormy Daniels. Although the payments were not included in the impeachment articles, they were a focal point of the Manhattan v. Trump trial that found Trump guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in May 2024. 

FBI AGENTS DETAIL J6 ROLE IN EXHAUSTIVE QUESTIONNAIRE EMPLOYEES ‘WERE INSTRUCTED TO FILL OUT’

“This was only the third impeachment trial of a president in American history, so it’s remarkable that we even got those two,” Eisen said in an NPR interview in 2020. “I will tell you that those two articles are a microcosm of all 10 of the impeachment articles that we drafted. They have features of all 10.” 

Eisen told Fox News Digital, when asked about his history of anti-Trump cases, that he was initially open to working with the first Trump administration, but that the president, “turned against the Constitution.”

“I was initially open to Trump and even advised his first presidential transition,” Eisen told Fox Digital in an emailed comment on Friday. “But he turned against the Constitution and laws.”

“In his first administration and now, he was and is using the presidency to break the law and to help himself and his cronies like Elon Musk — not the American people,” he continued. “To ensure the integrity of our democracy, I am pushing back through the bipartisan institutions I work with such as State Democracy Defenders Fund, which has strong conservative representation on our board.” 

Fox News Digital took a look back on Norm Eisen’s rhetoric and actions across the past few years and found that he has repeatedly been at the forefront of the legal cases against President Donald Trump, pictured here. (Getty Images)

Eisen is the co-founder of the nonprofit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which made waves in 2023 and 2024 when it helped to initiate a Colorado court case to remove Trump from the primary ballot in the state, The New York Times reported.  

The lawsuit, which ultimately landed in the Supreme Court, argued that Trump should be deemed ineligible from holding political office under a Civil War-era insurrection clause and that his name should thus be barred from appearing on the 2024 ballot. The group said that Trump’s actions on Jan. 6, 2021, when supporters breached the U.S. Capitol, violated a clause in the 14th Amendment that prevents officers of the United States, members of Congress or state legislatures who “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the Constitution from holding political office.

Other states made similar legal claims to remove Trump, but each of the nine Supreme Court justices ruled in Trump’s favor in a decision released last March, ending the Colorado case and all others that were similar. 

DOJ DIRECTS FBI TO FIRE 8 TOP OFFICIALS, IDENTIFY EMPLOYEES INVOLVED IN JAN. 6, HAMAS CASES FOR REVIEW

The State Democracy Defenders Action, co-founded by Norm Eisen, center, has been involved with other Trump-involved court cases, including in the Manhattan v. Trump case. (Getty Images)

The State Democracy Defenders Action, which Eisen co-founded, has also been involved with other Trump-involved court cases, including in the Manhattan v. Trump case. The group helped file an amicus brief in February, advocating that presiding Judge Juan Merchan sentence Trump just days ahead of his inauguration. Trump was ultimately sentenced to unconditional discharge, meaning he faces no fines or jail time. 

​​Trump was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in the Manhattan case in May 2024. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office worked to prove that Trump had falsified business records to conceal a $130,000 payment to former porn star, Stormy Daniels, ahead of the 2016 election to quiet her claims of an alleged affair with Trump in 2006.

Eisen also founded another group, the States United Democracy Center, which filed an amicus brief in 2024 in Fulton County, Georgia, court, advocating that District Attorney Fani Willis’ racketeering case against Trump not be dismissed. 

ANTI-TRUMP FBI AGENT RESPONSIBLE FOR OPENING JACK SMITH ELECTOR CASE AGAINST PRESIDENT: WHISTLEBLOWER

The Georgia Court of Appeals ruled in December 2024 that Willis and her office are barred from prosecuting the case. The case worked to prove that Trump had led a “criminal racketeering enterprise” to change the outcome of the 2020 election in Georgia. Trump has maintained his innocence in that case, as well as the other federal and state charges brought against him between the 2020 and 2024 election, slamming them as Democrat lawfare. 

Eisen, in his capacity as executive chair and founder of State Democracy Defenders Fund, also sent a letter to Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and ranking Committee Member Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. on Monday to speak out against Kash Patel’s nomination as director of the FBI under the second Trump administration. Eisen said he had ethics concerns surrounding Patel’s previous work in Qatar. 

President Donald ​​Trump was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in the Manhattan case in May 2024. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

MAJOR FBI CHANGES KASH PATEL COULD MAKE ON DAY 1 IF CONFIRMED AS DIRECTOR

The FBI lawsuits followed acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove sending a memo to acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll in late January, directing him to fire eight FBI employees who worked on the Jan. 6 investigation, as well as a terror case related to Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack against Israel. The memo also informed the acting director to identify all current and former FBI personnel who took part in the case. 

Democratic counsel Norm Eisen speaks with Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y. (Getty Images)

The memo’s directive to identify those involved in the case sparked the two FBI lawsuits filed Tuesday, which seek to stop the collection of names and their public release. 

“The individuals being targeted have served in law enforcement for decades, often putting their lives on the line for the citizens of this country,” Eisen said in a statement provided in State Democracy Defenders Fund’s press release announcing it filed an emergency order on behalf of the FBI agents. “Their rights and privacy must be preserved.”

The judge temporarily barred the Trump DOJ on Thursday from disclosing information on the agents until she hears arguments and determines whether to issue a temporary restraining order. 

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Fox News Digital’s Breanne Deppisch and Brooke Singman contributed to this report. 

President Donald Trump has for weeks suggested that Canada become the United States’ 51st state, and while opinion has been divided about whether Trump is serious or merely trolling its neighbor, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has reportedly said that it’s the former, according to reports.

In a closed-door meeting with Canadian business and labor leaders, Trudeau reportedly affirmed that Trump’s ambitious aims of annexation are “a real thing.”

“Mr. Trump has it in mind that the easiest way to do it is absorbing our country and it is a real thing. In my conversations with him on …” Trudeau said before the microphone cut out, according to CBC.

President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minster Justin Trudeau. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images, left, CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images, right.)

TRUMP IMPOSES TARIFFS ON IMPORTS FROM CANADA, MEXICO AND CHINA: ‘NATIONAL EMERGENCY’

The news media had been asked to leave the room before Trudeau delivered his comments, but CBC and The Toronto Star were able to hear them and record them.

“I suggest that not only does the Trump administration know how many critical minerals we have, but that may be even why they keep talking about absorbing us and making us the 51st state,” Trudeau added according to people in the room who listened to his comments. “They’re very aware of our resources, of what we have, and they very much want to be able to benefit from those.”

Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labor, confirmed what Trudeau said in a post on social platform X.

“Yes, I can confirm that Trudeau said his assessment is that what Trump really wants is not action on fentanyl or immigration or even the trade deficit, what he really wants is to either dominate Canada or take it outright,” McGowan wrote. “Tariffs are a tactic towards that end.”

Trump first pitched the idea during a dinner at Mar-a-Lago with Trudeau in late November. Trump has also suggested annexing Greenland.

Canada is home to more than 40 million people and is a founding NATO partner. It is a natural resource-rich nation that provides the U.S. with commodities such as oil.

Trump has long said Canada – as well as Mexico – has failed to do enough to prevent the flow of illegal migrants and drugs, particularly fentanyl into the U.S. In addition, Trump claims the U.S. has subsidized Canada to the tune of $200 billion annually. 

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has reportedly said that President Donald Trump is serious about Canada becoming the United States’ 51st state. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)

CANADA WILL NOT BE ’51ST STATE,’ AMBASSADOR PROTESTS AMID TRUMP TARIFF THREAT

Last weekend, Trump again repeated his suggestion of absorbing Canada, noting that it would not be subjected to his incoming tariffs should the country join the U.S.

“We pay hundreds of Billions of Dollars to SUBSIDIZE Canada. Why? There is no reason,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “We don’t need anything they have. We have unlimited Energy, should make our own Cars, and have more Lumber than we can ever use. Without this massive subsidy, Canada ceases to exist as a viable Country. Harsh but true!” 

“Therefore, Canada should become our Cherished 51st State,” Trump added. “Much lower taxes, and far better military protection for the people of Canada – AND NO TARIFFS!” 

But Trump agreed to pause the tariffs for 30 days on Monday after a call with Trudeau, who made some concessions to temporarily stave off the levies. 

Trudeau said Canada will implement a $1.3 billion border plan and appoint a fentanyl czar. In addition, Canada will reinforce its border with new helicopters, technology, personnel and enhanced coordination with American authorities. He added that nearly 10,000 personnel are and will be working on border protection.

“We will list cartels as terrorists, ensure 24/7 eyes on the border, launch a Canada-U.S. Joint Strike Force to combat organized crime, fentanyl and money laundering,” Trudeau wrote on X. “I have also signed a new intelligence directive on organized crime and fentanyl and we will be backing it with $200 million.”

President Donald Trump has been touting a plan to make Canada the 51st state since November. (ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)

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The U.S. imports approximately 60% of its crude oil from Canada, with Alberta alone supplying 4.3 million barrels per day. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the U.S. consumes about 20 million barrels a day, while domestically producing about 13.2 million barrels a day. This means about a quarter of the oil the U.S. consumes every day is from Canada.

Canada is the top export destination for 36 U.S. states. Nearly $2.7 billion worth of goods and services cross the border each day.

Meanwhile, Canada is home to dozens of minerals considered critical for use in various industries, including for electric car batteries, solar panels, and semiconductors, according to the New York Times. Some commonly recognized examples of critical minerals include lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite and zinc.

Fox News’ Danielle Wallace and Louis Casiano, as well as The Associated Press, contributed to this report. 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrapped up his first overseas trip across Latin America with several wins on immigration, a top priority for President Donald Trump.

America’s new top diplomat returns home with a binder full of agreements from foreign governments on day-one priorities to interdict human and drug trafficking – a testament to how the Trump administration wields America’s economic might. 

“I think the fact that his first trip was to Latin America, I think was a huge statement in itself,” said Joseph Humire, executive director of the Center for a Secure Free Society (SFS).

Next, Rubio will head to the Middle East, with plans to visit Israel, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia in mid-February after attending the Munich Security Conference. A broad swath of even more challenging circumstances await him there, including concerns from foreign officials over Trump’s newfangled idea to “take over” the Gaza Strip, with neighboring Arab states staunchly opposed to U.S. insistence that they take in Palestinians. 

RUBIO TO VISIT MIDDLE EAST FOR SECOND TRIP AS SECRETARY OF STATE AFTER TRUMP SUGGESTS US TAKEOVER OF GAZA

Panama agreed not to renew its Belt and Road Initiative with China after Rubio’s meeting, pictured above with the Panamanian foreign minister.  (AP/Mark Schiefelbein)

Before the secretary took off for Latin America, the Trump administration had already scored several victories. Colombia did a lightning fast about-face on accepting deportation flights carrying illegal immigrants headed home from the United States. President Gustavo Petro had initially denied two flights carrying Colombian nationals, saying he would not accept the return of migrants who were not treated with “dignity and respect” and who had arrived shackled or on military planes. 

But Trump immediately threatened 25% tariffs on Colombian goods, and Petro acquiesced to all U.S. conditions, according to the White House, including accepting migrants on military planes. 

Rubio then began his regional tour in Panama last Saturday, a nation that nervously awaited to see what his visit would hold after Trump repeatedly called for a U.S. takeover of the Panama Canal. 

Trump had claimed the canal was essentially under the control of China – Hong Kong-based firms control the ports of entry – and charging America unfair rates after the U.S. built the canal and gave it back to Panama in a 1977 treaty signed by President Jimmy Carter. 

After Rubio’s visit, Panama said it would not be renewing its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) with China, an investment project the CCP uses to secure influence in developing nations across the world. 

“The BRI thing was huge news,” said Humire. 

“There are 22 countries in Latin America that signed a BRI agreement. If we really push hard on this, a lot of countries, especially the ones that are allied with us, are going to rethink” their agreements with China, he added. 

RUBIO HEADS TO PANAMA, LATIN AMERICA TO PURSUE TRUMP’S ‘GOLDEN AGE’ AGENDA

Rubio had warned Panama that if its government did not move to reduce or eliminate the CCP’s grip on the canal, the U.S. would move to do so.

Under the canal treaties, the U.S. retains the duty to defend the canal if it comes under threat. 

Rubio, pictured above in the Dominican Republic, Rubio had warned Panama that if its government did not move to reduce or eliminate the CCP’s grip on the canal, the U.S. would move to do so. ( Mark Schiefelbein/Pool via Reuters)

But Rubio hit a snag over a claim that the State Department made that Panama had offered free passage through the canal for U.S naval vessels.

Panama President José Raúl Mulino then accused the US of spreading “lies and falsehoods” about his nation offering the U.S. free passage. 

The secretary then rowed back the claim, while calling the charges “absurd.” 

“It seems absurd that we would have to pay fees to transit a zone that we are obligated to protect in a time of conflict,” Rubio said.  “Panama has a process of laws and procedures that they need to follow as it relates to the Panamanian port.”

In Costa Rica, Rubio offered U.S. help to combat a wave of drug trafficking crime and push back on Chinese influence by limiting CCP development of 5G technology in the country. 

Then, in El Salvador, Rubio cinched an offer from Trump-friendly President Nayib Bukele to accept deportees of any nationality, including American criminals. 

EL SALVADOR AGREES TO ACCEPT US DEPORTEES OF ANY NATIONALITY FOLLOWING MEETING WITH RUBIO

At the same time, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum agreed to send 10,000 Mexican forces to the U.S. border after Trump agreed to delay a threatened 25% tariff on her nation’s exports to the U.S.

Meanwhile, in Guatemala, President Bernardo Arévalo pledged to accept 40% more deportation flights and to accept people of other nationalities. 

“I think a lot of the wins are because of his prior relationships with the region, his team and, frankly, his experience and his knowledge,” said Humire. “He’s somebody that can engage them in their language and in their kind of mannerisms.”

And, he added, Latin America saw “how serious” Trump was about deportations, watching the threats the president made to Canada, Mexico and Colombia.

Amid a stint in El Salvador, Rubio cinched an offer from Trump-friendly President Nayib Bukele to accept deportees of any nationality, including American criminals. (Mark Schiefelbein/Pool via REUTERS)

“I think we could have gotten more clarity from Panama on the canal,” said Humire. “But I think we met little resistance [overall].”

Rubio wasn’t the only Trump official to secure Latin America wins. Special envoy Ric Grenell sat down with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro this week and returned home with six American hostages. The price paid, according to Grenell, was giving the Venezuelan dictator a photo opportunity with an American diplomat for propaganda purposes. 

The Trump administration now expects deportation flights to Venezuela to resume “within 30 days,” border czar Tom Homan told the New York Times, after Maduro previously refused to accept Venezuelan nationals back from the U.S. 

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“He’s on a good-behavior policy,” said Humire.  “[Maduro] thinks – they call it agenda zero – they think that they can renew, kind of restart relations with the U.S. by basically being on good behavior, starting to steer us towards their interests.”

“Grennell has to be able to get the things that we need without giving a whole lot. And I think he accomplished that,” Humire continued. “The photo op, they’re going to spin it, use it for disinformation. But that’s a small concession for bringing hostages home.”

President Donald Trump, taking to social media ahead of the Super Bowl, praised both teams facing off in professional football’s biggest game.

“Two great Quarterbacks in this game. Also, an unbelievable running back, and the absolute best tight end in football (Ever!). Incredible coaching!” the president wrote Friday in a post on his Truth Social platform. “IT WILL BE A GREAT GAME!!!”

Trump is expected to make history this weekend as the first sitting president to attend a Super Bowl in person, when the Kansas City Chiefs face off against the Philadelphia Eagles in New Orleans, Louisiana.

FIRST FAN: TRUMP TAKES AIM AT THIS NEW NFL RULE

President Donald Trump attends a game between the National Football League’s Pittsburgh Steelers and the New York Jets in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 20, 2024. (Evan Vucci-Pool/Getty Images)

The Chiefs are aiming to make history as the first National Football League team to win three straight Lombardi trophies as Super Bowl champions.

The Eagles, playing in their third Super Bowl in seven seasons, seek to avenge their 38-35 loss to the Chiefs in the championship game two years ago.

SIGN UP FOR TUBI AND STREAM SUPER BOWL LIX FOR FREE

Trump earlier this week appeared to indicate which team he may be rooting for in the big game.

When asked by reporters in the Oval Office which team he wanted to win the Super Bowl, the president responded, “I don’t wanna say.”

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he signs documents in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 4, 2025.  (REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz)

“But there’s a certain quarterback that seems to be a pretty good winner,” he added as he apparently pointed towards Chiefs’ star quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

The president the next day gave a shoutout to Mahomes and his wife Brittany, who hinted at support for Trump in last year’s presidential election.

HOW TO WATCH SUPER BOWL LIX BETWEEN CHIEFS, EAGLES STREAMED ON TUBI

“Congratulations to the Chiefs GREAT Quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, and his very beautiful and BRILLIANT wife, Brittany, on the birth of their new baby daughter, Golden Raye. This is what I call a baby with great genes, both mother and father. It’s happy times in the wonderful Mahomes family. See you all on Sunday!” he wrote.

President Donald Trump looks on during the first quarter of the game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Georgia Bulldogs at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Sept. 28, 2024, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

While Trump theoretically is staying neutral in Sunday’s game, he does appear to have an acrimonious history with the Eagles which dates back to his first White House administration.

During his first year in office, Trump repeatedly criticized NFL players who refused to stand for the national anthem as they symbolically protested racism. After the Eagles won the Super Bowl that season, most of the players on the team said they would boycott the traditional White House appearance by the championship team.

FOX NEWS’ BRET BAIER TO INTERVIEW TRUMP AT SUPER BOWL

Trump, responding, disinvited the team.

“The Philadelphia Eagles are unable to come to the White House with their full team to be celebrated tomorrow,” Trump said at the time. “They disagree with their president because he insists that they proudly stand for the national anthem, hand on heart, in honor of the great men and women of our military and the people of our country.”

The Eagles are also the team long cheered on by former President Joe Biden, a Pennsylvania native who for nearly his entire life has called neighboring Delaware home.

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As he addressed the Democratic National Committee, which met in Philadelphia amid a blistering cold weekend in early 2023 for their annual winter meeting, the then-president said “Fly, Eagles, fly!”

And former First Lady Jill Biden, a devout Eagles fan who often wears the team’s garb, will be attending Sunday’s Super Bowl.

President Donald Trump‘s decision to cut foreign aid funding could strengthen the president’s bargaining position as he looks to contain Iran.

“I look at the USAID cutoff and the praise that the Iranians have given as part of President Trump’s negotiating skills,” EJ Kimball, director of Policy & Strategic Operations at the U.S. Israel Education Association, told Fox News Digital.

The comments come after Trump’s controversial decision to halt funding for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and send most of the employees of USAID packing, part of the administration’s plan to weed out what it considers wasteful government spending.

Despite the controversy, the decision has received praise from the Iranian regime, who have traditionally viewed U.S. aid to Iran as a threat to the country’s government.

IRAN’S WEAKENED POSITION COULD LEAD IT TO PURSUE NUCLEAR WEAPON, BIDEN NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER WARNS

Iran’s Supreme ruler Ali Khamenei, left, and President Donald Trump. (AP)

According to a report from The Associated Press on Wednesday, Trump’s move has been “lauded” in Iranian state media, who view the cuts to foreign aid as a blow to pro-democracy activists Iran believes have benefited from U.S. foreign aid.

The favorable perception of Trump’s move by Iran comes at a critical time, with Trump recently renewing the U.S.’s “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran and reaffirming the U.S. position that Iran can never be allowed to possess nuclear weapons.

While Trump has used harsh rhetoric on Iran in recent days, including a vow to “obliterate” the country if it successfully carries out an alleged plot to assassinate him, the president has also urged the regime to begin negotiating for a “nuclear peace agreement” with the United States.

“I want Iran to be a great and successful Country, but one that cannot have a Nuclear Weapon. Reports that the United States, working in conjunction with Israel, is going to blow Iran into smithereens ARE GREATLY EXAGGERATED,” Trump wrote in a post on social media Wednesday.

President Donald Trump arrives at an election night watch party at the Palm Beach Convention Center on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024 in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Evan Vucci/AP)

TRUMP’S LATEST HIRES AND FIRES RANKLE IRAN HAWKS AS NEW PRESIDENT SUGGESTS NUCLEAR DEAL

Kimball believes Trump can use the cuts to foreign aid as a bargaining chip in those potential negotiations, noting the president could change his mind and resume the funding if the Iranians fail to reach an acceptable deal.

“I would say that he’s teasing the Iranians at the moment, knowing that really at any moment’s notice, he could immediately turn back on the spigot of funding to the opposition groups if he doesn’t feel like they’re acquiescing to his demands or negotiation,” Kimball said.

“It seems to me that he’s got a carrot-and-stick approach with the Iranian regime, and pausing funding for regime critics, teasing a deal, but also threatening sanctions, and talking to Israel about a military strike and how Iran will not get nuclear weapons is part of his master negotiating skills to keep his opponents off balance,” Kimball added.

A big banner depicting Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is placed next to a ballistic missile in Baharestan Square in Tehran, Iran, on Sept. 26, 2024. (Photo by Hossein Beris / Middle East Images / Middle East Images via AFP)

In the end, Kimball believes Trump’s ultimate goal is to cut a deal that would eliminate Iran’s nuclear program without putting U.S. service members in harm’s way in another overseas conflict.

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“It’s been very clear he does not want to send U.S. troops to war, but he’s also not going to be soft about it and allow the taking of a bad deal to avoid war,” Kimball said. “The end goal for President Trump is a deal that removes the threat that Iran poses to the United States, to Israel, to the region, and really to the entire world, not just in their nuclear program, but in their ballistic missile development and delivery systems to ensure that Iran can be great again.”

San Francisco Mayor David Lurie launched the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) Hospitality Task Force and secured a key vote in support of the Fentanyl State of Emergency Ordinance this week as he works to clean up San Francisco’s streets and restore common sense policies to the liberal city. 

San Francisco has had one of the slowest economic recoveries from the COVID-19 pandemic in the country. Images of San Francisco’s open-air drug markets, homeless encampments and empty office buildings have caught the nation’s attention since the pandemic. 

The SFPD Hospitality Task Force will target San Francisco’s business and tourist districts, increasing police presence, dedicating resources to high-traffic areas and offering support to the hospitality industry. 

“Helping people feel safe walking downtown is the key to unleashing our city’s comeback,” Lurie said. “We are creating the conditions for a thriving commercial center by launching the SFPD Hospitality Task Force. The Hospitality Task Force will break down silos to increase the police presence across the areas that drive our city’s economy, not just during large conferences, but 365 days a year.”

FORMER AOC CHIEF OF STAFF ANNOUNCES RUN AGAINST PELOSI, CALLS DEMS ‘PARALYZED AND UNPREPARED’ UNDER TRUMP

People inhabit encampments on the streets of San Francisco April 15, 2023. (Flight Risk for Fox News Digital)

Major retailers, including Nordstrom and Saks Off Fifth, pulled out of San Francisco’s downtown due to rising crime and dwindling foot traffic. After more than 20 years in the heart of downtown San Francisco, Westfield abandoned the San Francisco Centre mall in 2023, citing a decline in sales, occupancy and foot traffic. 

San Franciscans voted Mayor London Breed out of office in November. She was elected in 2018 and led the city through its struggling pandemic recovery. Lurie, a Levi’s heir and political outsider, began his first term as mayor in January. 

He campaigned on cleaning up San Francisco’s streets, public safety, tackling the city’s drug crisis, creating housing, cutting through corrupt bureaucracy and “breathing life back into our downtown.”

CALIFORNIA PLANS TO CONTINUE ALLOWING TRANS ATHLETES TO COMPETE IN GIRLS’ SPORTS DESPITE TRUMP EXECUTIVE ORDER

San Francisco Mayor David Lurie launched the SFPD Hospitality Task Force this week.  (Getty)

“With a safe, bustling downtown, we will attract businesses, shoppers, tourists and conventions, creating jobs, generating revenue and helping us provide better services for everyone in San Francisco,” Lurie said of the new task force. 

Also this week, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted 10-1 in favor of Mayor Lurie’s Fentanyl State of Emergency Ordinance. 

“As a candidate for mayor, I promised San Franciscans that I would work in partnership with the Board of Supervisors to take action on the critical issues facing our city,” Lurie said. “As mayor, I am proud to be delivering on that promise today. The Fentanyl State of Emergency Ordinance gives us the tools to treat this crisis with the urgency it demands. And with our partners on the board, that’s exactly what we will do.” 

The ordinance will equip the city with the resources “to get drugs off the street and keep San Franciscans safe” by unlocking funding and expediting the contracting process to allow for expanded treatment options, increased shelter capacity and health initiatives. The full Board of Supervisors will address the ordinance Tuesday for a second and final reading before Lurie can sign the ordinance into law. 

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“I don’t think there’s a problem facing San Francisco today that isn’t caused by or made significantly worse by street-level drug addiction,” Supervisor Matt Dorsey, who voted in favor of the ordinance, said.

“Mayor Lurie’s emergency ordinance aims to surge resources that deliver solutions as big as the problems. This is a needed approach to restore order to our streets, to diminish San Francisco’s attraction as a drug-use and drug-dealing destination and to save lives.”

A federal judge on Friday said he would not immediately block the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, from accessing systems at the Labor Department.

U.S. District Judge John Bates said he had concerns about DOGE but that the labor unions who sued to block their access to the systems have not yet provided evidence of any legal injury.

“Although the court harbors concerns about defendants’ alleged conduct, it must deny plaintiffs’ motion at this time,” Bates wrote.

The Labor Department has investigated companies like SpaceX and Tesla that are owned by Elon Musk, who leads DOGE, and keeps records on these investigations. The department also has information about these companies’ competitors’ trade secrets, the unions said in the lawsuit.

FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERS LIMITED DOGE ACCESS TO SENSITIVE TREASURY DEPARTMENT PAYMENT SYSTEM RECORDS

Elon Musk, who is leading the Department of Government Efficiency. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

The department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has investigated and fined SpaceX and Tesla over worker safety, the unions said.

The Labor Department’s systems contain medical and financial records of millions of Americans, including those who have filed safety complaints about their employers.

The ruling comes after the Trump administration agreed earlier this week that DOGE would not receive access to the Labor Department until this court decision.

The Justice Department said there are three DOGE staffers assigned to the Labor Department and reporting to its acting secretary, although they have been made special government employees and are required to follow the law with any sensitive information about corporations or workers as they conduct a review.

Elon Musk speaks at the SATELLITE Conference and Exhibition in Washington, D.C., on March 9, 2020. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

Musk’s DOGE team had gained access to sensitive Treasury Department payment systems, although a judge has since blocked that access to Treasury records containing sensitive personal data such as Social Security and bank account numbers for millions of Americans. DOGE has also largely dismantled the U.S. Agency for International Development and offered financial incentives to millions of federal workers to resign.

“At every step, DOGE is violating multiple laws, from constitutional limits on executive power, to laws protecting civil servants from arbitrary threats and adverse action, to crucial protections for government data collected and stored on hundreds of millions of Americans,” labor union lawyers represented by the advocacy group Democracy Forward wrote.

ELON MUSK DUNKS ON SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER, DECLARING ‘HYSTERICAL REACTIONS’ DEMONSTRATE DOGE’S IMPORTANCE

Elon Musk attends the opening of the Tesla factory Berlin Brandenburg in Gruenheide, Germany on March 22, 2022. (Patrick Pleul/Pool Photo via AP)

Labor Department leadership told a union member this week that DOGE would be visiting and workers should let them do “whatever they ask, not to push back, not to ask questions,” the unions wrote.

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The Justice Department said there is no evidence of wrongdoing and the judge should not issue “a sweeping, prophylactic order … based on plaintiffs’ rank speculation that DOL will violate the law.”

Nineteen states have sued over DOGE’s access to federal payment systems.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

A federal judge on Friday ordered a temporary block on plans by the Trump administration to put 2,200 employees of the U.S. Agency for International Development on leave.

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee, also agreed to block an order that would have given just 30 days for the thousands of overseas USAID workers the administration wanted to place on abrupt administrative leave to move their families back to the U.S. at the government’s expense.

Both actions by the administration would have exposed the workers and their families to unnecessary risk and expense, according to the judge.

This comes as President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, who leads the Department of Government Efficiency, seek to dismantle the agency.

TOP DEM STRATEGISTS WARN USAID FUNDING FIGHT IS A ‘TRAP’ FOR THE PARTY

Demonstrators and lawmakers rally against President Donald Trump and his ally Elon Musk as they disrupt the federal government, including dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Nichols noted that staffers living overseas have said the administration had cut some workers off from government emails and other communication systems required to reach the U.S. government in case of a health or safety emergency.

USAID contractors in various regions, including the Middle East, even reported that “panic button” apps had been removed from their phones or disabled when the administration abruptly placed them on leave.

“Administrative leave in Syria is not the same as administrative leave in Bethesda,” the judge said.

An employee of U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) who wished to remain anonymous protests outside the USAID headquarters on February 3, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Getty Images)

The judge also pointed to workers stating difficulties that would arise from the 30-day timeline to return to the U.S., including that they had no home to return to in the U.S. after decades overseas and that they would be forced to pull children with special needs out of school in the middle of the school year.

Nichols ordered 500 USAID staffers who had already been placed on leave by the administration to be reinstated.

But the judge declined a request from two federal employee associations to grant a temporary block on an administration-imposed funding freeze that has shut down the agency and its work, pending more hearings on the workers’ lawsuit.

USAID STAFFERS STUNNED, ANGERED BY TRUMP ADMIN’S DOGE SHUTDOWN OF $40B AGENCY

The American flag flying alone beside an empty flagpole that previously had the flag of USAID is pictured in the reflection of a window that previously had the sign and the seal of USAID, Friday, Feb. 7, 2025. (AP)

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Nichols emphasized in the hearing earlier Friday that his order to pause the administration’s actions was not a decision on the employees’ request to block the administration’s efforts to quickly destroy the agency.

“CLOSE IT DOWN,” Trump said on Truth Social, referring to USAID, ahead of the judge’s ruling.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump welcomed Israeli Prime Minister Benajamin Netanyahu to the White House Tuesday, marking the first visit from a foreign leader during Trump’s second term. 

During Netanyahu’s visit, Trump also unveiled massive plans suggesting that the U.S. would “take over” the Gaza Strip in a “long-term ownership position” to deliver stability to the region. 

“The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it, too,” Trump said Tuesday evening in a joint press conference with Netanyahu. “We’ll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous, unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site.”

Even so, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the president wouldn’t commit to placing U.S. troops on the ground in Gaza as part of the rebuilding effort. 

“It’s been made very clear to the president that the United States needs to be involved in this rebuilding effort, to ensure stability in the region for all people,” Leavitt told reporters Wednesday at a White House press briefing. “But that does not mean boots on the ground in Gaza. It does not mean American taxpayers will be funding this effort. It means Donald Trump, who is the best dealmaker on the planet, is going to strike a deal with our partners in the region.”

TRUMP NOT COMMITTING TO PUTTING TROOPS ON THE GROUND IN GAZA, WHITE HOUSE SAYS

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the president wouldn’t commit to placing U.S. troops on the ground in Gaza as part of the rebuilding effort.  (Evan Vucci/The Associated Press)

Leavitt said that Trump is an “outside-of-the-box thinker” who is “a visionary leader who solves problems that many others, especially in this city, claim are unsolvable.”

The announcement sparked backlash though from Democratic lawmakers, to leaders of Palestinian militant group, Hamas. 

“What President Trump stated about his intention to displace the residents of the Gaza Strip outside it and the United States’ control over the Strip by force is a crime against humanity,” a senior Hamas official told Fox News on Wednesday.

Here are some other actions Trump took his second week in office: 

Maximum pressure on Iran 

Trump also reinstated his “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran, instructing the Treasury Department to execute “maximum economic pressure” upon Iran through a series of sanctions aimed at sinking Iran’s oil exports. 

Trump said Tuesday that he was “torn” about signing the order and admitted he was “unhappy to do it,” noting that the executive order was very tough on Iran. 

“Hopefully, we’re not going to have to use it very much,” Trump told reporters Tuesday. 

Trump later told reporters in a joint press conference with Netanyahu that he believes Iran is “close” to developing a nuclear weapon, but that the U.S. would stop a “strong” Tehran from obtaining one.

TRUMP REINSTATES ‘MAXIMUM PRESSURE’ CAMPAIGN AGAINST IRAN 

President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu answer questions during a joint press conference in the East Room at the White House in Washington, U.S., Feb. 4, 2025 (Leah Millis/Reuters)

“They’re very strong right now, and we’re not going to let them get a nuclear weapon,” Trump said. 

His first administration also adopted a “maximum pressure” initiative against Tehran, issuing greater sanctions and harsher enforcement for violations.

Strict sanctions were reimposed upon Iran after Trump withdrew from the Iran deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, in May 2018. The 2015 agreement brokered under the Obama administration had lifted sanctions on Iran in exchange for limits on Iran’s nuclear program.

Sanctions against the International Criminal Court 

Trump also signed an executive order sanctioning the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Thursday, in response to its May 2024 arrest warrant for Netanyahu.

The order — which was lauded by even some top Democrats — unveils financial sanctions and visa restrictions against ICC officials and their family members who support ICC investigations against U.S. citizens and allies. 

The White House also signed executive orders on Thursday instructing the Justice Department to establish a task force dedicated to weeding out “anti-Christian bias,” and a review of all nongovernmental organizations that accept federal funds.

The ICC is an independent, international organization based in The Hague and established under the Rome Statute, an international treaty that took effect in 2002. The court oversees global issues including genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. 

The Trump White House claims that the U.S. and Israel are not subject to the jurisdiction of the ICC because the court poses threats to U.S. sovereignty and constitutional protections. Additionally, the White House has accused the ICC of politicization and said it has targeted Israel without holding regimes like Iran to the same standards. 

Sovereign Wealth Fund 

The U.S. Treasury and Commerce Departments will establish a sovereign wealth fund in accordance with a new executive order Trump signed on Monday. 

The sovereign wealth fund, a state-owned investment fund with various financial assets like stocks and bonds, could foot the bill for purchasing TikTok, according to Trump. 

“We’re going to be doing something perhaps with TikTok, and perhaps not,” Trump told reporters Monday. “If we make the right deal, we’ll do it. Otherwise, we won’t.”

Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said the sovereign wealth fund would be created within the next 12 months. 

WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S PLANS FOR A SOVEREIGN WEALTH FUND 

Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said the sovereign wealth fund would be created within the next 12 months.  (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)

“I think it’s going to create value and be of great strategic importance,” Bessent told reporters Monday. 

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Bessent and Commerce Secretary nominee Howard Lutnick are instructed to devise a plan in the next 90 days for the creation of the fund, according to the White House. The proposal will include recommendations on funding mechanisms, investment strategies, fund structure and a governance model. 

More details on the sovereign wealth fund were not immediately available, and it’s unclear whether Congress will sign off on it. 

Fox News’ Greg Norman contributed to this report. 

House Republicans are racing to get ahead of their Senate counterparts on plans to pass sweeping conservative policy legislation and advance President Donald Trump’s agenda.

Plans to take the first step in the budget reconciliation process this week were scuttled in the House, with fiscal hawks pushing GOP leaders to raise their proposed floor for spending cuts after balking at an initial rough proposal presented last month at the House Republican issues retreat in Miami.

Meanwhile, the Senate is moving full steam ahead with their own plan to advance a budget resolution on Wednesday and Thursday. Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., unveiled the upper chamber’s plan on Friday.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters that same day that he was hopeful the House Budget Committee would take up the lower chamber’s resolution on Tuesday.

SCOOP: KEY CONSERVATIVE CAUCUS DRAWS RED LINE ON HOUSE BUDGET PLAN

A plan to leapfrog House Republicans on the reconciliation process was unveiled to senators on Wednesday.  (Reuters)

“We’ve got a few more people we’ve got to talk with and a couple of more boxes to check, but we are almost there,” Johnson said. “The expectation is that we will be marking up a budget next week, potentially as early as Tuesday, the resolution. That will, of course, begin the process and unlock the whole reconciliation process, which I think we can wrap up in a short amount of time.”

Two House GOP lawmakers told Fox News Digital on Friday that the plan would call for a minimum of $2 trillion to $2.5 trillion in spending cuts over a period of 10 years.

Republicans plan to use their majorities in the House and Senate to pass a wide swath of Trump policy initiatives, from extending the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act to funneling more cash to operations at the U.S.-Mexico border.

The budget reconciliation process makes that possible by lowering the threshold for Senate passage from 60 votes to a simple 51-seat majority. Because the House already operates on a simple majority threshold, it will allow Republicans to skirt Democratic opposition to pass their agenda — provided the measures included involve budgetary or other fiscal matters, as reconciliation rules call for.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., is leading his chamber on a two-track reconciliation bill. (Getty Images)

A group of House Republicans, including Johnson, were at the White House on Thursday to discuss the process.

Trump told lawmakers he wanted the reconciliation plans to include eliminating taxes on tipped and overtime wages, no taxes on seniors, and no taxes on Social Security payments.

While they agree on the overall policies that need to pass via the reconciliation process, House and Senate Republicans differ in their preferred approach.

House Republicans are aiming to put all of Trump’s priorities on taxes, border security, energy, and defense into one large bill — complete with deep spending cuts to offset the new funding.

BLACK CAUCUS CHAIR ACCUSES TRUMP OF ‘PURGE’ OF ‘MINORITY’ FEDERAL WORKERS

House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., is among the biggest proponents of a one-bill approach. (Tom Williams)

The Senate plan, meanwhile, would split the process into two bills. The first, unveiled by Graham on Friday, includes Trump’s border, energy and defense policies. A second bill would deal with taxes.

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But House GOP leaders are concerned that the intense political maneuvering the process takes will mean they run out of time before passing a second bill with Trump’s tax cuts at the end of this year.

A Ways & Means Committee memo sent earlier this year projected the average American household could see taxes rise by over 20% if those provisions expire at the end of 2025.

Trump himself has repeatedly called for “one big, beautiful bill,” but said he ultimately was not concerned about the packaging as long as all of his priorities were passed.

President Donald Trump on Friday announced he is revoking former President Joe Biden’s security clearances and stopping his daily intelligence briefings.

“There is no need for Joe Biden to continue receiving access to classified information,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social Friday night.

The privileges will be revoked immediately, according to the president.

President Trump in the Oval Office of the White House on February 04, 2025 in Washington, DC (Getty Images)

He added the precedent was set by Biden himself.

“He set this precedent in 2021, when he instructed the Intelligence Community (IC) to stop the 45th President of the United States (ME!) from accessing details on National Security, a courtesy provided to former Presidents,” Trump wrote. 

The president noted the Hur Report, which he claimed “revealed that Biden suffers from ‘poor memory’ and, even in his ‘prime,’ could not be trusted with sensitive information,” according to the post.

Trump said former President Joe Biden “could not be trusted” with sensitive information. (Screenshot/Biden speech)

Special Counsel Robert Hur submitted a report on Biden’s alleged improper retention of classified records, which confirmed the former president’s frequent memory lapses and contradicted his claims.

Hur also testified in March that he found evidence that “pride and money” motivated Biden to retain classified documents.

However, he did not recommend criminal charges against Biden.

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Trump wrote in the post that he will always protect National Security.

“JOE, YOU’RE FIRED. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN,” he wrote.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the $50 million special legislative “Trump-proofing” package which he proposed for Democrats to pass following President Donald Trump’s election.

Newsom said the bill will “bolster funding for legal services programs that are vital to safeguarding the civil rights of California’s most vulnerable residents, including people with disabilities, youth who are homeless, victims of human trafficking and wage theft, people facing unlawful evictions, immigrants and more. 

“None of the funding in this bill is intended to be used for immigration-related legal services for noncitizens convicted of serious or violent felonies,” he added in a signing statement. 

IS NOW THE RIGHT TIME … TO FIGHT DONALD TRUMP?’: CA HOUSE SPEAKER DODGES FIERY QUESTIONING FROM REPORTER

President Donald Trump, right, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom walk to speak with reporters after arriving on Air Force One at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP)

The package, which was passed by the state Senate and Assembly, allocates $25 million to the California Department of Justice to support legal battles against Trump’s federal policies, including environmental regulations and illegal immigration. An additional $25 million is designated for legal aid groups to assist illegal immigrants facing potential deportation.

Newsom lobbed hundreds of lawsuits against the Trump administration during Trump’s first term.

Newsom greets Trump on the tarmac. The president traveled to California to survey the damage caused by a series of devastating wildfires in the Los Angeles area.  (Fox News)

While Newsom is gearing up for potential showdowns with the Trump administration, he has also been working with Trump to secure federal disaster relief for the Los Angeles wildfires. Trump visited California in late January to meet with Newsom, and Newsom traveled to Washington, D.C., in early February for another round of discussions with the president.

“We’re working across the aisle, as we always have, to ensure survivors have the resources and support they need,” Newsom said in a statement on Wednesday. “Thank you President Trump for coming to our communities to see this first hand, and meeting with me today to continue our joint efforts to support people impacted.”

NEWSOM PROPOSES $25M FROM STATE LEGISLATURE TO ‘TRUMP-PROOF’ CALIFORNIA

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, left, and President Donald Trump have clashed on various issues, including immigration. (Getty/AP)

Trump hit back at Newsom after he announced the special legislative session in November, saying on his Truth Social account, “He is using the term ‘Trump-Proof’ as a way of stopping all of the GREAT things that can be done to ‘Make California Great Again,’ but I just overwhelmingly won the Election.”

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

President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order cutting all foreign aid to South Africa, citing concerns about the country “seizing” ethnic minority Afrikaners’ agricultural property without compensation.

Trump alleged South Africa‘s recently enacted Expropriation Act 13 of 2024 “dismantles equal opportunity in employment, education, and business.”

The order notes “hateful rhetoric” and government actions have been “fueling disproportionate violence against racially disfavored landowners.”

South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa, left, and U.S. President Donald Trump. Trump has criticized South Africa’s new land laws. (Evan Vucci/AP/RAJESH JANTILAL/AFP via Getty Images)

SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENT SIGNS CONTROVERSIAL LAND SEIZURE BILL, ERODING PRIVATE PROPERTY RIGHTS 

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa previously released a statement arguing that no land was confiscated.

“We look forward to engaging with the Trump administration over our land reform policy and issues of bilateral interest,” according to the statement. “We are certain that out of those engagements, we will share a better and common understanding over these matters.”

The act permits the country to take land for a public purpose or in the public interest, while offering just and equitable compensation. 

However, Fox News Digital previously reported expropriation has yet to happen.

Cyril Ramaphosa waves as he arrives ahead of his inauguration as President, at the Union Buildings in Tshwane, South Africa, Wednesday, June 19, 2024. (Kim Ludbrook/Pool Photo via AP)

Elon Musk, leader of the DOGE team, publicly commented on the matter, accusing Ramaphosa of having “openly racist ownership laws.

The executive order also claims South Africa has taken “aggressive” positions toward the U.S. by accusing Israel of genocide – instead of Hamas, and “reinvigorating” its relationship with Iran to develop commercial, military, and nuclear arrangements.

Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa, is pictured in July 2023. (Xabiso Mkhabela/Xinhua via Getty Images)

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Pointing to those concerns, the executive order states the U.S. cannot support the South African government’s alleged commission of rights violations.

In addition to eliminating aid and assistance, the order notes the U.S. will promote the resettlement of Afrikaner refugees escaping government-sponsored, race-based discrimination -which includes racially discriminatory property confiscation.

The Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security will prioritize humanitarian relief, including admission and resettlement through the United States Refugee Admissions Program, according to the order.

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Fox News Digital’s Paul Tilsley contributed to this story.

Democratic attorneys general from 19 states have filed a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration over the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) access to sensitive, personal data belonging to Americans at the Treasury Department. 

The lawsuit claims the Elon Musk-run agency illegally accessed the Treasury Department’s central payment system at the Trump administration’s behest. 

On Thursday, the Treasury agreed to limit the Musk team’s access to its payment systems while a judge hears arguments in a previous lawsuit filed by a group of employee unions and retirees. 

The lawsuit, filed Monday, claimed Musk’s team violated the law by being given “full access” to the Treasury’s payment systems.

FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERS LIMITED DOGE ACCESS TO SENSITIVE TREASURY DEPARTMENT PAYMENT SYSTEM RECORDS 

Democratic attorneys general from 19 states have filed a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration over the Department of Government Efficiency’s access to sensitive, personal data belonging to Americans at the Treasury Department.  (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

The payment systems have information about Americans’ Social Security, Medicare and veterans’ benefits, tax refund information and much more. 

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told FOX Business Wednesday the concerns are not valid. 

“DOGE is not going to fail,” he said. “They are moving a lot of people’s cheese here in the capital, and when you hear this squawking, then some status quo interest is not happy.

“At the Treasury, our payment system is not being touched. We process 1.3 billion payments a year. There is a study being done — can we have more accountability, more accuracy, more traceability that the money is going where it is? But, in terms of payments being stopped, that is happening upstream at the department level.”

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DOGE was launched to root out wasteful spending in the government, and it has already come close to closing the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). 

The lawsuit claims the Elon Musk-run agency illegally accessed the Treasury Department’s central payment system at the Trump administration’s behest.  (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

The lawsuit was filed in New York by the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James, a vocal Trump critic. 

It includes attorneys general from Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin.

“President Trump does not have the power to give away Americans’ private information to anyone he chooses, and he cannot cut federal payments approved by Congress,” James said in a statement. “Musk and DOGE have no authority to access Americans’ private information and some of our country’s most sensitive data.”

The lawsuit by the attorneys general was filed in New York by the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James, a vocal Trump critic.  (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

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Treasury officials on Wednesday denied violating privacy laws, saying only two members of the DOGE team had been given “read-only” access to information in the payment systems. 

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. 

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday addressed events in Afghanistan, saying they created the perception of “American weakness.”

While speaking to the Department of Defense and Pentagon workforce during a town hall on Friday, Hegseth said America “deserves to take accountability for” events in Afghanistan, the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel, and the war that was unleashed in Ukraine. 

“Chaos happens when the perception of American strength is not complete,” Hegseth said. “We aim to re-establish that deterrence.”

President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth testifies during his Senate Armed Services confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill on Jan. 14 in Washington, D.C.  ( (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images))

PETE HEGSETH CONFIRMED TO LEAD PENTAGON AFTER VP VANCE CASTS TIE-BREAKING VOTE

He discussed the three pillars he will focus on during his term – reviving the warrior ethos, restoring trust in the military and rebuilding it by matching threats to capabilities, and reestablishing deterrence by defending the homeland.

Hegseth also spoke about the broken windows theory in policing, explaining that disregarding the small things in the military can create large problems.

“I think the same thing exists inside our services – making sure at every level, there [are] standards and accountability, and that we live it at the highest levels,” he said.

UNITED STATES – DECEMBER 3: Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be defense secretary, makes his way to a meeting with Sen. Ted Budd, R-N.C., in Russell building on Tuesday, December 3, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images) (Tom Williams)

That is why, Hegseth said, the U.S. will look back at what happened in Afghanistan.

He added the department will hold people accountable.

“Not to be retrospective, not for retribution, but to understand what went wrong and why there was no accountability for it,” Hegseth said.

Sec. Hegseth said he will focus on rebuilding the military. (U.S. Army Fort Leonard Wood)

Going forward, the military will find strength in unity, not diversity, according to Hegseth.

“I think the single dumbest phrase in military history is ‘our diversity is our strength,’” he said. “Our strength is our shared purpose – regardless of our background, regardless of how we grew up, regardless of our gender, regardless of our race. 

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In the department, Hegseth said everyone will be treated equally.

“We will treat everyone with fairness,” he said. “We will treat everyone with respect.”

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Service members and department civilian employees will be judged by their merit, commitment to the team, and the mission, according to Hegseth.