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Year: 2025

UK urged to align with Trump on China or lose favored status in Washington

UK urged to align with Trump on China or lose favored status in Washington

As President Donald Trump reshapes American foreign policy around hard-nosed deals and national self-interest, a new report warns the UK must rethink its strategy to preserve its “special relationship” – or risk being sidelined in Washington. Darren Spinck, a fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, cautions that there will be no “business as usual” under Trump and that the “special relationship” between the U.S. and UK can no longer be taken for granted. To remain a key ally, Spinck argues in a new report, Britain must embrace Trump’s “transactional” approach to foreign policy.   “Choosing not to retaliate” against Trump-era steel and aluminum tariffs may signal a “strategic patience that may facilitate bilateral negotiations,” the report states. It outlines steps that Prime Minister Keir Starmer could take to align with the Trump administration and pursue a U.S.-UK free trade deal, including deeper security cooperation and a tougher stance on China. Trump recently imposed 10% across-the-board tariffs on foreign nations and paused harsher levies he earlier proposed on every nation except China.  CHINESE OFFICIALS CLAIMED BEHIND CLOSED DOORS PRC PLAYED ROLE IN US CYBERATTACKS: REPORT Another path, the report suggests, could involve the UK seeking accession to the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), the North American trade bloc, as a way to deepen economic ties with the United States. The report also urges the UK Labour Party leadership to “reduce commercial dependency on the PRC rather than deepening it,” warning that closer economic ties with Beijing could strain U.S.-UK relations under Trump. Spinck contrasted the Trump administration’s focus on “bilateralism, economic nationalism, and Indo-Pacific security” with the Starmer government’s preference for “multilateral diplomacy, progressive trade policies, and European security commitments.” “This policy gap threatens transatlantic cohesion, weakening their collective ability to act against common adversaries, particularly China,” he warned.  Divergent policies on China, NATO commitments and Indo-Pacific strategy could erode Five Eyes intelligence sharing, which is key to UK national security. Spinck called on the British government to strike a deal with the U.S. that addresses the White House’s digital privacy concerns – particularly after the UK ordered Apple to grant security agencies access to encrypted cloud data – and to launch a mineral mining partnership to bolster critical supply chains. Whereas the previous conservative UK government deemed China its “greatest state-based threat,” the current liberal leadership has “reversed the course of the previous three Conservative Party Governments and has sought to strengthen economic ties with Beijing,” according to Spink.  He said the UK had recently advanced Beijing’s access to Western capital markets and re-established bilateral frameworks on industrial, trade and energy policy with China.  “​​One must wonder why London appears eager to expand economic ties with China – a country widely criticized for its human rights record – while the UK’s development finance institution has been less inclined to support international infrastructure development or mining projects in other regions.” UK PRIME MINISTER TO ADMIT ‘GLOBALIZATION IS OVER’ IN RESPONSE TO TRUMP TARIFFS: REPORT “As the Trump Administration seeks to further accelerate America’s decoupling from targeted CCP economic and technology sectors, the US feels that the Labour Government’s apparent rapprochement with Beijing, after years of cautious relations following the PRC’s 2020 breach of the Sino–British Joint Declaration, could unnecessarily complicate the “Special Relationship,” Spink wrote.  He said that critical issues “requiring transatlantic cooperation,” such as a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine, are “at risk” if the U.S. and the UK are not aligned on China policy. The UK must also set aside its disagreements over U.S. domestic policy, according to Spinck, due to the more urgent need for security cooperation.  “As the Labour Government works with President Trump’s Administration, it should realize its views on a wide range of policies, including immigration, climate policy, digital privacy and welfare benefits, are vastly different,” he wrote.  He said such “fractures” like the UK government’s demand for backdoor access to Apple’s encrypted cloud storage “have begun to define the overall relationship between the two allies, impacting the potential for foreign policy alignment.” “Overcoming these cultural differences requires a shift to a more transactional model of foreign policy cooperation. Britain needs to take an active role in re-setting this agenda, pushing questions of domestic ideology to the margins in favor of solid, mutually beneficial measures.” The UK could also signal goodwill by taking a tougher diplomatic stance on Iran. Spinck urged London to help close the “transatlantic divide” on Iran policy, which he said has “disrupted attempts to forge a coherent approach to stopping Iran’s nuclear progress.” While the U.S. withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and imposed sweeping sanctions, the UK remained a party and declined to trigger snapback sanctions – even amid reports that Iran had violated the agreement and was enriching uranium to near-weapons-grade levels. Spink also urged the UK to join the U.S. in designating Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization. Such moves, he argued, “would also be seen as a victory for the long-established Trump policy on Iran – one that would cost the UK nothing and would generate much goodwill in Washington, D.C.”

‘Mississippi Musk’: State auditor’s MOGE report finds $400M in government waste

‘Mississippi Musk’: State auditor’s MOGE report finds 0M in government waste

EXCLUSIVE: On Monday, Mississippi state auditor Shad White will release a compilation of audits conducted by his office that tabulated a collective $400 million in waste over the course of his tenure. “In the last few weeks, we’ve jokingly started calling ourselves MOGE, the Mississippi Office of Government Efficiency, like Elon Musk’s DOGE,” White told Fox News Digital, referring to Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency under the Trump administration. “We approach our work with the same attention to every penny as DOGE, and I’m happy to be Mississippi’s Musk,” White said. While the auditor’s office cannot cut any of the wasteful spending, it alerts state lawmakers to what it discovers. COST CUTTING: 2 STATES AIM TO ELIMINATE PERSONAL INCOME TAXES “We’ve been working on this project really for the last couple of years. And what’s encouraging right now is that President Trump and Elon Musk are doing DOGE, which has raised public awareness about the amount of fraud, waste and abuse in government,” White said in his exclusive interview. “So, people are starting to look closely at what we’ve uncovered. In our time in the state auditor’s office, my team and I have uncovered about $400 million worth of waste.” That figure will be broken down in an 800-page report, which White will make public later Monday. He said that Medicaid is a major issue, in that tens of millions of dollars in subsidies are going to income-ineligible Mississippians. One state agency was spending nearly $6,000 each on televisions, which the similarly bloated feds pay about $2,000 for similar tech, he said. REEVES RALLIES AROUND PROPOSAL TO CUT MS INCOME TAX “So, if you think the federal government is inefficient, I promise you, your state governments around the country are likely even less efficient,” he said. Asked about slashing wasteful spending in DEI and elsewhere, White said that even in a red state like the Magnolia State, there is a lot to be discovered and trimmed down. “[W]hen you dig into what they’re doing with all of this staff time and all of these resources, they were doing things like holding microaggression training sessions for engineers — I don’t know why we need to do that. They were handing out grants for social justice yoga for preschoolers. Just crazy stuff,” he said, as $11 million in taxpayer funding has gone to DEI at colleges alone. In the Magnolia State, 20% of people live below the poverty line, so efficient spending of federal and other public funds is paramount, White said. Millions of misspent dollars came from welfare appropriations, including approved community gardens that were never built, or nonprofits who pledged to use funding to help the poor but instead padded executive salaries. “We found dollars supposed to be going to poor folks going to pay for sponsorship of beauty pageants,” he added. “Really, I think the big-picture point here is, this kind of waste happens at every level of government. And now that DOJ is taking the lead and showing the country how much fraud, waste and abuse there is, it’s really incumbent on every single state government to take a look at their own house and make sure that that fraud, waste, and abuse isn’t happening in state government, too.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP State auditor roles vary statutorily from state-to-state.  When asked whether White has worked with neighboring officials or if other Deep South states have collaborated on regional DOGE-type initiatives, White said that some states like Alabama have auditor roles with more limited statutory powers than his in Jackson. But he said that Oklahoma auditor Cindy Byrd is working on a similar endeavor to uncover government waste in the Sooner State. “We [state auditors] are in conversation with one another — and whether it’s your state auditor or a key state legislator or the governor, really, every state needs to be starting a DOGE.” Fox News Digital reached out to Reeves for comment on White’s past work in identifying waste, fraud and abuse.

First on Fox: Republican launches second straight bid to flip Democrat-held Senate seat in key battleground

First on Fox: Republican launches second straight bid to flip Democrat-held Senate seat in key battleground

EXCLUSIVE – Former Rep. Mike Rogers, who was the GOP Senate nominee in Michigan in last year’s election, is launching a second straight Republican run for the Senate in the crucial Great Lakes battleground state. Rogers, a former FBI special agent who later served as chair of the House Intelligence Committee during his tenure in Congress, announced his candidacy in the 2026 Senate race to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters in a video that was shared nationally first with Fox News. “As your next senator, I won’t just represent Michigan, I’ll fight for it,” Rogers emphasizes in his video announcement. Highlighting his long career in the military, the FBI, and as an elected state and federal lawmaker, Rogers says that he is “running to serve as your next senator because service is what I’ve always done. Michigan, let’s get to work.” A LIKELY BRUISING SENATE BATTLE IN BATTLEGROUND MICHIGAN HEATS UP AS THIS CANDIDATE ENTERS THE RACE And in his video, Rogers also spotlights his support for President Donald Trump, saying “I’ll stand with President Trump, and we will deliver on the mandate given to him by the American people….for me it will always be America and Michigan first.” Rogers won the 2024 GOP Senate nomination in Michigan but narrowly lost to Rep. Elissa Slotkin, the Democrats’ nominee, in last November’s election in the race to succeed longtime Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow, who retired. Slotkin, who vastly outspent Rogers, edged him by roughly 19,000 votes, or a third of a percentage point. WILL THIS BLUE STATE REPUBLICAN END THE GOP’S 20-YEAR LOSING STREAK IN HIS STATE? The Senate seat in Michigan is one of three held by the Democrats that the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) is planning to heavily target as it aims to expand the GOP’s current 53-47 majority in the chamber. The other two are in New Hampshire, where longtime Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen is retiring rather than running for re-election in 2026, and Georgia, where the GOP considers a first-term Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff vulnerable. While Rogers is the first major Republican to enter the Senate race in Michigan, he may not have the field to himself. Longtime Republican Rep. Bill Huizenga told Fox News last week that as soon as Peters announced earlier this year that he wouldn’t seek re-election, “my phone started to ring and it hasn’t stopped ringing.” LONGTIME HOUSE REPUBLICAN WEIGHS SENATE BID IN KEY BATTLEGROUND Huizenga, who was first elected to the House in 2010 and represents Michigan’s 4th Congressional District, which covers parts of the southwestern part of the state, highlighted that he’s getting “encouragement” to seek the Senate from “grassroots folks,” as well as donors. As for his timetable, Huizenga said: “I’m still going to do my evaluation here, and need to kind of push through on the fundraising and need to make sure that I’m able to get the support that I really need to have to be able to do this kind of run.” ONLY ON FOX NEWS: SENATE REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN CHAIR REVEALS HOW MANY SEATS HE’S AIMING FOR IN 2026 An endorsement by Trump, whose sway over the GOP is stronger than ever, is expected to play a significant role if there’s a contested Republican Senate primary in Michigan. And while Trump has yet to weigh in on the race, Rogers earlier this year hired veteran Republican strategist and 2024 Trump co-campaign manager Chris LaCivita as a senior advisor. LaCivita remains close to the president and his political team in the White House. Rogers in 2022 and early 2023 mulled a 2024 Republican presidential nomination run of his own, and had a few critical comments of Trump at the time. But Rogers later became a strong supporter of the then-former president and Trump endorsed Rogers in the 2024 Michigan Senate race in March of last year, after clinching the GOP presidential nomination. WHY PETE BUTTIGIEG SAID NO TO RUNNING FOR THE SENATE NEXT YEAR IN MICHIGAN Besides Rogers and Huizenga, business executive, conservative commentator and 2022 Republican gubernatorial nominee Tudor Dixon has said she’s seriously mulling another run for governor, or for the Senate, in 2026. And Republican businessman and auto dealership executive Kevin Rinke, who ran for governor in 2022, is also thought to be considering another statewide run next year. Earlier this month, Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow launched a campaign for the Democratic Senate nomination. Reps. Kristen McDonald Rivet and Haley Stevens are considering a run, as is Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel.  Last month, Pete Buttigieg, a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate who later served as Transportation Secretary in former President Joe Biden’s administration, ruled out a campaign after seriously considering a bid.

Scoop: GOP group dedicated to electing Republicans at state level spotlights record fundraising haul

Scoop: GOP group dedicated to electing Republicans at state level spotlights record fundraising haul

FIRST ON FOX: A GOP organization dedicated to electing Republicans to state legislative and executive offices across the nation is spotlighting what it calls a “record” fundraising haul during the first three months of the year. The Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC) announced on Monday that, along with its strategic policy partner, the State Government Leadership Foundation, it raked in a combined $13 million in fundraising during the January-March first quarter of 2025.  The group, in sharing their figures first with Fox News, highlighted that it was their “best-ever first-quarter fundraising haul,” and follows what they describe as “a historic 2023-2024 election cycle,” when the two groups combined raised $102 million. Showcasing their grassroots appeal, the group noted that they brought in over $2.2 million online, with 5,130 new online donors and an average online donation of $24.68. THIS WELL-KNOWN REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR WILL NOT SEEK RE-ELECTION IN 2026 “This record-breaking fundraising achievement highlights the enthusiasm behind the results Republicans are delivering at the state level,” RSLC President Edith Jorge-Tuñón emphasized in a statement to Fox News.  “While we’re proud of this milestone, we must stay alert. Recent elections show Democrats are ready to invest unlimited resources in down-ballot races, taking advantage of low turnout to build momentum for the 2025-2026 cycle. We need to be proactive in countering these efforts,” she added. THIS DEMOCRATIC SENATOR IS RUNNING FOR GOVERNOR  At the time this story was posted, the rival Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee had yet to report its first-quarter fundraising figures. Two legislative chambers changed control in the 2024 elections, both in favor of the Republicans. Minnesota’s House flipped from Democratic control to a tie, and Michigan’s House flipped from the Democrats to the GOP. CAN REPUBLICANS END THEIR TWO-DECADE-LONG ELECTORAL LOSING STREAK IN THIS STATE? According to the nonpartisan National Conference on State Legislatures, Republicans currently control 58 of the nation’s 98 state legislative chambers (Nebraska’s technically non-partisan is not included), with the Democrats in control of 38 chambers and two divided. Republicans control 28 of the 50 state legislatures, with Democrats in control of 18 and three legislatures divided. Additionally, Republicans have total control (state house majority in both chambers and control of the governor’s office) in 23 states, compared to 15 for the Democrats, with 11 states divided.

Trump’s 13th week in office expected to include tariff negotiation blitz, visit from El Salvador leader

Trump’s 13th week in office expected to include tariff negotiation blitz, visit from El Salvador leader

President Donald Trump’s 13th week in office is expected to include ongoing tariff negotiations revolving around his reciprocal, customized duty tax plan, as well as a visit from El Salvador’s president.  On Wednesday, Trump put a 90-day pause on reciprocal, customized tariffs he had imposed on dozens of nations, which was an abrupt change of course after saying there would not be a pause to them, just negotiations. Simultaneously, the Trump administration upped the ante on its tariff on China to 125%.  Now, the administration, including Trump, is diving into negotiations with foreign nations to strike deals that are beneficial to the U.S. and lower the country’s chronic trade deficit, according to officials.   An administration official told Fox News Digital last week that Trump will be personally involved in the negotiations, including taking direct phone calls from fellow world leaders. Trump will serve as the “final decision maker” of the negotiations, and he is “very invested” in securing the best trade deals for the U.S., the admin official said.  ‘DEAL-MAKER-IN-CHIEF’: BEHIND THE SCENES OF TRUMP’S TARIFF PAUSE, WHERE HE HAS FINAL SAY OVER NEGOTIATIONS “The American people elected President Trump because he’s a deal-maker, and he’s going to be the deal-maker-in-chief to make this happen,” the source said. SCOTT BESSENT SAYS UP TO 70 NATIONS WANT TO NEGOTIATE OVER TRUMP’S TARIFFS Tariffs are expected to be a focal point of the week as Democrats continue lobbing attacks at Trump over the duty taxes and pausing the customized tariffs on the same day they took effect.  On Monday, Trump will meet with El Salvador President Nayib Bukele at the White House. Bukele has emerged as a key ally to the administration regarding immigration policies, including by accepting illegal immigrants of any nationality facing deportation in the U.S. and booking them into El Salvador’s notorious prison system. Those deported to El Salvador from the U.S. have suspected ties to vicious gangs, such as Tren de Aragua or MS-13.  El Salvador’s CECOT prison is known as the nation’s most notorious prison. The prison, which can hold 40,000 inmates, was built to house gang members in a country that held one of the highest murder rates in the world before violence dropped in recent history. Prisoners at CECOT are blocked from receiving visitors and can only attend hearings virtually, while the prison itself blocks any cell signal to ensure gang members cannot contact criminals still on the street, various media reports have detailed.  EL SALVADOR TAKES IN HUNDREDS OF VENEZUELAN GANG MEMBERS FROM US, EVEN AS JUDGE MOVES TO BLOCK DEPORTATIONS “Looking forward to seeing President Bukele, of El Salvador, on Monday! Our Nations are working closely together to eradicate terrorist organizations, and build a future of Prosperity,” Trump posted to Truth Social on Saturday, confirming the meeting this week.  “President Bukele has graciously accepted into his Nation’s custody some of the most violent alien enemies of the World and, in particular, the United States. These barbarians are now in the sole custody of El Salvador, a proud and sovereign Nation, and their future is up to President B and his Government. They will never threaten or menace our Citizens again!” The Department of Government Efficiency’s Elon Musk, as well as Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, both previewed that the “Trump Gold Card” would be operational in the coming days. Trump explained earlier this year that the U.S. would offer a $5 million card that grants foreigners the ability to live and work in the U.S., as well as a path to citizenship.  TRUMP VOWS TO REFUND, DEPORT ANY ‘UNSAVORY’ IMMIGRANTS WHO TRY FOR CITIZENSHIP UNDER POTENTIAL ‘GOLD CARD’ “We’re going to be selling a gold card,” Trump said from the Oval Office back in February. “You have a green card. This is a gold card. We’re going to be putting a price on that card of about $5 million and that’s going to give you green card privileges, plus it’s going to be a route to citizenship. And wealthy people will be coming into our country by buying this card.” “[I’m] working with Howard [Lutnick] to get that, the Trump gold card, operational hopefully in the next week or so,” Musk said during a Cabinet meeting with Trump last week.  “That’ll be very exciting,” Trump responded. “That’s a pathway to citizenship into the United States.” Trump is kicking off his 13th week back in the Oval Office with a clean bill of health after White House physician Capt. Sean Barbabella released the president’s annual physical results on Sunday.  “President Trump remains in excellent health, exhibiting robust cardiac, pulmonary, neurological and general physical function,” Barbabella said, reporting that Trump “exhibits excellent cognitive and physical health and is fully fit.” The president spent the weekend in Florida, including attending a UFC match on Saturday in Miami alongside members of his cabinet, and flew back to Washington, D.C., on Sunday evening.