Donald Trump Poll News

FIRST ON FOX: President Donald Trump will launch the White House’s new “Freedom Haulers” initiative Thursday, Fox News Digital has exclusively learned, opening new pathways for military veterans to become commercial truck drivers while intensifying the administration’s crackdown on illegal immigrant and non-English-speaking truckers. 

“President Trump’s administration has made our roads safer by taking illegal alien, non-English speaking truck drivers off America’s highways. Now, through the Freedom Haulers initiative, the President is expanding opportunities for our veterans by making it easier to obtain commercial driver’s licenses once they conclude their service,” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told Fox News Digital.

The Trump administration is pairing its crackdown on illegal immigrant and non-English-speaking commercial drivers with a new effort to recruit military veterans into the trucking industry. Trump, along with Department of Transportation (DOT) Secretary Sean Duffy, Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins and Acting Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling, will welcome a truck on West Executive Avenue to announce the initiative.

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“By leading a multi-agency process spanning the Departments of Transportation, Labor, Veterans Affairs, and War, President Trump is bolstering America’s trucking industry, which is crucial to strong supply chains, while helping our nation’s heroes transition to civilian life with quality, good-paying jobs,” Kelly added.

The Department of Transportation will expand eligibility for veterans to receive expedited commercial driver’s licenses (CDLs), extending the waiver period from 12 months to 24 months after active-duty service.

For veterans who have never driven a heavy commercial vehicle during their military service, CDL training will be offered.

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Indiana and Wyoming will also join the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s “Even Exchange” program, allowing military truck drivers to more easily transition into civilian CDLs.

Werner Enterprises, an Omaha, Nebraska-based trucking company attending Thursday’s event, will announce plans to hire 1,400 new veteran drivers.

The administration is also highlighting its ongoing crackdown on commercial drivers who fail to meet English-language proficiency requirements or were improperly licensed.

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The Department of Transportation says it has removed more than 24,000 commercial driver’s licenses from the nation’s highways under stricter English-language proficiency enforcement.

More than 28,000 CDLs were also canceled after officials determined they had been improperly issued to non-citizen truck drivers.

The White House says the initiative is aimed at improving highway safety while strengthening the nation’s trucking workforce.

The announcement comes after a series of fatal crashes involving illegal immigrant truck drivers in states including Florida, California, Indiana and Pennsylvania.

Earlier this month, a Pennsylvania State Police trooper was killed during a roadside inspection when a semitruck driven by a Haitian national struck him. Authorities say the driver had obtained a non-domiciled CDL before the administration’s rule changes.

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Truck drivers have seen a 7.42% increase in real wages during the Trump administration, compared to a 3% decline in real wages under President Biden, according to DOT.

DOT also says veteran truck drivers experience 42% fewer accidents and cover 98% more miles than non-veteran drivers, arguing the initiative will both improve highway safety and help strengthen America’s supply chains.

In North Carolina, more Democrats than Republicans say they are extremely interested in the midterm elections (51% vs. 42%), and more Democrats also say they are extremely motivated to vote (58% vs. 50%). This enthusiasm advantage creates an edge in the Senate matchup.

Democrat Roy Cooper leads Republican Michael Whatley by 53% to 44% in the race to fill the state’s open Senate seat, according to a Fox News poll of North Carolina voters.

Cooper’s gap widens to 15 points among those saying they’re extremely interested in the election (57% vs. 42%) and 13 points among those extremely motivated to vote (55% vs. 42%). The race is unchanged among those saying they’re “certain” to vote (53% to 44%).

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Whatley is the former chair of the Republican National Committee, while Cooper served as North Carolina’s governor from 2017-2025. The candidates are vying to fill the seat held by retiring Republican Senator Thom Tillis.

Cooper receives high support from moderates, voters under age 30, independents, voters with a college degree, and women. He also captures support from about one in five non-MAGA Republicans and conservatives.

Whatley performs best among very conservative voters, White evangelical Christians, White voters without a college degree, and rural voters.

There’s also an enthusiasm gap when voters are asked why they back their candidate. Some 52% of Whatley’s supporters say they’re voting for him, while 46% say it’s mainly against Cooper. By contrast, 84% of Cooper supporters say they’re voting for him rather than against Whatley (13%).

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Most voters are committed to their choice: 81% of Cooper’s backers say they’re certain to vote for him and it’s 77% among Whatley supporters. Overall, one in five voters say they could switch their pick. 

President Trump complicates the contest for Whatley. Forty percent of North Carolina voters view the president favorably and 58% unfavorable. That’s net negative by 18 points, while his ratings were underwater by just 6 points two years ago (47-53%).

And Whatley’s ties to Trump concern 48% of voters, with worry extending across the spectrum, including more than half of moderates, more than 4 in 10 independents, and about 3 in 10 non-MAGA Republicans. Meanwhile, concern about Cooper’s ties to the Democratic establishment is more partisan. Overall, 42% are concerned, including 7 in 10 Republicans, but just 3 in 10 independents and moderates.

“Recent data put the average Republican advantage in North Carolina statewide races at about 3 points,” says Republican pollster Daron Shaw, who conducts the survey with Democrat Chris Anderson. “Cooper’s edge rests on almost unanimous Democratic support and commanding numbers among independents. To win, Whatley must stop the bleeding with non-MAGA Republicans and improve his standing with disaffected, less partisan Carolinians.”

Personal popularity also sets the candidates apart. Cooper’s 54% favorable rating is significantly higher than Whatley’s at 40%. In addition, Cooper is more popular than the Democratic Party by a 12-point margin, while Whatley trails the GOP by 4.

Whatley is less well known overall, as 14% of voters say they’re unable to rate him or have never heard of him, including about 1 in 10 Republicans. 

Tar Heel voters share equally negative views of the Republican Party (44% favorable vs. 54% unfavorable) and the Democratic Party (42% vs. 56%).

Negative partisanship is strong, as more Democrats view the GOP negatively (94%) than view their own party positively (83%). The reverse is also true: more Republicans (92%) hold an unfavorable opinion of the Democratic Party than view the GOP positively (85%). 

Among the small subgroup viewing both parties negatively, Cooper draws twice as much support as Whatley (64% to 32%).

Inflation is the top issue for North Carolina voters, with 36% saying it will be most important to their vote for Senate. Next, it’s political divisions within the country at 14%, followed closely by healthcare and immigration at 13% each. 

Half describe their financial situation as stable, 12% say they’re getting ahead, and 38% say they’re falling behind, which is 6 points lower than it was two years ago.

North Carolina’s recent voting history points in different directions. Cooper won reelection in 2020 by almost 5 percentage points. In fact, Democrats have won 8 of the state’s last 10 gubernatorial elections. The last Republican to win was Pat McCrory, by about 11 points in 2012.

At the same time, Republicans have won the state in 11 of the last 12 presidential elections. The last Democrat to carry the state was former President Obama, who won by 0.3% in 2008. 

In the 2024 presidential election, Trump won North Carolina by 3 percentage points.

Conducted July 23-27, 2026, under the joint direction of Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R), this Fox News Poll includes interviews with a sample of 1,005 North Carolina registered voters randomly selected from a statewide voter file.  Respondents spoke with live interviewers on landlines (115) and cellphones (654) or completed the survey online after receiving a text message (236). Results based on the full sample have a margin of sampling error of ± 3 percentage points. Sampling error for results among subgroups is higher. In addition to sampling error, question wording and order can influence results. Sources used to develop weight targets include the most recent American Community Survey, Fox News Voter Analysis, and voter file data. Weights are generally applied to age, race, education, and area variables to ensure the demographics of respondents are representative of the registered voter population.  Results among subgroups are only shown when the sample size is at least N=100. 

Fox News’ Victoria Balara contributed to this report.

A high-ranking Trump Department of Homeland Security official called out the “liberal media” for what he referred to as the “absolute absurdity” of its response to his series criticizing activist judges.

James Percival, general counsel for the Department of Homeland Security, posted a series on X last week titled “Worst of the Worst, District Judge Edition.” In his posts, Percival pointed to the risks that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents face while enforcing the law, saying some judges are working to “sabotage” those operations and put officers “at risk.”

After his posts, Percival said DHS was contacted by a Chicago Sun-Times reporter about whether “a social media post like this risk[s] additional threats” in the context of “ongoing threats to federal judges.”

In response, Percival blasted the outlet in an X post in which he told followers, “Witness the absolute absurdity of the liberal media response to my new series, Worst of the Worst, District Judges.”

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Percival emphasized that “legitimate fact based critiques of judges and their rulings is fair game in a free society.” He also noted that “the media has no issue with it if the judge is conservative.”

Notably, conservative judges, including Supreme Court justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, have been the target of intense criticism from the left and, in some cases, violence. In 2022, Kavanaugh was the target of an assassination plot after an armed California man traveled to his home with a pistol, ammunition, zip ties, pepper spray, duct tape and burglary tools. Further, Barrett testified in a recent congressional hearing that she has had to wear a bulletproof vest in response to threats.

In his Worst of the Worst activist judges series, Percival called out district judges in the sanctuary jurisdictions of Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland and California.

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Percival said that earlier this month, Northern District of Illinois Judge Matthew Kennelly, a Clinton appointee, ordered a nationwide pause on the termination of temporary protected status for migrants from Burma. Percival wrote that Kennelly ordered the stay “even though these decisions are not subject to judicial review, even though we have been vindicated by the Supreme Court on TPS four times, and even though the Seventh Circuit summarily reversed him on the same issue only days before.”

“This is judicial sabotage,” he wrote.

Meanwhile, Percival wrote that Central District of California Judge Hernan Vera, a Biden appointee, recently “entered an order micromanaging DHS’s use of force policy with respect to violent anti-ICE agitators in Los Angeles.”

Percival noted that the judge “described the agitators as ‘protesters’ and ‘legal observers,’ while describing DHS’s actions defending its personnel and property as ‘violent.’”

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Percival noted, “Agitators in Los Angeles have assaulted DHS employees, thrown objects at them, engaged in arson, and even tried to breech [sic] a federal facility.”

“Judicial micromanagement of use of force in these contexts puts our officers at risk.”

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In response, Sean Lewis, a spokesperson for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, told Fox News Digital that “the Code of Conduct calls on federal judges not to comment publicly on pending cases. It also requires them to decide each matter independently, based on the law and the facts—not political pressure, public reaction, partisan interests, or fear of criticism.”

Lewis added that “when someone disagrees with a ruling, the appropriate way to challenge it is through the appellate process.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the Chicago Sun-Times and the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California for comment.

President Donald Trump offered Americans a first look at the newly regilded Arts of War sculptures in Washington, D.C., as crews began removing the towering scaffolding that concealed the iconic golden horses during months of restoration work.

“Taking down the scaffolding around the regilded Arts of War sculptures!” Trump wrote on Truth Social, sharing photographs of workers carefully dismantling the structure surrounding the massive monument near the Lincoln Memorial.

Exclusive Fox News video captured workers removing the final sections of scaffolding, revealing the gleaming gold horses and figures that crown the monumental granite pedestals.

The Arts of War sculptures flank the eastern entrance to Arlington Memorial Bridge just west of the Lincoln Memorial, while their companion Arts of Peace sculptures sit nearby along Parkway Drive. Each monument features gilded bronze horses and human figures mounted atop massive granite bases, according to a study by MTFA Design.

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The restoration is part of an ongoing National Park Service preservation project. According to the same 2018 study, the granite pedestals had developed extensive purple staining caused by copper runoff from the aging bronze sculptures, prompting specialized cleaning and stabilization work in addition to regilding.

The agency temporarily closed surrounding lawn and turf areas beginning July 2 to protect visitors, workers and the historic monuments while construction continues. The restrictions are scheduled to remain in effect through Sept. 30, though the National Park Service said areas will reopen as soon as the work no longer requires them to remain closed.

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Sidewalks bordering the restoration area and those leading onto Memorial Bridge remain accessible, and the project has not required any road closures, according to the agency.

The surrounding parkland will remain partially restricted while crews complete the broader rehabilitation project and remove the remaining construction equipment.

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For months, the towering monuments were almost entirely hidden behind scaffolding, tarps and fencing. 

Trump’s photos and Fox News’ exclusive video now offer one of the clearest looks yet at the restored sculptures are unveiled with a renewed gold finish just in time for America’s 250th anniversary.

The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

As Republicans intensify scrutiny of the Smithsonian Institution, numerous former Democratic staffers and employees of progressive nonprofits are holding senior positions throughout the nonprofit, while officials responsible for hiring emphasized diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. 

A Fox News Digital review of public biographies and social media profiles identified roughly two dozen individuals employed by the Smithsonian in leadership positions or as curators who worked for Democratic offices or progressive nonprofits before being hired. Leadership biographies and political donation records indicate the pattern extends beyond a handful of senior employees.

That former Democratic staffers and individuals previously employed by liberal nonprofits now hold leadership positions at the Smithsonian is likely to further fuel conservative criticism that the sprawling museum and research organization has developed a left-of-center bias.

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In recent weeks, Republicans have accused the Smithsonian, particularly its National Museum of American History, of promoting progressive ideology, emphasizing identity politics and giving insufficient attention to the nation’s founding and traditional historical figures. Republican lawmakers and the Trump administration also have criticized specific exhibits addressing gender identity, diversity and social justice, arguing that museum leaders have allowed political activism to displace the neutral presentation of history.

These allegations follow years of DEI-centric leadership.

Roshni Lal, the director of the Smithsonian’s office of academic appointments and internships, which oversees academic hiring and internships, has had a career-long commitment to advancing DEI in hiring, professional biographies show.

Lal previously was the director of diversity, equity and inclusion for the Mountain Pacific Association of Colleges & Employers, where she oversaw policies, training and programming she characterized as anti-racist and rooted in social justice, according to her Smithsonian biography. She also held DEI-related roles at the Manhattan Beach Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Colleges and Employers before joining the Smithsonian, per Lal’s LinkedIn page.

In a 2024 podcast appearance, Lal discussed her dedication to “identity-based career services,” partially through connecting with “students of color” through “culturally inclusive” job placement.

Public Smithsonian biographies show that several curators at the National Museum of American History describe their work as focusing on race, identity and social justice, themes that also appear in a number of the museum’s exhibits and initiatives.

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The current chairwoman of the National Museum of American History political history division, which is responsible for overseeing exhibits about American presidents, for instance, also oversees the Smithsonian’s Center for Restorative History, which says on its website that it exists to “spotlight the people and stories that have been excluded from our national narrative using the principles of restorative justice” by bringing together “diverse voices.”

Among the center’s flagship programs are an effort to preserve the history of the Black Lives Matter movement by centering the perspectives of activists and a “decolonization working group,” according to its website.

Multiple other curators at the National Museum of American History approach their jobs with a similar focus on racial identity, per their Smithsonian biographies. These include one curator who is working on “stitching social justice throughout the Americas” through their exhibit work as well as multiple scholars who primarily study race.

While Lal started her role at the Smithsonian in November 2023, her predecessor, who held the position for 11 years beginning in 2012, previously worked for the Clinton White House, the Obama State Department and as a special assistant to then-Sen. Hillary Clinton, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Lal did not respond to a request for comment when reached by Fox News Digital Tuesday.

“The Smithsonian is a nonpartisan institution, and politics does not factor into our hiring practices,” a spokesperson for the institution told Fox News Digital. “Our hiring is solely based on qualifications to fulfill the responsibilities of any given position.”

Leadership at the Smithsonian is not monolithic. The institution’s chief legal officer worked in the Bush administration, and the chief of staff to the organization’s regents clerked for Chief Justice John G. Roberts on the Supreme Court as well as Justice Brett Kavanaugh during his time on D.C.’s federal appellate court, according to their institutional biographies.

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Congressional Republicans held two hearings to investigate allegations that the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History has used taxpayer money to promote left-wing narratives about race, gender and oppression while minimizing the nation’s founding ideals and achievements. Following the hearings, conservative lawmakers are expected to be using Congress’ spending authority in an attempt to restrict Smithsonian funding to pressure it to remove exhibits they feel are inappropriate.

“These leaders have commandeered an institution that the nation entrusted to them to ensure the transmission and, thus, continuance of American culture and heritage and have perversely turned it into its opposite, a hothouse for anti-American activism,” Heritage Foundation senior fellow Mike Gonzalez said during his July 21 congressional testimony on the Smithsonian. 

“These leaders often reveal, in their own words, that they see the world in terms of power dynamics — who has dominance and how to wrest it from them by dismantling the American narrative, all deeply Marxist and Gramscian constructs.”

Other senior Smithsonian staffers who came from left-of-center backgrounds, according to LinkedIn profiles and other online biographies, include the National Museum of American History head librarian, who previously worked for the liberal Urban Institute; an advisory board member who was a senior staffer for the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein; the institution’s undersecretary for education, who served as the deputy assistant secretary of education during the Obama administration; the Smithsonian’s associate director of advancement for strategic initiatives, who came from the NAACP; and the director of communications for the National Museum of American History, who worked as a senior staffer for House Democratic leadership before joining the institution.

Curators with liberal backgrounds, per LinkedIn profiles and online biographies, meanwhile, include the recently departed director of curatorial affairs at the National Portrait Gallery, who held multiple DEI-related positions at colleges; an associate curator at the National Museum of the American Indian who was involved with a militant civil rights organization in the 1970s, the American Indian Movement; and a curator of time-based media for the Smithsonian American Art Museum who previously worked for a feminist art gallery.

Fox News Digital considered groups that publicly align with the Democratic Party or those that focus on issues such as environmentalism, racial justice or left-of-center economic policy as liberal for the purposes of its review.

The Smithsonian has roughly 6,400 full-time employees with varying degrees of public documentation. Fox News Digital’s review covered a relatively small slice of that total, focusing on publicly identified leadership at the top of the institution as well as leaders at the National Museum of American History and individuals identifying themselves as curators on LinkedIn.

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While a full accounting of the political beliefs of the Smithsonian’s senior staff and curators is impossible to glean from public records alone, political donations can provide some insight.

Only about 1% of donations made by individuals identifying themselves as Smithsonian employees have gone to Republican committees this cycle, according to campaign finance records reviewed by Fox News Digital.

Fox News Digital reached each Smithsonian employee mentioned for comment.

Former NIAID Director Anthony Fauci’s refusal to answer questions from Congress extended to simple facts, including the day of the week and the color of the tie he was wearing.

Fauci, 85, invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination about as many times as his years alive on Earth, despite Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee Chairman Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., asserting that he did not have that right given his current legal status.

Hawley cited a Supreme Court case from 1896, where President Benjamin Harrison’s appointee Justice Henry Brown ruled that a witness granted statutory immunity from prosecution could nonetheless be compelled to testify because his immunity displaced pleading the Fifth.

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In that case, an auditor for a Pittsburgh railroad unsuccessfully challenged a contempt charge for refusing to answer grand jury questions.

Hawley turned to Fauci and tested his repeated Fifth Amendment invocations throughout the hearing, quipping, “Doc, let’s try something.”

“What day of the week is it today?” Hawley asked Wednesday.

Fauci replied with his boilerplate invocation of the Fifth Amendment.

“What color tie are you wearing?” Hawley asked.

Fauci declined to answer, again invoking the Fifth Amendment.

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“Let’s just get one thing straight. You don’t have any rights under the Fifth Amendment because you’ve been pardoned, as you very well know,” he said, invoking the 1896 Brown v. Walker case.

Hawley, who is also an attorney, added that the legal reality was likely why Fauci’s remaining attorneys were “shifting nervously” behind him.

A top Fauci attorney, David Schertler, had previously been ejected by Paul after refusing to take his assigned seat and remain quiet.

“This isn’t about the law. This is about contempt, contempt for this body and contempt for the American people,” Hawley said.

“But I think I know why you’re doing it. It’s because you don’t want to answer questions. It’s because you did all kinds of terrible things. It’s because during the pandemic, you got rich… while people were dying.”

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Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, followed Hawley with similar questions that Fauci refused to answer.

Moreno said Fauci should know what the Fifth Amendment is if he wanted to invoke it dozens of times.

When he asked Fauci to recite the Fifth Amendment, Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment right.

“No, I’m just asking you what it says,” Moreno repeated.

“On the advice of counsel, I respectfully decline to answer based upon my rights under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution,” Fauci said once more.

Moreno then gave a copy of the Constitution to an aide and instructed him to bring it to Fauci to read.

That attempt also prompted the same repeated response from the octogenarian immunologist.

“So you’re invoking a right that you don’t know who wrote it or what it says? Is that correct?” Moreno quipped.

Fauci again invoked his Fifth Amendment right after declining to recite the amendment when asked.

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Fox News anchor Harris Faulkner later discussed the legal implications of Fauci’s repeated Fifth Amendment invocations.

She cited President Joe Biden’s blanket, retroactive pardon against Fauci, saying that he is “protected from any offenses against the United States he may have taken part in.”

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Faulkner said the pardon does not cover state criminal prosecutions, future crimes or congressional investigations.

“It does not protect him from prosecution from perjury if he lies under oath after receiving the pardon,” she said.

President Donald Trump is striking a noticeably softer tone toward China just days after delivering a public address to the nation accusing Beijing of “sinister election meddling.”

The fresh set of accusations levied on July 16 raised new questions about the Trump administration’s posture towards China, especially as it moves to keep TikTok operating in the U.S. while warning against the hostility of the world power against America.

“President Trump just told the nation that China tried to influence the 2020 election and weaken his presidency. During that same year, the intelligence community identified TikTok as a primary vector of CCP influence in the United States,” Hudson Institute Senior Fellow Michael Sobolik, who specializes in U.S.–China relations, told Fox News Digital.

“Beijing still controls the algorithm, which means that the very dangers Trump raised persist today,” Sobolik added.

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Trump has long taken a hard line on China, using tariffs, trade pressure and national security warnings to frame Beijing as one of America’s chief adversaries.

In his recent address to the nation, the president accused the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) of running a “sinister” campaign to interfere in U.S. elections and influence Americans and undermine his presidency.

Yet just five days later, on July 21, Trump suggested “China is maybe a little bit different today.” It struck a softer tone that falls more in line with the president’s backing of a deal to keep TikTok operating in the U.S., despite seeking during his first term and at the start of his second to force the app out over national security concerns.

“The CCP hasn’t changed. Xi Jinping hasn’t changed. But President Trump has,” Sobolik detailed.

“He’s much more conciliatory toward China in his second term than he was in his first. He risks telegraphing significant weakness to Xi by letting China off the hook.”

Trump downplayed Beijing’s past election interference, suggesting both countries engage in similar tactics and indicating he was more focused on future negotiations than revisiting China’s actions.

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“It took place a long time ago. I think China is maybe a little bit different today than it was then,” Trump conceded.

“But look there, they do things and we do things to them. I’ll be honest — do we do things to them too? It’s not a one-way street, but we’ll be talking to them,” said Trump when speaking about Chinese election meddling days after his “free and fair elections” televised remarks.

Sobolik argued the softened rhetoric could embolden Beijing to continue attempts to influence U.S. politics in the future.

In his first term, Trump sought to ban TikTok, saying it posed a national security risk. Then, during his second term, Trump joined the app, and in recent weeks, so have his top Cabinet members.

“President Trump has saved TikTok for its millions of American users — yet another promise made, promise kept,” White House spokesperson Olivia Wales told Fox News Digital. “With the new TikTok under the control of U.S. investors, Americans can continue to enjoy TikTok with their data fully protected.”

TikTok’s ownership deal was reconstructed at the beginning of this year to have majority U.S. ownership while still giving Chinese technology company ByteDance a 19.9% stake – 0.01% below the threshold required under U.S. law.

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While the app is based in the U.S., Sobolik said that TikTok’s algorithm remains under ByteDance’s control via a licensing regime.

“The fact that it’s training on U.S. data stored on servers in America doesn’t change the fundamental reality that a Chinese Communist Party-controlled company still controls the algorithm itself,” said Sobolik. “The administration hasn’t directly addressed the possibility that Beijing could calibrate the app’s algorithm in concerning ways.”

Trump visited China in May for a high-stakes summit with President Xi Jinping on several of the biggest pressure points in the U.S.-China relationship — from trade and Taiwan to AI and human rights. Those meetings appeared to end without firm public breakthroughs.

In his final meeting with Xi at the summit, Trump touted what he called “fantastic trade deals.”

Sobolik said Trump “wants what he’s always wanted with China,” which is a trade deal.

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“He needs to think broader and bigger. Economic competition is one part of the larger new cold war that’s playing out between Washington and Beijing,” he said.

Sobolik said Trump is placing too much emphasis on trade while overlooking other important areas of competition with China.

“Xi will have the advantage,” he added.

Trump said Xi will be visiting the U.S. on Sept. 24, with artificial intelligence expected to be a key topic during their talks.

A Republican governor in a state that voted to elect President Donald Trump is facing intense backlash online after an interview arguing against the president’s order to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) migrants from the United States.

Republican Gov. Mike DeWine’s state is home to an estimated 30,000 Haitian TPS holders. He told CBS earlier this week that the Haitians shouldn’t be sent back to their country of origin.

“Haiti is hell today. So you’d be sending people … back to hell,” he said. “Very few of these Haitians will voluntarily go back to Haiti. If they have to leave, they’ll go someplace else. They want to work. They want to support their family. They don’t want to go back to Haiti.”

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Online detractors quickly seized on DeWine’s comments, mostly from users claiming that those responsible for Haiti’s conditions are the ones that the governor wants to allow to stay in the United States.

“What makes Haiti hellish? Is it…the Haitians?” asked Sean Davis, co-founder of The Federalist, in response to CBS’ story about the interview posted on X.

“Hey governor, what is it that makes Haiti so bad anyway?” The Blaze’s Logan Hall asked.

“I think the real question here is, if Haiti is hell, why are we importing Haitians?” questioned internet personality Larry Sanger.

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Others referenced the liberal media’s freakout when in 2018 Trump referred to Haiti and some other nations as ‘s—hole’ countries.

Meanwhile, TV personalities and talking heads, comedian Conan O’Brien chief among them, defended Haiti for its natural beauty.

“Still reeling from [Trump’s] very negative Yelp review of Haiti, which means I’ll love it,” O’Brien said at the time, announcing a trip to the country. “I have no idea what the president has against the people of Haiti, but if the president doesn’t like them, they must be lovely people.”

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One X user specifically blamed Haitians for DeWine’s characterization that the country is “hell.”

“Or is it a paradise like so many celebrities have said?” the user asked.

“I was reliably informed by democrats [sic] and hollywood [sic] celebrities that Haiti is utopia,” said another user.

“What a tragedy it would be for Haitians to live in Haiti,” said another X user.

DeWine argued in the CBS interview that sending Haitians back to Haiti would be a “mistake” that would endanger the lives of the TPS holders.

He also specifically mentioned Springfield, his hometown, which has a large population of Haitian TPS holders.

“These are people who have helped Springfield really come back,” DeWine said. “The Haitians who are living there and employed there, they came there to work, and they came there because there were jobs that were not being filled by other people.”

TPS was officially terminated Monday after Trump’s order survived a Supreme Court review.

“Temporary Protected Status is exactly that — temporary. For too long, TPS has been allowed to function as a de facto amnesty program despite Congress never intending it to be permanent,” a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson told Fox News Digital earlier this week.

TPS was created as part of the Immigration Act of 1990, and was designed for people facing serious emergencies like armed conflict or severe natural disasters. Critics claim it has been abused to give status to those in the U.S. for non-emergent reasons.

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DeWine’s office declined to comment on “statements made in online comment sections,” when reached by Fox News Digital.

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

Fox News Digital’s Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.

A House Democratic lawmaker compared actions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to domestic terrorism after a visit to a Texas detention facility on Tuesday.

Rep. Luz Rivas, D-Calif., said that seeing ICE’s actions was personal for her as the daughter of Mexican immigrants and argued that “for the people of the United States, we don’t want to see our government, or ICE officials, acting like domestic terrorists,” she said in Spanish during a press conference.

She said her Los Angeles district saw more ICE raids than anywhere else in her county.

Rivas was among a group of lawmakers led by Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, on a visit to an ICE facility in Dilley, Texas, which over 100 House Democrats have demanded to be shut down.

TRUMP ON VERGE OF SECURING $70B ICE FUNDING VICTORY AFTER HOUSE CLEARS HURDLE

The lawmakers accused the Trump administration of holding families, including a child as young as 2 months old, in inhumane conditions.

Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., a member of the left-wing “Squad,” also attacked President Donald Trump as a “dictator.”

SOMETHING TO HIDE? ICE UNDER FIRE FOR SUBSTANDARD CONDITIONS AT FOR-PROFIT DETENTION CENTER

“It’s so important that we not acquiesce to this, this fascist administration, this dictator in the Oval Office,” Pressley said. “History has shown us time again, appeasement does not work. The only way to beat a dictator is with defiance. The only way to beat fascism is to refuse to accept this segregated, divided, dark, dystopian view that they have for our country, is to reject it as an inevitability.”

She called on Americans to “resist, reject, condemn at every turn.”

But it’s that kind of rhetoric that Republicans have argued is responsible for sending tensions across the U.S. skyrocketing.

SPANBERGER’S ICE ROLLBACK TO BLAME FOR TODDLER KILLING, VIRGINIA ‘HOTBED’ OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT CRIME: DHS

GOP allies of the president have accused Democrats of encouraging violence and resistance against ICE agents, drawing a line between encouragement to resist federal immigration officers and the slate of violent incidents involving those officers this year alone.

But Democrats are accusing ICE of acting as a rogue agency outside the bounds of the law.

“We have to abolish ICE. And then I’m going to take it one step further and say any of those agents that have contributed to and caused the injury, the harm, and even fatalities, they must also be held accountable,” Pressley said. “And we should abolish qualified immunity for these federal law enforcement officers.”

In a letter sent earlier this month, 111 House Democrats accused the administration of harming children and families with the conditions at the Dilley detention center.

“Parents describe horrendous conditions at Dilley, leading to severe depression, hopelessness, and suicidal ideation amongst their children. Children have reported that their food is often contaminated with worms and mold and that they feel sick after drinking tap water,” the letter said. “Families also report not being able to sleep at night because the lights are kept on in their rooms throughout the night. … Medical care provided by CoreCivic staff is delayed, denied, and in many cases outright dismissed, even when children are suffering life-threatening medical emergencies.”

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Fox News Digital reached out to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for a response to Rivas’ comments.

DHS did previously accuse Democrats of lying about conditions at Dilley, which it said in a press release was specialized to hold families and care for children specifically.

“The Dilley facility is retrofitted for families. Children have access to teachers, classrooms, and curriculum booklets for math, reading, and spelling. They have access to age-appropriate books, toys, and outdoor activities. All of this is generously funded by the U.S. taxpayer,” DHS said.

“Infant care packages include formula, baby food, bottles, diapers, wipes, and hygiene items. The facility also provides sippy cups and cribs. Adults with children are housed in facilities that provide for their safety, security, and medical needs.”

President Donald Trump on Wednesday morning issued a profanity-laced threat against Iran after the Islamic regime launched a surprise missile strike on U.S. forces in Jordan overnight.

“We’re going to beat the f—— s— out of them,” Trump told Fox News chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst.

“We’ll be hitting them hard,” the president said of Iran. “They’re going to get a beating.”

ARMY IDS 2 VICTIMS KILLED IN JORDAN AIR BASE ATTACK; TRUMP: IRAN WILL PAY ‘MANY TIMES OVER’

Trump said the American forces in Jordan had just minutes to respond and shoot down the incoming Iranian ballistic missiles. The president added that he reviewed video showing U.S. personnel calling out coordinates in real time during the interceptions.

U.S. Central Command said all Iranian missiles were successfully intercepted.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) fired ballistic missiles at the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base and the headquarters of the U.S. military’s Central Command in Jordan, the paramilitary force said in a statement carried by Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency.

Jordan’s military said five Iranian missiles had been intercepted and destroyed. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

RUBIO ACCUSES IRAN OF FLYING IRGC PERSONNEL INTO YEMEN AS HOUTHI THREAT ESCALATES

The U.S. military later announced that American and Saudi fighter aircraft had struck multiple Iran-backed Shiite logistics and weapons sites in eastern Iraq in response to alleged drone attacks on Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Defense Ministry warned that it “does not seek escalation but will respond to any aggression.”

Trump told Fox News that the overnight U.S.-Saudi strikes against Iran-backed Shiite militias in Iraq were coordinated with the Iraqi government.

He called the militias a “cancer on the world” and said additional warnings against Iranian proxies were under consideration.

Despite the flare-up, Trump said that talks with Iran will continue.

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“We’re going to let them keep talking,” he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

A Democrat hoping to flip one of the country’s most competitive House seats called her state a “backwater” over Republican efforts to bar transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports, according to unearthed footage obtained by Fox News Digital.

House candidate Christina Bohannan made the comments during a 2021 legislative forum while opposing a GOP proposal barring biological males from competing on female sports teams.

Bohannan’s comments could provide fresh ammunition for Republicans as the repeat candidate seeks a third bid against Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, in a swing district that President Donald Trump carried by more than eight points in 2024.

“They’re introducing these bills and making these comments to try to make a point,” Bohannan, who previously served in the Iowa state legislature, said, referring to her GOP colleagues. “And I think even that is really damaging to people and sends a very bad message about our state that’s going to make the state look like a backwater.”

FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS: DEMOCRATS LEAD IN THE HOUSE, BUT REDISTRICTING KEEPS THE GOP IN THE GAME

Iowa, under Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds, enacted a transgender athletes ban in 2022. Bohannan voted against the measure.

The comments are the latest instance of Bohannan torching Iowa for rejecting left-wing policies.

Bohannan also said in 2021 the Hawkeye State would be seen as “backwards” if lawmakers approved a bill prohibiting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) training at public schools and universities. Reynolds signed the legislation later that year.

“I think that it’s going to send a very bad message about Iowa and that it is going to seem like…this backwards state that doesn’t understand there are things like systemic racism,” the Democrat hopeful said on the “Under the Dome” podcast in 2021.

Bohannan notably served as chairwoman of the University of Iowa College of Law’s DEI committee, where she urged students to support the Black Lives Matter movement, Fox News Digital previously reported. In that role, she sent students a letter encouraging them to financially contribute to several activist funds, some of which supported defunding police.

Bohannan lost to Miller-Meeks by fewer than 800 votes in 2024, making it the closest House race in the nation. She also launched a failed run for the seat in 2022.

BATTLEGROUND DEMOCRAT FLIP-FLOPS ON CONVERSION THERAPY AFTER LEFT-WING BACKLASH

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report says the rematch contest is a “toss-up.”

The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), which is aggressively working to re-elect Miller-Meeks to a third House term, sharply criticized Bohannan’s remarks in a statement to Fox News Digital.

“Liberal Christina Bohannan didn’t just vote against protecting girls’ sports, she mocked Iowans for standing up for women and girls,” NRCC spokeswoman Emily Tuttle said.

“Bohannan has made it clear she’s for they/them, not Iowa families,” Tuttle continued, invoking Trump’s signature attack line against former Vice President Kamala Harris.

Fox News Digital reached out to Bohannan for comment.

Bohannan’s remarks come as transgender issues continue to split Democrats, while public polling has shown broad support for limiting girls’ and women’s sports to biological females.

A New York Times/Ipsos poll released in 2025 found that nearly eight in 10 Americans opposed biological males participating in women’s sports. Roughly 70% of Democrats or Democrat-leaning respondents held the same position, according to the survey.

Miller-Meeks cheered the Supreme Court in June upholding state-level bans on biological males participating on female sports teams.

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“Today’s Supreme Court decision is a win for girls’ sports,” the Iowa lawmaker said in a statement following the ruling. “I have and will continue to fight to ensure every female athlete has a fair chance.”

Bohannan, by contrast, did not appear to publicly comment on the ruling.

Fox News Digital’s Elaine Mallon contributed to this report.

Walls full of bullet holes and police in “full armor” were among the sights that greeted a group of U.S. House lawmakers who recently traveled to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, a city that has been ravaged by gang rule since the July 2021 assassination of its former president.

“The gangs will essentially block the streets with rubble, with debris, they’ll dig giant ditches in the road, and so these military and police units can’t traverse,” House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital. “Some of these areas are like Afghanistan, and it is probably the poorest place I’ve ever been through in my life.”

Mast led a group of bipartisan members of Congress on a trip to Venezuela and Haiti recently, which he said was the first congressional delegation in either country in a decade.

In Haiti, they were hosted by the country’s prime minister, whose palace “a year ago, would have been a war zone,” Mast said. “They have been actively working to take back land across the breadth of Port-au-Prince.”

REPUBLICAN REP MARÍA ELVIRA SALAZAR DECLARES, ‘AFTER CUBA, NICARAGUA IS NEXT’

But while he saw signs of slow improvement thanks to an international coalition of forces as well as a U.S. paramilitary group run by Erik Prince, Mast said the realities of gang violence were ever-present.

A video he was shown, for example, depicted Haitian gang torture of a heavy machinery operator helping police clear gang-made blockages in the city streets.

FIRST TREN DE ARAGUA GANG MEMBER EXTRADITED TO US ON HISTORIC TERRORISM CHARGES APPEARS BEFORE HOUSTON JUDGE

“They took this guy who was this equipment operator, and for working with the police, they kidnapped his family. And then they told him they’ll trade his family for him. He turned himself over,” Mast said.

“They brutally killed him. I mean it’s all on video. They cut off his ears, fed him his own ears…Then they hacked at him for probably at least five minutes with machetes. His limbs looked like a Christmas tree afterwards, with just bone and skin and other things coming off of him, until ultimately they killed him. That is who these gangs are.”

And it’s not just adult allies of the local police forces suffering from gang violence, according to the Florida Republican. Another chilling incident Mast said he became aware of while in Haiti was the kidnapping of a 6-year-old U.S. citizen by a local gang who he said may have committed sexual crimes against her.

MIKE WALTZ, TIM TEBOW LAUNCH EFFORT TO COMBAT ONLINE CHILD EXPLOITATION: ‘IT’S HAPPENING IN THEIR BACKYARD’

“There was a 6-year-old American citizen girl. I don’t want to say that she was raped, but there were health issues that led to believe that she was also raped, as a 6-year-old girl, by these gangs,” Mast said. “It appears as though we were able to secure the release yesterday.”

He said there was ultimately an “agreement” on the ransom money the girl’s family would pay after she had been held hostage for at least 46 days.

“It appears as though we were able to get an exchange finally made yesterday. But again, it’s just another example of who these gangs are and the forces that are being brought to bear, to bring them to heel,” Mast said.

A State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the administration has no higher priority than the safety and security of Americans, and that it was aware of reports of an American child kidnapped for ransom in Haiti but would not provide further details out of respect for the family’s privacy.

Beyond the current level of assistance, however, Mast said he doubted there was more the U.S. could do to help the country as a whole.

“This started with political people starting gangs there for their own benefit. And most of the politicians there are beyond guilty of pillaging their own country instead of doing something good for their country. That’s how Haiti is in the state that it’s in,” he said.

It comes as thousands of Haitians in the U.S. are facing a potential return to their home country after the Trump administration ended their temporary protected status (TPS) that was first granted after an earthquake in 2010.

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Mast argued, however, that the return of those Haitians who did not get permanent residency in those 16 years could potentially help bolster security there.

“One of the big things would be to take the able-bodied males and put them into the police and military, which are actively recruiting, which were so decimated by the TPS taking place in the first place,” he said. “All of these people took the chance to say ‘Okay, I’m leaving,’ and it left their forces that are supposed to protect the country essentially with no forces, which is one of the other parts of how the gangs came to be.”

The top Republican on New Jersey’s Judiciary Committee says she repeatedly warned state officials that automatic voter registration lacked adequate safeguards but was routinely dismissed, as thousands more noncitizens have now been been found on sensitive systems.

Sen. Kristin Corrado, R-Totowa, told Fox News Digital that Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s motor voter controversy reinforced Republican demands for a bipartisan investigation with subpoena power, warning the administration’s review was too narrowly focused and likely failed to capture the full scope of the problem.

“We didn’t just reach out to the Motor Vehicle Commissioner. We reached out to Secretary of State [at the time, Lt. Gov. Taheshia Way]. We were not satisfied with the answers that we got from the motor vehicle commissioner, which I can tell you were basically, ‘we have signs up, they’re put on notice… that if you’re not a citizen, you can’t register to vote’.”

“So people were on the honor system. We did not think that was acceptable or satisfactory or enough of a safeguard,” she said, adding that the common refrain was of an “honor system.”

RNC LEGAL VICTORY CLEARS NORTH CAROLINA VOTER ROLL PURGE OF NONCITIZENS THROUGH JURY RESPONSES

Corrado and others, including Senate Minority Leader Anthony Bucco, are now demanding a bipartisan special-investigation with subpoena power.

Asked if they had heard from Senate President Nicholas Scutari, D-Linden, Corrado said his team indicated they wanted to wait for Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s own internal probe to finish.

“I have concerns about that because this independent investigation is very limited in scope. It is limited to what they’re calling the motor vehicle ‘glitch’,” she said, warning scrutiny should go far beyond the initial area of discovery.

Shortly after Corrado’s spoke to Fox News Digital, reports surfaced that roughly 75,000 noncitizens had been summoned for jury duty through state databases, according to multiple reports, broadening the controversy beyond the Motor Vehicle Commission and prompting additional Republican calls for a wider investigation.

Corrado pointed to her repeated requests over the years for clarity on the security of the voting systems and how she was rebuffed as proof the probe needs to be substantial.

Asked about the demand for a full-scale investigation, Scutari credited what the governor is already doing and said he would hold fire until her probe finishes.

“A healthy democracy depends on the security of our voter registration systems and the stewardship of the individuals entrusted with ensuring our elections are free, fair, and accessible. It also depends on public trust, and Governor Sherrill deserves credit for being transparent about these failures… [and] launch[ing] an independent investigation…,” Scutari said in-part, confirming Corrado’s comment he would wait for it to finish.

‘SHAME ON YOU’: SHERRILL KNEW VOTER-ROLL BOMBSHELL WAS COMING WHEN SHE CALLED TRUMP A LIAR, DOJ OFFICIAL SAYS

Former Gov. Phil Murphy’s spokesman Mahen Gunaratna also told Fox News last week that his boss had “no knowledge” of the issues at the MVC.

“I find that hard to believe, but it’s incredibly troubling that the governor did not know what his cabinet members were doing or what was going on right underneath him,” Corrado responded.

“All [this] put our election integrity at risk, all questions that have to be answered. And the only way to answer those questions is through a bipartisan, legislative committee.”

State Joint Budget Committee ranking member Declan O’Scanlon agreed the scandal validated GOP concerns.

“The fact is that the people in charge for so long said this absolutely was impossible; Republicans were ‘conspiracy theorists’,” said O’Scanlon, R-Little Silver.

“There are some folks on the extreme on both sides, but those of us in the middle who have said there are real issues here and they were ignored, and we were accused of being conspiracy theorists, only to find out that we were absolutely right; again.”

O’Scanlon said he believed the motor-voter revelations were the “tip of the iceberg,” and was hours later proven true, as reports surfaced about the 75,000 noncitizens summoned for jury duty.

“This has the potential to be a real scandal,” he warned, agreeing that subpoena-powered hearings are a must.

“We need to get on this quickly because we have elections coming up that are critical, that could be slim margins. And also you want the people of New Jersey to believe in the integrity of their voter rolls and their elections,” he said.

“We shouldn’t dig this hole any deeper.”

Fox News Digital reached out to NJCourts and to Sherrill’s office for comment.

Peter McAleer, a spokesman for the state court system, told Fox News Digital the jury system pulls from the MVC as well as taxation and elections department lists, with the taxation department legally being permitted to have noncitizens on its own rolls.

“Prospective jurors are asked about their citizenship and other qualifications when they complete the mandatory juror qualification questionnaire. Prospective jurors must certify that they understand that if they submit a knowingly false answer, they can be subject to punishment for contempt of court,” he said. “Approximately 75,000 individuals per year are disqualified from juror service based solely on lack of United States citizenship.”

Corrado and Bucco also dropped a bill to eliminate motor-voter and implement voter-ID and regular audits of election data systems.

“New Jerseyans need more than just excuses and finger pointing, they deserve action, and there are commonsense steps we can take right now,” said Bucco, R-Morristown.

“Get the MVC out of the voter registration business.”

State Sen. Joe Pennacchio, R-Boonton, who recently requested additional scrutiny from Attorney General Todd Blanche himself, told Fox News Digital on Saturday the 75,000 figure is a red-flag that Trenton can’t police itself.

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“The disclosure that 75,000 noncitizens were summoned as potential members of juries screams for a thorough federal investigation,” Pennacchio said in a Monday statement.

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“The governor has blamed [French software firm] IDEMIA, the Murphy administration and of course President Donald Trump for their ever-increasing numbers,” he said, calling Sherrill’s investigatory effort a “whitewash.”

“As the scope of this problem grows daily and with the refusal of the Democratic Legislature to investigate, it is obvious the U.S. Attorney General’s office must take charge,” he said.

Two Democratic candidates locked in a race to fill the seat left by the late Rep. David Scott, D-Ga., advanced to a runoff election on Tuesday evening after failing to capture 51% of the vote.

The winner of the election will add another Democratic seat in a narrowly divided House of Representatives where Republicans hold 218 seats and Democrats control 212. Adding even one more Democratic member puts increased pressure on Republicans to remain united on party-line legislation.

Marcye Scott, the daughter of David Scott, and Everton Blair, chair of the Gwinnett County School Board, will face off against each other in a runoff to represent the Peach State’s 13th Congressional District on Aug. 25.

DAUGHTER OF LATE HOUSE DEM FORCED INTO RUNOFF AFTER FALLING SHORT IN SPECIAL ELECTION

A third candidate, Caesar Gonzales, a Republican, did not advance, receiving only 8.7% of the vote.

Georgia’s 13th Congressional District House seat became open when David Scott, 80, died in office back in April. His office did not disclose a cause of death.

Shortly after his death, Marcye Scott announced her candidacy to fill his seat, pitching herself as the best candidate to continue her father’s legacy.

DEMOCRAT REP DAVID SCOTT DEAD AT 80

“That would be what I definitely want to do, to make sure that his voters, his constituents, do not miss out on what he was offering,” Scott said.

Scott has made roads and infrastructure, public safety and transportation key priorities of her campaign, highlighting constituent outreach work she did for her father.

For his own part, Blair has pitched himself as a candidate looking to push back on President Donald Trump’s cuts to areas like the Department of Education.

“You can’t fix a system that’s being dismantled from the top. Right now, Donald Trump is getting rid of the Department of Education and cutting money from schools that already have the least. That doesn’t just hurt some office in Washington. It hurts the kid in the back of the classroom in this district,” Blair said during a campaign visit.

On his website, Blair lists Medicare-for-all, increasing the minimum wage and raising teacher pay among his top priorities.

STATE OF PLAY: DEMS BATTLE FOR SHOT AT CRUCIAL ARIZONA HOUSE SEAT AMID GOP’S RAZOR-THIN MAJORITY

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Although the winner will have secured the seat in the special election, they must still win a general election in November to fill the seat for a full term.

David Scott last won re-election in 2024 in a 71.8% to 28.2% victory over his Republican challenger Jonathan Chavez.

Massachusetts lawmakers are taking steps toward prioritizing the hiring of American Muslims for state government positions under a permanent so-called Muslim commission.

The group would help recommend Americans who practice Islam to appointed government positions in the New England state at the same time the Trump administration is moving to dismantle such diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs nationwide — teeing-up a standoff between local leaders and the president.

A proposed bill would create a panel of 11 Muslims appointed by Democratic Gov. Maura Healey and other state officials to represent the Islamic faith on issues such as business, economy, healthcare and other concerns.

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The Muslim commission would influence government recruiting and, “Identify and recommend qualified American Muslims for appointive positions at all levels of government, including boards and commissions, as the commission considers necessary and appropriate,” according to language in the bill.

“Massachusetts has always prided itself on being a leader in equality and civil rights, a legacy this bill builds upon,” said Democratic state Sen. Jamie Eldridge, the bill’s primary sponsor.

“American Muslims in my district and across the Commonwealth enrich our communities as students, healthcare workers, educators, small business owners, and civic leaders,” Eldridge added in the press release on the proposal. “This commission will help the state better understand and address the challenges they face, while strengthening inclusion and civic participation. “

Senate Bill S.2134 currently sits in the state’s Senate Ways and Means Committee after clearing initial committee markups and votes.

Muslims account for an estimated 2% to 3% of Massachusetts’ population, according to approximate figures from Pew Research Center and the U.S. Census.

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Massachusetts’ push comes as President Donald Trump has made it a mission of his administration to cut back on DEI programs in the private sector, as well as in the federal government.

“President Trump was resoundingly elected with a mandate to end divisive, racist policies and restore merit and efficiency,” White House spokesperson Allison Shuster told Fox News Digital.

“DEI ran rampant during the Biden Administration, and Americans ultimately paid the price for these destructive policies with a restricted labor pool, higher operational costs, and workforce inefficiencies,” Shuster added. “The Trump Administration will always promote equal treatment under the law for every American, regardless of race or ethnicity.”

The president’s team has terminated federal DEI-related contracts and eliminated DEI federal government programs.

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Part of Trump’s initiative during his first 100 days with the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was to put an end to programs that prioritized hiring and representation in the workplace based on applicants’ protected classes.

Many Republicans, including the president and Musk, claimed that DEI was “reverse discrimination” that provided unfair preferences against majority groups in the U.S.

Gov. Healey’s office did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on the legislation.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, is demanding that Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., prove he is fit to continue serving in Congress after he was discharged this week following a lengthy hospital stay or resign from office.

In a letter to McConnell, the governor urged the 84-year-old senator to directly address the people of Kentucky about his ability to serve.

“I am calling on you to directly and verbally address the people of Kentucky and provide proof of your capacity to serve, or resign,” Beshear wrote to McConnell.

MCCONNELL OUT OF HOSPITAL, STILL NOT ‘MEDICALLY CLEARED’ TO RETURN TO SENATE

Beshear made the demand after McConnell’s office announced on Monday that he had been discharged from the hospital but had not yet been medically cleared to leave the rehabilitation facility where he has been undergoing physical therapy and return to office.

The senator’s office said he would miss a major Kentucky political event and upcoming Senate votes.

“I’m still working hard to get back to my full schedule of work in the Senate and in Kentucky, keeping up with intense physical therapy per my doctors’ orders. Unfortunately, that means I won’t be able to make it to Fancy Farm, Kentucky, this Saturday … As always, I appreciate all of your continued well wishes, and I’m looking forward to getting back to the Senate and to Kentucky soon,” McConnell said in a statement.

McConnell was hospitalized on June 14 and later revealed that it was due to a fall at his home.

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“Since his discharge from hospital care, he has maintained a strenuous course of physical therapy and rehabilitation, including multiple sessions a day designed to rebuild strength and reduce the risk of future falls. His bout with childhood polio continues to be a significant factor in his mobility. He is not yet medically cleared to leave the rehab facility and return to the office,” the Attending Physician’s office said in a statement.

Beshear first urged McConnell earlier this month to release more information about his health after weeks of no public comments.

The governor also sent a letter on Tuesday to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., calling on him to investigate McConnell’s condition if the senator does not prove that he is capable of continuing his term.

“All of this speculation and even this letter could have been avoided with a minimal amount of transparency,” Beshear wrote to Thune.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the offices of Beshear, McConnell and Thune.

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Since he was hospitalized last month, McConnell’s office has issued major updates on July 12 and July 27, with each notice featuring a photograph.

This comes amid intensified public scrutiny of aging elected officials in recent years over mental gaffes and deaths in office.

Former Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., died in 2023 and former Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., died earlier this month. Former President Joe Biden suspended his re-election campaign in 2024 in the face of bipartisan pressure due to his age and mental acuity. President Donald Trump’s fitness to serve has also been questioned by Democrats who have raised concerns about his mental acuity, age and health, pointing to various gaffes, several hospital visits and visible bruises on his hands.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Lawmakers are seeking to expose foreign nationals who may be funneling money and donations through tax-exempt organizations to political committees as the House Ways and Means Committee passed a bill that would revise reporting requirements for tax-exempt groups.

The Foreign Funding Transparency Act, which passed 23-18 in the committee last Wednesday, would require tax-exempt organizations to collect and report to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) donations received from foreign nationals.

“For far too long, foreign influence and interference have plagued our tax-exempt sector,” committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., said in a statement. “Foreign donations have no place in American politics, particularly when the sole goal is to manipulate our public discourse, promote propaganda and support violence.”

Smith noted that many of the protests and demonstrations that take place across the U.S. appear to be grassroots but are actually well-organized and well-funded, often by groups within what he described as “shadowy networks.”

“As the Ways and Means Committee conducted its investigation into the nation’s tax-exempt sector, it became clear that shadowy networks of well-funded organizations have been enjoying lucrative tax benefits for decades, while simultaneously accepting donations and direction from foreign nationals,” Smith added. “From the outside, it looks like a movement, but once you see how the money flows, it becomes clear that this is a machine,” he added. 

The bill’s passage came just a week after Secretary of State Marco Rubio called for global cooperation at a summit in Washington to combat far-left political terrorism.

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“For far too long, however, our counterterrorism doctrine has had a blind spot – a blind spot when it comes to extremist violence from the political left,” Rubio said. “Even today, the very idea that far-left terrorism could be a serious threat is treated as a right-wing fever dream, or worse, as a dangerous fascist conspiracy.”

While Rubio didn’t mention any organizations or individuals by name, the House Ways and Means Committee noted Marxist Neville Roy Singham in a statement about the bill’s passage.

Singham, a 72-year-old American now based in Shanghai and who sold his tech company for $785 million in 2017, is known to fund pro-Chinese Communist Party groups operating in the U.S. He has funneled $278 million into the broad network of nonprofits since 2017, according to a Fox News Digital investigation.

The funneling of funds through nonprofit networks has been a key point of concern for lawmakers and the Trump administration. Major contributors, including Singham, often have dispersed funds through shell 501(c)(3) nonprofits, which subsequently contributed to various tax-exempt organizations.

RUBIO’S CALL TO COMBAT GLOBAL FUNDERS OF FAR-LEFT TERRORISM COULD PUT SINGHAM IN CROSSHAIRS

During his address to more than 60 countries earlier this month, Rubio noted that networks have been coordinating across multiple countries, providing training instructions and using encrypted communication to facilitate unrest. He said international cooperation was critical to disrupting the financing of dangerous organizations, some of which were working with hostile foreign states.

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Singham did not respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.

FIRST ON FOX: Americans could soon cash in on exposing fraud as President Donald Trump’s Treasury Department prepares to launch a program paying whistleblowers, Fox News Digital has learned.

The Treasury Department has created an online tip line that incentivize Americans to bring allegations of fraud directly to the administration in an effort to increase transparency and crack down on abuse of taxpayer dollars. The website encourages people to “blow the whistle on fraud, money laundering and sanctions/tax violations.”

And those who report explicit details of legitimate fraudulent transactions could see a pay day for their information.

“Whistleblowers play a critical role in protecting the integrity of our financial system,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News Digital.

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“Today, Treasury launched a new webpage that brings our whistleblower programs together in one place, making it easier to find information and navigate the reporting process,” he continued.

Awards for whistleblowers could range between 10% and 30% of the total amount in penalties recovered from successful enforcement operations carried out by the Departments of Treasury and Justice.

The rollout marks the latest step in the Trump administration’s broader campaign to root out fraud across federal programs after officials argued billions in taxpayer dollars have been lost to waste, abuse and organized criminal schemes.

The program works alongside the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud — a federal initiative led by Vice President JD Vance that President Donald Trump established by executive order earlier this year. It also mirrors a similar program that was used to root out illicit money movements in Minnesota in the midst of the Feeding Our Futures fraud scandal.

The new website consolidates Treasury’s existing whistleblower programs into a single public portal, allowing for fraud report submissions to go through one website that routes tips to the department’s various enforcement bureaus.

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It also serves as a hub for Treasury’s broader anti-fraud campaign, with initiatives ranging from Internal Revenue Service (IRS) fraud investigations and sanctions enforcement to financial institution alerts, whistleblower protections and the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, led by Vance.

“Fighting fraud is a core national security and taxpayer protection mission for Treasury,” a Treasury spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “Secretary Bessent has directed the Department to modernize its tools, strengthen partnerships with financial institutions and law enforcement, and aggressively pursue those who steal from the American people. Treasury is committed to preventing fraud before it occurs, disrupting criminal networks that exploit government programs, and holding bad actors accountable.”

Both the new whistleblower program and anti-fraud task force were created in response to the massive fraud scandal in Minnesota that triggered investigations that later exposed taxpayer dollar abuse statewide.

The exposed fraud included allegations that the state’s Somali community was exploiting social services to send millions of dollars to those unqualified to receive financial assistance, including al Qaeda-linked terror groups.

“President Trump has been clear that Americans have a right to know that their tax dollars are not being diverted to fund acts of global terror or to fund luxury cars for fraudsters,” a statement from Bessent featured on the new website reads. “At Treasury, we follow the money.”

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“We did it with the mafia, we have done it with all the cartels, and we’re doing it with the Somali fraudsters,” he went on in the public statement. “We are going to offer whistleblower payments to anyone who wants to tell us the who, what, when, where and how this fraud and money laundering occurred.”

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The portal provides direct reporting links to Treasury bureaus including the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, the IRS and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, allowing tips to be routed to the agency best equipped to investigate them.

Treasury has not yet specified how whistleblower payments will be calculated or which cases would qualify for financial rewards.

Marcye Scott, the daughter of late Rep. David Scott, D-Ga., and former Gwinnett County school board chair Everton Blair advanced Tuesday to an Aug. 25 runoff in the special election to serve the remainder of the late Congressman Scott’s term before the winner of November’s regular election takes office for a full-term beginning in January.

Neither candidate captured the 50% majority needed to win the seat outright, according to the Associated Press, which called the race around a quarter to 9 o’clock East Coast time. Scott had received 47.5% of the vote and Blair had received 36.1% when the race was called around 8:45 p.m. eastern, with 85% of the expected vote counted. Republican Caesar Gonzales was far behind in third with just 8.5%.

The runoff will determine who serves the final weeks of the late-Congressman’s term in the heavily Democratic metro Atlanta 13th Congressional District following his death in April at age 80. It will not determine who represents the district for the next full two-year term beginning in January; voters held a separate primary for that term in May, with the general election set for Nov. 3.

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Democratic state Rep. Jasmine Clark won the regularly scheduled May primary for the full term with roughly 56% of the vote and will face Republican Jonathan Chavez in November. Blair, the only special-election candidate who also competed in that regular May primary, finished third with approximately 12%.

Regardless of party affiliation, all candidates appeared together on one special-election ballot Tuesday. Georgia law allows a candidate who receives more than 50% to win outright, but sends the two leading candidates to a runoff when no one reaches that mark. Six names appeared on the ballot, although Democrat Tony Brown was disqualified after the check he submitted for the $5,220 qualifying fee bounced, according to the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office, which indicated votes cast for Brown would not count.

The remaining field included Scott, Blair Gonzales, Attorney Carlos Moore and Republican candidate Fayth Park.

Scott announced during her father’s early-May funeral in Atlanta that she planned to run in the special election to complete his term. Scott has cast herself as the candidate best positioned to complete her father’s unfinished work, particularly his outstanding federal funding requests, with her campaign noting how she worked alongside her father for more than two decades, playing an active role in his campaign operations, fundraising, constituent outreach and community engagement.

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“Right after my dad passed, a lot of the City Council or the commissioners and chair people, they wanted to know what was going to happen with these projects,” Scott said following her father’s death, according the Atlanta-Journal Constitution. “And that’s really why I’m running: to complete that.”

Her runoff opponent, Blair, was elected to the Gwinnett County Board of Education in 2018 and was elected board chairman a few years later in 2021.

According to Blair’s campaign website, the former high school math teacher earned a bachelor’s degree in applied mathematics and a doctorate in education leadership from Harvard University, as well as a master’s degree in policy, organization and leadership from Stanford University. Blair’s campaign has highlighted that education-policy background and his prior elected service on the Gwinnett County school board.

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The winner of the August runoff will add another Democratic vote to a narrowly divided House. Republicans officially hold 218 seats, compared with 212 Democrats and four vacancies, while independent Rep. Kevin Kiley of California continues to caucus with Republicans despite defecting from the GOP earlier this year. Once the Georgia winner is sworn in, Democrats would hold 213 seats, compared with a 219-member Republican-aligned bloc.

The 13th District includes portions of Clayton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Henry and Newton counties, along with all of Rockdale County. David Scott carried the district with approximately 72% of the vote in 2024. In the presidential race that same year, then-Vice President Kamala Harris received roughly 71% of the district’s vote, compared with about 28% for President Donald Trump.

South Dakota Gov. Larry Rhoden fended off a primary challenge from businessman and Bitcoin evangelist Toby Doeden on Tuesday, winning the first gubernatorial primary runoff in state history and advancing to the November general election.

The Associated Press called the race for Rhoden within minutes of final polls closing. He had received 70.5% of the vote compared with Doeden’s 29.5% at the time it was called, with approximately 25% of the expected vote counted.

The election marked the first time South Dakota voters were asked to settle a gubernatorial nomination through a primary runoff. State law requires a runoff between the two leading candidates when no contender for governor, U.S. Senate or U.S. House receives at least 35% of the primary vote.

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The head-to-head contest followed a four-way June primary in which Doeden finished first with 30.6% of the vote and Rhoden placed second with 25.2%, leaving both short of the 35% needed to secure the nomination outright. Rhoden became governor in early 2025 after Kristi Noem left to join the Trump administration, while Doeden entered the race as a businessman and political newcomer.

Doeden also built a public profile as a Bitcoin evangelist. He said he began investing “very, very heavily” in the cryptocurrency around 2020 after devoting roughly 500 hours to researching it, eventually converting nearly all the cash reserves from his companies that he did not expect to need into Bitcoin.

“I will buy bitcoin forever, every single day,” Doeden previously said on his podcast, according to the South Dakota Searchlight. “We mine bitcoin, we buy bitcoin.”

Doeden also supported legislation that would have allowed the South Dakota Investment Council, which manages public employee pension funds and other state investments, to invest in Bitcoin. He went further by calling for South Dakota to establish a state Bitcoin reserve – a move state investment and budget officials opposed.

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Tuesday’s winner advances to face former Democratic state Sen. Dan Ahlers in November. South Dakota has not had a Democratic governor since Harvey Wollman left office in 1979, and no Democrat has been elected to the office there since Richard Kneip won re-election in 1974. Wollman became governor automatically as lieutenant governor when Kneip resigned.

In the run-up to Tuesday’s primary runoff, property taxes were among the defining issues of the campaign. Doeden campaigned on eliminating property taxes, while Rhoden’s campaign portrayed Doeden’s proposal as fiscally reckless, arguing it could leave local governments and schools with a major funding shortfall.

Meanwhile, Rhoden’s campaign highlighted other tax relief measures that the governor signed back in March, which Rhoden’s campaign website describes as the “largest” property tax cut in the state’s history.

During the race, Doeden portrayed Rhoden as part of South Dakota’s entrenched political class, declaring after the June primary that “the career politicians told me” an outsider could not break through against three longtime officeholders.

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Rhoden pushed back on the attack, saying Doeden was trying to “make hay” out of calling him a career politician and describing that characterization as “such a warped viewpoint,” during an interview with the South Dakota Public Broadcasting network. Rhoden argued that his years in the Legislature gave him practical experience writing laws and then returning home to live under them.

President Donald Trump did not publicly weigh in with an endorsement in the runoff, according to a review by Fox News Digital. Trump thanked Rhoden by name during his July 3 remarks at Mount Rushmore but did not mention the governor’s race. Doeden, meanwhile, campaigned as a “fierce Trump supporter” who said he would help implement the president’s “America First agenda.”