Donald Trump Poll News

A Yale University Law School associate research scholar was terminated after failing to disclose information about her alleged ties to Samidoun Network, a Canada-based group designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department.

Iranian-born Helyeh Doutaghi was fired Friday, three weeks after being put on administrative leave after allegations were made that she was part of the Samidoun Network, classified as “a sham charity” by the federal government for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a U.S-designated terrorist organization.

“Over the last three weeks, Yale has repeatedly requested to meet with Ms. Doutaghi and her attorney to obtain clarifying information and resolve this matter,” Yale spokesperson Alden Ferro said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital. “Unfortunately, she has refused to meet to provide any responses to critical questions, including whether she has ever engaged in prohibited activity with organizations or individuals that were placed on the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons list (‘SDN List’).”

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY YIELDS TO TRUMP ADMIN DEMANDS OVER REVOKED $400M IN FEDERAL FUNDING

Anti-Israel protesters march ahead of the start of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Aug. 18, 2024. (Fox News Digital )

As such, the university terminated Doutaghi, effective immediately, over her “refusal to cooperate” with their investigation. The university, which saw its fair share of anti-Israel protests last year and a large-scale graduation walkout, noted her short-term employment was already set to expire in April. 

Doutaghi was appointed deputy director of the Law and Political Economy (LPE) Project at the unversity in October 2023. According to her bio on the Palestine Center for Public Policy website, her “research explores the intersections of the Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL), encompassing Marxian and postcolonial critiques of law, sanctions, and international political economy.”

She is also an incoming post-doctoral fellow at the University of Tehran, according to the website, where her focus will be “completing her manuscript on Iranian sanctions regime and neoliberalism.”

HAWLEY BLASTS ‘INSANE’ LIBERAL ATTORNEY DURING SENATE HEARING ON CAMPUS ANTISEMITISM

Yale graduates stage a walkout during the commencement ceremony in New Haven, Connecticut, May 20, 2024. (Richard Harbus for Fox News Digital)

The allegations about Doutaghi were first made by Jewish Onliner, a Substack “Empowered by A.I. capabilities,” according to its X account.

“Rather than defend me, the Yale Law School moved within less than 24 hours of learning about the report to place me on leave,” Doutaghi wrote in a statement on X earlier this month. “I was given only a few hours’ notice by the administration to attend an interrogation based on far-right AI-generated allegations against me, while enduring a flood of online harassment, death threats, and abuse by Zionist trolls, exacerbating ongoing unprecedented distress and complications both at work and at home.”

Doutaghi said she was “afforded no due process and no reasonable time to consult” with her attorney.

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT RESIGNS AFTER MONTHS OF MOUNTING PRESSURE OVER ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTS

Anti-Israel protests at Yale University and the University of Michigan. (Fox Detroit; Fox News Digital)

The termination of Doutaghi comes as the Trump administration has been clamping down on allegations of antisemitism across Ivy League schools. 

Several students holding visas or green cards have since filed lawsuits against the Trump administration, alleging First Amendment violations.

“Immediate action will be taken by the Department of Justice to protect law and order, quell pro-Hamas vandalism and intimidation, and investigate and punish anti-Jewish racism in leftist, anti-American colleges and universities,” a White House fact sheet on the executive order said. 

Trump also vowed to deport Hamas sympathizers and revoke student visas. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Columbia University student and anti-Israel activist Mahmoud Khalil was among the first students to face allegations from the Trump administration over his green card application, in which he was accused of omitting details about his employment history.

The administration subsequently pulled $400 million in federal funding from Columbia University, citing its handling of anti-Israel protests on campus last year. The Ivy League school announced on Friday it would implement significant policy changes to comply with the administration’s demands.

President Donald Trump earned a wave of backlash from the political right after endorsing Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. for re-election last week.

A torrent of replies flooded Trump’s Truth Social post as people disagreed with the president’s move, including retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who very briefly served as national security advisor during Trump’s first term. 

“Not someone I can get behind. I’ll go to the gates with you but I won’t take one step forward with him,” Flynn wrote.

Trump declared in the Truth Social post that Graham has his “Complete and Total Endorsement for Re-Election” and that the senator “WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN.”

Negative sentiment about the senator and Trump’s endorsement also appeared on X.

TRUMP ENDORSES SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM FOR RE-ELECTION: ‘HE WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN’

President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that Sen. Lindsey Graham has his “Complete and Total Endorsement” last week. (Left: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images; Right: Vitalii Nosach/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)

“Sorry… I am not with Trump at all with this one. Not one bit,” conservative commentator and crack Trump impressionist Shawn Farash tweeted.

“Just say NO to Lindsey Graham,” conservative commentator Chad Prather wrote.

Townhall columnist Scott Morefield opined, “Trump endorsing Lindsey Graham, in a state where an eggplant with an R beside their name would win, with the promise that he ‘will not let us down’ no less, while at the same time castigating real, non-RINO conservatives like Chip Roy, Bob Good & Thomas Massie, just shows that, while we should appreciate how he’s running the country, his ‘endorsements’ should be taken with a heavy grain of salt.”

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., hauled in hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign donations this month after Trump trashed him on Truth Social for opposing a government-funding measure to avert a partial government shutdown.

“HE SHOULD BE PRIMARIED, and I will lead the charge against him,” Trump vowed. “He reminds me of Liz Chaney [sic] before her historic, record breaking fall (loss!)”

In a statement to Fox News Digital on Thursday, Massie likened Graham to former Rep. Liz Cheney.

“I don’t begrudge anyone for an endorsement, but Senator Graham is objectively the ideological twin of Liz Cheney,” Massie said in the statement.

Graham’s campaign manager Mark Knoop said in a statement to Fox News Digital on Friday, “Senator Graham shares President Trump’s frustration with Rep. Massie. Rep. Massie has become the most reliable vote for Democrats on critical issues opposing President Trump’s agenda.”

TRUMP PLEDGES TO ‘LEAD THE CHARGE’ AGAINST REP. MASSIE, LIKENS HIM TO LIZ CHENEY

Former President Donald Trump gestures as Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., addresses the crowd during a 2024 election campaign event in Columbia, S.C., on Jan. 28, 2023 (LOGAN CYRUS/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump attacked conservative House Freedom Caucus member Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, last year, declaring in a Truth Social post, “The very unpopular ‘Congressman’ from Texas, Chip Roy, is getting in the way, as usual, of having yet another Great Republican Victory – All for the sake of some cheap publicity for himself.”

While Trump wanted the debt ceiling raised, Roy indicated in a December tweet, “Currently, I’m against raising the debt ceiling without major spending cuts/reform. Congress needs to feel the pain of their actions and confront reality.”

Fox News Digital reached out to request a comment from the congressman, but no comment was provided by his office. The White House also declined to provide comment on the president’s endorsement of Graham. 

“There’s no bigger endorsement than President Trump’s and Senator Graham is honored to have his support. He has earned it. Senator Graham looks forward to playing golf this weekend with Trey Gowdy and President Trump. When it comes to conservative organizations endorsing Senator Graham, stay tuned,” Knoop said in a statement to Fox News Digital on Friday.

Figures from pro-life groups are slated to appear at a press conference on Monday as the groups back Graham’s re-election bid, according to a campaign press release provided to Fox News Digital.

IF PLUG IS PULLED ON UKRAINE IT WILL BE ‘WORSE THAN AFGHANISTAN,’ SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM SAYS

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Graham, who thanked Trump for the endorsement in a post on X, has also shared another post with a video highlighting the president’s support.

“President Trump is on team Graham,” a voiceover declares during the video, describing Graham as “a conservative leader, trusted by Trump, endorsed by Trump.”

But while Trump, who previously endorsed Graham in 2020, is on the senator’s side, time will tell whether voters share the same sentiments.

While Graham decisively won his 2020 primary with more than 67% of the vote, he was met with a chorus of boos when he spoke at a Trump rally in his own state of South Carolina in 2023.

The lawmaker, who has served in the Senate for more than two decades, is up for re-election in 2026.

Since its establishment in 1979, the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) has shaped federal student loan policies, which have, in turn, influenced the rising cost of an education and the loans to pay for it. As President Donald Trump moves to significantly downsize, and eventually shutter, the DOE, one expert says a completely private loan system would work better than shifting administration to other government agencies.

“The Clinton administration introduced the direct loan program, so this was kind of the competitor to the quasi public-private system, where now the government was going to be the one issuing the loans, and both systems kind of coexisted for a couple years, until 2010, when we got Obamacare, and that basically used some of the paper profits from switching all the loans to government loans to help pay for Obamacare,” Cato Institute expert Andrew Gillen told Fox News Digital in an interview. 

“And so, ever since 2010, we’ve been in the government-lending exclusively area,” he added.

CALIFORNIA UNDER INVESTIGATION BY TRUMP ADMIN FOR ALLEGEDLY HIDING ‘GENDER IDENTITY’ OF KIDS

Morning sun lights the front of the Department of Education building in Washington, February 4, 2025. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)

Initially, after Trump signed an executive order in March dismantling the DOE, the administration proposed transferring the $1.6 trillion student loan portfolio to the Small Business Administration (SBA). However, recent developments indicate that the Treasury Department may assume responsibility for federal student loans. 

The Trump administration is also proposing to transfer Pell Grants and Title I funding to other federal agencies, effectively reducing the department’s role in overseeing major educational programs.

“If we just transfer student loans to the Treasury and don’t change anything else about the system, I don’t think this would have any real impact,” Gillen said. “So, all of these loan terms are already set by Congress, and so simply changing the administrative home of who oversees the paperwork in the background, that’s not going to have any impact.”

The current system encourages “bad investments” by funding students or education without a realistic expectation of repayment, Gillen said. Instead, private lenders, who prioritize repayment risk, would likely avoid financing such loans. He suggested that moving to a private system would provide better incentives for both colleges and students, as universities would face pressure to produce students who can repay their loans, and students would be more likely to choose fields that lead to successful careers.

NEWSOM’S ‘UNFAIR’ REMARK ON GIRLS’ SPORTS BELIES RECORD AS GOVERNOR: ‘ABSOLUTE BULLS—‘

Secretary of Education Linda McMahon speaks with Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier after President Donald Trump moved to dismantle her agency. (Fox News / Special Report)

The government has made it difficult to discharge student loans through bankruptcy, Gillen added, with only a few exceptions, but this rule doesn’t apply to private lenders. 

“There are a couple of things we can do to encourage private lenders to basically be willing to make those loans. So, one is clarifying how bankruptcy law works with these income-driven loans,” he said. 

Some lawmakers have made efforts to address this issue. Democratic Reps. Steve Cohen, Danny K. Davis, and Eric Swalwell reintroduced the Private Student Loan Bankruptcy Fairness Act, seeking to make private student loans dischargeable in bankruptcy, similar to other types of consumer debt.

STUDENT LOANS, PELL GRANTS WILL CONTINUE DESPITE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT DOWNSIZING, EXPERT SAYS

U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon attends the executive order signing ceremony to reduce the size and scope of the Department of Education in the East Room of the White House on March 20, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Currently, the government can garnish wages without needing to go through a lawsuit, making the process more efficient and less costly, which would be beneficial for private lenders as well.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The 1990s saw the introduction of income-driven repayment plans, starting with the Income-Contingent Repayment (ICR) plan in 1994 under former President Bill Clinton. These plans allowed borrowers to repay loans based on their income, extending the loan term and increasing the total interest paid. While they provided immediate financial relief, they also led to higher long-term costs for some borrowers.

By fiscal year 2024, the DOE held approximately $1.6 trillion in student loan debt, issuing $85.7 billion in new loans, with $45.3 billion allocated for undergraduate education and $40.4 billion for graduate education.

President Donald Trump’s 11th week in office is slated to focus heavily on tariffs, including the roll-out of the president’s promised “Liberation Day,” when his reciprocal tariffs will be announced. 

“Liberation Day, I call it Liberation Day in America,” Trump said from the White House last week, previewing April 2. “You’ll be seeing tariffs. And I think I’ve been very fair. I have them set. But I think I’ve been very fair to countries that have really abused us economically for many, many decades.” 

For weeks, April 2 has been touted as the day when Trump’s trade policy emphasizing “America First” will be laid out in earnest and end the U.S.’ reliance on goods made overseas. He is expected to roll out his reciprocal tariff plan on Wednesday, which will likely match other countries’ higher tariff rates and aims to counter other trade barriers like burdensome regulations, value-added taxes, government subsidies and exchange rate policies and to negotiate with some countries to reduce those barriers.

“For DECADES we have been ripped off and abused by every nation in the World, both friend and foe. Now it is finally time for the Good Ol’ USA to get some of that MONEY, and RESPECT, BACK. GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!” Trump wrote on Truth Social of April 2 earlier in March. 

HERE’S WHAT HAPPENED DURING TRUMP’S 10TH WEEK IN OFFICE

The tariffs on Wednesday follow Trump already leveling a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum imports, 25% tariffs on goods imported from Canada and Mexico, and a 20% tariff on goods from China. 

Another 25% tariff on all cars imported into the U.S. will also take effect late Wednesday of this week. 

TRUMP SAYS HE ‘COULDN’T CARE LESS’ IF FOREIGN AUTOMAKERS RAISE PRICES OVER TARIFFS: ‘WE HAVE PLENTY’

President Donald Trump, left, and Russian President Vladimir Putin. (JIM WATSON,EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump is also expected to hold another conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin this week after the two world leaders also spoke last week as Trump and his administration continue working to help hash out a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine amid the ongoing war.

On Sunday, however, Trump told NBC News that he is “pissed off” with Putin after the Russian president slammed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s leadership last week. Russia also carried out a series of attacks on Ukraine over the weekend amid ongoing talks to reach a potential peace agreement. 

TRUMP SAYS HE IS ‘PISSED OFF’ WITH PUTIN OVER LACK OF PEACE PROGRESS: REPORT

“If Russia and I are unable to make a deal on stopping the bloodshed in Ukraine, and if I think it was Russia’s fault — which it might not be — but if I think it was Russia’s fault, I am going to put secondary tariffs on oil, on all oil coming out of Russia,” Trump told NBC News.

“That would be that if you buy oil from Russia, you can’t do business in the United States,” he continued. “There will be a 25% tariff on all oil, a 25- to 50-point tariff on all oil.”

Trump added that his anger will “dissipate quickly” if Putin “does the right thing.”

Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets, as seen from Ashkelon, Israel, on Oct. 1, 2024. (REUTERS/Amir Cohen)

This week, Trump is also expected to assess options for his “Golden Dome” missile-defense project, according to Defense One. Trump signed an executive order in January to build a “a next-generation missile defense shield for the United States against ballistic, hypersonic, advanced cruise missiles, and other next-generation aerial attacks.” Trump dubbed the system the “Golden Dome” earlier this month, which is a play on Israel’s air defense system, called the “Iron Dome.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Trump’s 11th week in office follows a break-neck pace of executive orders and actions since Jan. 20. Trump has signed at least 106 executive orders alone, which surpasses the number of executive orders signed by his predecessors in their respective first years in office since the Carter administration. 

Fox News’ Anders Hagstrom and Eric Revell contributed to this report.

Kash Patel has spent his first month as FBI director cracking down on some of the Trump administration’s top law enforcement priorities, including violent crime, gang activity and drug trafficking – all while managing to avoid much of the high-profile controversy that has embroiled some other senior national security officials.

His early moves have earned him accolades from Republicans in Congress, who have been quick to praise Patel’s first weeks in office, including his effort to move quickly and share certain documents long requested by majorities on the House and Senate Judiciary Committees.

“Under the leadership of Attorney General Pam Bondi, the Bureau is working aggressively each and every day to find violent criminals, no matter where they are, and bring them to justice,” Patel told Fox News Digital in reflection on his first few weeks heading up the bureau.

“Any success thus far is a credit to the brave men and women of the FBI and our state and local law enforcement partners who do amazing work to execute the mission,” he added.

Just five weeks after his confirmation as FBI director, here are some of Patel’s earliest – and most significant – wins. 

JUDGE FIGHTING TRUMP OVER EL SALVADOR DEPORTATIONS ASSIGNED TO LAWSUIT OVER SIGNAL CHAT LEAK

FBI agents next to the FBI logo. Photos by Getty and AP, illustration via Fox News Digital. (AP/Getty Images)

Arrest of top MS-13 member 

The FBI this week announced the arrest of the top U.S. MS-13 leader, 24-year-old Salvadoran national Henrry Josue Villatoro Santos.

Santos was captured in Woodbridge, Virginia, and was charged with being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm. 

Officials told Fox News this week that Santos is one of the top three leaders of the MS-13 gangs in the U.S.

Bondi, the U.S. attorney general, and Patel both watched the arrest take place from a nearby tactical operation center. 

In an interview with Fox News, Bondi praised the team for executing a “clean, safe operation” and credited FBI personnel for getting “one of the worst of the worst of the MS-13 off the streets this morning.”

Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard are seen in this March 5 photo shared by the U.S. Department of Justice.  (U.S. Department of Justice. )

‘Most wanted’ fugitive arrests

Patel announced last week that since Jan. 20, the FBI has apprehended three fugitives from the FBI’s top 10 Most Wanted list – an achievement that he said on social media is the result of good leadership and hard work from bureau personnel. 

The individuals captured include Arnoldo Jimenez, accused of murdering his wife in Burbank, Illinois, in 2012; Donald Eugene Fields II, charged with child sex trafficking and child rape charges in federal and state court, respectively; and Francisco Javier Roman-Bardales, another MS-13 leader arrested in Mexico last week and extradited to the U.S., where he was charged with racketeering, conspiracy, conspiracy to provide and conceal material support and resources to terrorists, narco-terrorism conspiracy and alien smuggling conspiracy. 

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION INVOKES STATE SECRETS ACT ON HIGH-PROFILE DEPORTATION CASE

Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel. (Reuters)

Roman-Bardales had been a fugitive for nearly three years prior to his arrest and is believed to be a founding member of the MS-13 leadership structure in the U.S., where he helped direct the group’s unlawful activities in the U.S., El Salvador, and elsewhere for roughly 20 years. 

Patel praised the arrests in a post on X, noting that the successes of the FBI are “not an accident.” 

“When you let good cops be good cops, this is what happens,” he said. “This administration is giving the new FBI and AG Bondi the resources to get the job done — and we won’t stop.”

Narcotics crackdown 

The FBI under Patel successfully raided and arrested 22 members of a narcotics trafficking ring in Lubbock, Texas, believed to be tied to violent drug cartels based in Mexico.

The operation comes as Patel and Bondi have moved to crack down on narcotics and drug trafficking as part of Trump’s agenda for his second White House term. 

In a post on X, Patel praised the work of the FBI’s Dallas Field Office, the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, and the Drug Enforcement Administration. 

“These are the operations that mean safer streets for American families,” Patel said. “And we are just getting started.” 

MORE THAN HALF A MILLION LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSONNEL BACK PATEL AS FBI DIRECTOR

Hundreds protest outside a Tesla showroom on March 8, 2025. Photo by Michael Nigro/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images) (Photo by Michael Nigro/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Tesla arrests

The FBI and U.S. Department of Justice have worked in tandem to crack down on a wave of vandalism targeting Tesla dealerships, charging stations, and individual Tesla cars in the U.S. – actions that Bondi described in a press conference earlier this month as acts of “domestic terrorism” punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

Individuals have been arrested in recent weeks for setting fire to, and shooting at, Tesla cars and dealerships across the country, vandalizing charging stations and carving graffiti, including anti-Trump messages, into personal vehicles.

The crimes have prompted a federal crackdown pursued by FBI and DOJ leadership. 

Most recently, authorities on Thursday announced federal charges against a 36-year-old Las Vegas resident accused of setting fire to vehicles at a Tesla collision business in Nevada earlier this month. Video footage obtained by authorities shows an individual using Molotov cocktails to set the Teslas on fire, using an AR-30 rifle to shoot bullets into the vehicles, and spray-painting the word “resist” onto the individual cars. 

Las Vegas authorities described the crime as a “targeted” attack on the Tesla facility. 

“As promised, acts of violence and vandalism will not be tolerated, and today law enforcement personnel acted quickly to arrest an individual on charges including arson,” Patel said Thursday in a press release announcing the federal charges. “Under Attorney General Bondi’s leadership, we will continue to pursue these investigations with the full force of law and will bring to justice anyone responsible for these attacks.”

Terrorist money laundering stopped

This week, the Department of Justice announced the successful disruption of a major cryptocurrency financing scheme believed to be used to launder money to Hamas – a significant victory for the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division and Cyber Division and the FBI’s Albuquerque Field Office, which ran point on the investigation.

The financing ring purportedly controlled by Hamas was used by the terrorist group to launder more than $1.5 million in virtual cryptocurrency from donors since October 2024, according to FBI and Department of Justice personnel.

Supporters were encouraged to make donations to Hamas via an encrypted group chat and complex money laundering system, authorities said. 

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

FBI Director Kash Patel is seen waiting for an extradition flight that was carrying Muhammed Sharifullah.  (Justice Department)

In total, the FBI seized $201,000 in cryptocurrency assets from the group, including another $112,000 from three exchange accounts registered in the names of Palestinian individuals living in Turkey and elsewhere. The important success comes as Hamas has increasingly embraced cryptocurrency and encrypted communications to better evade detection.  

The U.S. Treasury Department believes that Hamas has been using crypto to launder its money since at least 2020, taking advantage of the decentralized and unregulated nature of the digital currency.

These early victories are a signal of strength for the bureau as it seeks to shed what it sees as unfair perceptions of weaponization or politicization, and pursue key priorities under the Trump administration.

FBI spokesperson Ben Williamson praised Patel’s job performance, telling Fox News Digital, “The FBI and our law enforcement partners have delivered on multiple key initiatives just within the first month, but the work is only beginning.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“Director Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino have built an extremely formidable FBI team committed to delivering on the promises of building public trust, engaging with congressional partners to increase transparency, and pursuing violent criminals in every corner of the earth,” Williamson said.

“We’re just getting started.”

Fox News’s Anders Hagstrom, David Spunt and Jake Gibson contributed to this report.

The Trump administration’s Signal group chat leak was a “sloppy” move that put Democrats on offense for the first time since President Donald Trump’s inauguration, Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said Sunday.

Warner made the statement during an appearance on “Fox News Sunday,” telling host Shannon Bream that it is an insult to the American people for Trump officials to claim the information discussed in the group chat wasn’t classified.

“This was so inappropriate. This was so sloppy. You know, Signal [is] fine, but don’t put classified information. If this had been any military officer or intelligence officer and they’d done that, they’d be fired,” Warner said.

Warner fell short of stating that the information in the group chat made it “criminal,” as his colleague Sen. Richard Blumenthal has claimed.

ELON MUSK TAPPED TO HELP LEAD INVESTIGATION INTO SIGNAL CHAT LEAK: WHITE HOUSE

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., says Democrats are on offense after the Trump administration’s Signal chat leak. (AP Photo/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades)

The encrypted messaging app Signal is now under the spotlight after it was revealed that top national security leaders had been in a group chat discussing plans to strike terrorists in Yemen. The chat also mistakenly included the Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg. The chat was made public by a first-hand account of the group chat published by Goldberg in an article last week.

The Trump administration has maintained that no classified information was shared in the chat, doubling down on Wednesday that the Atlantic’s story was a “hoax” after Goldberg published specific texts from the chat.

JUDGE FIGHTING TRUMP OVER EL SALVADOR DEPORTATIONS ASSIGNED TO LAWSUIT OVER SIGNAL CHAT LEAK

The messages included Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth outlining that combat aircraft were set to take off and strike drones were ready for the operation, which were accompanied by timestamps.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he did not share classified plans to strike Houthi targets in a Signal group chat on March 26, 2025.

The use of Signal, though not in the context of war or military operations, has become increasingly more prevalent within the D.C. Beltway in recent months. 

The app grew in popularity after it was discovered in October 2024 that Chinese-linked hackers were targeting cellphone data in the U.S., including data belonging to Trump and and Vice President JD Vance during the campaign, Politico reported last week.

Years before the Signal leak involving the Trump administration and subsequent outrage from Democrats and other critics, Democrats had repeatedly touted Signal as an additional precautionary measure against potential hacks.

An image of a woman holding a cell phone in front of the Signal logo displayed on a computer screen. (Getty Images)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Democrats have emphasized in the fallout from last week’s leak that they do not object to the Trump administration’s use of Signal, only the sharing of classified information via the app.

Fox News’ Emma Colton contributed to this report

President Donald Trump slammed U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg and other “radical left judges” for reportedly working to hamper his ability to serve as president through legal orders preventing the deportation of violent illegal immigrants residing in the U.S. 

“People are shocked by what is going on with the Court System. I was elected for many reasons, but a principal one was LAW AND ORDER, a big part of which is QUICKLY removing a vast Criminal Network of individuals, who came into our Country through the Crooked Joe Biden Open Borders Policy! These are dangerous and violent people, who kill, maim and, in many other ways, harm the people of our Country,” Trump posted to Truth Social on Sunday morning. 

“The Voters want them OUT, and said so in Record Numbers. If it was up to District Judge Boasberg and other Radical Left Judges, nobody would be removed, the President wouldn’t be allowed to do his job, and people’s lives would be devastated all throughout our Country. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!,” he added. 

JUDGES EXTEND ORDERS AGAINST DEPORTATION FLIGHTS, INCLUDING WARTIME ACT ON VIOLENT VENEZUELAN GANG MEMBERS

President Donald Trump and U.S. District Judge James Boasberg (Getty)

Trump’s message comes after Boasberg, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., extended a restraining order on Friday against the use of the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 wartime immigration law, by the Trump administration to deport violent gang members with alleged ties to gangs, such as Venezuelan criminal organization Tren de Aragua (TdA).

Boasberg ruled the extension will run through April 12.

EL SALVADOR TAKES IN HUNDREDS OF VENEZUELAN GANG MEMBERS FROM US, EVEN AS JUDGE MOVES TO BLOCK DEPORTATIONS

Guards escort inmates allegedly linked to criminal organizations at the Counter-Terrorism Confinement Centre (CECOT) on March 16, 2025, in Tecoluca, El Salvador. (Salvadoran Government via Getty Images)

A separate federal judge in Boston, U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy, blocked the deportation of migrants to countries where they have no existing relationship without a chance to go to court to contest that move.

The Alien Enemies Act of 1798 allows deportation of natives and citizens of an enemy nation without a hearing, and has been invoked three times before, during the War of 1812, World War I and World War II.

The apartment building in the Bronx where suspected Tren de Aragua members were arrested on Dec. 5. (Google Maps)

On March 15, Boasberg ordered the Trump administration to halt its deportations of illegal immigrants under the wartime powers act. 

Planes carrying hundreds of suspected gang members, however, had already flown from the U.S. to El Salvador, where the nation’s president had offered to take illegal immigrants of any nationality facing deportation in the U.S. in February, booking the illegal aliens in his country’s notorious prison system. 

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

Inmates at CECOT, where hundreds of members of the MS-13 and 18 Street gangs are being held, in Tecoluca, El Salvador, on Jan. 27, 2025. (Marvin Recinos/AFP via Getty Images)

APPEALS COURT BLOCKS TRUMP ADMIN’S DEPORTATION FLIGHTS IN ALIEN ENEMIES ACT IMMIGRATION SUIT

The Trump administration filed an emergency request for the U.S. appeals court to intervene in the case, and called on the Supreme Court last week to lift the judge’s block to deporting illegal aliens under the wartime act. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“This case presents fundamental questions about who decides how to conduct sensitive national-security-related operations in this country – the President, through Article II, or the judiciary,” acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris told the Supreme Court. “The Constitution supplies a clear answer: the president. The republic cannot afford a different choice.”

Fox News Digital’s Alexandra Koch, Breanne Deppisch and Haley Chi-Sing contributed to this report. 

Protests unfolded outside of Tesla showrooms across the country this weekend over Elon Musk’s role helping lead President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, sparking questions to fly as to who is funding the purported “grassroots” demonstrations. 

“Who is funding and organizing all these paid protests?” Musk posted to X early Sunday morning, accompanied by a video clip of podcast host Joe Rogan discussing left-wing protests in recent days. 

A “Tesla Takedown” movement formed in recent days, with more than 200 protests planned on Saturday in the U.S., and another few hundred planned protests in Canada and Europe as part of the “global day of action.” In the U.S. the protests slated for Saturday were promoted by actors, filmmakers, congressional legislators, academics and activists who led a “mass mobilizing call” last week to rally support, and described in the media as a “grassroots” effort to buck Musk and Trump, while working to tank Tesla’s stock. 

Tesla locations have faced violence in recent weeks as Musk and his DOGE team investigate federal agencies in search of government overspending, fraud and mismanagement, while critics accuse the Trump administration of creating an “oligarchy” by tapping the billionaire to help streamline federal government operations. 

DOGE is a temporary cross-departmental organization that was established to slim down and streamline the federal government. The group will be dissolved on July 4, 2026.

FEDS ON ALERT FOR TESLA ‘GLOBAL DAY OF ACTION’ AFTER NATIONWIDE VIOLENCE LEADS TO ARRESTS

Tesla CEO Elon Musk introduces the Cybertruck at Tesla’s design studio on Nov. 21, 2019, in Hawthorne, California. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)

The protests on Saturday were billed as “nonviolent” and showcased people line dancing outside Teslas stores while holding anti-swastika and anti-Musk signs. Others protested for a couple of hours outside of Tesla dealerships, local media outlets reported, with some holding signs reading “DON’T BUY SWASTICAR,” or “Nobody elected Elon.”

THE LOUDEST SILENCE: TOP DEMOCRATS REMAIN MUM AMID VIOLENT ATTACKS ON TESLA

The U.S. protests on Saturday stretched from New York to Maryland to Texas to California. Many of the rallies saw dozens of protesters, while larger protests, such as one in Chicago, drew crowds of over 100 people, and another in New York drew hundreds of protesters, various media reports show. 

VANDAL STRIKES CYBERTRUCK, TESLA OWNER HITS BACK

“Tesla Takedown is a peaceful protest movement. We oppose violence, vandalism and destruction of property. This protest is a lawful exercise of our First Amendment right to peaceful assembly,” the Action Network, a left-wing advocacy group, described the nationwide protests online. 

Weekly demonstrations continue outside of Tesla stores to protest Elon Musk and his role at the Department of Government Efficiency, March 29, 2025, in the West Village neighborhood of New York City. (Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images)

“Rally attenders must be peaceful and nonviolent,” another left-wing group, Indivisible, described a protest in New Jersey, which included directions on what to chant at passersby. “No vandalism of Tesla cars or stores; or insults of Tesla drivers permitted! When Tesla drivers pass we will chant, ‘Sell your Tesla, Trade it in! instead of booing. STAY OFF THE ROADWAY! It is legal for protesters to be on the sidewalk but NOT to be on the roadway or block entrances to businesses, including Tesla. STAY OFF TESLA PROPERTY! We are not allowed on any private property. Indivisible policy forbids engaging with counter protesters (and other protestors) this is for the safety of all people.”

A local news outlet, media personalities and conservative critics have speculated that the recent anti-Tesla protests are embroiled in “astroturfing,” which is defined by Merriam-Webster as a campaign “falsely made to appear grassroots.” 

DISABLED TESLA OWNER TARGETED IN VANDALISM, SAYS ANTI-MUSK PROTESTERS ARE JUST ‘HURTING FAMILIES’

Protesters rally outside a Tesla showroom in Columbus, Ohio, on Saturday, March 29, 2025. (Brian Kaiser/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“I know when something is AstroTurf. Fun fact: I was among the first reporters (if not first) to put the concept of ‘Astro Turf’ lobbying into the pages of the Wall Street Journal as an international trade reporter,” former Wall Street Journal correspondent Asra Nomani posted to X after reporting on a Tesla protest last Saturday in Tysons, Virginia, outside of Washington, D.C.

TESLA TAKEDOWN: ANTI-MUSK PROTESTERS MOBILIZE FOR GLOBAL DAY OF PROTEST AT HUNDREDS OF TESLA LOCATIONS

“While local #TeslaTakedown protests may appear spontaneous and community-driven, they are the product of well-funded, tightly coordinated campaigns led by national political organizations like the Indivisible Project, http://MoveOn.org, and professional protest firms,” Nomani continued. 

Nomani authored a piece in the Fairfax Times titled, “Local #TeslaTakedown reveals ‘grassroots’ protests are AstroTurf.”

“These groups use digital platforms, pre-scripted chants, pre-printed signs, and nationwide toolkits to manufacture the appearance of grassroots activism, and the messages on Tyco Road mirror the language of protests nationwide. This kind of organizing is known as ‘AstroTurfing’ – a term used to describe top-down efforts that mimic authentic, bottom-up civic engagement,” she continued on X.

Podcast host Joe Rogan, in a clip shared by Musk, speculated that protesters in past days were receiving money to take part in the anti-Tesla protests. 

A banner in front of a Tesla store in Berlin-Reinickendorf, Germany, on March 29, 2025. (Jörg Carstensen/picture alliance via Getty Images)

“For a lot of losers, a lot of people who don’t have things going well in their life, and I was a loser at many points in my life, is somebody called me up and said, ‘Hey man, want to make 400 bucks an just go to this Kamala Harris rally?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, let’s go,'” “Joe Rogan Experience” released on Saturday. 

MUSK SHOULD ‘NOT BE SURPRISED’ WHEN POLITICS ‘COME FOR’ HIS BUSINESS, DEM REP SAYS

“They were giving out $1,000 bucks for people to protest, I think it was Tesla. They had like the rules of engagement if someone comes after you… are you organizing gangs? Are you guys paying money for people and then literally saying to them, ‘Here’s what happens if you engage in violence?’ Why is that even on the table? I thought this was peaceful protesting,” he continued, noting he has not seen any reports of pro-Tesla individuals waging violence. 

Five Tesla vehicles were set on fire and shot at in what police are investigating as a “targeted attack” in Las Vegas on March 18. (Hal Sparks via Storyful)

Other X users took to social media to speculate and accuse the Tesla protests of being an example of astroturfing. 

“ASTROTURF: Rep Jasmine Crockett is working with the Soros-backed paid protest group ‘Indivisible’ to organize canned protests at Tesla stores across the US. Here the Democrat congresswoman is asking for Elon to be ‘taken down’ for her birthday,” popular conservative X account Amuse posted to X. 

“NEW: Tesla protesters stop protesting at the Southlake Texas Tesla store the moment clock read 12 PM, according to @Carlos__Turcios. ‘They all immediately left the minute it was 12:00 pm.’ Odd,” Trending Politics co-owner Colin Rugg posted to X. 

TESLA GROUP LEADER WARNS VIOLENT PROTESTS AGAINST CAR OWNERS ARE JUST THE ‘STARTING POINT’

Reports that some protesters packed their bags at exactly noon in Texas sparked further accusations of “astroturfing,” including one user who responded to Rugg saying, “Paid astroturf. This entire op is fake. Follow the money.” 

Attorney General Pam Bondi vowed that violent protesters who attack and cause damage at Tesla showrooms will face the full force of the law. (Hal Sparks via Storyful)

Seattle radio host Jason Rantz shared a photo on X showing a Tesla protester holding a sheet of scripted chants to reportedly deliver during a demonstration, which Musk called “interesting” in a response X post. 

Fox News Digital reached out to Indivisible, the Action Network and MoveOn.org regarding the astroturf speculation on Sunday morning, but did not immediately receive comment. 

The protests on Saturday were overwhelmingly peaceful. Department of Justice chief Pam Bondi previously vowed earlier this month that violent protesters who attack and cause damage at Tesla showrooms and other properties will face the full force of the law. 

Baltimore area residents protest the Trump administration and Elon Musk at a Tesla car dealership, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (Dominic Gwinn/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

“The days of committing crimes without consequence have ended,” Bondi said. “Let this be a warning: if you join this wave of domestic terrorism against Tesla properties, the Department of Justice will put you behind bars.”

A Las Vegas man was arrested earlier this month for his alleged involvement in a Molotov cocktail attack on a Tesla property. The suspect in that case faces a bevy of felony charges, including three counts of arson, three counts of possession of an explosive device, five counts of shooting into a car and four counts of destroying personal property, according to local police.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Musk remarked on X on Saturday that it is “insanely ironic” that “the people shooting bullets into Tesla stores, burning down cars and generally being violent are calling me a Nazi when I have done literally zero violence at all.”

Fox News Digital’s Alec Schemmel contributed to this report. 

President Donald Trump said Sunday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is trying to back out of a rare earth deal with the U.S., adding if he does that he is going to have “some problems.”

“I think Zelenskyy, by the way, he’s trying to back out of the rare earth deal, and if he does that, he’s got some problems – big, big problems,” Trump said while speaking to reporters on Air Force One on Sunday. “We made a deal on rare earths, and now he’s saying, ‘well, you know, I want to renegotiate the deal.’ He wants to be a member of NATO. Well, he was never going to be a member of NATO. He understands that, so, if he’s looking to renegotiate the deal, he’s got big problems.”

Zelenskyy said last month that Ukraine is ready to sign an agreement on minerals and security with the U.S. at any time, noting that the agreement is seen as a step toward greater security and solid security guarantees.

Zelenskyy’s statement came after a visit to the White House where the two leaders were expected to sign an agreement on rare Earth minerals. But the visit turned sour, and Zelenskyy was kicked out of the president’s home with no deal in hand.

TRUMP SAYS INTEL PAUSE ON UKRAINE HAS BEEN ‘JUST ABOUT’ LIFTED; SAYS TARIFFS WILL MAKE AMERICA RICH

Trump told reporters on Sunday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wants to back out of a rare earth mineral deal.

While speaking to reporters on Sunday, Trump said he and his team were making progress on a ceasefire deal between Ukraine and Russia.

One reporter asked if Trump would say his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin was at its lowest point.

The president said no, adding he did not think Putin was going to go back on his word for a partial ceasefire. He also said deals are made with people whether you like them or not.

TRUMP EXEMPTS MEXICO FROM TARIFFS FOR USMCA GOODS UNTIL APRIL 2

Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a meeting with members of the Security Council via videoconference at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Monday, May 13, 2024.  (Aleksey Babushkin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo)

Trump explained that Putin had said some things over the last few days about Zelenskyy not being credible, adding he was not happy about that. But, Trump added, he thinks Putin is going to be good. He also said he would not want to put secondary tariffs on Russia.

The U.S. put secondary tariffs on Venezuela, which Trump said has had a “very strong impact.”

“You know that every ship just got out and left. A lot of them left. They dropped the hoses right into the ocean, and they left. They didn’t want to be there for a minute because they didn’t want those tariffs to catch on,” Trump said. “But they didn’t want me to see them there. So, Venezuela and secondary tariffs, all secondary tariffs, are very strong, because essentially it says if you disobey our orders, you cannot do business in the United States of America, and that’s the catch.”

Trump said he plans to hit all the countries across the board with tariffs.

TRUMP TO PUT TARIFF EXEMPTIONS ON CERTAIN GOODS FROM CANADA, MEXICO

President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro delivers the annual address at Teatro Teresa Carreno on January 15, 2025 in Caracas, Venezuela. ((Photo by Jesus Vargas/Getty Images))

“If you look at the history, and you look at what’s happened to us…take a look at trade with Asia, and I wouldn’t say anybody is doing it as fairly or nicely,” Trump said. “We’re…going to be much more generous than they were to us.”

Trump also addressed questions about possibly running for a third term, which earlier in the day he said he was “not joking” about.

Initially, Trump told reporters he was not looking at a third term, noting that people have spoken with him about a possible third term.

EMMANUEL MACRON CALLS ‘EMERGENCY MEETING’ FOR EUROPEAN LEADERS TO DISCUSS TRUMP: REPORT

US President Donald Trump on the South Lawn of the White House before boarding Marine One in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

He said the 2020 election, in which he lost to now former President Joe Biden, was “totally rigged,” but he would not take credit for a third try.

Trump also said his administration has had the best 100 days than any other president.

“I was with some very important people today, and they said they’ve never seen turnaround as fast as this,” he said.

As reporters continued to press him about a third term, though, Trump quickly shot them down.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“I don’t want to talk about it,” he told one reporter. “I don’t want to talk about a third term now. We have a long time. We have almost four years to go.”

The Wisconsin Supreme Court unanimously decided not to hear a last-minute attempt by the state attorney general seeking to prevent Elon Musk from giving away million-dollar checks on Sunday.

The news came just before the Tesla CEO was set to host an America PAC town hall in Green Bay on Sunday night. Musk handed over $1 million checks to two voters who signed a petition against “activist judges.”

“The reason for the checks is that, it’s really just to get attention,” Musk said while holding a gigantic check. “It’s like, we need to get attention….somewhat inevitably, when I do this….it causes the legacy media to, like, kind of lose their minds.”

Badger State voters elect Wisconsin Supreme Court justices to 10-year terms, and Musk was there to support candidate Brad Schimel, a Republican former state attorney general.

DOGE DEPUTY, TREASURY SECRETARY DISH ON CRUSADE TO PULL THE IRS OUT OF ITS ‘REALLY BIG HOLE’

The Wisconsin Supreme Court made a decision in Elon Musk’s favor on Sunday. (Getty Images | iStock)

In a bid for an emergency injunction on Sunday, Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul asked the 4-3 liberal-majority court to reach a decision “as soon as possible but no later than the planned event on Sunday evening.” 

Kaul argued that Musk’s giveaway violates state election laws, though the two recipients of Musk’s forthcoming checks have already voted.

“The offer to pay $1 million to two Wisconsin electors, conditioned on their having voted in the upcoming election, is a violation of Wisconsin Statute § 12.11, which prohibits offering ‘anything of value’ in exchange for “vot[ing] or refrain[ing] from voting,” the attorney general’s filing stated.

“Wisconsin law prohibits offering anything of value to induce anyone to vote,” Kaul continued. “Yet, Elon Musk did just that.”

ELON MUSK, DOGE TEAM OFFER UNPRECEDENTED PEEK BEHIND THE CURTAIN OF TRUMP’S COST-CUTTING DEPARTMENT

Wisconsin Supreme Court candidates Brad Schimel and Susan Crawford are seen before a televised debate Wednesday, March 12, 2025, in Milwaukee.  (AP Photo/Morry Gash)

In court filings, Musk’s attorneys maintain that the payments are “intended to generate a grassroots movement in opposition to activist judges, not to expressly advocate for or against any candidate.”

Schimel told “Fox News Sunday” that he does not control “any of the spending from any outside group, whether it’s Elon Musk or anyone else.”

“That’s exactly what I’ve committed to anybody, whether it’s President Trump, Elon Musk or any donors and donors or supporters or voters in Wisconsin,” the candidate added. “That’s my commitment.”

It is unclear if Schimel will attend the rally. In a statement on X, Musk wrote that “entrance is limited to those who have signed the petition in opposition to activist judges.”

Musk was subjected to a failed injunction request to stop his handouts of $1 million to Wisconsin voters. (AP Images)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“I will also hand over checks for a million dollars to 2 people to be spokesmen for the petition,” Musk added.

The Associated Press and Fox News Digital’s Charles Creitz and Patrick McGovern contributed to this report.

CHARLES TOWN, W.V. – Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said this week it was fitting he chose Martinsburg, West Virginia, for his first trip to promote the “MAHA” agenda, saying his iconic political family has a unique history in the Mountain State.

Kennedy recalled former New York Democratic Gov. Al Smith – in whose honor a famous annual Catholic Archdiocese-affiliated dinner is held in New York City – and how he incidentally forced the country to reckon with anti-Catholic biases.

Despite being a popular governor in New York who preceded President Franklin Roosevelt in Albany, Kennedy noted Smith’s foray into the presidential arena led to political strife and “a resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan” in parts of the South.

Smith lost to Republican President Herbert Hoover “catastrophically,” Kennedy said – as Smith had only won Massachusetts, Rhode Island, five Deep South states and running-mate Sen. Joseph Robinson’s Arkansas.

RFK JR BACKS WV PUSH FOR SNAP WAIVERS, WORK MANDATES UNDER ‘MAHA’

“And people all felt, the pundits all felt, that America would never elect a Catholic president,” Kennedy said.

So when John F. Kennedy ran for president in 1960, his nephew recalled, the Massachusetts Democrat knew he had to win West Virginia – the state with a then-record-low 2% Catholic population, and where much of the anti-Smith vote in the region during the 1928 cycle came from.

“It was critical for my uncle’s campaign that he win this state to show the country that a Catholic could win the presidency,” Kennedy said.

“He came down in West Virginia, and his objective was to shake the hands of every person in West Virginia. And I think he came very close.”

“And my parents came down; my uncle, my aunts – luckily we have a lot of Kennedys” – he interjected to audience laughter – “and they spent time really getting to know the people of West Virginia and understanding the issues in the state and problems and those things stayed with them throughout his presidency and on Election Day.”

JFK ultimately beat Republican Richard Nixon by seven points in the Mountain State, considered a major upset.

WV GOV SIGNS RILEY GAINES ACT

“He always believed that he would not be president if he had not won this state – and he never forgot that relationship; that bond that he had for the people of this state.”

Kennedy said that prior to becoming HHS secretary, much of his anti-pollution work took him to West Virginia, particularly coal country in the southern part of the state.

Now, he said, his new role allows him to continue fighting a different type of pollution and “giving people a chance to live healthier lives.”

At the event, he and Gov. Patrick Morrisey unveiled a first-in-the-nation policy banning food dyes and certain preservatives in school lunches, with a statewide sunset in 2028.

Morrisey also signed a document seeking a waiver from Kennedy’s office to prohibit SNAP food stamps from being used to buy soda, and instituting work requirements for eligibility.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Gov. Al Smith attends the World Series at the Polo Grounds, New York, on Oct. 4, 1922. (Paul Thompson/FPG/Getty Images)

“Today we’re here to focus on making West Virginia healthy,” Morrisey told reporters after Kennedy’s speech.

He went on to unveil an “order” of sorts implementing the “Mountaineer Mile,” and added the MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) movement officially began in West Virginia that afternoon.

West Virginia is first in obesity rates, with the nearby District of Columbia considered 51st and therefore the healthiest by that metric. Morrisey said he and Kennedy want to change that.

“We’re cleaning up our foods, promoting exercise, and putting the ‘Nutrition’ back into SNAP,” the governor said.

He also instituted the Mountaineer Mile initiative – urging every Mountaineer to walk at least one mile each day. 

To that end, Morrisey posted photos on social media of the sunset view from his own Mountaineer Miles walked near his home in the evenings since.

WASHINGTON – In a wide-ranging interview last week, Energy Secretary Chris Wright discussed how the U.S. can bring nuclear power to the fore for both energy and defense purposes, starting with rebooting otherwise dormant “pit” production.

Under the first Trump administration, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) sought to meet the Pentagon’s goal of manufacturing 80 such pits – spherical hulls of plutonium sized from a grapefruit to a bowling ball – according to the UK Guardian.

Wright suggested he wants to see the plan realized, as the same Energy Department laboratory in New Mexico where J. Robert Oppenheimer helped develop the atom bomb is reportedly working to return to earnest pit production.

The U.S. has never imported plutonium pits but also hasn’t done any such major manufacturing since the end of the Cold War.

ENERGY CHIEF SLASHES RED TAPE EARLY IN TERM

“But those existing weapons stockpiles, like anything else, they age with time. And so, we’ve realized we’ve got to restore the production of plutonium pits in our complex,” Wright said.

“We’ve built one in the last 25 years, and we’ll build more than 100 during the Trump administration,” he pledged.

Bolstering pit production along with a less military-minded nuclear technology are a priority of Wright’s tenure, he said.

Wright said he is working to reopen the shuttered Palisades nuclear power plant in southwestern Michigan, which closed a few years ago.

Another major plant, Indian Point on the Hudson River opposite Haverstraw, N.Y., that had helped power New York City was notably closed under then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo. There has been little effort there, however, to see a reopening.

In addition to the large-scale plants, Wright said the Energy Department seeks to forward SMR or Small Modular Reactor technology, which he said could be groundbreaking in terms of powering underserved communities and important or sensitive sites that may be far from established large-scale plants.

“Nuclear weapons and nuclear power started in the United States. We built a whole bunch of power plants. And by the mid-80s, we essentially stopped building them,” he said.

RFK JR TALKS KENNEDY HISTORY ON FIRST TRIP AS HHS CHIEF

Radioactive waste sealed in large stainless steel canisters is stored under five feet of concrete in a storage building at the Savannah River Site near Barnwell, S.C. (AP)

“Part of our goal is to bring this to make it more efficient to build things in America again. But one thing with nuclear technology is things that you have to build on-location have become slower to build, and therefore way more expensive to build.”

SMRs alleviate that pressure, as materials needed to build the plants can be shipped and assembled on-site on a much smaller scale, but with a potential for per-capita greater power output.

Unlike “stick-building a house” in terms of a large-scale plant, implements for an SMR can be made in a factory and are more mobile.

A data center, military base or state concern could essentially file to have an SMR installed on-site, giving a greater domestic power source and a better overall grid.

“There’s great private capital, capital that’s been around the innovations to design these plants. But again, you got this slow-moving, bureaucratic central government that’s still got to permit them and allow them to approve. So the nuclear renaissance has been talked about for years. And the Trump administration were actually going to start it,” Wright said.

“That is, simplifying the regulatory regime. We just sent out a request for a proposal to fund efforts to speed these along. And actually there was a similar one sent out a while ago for the Biden administration. They hadn’t gotten responses back.”

States that seek to benefit from SMRs have been vocal in support of that technology.

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy signed a bill in 2022 seeking to promote the construction of SMRs, saying that “micronuclear technology has a potential role to play in providing low-cost, reliable power for communities, remote villages and resource development projects.”

“This bill will update state law to allow us to pursue the possibilities.”

Asked about opposition to nuclear energy, including the closure of Indian Point, Wright said that like almost any other topic, it is vulnerable to politicization.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Plant Vogtle is a two-unit nuclear power plant located in Burke County, near Waynesboro, Georgia. (Pallava Bagla/Corbis via Getty Images)

“It just makes no sense at all,” he said. “It has by far been the safest way to produce energy in the entire history of the American nuclear industry.”

“I know exactly how many people have died from nuclear energy: Zero.”

Wright said nuclear power has an “incredibly small footprint,” and echoed President Donald Trump’s criticisms of relying too heavily on wind and solar.

“You get the energy whether the sun is shining or the wind is blowing. But like any industry, it needs to be alive and vigorous so that supply chain is going; and not building nuclear plants in our country for decades means we’ve lost that industrial capacity. So, we’ve got to stand it back up again.”

President Donald Trump announced plans to chop down a tree that was said to have been planted by former President Andrew Jackson.

In a Truth Social post on Sunday, Trump said that he was working with “the wonderful people at the National Park Service” to make “tremendous enhancements to the White House, thereby preserving and protecting History!”

“One of the interesting dilemmas is a tree planted many years ago by the Legendary President and General, Andrew Jackson,” Trump described. “It is a Southern Magnolia, that came from his home, The Hermitage, in Tennessee. That’s the good news!”

“The bad news is that everything must come to an end, and this tree is in terrible condition, a very dangerous safety hazard, at the White House Entrance, no less, and must now be removed,” he continued. 

TRUMP NOMINATES SUSAN MONAREZ TO BECOME THE NEXT CDC DIRECTOR, SAYS AMERICANS ‘LOST CONFIDENCE’ IN AGENCY

President Donald Trump plans to cut down a southern magnolia tree believed to have been planted by former President Andrew Jackson. (Getty Images)

The historic tree will be chopped down in coming days, and Trump wrote that it will be replaced “by another, very beautiful tree.”

“The Historic wood from the tree will be preserved by the White House Staff, and may be used for other high and noble purposes!!!” the president added.

Jackson, who served as president from 1829 to 1837, reportedly planted two magnolia trees near the White House in honor of his wife Rachel, who died in 1828. But according to the National Park Service’s (NPS) website, the trees’ connection to Old Hickory is debatable.

“Historical photographic documentation shows that magnolias first appeared at this location near the South Portico in the 1860s, still the trees are attributed to President Jackson,” the agency explained.

IMPEACHMENT ARTICLES HIT JUDGE WHO ORDERED TRUMP TO STOP DEPORTATION FLIGHTS

The magnolia tree (left of center, with a silver trunk) dates between the late 1820s and the 1860s. (NPS / Kelsey Graczyk)

“In 2006, the trees were designated as Witness Trees by the National Park Service, having borne witness to many ‘significant historic and cultural events,’” the NPS described. “The base of the trees also took the brunt of a Cessna airplane crash which targeted the White House in September 1994 and were subject to significant branch removal and pruning in December 2017.”

Initial reactions to Trump’s announcement were mixed on social media, though supporters of the president largely supported the decision.

“I am a tree expert by trade, I’ve worked with trees for three decades now… these [magnolia] trees have notoriously soft wood that can become dry and brittle with age,” one X user wrote. “I wouldn’t be anywhere near that thing.”

“Be prepared for the left to treat this like WW3,” another joked.

The magnolia tree’s wood will be repurposed, according to President Trump. (iStock)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“He is trying to lie his head off and rewrite or destroy history!” a Trump critic wrote. “The tree is much more important than Trump will EVER be!”

President Donald Trump teased he might run for a third term, explaining to NBC News that he enjoys working and is “not joking” about making another run for the Oval Office. 

“A lot of people want me to do it,” Trump told NBC News in a phone interview on Sunday. “But, I mean, I basically tell them we have a long way to go, you know, it’s very early in the administration.”

For now, he’s “focused on the current” term, but told the outlet he was “not joking” about making a run for a third term. 

“It is far too early to think about it,” he added. 

LAWMAKER UNVEILS CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO GIVE TRUMP THIRD TERM

President Donald Trump smiles during a Hispanic roundtable at Beauty Society on Oct. 12, 2024, in North Las Vegas. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

The 22nd Amendment of the Constitution, which was ratified in 1951, prevents individuals from serving more than two terms as president. The amendment was ratified after President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected as president for four terms. 

TRUMP UNLOADS ON JUDGE BOASBERG, ‘RADICAL LEFT JUDGES’ FOR HALTING DEPORTATIONS OF VIOLENT ILLEGAL ALIENS

Roosevelt died during his fourth term and Vice President Harry Truman assumed the presidency. FDR is the only president in the nation’s history who has been elected and served more than two terms, which was largely due to the political and economic climate at home and abroad, with his presidency unfolding amid the Great Depression and the beginning of World War II. 

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt delivers one of his Fireside Chat radio broadcast in this 1930s photo. (Stock Montage/Getty Images)

“There are methods which you could do it,” Trump said when asked about how he could go about running for a third term. The outlet floated a possible method where Vice President JD Vance could run for the presidency, win and pass the torch to Trump. The president said such a scenario is one of the methods he could use to serve a third term. 

TRUMP RELEASES POWERFUL VIDEO HIGHLIGHTING US-GREENLAND BOND AFTER DEADLY NAZI ATTACK

“But there are others too,” Trump added, without elaborating. 

“I like working,” he told the outlet when asked if he wants to serve another term. 

President Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Uniondale, New York, on Sept. 18, 2024. (Julia Bonavita/Fox News Digital)

Trump has previously teased running for a third term, asking Republican lawmakers in January during a retreat, “Am I allowed to run again?”

While Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., a top Trump congressional ally, introduced a resolution just days after Trump’s inauguration in January to allow a president three terms in office, but no more than two consecutive four-year stints.

The amendment would read, “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than three times, nor be elected to any additional term after being elected to two consecutive terms, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.”

Ogles told Fox Digital in January that Trump “has proven himself to be the only figure in modern history capable of reversing our nation’s decay and restoring America to greatness, and he must be given the time necessary to accomplish that goal.”

“To that end, I am proposing an amendment to the Constitution to revise the limitations imposed by the 22nd Amendment on presidential terms,” Ogles said. “This amendment would allow President Trump to serve three terms, ensuring that we can sustain the bold leadership our nation so desperately needs.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Fox Digital reached out to the White House for additional comment on Sunday afternoon, but did not immediately receive a reply. 

Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report. 

Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner is reinvigorating the private sector’s role in aiding economically distressed areas of the nation that have been neglected for growth across the decades – including touring areas of Philadelphia that have seen massive developments since he served in the first Trump administration. 

“The last five years have brought $84 billion of private investment. One million people have gotten lifted off the poverty rolls. Home values and Opportunity Zones have risen, while rents did not go up. And so the Opportunity Zones initiative is not only about economic development, but it’s about community development. Families are able to build brand-new foundations for their lives,” Turner told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview from Philadelphia. 

Turner traveled to the City of Brotherly Love on Thursday to meet with local community and business leaders to discuss and tour recently revitalized areas of the city and Opportunity Zone projects, which are defined as economically distressed areas across the nation that incentivize investment and economic development through federal tax benefits to investors. Opportunity Zones were created under the first Trump administration through the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. 

Turner served as the executive director of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council during the first Trump administration, as well as led the Opportunity Zones Initiative. 

HUD CHIEF PUTS ILLEGAL ALIENS LIVING IN GOVERNMENT-FUNDED HOUSING ON NOTICE: AMERICANS ARE ‘OUR ONLY PRIORITY’

Secretary Scott Turner tours The Battery in Philadelphia. (Fox Digital )

Now that Turner is serving as the secretary of HUD in the second Trump administration, he previewed his excitement over “Opportunity Zones 2.0” that will make the program “even better than before.” 

“I’m very excited about the extension, the continuation of Opportunity Zones. And Opportunity Zones 2.0, if you will, and my estimation will be even better. So I’m looking forward to working with Sen. Tim Scott, Congress, the White House, and our private partners to make this even better than before,” he said. 

Turner spent Thursday meeting with local leaders at the Philadelphia Housing Authority, before touring a grocery store built in a North Philadelphia neighborhood, Sharswood-Blumberg, that has historically been rocked by crime and economic struggles. 

The grocery store, called Grocery Outlet, is part of a mixed-use development project that came about after HUD announced a $30 million Choice Neighborhoods Grant in 2020 that attracted an additional $517 million in private and public investments. The development includes a community center that houses the Philadelphia Housing Authority, a health clinic and additional housing. 

HUD ENDS FHA MORTGAGES FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS: ‘SHOULD BENEFIT AMERICANS WHO PLAY BY THE RULES’

Secretary Turner tours a grocery store in an area of Philadelphia that used to be a food desert. (Fox Digital )

Turner also toured a newly completed building in Philadelphia’s Fishtown neighborhood, called The Battery, which is an Opportunity Zone Development that has provided nearly 200 apartment units nestled along the Delaware River with views of Philadelphia’s skyline. The building is also home to a luxury boutique hotel called Riversuites at The Battery. 

HUD TERMINATES OBAMA-ERA HOUSING RULE THAT TRUMP WARNED WOULD ‘DESTROY’ HOME VALUES

The building previously served as a power plant that was built just after World War I, before it was shuttered and sat vacant for decades with no hope of revitalization due to its lofty costs and work to rehab, according to investors and local development leaders who joined Turner on his tour of the building. The building’s prospects turned around in 2020, as the area’s Opportunity Zone designation and tax incentives to preserve historic properties attracted $154 million in investments. 

Secretary Turner visits Philadelphia. (Turner/X)

Now, the building showcases modern living spaces, while preserving its turn-of-the-century architecture in an area of Philadelphia that had previously been neglected for housing and economic opportunities. 

“I’m very excited. We’re here at the Battery in Philadelphia, which is an Opportunity Zone project. It’s a mixed-use development. This is an old factory that they repurposed this building to bring mixed-use, economic development and community development using the Opportunity Zone initiative. I’m so excited to see,” Turner told Fox News Digital from The Battery’s rooftop, which boasts the energy plant’s old smokestacks that have been transformed into private terraces. 

HUD OFFICES BECAME AS VACANT AS A ‘SPIRIT HALLOWEEN’ STORE UNDER BIDEN: ADMIN SOURCES

“There’s living space here. There’s commercial space here. And people in this area now can utilize this… 50 years this place was dilapidated and closed. And now, through the investment of Opportunity Zones… this is a thriving place that Philadelphians can once use again,” he added. 

Entrance to The Battery in Philadelphia. (Fox Digital )

Turner explained to Fox Digital that developments in Opportunity Zones impact families and entire communities, while also rallying economic opportunities for private investors. 

“Philadelphia has done a great job as it pertains to Opportunity Zones… And I would say, and I will say, there’s a lot of excitement from our private development people, and partners around the country about the extenuation of Opportunity Zones. Families are impacted. We’re mission-minded at HUD. It’s economic development, it’s community development. Our mission is to be a blessing to the people that we serve. Having public-private partnerships allows us and helps us to do this for the people of America, and Opportunity Zones is a major factor in that,” he said. 

The Battery sits right on the Delaware River and preserves its history as a power plant. (Fox Digital )

Philadelphia has been rocked by crime, fentanyl addiction and homelessness in recent years, which were three issues that spiraled nationwide amid and following the coronavirus pandemic. Turner highlighted to Fox News Digital that “government is not the answer” to issues related to America’s housing crisis, homelessness, drug addiction and crime, but instead must operate as a “partner” to the private sector, faith-based programs and nonprofits. 

“Homelessness is a big deal in our country,” he said. “It went up 18% in the last year – over 770,000 people on one single night in January of 2024 were homeless, and that’s unacceptable. With record funding coming from HUD, we still have a homelessness crisis in our country.” 

LIBERAL NORTH CAROLINA CITY’S DEI PLAN FOR HURRICANE RELIEF SHUT DOWN BY HUD SECRETARY

Secretary Turner tours The Battery in Philadelphia. (Fox Digital )

“Public-private partnerships are vital to eradicating homelessness,” he continued. “Faith-based institutions, nonprofit institutions that are doing the work on a daily basis, we have to partner. The federal government is not the answer. The federal government is a great partner, a great facilitator. But it’s the private sector, it’s faith-based, it’s the nonprofits that really have their hands to the plow and their feet on the ground, that are doing the everyday work.” 

HUD SEC CARSON AND ROLLINS: OPPORTUNITY ZONES KEY TO LIFTING PEOPLE OUT OF POVERTY

The HUD secretary has been on an immigration blitz, including joining forces with Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem last week to form a new interagency initiative aimed at ensuring that federal housing funds do not go to illegal immigrants. The pair of Trump officials signed a Memorandum of Understanding Monday that solidified the partnership in its effort to end “wasteful misappropriation” of taxpayer-funded public housing resources that previously benefited illegal immigrants who flooded the nation under the Biden administration. 

HUD Secretary Scott Turner traveled to Philadelphia on Thursday. (Visions of America/Joseph Sohm/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Turner said illegal immigrants taking advantage of government-funded housing are “on notice” that he and HUD are prioritizing only Americans for housing. 

“Those that are here illegally, that are living in HUD-funded public housing, we’re putting (them) on notice this is not acceptable,” Turner said. “We will not have it anymore.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“At HUD, we only serve one out of four Americans that we should be serving, and that has to come to an end,” Turner continued. “And so we’re not only making it a priority, but we are making that our only priority, that American citizens will benefit from hard-working American taxpayer dollars.” 

As the spate of violent attacks, vandalism and doxxings against Tesla owners and workers continues, some Democrats continue to invest in the company despite their party villainizing Elon Musk as corrupt and a “Nazi.”

In the last several weeks, a Tesla dealership in Las Vegas was firebombed, a man rammed a four-wheeler into multiple Teslas in Texarkana, Tesla vehicles across the country have been keyed, and a website called “DOGEQUEST” has been set up to dox Tesla owners, seeming to encourage violence against everyday Americans.

Democrats have largely ignored these attacks and continued to hit Musk with personal attacks such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, D-N.Y., calling him “sympathetic to Nazis” and “one of the most unintelligent billionaires I have ever met.”  

Despite their rhetoric, some Democrats are investors in the company currently bearing the brunt of the Musk hatred. Reps. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas, Gil Cisneros, D-Calif., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif., have all purchased Tesla shares since President Donald Trump’s inauguration.

TESLA VEHICLES AND DEALERSHIPS THREATENED BY VANDALISM AMID LEFT’S BACKLASH AGAINST ELON MUSK

Democrats continue to invest in Tesla despite their party villainizing Elon Musk as corrupt and a “Nazi.” (AP/Hal Sparks via Storyful/Ian Forsyth/Getty Images)

As of March 2025, several other House Democrats, including Reps. Pat Ryan, D-N.Y., Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., Adam Smith, D-Wash., and Dwight Evans, D-Pa., also remain invested in Tesla.

One month into the new Trump administration, Cisneros went on Forbes Breaking News to slam Musk and President Donald Trump, calling the first month of the administration “atrocious” and saying that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is “causing destruction.”

He also slammed Musk personally, saying, “He basically bought himself the presidency of the United States” and “I have no doubt he is the one calling the shots.”

Just days later, however, Cisneros purchased between $1,001 and $15,000 worth of Tesla stock as the company faced a protracted decline in value, likely due to Musk’s sudden wane in popularity.

ELON MUSK, DOGE TEAM OFFER UNPRECEDENTED PEAK BEHIND THE CURTAIN OF TRUMP’S COST-CUTTING DEPARTMENT

On Feb. 11, Gottheimer issued a statement saying, “the risks to Americans’ privacy and financial security from Musk’s unchecked access are not only unacceptable, but also outright dangerous.” (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

On Feb. 11, Gottheimer issued a statement in which he went full scorched earth on Musk, saying, “the risks to Americans’ privacy and financial security from Musk’s unchecked access are not only unacceptable, but also outright dangerous.”

“My constituents are deeply concerned about Elon Musk having unrestricted access to their Social Security numbers, tax refunds, health, and bank account information,” said Gottheimer, adding, “To be clear: No one elected Elon Musk or entrusted him with keeping sensitive data from falling into the hands of our adversaries.”

Around the same time, however, Gottheimer disclosed he purchased up to $45,000 in Tesla stock.

This month, as anti-Musk rhetoric and attacks began bursting into literal flames, Gonzalez, who said “DOGE’s action is incredibly concerning,” purchased between $65,000 and $150,000 worth of Tesla stock.

EXCLUSIVE: GOP MOVES TO DEFUND ‘CHRONICALLY BIASED’ NPR, PBS AFTER DISASTROUS HEARING

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said last week that “the Democrats used to be the greatest cheerleaders for electric vehicles and for Tesla the company until Elon Musk decided to support and vote for Donald Trump.” (AP Newsroom)

As Musk and his brands continue to take hits, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt came to his defense, saying last week that “the Democrats used to be the greatest cheerleaders for electric vehicles and for Tesla the company until Elon Musk decided to support and vote for Donald Trump.”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“It is getting dangerous, and the White House wholeheartedly condemns it, and we applaud Attorney General Pam Bondi for investigating these acts as domestic terrorism because that is what they are,” said Leavitt. “It’s very clear that the Democrat Party no longer stands for anything; they only stand against Donald Trump, even if it means contradicting themselves.” 

The Trump administration’s Signal chat leak represents the “profound” risk of “uncontrolled communication,” which could have implications on future operations, a former national intelligence official said Sunday.

Sue Gordon, the former principal deputy national intelligence director during President Donald Trump’s first term, reacted to the leak during an appearance on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

“I’m glad the operation was successful,” Gordon said, referring to the U.S. military strikes on Houthi terrorist targets. “Now we need to deal with the fact that this should not have happened, there is consequence when it does and you can’t be sure that there’s no persistent risk that follows it.”

Gordon said that while there have been errors in the past concerning the protection of a partner’s information, this leak is different due to the Trump administration’s reaction of “there was nothing to see here.”

TRUMP ADMIN’S ‘SLOPPY’ SIGNAL LEAK PUT DEMOCRATS BACK ON OFFENSE, SEN WARNER SAYS

Former Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence Sue Gordon on Sunday said that Trump administration officials should never have been communicating about military operations on the Signal app. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

“I don’t think we should rest on the fact that nothing bad happened this time,” Gordon said. “We don’t know whether that communications path has been penetrated, so we don’t know whether state actors that have lots of resources are just sitting and lurking now knowing we do important things on [Signal].”

Signal, an encrypted messaging app, is now under the spotlight after it was revealed that top national security leaders had been in a group chat discussing plans to strike terrorists in Yemen, which also included The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg. The chat was made public by a first-hand account of the group chat published by Goldberg in an article Monday. 

DEMS HAVE LONG HISTORY OF SUPPORTING ENCRYPTED SIGNAL APP AHEAD OF TRUMP CHAT LEAK

The Trump administration has maintained that no classified information was shared in the chat, doubling down on Wednesday that The Atlantic’s story was a “hoax” after Goldberg published specific texts from the chat. 

The messages included Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth outlining that combat aircraft were set to take off and strike drones were ready for the operation, which were accompanied by timestamps. 

Ret. Gen. Frank McKenzie, former CENTCOM commander, also appeared on the program Sunday, saying that while he was “surprised” at the communications leak, he believed the “larger story” was how the U.S. had “finally begun to strike the Houthis hard,” at a speed “that, frankly, eluded the previous administration.”

McKenzie said he “wouldn’t take anything off the table” about how the U.S. would confront the Iranian-backed terror group.

CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“I think we have the capability — actually, right now, in Iran’s weakened state — to threaten them very strongly,” the retired general said.

Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump is “pissed off” at Russian President Vladimir Putin for lashing out at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy this weekend, he told NBC News in an interview.

Trump told the outlet that he was frustrated with Putin for not moving in the right direction toward a peace agreement with Ukraine. Putin disparaged Zelenskyy’s leadership on Friday, arguing that a trans-national government may be necessary for Ukraine.

“If Russia and I are unable to make a deal on stopping the bloodshed in Ukraine, and if I think it was Russia’s fault — which it might not be — but if I think it was Russia’s fault, I am going to put secondary tariffs on oil, on all oil coming out of Russia,” Trump told the outlet.

“That would be that if you buy oil from Russia, you can’t do business in the United States,” he continued. “There will be a 25% tariff on all oil, a 25- to 50-point tariff on all oil.”

ELON MUSK TO GIVE TALK IN WISCONSIN AHEAD OF CLOSELY WATCHED STATE SUPREME COURT CONTEST: ‘SUPER IMPORTANT’

Trump will be speaking to Russian President Vladimir Putin about a Russia-Ukraine ceasefire this Tuesday.

Trump nevertheless clarified that his anger will “dissipate quickly” if Putin “does the right thing.”

Trump last spoke to Putin last week, and the pair plan to have another conversation this week.

RUSSIA, UKRAINE AGREE TO BLACK SEA CEASEFIRE FOLLOWING US TALKS

Putin’s latest aggression has gone beyond words as well, with his forces engaging in multiple attacks on Ukrainian targets over the weekend.

Four people were killed and 24 were injured Friday evening after Russian drones struck Dnipro in the country’s east, according to regional Gov. Serhii Lysak and Ukraine’s emergency service. At least eight more people were injured when a Russian ballistic missile struck nearby Kryvyi Rih, Zelenskyy’s hometown, Gov. Lysak reported.

A car, destroyed by a Russian drone, in the center of Kharkiv, Ukraine on March 29, 2025. Two people were killed in a massive attack on the city at night. (Photo by Sofiia Bobok/Anadolu via Getty Images)

A drone attack in Kharkiv on Saturday night also killed two people and injured 35 more.

Putin himself praised the “strategic initiative” of his forces on Thursday.

“Our troops, our guys are moving forward and liberating one territory after another, one settlement after another, every day,” he said at a public forum.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has accused Putin of ramping up aggression ahead of peace talks. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)

Meanwhile, Zelenskyy has urged the U.S. to force Moscow to reign in its aggression.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

On Thursday, Zelenskyy met with French President Emmanuel Macron ahead of a summit in Paris of some 30 nations about how to strengthen Kyiv’s hand and its military as it pushes for a ceasefire with Russia. Proposals to deploy European troops in the country in tandem with any peace deal are also being discussed.

Fox News’ Michael Dorgan and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

EXCLUSIVE: Wyoming’s Republican secretary of state celebrated after the state became the first in the country to pass legislation requiring proof of citizenship in order to vote. He called it a “wonderful” development for election integrity during an interview with Fox News Digital. 

“This bill requires proof of citizenship for registering to vote and also proof of residency for registering to vote, and it’s a landmark bill that was the number one priority of our conservative election integrity reform agenda, which we brought to the 2025 general session and really is the first state in the nation to have an ironclad proof of citizenship requirement in state law,” Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray told Fox News Digital. 

“Because Wyoming has an exemption from the National Voter Registration Act, which means that we can apply that proof of citizenship requirement to all races, it also is pretty strong in that it doesn’t have some carveout that the election judges’ judgment can override the requirement, and it creates this requirement for proof of citizenship for registering to vote.”

The measure, which mandates voters show one of nine different options proving citizenship and residency, will become law on July 1 after Wyoming’s Republican Gov. Mark Gordon allowed the bill to become his law without his signature last Friday.

NEVADA INVESTIGATES MORE THAN 300 POTENTIAL VOTER FRAUD CASES FROM 2024 ELECTION

Fox News Digital spoke to Wyoming Secretary of State Chuck Gray this week.

In a letter to Gray, Gordon said he could not sign the bill because of several concerns he documented, including possible legal issues, but conceded that it ultimately offers some “useful improvements” that he would allow to become law without his signature.

Gray told Fox News Digital he is confident the law will stand up to any legal challenges and called the development a “huge moment for election integrity for us to be the first state with really this ironclad proof of citizenship requirement.”

“This is a huge priority of President Trump and we support President Trump 100%,” Gray said. “The people of Wyoming are the huge winners here, and I think it will have a huge effect nationally in terms of bringing this through at the state level, and I’m very hopeful that it’s also going to be brought through in the coming weeks on the floor of the House of Representatives in Washington.”

NEW STUDY FROM KEY SWING STATE SHATTERS POPULAR NARRATIVE AGAINST VOTER ID: ‘NO EVIDENCE’

Gray told Fox News Digital the law a “huge moment for election integrity.” (Getty Images)

Gray told Fox News Digital, “It’s in line with what President Trump is working on at the federal level with the SAVE Act, which hopefully is going to come to the floor of the Congress very soon, and to be the first state in the nation that has that ironclad proof of citizenship requirement. I think it’s a wonderful moment for election integrity, for our state and for our nation, and hopefully helps in passage of the SAVE Act in the Congress, because this is a huge priority of the Trump administration.”

Trump has been a vocal advocate of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which looks to ensure that noncitizens cannot vote in federal elections. Republican lawmakers recently renewed a push to move that bill through Congress. 

On Tuesday, Trump signed an executive order requiring people to provide proof of American citizenship when they register to vote and demanding that all ballots be reviewed by Election Day.

CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

President Donald Trump (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

The order requires government-issued proof of U.S. citizenship on its voter registration forms, directs the attorney general to enter into information-sharing agreements with state election officials to identify cases of election fraud or other election law violations, and conditions federal election-related funds on states complying with the federal election integrity measures.

“There are other steps that we will be taking in the coming weeks,” Trump said just before signing the order. “We think we’ll be able to end up getting fair elections.”

Fox News Digital’s Louis Casiano contributed to this report

With longtime Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas announcing his re-election this past week, the expensive and potentially competitive 2026 Senate showdown in the nation’s second most populous state kicked into gear.

Among the big questions regarding the race – will Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a major ally of President Donald Trump and a MAGA favorite, primary challenge Cornyn?

But also being asked is whether the Democrats will once again dish out tens of millions of dollars in hopes of trying to flip a Senate seat blue in red Texas?

FACING POSSIBLE PRIMARY CHALLNGE FROM A TRUMP ALLY, LONGTIME TEXAS SENATOR ANNOUNCES RE-ELECTION

Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (Fox News Digital)

“I’m looking at it and seriously considering it,” former Rep. Colin Allred said last week in an interview with the Dallas Morning News, when asked if he would run a second straight time for the Senate. “This is a time for everybody to realize just what’s at stake and how important it is that we all stay involved.”

Allred, a former Baylor University football player and NFL linebacker who later represented Texas’ 32nd Congressional District (which includes parts of Dallas and surrounding suburbs), was last year’s Democratic challenger in the race against conservative firebrand Sen. Ted Cruz. 

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

Allred, who said he would decide by this summer if he’ll mount a 2026 Senate campaign, was the latest Democrat to spend big bucks to try and oust a sitting Republican in Texas.

Rep. Colin Allred, the 2024 Democratic Party Senate nominee in Texas, at a campaign rally in Houston on Oct. 25, 2024. (Reuters/Marco Bello)

He hauled in nearly $93 million and outpaced Cruz in fundraising during the 2024 cycle, although the GOP incumbent brought in slightly more campaign cash overall, thanks to a fundraising head start soon after his 2018 re-election.

Cruz ended up winning re-election last November by roughly nine points, which was much more comfortable than his 3.5 point victory in 2018 over former Rep. Beto O’Rourke, who hauled in $80 million – a staggering amount at the time – and outraised Cruz by a two-to-one margin.

TOP POLITICAL HANDICAPPER REVEALS DEMOCRATS’ CHANCES OF WINNING BACK THE SENATE MAJORITY

While the 2018 battle between Cruz and O’Rourke grabbed tons of national attention, it was far from the first time Democrats had spent big bucks on an unsuccessful ballot box effort in Texas.

Sen. Ted Cruz speaks during a watch party on election night, Nov. 5, 2024, at the Marriott Marquis in Houston. (LM Otero/AP)

“The Democrats have been chasing the ghost of a blue Texas since at least 2006, when Tony Sanchez ran for governor against Rick Perry… and all they’ve really done is make a lot of consultants wealthy,” Matt Mackowiak, a veteran Republican strategist and communications consultant based in Texas and Washington, D.C., told Fox News Digital.

Mackowiak emphasized that Democrats in Texas “haven’t come close, with the only exception being Beto O’Rourke in 2018.”

“Money is not enough for Democrats to turn Texas blue. It is necessary but not sufficient,” he argued. “What they have to have is something that they don’t have, which is an electable, mainstream, moderate, pro-business Democrat. That category almost doesn’t exist in Texas.”

Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke holds a town hall in Waco, Texas, on Aug. 6, 2022, during his gubernatorial campaign. (Fox News )

Asked if the Democrats are pouring money down the drain, Ed Espinoza, a Texas-based communications professional and political analyst who once served at the Democratic National Committee, said, “Every time I was asked that question the past few cycles, I’d say, ‘No, absolutely not.’”

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Pausing for a moment, Espinoza then emphasized, “I think 2026 is an important year for Texas Democrats because it’s an opportunity to demonstrate that they’re still in this fight.”

“In 2018, we saw strong Democratic gains in Texas. In 2020, we saw those gains hold. There was slippage in 2022 and 2024 and a lot of that was due to redistricting,” he argued. “But 2026 is the year that Texas Democrats can and must demonstrate they’re still in this fight.”