Energy chief slashes red tape that led to 60% cost in inflation, burdened work in ‘critical’ labs
EXCLUSIVE: Seventeen Department of Energy National Laboratories represent the legacy of American scientific research, development and technological innovation stemming from collective postwar investment – but in the decades since, some of their work has been stymied by ever-increasing regulation, the U.S. energy chief tells Fox News Digital. In an interview Wednesday, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said he took what lab officials told him was the rare step of meeting with all 17 to find out what they needed to be most effective in their work. When he came back to Washington, Wright compiled an order implementing the most common fixes laboratory leaders asked for. Wright quipped that “as a kid who was in love with physics in high school, the national labs are simply scientifically tremendous” and that they had been neglected by past energy secretaries – which led him to make them an early focus of his tenure. In an order obtained exclusively by Fox News Digital, Wright demanded several actions by lab officials seeking to streamline what has been considered a burdensome permitting process for new lab buildings, as the postwar infrastructure in many have well served their purpose, he said, but must be more easily replaced. ENERGY SEC WRIGHT OUTLINES DAY-1 PRIORITIES: REFILLING SPR, NIXING BIDENESQUE APPLIANCE RULES, NUKE UPDATES One effort will expand the use of the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) “OSHA-Plus” framework for subcontracted construction projects at the National Laboratories, increasing competition for contracts and reducing costs while not sacrificing safety. Another topline piece of the four-part order seeks to analyze risks and benefits to cutting some labor-agreement provisions from contracts. The order was dated the 21st but will be made public midday Friday. “These measures are representative of focused and purposeful actions to prudently streamline our processes, place decision-making authority at the appropriate level, and reduce unnecessary administrative burden on both the laboratories and federal stewards to more efficiently and effectively enable critical mission objectives,” Wright said in the order. Wright said that while many of the labs may not be known by name, Americans recognize their immense contributions to science and national security. Los Alamos, in New Mexico, was where J. Robert Oppenheimer developed and tested the atomic bomb. Oak Ridge in Tennessee is the nation’s premier energy technology development incubator. “They are the biggest factories for producing Nobel prizes on the planet. These are national gems, and they came out of World War II,” he said, adding that bureaucracy has stifled some of their luster. “If something went wrong, they have a new rule passed; there’s people’s pet issues; or they’re layered with DEI and cultural stuff; crazy safety regulations with impossible permitting. CHRIS WRIGHT CONFIRMED SECRETARY OF ENERGY “So what we’ve done is we’ve taken these great laboratories of science and innovation, and we’ve shackled them with bureaucracy and inefficiency – those don’t go together.” Wright recounted a top issue from his meetings with laboratory leaders, who collectively said it can cost them 60% more to build or purchase a building than it does standard businesses located even just across the street. Dr. Steven Ashby, director of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, lauded the order, saying Wright’s “bold action to empower the national laboratories to more efficiently deliver transformative scientific and technological outcomes” will benefit American taxpayers. “This is the most substantive and quickest change in improving lab operations that I have seen in my many years with DOE.” The secretary underlined that additional regulations that may increase costs are wise for Energy Department installations that deal with plutonium pits or dangerous or sensitive technologies – but that an environmental or energy-production-focused laboratory shouldn’t be held to the same standard as others. “We said you no longer have to pay more. For all other buildings that are in all senses commercial facilities, we’re going to get rid of that bureaucracy and make buildings able to be built faster and built simpler,” he said. Labs have been weighed down by an additional set of safety regulations on top of OSHA, which itself is considered the gold standard – and when the labs seek contracts, they don’t get the highest quality bidders because the contractors don’t want to deal with unnecessary, additional red tape. “You get a small number of bidders that are willing to go into a much more cumbersome regime, means it can be more expensive to build that building,” Wright said. These orders and changes, he said, are directly in line with President Donald Trump’s overall effort to streamline government and make it more cost-efficient for the taxpayer. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Separate from the labs, but near the Oak Ridge installation, Wright also spoke of a building he visited at the Y-12 National Security complex so decrepit that part of its roof was falling in. The facility, outside Knoxville, was built around 1943 in under 18 months, Wright said – comparing that efficiency to today’s as an aside. “It is in that building that the majority of the enriched uranium you need to build a bomb, was produced in these Calutron machines. So this played a huge legacy role in the United States’ weapons program. Here we are 80 years later, it is still in operation and still a key part of our nuclear fabrication facilities,” he said.
Republicans look to abolish TSA in favor of private security at airports
FIRST ON FOX: Republican senators are debuting a measure on Thursday to abolish the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which they say has “intruded into the privacy and personal space” of Americans. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, is leading the bill alongside Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala. “The TSA has not only intruded into the privacy and personal space of most Americans, it has also repeatedly failed tests to find weapons and explosives. Our bill privatizes security functions at American airports under the eye of an Office of Aviation Security Oversight, bringing this bureaucratic behemoth to a welcome end. American families can travel safely without feeling the hands of an army of federal employees,” Lee told Fox News Digital in a statement. SCOOP: TOP REPUBLICAN CHUCK GRASSLEY SETS PROMPT HEARING ON JUDGES BLOCKING TRUMP The measure would officially abolish the TSA three years after being enacted into law, which the senators believe would provide time for security needs to be privatized. The bill would also direct the Secretaries of Homeland Security and Transportation to make a reorganization plan and submit it to Congress. In his own statement, Tuberville said, “The TSA is an inefficient, bureaucratic mess that infringes on Americans’ freedoms.” SENATE CONFIRMS DR MARTY MAKARY AS TRUMP’S FDA CHIEF “It’s a bloated agency—riddled with waste, fraud, and abuse of taxpayer dollars—that has led to unnecessary delays, invasive pat downs and bag checks, and frustration for travelers. We need to focus on more efficient and effective methods to protect our country without sacrificing the liberties and freedoms of American citizens. The TSA should be eliminated and replaced with privatized solutions that are more targeted, streamlined, and where appropriate accountable to limited government oversight,” he added. The senators specifically denote in the legislation that the reorganization plan can’t require private security companies to do warrantless searches or extend the TSA in any way. GOP SENATOR SAYS DR OZ IGNORED HIS QUESTIONS ON TRANSGENDER ISSUES, ABORTION Once a plan is submitted, Congress would consider it. The bill would additionally create an Office of Aviation Security Oversight, which would be under the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). This new office would oversee the privatization of the security screenings at airports. Lee and Tuberville’s bill comes as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) continues to aggressively slash components of the administrative state within the executive branch. TOP DEM USED SAME APP USED IN ATLANTIC SCANDAL TO SET UP CONTACT WITH STEELE DOSSIER AUTHOR Many Republicans have been proponents of privatizing some functions of government, while Democrats have been primarily opposed. It’s unclear what level of support this measure will have in Congress, but it’s unlikely it would be able to overcome the legislative filibuster’s 60-vote threshold. Republicans have a majority, with 53 senators in their conference. There are 47 senators who caucus with the Democrats.
Six people dead after tourist submarine sinks off Egypt’s coast
Local authorities say 39 rescued after vessel carrying tourists sunk off Hurghada’s tourist promenade area. At least six people have been killed after a tourist submarine sank off the popular Egyptian Red Sea destination of Hurghada, according to local authorities. Egypt’s Red Sea governorate confirmed that six Russians died and that 39 foreign tourists were rescued after the submarine sank off a beach in the tourist promenade area on Thursday. It said there were no missing people in the wake of the rescue effort. The submarine was carrying 45 tourists and five Egyptian crewmembers when it sank, Red Sea governor Amr Hanafi said in a statement, adding that rescue teams were quickly sent. Russia’s consulate in Hurghada confirmed the submarine, named “Sindbad”, was carrying “45 tourists” in addition to crew when it “crashed 1 kilometre from the shore” at about 10am local time (08:00 GMT). “Most of those on board were rescued and taken to their hotels and hospitals in Hurghada,” the consulate said. It was not immediately clear what caused the submarine to sink, with weather conditions on Thursday reportedly clear with optimum visibility underwater. Advertisement Egypt’s Akhbar Al-Youm newspaper said investigations into the cause of the incident were under way. The submarine was equipped with large portholes to let passengers see the Red Sea’s spectacular corals and marine life, and able to dive to a depth of 25 metres (82 feet), according to Sindbad Submarines’s website. Located about 460 kilometres (280 miles) southeast of the Egyptian capital Cairo, Hurghada is a major destination for visitors to Egypt, many of whom are Russian. The area has been the site of several deadly accidents in recent years. In November, a dive boat capsized off the coast of Marsa Alam, south of Hurghada, leaving four dead and seven missing. Last June, two dozen French tourists were safely evacuated before their boat sank after storm damage. In 2023, three British tourists died after a fire broke out on their yacht, engulfing their vessel in flames. A United Nations report ranked Egypt first in Africa for tourism revenues in 2024 at $14.1bn, more than twice what it earns in Suez Canal revenues. Adblock test (Why?)
Will US ban RAW? India rejects USCIRF Report on intelligence agency
Will the US ban the Indian intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW)? At a time when the US-India relations are improving and the Donald Trump administration is working closely with Indian officials, this question has cropped up.
Namo Bharat: NCRTC launches new programme, passengers can earn free trips by…
NCRTC has made a provision for claiming five trips at one time. These trips will be valid for seven days.
Most Americans support deporting at least some illegal immigrants, poll finds
Most Americans support deporting at least some illegal immigrants, though they have varying views on why, according to a new poll. A Pew Research Center poll released Wednesday found that 32% of U.S. adults say all illegal immigrants should be deported from the country, while 16% say none should be deported. About half of U.S. adults, however, said at least some immigrants living in the country illegally should be deported, although they couldn’t reach a consensus on what factor should be grounds for deportation. Of the roughly 51% of adults who support at least some deportation of illegal immigrants, nearly all support deporting those who commit violent crimes, according to the poll. TOP MS-13 LEADER ARRESTED IN VIRGINIA The support among this group becomes divided when asked whether those who commit nonviolent crimes should be deported, with about 52% in favor, and 44% favoring deporting illegal immigrants who have arrived in the last four years. Fewer adults who support at least some illegal immigration believe the U.S. should deport those who have a job (15% in favor), have family in the U.S. (19% in favor) or came to the U.S. as a child (9% in favor), the poll found. APPEALS COURT BLOCKS TRUMP ADMIN’S DEPORTATION FLIGHTS IN ALIEN ENEMIES ACT IMMIGRATION SUIT The poll comes as President Donald Trump and his administration carry out a nationwide crackdown on illegal immigration, cartels and transnational gangs operating in the U.S. A senior Trump administration official confirmed to Fox News this month that a total of 261 illegal aliens were deported to El Salvador on March 15. The majority of them were deported via the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which allows for the expulsion of an enemy nation’s natives and citizens without a hearing. On Thursday, the FBI announced that authorities had captured the MS-13 top leader for the U.S. East Coast. The 24-year-old suspect was taken into custody in Woodbridge, Virginia, just south of Washington, D.C.
Dems have long history of supporting encrypted Signal app ahead of Trump chat leak
Democrats stretching back nearly a decade have touted the use of the encrypted messaging app Signal, long before the Trump administration came under the national spotlight for using the app to discuss a plan of attack on terrorists in Yemen. “We have all these Signal chats. If you don’t have Signal, get on Signal, okay? Do not trust …. get on Signal,” Texas Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett said just Saturday during a speech before a Human Rights Campaign event in Los Angeles. Crockett touted the use of Signal in the context of protected chats among colleagues, such as a “Dem women’s caucus chat” she belongs to and how Democrat lawmakers trade scuttlebutt from the Hill. The encrypted messaging app is now under the spotlight after it was revealed that top national security leaders had been in a Signal group chat discussing plans to strike terrorists in Yemen, which also included the Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg. The chat was made public by a first-hand account of the group chat published by Goldberg in an article Monday. ELON MUSK TAPPED TO HELP LEAD INVESTIGATION INTO SIGNAL CHAT LEAK: WHITE HOUSE “The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans,” the Monday article was headlined. The Trump administration has maintained that no classified information was shared in the chat, doubling down Wednesday that the Atlantic’s story was a “hoax” after Goldberg published specific texts from the chat. The messages included Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth outlining that combat aircraft were set to take off and strike drones were ready for the operation, which were accompanied by timestamps. “So, let’s me get this straight. The Atlantic released the so-called ‘war plans’ and those ‘plans’ include: No names. No targets. No locations. No units. No routes. No sources. No methods. And no classified information,” Hegseth posted to X Wednesday morning following the follow-up Atlantic article. JUDGE FIGHTING TRUMP OVER EL SALVADOR DEPORTATIONS ASSIGNED TO LAWSUIT OVER SIGNAL CHAT LEAK “Those are some really sh—y war plans. This only proves one thing: Jeff Goldberg has never seen a war plan or an ‘attack plan’ (as he now calls it). Not even close. As I type this, my team and I are traveling the INDOPACOM region, meeting w/ Commanders (the guys who make REAL ‘war plans’) and talking to troops. We will continue to do our job, while the media does what it does best: peddle hoaxes.” The Atlantic told Fox News Digital Wednesday that the outlet did publish “war plans,” directing Fox Digital to a screenshot of Hegseth’s messages on the strategy to eliminate Houthi rebels. “If this information—particularly the exact times American aircraft were taking off for Yemen—had fallen into the wrong hands in that crucial two-hour period, American pilots and other American personnel could have been exposed to even greater danger than they ordinarily would face,” the Atlantic’s report stated of Hegseth’s messages. TRUMP OFFICIALS ACCIDENTALLY TEXT ATLANTIC JOURNALIST ABOUT MILITARY STRIKES IN APPARENT SECURITY BREACH The use of Signal, though not in the context of war or military operations, has become increasingly more prevalent within the D.C. Beltway in recent months. The app grew in popularity after it was discovered in October 2024 that Chinese-linked hackers were targeting cellphone data in the U.S., including data belonging to President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance during the campaign, Politico reported Tuesday. Years before the Signal leak involving the Trump administration and subsequent outrage from Democrats and other critics, Democrats had repeatedly touted Signal as an additional precautionary measure against potential hacks. Back during the 2016 campaign, which pitted former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton against Trump, the Democratic National Committee emailed staffers to download Signal as the 2016 DNC email leak heated up that year, according to Vanity Fair at the time. “Signal, staffers in the meeting were told, was ‘Snowden-approved.’ A week after the meeting at the campaign headquarters, according to two people who have worked with the D.N.C. and the Clinton campaign, an e-mail was sent out instructing staffers where to download the app and how to use it,” Vanity Fair reported. In a 2018 article from Politico detailing how the DNC was working to protect against future hacks, the party’s chief technology advisor reported he used Signal to communicate with his team. HEGSETH FENDS OFF REPORTER’S QUESTIONS ABOUT SIGNAL CHAT LEAK “They chat via the encrypted messaging apps Signal and Wickr with cyber experts from the DNC’s sister committees and third-party vendors, discussing suspicious incidents and other information,” the 2018 Politico story stated. Democratic Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, who called for Hegseth and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz to resign over the Signal chat leak, celebrated and thanked the Senate Sergeant at Arms in 2017 for approving the use of Signal for lawmakers and staff that year. “With the transition to default HTTPS for all of the other Senate websites and the recent announcement by your office that the end-to-end encrypted messaging app Signal is approved for Senate staff use, I am happy to see that you too recognize the important defensive cybersecurity role that encryption can play,” Wyden wrote in the 2017 letter. Other groups, including media outlets and reporters, have touted Signal as a secure method of communication, including the Washington Post and New York Times offering tip lines through the encrypted app. While the Loudon County Democrats Facebook page, which represents the Democratic Party in the northern Virginia county, advised in February that “federal workers and active Democratic volunteers would be wise to make use” of the Signal app, which was accompanied by a how-to guide for the app. TRUMP ADMIN DECLARES THE ATLANTIC’S SIGNAL ARTICLE A ‘HOAX’ AFTER IT DROPS ‘WAR PLANS’ RHETORIC And House Oversight and Government Reform Democrats posted a tip line connected to Signal where users could report potential wrongdoing related to the second Trump administration. The tipline noted that individuals should “not submit classified information or other information barred from release through this form, by email, or by the Signal app.”
Conservative group warns of high costs as US influence fades in Latin America
A delegation of experts from the conservative Heritage Foundation visited with leaders in Paraguay, Argentina and Panama last week, with President Kevin Roberts warning the “political and economic security costs of the U.S. neglecting this hemisphere are very high.” Roberts, joined by Vice President Victoria Coates and others, said of his visit with Paraguayan President Santiago Pena that it has proven to be one of the most “stable, reliable countries” in terms of its economy and government – and that it, like the U.S., wants to rebuff Chinese influence in the West. “It is also apparent that President Trump and Vice President Vance, by reengaging in this (southern) hemisphere, by placing what is clear to be a high priority on Latin America, have caused some conversations that need to happen, and we’re grateful to be here to have those conversations with policymakers, but also convey from our perspective as Americans, the wisdom of what the Trump administration is doing,” Roberts said. “And we say that with our independence from the administration and from any political party — instead being led by our real desire: to tell the truth about what’s going on.” MILEI RAILS AGAINST WOKEISM Roberts described a “reset” in diplomacy from the past four years with the three countries and others in the region, remarking the opportunities for benefit are “almost limitless.” Coates, who served as a national security advisor on Middle East affairs in the first Trump administration, said the three countries visited were chosen by their improvement or standing on the economic freedom index. “We’ve great strides in all three of these economies towards [getting] away from the historic socialism and corruption that has been plaguing the region,” she said, as Venezuela, Nicaragua and other countries are ruled by much more of an iron fist. Mike Gonzalez, a national security expert who served in the George W. Bush administration and spent several years as a globetrotting journalist, said the meetings with South American leaders made one thing clear: America’s leadership shift over the past four years has left a noticeable vacuum. ARGENTINA’S MILEI BLASTS UN OVER SUPPORT FOR COVID LOCKDOWNS, APPEASING ‘BLOODY DICTATORSHIPS’ “This is what our friends in the region have told us. They said we seemed to back the leaders and the political forces that really hate the United States, like people that Gustavo Petro, Lula da Silva; Sergio Massa – whom the previous administration sent Democratic operatives to help elect against [current President Javier] Milei.” Gonzalez said democratic political forces in the region are “very happy” that the U.S. is no longer appearing to support people who do not have the right interests at heart. Andres Martinez-Fernandez, a Central and South America expert, added that when it comes to the newfound attention to the Panama Canal, it remains a “vital artery for the U.S. economy” and deserves such attention. “There’s a lot of interest from both the United States and the region as far as bolstering our economic interconnectedness. And that, I think, is a clear counterweight to our dependence on China and being able to extract that influence,” he said. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “But the part of that is also talking about China within our hemisphere, which unfortunately, they’ve bolstered their presence very dramatically.” “We saw that in Argentina, where President Milei who came to power being very vocal on the China issue and I think remains concerned about it… so I’m glad to see that President Trump is reengaging and addressing the metastasized threat that is China’s presence in the Western Hemisphere that comes with difficult conversations.” When asked about the delegation, White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly told Fox News Digital that “foreign leaders want positive relationships with the Trump administration because this president is Making America Strong Again.”
Trump admin urged to probe allegations pro-Hamas college groups had ‘prior knowledge’ of Oct 7 attack
FIRST ON FOX: A group of Republican lawmakers is asking the Trump administration to open a probe into whether any anti-Israel groups that have been protesting on college campuses had any prior knowledge of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack. It comes after similar claims were lodged in an explosive lawsuit that accused specific anti-Israel groups of having prior knowledge of the surprise attack in southern Israel that left more than 1,000 people dead. The lawsuit was filed by people linked to victims of the attack. “US foreign adversaries are engaged in dynamic campaigns to target US students. In the interest of US national security, we should not tolerate any organizations that coordinate with terrorist groups like Hamas on American university campuses or anywhere in our country for that matter,” read a letter led by Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas. IVY LEAGUE ANTI-ISRAEL RINGLEADER MAHMOUD KHALIL WITHHELD DETAILS OF FOREIGN TIES FROM VISA APPLICATION: FEDS Fallon and four other House Republicans wrote to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Attorney General Pam Bondi on Thursday, praising them for working “to remove pro-Hamas agitators from our university campuses.” “We are thrilled that the Trump administration has made it a priority to hold these individuals responsible and, in some cases, begin the process of deportation,” they wrote. Meanwhile, there have been political clashes over the detention of Mahmoud Khalil, a 29-year-old green card holder and Palestinian activist who was a central figure in Columbia University’s controversial anti-Israel protests. VIDEO SHOWS ARREST OF COLUMBIA ANTI-ISRAEL RINGLEADER MAHMOUD KHALIL Khalil was among those named in the lawsuit as allegedly having prior knowledge of Hamas’ attack. His lawyers previously told other outlets that he has no ties to Hamas. But the Republican lawmakers are raising questions of whether groups that fomented demonstrations there and on other college campuses are more intimately familiar with Hamas’ plans than previously known. “With the lawsuit filed this past Monday in the New York Southern District Court against the anti-western activist organizations Within Our Lifetime, Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), and other pro-Hamas agitators, evidence has surfaced that suggests these groups may have had prior knowledge of the barbaric attacks planned for October 7, 2023,” they wrote. “For example, Columbia SJP reactivated its dormant Instagram account just minutes before the attacks began and engaged in pro-Hamas messaging afterwards, even going so far as to issue a statement in support of the massacre.” Fox News Digital reached out to an attorney for Khalil but did not immediately hear back.
New poll shows where Trump stands among Americans 9 weeks into his 2nd presidency
President Donald Trump repeatedly touts that America is “back” as he spotlights his accomplishments – some of them controversial – since returning to power in the White House nine weeks ago. Trump has been moving at warp speed in his second tour of duty as president, flexing his political muscles to expand executive powers as he has upended long-standing government policy and made major cuts to the federal workforce through a flurry of executive orders and actions. Additionally, Trump has signed roughly 100 executive orders since his Jan. 20 inauguration, according to a count from Fox News, far surpassing the rate of any recent presidential predecessors during their opening weeks in office. The president touts that “a lot of great things are happening,” but the latest public opinion polling indicates that many Americans do not agree with Trump’s rosy outlook on the job he is doing in office. WHERE TRUMP STANDS IN THE LATEST FOX NEWS NATIONAL POLL Forty-five percent of those questioned in a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted this past weekend (March 21-23) gave Trump a thumbs up, with 51% saying they disapproved of his performance steering the nation. The survey questioned just over 1,000 adults nationwide. The poll was conducted mostly before the controversy over top White House national security members discussing sensitive operational details of a U.S. military strike in Yemen, on the messaging app Signal, possibly in violation of some federal laws. Trump’s numbers were slightly higher in the most recent Fox News national poll, which was in the field March 14-17. Americans appeared divided on the job the president was doing, with 49% approval and 51% disapproval. An average of all the most recent national polls that asked the presidential approval question indicates that Trump’s approval ratings are just below water. Trump has seen his numbers edge down slightly since the start of his second term, when an average of his polls indicated the president’s approval rating in the low 50s and his disapproval in the mid-40s. Contributing to the slide, the economy and jitters that Trump’s tariffs on America’s top trading partners will spark further inflation, which was a pressing issue that kept former President Joe Biden’s approval ratings well below water for most of his presidency. The president’s 49% overall approval rating in the Fox News poll matches the all-time high for Trump in the network’s polling, which he last reached in April 2020, near the end of his first term in office. That is six points higher than where he stood at this point in his first administration (43% approval in March 2017). Trump’s poll numbers were almost entirely in negative territory in most surveys for the entirety of his first term in office. “Keep these numbers in perspective. The numbers he’s averaging right now are still higher than he was at any point during his first presidency,” veteran Republican pollster Neil Newhouse told Fox News. Daron Shaw, who serves as a member of the Fox News Decision Team and is the Republican partner on the Fox News Poll, highlighted that “the difference is largely a function of the consolidation of the Republican base.” “The party’s completely solidified behind him,” added Shaw, a politics professor and chair at the University of Texas, who noted that Trump’s current rock-solid GOP support was not the case at the start of the first term, when he had troubles with some Republicans. Newhouse also emphasized that Trump’s Republican “base is still strongly behind him.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP It is a similar story with Trump’s popularity. The president’s favorable ratings are slightly underwater, in an average of the latest national surveys, but they remain superior to his standing during his first term in the White House. Additionally, the percentage of Americans who say things are on the right track in the country has jumped to above 40% in a bunch of recent polls. While still in negative territory, they are the most positive right track/wrong track figures in years. So how does Trump stack up with his immediate predecessor? Biden came out of the game in a favorable position, with his approval rating hovering in the low- to-mid-50s during the first six months of his single term as president, with his disapproval in the upper 30s to the low- to-mid-40s. WHAT DEMOCRATS ARE SAYING ABOUT A POSSIBLE BIDEN POLITICAL RESURGENCE However, Biden’s numbers sank into negative territory in the late summer and autumn of 2021, in the wake of his much-criticized handling of the turbulent U.S. exit from Afghanistan, and amid a surge of migrants crossing into the U.S. along the nation’s southern border with Mexico, as well as the rise in inflation. Biden’s approval ratings stayed underwater throughout the rest of his presidency. “He just got crippled and never recovered,” Shaw said of Biden.