Indian Prime Minister Modi takes page from Trump, says ‘make India great again,’ or ‘MIGA’
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a page from President Donald Trump’s playbook during a joint press conference Thursday, saying he wants to make India great again, or “MIGA.” Modi met with Trump at the White House, where the world leaders discussed a range of issues, including trade, the economic relationship between India and the United States and military sales. During a press conference, Modi said Indian people were focusing on their heritage and ways to ensure his nation is developed by 2047. INDIA’S MODI SPEAKS WITH ‘DEAR FRIEND’ PRESIDENT TRUMP AMID HOPES OF FURTHERING TIES “Borrowing an expression from America, our vision for a developed India is to make India great again, or MIGA,” he said through a translator. “When America and India work together, that is, when it’s MAGA plus MIGA, it becomes a mega partnership for prosperity. “And it is this mega spirit that gives new scale and scope to our objectives.” TRUMP’S TARIFF THREATS GO BEYOND ‘TRADE AGREEMENT’ TO ADVANCE AMERICAN INTERESTS: EXPERT At the beginning of the press conference, Trump announced the United States would be providing India F-35 fighter jets and increasing military sales to the country by billions of dollars. Trump also said his administration approved the extradition of Tahawwur Rana, a Canadian citizen of Pakistani origin, one of the plotters of a deadly 2008 terrorist attack that killed 160 people. “I’m pleased to announce that my administration has approved the extradition of one of the plotters and one of the very evil people of the world having to do with the horrific 2008 Mumbai terrorist attack to face justice in India,” Trump said. In addition, Modi said India would accept illegal Indian immigrants in the United States who are deported back home. “Anybody who enters another country illegally,” Modi said, “they have absolutely no right to be in that country. “And as far as India and the U.S. is concerned, we have always been of the same opinion. And that is that any verified Indian who is in the U.S. illegally, we are fully prepared to take them back to India.”
New York doctor ordered to stop providing abortion pills to Texans
The ruling is the opening salvo in a likely lengthy battle between Texas’ abortion bans and New York’s “shield” protections for providers.
Trump team digs in, finds millions of wasted dollars at EPA, HUD with DOGE help
The new administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Lee Zeldin, said he has canceled a Biden-era $50 million environmental justice grant to an organization that believes “climate justice travels through a Free Palestine.” Zeldin, who was sworn in as the EPA administrator at the end of January, was a guest on “The Story with Martha MacCallum” on Thursday, where he spoke about canceling the grant. “Just earlier today, I canceled a $50 million grant to an organization called the Climate Justice Alliance,” he said. “They say that climate justice runs through a free Palestine. I think that the American taxpayer wouldn’t want $50 million going to this left-wing advocacy group. It’s canceled.” Zeldin also noted that Congress has advocated against the grant. EPA ADMINISTRATOR ZELDIN DEMANDS RETURN OF $20B IN TAXPAYER MONEY WASTED BY BIDEN ADMINISTRATION The EPA also sent $160 million to a Canadian electric bus manufacturer under the Biden administration. Zeldin said the Biden administration sent the full amount to the manufacturer, rather than making payments along the way as school buses were being produced. Since receiving the money, he added, the company has declared bankruptcy. “They still haven’t provided $95 million worth of school buses to the 55 school districts,” Zeldin said. “It’s the American taxpayer that gets screwed.” TRUMP TAPS FORMER NEW YORK REP LEE ZELDIN TO LEAD EPA On Wednesday, Zeldin announced his team had located $20 billion in taxpayer funds that the Biden administration purposely wasted. Two months ago, a video featuring a Biden EPA political appointee circulated, with that individual talking about how they were “tossing gold bars off the Titanic,” and rushing to get billions of tax dollars out the door before President Trump took office. Zeldin spoke about the video on X, and said the gold bars were tax dollars, and “tossing them off the Titanic” meant the Biden administration knew they were wasting the money. The new EPA administrator said his team has plans to recover the “gold bars” that were found “parked at an outside financial institution,” which he did not mention by name. THROUGH THE EPA, WE CAN PURSUE ENERGY DOMINANCE, LEE ZELDIN SAYS | FOX NEWS VIDEO As the EPA continues to find ways funds are being wasted, President Donald Trump’s newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is being led by billionaire Elon Musk, also continues to go agency to agency in search of blown tax dollars. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Scott Turner announced the creation of the DOGE Task Force at HUD on Thursday. “We will identify and eliminate any waste, fraud and abuse,” Turner wrote on X. “Under President Trump’s leadership, business as usual is over.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP He announced his team had identified $260 million in savings, just two days prior. Fox News Digital’s Christina Shaw contributed to this report.
Zelenskyy wants plan to ‘stop Russia’ before US peace talks
Ukrainian president says it was ‘not very pleasant’ that Trump called Putin before speaking to him. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the United States should agree on a joint plan to stop Russia’s war before starting peace talks with the Kremlin. After a 90-minute phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump said he expected to meet the Russian leader in Saudi Arabia for talks to end the war – sparking fears Kyiv would be frozen out. On Thursday, Zelenskyy told reporters in Ukraine that it was “not very pleasant” that Trump had called Putin before speaking to him, adding that the US president had said he wanted to speak to both leaders together. The Ukrainian leader, who is to meet US Vice President JD Vance in Munich on Friday, said he wanted to hammer out a “plan to stop Putin” with the US before any truce talks happen. “We, as a sovereign country, simply will not be able to accept any agreements without us,” Zelenskyy added. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that Ukraine would participate “one way or another” in any talks to end the war but the separate US-Russian talks are on track, Russian state news agency TASS reported. Advertisement ‘Any quick fix is a dirty deal’ At a NATO meeting in Brussels on Thursday, Ukraine’s defence minister assured his country’s backers that Kyiv would keep standing strong against Russia. European officials have also taken a tough line in public towards Trump’s peace overture, saying any peace agreement would be impossible to implement unless they and the Ukrainians are included in negotiating it. In a blunt address to reporters at the NATO talks, European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas insisted that no deal “behind our backs” could work as she accused Washington of “appeasement” towards Russia. “We shouldn’t take anything off the table before the negotiations have even started because it plays to Russia’s court and it is what they want,” she said. “Any quick fix is a dirty deal. It will simply not work.” Antonio Costa, who heads the European Council representing the EU’s 27 nations, warned that “peace cannot be a simple ceasefire”. “Russia must no longer be a threat to Ukraine, to Europe, to international security,” Costa said. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who was also at the NATO meeting in Brussels, denied that Trump’s plan is a betrayal of Kyiv’s three-year war effort against Russia. “There is no betrayal there. There is a recognition that the whole world and the United States is invested and interested in peace,” the Pentagon chief said. “Make no mistake, President Trump will not allow anyone to turn Uncle Sam into ‘Uncle Sucker’,” he said and added that Europe should be primarily responsible for defence on the European continent. Advertisement Hegseth also rejected the idea that Washington’s new administration was undermining NATO or European security. “NATO is a great alliance, the most successful defence alliance in history, but to endure for the future, our partners must do far more for Europe’s defence. We must make NATO great again,” he said. Adblock test (Why?)
US says 5,000 soldiers deployed along Mexico border, could increase further
A United States general has announced there are currently about 5,000 active-duty soldiers along the country’s southern border with Mexico, as part of President Donald Trump’s overall push to crack down on immigration. General Gregory Guillot, the head of US Northern Command, told lawmakers on Thursday he expects that number could increase further. He also revealed that the military has heightened its activities in the domain of cross-border intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR). Drug cartels were the primary target. “We have also increased some uniquely military capabilities that will get after … the cartels, which are driving the illegal migration,” said Guillot. “That is primarily through airborne ISR to get more information on those and figure out how we can counter their actions.” The presence of thousands of US soldiers along the border with Mexico fulfils a campaign pledge made by President Donald Trump to declare a “national emergency” at the southern US border. On January 20, the first day of his second term, Trump signed an executive order that directed military leaders to send “as many units or members of the Armed Forces” as needed to the border, to obtain “complete operational control” of the area. Advertisement He also called on the US secretary of transportation to waive restrictions on “unmanned aerial systems” within eight kilometres (five miles) of the border. During his time as a politician, Trump has leaned into nativist rhetoric that frames undocumented immigration as an “invasion” and the people involved as “criminals”. Shutting the border to irregular crossings has been a cornerstone of his campaign for re-election, as has launching a “mass deportation” campaign. Trump has also exerted pressure on his country’s neighbours to restrict undocumented immigration, including through the use of tariffs. In November, before taking office, Trump announced he planned to impose 25-percent tariffs on all goods from Canada and Mexico, the country’s two largest trading partners, in order to force them to halt trafficking of drugs and people across their shared borders with the US. After being sworn in, Trump followed through with his promise, announcing the tariffs would take effect in early February. But both Canada and Mexico negotiated deals with Trump to postpone the tariffs in exchange for concessions. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, for instance, sent 10,000 members of her country’s National Guard to the border with the US in the name of combating drug trafficking and irregular migration. The US and Mexico have long collaborated on efforts to crack down on migration, which critics say often comes at the expense of human rights. After all, not all irregular migration is illegal. US and international law protects the rights of asylum seekers to flee across borders to escape persecution. Advertisement Critics have also grown alarmed at the potential for US military action against Mexico’s cartels. During the first hours of his second term, Trump signed another executive order designating the cartels as “foreign terrorist organisations”, calling them an “unacceptable national security risk to the United States”. In the days afterwards, Trump’s “border czar” Tom Homan told ABC News that there could be clashes between the increased surge of US troops and the cartels. “Do I expect violence to escalate? Absolutely, because the cartels are making record amounts of money,” Homan said. Other Republican officials, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, have also voiced support for military strikes on Mexican cartels. But the Mexican government has viewed that rhetoric with great alarm, and it maintains any such strike would represent a severe violation of its country’s sovereignty. Nevertheless, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum did not express alarm over US military surveillance flights, as they were currently taking place over US soil. She addressed the topic in a morning news conference on Thursday, before Guillot offered his testimony in the US. “This is not the first time that there have been flights of this type, it’s not out of nowhere,” Sheinbaum said. “Will we ask for an explanation? Yes, but as part of our coordination with them.” Meanwhile, when asked by US lawmakers if he would require the presence of an aircraft carrier strike group near Mexico, Guillot said that he would need “significant increased maritime presence in cooperation with the Coast Guard”. Advertisement Adblock test (Why?)
Trump launches reciprocal tariffs amid concerns of economic turmoil
United States President Donald Trump has signed a plan rolling out increased import duties for every trading partner that taxes US imports, stating that he was doing so to bring a sense of “fairness” to commerce. Sitting in the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump described the tariffs as reciprocal, meaning that the US would automatically raise its own import taxes to match existing levels in other countries. “On trade I have decided for purposes of fairness that I will charge a reciprocal tariff, meaning whatever countries charge the United States of America, we will charge them. No more, no less,” he said. “In almost all cases, they’re charging us vastly more than we charge them,” he added. “But those days are over.” While experts have raised concerns that Trump’s tariffs could set off a global trade war that would cause surging prices, Trump has long viewed trade as a matter of winners and losers — and he has argued that the US has been “very unfairly” treated by its allies abroad. His heavy reliance on tariffs has also been seen as a departure from the longstanding bipartisan consensus on expanding free trade agreements with other countries. Advertisement Thursday’s tariffs are not expected to start immediately because it would require different tax hikes be set according to rates in different countries, a process that could take weeks. Also on Thursday, he threatened the 10-country bloc known as BRICS — named for its founding members Brazil, Russia, India and China — with a “100-percent tariff at least” if the group proceeded with hypothetical plans to set up a common currency. No such currency is in the works although BRICS leaders have floated the possibility in the past. Still, Trump lashed out at the prospect in a question-and-answer session with reporters, accusing BRICS leaders of wanting “to play games with the dollar”. “If any trading gets through, it’ll be 100-percent tariff at least,” Trump said. The US president has frequently used tariffs as a means of coercing other countries to act in line with his priorities. That includes proposed tariffs against Mexico and Canada, two of the US’s largest and closest trading partners. In November, shortly after his re-election, Trump announced he planned to impose 25-percent tariffs on both countries to force them to tighten security along the US border. Economists and politicians alike warned of the crippling effects those tariffs could have on the economies of all countries involved. “I want to speak directly to Americans,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on February 1. “Tariffs against Canada will put your jobs at risk, potentially shutting down American auto assembly plants and other manufacturing facilities. They will raise costs for you, including food at the grocery stores and gas at the pump.” Advertisement Shortly after that statement, both Mexico and Canada struck deals with the Trump team to delay the tariffs until March, in exchange for concessions like an increase in the number of Mexican national guard forces at the southern US border. Still, Trudeau and other critics have called the prospect of tariffs a violation of the free trade agreements they struck, including the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which was negotiated during Trump’s first term. Also during Trump’s first term, Congress voted to extend permanent normal trade relations with China. That decision, and free trade agreements in general, have been criticised by politicians like Senator Bernie Sanders, who argue those policies made it easier for companies to relocate factories to countries with lower wages and reduces unionisation rights and environmental protections. While Trump has also been critical of free trade deals, he has declined to pursue typically left-wing priorities such as the promotion of collective bargaining rights for workers. Tariffs can also be used to shield domestic sectors from foreign competition, but economists said that strategy is more typical of countries working to get domestic industries off the ground. They also warned that after several decades of economic integration between allies, the sudden imposition of steep tariffs could lead to serious economic turmoil as well as rising prices for consumers. Trump campaigned on lowering the cost of living, and he has since warned there may be some “pain” for consumers as a result of the tariffs. Advertisement Adblock test (Why?)
NYC Mayor Eric Adams promises to reopen ICE office on Rikers Island after meeting with Trump border czar
New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday said a plan was being worked on to allow federal immigration authorities to operate on Rikers Island following a meeting with border czar Tom Homan, a significant step given the city’s sanctuary policies. Adams met with Homan during a closed-door meeting. In a statement, he said an executive order was being worked on to “reestablish the ability for ICE agents to operate on Rikers Island — as was the case for 20 years.” “But now, instead, ICE agents would specifically be focused on assisting the correctional intelligence bureau in their criminal investigations, in particular those focused on violent criminals and gangs,” he added. TOM HOMAN BELIEVES ICE RAID LEAKS ARE ‘COMING FROM INSIDE’ AS AURORA LEAKER CLOSER TO BEING IDENTIFIED Adams said the pair discussed how to combat violent migrant gangs and embedding more New York Police Department officers into federal task forces. Unlike many blue city mayors, Adams has expressed interest in working with the Trump administration to crack down on illegal immigration in an effort to combat crime. He noted that New York shouldered a larger number of migrants transported to blue cities from the southern border. “New York City has been forced to shoulder the burden of a national humanitarian crisis where more than 230,000 migrants have come to our city seeking support, at a cost of approximately $7 billion, with little help from the previous administration,” Adams said. AG PAM BONDI VOWS TO ‘FIGHT BACK’ AGAINST JUDGES BLOCKING TRUMP’S ANTI-CORRUPTION AGENDA “That is why I have been clear that I want to work with the new federal administration, not war with them, to find common ground and make better the lives of New Yorkers,” he added. The meeting came days after the Justice Department ordered federal prosecutors to drop a bribery case against Adams. Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove sent a letter to the acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) on Monday, instructing the SDNY to drop the federal case against Adams and dismiss it without prejudice. In response, Acting U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon resigned on Thursday in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has taken a hard stance against sanctuary cities. On Wednesday, Bondi put New York and other cities on notice. “This is a new DOJ,” she told reporters while announcing a lawsuit against New York state and government officials. “New York has chosen to prioritize illegal aliens over American citizens. It stops. It stops today.”
RFK Jr. sworn in as Health and Human Services secretary
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was sworn in as the new secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), hours after being confirmed in the Republican-controlled Senate Thursday by a close vote of 52-48 that was almost entirely along party lines. Kennedy stood in the Oval Office alongside his wife, actress Cheryl Hines, and accompanied by his children, while he placed his hand on a Bible and swore the oath of office. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch swore in Kennedy. After the ceremony, Kennedy told attendees about his first visit to the Oval Office. “My first time in this Oval Office was in … 1962. I came here, and I had a meeting with my uncle who was president then, where we talked about the environment. He was involved very deeply, as we all know, in restoring physical fitness in this country. MCCONNELL WARNS RFK JR. TO STEER CLEAR OF THE POLIO VACCINE “For 20 years, I got on my knees every morning and prayed that God would put me in a position where I could end the childhood chronic disease epidemic in this country,” Kennedy said. “On Aug. 23 of last year, God sent me President Trump. He’s kept every promise he’s made to me. He’s kept his word in every account and gone way beyond it. … I’m so grateful to you, Mr. President.” Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky was the only Republican to vote against Kennedy’s nomination. McConnell, the former longtime GOP Senate leader, had polio as a child and is a major proponent of vaccines. Kennedy, the well-known vaccine skeptic and environmental crusader who ran for the White House in 2024 before ending his bid and endorsing Trump, needed a simple majority to be confirmed by the Senate. SENATE DEMOCRATS RAIL AGAINST RFK JR. IN LATE-NIGHT SESSION AHEAD OF VOTE “I’m a survivor of childhood polio. In my lifetime, I’ve watched vaccines save millions of lives from devastating diseases across America and around the world. I will not condone the re-litigation of proven cures, and neither will millions of Americans who credit their survival and quality of life to scientific miracles,” McConnell said after the Kennedy vote. Kennedy, whose outspoken views on Big Pharma and the food industry have also sparked controversy, has said he aims to shift the focus of the agencies he would oversee toward promotion of a healthy lifestyle, including overhauling dietary guidelines, taking aim at ultra-processed foods and getting to the root causes of chronic diseases. The push is part of his “Make America Healthy Again” campaign. SENATE CONFIRMS ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR. TO SERVE AS TRUMP’S HEALTH SECRETARY Trump regularly criticized Kennedy during his independent presidential bid, accusing him of being a “radical left liberal” and a “Democrat plant.” Kennedy fired back, claiming in a social media post that Trump’s jabs against him were “a barely coherent barrage of wild and inaccurate claims.” However, Kennedy made major headlines again in August when he dropped his presidential bid and endorsed Trump. Kennedy had long identified as a Democrat and repeatedly invoked his late father, former Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, and his late uncle, former President John F. Kennedy, who were both assassinated in the 1960s. Kennedy in recent years built relationships with far-right leaders due in part to his high-profile vaccine skepticism. Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report
MI cities, schools that don’t comply with immigration laws can’t get ‘pork,’ as lawmakers go around Whitmer
Michigan’s House of Representatives voted along party lines to pass a measure making municipalities and educational institutions that don’t fall in line with certain immigration enforcement measures ineligible for earmarked funding. The measure — HR 19 — was adopted in a 56-50 vote that House leaders said will not require Democratic Gov. Getchen Whitmer’s blessing due to its categorization as a rule change and not legislation. “An appropriations bill or conference report shall not be brought for a vote if it contains a legislatively-directed spending item for which the intended recipient is a municipality or university… that actively maintains any rule, policy, ordinance or resolution that would subvert immigration enforcement in any way or refuses to comply with federal immigration enforcement measures,” the text of the resolution reads. The municipalities in question may, however, take the extra step to certify that their bylaws do not actually include language subverting immigration enforcement. LAWMAKERS DEMAND ANSWERS FROM TOP MICHIGAN OFFICIAL OVER ALLEGED USE OF TAXPAYER FUNDS FOR ELECTIONEERING House Floor Leader Bryan Posthumus, R-Grand Rapids, said Thursday that if a local government wants taxpayer money, they need to start by following the law. “We are committed to ensuring the safety of our communities and protecting the due process rights of our citizens,” Posthumus said. “If you become a sanctuary jurisdiction, you’re not going to get pork projects,” added House Speaker Matt Hall, R-Kalamazoo. “That means, you know, we’re not going to fund your splash-pads. We’re not going to fund your Zen centers. We’re not going to pay for your hip-hop academies,” said Hall, who sponsored the legislation. “Now, we do have an obligation to do constitutional revenue sharing, and we will continue to do that… We’re just saying if you’re one of those municipalities that’s asking us to pay for your stadium or sports complex or your water park, don’t be a sanctuary city,” Hall went on in floor remarks. LAWMAKERS SLAM SBA ‘STONEWALLING’ OVER MICHIGAN VOTER MEMO Hall added that leaders of both Republican- and Democratic-led towns are sending letters agreeing to certify their compliance with the new rule. “The people of Michigan have spoken. They do not want sanctuary jurisdictions in the state,” he said. In remarks to Fox News Digital, Michigan’s House Democratic leader confirmed the measure won’t need Whitmer’s signature nor the approval of the Democrat-controlled state Senate, and blasted the move as a Republican “power grab.” “Normally, these [resolutions] are used for routine business — like commemorating important events or passing the House Rules at the beginning of the legislative session,” said Rep. Ranjeev Puri of Canton. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “HR 19 will insert chaos into the Budget process, and we are already seeing communities across the state panic over being denied necessary funding. Instead of fearmongering, Speaker Hall and the Republican caucus should focus on lowering the price of goods, mitigating the Trump Tariffs, and uplifting towns and cities across our great state,” Puri said. While Whitmer could not be reached for comment, she has publicly shown a more moderate view on the subject of illegal immigration than other Democrats, telling reporters in 2024 that undocumented immigrants should not receive state assistance.
Texas’ energy demand may exceed supply in 2026, but experts caution against panic
Some experts are skeptical the grid would see as much demand growth as ERCOT predicts, and other ERCOT models showed things getting tight but not tipping into a deficit.