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FIRST ON FOX: Florida Republican Sen. Ashley Moody introduced two bills that would follow the Trump administration’s crackdown on fraud, waste and abuse to protect America’s youngest and oldest, Fox News Digital has learned.

“I’ve fought fraud since my days as attorney general, and I’ve continued that fight as a senator. Serving as an [attorney general] gave me an awareness of the pervasiveness of schemes and emboldened my determination to hold scammers accountable,” Sen. Moody told Fox News Digital. 

“It also opened my eyes to where gaps exist between state and federal law enforcement. I’m closing that divide and introducing targeted legislation to address holes within current law that make it easier for bad actors to exploit vulnerable citizens and programs.”

The proposals follow a growing focus in Washington on combating fraud as the Trump administration moves to strengthen oversight of federal spending and public assistance programs. Moody’s two bills would strengthen safeguards against fraud in childcare programs and help law enforcement authorities go after scammers who prey on seniors.

DR OZ NAMES 5 STATES IN FRAUD CRACKDOWN AS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TARGETS MEDICAID ABUSE

The Stop Child Scams Act aims to strengthen oversight of federal childcare programs by requiring states to improve program integrity measures, submit corrective action plans if payment error rates exceed 5% and increase federal monitoring of high-risk states.

The bill would require states to detail internal controls, fraud investigation and recovery processes, sanctions for fraudulent clients or providers and procedures to verify eligibility.

DAVID MARCUS: FLORIDA SENATOR’S WAVE OF ANTI-FRAUD BILLS SHOULD BE SLAM DUNK

It also permanently bars individuals convicted of childcare fraud from participating in certain federal childcare programs.

The push comes amid heightened focus on large-scale fraud cases, including Minnesota’s $250 million “Feeding Our Future” scheme, which became a national flashpoint after surfacing in 2022 and has led to a wave of convictions in recent years.

Federal agents issued search warrants at various daycare and autism centers in Minnesota last month to investigate “fake” facilities allegedly taking federal money.

Moody also introduced a second fraud bill, STOP Scams Against Seniors Act, which would help states create elder justice task forces to coordinate investigations into financial exploitation, scams and fraud targeting Americans age 60 and older.

The bill incentivizes states to go after fraudsters through federal grant money to establish task forces.

The task forces would coordinate closely with state and local police departments, the FBI, the Department of Justice and other federal law enforcement agencies.

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The program also requires reporting on the number of cases opened and completed, the number of victims assisted, the types of scams identified, the methods used to contact victims and any indicators of organized or transnational criminal involvement.

FIRST ON FOX: Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has made it his priority to carve out “woke” policies from the Pentagon, and a Senate Republican is backing him up in Congress’ annual defense authorization bill. 

As the Senate moves forward with the perennial National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), one of the annual must-pass bills in Congress that authorizes eye-popping sums of taxpayer funding for the Pentagon, Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., scored a quiet win in Hegseth’s fight. 

Banks secured an amendment to the $1.15 trillion policy package that aims to reverse Biden-era diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies that seeped into hiring, communication and training at the Pentagon. 

TRUMP’S IRAN DEAL ‘GIVING A LOT MORE TO GET A LOT LESS’ THAN OBAMA’S, SENATOR SAYS

“President Trump and Secretary Hegseth are turning the Pentagon around by getting rid of the Biden-era DEI nonsense that hurt morale and took focus away from the mission,” Banks said in a statement.

“Our military should be focused on winning wars, not pushing political agendas,” he continued. “I’m proud to have fought for this amendment to reinforce these reforms.”

Banks’ amendment, first shared with Fox News Digital, includes three provisions targeting DEI practices at the Pentagon. 

HEGSETH QUIPS ‘99.9%’ OF DEI INITIATIVES ARE GONE FROM THE MILITARY UNDER TRUMP’S WATCH

It would nix prioritizing diversity for active-duty warrant officers, active-duty officers and reserve officers seeking promotions and instead press promotion boards in their deliberations to focus on merit, qualifications and leadership.

Hegseth has pushed for the Pentagon to focus more on lethality and merit rather than diversity standards. 

“Real toxic leadership is endangering subordinates with low standards. Real toxic leadership is promoting people based on immutable characteristics or quotas instead of based on merit,” Hegseth said last year.

TRUMP’S CRACKDOWN ON TRANS TROOPS: NEW ORDER NIXES PREFERRED PRONOUNS AND RESTRICTS FACILITY USE

Banks’ amendment would also repeal provisions that bar the Pentagon from banning the use of gender identifiers or personal pronouns in official communications, such as emails, in accordance with an executive order from President Donald Trump last year that said “expressing a false ‘gender identity’ divergent from an individual’s sex cannot satisfy the rigorous standards necessary for Military Service.”

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The add-on to the NDAA would also shift focus from DEI training to instead emphasize instruction on military values, like honor, courage, commitment, integrity and excellence.

FIRST ON FOX: Americans are nearly evenly split between favoring Iranian regime change and a negotiated U.S. settlement with Iran, according to a new survey. 

Some 39% of respondents favor a negotiated settlement where Iran’s current government remains in place, with verifiable limits on its nuclear and missile programs, according to the findings of the Reagan Institute Summer Survey, while 36% favor replacing Iran’s current government with one more favorable to the U.S. 

Another 16% favor a weakened regime where the current government stays in place but is significantly diminished militarily and economically, and 8% responded that they don’t know. 

The findings underscore the political challenge facing President Donald Trump as his administration pursues a newly signed memorandum of understanding with Iran. While the agreement seeks to curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions through negotiations, Americans remain divided over the ultimate objective of U.S. policy toward the Islamic Republic.

AMERICANS AGREE WITH TRUMP THAT IRAN POSES THREAT TO UNITED STATES: POLL

Republicans who responded to the survey favored replacing Iran’s government by a 2-to-1 margin over a diplomatic deal. 

Republicans were far more likely than Democrats to favor a more aggressive outcome in Iran. Half of Republican respondents said they would prefer to see Iran’s current government replaced with one more favorable to the United States, compared to 25% who said they would favor a negotiated settlement that leaves the regime in place in exchange for verifiable limits on its nuclear and missile programs.

The findings were nearly identical among self-identified MAGA Republicans, 51% of whom favored regime change while 25% backed a negotiated settlement.

SHARP PARTISAN DIVIDE EMERGES OVER IRAN STRIKE, TRUMP’S STRATEGY: POLLS

Democrats, meanwhile, largely favored diplomacy. A majority, 52%, said they would prefer a negotiated settlement with Iran’s current government, while 25% favored regime change. Another 14% favored leaving the regime in place but significantly weakened militarily and economically.

The Reagan Institute Summer Survey was conducted May 26 through June 3 among 1,555 respondents nationwide and carries a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points. The survey used a mixed-mode methodology that included live telephone interviews, an online panel and text-to-web responses.

To better reflect the U.S. population, the results were weighted using demographic benchmarks from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2023 American Community Survey, including age, gender, race, region and education levels. The poll also included an oversample of 331 MAGA Republicans under age 30, a group with a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.

The Reagan Institute is a Washington-based policy organization that advocates the Reagan foreign-policy tradition of “peace through strength” and sustained American leadership abroad.

The findings come as Trump has defended a newly signed memorandum of understanding with Iran as a way to reduce tensions and create a pathway toward a broader agreement addressing Tehran’s nuclear program.

The memorandum establishes a 60-day negotiating period during which the United States and Iran will attempt to reach a more comprehensive deal. The agreement also includes provisions aimed at restoring commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and provides limited sanctions waivers tied to continued negotiations. Several of the most contentious issues, including the long-term future of Iran’s nuclear program, are expected to be addressed in subsequent talks.

Trump has described the arrangement as a means of avoiding a wider conflict while pursuing what he called a “great settlement” with Tehran. He has also argued that the agreement could help stabilize energy markets by reopening the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global shipping route, while creating an opportunity to negotiate additional restrictions on Iran’s nuclear activities.

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The president added that he agreed to a settlement to avoid “economic catastrophe.” 

“I didn’t want to see economic catastrophe. If you kept this going, that could have happened,” he told reporters at the G7 Summit in France. 

House GOP Conference Chairwoman Lisa McClain, R-Mich., rebuked a school board in Richmond, Michigan, after some of its members tried to remove a conservative colleague for missing meetings while on military deployment to the Middle East.

Ray Steir, who received an American flag and a copy of the Congressional Record from McClain on Thursday as a commendation of his work, had been on deployment, attending board meetings remotely, but eventually lost virtual access.

That’s when the board called for his removal, citing a “disservice” caused by his absence.

“One of the board members’ family was taking to social media and putting out misinformation about myself and my wife and things that were not factually accurate and then ultimately calling for my resignation and prompting others to reach out to the district to call for my recall,” Steir recounted.

PARENTS SAY THEY’RE RUNNING FOR LOCAL SCHOOL BOARDS TO FIGHT ‘POISONOUS’ CRITICAL RACE THEORY

The moment is just the most recent clash between Republicans and school boards over policies that, in their view, are gatekeeping schools against diversity of thought and accountability.

“I think education is extremely important and vital,” McClain told Fox News Digital.

“And educators and administrators need to teach children how to think, not what to think. It’s about time that administrators begin to get held accountable for their actions. Good actions and bad actions.”

McClain’s meeting with Steir comes on the heels of a congressional hearing last week where she grilled a superintendent from Virginia over student privacy policy, probing if those policies were being unevenly applied to favor transgender students.

VIRGINIA SCHOOL DISTRICT SLAPPED WITH COMPLAINT ALLEGING NEW CLAIMS IN VIRAL TRANS LOCKER ROOM FIGHT

“The victims got a 10-day suspension and the biological female that did the filming got a one-day suspension,” McClain said, referring to an incident at Stone Bridge High School in Loudoun County where students had been reprimanded for filming in a locker room.

“How does that make sense?”

In Steir’s case, McClain questioned whether the board had targeted Steir on account of just his deployment overseas. Steir had clashed with the board after learning that some of the district’s bathroom policies would have allowed fourth-grade students to use the same bathroom as transgender eighth-grade boys.

“Prior to him filling the seat, the seat was open for two months,” McClain observed. So that logical argument doesn’t exactly make sense to me; it doesn’t really hold a lot of water.”

MICHIGAN PARENT WANTS TRUMP TO ACT AFTER DAUGHTER SHARES LOCKER ROOM WITH TRANS-ATHLETE

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For his own part, Steir believes his case will refocus attention on the importance of the school board and its membership.

“My goal is to continue being an advocate for the community. One of the good things that I think came out of this was that it got so much attention that some of the community members who were unaware of the dynamics that were not being brought to light,” Steir said.  

At Thursday’s ceremony marking the beginning of the Obama Presidential Center’s opening weekend, the master of ceremonies began with a left-wing “land acknowledgment ritual,” for which the entire event was promptly mocked. 

Valerie Jarrett, the former senior advisor to Obama when he was president and the current CEO of the Obama Foundation, kicked things off.

“We’d also like to take a moment to recognize the original inhabitants of the land upon which we are gathered today,” she said. “We honor the Anishinaabe, the Council of Three Fires, the Ojibwe, the Odawa and the Potawatomi nations.”

Land acknowledgments have been mocked as performative left-wing routines completed to commemorate the Native Americans who once lived on the land where an event is happening.

OSCARS FEATURES INDIGENOUS LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT, ROASTED AS ‘PERFORMATIVE NONSENSE’ ON SOCIAL MEDIA 

They are an extension of the belief that the United States exists on “stolen land.”

But as many keen online observers noted, Democrats hosting the Obama Presidential Center’s grand opening have no intention of returning the land to the people they believe are its rightful owners. 

“Wouldn’t they prefer you just give them their land back?” conservative commentator Steve Deace asked sarcastically.

CARVILLE REBUKES DNC OVER WOKE ‘LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT’ LAMENTING TREATMENT OF NATIVE AMERICANS

“Land acknowledgements are funny because the real message is ‘I want to say I care, but I don’t really care or I wouldn’t have built this on land which I just said is yours,’” said Beth Anne Mumford of Americans for Prosperity.

“So you just went ahead and built on that land anyway, huh,” said conservative commentator Stephen Miller 

Townhall senior strategist Siraj Hashmi weighed in with a reference to infamous Chicago rapper Chief Keef.

REWARDING RACISM: HOW TRIBAL POLITICS IS TEARING AMERICA APART

“Pretty disrespectful for the Obama Presidential Center to not acknowledge the current tribe leader of the South Side of Chicago: Chief Keef,” he quipped.

An anonymous user balked at the logic, or apparent lack thereof, of building “a communist monument” on “stolen land” that the new owners refused to give back.

“The mental hurdles are Olympics level,” the user said.

OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL CENTER’S $470M SAFETY NET UNDER SCRUTINY AS SUBCONTRACTORS SAY THEY’RE OWED MILLIONS

Thursday’s event featured high-profile Democrats, including former Vice President Kamala Harris, former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State and failed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, along with A-list performers like John Legend, Stevie Wonder and Bruce Springsteen who put on a concert.

Oprah Winfrey, Tom Hanks, David Letterman and others were also present.

The presidential center itself, which cost nearly $1 billion to build and has been embroiled in controversy, will officially open on Friday. It was initially estimated to cost about half that amount.

Despite the explicitly stated goal that the center would help uplift minority-owned contracting businesses by hiring them to work on high-profile projects, some claim they’ve been stiffed and are facing financial ruin, according to a Fox News Digital investigation. 

One subcontractor says his firm is owed $4 million for work it completed on the center.

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The project was announced in 2015, and the site — Jackson Park on Chicago’s South Side — chosen in 2016, but the groundbreaking was delayed until 2021 due to bureaucratic red tape. The project required numerous local and federal approvals to build on the location, which is a historic preservation site, multiple environmental reviews and was subject to several lawsuits.

After construction began, the price tag on the project continuously skyrocketed. The center was scheduled to open in March 2025, but was delayed for another year

Democrats, among them some of the most recognizable names in politics, have accepted millions of dollars in campaign contributions from top employees at firms the Pentagon recently designated as “Chinese military companies” operating in the U.S.

The Department of War on June 8 designated Alibaba, Baidu and BYD as “Chinese military companies,” meaning that the three firms, in the eyes of the U.S. government, are providing assistance to the People’s Liberation Army through its military-civil fusion strategy or other means. Senior employees at these companies, including executives, have donated roughly $2.6 million to Democratic political committees since 2020, a Fox News Digital review of campaign finance filings has found.

Notable individuals and organizations that received contributions from top staffers at these firms include Sen. Adam Schiff, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, former President Joe Biden, Gov. Gavin Newsom, former Vice President Kamala Harris and the Democratic National Committee. 

Donors to Democratic committees from the trio of firms include executives, top-level lawyers, lobbyists and, to a much lesser extent, rank-and-file employees working in areas such as engineering or management. The staffers made some contributions to Republicans as well, though the overall sum was far lower than what Democrats received.

PLATNER’S ANTI-CORPORATE CRUSADE HITS AWKWARD SNAG AS RECEIPTS TELL ANOTHER STORY 

The review included direct contributions, earmarked contributions and donations to joint-fundraising committees reported in campaign finance filings. It did not identify corporate donations from Alibaba, Baidu or BYD to the federal committees.

“American politicians should no longer accept campaign cash from any Chinese companies. Politicians who have been taking campaign cash from companies like Baidu, Alibaba and BYD now realize they were supported by blacklisted Chinese Military Companies,” Michael Lucci, CEO of the national security organization State Armor, told Fox News Digital. “The reason the Pentagon’s list of sanctioned CCP companies keeps expanding is because the Chinese Communist Party imposes a ‘civil-military fusion’ mandate upon all Chinese companies, forcing them to assist in modernizing China’s military with the goal of defeating America.”

“They all end up working to support the PLA. They should all be cut off from U.S. politics,” he added. 

The Pentagon’s Chinese military company designation via its 1260H list does not function as a traditional sanction, as Americans can continue to do business with the company.

Biden-linked committees and joint fundraising vehicles were by far the biggest beneficiaries of the funds, taking in roughly $850,000 from employees at the trio of firms between 2020 and 2024. The DNC, meanwhile, had a haul of around $500,000 while Harris-linked committees brought in roughly $140,000.

TOP CALIFORNIA DEM RUNNING FOR OFFICE TIED TO CHINESE SCHOOL ACCUSED OF US DIPLOMA SCANDAL

Various state Democratic parties also received five-figure support from employees at Baidu, BYD and Alibaba. Newsom, per state campaign finance records, accepted $50,000 from an executive at BYD, an electric-vehicle manufacturer that his administration later awarded a contract. 

Fox News Digital reached the offices of Biden, Harris, Schiff, Pelosi, Newsom and the DNC on Sunday for comment and has not heard back as of publishing.

Pentagon officials are legally required to release a list of what it determines to be Chinese military companies every year. The first such list was released in June 2021 under President Joe Biden.

The Pentagon’s 1260H list identifies Chinese companies the Defense Department says are “Chinese military companies” operating directly or indirectly in the United States. Required by the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, the list is intended to warn U.S. businesses and investors about firms tied to China’s military-civil fusion strategy, though inclusion does not automatically trigger sanctions.

New defense laws, however, have given the list more bite in recent years.

The Pentagon will be barred from directly contracting with companies on the list starting June 30 and is currently banned from contracting with companies who lobby on behalf 1260H-listed firms. In 2027, the ban will be expanded to prevent indirect procurement of goods manufactured by Chinese military companies through supply chain intermediaries.

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While Alibaba, Baidu and BYD only recently earned formal designations as Chinese military companies, their links to the CCP have been widely reported for years.

The Wall Street Journal, for instance, reported in 2017 that Alibaba was assisting the Chinese government in its surveillance efforts against dissidents, and Chinese state media reported in 2018 that the firm had a large CCP presence within it. Some sources within the company told Reuters in 2019 that the firm had developed an app designed specifically to increase ideological alignment with Chinese President Xi Jinping. 

Alibaba, however, has come out strongly against its inclusion on the Pentagon’s list of Chinese military companies.

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“There’s no basis to conclude that Alibaba should be placed on the Section 1260H List,” a company spokeswoman told Fox News Digital. “Alibaba is not a Chinese military company nor part of any military-civil fusion strategy. We will take all available legal action against attempts to misrepresent our company.”

That statement also appears in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing made by Alibaba shortly after it was added to the Pentagon’s list.

“Inclusion in the CMC List will not affect the Group’s ability to conduct business as usual in the United States or anywhere in the world because the Group does not do business related to U.S. military procurement,” the SEC filing adds. “The CMC List does not impose any other export controls or sanctions, nor does it prohibit any persons (other than the U.S. Department of Defense) from business dealings with the Group or transacting in the securities of the Company.”

RICKETTS, FETTERMAN TEAM UP FOR CRACKDOWN ON CHINA’S ATTEMPTS TO PURCHASE US FARMLAND

As early as 2015, outlets like Bloomberg News were reporting that the Chinese government was heavily subsidizing BYD. Wang Chuanfu, the founder and CEO of the firm, is a member of the Chinese Communist Party and an ally of Xi. 

BYD did not respond to a request for comment when reached by Fox News Digital on Monday.

In Baidu’s case, China’s Ministry of Science and Technology named the company as part of the country’s “national team” for AI development in 2017, with it later appointed by the CCP’s National Development and Reform Commission to lead China’s first national lab on deep learning technologies, according to state media. The firm, which primarily operates a search engine, reportedly assists the Chinese government in carrying out censorship.     

“We categorically reject the inclusion of Baidu on the list, and there is no credible justification for adding Baidu to the list,” a Baidu spokesperson told Fox News Digital “The suggestion that Baidu is a military company is entirely baseless. We will not hesitate to use all options available to us to have the company removed from the list.”

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The Pentagon has defended its additions to the list.

“After the Department conducted its due diligence, it identified 188 entities that meet the statutory requirement for inclusion on the most recent 1260H List,” a Department of War spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

One year after sending political shock waves across the country with his New York City Democratic primary victory en route to winning election as mayor of the nation’s most populous city, Zohran Mamdani is testing the limits of political power as he takes on the party establishment.

The 34-year-old democratic socialist mayor is teaming up with longtime progressive champion and two-time Democratic presidential nominee runner-up Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., at a get-out-the-vote rally in the New York City borough of Brooklyn on Thursday, less than one week before crucial primary elections.

Mamdani and Sanders are aiming to boost a slate of candidates backed by the mayor, including two who are running against Democratic congressional incumbents, as part of their bid to mold a more progressive party.

DEMOCRACY ’26: STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE FOX NEWS ELECTION HUB

The left-wing candidates endorsed by Mamdani include political organizer Darializa Avila Chevalier, who is primary challenging Rep. Adriano Espaillat, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus chair, in New York’s 13th U.S. House District, which covers the northern third of Manhattan and a sliver of the Bronx. Espaillat is supported by a slew of party leaders, including New York Gov. Kathy Hochul.

The mayor is also backing former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, who ran against Mamdani last year in the crowded primary field but became one of his biggest backers. Lander is challenging incumbent Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman in the 10th Congressional District, which includes lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn. Goldman’s supporters include former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

And in New York’s 7th, which covers parts of Brooklyn and Queens, Mamdani’s endorsed socialist state Assembly Member Claire Valdez, who is battling Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, who is backed by retiring Rep. Nydia Velazquez, D.N.Y.

The outcomes of the races Mamdani weighed-in on will put to test whether his popularity among New York Democrats translates to coattails in elections.

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“This is the team. This is our year. It’s up to all of us to get them over the finish line,” Mamdani emphasized in a social media post spotlighting Thursday’s rally.

The socialist has been a darling of the far-left for a year and a half. But six months into his tenure as New York City mayor, he can also count former critics within the Democratic Party, including Hochul, as allies. And he’s even earned praise from President Donald Trump.

Trump last year repeatedly claimed Mamdani was a “communist lunatic,” but during an Oval Office meeting in November that grabbed tons of national attention, the president lauded the then-mayor-elect as a “very rational person” who would do a “really good job.”

“It’s crystal clear that Mamdani understands power and how to leverage it,” longtime Democratic strategist Joe Caiazzo told Fox News Digital.

“He remains incredibly popular and it appears he also understands that may not always be the case. That’s why I think you see him flexing his political muscle now. It’s smart politics,” added Caiazzo, a veteran of the 2016 and 2020 Sanders presidential campaigns.

The candidates Mamdani’s backing, including some running for state legislative offices, are mostly showcasing the mayor’s platform of focusing on affordability in a city with one of the nation’s highest costs of living.

Sanders, a New York City native who last year appeared at rallies on Mamdani’s behalf and swore in the mayor at his January inauguration, highlighted on social media, “Now more than ever, we need leaders in Congress who understand firsthand the struggles working people face.”

Mamdani’s support for the trio of congressional candidates, along with Thursday’s rally with Sanders, gives Republicans, who have long cast the mayor as a radical, more ammunition to use him as a cudgel as they work to hold their razor-thin House majority in this year’s midterm elections.

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“Zohran Mamdani’s socialist brand is as toxic as it comes,” National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) National Press Secretary Mike Marinella told Fox News Digital.

“And during a time when Democrats don’t have a leader or a message, he’s exactly the kind of bogeyman we can use against Democrats to truly show who is leading their party and the crazy policies they all support.”

Fox News’ Jessica Sonkin contributed to this report

FIRST ON FOX: Detransitioner Chloe Cole says Planned Parenthood clinics across multiple states had few answers when she sought help reversing the effects of a gender transition, according to a new undercover investigation obtained by Fox News Digital.

The investigation, conducted by pro-life advocacy group Live Action in partnership with Cole, involved calls to Planned Parenthood locations in Idaho, Alaska, New York and Washington, D.C., among other jurisdictions. In the calls, Cole posed as a patient seeking information about detransitioning after previously undergoing a gender transition.

Across multiple conversations reviewed by Fox News Digital, employees described services available for patients seeking gender-affirming care but did not identify detransition-specific programs, treatment pathways or clinical resources when asked about options for individuals seeking to reverse course after transition-related medical treatment.

In one call reviewed by Fox News Digital, Cole asked whether Planned Parenthood offered services for patients attempting to stop or reverse a transition.

UNDERCOVER INVESTIGATION: PLANNED PARENTHOOD PRESCRIBING HORMONES TO MINORS WITH MINIMAL OVERSIGHT

“We only have gender-affirming care services, like for hormones, but not to detransition,” a Planned Parenthood employee told Cole.

When Cole asked whether the organization offered help addressing fertility concerns or other effects associated with prior transition-related treatment, the employee responded: “As in right now, it’s a no, I don’t think we do that type of healthcare.”

The calls form the basis of a new campaign by Live Action urging lawmakers to continue restrictions on federal funding for Planned Parenthood, which the organization says has expanded its transgender-related healthcare services in recent years.

I WAS 15 AND TRUSTED THE ‘EXPERTS’ ON GENDER CARE. TURNS OUT, THEY WERE WINGING IT

For Cole, the issue is personal.

“My name is Chloe Cole. When I was 12 years old, I began the process of trying to change my gender from female to male,” she says in the investigation video.

“At age 15, I even had both of my breasts surgically removed. But I realized that what I was doing was actually harming my body. So at age 16, I began to detransition.”

Cole said she launched the investigation because she wanted to know what resources existed for patients seeking help after regretting a transition.

“I know firsthand the pain of being pushed down the path of transition,” Cole told Fox News Digital in a statement.

“In this investigation with Live Action, I wanted to see what Planned Parenthood would do when someone came back asking for help to detransition.”

‘LOSING THEIR HEALTH’: DETRANSITIONER SOUNDS ALARM ABOUT SEX-CHANGE SURGERIES NEGATIVELY IMPACTING CHILDREN

“What I found was horrifying: Planned Parenthood was ready to help people start transitioning, but had no real answers, no meaningful support, and no services to help them reverse course,” she said.

During the calls, Cole raised concerns about fertility, the effects of cross-sex hormones, breast reconstruction and other questions related to detransitioning. According to the investigation, employees referred her to outside providers, said they were unfamiliar with detransition-related care or stated they were not aware of such services being offered through Planned Parenthood.

In one exchange, Cole told a Planned Parenthood employee, “I had surgery, I’ve been on the drugs, and I need help recovering the things I’ve lost,” while asking what resources might be available to patients seeking to detransition.

DETRANSITIONER TOUTS $2-MILLION LANDMARK MALPRACTICE RULING AS GOOD START, BUT ‘NOT NEARLY ENOUGH’

The employee replied that Planned Parenthood could schedule an appointment with a provider but added, “I don’t think we do that type of healthcare.”

At another point during the call, a staff member said Planned Parenthood facilities typically see patients who are “getting started on gender-affirming care.”

The findings follow a separate undercover investigation reported by Fox News Digital in May that found some Planned Parenthood locations said minors as young as 16 could obtain cross-sex hormones through the organization’s informed-consent model with limited requirements for therapy or mental-health evaluations.

CHLOE COLE ACT AIMED AT BLOCKING MINORS FROM UNDERGOING LIFE-ALTERING TRANSGENDER SURGERIES, GOP LAWMAKER SAYS

At the time, Live Action released recordings from calls to Planned Parenthood facilities in multiple states in which employees allegedly said cross-sex hormones could be prescribed at an initial appointment.

The new investigation focuses instead on what support is available for individuals seeking to discontinue treatment or detransition.

Live Action founder and president Lila Rose said the calls revealed what she described as a one-sided system.

“Live Action’s undercover investigation with detransitioner Chloe Cole exposed Planned Parenthood’s one-way body destruction pipeline,” Rose said in a statement.

“Planned Parenthood is willing to prescribe cross-sex hormones and push vulnerable people further into dangerous so-called ‘gender-affirming care,’ but when someone comes back seeking help to detransition, Planned Parenthood has no answers, no support and no services to help reverse the damage.”

Planned Parenthood’s website states that many of its health centers provide gender-affirming care and lists services including hormone therapy, puberty blockers, surgery referrals and “transition support (social, legal).” The website does not specifically reference detransition-related services on its gender-affirming care page. Not all Planned Parenthood health centers offer the same services, according to the organization.

The organization is using the investigation as part of a broader effort urging Congress and the Trump administration to continue restricting federal funding for Planned Parenthood after current limitations expire.

According to Planned Parenthood’s most recent annual report, the organization received hundreds of millions of dollars in government reimbursements and grants while continuing to provide reproductive healthcare and other medical services nationwide.

Fox News Digital asked Planned Parenthood whether any of its health centers provide detransition-related services, referrals, counseling or medical support to patients seeking to discontinue or reverse prior gender-related medical treatment, and whether it disputes any findings contained in the investigation.

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Planned Parenthood did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Fox News Digital’s Peter Pinedo contributed to this reporting.

The White House took aim at former President Barack Obama ahead of Friday’s grand opening of the Obama Presidential Center, contrasting President Donald Trump’s government construction projects to the 44th president’s.

“President Trump continues to implement long-overdue and necessary renovations to beautify Washington, D.C., and our nation’s treasured monuments as we approach our historic 250th anniversary of independence. Thanks to the Builder-in-Chief, these projects are being completed on time and under budget — a stark contrast to the errantly run Obama administration, which overspent and underdelivered,” White House spokesman Davis Ingle told Fox News Digital when asked for comment about the museum.

The Obama Presidential Center, which opens to the public Friday following a decade of planning and construction, has faced scrutiny over rising costs, construction delays and public infrastructure spending. The White House seized on those criticisms as Trump promotes a series of renovation and construction projects.

“President Trump is ensuring our nation’s capital will be properly honored and maintained in excellent condition for generations to come,” Ingle added.

BUREAUCRATS HIDE TRUE PRICE OF OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL CENTER AS TAXPAYERS HIT WITH INFRASTRUCTURE BILL

An Obama Presidential Center Dedication held Thursday featured a slew of former diplomats, officials and celebrities such as former Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, Oprah, Nancy Pelosi, Kamala Harris, and Steven Spielberg.

Taxpayers footed hundreds of millions of dollars in public infrastructure costs for Obama’s museum that constructed roads, transit, and utility updates around the campus. 

Overall construction costs were reported to be $830 million in 2021 and have likely climbed past the $1 billion mark.

A recent Fox News Digital investigation identified multiple construction firms claiming losses ranging from hundreds of thousands of dollars to tens of millions.

SUBCONTRACTORS SAY THEY’RE OWED MILLIONS, FACE FINANCIAL RUIN, AFTER HELPING BUILD OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL CENTER

Meanwhile, Trump has been on a mission to fulfill last year’s executive order titled, “Making the District of Columbia Safe and Beautiful.”

“I will take care of our cherished Capital, and we will make it, truly, GREAT AGAIN! Before the tents, squalor, filth, and crime, it was the most beautiful Capital in the world. It will soon be that again,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post in August.

Obama, along with democratic officials, have taken swipes at Trump over his renovations to Washington, D.C., the White House and America 250 projects, criticizing them as frivolous.

PHOTOS: THE MAKING OF TRUMP’S WHITE HOUSE BALLROOM, A LOOK AT THE CONSTRUCTION PROGRESS

Trump “has been focused on critical issues like paving over the Rose Garden so folks don’t get mud on their shoes, and gold plating the Oval Office and building a $300 million ballroom,” Obama said during a rally in October.

Trump directed the addition of stone pavers in October to the Rose Garden lawn, a change designed to better accommodate press conferences and ceremonial events. There has also been construction at the White House as workers build a ballroom expected to be done before 2028.

“It’s shameful that Trump is building his fancy ballroom while working families struggle to afford a basic meal during the holidays,” wrote former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

TRUMP PULLS BACK CURTAIN ON WHITE HOUSE BALLROOM’S FORTRESS-LIKE DEFENSES ABOVE AND DEEP BELOW

Trump previously said the future White House ballroom will not just be an event venue, but serve as a hardened security structure designed to support presidential operations and large gatherings.

He has also planned installation of a Memorial Circle 250-foot arch for America’s 250th birthday that will be gilded.

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“Your taxes might be going up. But don’t worry — at least $15 million of it is going toward Trump’s arch project,” posted California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press office on X. 

Fox News Digital’s Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.

The Trump administration’s new framework with Iran grants Tehran immediate oil sanctions waivers while postponing the most consequential nuclear questions for future negotiations, a gamble officials acknowledge carries risks because they expect Iran may not comply. 

“We come in with the full expectation that they will lie and they will cheat,” one senior U.S. official said on a call with reporters Wednesday, arguing that any final agreement would require a verification and enforcement mechanism capable of detecting violations.

The agreement, which establishes a 60-day negotiating period, rests on a bet that Iran can be deterred from violating its commitments through monitoring and enforcement. Administration officials say any sanctions waivers can be clawed back if Iran fails to comply, while critics argue the U.S. is giving up leverage before the toughest nuclear issues have been resolved.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION UNVEILS SWEEPING TERMS OF PROPOSED IRAN AGREEMENT

The memorandum of understanding, unveiled by administration officials on a call with reporters Wednesday, says the Treasury Department will immediately issue waivers allowing Iran to export crude oil, petroleum products and derivatives, as well as access associated banking, insurance and transportation services. 

But the agreement does not immediately require Iran to dismantle its nuclear program, surrender its enriched uranium stockpile or end enrichment. Instead, the deal says the U.S. and Iran will negotiate the “disposition” of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile, with down-blending on site under International Atomic Energy Agency supervision identified as the minimum methodology.

Administration officials defended that language as an early nuclear concession, saying the U.S. continues to push for more.

“Of course that’s a flaw and we will push for more than that. But the fact that they’re conceding to that is a major, major win for the United States of America,” one senior U.S. official said on the call. “They’re saying we will destroy the enriched stockpile, and this is how we’re going to do it at a minimum.”

Down-blending would reduce the enrichment level of the material, but would not remove it from Iran. 

Trump has defended the framework as necessary to avoid a prolonged conflict, closed shipping lanes and a market shock.

“If we didn’t do this deal, we could have dropped more bombs for another three weeks, two weeks, four weeks, two years,” Trump said Wednesday at the G7 summit in Évian, France. “You would never have the Hormuz Strait open … Your market would have, instead of going up, would go down at levels that nobody ever saw before, maybe except for 1929.” 

TRUMP DEFENDS WAR DEAL IN MARATHON PRESSER, USING SEMANTICS ON WHY IRAN IS GETTING $300 BILLION

“I did not want to see economic catastrophe,” Trump added.

The framework drew support from Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a prominent Iran hawk who said after speaking with special envoy Steve Witkoff that he thought the 60-day agreement would be “beneficial.”

“Whether or not the United States can reach an acceptable, verifiable deal with Iran regarding its nuclear program and other issues is yet to be determined, but I see little downside to trying,” Graham said.

Others criticized the deal for offering sanctions relief before Iran had agreed to anything concrete on the nuclear front.

“How do you expect Iran to agree to anything in the future, let alone within 60 days, when you’ve given up all your leverage?” Blaise Misztal, vice president for policy at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America, told Fox News Digital.

Broader sanctions relief, a withdrawal of U.S. forces and a $300 billion reconstruction fund are also contemplated as part of a final deal if both sides can reach one within 60 days.

Those who opposed the war now argue that the memorandum is the best deal the U.S. can get after the conflict and blockade.

“The U.S. bargaining position was hurt by the war, not helped by it,” Rosemary Kelanic, director of the Middle East program at Defense Priorities, told Fox News Digital.

Kelanic said Trump is now “buying off Iran to return to something approaching the pre-war status quo” by offering immediate sanctions waivers and unfreezing assets tied to the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

She argued that the immediate waivers are the price Trump has to pay to convince Iran he is serious about diplomacy after launching strikes during negotiations.

“This is like earnest money, right?” Kelanic said. “It’s like upfront cash that shows that he really means it. It’s a costly signal that Trump essentially forced himself to have to make by breaking off negotiations and bombing Iran in the middle of them.”

Iran has framed the memorandum as a test of whether Washington is prepared to act first, rather than simply offer assurances.

“Unfortunately, it must be acknowledged that Iran’s deep mistrust of the United States stems from a long history of wrongdoing by American leaders,” Iran foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Monday in a press briefing. “The United States still has a long way to go before it can earn the trust of the Iranian people.”

The memorandum leaves the key nuclear mechanics to be worked out during the 60-day period, as well as key issues like ballistic missile production and proxy funding. 

“What we have in this deal already suggests that if there is a deal in 60 days on the nuclear issue, that deal is going to be weaker than the JCPOA,” Misztal said, referring to the Obama-era nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

Under the JCPOA, Iran was required to sharply reduce its uranium stockpile, including by removing excess material from the country. Misztal said the new agreement’s minimum standard of down-blending on site suggests Iranian uranium may remain inside Iran.

“That means first of all, no uranium is leaving Iran, which happened under the JCPOA,” he said.

The agreement also guarantees toll-free commercial transit through the Strait of Hormuz for 60 days while Iran, Oman and Gulf states discuss a longer-term framework for administration and maritime services in the waterway.

Behnam Taleblu, senior director at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, warned that the provision raises concerns that Iran could gain a role in regulating a critical international waterway after demonstrating its ability to disrupt global shipping.

“I mean, not just charge a toll, but regulate the crucial international waterway,” Taleblu said. “There can be no doubt over the fact that the Strait of Hormuz needs to be open and open to all, not just whomever Iran and Iran plus its friends can pressure others into.”

“If there is no guarantee of freedom of navigation, the Islamic Republic is going to salami slice the resolve of the Gulf countries and basically try to throw its weight around in this strait again,” he added.

The agreement also calls for the U.S. and regional partners to develop a reconstruction and economic development plan for Iran worth at least $300 billion. U.S. officials have stressed that the provision does not require American taxpayer money, but critics said any funding stream could free up regime resources for other priorities.

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“It doesn’t matter if it’s Chinese money or American money or [United Arab Emirates] money,” Taleblu said. “The more they have access, the less they have to compete over resources and more they can fund what they want to fund.” 

If negotiations collapse during the 60 days, Trump has left resuming military pressure back on the table. “If we think that they’re just dragging us along and kind of bulls**ting us, then we’ll be very quick to pull the plug,” a senior administration official said. 

Republicans aren’t taking President Donald Trump’s deal with Iran well. 

While Congress has still not received the actual memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by Trump and Iranian officials, lawmakers have seen the reports circulating in the media. 

And one of the top Republicans in the Senate warned that while he supported the war’s initial objectives, he feared that the current agreement would undermine those same objectives. 

Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker, R-Miss., shredded the MOU in a statement on Thursday, in which he cautioned that the agreement “negotiates away the victories of Operation Epic Fury in ways that are completely out of step with the president’s goals.”

TRUMP’S IRAN DEAL ‘GIVING A LOT MORE TO GET A LOT LESS’ THAN OBAMA’S, SENATOR SAYS

“Specifically, the $300 billion fund for the reconstruction and economic development of Iran — though not funded by U.S. taxpayers — would make Iran’s payoff under President Obama’s 2015 deal look like a pittance by comparison,” Wicker said. 

The proposed $300 billion fund has given Republicans heartburn as details have emerged in recent days, with some comparing it to the billions that flowed to Iran under former President Joe Biden. 

The agreement stipulates that the U.S. would coordinate with regional partners to develop the fund, which would be finalized as part of the 60-day deal.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION UNVEILS SWEEPING TERMS OF PROPOSED IRAN AGREEMENT

Wicker also took issue with lifting sanctions on Iran and forcing Israel to stand down against Hezbollah, “an Iranian-backed terrorist organization that continues to attack Israel on its northern border.” 

“The Iranian regime has not renounced its ultimate goal — ‘Death to America, Death to Israel,’” Wicker said. “The regime will invest every penny it receives to further that aim.”

“President Trump has pursued peace through strength,” he continued. “I hope the intermediaries working on this deal are not undermining that objective.”

Wicker isn’t alone in his fear that Iran will turn around and use the funds for nefarious efforts. 

REPUBLICANS BAT DOWN BID TO HANDCUFF TRUMP’S WAR POWERS AS PEACE DEAL NEARS

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, warned that “giving billions of dollars to theocratic lunatics who want to murder us is an exceptionally bad idea.” 

“And I think, unfortunately, the president is receiving some really bad advice on this deal,” Cruz told reporters. 

Cruz compared the fund to billions shipped to Iran under the Biden administration, which he charged was the “most catastrophic foreign policy” decision made during the prior administration, and that the “money funded terrorism across the globe in a very real sense.”

“If we give billions of dollars to Iran, that money will be used to murder Americans,” he said. “And so I don’t believe we should do that. And the idea that we would have effectively a Marshall plan for Iran and come in and rebuild Iran after they’ve been the leading state sponsor of terrorism for 47 years — they’ve murdered nearly a thousand Americans — I don’t think that makes any sense.”

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Vice President JD Vance, who has become the public face of the deal, defended the fund during a press briefing at the White House on Thursday, contending that the only way Iran could access that funding, which he vowed was not coming from taxpayers, was “if they comply fully and change their behavior.” 

“So you really have a win-win situation for the United States of America,” Vance said. 

A bipartisan group of lawmakers voiced strong skepticism about President Donald Trump’s newly signed Iran peace deal, arguing the agreement leaves Iran in a stronger position while questioning whether the United States secured enough in return.

Prior to Trump signing the memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Thursday, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, offered some of the sharpest criticism among lawmakers, arguing the deal rewards “theocratic lunatics” of a hostile regime. 

“Giving billions of dollars to theocratic lunatics who want to murder us is not a good idea,” Cruz told Fox News Digital. “I think the president, unfortunately, is receiving bad advice on this deal.”

Other Republicans stormed off when confronted about the new terms.

TRUMP ADMINISTRATION UNVEILS SWEEPING TERMS OF PROPOSED IRAN AGREEMENT

The MOU provides immediate sanctions relief, including waivers on Iranian oil exports and access to frozen funds, while establishing a framework for more than $300 billion in reconstruction and economic development. It also sets a 60-day negotiation period aimed at reaching a final accord on Iran’s nuclear program — provisions critics like Cruz argue would provide Tehran with billions in economic benefits.

Democrats were even more brazen in their criticism of the Republican president.

“Iran is now going to be able to export their oil and gas, rake in billions more. It’s going to get access to its frozen assets,” Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said. “And what is Iran giving up for this? Nothing.”

“This is a great deal for Iran,” he told Fox News Digital. “I just don’t understand the thinking at all.”

NUCLEAR EXPERTS WARN IRAN’S URANIUM ‘RIGHT’ IS A MYTH, SAY TRUMP IS RIGHT TO HOLD FIRM

Several lawmakers also questioned whether the agreement secures meaningful concessions on Iran’s nuclear program, the issue that drove the conflict in the first place.

“I think when it comes to the development of nuclear weapons, the language is the same,” Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said. “We went to war for what?”

“Are you kidding?” Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., shot-back when asked about the quality of the deal. “Look, everything about this says that Iran is better off now than it was before this war started.”

Other lawmakers questioned whether the agreement could credibly be viewed as a win for the U.S. after months of war.

“My biggest fear is I don’t know how anyone, even as good a salesman as Donald Trump can be, can sell this as a win for the United States,” Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said.

Not every lawmaker opposed the agreement.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., shared a brief but supportive stance, saying: “Peace is better than war.”

TRUMP AGAIN SAYS DEAL IS CLOSE, THEN CONFIRMS A LAST-MINUTE AGREEMENT WITH IRAN, BUT DETAILS STILL SECRET

Several lawmakers also compared the agreement to the Obama-era Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the 2015 nuclear deal Trump withdrew from during his first term.

“The public reporting to me suggests we’re giving up an awful lot more to get a lot less than the JCPOA,” Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., said.

Warren argued the outcome of the conflict had effectively brought the administration back to a deal similar to the one Trump once rejected.

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“Remember this whole nuclear deal now?” Warren asked. “No better than what we had back in 2015, back when Barack Obama cut the deal. 

“And that’s where Donald Trump winds us up after all of this?” she continued. “What an embarrassment.”

Janeese Lewis George, a democratic socialist member of the Washington, D.C. City Council described as “D.C.’s version of [New York City Mayor] Zohran Mamdani,” is set to become mayor of the nation’s capital after her opponent conceded the race Thursday morning. 

In a city that leans overwhelmingly left and with no real challengers on the ballot, Lewis George will likely win November’s general election for mayor. Her main opponent was former City Council member-at-large Kenyan McDuffie, who conceded the race two days after the primary election, and five other candidates who polled very low: Rini Sampath, Gary Goodweather, Ernest Johnson, Hope Solomon and Vincent Orange.

Lewis George is poised to replace current Democrat Mayor Muriel Bowser, who on occasion worked with President Donald Trump over the last two years but ultimately opted not to pursue a fourth term at the city’s helm.

With a more adversarial approach to the current administration, Lewis George’s victory tees up a potential showdown with Trump as the president made cleaning up D.C. during his second term a main goal, maintains a deployment of the National Guard to the nation’s capital and has threatened repeatedly to end home rule for the district.

Opposing Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to D.C. was a central tenet of Lewis George’s platform on the council and during her campaign.

DSA-LINKED DC COUNCILMEMBER MOUNTS MAYORAL BID TO SUCCEED BOWSER

“Like many of you, I am shocked and outraged that President Trump has announced he is weaponizing the Home Rule Act by deploying the National Guard and exercising authority over the Metropolitan Police Department. This is a direct attack on the 700,000 residents of DC and we will not stand for it,” she said in a statement when Trump announced the move last August.

While Bowser offered cooperation with the Trump administration on the crime crackdown, which has been focused heavily on juvenile incidents, Lewis George insisted that “federal troops” and “masked ICE agents” were the real threat to the city’s youth.

MAMDANI-STYLE DC MAYORAL HOPEFUL DRAGGED OVER ‘EXACTLY BACKWARDS’ RESPONSE TO VIOLENT TEEN MOBS

“Right now, using the curfew as a tool for our young people is dangerous,” she said during a primary debate. “It is dangerous because we have federal troops who are in our city, masked ICE agents who are in our city, and these are the people enforcing this law and our young people.”

“And these are not individuals who are trained in de-escalation, they are not accountable to D.C. residents.”

“As mayor,” she continued, “I think it’s important that we use the right tools, and we don’t put the risk of our youth being harmed or killed without the real oversight that’s necessary.”

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Instead, Lewis George plans to offer even more “youth programming” to keep young people out of trouble.

She has touted a plan to expand universal access to childcare in D.C., “so that no family is spending more than 7% of their income on childcare.”

As a self-described democratic socialist, Lewis George is expected to take the district even further left as Trump and Republicans call for a crackdown on left-leaning policies that they say are ruining the nation’s capital.

The candidate has supported the defund police movement and was endorsed by progressive groups like Black Lives Matter, the Working Families Party and the Metro D.C. chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America.

Trump has suggested that he’d order another federal takeover of Washington D.C. if the “crazy socialist” mayoral candidate was elected.

“I wouldn’t like it — and maybe we take back Washington, run it on the federal basis,” Trump said when asked by reporters how he’d respond if a self-described Democratic socialist D.C. council member were to win her bid.

“We won’t put up with it. We’re not going to lose our businesses,” Trump said last week during a press briefing from the White House.

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

The memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Iran was released Wednesday detailing the terms of the deal hashed out by the Trump administration.

President Donald Trump signed the deal after the G7 wrapped up at the Palace of Versailles on Wednesday with a formal signing ceremony set for Friday. His signature put the 60-day ceasefire and negotiation framework into effect. 

Read the full text below. 

TRUMP ANNOUNCES PEACE DEAL WITH IRAN, DECLARES STRAIT OF HORMUZ WILL REOPEN: ‘LET THE OIL FLOW!’

1. The United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran and their allies in the current war by signing this MOU declare the immediate and permanent termination of military operations on all fronts, including in Lebanon, and undertake from now on not to initiate any war or any military operation against each other and to refrain from the threat or use of force against each other and ensuring the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Lebanon. The final deal will confirm the permanent termination of the war on all fronts including in Lebanon and other provisions of this paragraph.

2. The United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran undertake to respect each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and to refrain from interfering in each other’s internal affairs.

3. The United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran commit to negotiating and achieving the final deal in maximum 60 days extendable with mutual consent.

VANCE SAYS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S KEY OBJECTIVES HAVE BEEN REACHED IN US-IRAN DEAL

4. Immediately upon the signing of this MOU, the United States of America will begin the removal of its naval blockade and any disturbances or impediments against the Islamic Republic of Iran and will fully end the naval blockade within 30 days. During this period, the traffic of vessels will be in proportion to the numbers of prewar traffic being restored by the Islamic Republic of Iran. The United States of America further undertakes to remove its forces from the proximity of the Islamic Republic of Iran within 30 days after the final deal.

5. Upon the signing of this MOU, the Islamic Republic of Iran will make arrangements using its best efforts for the safe passage of commercial vessels with no charge for 60 days only from the Persian Gulf to the Sea of Oman and vice versa. The traffic of commercial vessels will immediately start and, considering the needs for removing the technical and military obstacles and demining by the Islamic Republic of Iran, will be instated within 30 days. The Islamic Republic of Iran will conduct dialogue with the Sultanate of Oman to define the future administration and maritime services in the Strait of Hormuz in discussion with other Persian Gulf littoral states in line with the applicable international law and the sovereign rights of coastal states of the Strait of Hormuz.

6. The United States of America undertakes with regional partners to develop a definitive mutually agreed plan with at least USD 300 billion for the reconstruction and economic development of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The mechanism for the implementation of this plan will be finalized as part of a final deal within 60 days. All required licenses, waivers and permissions needed for the relevant financial transactions will be granted by the United States of America.

TRUMP MAY HAVE WON A STRATEGIC PAUSE IN IRAN. NOW COMES THE HARD PART

7. The United States of America undertakes to terminate all types of sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran, including the United Nations Security Council resolutions, IAEA Board of Governors resolutions and all unilateral U.S. sanctions, primary and secondary, in an agreed upon schedule as part of the final deal. The Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America acknowledge the critical importance of the sanctions termination issue above mentioned and express their intentions to immediately address these issues in the negotiations in order to achieve mutual agreement on them.

8. The Islamic Republic of Iran reaffirms that it shall not procure or develop nuclear weapons. United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran have agreed to resolve the disposition of stockpile enriched material pursuant to a mechanism that will be mutually agreed upon in accordance with the schedule mentioned in Paragraph 7 with the minimum methodology to be downblending on site under the supervision of the IAEA. The two parties also agreed to discuss the issue of enrichment and other mutually agreed matters related to the Islamic Republic of Iran’s nuclear needs, based on a satisfactory framework being agreed upon in the final deal. The final deal will confirm the provisions of this paragraph. The United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran acknowledge the critical importance of the nuclear issues above mentioned and express their intention to immediately address these issues in the negotiations in order to achieve mutual agreement on them.

9. Pending the final deal, the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran agree to maintain the status quo. The Islamic Republic will maintain the current status quo of its nuclear program and the United States of America will not impose any new sanctions and will not deploy additional forces in the region.

JD VANCE REVEALS DETAILS OF US-IRAN DEAL, ADDRESSES WHETHER TAXPAYER MONEY WILL GO TO TEHRAN

10. The United States of America undertakes that immediately upon the signing of this MOU and until the termination of sanctions the U.S. Department of Treasury will issue waivers for the export of Iranian crude oil, petroleum products and derivatives and all associated services including banking transactions, insurances, transportation, etc.

11. The United States of America undertakes to make fully available for use the frozen or restricted funds and assets of the Islamic Republic of Iran upon the implementation of this MOU. The United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran will mutually agree on the procedures related to the release of these funds during the negotiations. Such funds, whether retained in the original account or transferred shall be made fully usable for payment to any ultimate beneficiary designated by the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The United States of America undertakes to issue all necessary licenses and authorizations accordingly.

12. The United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran agree that an executive mechanism will be established to monitor the successful implementation of this MOU and the future compliance of the final deal.

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13. After signing this MOU and subject to the beginning of the implementation of paragraphs 1, 4, 5, 10 and 11 of this MOU, and the continuing implementation of these measures, the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran will start negotiations regarding the final deal exclusively on the other paragraphs.

14. The final deal will be endorsed by binding UNSC resolution.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Two high-stakes Supreme Court battles over President Donald Trump’s authority to remove federal officials could reshape the balance of power in Washington, but legal experts say the justices may draw a sharp line between the cases.

At the center of the debate are Slaughter v. Trump, involving the firing of Federal Trade Commission Commissioner Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, and Trump v. Cook, involving Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. While both cases touch on presidential removal power, legal scholars say the disputes present fundamentally different legal questions.

In Slaughter, the administration is directly challenging statutory restrictions on the president’s ability to remove FTC commissioners, arguing that limits on the president’s authority to fire commissioners violate his Article II executive powers. But in Cook, the central question is whether Trump met the Federal Reserve Act’s “for cause” removal requirement. Trump has argued that Cook’s alleged misconduct involving mortgage disclosure documents justified her removal for cause.

Catholic University of America law professor Joel Alicea said Solicitor General John Sauer’s approach during oral arguments in Slaughter differed significantly from his strategy in Cook. The Trump administration argued in Slaughter that the FTC Act’s removal limit — which allows the president to fire commissioners only for reasons such as inefficiency, neglect of duty or misconduct — unconstitutionally restricts the president’s Article II authority.

“In the Slaughter case, they are making the explicit constitutional argument that it doesn’t matter what the statute says, the president gets to fire the FTC commissioners at will,” Alicea said.

SCOTUS TAKES UP TRUMP’S BID TO FIRE FTC COMMISSIONER AT WILL — A SHOWDOWN THAT COULD TOPPLE 90-YEAR PRECEDENT

The administration was far more cautious in Trump v. Cook.

“The president’s team chose not to raise the constitutional argument in Cook,” Alicea explained, suggesting the Court has already indicated that the Federal Reserve presents a distinct set of constitutional issues rooted in historical precedents involving the nation’s early banking system.

In its recent emergency ruling in Trump v. Wilcox, the Supreme Court allowed removals involving NLRB and Merit Systems Protection Board officials to take effect while the litigation continued. 

But the Court rejected the argument that its decision would necessarily call into question the Federal Reserve Board’s tenure protections, stating, “we disagree,” and explaining that the Federal Reserve is a “uniquely structured, quasi-private entity” with a distinct historical tradition dating back to the First and Second Banks of the United States.

SUPREME COURT APPEARS READY TO KEEP LISA COOK ON FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD DESPITE TRUMP EFFORTS TO FIRE HER

Many legal experts, including Erin Hawley, chair of Lex Politica’s Supreme Court and Appellate Practice, expect the Court to be more receptive to the administration’s argument in Slaughter than in Cook, where the Fed’s longstanding independence may weigh heavily.

“The Supreme Court has signaled that it believes the core function of the Fed — setting monetary policy — be unique in that it has a historical analogue in the First Bank,” Hawley told Fox News Digital. “Based on history, that core function may well satisfy constitutional separation of powers.”

While Hawley noted that the Federal Reserve also engages in rulemaking and other activities that could be characterized as exercises of executive power, the Court is not being asked in Trump v. Cook to decide the broad constitutional validity of the Fed’s removal protections in the same way it is being asked to evaluate the FTC’s protections in Slaughter.

The Cook dispute has also drawn opposition from a bipartisan group of former Federal Reserve chairs, former Treasury secretaries and economists, who warned that allowing presidents greater control over Federal Reserve governors could undermine central-bank independence and create economic instability. 

“There is broad consensus among economists, based on decades of macroeconomic research, that a more independent central bank will lead to lower and more stable inflation without creating higher unemployment,” a brief filed by a bipartisan group to the Court stated.

SUPREME COURT SETS DATE TO HEAR FTC SLAUGHTER CASE IN TEST OF TRUMP’S FIRING POWERS

Slaughter v. Trump, meanwhile, has become a major test of the unitary executive theory, the view that Article II gives the president control over officials who exercise executive power. The justices have agreed to consider whether to overrule or narrow the 1935 precedent Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, which upheld statutory limits on the president’s ability to remove FTC commissioners.

“This isn’t about Trump’s power so much as it is about the power of the president generally — the same authority over the executive branch in this case is going to apply to the next president as well,” said Carrie Severino, president of the Judicial Crisis Network.

“Indeed, President Biden was very aggressive in using the firing power, and maybe if he had a second term, he would have gotten down to firing this level of officers as well,” Severino continued.

Another issue emerging from Slaughter concerns the remedies available to courts when an agency head is allegedly removed unlawfully.

“The idea that the federal courts get to order the president to reinstate an executive officer he has fired? That’s actually a novel question,” Alicea said. “It’s not something that has been adjudicated before when you’re dealing with an agency head.”

The Court could therefore face not only whether Trump had authority to remove officials but also whether judges possess the power to compel their reinstatement.

Critics of expanding presidential removal authority warn that a ruling for Trump in Slaughter could weaken the independence of agencies Congress intentionally insulated from political pressure.

CONGRESS EXPANDED THE EXECUTIVE—ONLY FOR TRUMP TO QUASH MUCH OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE STATE

Constitutional law expert Robert McWhirter argued that supporters of broader presidential power should consider how that authority might be used by future administrations.

“The underlying policy issues to be considered is let’s say that you’re all pro-Donald Trump and you think he should have that power,” McWhirter said. “Well, do you really want to make sure that any president has that power?”

McWhirter also defended independent boards as valuable safeguards that remove certain decisions from day-to-day partisan politics. He argued that many executive powers ultimately derive from congressional delegations, giving Congress significant authority to structure agencies as independent entities.

“So, if you think about anything, Trump’s immigration enforcement policies, he only has that power because Congress passed the Immigration Nationality Act,” McWhirter said. “He acts under acts of Congress, delegation of power from Congress, and he has a duty to faithfully execute.”

Supporters of broader presidential removal power see the issue differently, arguing that the president should have the power to remove heads of independent agencies because they cannot be thrown out by voters in elections.

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“A ruling for the president in the Slaughter case would be very significant. It would ensure that the president is able to direct and control independent agencies, even those with multi-member heads,” Hawley said. “Were the rule otherwise, that would mean that unelected bureaucrats would be calling the shots.”

“Such a result is not only anti-democratic but inconsistent with the Constitution’s allocation of power.”

War Secretary Pete Hegseth had harsh words for NATO allies during an address to his European counterparts on Thursday, announcing a six-month review of U.S. force deployment on the continent.

Hegseth said the review’s outcome will depend on how quickly European nations act to support themselves militarily.

“This will be a real review. It will be designed to ensure that NATO is moving fast and irreversibly toward Europe leading, stepping up to take primary responsibility for the defense of Europe,” he told NATO officials in Brussels.

Hegseth also lashed out at European countries for refusing to assist U.S. forces in the war against Iran, particularly those that withheld use of military bases.

TRUMP PRESSES NATO PARTNERS ON SUPPORT AS HEGSETH BLASTS HESITATION

“These allies, they put America’s sons and daughters, our sons and daughters, at risk by denying them the predictable access, basing and overflight that never should have been in question at all,” he said.

Hegseth then launched a more general critique of European policy, referencing migration and an emphasis on social policy over defense.

“Instead of tanks and fighters and air defenses, the focus has been on gender equity and climate change and defense austerity. Europe’s borders flew wide open, welfare states expanded, defense budgets cratered. Along with Europe’s belief in itself and its civilization,” Hegseth said.

GERMANY PLEDGES TO BUILD EUROPE’S STRONGEST ARMY AS NATO ALLIES ANSWER TRUMP PRESSURE

The wake-up call comes just days after Germany pledged to become a more powerful military force inside NATO, with Berlin’s ambassador to Washington telling Fox News Digital that the country is ready to assume greater responsibility for European security after decades in which the United States carried much of the alliance’s military burden.

“Germany is stepping up — we heard the call!” German Ambassador to the United States Jens Hanefeld told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz has said Germany’s armed forces should become the strongest conventional army in Europe, a goal Hanefeld said is now backed by Berlin’s new military strategy.

“Russia’s illegal war of aggression has shaken old certainties in Europe and Germany as the international rules we have relied on are being challenged,” Hanefeld said. “This changes the strategic environment we operate in.”

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“Today, Germany is Ukraine’s largest supporter,” Hanefeld said. “Germany’s decision to become Europe’s strongest conventional army, well anchored in the NATO alliance, is an ongoing commitment.”

Fox News’ Efrat Lachter and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

FIRST ON FOX: Abraham Alvarez, identified in federal documents as the alleged “ringleader” of a plot to carry out a mass casualty event at the UFC White House event on June 14, is an illegal immigrant from Mexico who overstayed his visa, according to Homeland Security information first obtained by Fox News Digital.

Alvarez came to the United States as a child and was granted by the Obama administration in 2014 deportation relief through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program after he failed to leave the country when his B2 visa expired in 2001.

Five co-conspirators were arrested so far this month for allegedly planning with others to use drones equipped with explosives to force an evacuation from the White House event on Sunday and, in the ensuing chaos, a team of snipers was allegedly set to open fire on the crowds. Federal investigators claim Alvarez was responsible for planning, organizing, and directing the planned attack.

Court records ousted Alvarez as a foreign national considering he consented to a consular notification after his arrest this weekend, though the documents provided no information on his specific immigration status nor his country of origin. 

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) lodged a detainer for Alvarez following the FBI’s arrest.

Alvarez was arrested by the FBI on the day of the fight in Omaha, Nebraska.

The White House and FBI declined to comment when asked by Fox News Digital about the whereabouts of the other individuals involved in the group chat, with the former directing the inquiry to a DOJ press release.

“This illegal alien from Mexico should never have been allowed in our country,” DHS Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement to Fox News Digital on the attack. “He was the ringleader of a failed terror attack targeting UFC Freedom 250 at the White House.”

“He will face justice and swiftly be removed from our country,” she added of Alvarez.

If convicted of conspiracy to commit murder, each plotter faces a maximum penalty of life in prison and a $250,000 fine. Planning to carry out violence on White House grounds carries an additional maximum penalty of five years in prison.  

DAN BONGINO REVEALS HOW THE FBI STOPPED AN ALLEGED TERROR PLOT BUILT FOR ‘UNIMAGINABLE’ CASUALTIES

After plans for the initial attack on Sunday, federal authorities claim the plotters planned a “second wave” where they would storm the White House gate. The co-conspirators purportedly sought to jump-start a revolution in the U.S. with the violence, citing grievances such as government corruption, the handling of the Epstein files, data centers using water and the influence of Israel over domestic politics. 

Alvarez allegedly used the name “Shepherd” in a group chat dedicated to planning the attack. He was “responsible for planning, organizing, and directing the planned attack,” according to a DOJ press release. 

“As many and as deadly as we can get,” Alvarez allegedly responded when asked by a fellow plotter when asked about making drones with explosives. Authorities say that he claimed to have had a working drone. 

Investigators have identified 23 individuals who were part of the alleged terror planning network, however; as of publishing, only five arrests have been announced in connection with the plot. It is unclear why the UFC event proceeded with many of those involved in the plot still seemingly at large. 

Abraham Hermosillo Alvarez, a Mexican illegal alien, was arrested by the FBI on the day of the fight in Omaha, Nebraska.

The White House and FBI declined to comment when asked by Fox News Digital about the whereabouts of the other individuals involved in the group chat, with the former directing the inquiry to a DOJ press release.

The State Department did not respond to an inquiry from Fox News Digital regarding whether or not it would revoke Alvarez’s DACA immigration status if he is found guilty of involvement in the plot.

“This illegal alien from Mexico should never have been allowed in our country,” DHS Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement to Fox News Digital on the attack. “He was the ringleader of a failed terror attack targeting UFC Freedom 250 at the White House.”

“He will face justice and swiftly be removed from our country,” she added of Alvarez.

If convicted of conspiracy to commit murder, each plotter faces a maximum penalty of life in prison and a $250,000 fine. Planning to carry out violence on White House grounds carries an additional maximum penalty of five years in prison.  

VANCE WARNS LEFT-WING POLITICAL RHETORIC FUELING VIOLENCE AFTER FBI FOILS ALLEGED WHITE HOUSE UFC TERROR PLOT  

Vice President JD Vance said on Tuesday that the alleged plans to attack the White House event were “not that advanced,” noting that the plot was relatively undeveloped when it was caught and that none of the suspects “weren’t in town” during the event.

“The FBI, our law enforcement partners and our U.S. Attorneys did what they do every day to make America Safe through quick response and vigilance in investigating, disrupting and dismantling this alleged plan before it could be carried out,” Acting Attorney General Todd was quoted as saying in a DOJ press release “We will take immediate and aggressive action to identify and prosecute those who incite and plan acts of violence.”

FROM RALLY GUNFIRE TO WHITE HOUSE SHOOTING, THREATS AGAINST PRESIDENT TRUMP CONTINUE TO MOUNT

UFC CEO Dana White claimed that multiple threats were made against the White House event, noting that “these are the kind of events that bring the nuts out, this is normal stuff,”

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President Donald Trump has faced a string of security threats since he was wounded in an attempted assassination during a July 2024 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. 

These have included  a second assassination attempt at his Florida golf club two months later, an alleged Iran-linked murder-for-hire plot, am armed man rushing the White House Correspondents Dinner and a flood of threats made against his life from disgruntled citizens — all of which underscore the persistent threat environment surrounding Trump’s public appearances.

Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner’s scandal-plagued rise is causing rifts within the Democratic Party, and several Democratic strategists who spoke to Fox News Digital warned of the long-term implications of the party embracing him.

“Anyone paying attention to the intersection of culture and politics knows that my party pushed #MeToo well beyond the bounds of common sense long before Graham Platner’s rise,” Michael LaRosa, former press secretary to first lady Jill Biden, said about whether the #MeToo movement rings hollow within the party now that top Democrats have rallied behind Platner.

“But the reflexive partisan instinct to circle the wagons around him is the political equivalent of pulling the plug on whatever credibility Democrats had left as the self-appointed champions of women.”

“If the standards disappear the moment they’re politically inconvenient, they were never standards at all.”

JONATHAN TURLEY: WHEN JOURNALISTS WHINE ABOUT #METOO, THEY DON’T MEAN PLATNER, TOO

Former adviser to President Bill Clinton and Democratic strategist Doug Schoen argued that Democrats are choosing power and Senate control over serious concerns about Platner’s past, and that could hurt them in 2028.

“In the short term, for some Democrats, those on the progressive left, it’s the right decision, a practical decision,” Schoen said. “To me, it’s a very sad one and certainly undermines the moral legitimacy of the Democratic Party as a whole.”

“Certainly, I think they’ve left themselves vulnerable vis-à-vis Platner’s extreme left-wing positions, his toxicity as a person, the issues with relationships, arguably lying about his Nazi tattoo,” Schoen said. “I certainly think this creates issues for the Democrats where none needed to exist.”

Platner has denied allegations from former girlfriends who told The New York Times that he discussed rape fantasies, drank heavily and had violent episodes, while also facing mounting criticism over sexually explicit messages allegedly sent to women shortly after getting married, a Nazi-linked tattoo and online comments mocking a Purple Heart veteran.

Despite new controversies emerging days before Maine’s Democratic Senate primary, Graham Platner won with more primary votes than any Democrat in state history. 

Democratic strategist Mally Smith told Fox News Digital he doesn’t believe that the Platner campaign is necessarily the “death” of the #MeToo movement, but that Democrats who have “more fully embraced” his campaign are “going to have some trouble when it comes to making the case on the Epstein files or any general claims of believe all women.”

“So maybe Democrats don’t have the advantage on the issue anymore, but I would say that it’s not like Republicans have an advantage either,” Smith added. “I think voters are just gonna say, well, both parties are willing to live with the baggage of their candidates.”

Looking ahead to 2028, LaRosa said that Democrats could be haunted by their ties to Platner for years.

“If he wins, you’ll still have to explain why you stood with him,” LaRosa said. “If he loses, you’ll have nothing to show for it except the association. Either way, he’s someone you’ll be answering for.”

Smith explained Platner’s rise by citing voters that are “unhappy with the status quo” to the point where there’s an “element, whether it’s Republican voters supporting President Donald Trump or Democratic voters supporting Graham Platner in Maine, where they say these elites attacking him is actually evidence that he’s on the right track.”

For others, the controversies are still too big for voters to ignore. LaRosa said that voters “reward guts, not willful blindness” when judging a candidate with Nazi imagery tattooed on his chest, adding that the Democratic leaders are lacking that same “courage.”

DEMOCRATS BREAK WITH SCANDAL-PLAGUED GRAHAM PLATNER, WARN OF ‘CIVIL WAR’ IN PARTY

“We look pretty vapid, unprincipled and hypocritical to look the other way when it comes to any candidate accused of any level of violence against women just because it is politically inconvenient,” LaRosa said. “Never again should voters trust us or take our moral arguments seriously. Principles only mean something when they’re applied across the board, even when it’s politically uncomfortable.”

For over a decade, Democrats have used the “Nazi” attack line against President Donald Trump, but have nevertheless mostly rallied around Platner, despite the Nazi imagery tattooed on his body for 18 years.

“They’re seeing all of these lunatics, like the guy in Maine…for ten years they’ve been calling me a ‘Nazi,’ and now they have a Nazi running. He’s got a tattoo on him,” President Trump said during a Thursday news conference.

Schoen argued Democrats have now weakened their case against Republican scandals, pointing to Texas Attorney General and Senate candidate Ken Paxton.

“For every criticism that they level at Ken Paxton in Texas, they will be greeted by criticism of Graham Platner in Maine, which to me makes their job more difficult,” Schoen said.

Smith made a similar point, saying both parties are dealing with candidates causing “their own version of heartburn” that can be used against them politically.

Trump-backed Paxton prevailed in the primary against incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, after he was impeached by the Texas House, a federal investigation into allegations that he abused his office to aid a donor and cheating allegations.

LaRosa said the “uncomfortable truth” is that Democrats have reduced Platner to a simple political equation, viewing him as “just another number, another vote, another seat, another data point on a spreadsheet” instead of focusing on whether he is the right person for the job.

PLATNER CONTROVERSIES FUEL SPECULATION ABOUT LITTLE-KNOWN MAINE BALLOT REPLACEMENT PROVISION

November may provide a clearer test, Schoen said. He said Platner’s victory does not mean he shed his political baggage, adding Platner has left the party to grapple with problems “where none needed to exist.”

“With Graham Platner, there are literally immediate, multiple sources of concern that are ongoing, and it isn’t clear to me that he will necessarily survive and succeed,” Schoen said.

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Ultimately, Smith said that Maine voters will be focused on the economy and that concerns about Platner will likely only be a major issue within the state rather than nationwide.

“Voters are unhappy with the economy, and I think most people are going to be voting on whether they believe the economy is better than when Trump was inaugurated, and the answer to that is a resounding no,” Smith said. “So I think as much as news stations like to talk about Graham Platner and what this means for Democrats overall, or vice versa, Ken Paxton and Republicans overall, most voters are not going to think about Graham Platner’s Nazi tattoo outside of Maine. So I think this is more of a localized Maine problem.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the Platner campaign for comment.

The Trump administration on Tuesday publicly outlined the contents of its new memorandum of understanding with Iran, revealing plans for immediate waivers on Iranian oil exports, a framework for at least $300 billion in reconstruction and economic development, and a 60-day negotiation period aimed at securing a final agreement on Iran’s nuclear program.

During a call with reporters, senior U.S. officials read portions of the agreement and defended controversial provisions that would allow Iranian crude oil exports to resume immediately while broader negotiations continue.

“The U.S. Department of Treasury will issue waivers for the export of Iranian crude oil, petroleum products and derivatives and all associated services including banking transactions, insurances, transportation, etc,” the agreement states, according to officials. 

Officials declined to provide the written text of the agreement. 

SCOTT BESSENT CALLS OUT ‘TERRIBLE FRAMING’ DURING CLASH WITH NBC NEWS HOST ON IRANIAN OIL

An official emphasized the oil waivers are the only major benefit Iran will receive before a final agreement is reached, arguing the move would increase transparency into Iranian oil sales while helping reduce global energy prices.

But the administration’s willingness to grant immediate oil export waivers comes despite officials’ own skepticism about Iran’s intentions. 

While defending the agreement, one senior U.S. official said negotiators entered talks with “the full expectation that they will lie and they will cheat,” arguing that any final agreement would require extensive monitoring and enforcement mechanisms.

Officials said on Monday that Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Iranian Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf signed the agreement digitally Sunday, but a formal signing ceremony is planned for Friday. Negotiations over a final agreement will begin over the weekend after the memorandum deal is signed Friday. 

In negotiations aimed at a final agreement, the memorandum also calls for the U.S. and regional partners to develop a plan worth at least $300 billion for the reconstruction and economic development of Iran. Officials stressed the provision does not commit the U.S. to providing the funds, arguing instead that it would permit outside investment if a final deal is reached and Iran complies with its obligations.

While the agreement guarantees toll-free commercial transit through the Strait of Hormuz during the 60-day negotiating period, it leaves longer-term arrangements to future talks between Iran, Oman and other Gulf states. 

A senior U.S. official maintained that regional partners would not support any framework that allowed Iran to charge tolls for passage along the waterway. 

During the 60-day negotiation period, the U.S. will not impose any new sanctions or deploy any new troops, per the agreement. 

“The United States of America further undertakes to remove its forces from the proximity of the Islamic Republic of Iran within 30 days after the final deal,” the document reads, according to officials. 

VANCE REVEALS TRUMP LESSON GUIDING IRAN DEAL STRATEGY AS TEHRAN FACES 60-DAY DEADLINE

The agreement stops short of resolving the central dispute over Iran’s nuclear program. Instead, it commits both sides to negotiate the fate of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile and future enrichment activities as part of a final agreement. 

Officials said the minimum outcome would involve down-blending enriched material under International Atomic Energy Agency supervision but acknowledged that key details remain unresolved.

Administration officials described the provision both as a significant concession that Iran offered to dilute its stockpile of nearly 900 pounds of near weapons-grade 60% enriched uranium and as a “flaw” that the nuclear specifics of the deal are not yet resolved.

“Of course that’s a flaw, and we will push for more than that. But the fact that they’re conceding to that is a major, major win for the United States of America. They’re saying we will destroy the enriched stockpile, and this is how we’re going to do it at a minimum,” one senior U.S. official said.

The memorandum also envisions the eventual termination of United Nations sanctions, primary U.S. sanctions and secondary sanctions as part of a final agreement. Officials argued that broader sanctions relief remains contingent on Iranian compliance with future nuclear commitments, pushing back on criticism that Tehran would receive major economic benefits without making concessions.

Despite defending the framework agreement, administration officials repeatedly emphasized that they remain skeptical of Iran’s intentions and said any final deal would require extensive verification and enforcement measures.

Later in the call, another official said the administration would quickly abandon negotiations if it concluded Iran was “just dragging us along and kind of bulls**ting us.”

Officials said the provision meant that American forces would return to their posture levels prior to Operation Epic Fury. 

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Despite the agreement being announced Sunday, officials waited until Wednesday to reveal the text at Iran’s request, according to officials. 

“We were trying to accommodate their domestic messaging and their domestic politics,” an official said. 

Asked whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had been provided the agreement, the official said Netanyahu “has not asked us for a copy of it,” while maintaining that Israeli officials had been repeatedly briefed on the substance of the negotiations.

President Donald Trump suggested he may be able to get back the equipment the U.S. military left behind during Joe Biden’s withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.

Trump made these comments at the G7 Summit while taking questions from reporters about the forthcoming agreement with Iran to end the war and open the Strait of Hormuz.

In response to a question about how the deal will address Iran’s nuclear program, Trump repeatedly said he would “bomb them” if they do not comply with proposed restrictions.

He then transitioned into criticizing Biden’s foreign policy record, spotlighting the Democratic former president’s decision to withdraw from Afghanistan and abandon dozens of military aircraft, thousands of ground vehicles and more than 300,000 weapons, according to the House Budget Committee.

TRUMP PUSHES TO RECOVER ‘BILLIONS OF DOLLARS’ OF MILITARY EQUIPMENT LEFT BEHIND IN AFGHANISTAN WITHDRAWAL

“Our country has become the most respected country in the world,” he said. “Look at what happened in so many different locations. Afghanistan, that horrible retreat that these people made. Leaving equipment behind. They weren’t under any pressure. Take your time.”

“I was going to get out,” he continued. “We were going to get out with dignity and pride. Take 100% of the equipment. I was even taking the tents down. But then [Biden] got in and they just left. They left all the equipment. I may get all that equipment back. Now, here’s the thing. It’s more symbolic because it’s a little old now, but we may get it all back. Afghanistan is kissing our a–.”

In June 2022, the Department of Defense estimated that $7.12 billion worth of military equipment ended up in the hands of the Taliban, which quickly seized control of the country after American troops departed.

TRUMP: ‘WE DON’T RUN FROM ANYBODY’ IN BLASTING BIDEN OVER AFGHANISTAN WITHDRAWAL

Trump and his allies have long been critical of what they view as Biden’s hasty decision to end the war in Afghanistan, which lasted for nearly 20 years.

Biden officials at the time defended the withdrawal by pointing out that the equipment seized by the Taliban was in the hands of the U.S.-aligned government in Afghanistan that ended up surrendering.

Biden himself said he believed that the Afghan fighters supported by the U.S. were going to do a better job at holding the country.

“The assumption was that more than 300,000 Afghan National Security Forces that we had trained over the past two decades and equipped would be a strong adversary in their civil wars with the Taliban,” he said on Aug. 31, 2021. “That assumption — that the Afghan government would be able to hold on for a period of time beyond military drawdown — turned out not to be accurate.”

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Under Taliban rule, women and girls remain repressed. More than 1 million girls have been banned from secondary school and university. An April UNICEF report claimed that Afghanistan risks losing more than 25,000 teachers and healthcare workers due to the new government’s restrictions on female employment.

The country is also dealing with a hunger crisis, with roughly 17.4 million Afghans at risk for severe food insecurity this year, according to the World Food Programme.