Secretary of State Rubio confirms becoming acting USAID chief
Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that he is now the acting director of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Rubio told this to reporters while taking questions from the press in El Salvador. “USAID is not functioning. It has to be aligned with US policy. It needs to be aligned with the national interest of the US,” he said. “They’re not a global charity these are taxpayer dollars. People are asking simple questions. What are they doing with the money? We are spending taxpayers money. We owe the taxpayers assurances that it furthers our national interest.” “I am the acting director,” he confirmed when asked if he is now in charge. “Our goal was to allow our foreign aid with the national interest. It has been 20 or 30 years. They have tried to reform it. That will not continue.” USAID staffers were instructed earlier Monday to stay out of the agency’s Washington headquarters after Elon Musk announced President Donald Trump had agreed with him to shut the agency. Thousands of USAID employees already had been laid off and programs shut down. This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.
Republican state AGs back Trump birthright citizenship order in court filing: ‘Taxpayers are on the hook’
FIRST ON FOX: Republican attorneys general from 18 states are pushing back against lawsuits filed by Democrat AGs and legal groups nationwide challenging the Trump administration’s executive order on birthright citizenship through an amicus brief filing set to be filed Monday, Fox News Digital has learned. “If someone comes on a tourist visa to have an anchor baby, they are not under that original meaning of the United States Constitution,” Iowa AG Brenna Bird told Fox News Digital in an interview Monday. Bird is the lead AG leading an amicus brief filing in support of the executive order on Monday. “Oftentimes, when this has happened. It’s the taxpayers that are paying for the health care through Medicaid or through hospitals, paying for care for someone to have a child, or the state child health insurance system as well,” Bird said. “Each state has a system that helps kids without insurance, and so the taxpayers are on the hook here for all the costs.” TRUMP ADMIN HITS BACK AS ACLU LAUNCHES LAWSUIT ON BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP: ‘READY TO FACE THEM’ Bird’s amicus brief comes in response to 18 Democrat-led states who launched their own lawsuit, claiming the order is unconstitutional and “unprecedented.” “The President has no authority to rewrite or nullify a constitutional amendment or duly enacted statute. Nor is he empowered by any other source of law to limit who receives United States citizenship at birth,” the lawsuit reads. Attorneys general from California, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine and others signed on to the suit, along with the city and county of San Francisco and Washington, D.C. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration the same day he signed the order “on behalf of organizations with members whose babies born on U.S. soil will be denied citizenship under the order.” The ACLU also claimed the order is unconstitutional and against congressional intent and Supreme Court precedent. TRUMP’S HOUSE GOP ALLIES PUSH BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP BILL AFTER PROGRESSIVE FURY AT PRESIDENTIAL ORDER Bird’s brief – signed by Republican AGs from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming – focuses on several arguments. The first part of the 13-page brief claims that President Donald Trump’s executive order complies with the “original meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment.” The second portion claims Trump’s order “reduces harm to the states.” The brief states that the “Plaintiffs’ erroneous Citizenship Clause interpretation will continue the powerful incentive for citizens of foreign countries to give birth on American soil, even if they must illegally enter this country to do so.” “The lure of American citizenship motivates pregnant women to travel to America to give birth,” the brief reads. “Some women, desperate to give birth in the United States, cross the border the day they deliver their baby.” A border hospital administrator described witnessing pregnant women arriving at the hospital in active labor, still wet and shivering from crossing the river, determined to give birth in the U.S., the brief, which will be filed in the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts, says. PRESIDENT TRUMP’S BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP EXECUTIVE ORDER FACES LEGAL CHALLENGES FROM 22 STATES Trump’s order, titled the “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship” states that “the privilege of United States citizenship does not automatically extend to persons born in the United States” when the individual’s parents are illegal immigrants living in the U.S. or if their presence is lawful but temporary. It was among the first orders he signed after taking office in early January. “President Trump is restoring the meaning and value of American citizenship, and also making sure that if someone is breaking the law, they won’t be rewarded for that by getting citizenship,” Bird said. “And so it’s following the Constitution and making sure that we’re upholding our immigration laws.” Fox News Digital’s Haley-Chi-Sing contributed to this report.
Trump delays tariffs on Mexico for one month
President Trump and Mexican President Sheinbaum said they agreed to send more troops to the border and tackle U.S. arms smuggling into Mexico in exchange for a pause on tariffs.
Dems claim Trump tariff could ‘drive up’ costs despite deflecting blame from Biden’s inflation
Democratic lawmakers are claiming that President Donald Trump‘s impending tax on international goods will raise costs, despite spending years deflecting blame for high prices from the Biden administration. Trump signed an executive order Saturday night to impose a 25% tariff on imports from Mexico and Canada and a 10% tax on all imports from China, fulfilling a promise he made during his 2024 presidential campaign as a way to circumvent drug trafficking into the U.S. The tariffs on Canada and China are set to go into effect at midnight, but Trump announced on Monday that he would pause the tariff on Mexico for one month after discussions with President Claudia Sheinbaum. However, as the tariffs loom, Democrats are claiming they could drive up bills for everyday Americans, despite supporting several tax hikes under the Biden administration. “This is a terrible idea,” Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., said in a statement. “Folks are already struggling to get ahead because of high prices, and now President Trump is about to drive up grocery and gas prices while raising costs on Arizona businesses.” TRUMP DEFENDS TARIFFS, ACCUSES CANADA OF BEING ‘VERY ABUSIVE OF THE UNITED STATES’: VIDEO Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., claimed Trump’s tariffs “could cost a typical family $1,200 per year,” while Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said that “President Trump owns the economic and national security fallout.” TRUMP’S TARIFFS ON MEXICO, CANADA ARE THE ‘BEGINNING OF A NEGOTIATION,’ SAYS KEVIN O’LEARY Additionally, Democratic Rep. Greg Stanton of Arizona cosigned a letter with 42 lawmakers calling on Trump to “immediately” rescind the 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada. “Trump’s tariffs on Canada will do nothing but hurt American workers and auto manufacturers. He’s giving our overseas competitors a leg up,” Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., claimed in a reaction to the impending tax. “It would be nice if Donald Trump could start focusing on getting the prices down instead of making them go up,” wrote Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. “I am concerned these new tariffs will further drive up costs for American consumers. We should be focused on going hard against competitors who rig the game, like China, rather than attacking our allies.” While Democrats are uniting to criticize Trump’s tariffs, members of the party did not widely push back on tax increases implemented by former President Joe Biden. During his administration, Democrats backed Biden’s proposals for a range of tax increases, including hikes on small businesses, corporations, capital gains and dividends, personal income, energy and a second estate tax. When gas prices doubled under Biden, according to data from the Energy Information Administration, Schumer, then-Senate majority leader, claimed that it was oil companies “gouging us at the pump” who were to blame. Despite the backlash, Trump has defended his decision to authorize the tariffs, telling reporters on Sunday night that Canada has been “abusive” toward the U.S. in terms of trade.
GOP hardliners rally around Trump, Musk scaling back USAID
House conservatives are cheering the apparent scale-down of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), led by President Donald Trump and Elon Musk. “USAID is a corrupt governmental organization run by unelected bureaucrats created to shovel taxpayer dollars to Democrats’ pet projects overseas,” Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., told Fox News Digital. “At nearly $37 trillion in national debt – and a $1.8 trillion annual deficit – we can’t afford to continue giving money to countries that hate America and everything we stand for,” he said. Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., told Fox News Digital that shutting down USAID “will help reduce our national debt and relieve the burden on taxpayers, while compelling aid-dependent countries to achieve true self-reliance, snapping them out of the dependency cycle USAID has perpetuated under the false banner of ‘development.’” RUBIO PAUSES FOREIGN AID FROM STATE DEPARTMENT AND USAID TO ENSURE IT PUTS ‘AMERICA FIRST’ House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast, R-Fla., endorsed the idea of ending its independent agency status on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” over the weekend. “I would be absolutely for, if that’s the path we go down, removing USAID as a separate department and having it fall under one of the other parts of the Department of State, because of its failure,” Mast said. USAID is an independent agency in the federal government that provides civilian foreign aid to help encourage development, fight poverty and disease, and promote democracy overseas. However, conservatives argue that the agency has strayed from its intended purpose and have called for steep cuts to its multibillion-dollar budget. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., wrote on X, “7 months ago, I tried to DEFUND USAID. Only 81 Republicans voted ‘aye’ which is ‘yes’ to my amendment to prohibit funding to USAID. 127 Republicans and 204 Democrats voted NO to my amendment and voted to FUND USAID. I FULLY SUPPORT ELIMINATING USAID!!!” Rep. Eli Crane, R-Ariz., similarly said on the platform, “I once proposed an amendment on the House floor to cut the USAID budget by 50%. A sensible start. You won’t be shocked to know that it didn’t have enough support from my fellow Republicans.” Fifty senior USAID staff have been placed on administrative leave, sources told Fox News over the weekend. Staff have also been barred from communicating with anyone outside the agency without approval. Its computer systems have also been taken over by Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, the sources said. AFTER RAUCOUS FIRST WEEK IN OFFICE, DONALD TRUMP TO KEEP HIS FOOT ON THE GAS Democrats have criticized the USAID crackdown, particularly with regard to Musk – who they point out is an unelected ally and donor to Trump. “Agency watchdogs track down waste, fraud and abuse. Trump fired them all. The Government Accountability Office monitors federal spending. What Elon Musk is doing isn’t oversight. An unaccountable billionaire doesn’t have the power to cancel spending he disagrees with,” Rep. Shontel Brown, D-Ohio, wrote on X. Rep. Diane DeGette, D-Colo., said, “USAID is critical in advancing U.S. national security interests, providing humanitarian aid, and strengthening global stability. Musk is an unelected billionaire with no authority to make these decisions. This isn’t governance, it’s authoritarianism.” Fox News’ Jennifer Griffin contributed to this report
Trump-aligned group putting pressure on Republican senators in push to confirm RFK Jr.
A newly formed outside group aligned with President Donald Trump says it’s taking aim at Republican senators who remain undecided on Robert F. Kennedy Jr., as it pushes to confirm Trump’s Health and Human Services secretary. Patient First Coalition (PFC), a nonprofit advocacy group launched last week, says it’s now beginning what it describes as a “massive grassroots effort” to encourage Republican senators to support Kennedy, the vaccine skeptic and environmental crusader who ran for the White House in 2024 before ending his bid and endorsing Trump. Kennedy survived back-to-back combustible Senate confirmation hearings last week, where Trump’s nominee to lead 18 powerful federal agencies that oversee the nation’s food and health faced plenty of verbal fireworks over past controversial comments, including his repeated claims in recent years linking vaccines to autism, which have been debunked by scientific research. TRUMP HEALTH SECRETARY NOMINEE RFK JR. SURVIVES HEATED HEARINGS The move by PFC, which says it’s a collective group of organizations committed to advancing Kennedy’s so-called “Make America Healthy Again” agenda, comes ahead of Tuesday’s key confirmation vote by the Senate Finance Committee. “All uncommitted Republican Senators will be targeted in this grassroots effort,” PFC highlighted. Shannon Burns, the group’s senior advisor, shared that “our grassroots phase will include television, radio and podcast interviews with our advisory board members, as well as guest columns in newspapers across the country.” RFK’S CONFIRMATION HEARING QUICK GOES OFF THE RAILS “We will enable thousands of calls and emails into Senate offices from millions of Americans who support this agenda. We want to organize them, mobilize them, and make sure their voices are heard before the Senate votes,” Burns added. PFC pointed out that it will initially give “special focus” to GOP senators in Louisiana, Maine, Alaska, Kentucky and North Carolina. Those states are home to Sen. Bill Cassidy, the Louisiana physician and chair of the Senate Health Committee, Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, who are often at odds with Trump, Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the former longtime Senate Republican leader, and Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina. HEAD HERE FOR LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING ON PRESIDENT TRUMP’S FIRST 100 DAYS BACK IN THE WHITE HOUSE “Your past of undermining confidence in vaccines with unfounded or misleading arguments concerns me,” Cassidy told Kennedy at the end of Thursday’s confirmation hearing. PFC is one of a handful of outside groups targeting GOP senators in the fight to confirm Trump’s nominees. A source in Trump’s political orbit tells Fox News that those groups could “exact consequences” on Republican senators who don’t support the president’s Cabinet nominees. And Trump on Sunday took to social media to demand that Senate Republicans ‘GET TOUGH VERY FAST” in confirming the rest of his Cabinet.
New Jersey governor houses migrant at his house, tells feds ‘good luck’ trying to get her
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy revealed he is housing a immigrant at his home and dared the Trump administration to do something about it. Murphy made the admission during an interview this past weekend with Blue Wave New Jersey, a progressive grassroots organization. “Tammy [Murphy] and I were talking about – I don’t want to get into too much detail, but there is someone in our broader universe whose immigration status is not yet at the point that they are trying to get it to. And we said, you know what? Let’s have her live at our house above our garage,” the Democrat governor said. “And good luck to the feds coming in to try to get her,” Murphy added, seemingly hinting that the person may be an illegal immigrant. Fox News Digital reached out to Murphy’s office for more information, but they did not immediately respond. DEMOCRATS RAIL AGAINST ‘EGREGIOUS’ ICE RAID IN NEW JERSEY AFTER MILITARY VETERAN QUESTIONED The revelation comes as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been conducting operations in New Jersey, most notably with a raid in Newark in late January. TRUMP SHARES UPDATE ON DRONES SEEN FLYING OVER NEW JERSEY “Public trust is essential to public safety. Our office has requested more information from the Trump Administration about the recent immigration enforcement action in Newark so we have a clear understanding of the facts of this case,” a spokesperson for Murphy told PIX11 following that operation. ICE did not immediately respond Monday to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. Trump border czar Tom Homan told Fox News in December that knowingly harboring and concealing an illegal immigrant from ICE is a “violation of the law.”
Trump admin ends deportation protections for massive number of Venezuelans amid illegal immigration crackdown
The Trump administration is ending a deportation shield for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans in the U.S., opening the door to them being deported — just as President Donald Trump has secured an agreement with the socialist country to take back its nationals. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed to Fox News Digital that more than 300,000 nationals protected by Temporary Protected Status (TPS) in 2023 are having their statuses revoked. The New York Times, which first reported details of the move, reported that they will lose temporary status 60 days after the government first publishes the notice. TPS grants protection from deportation and allows work permits for nationals living in the U.S. from countries deemed unsafe for them to be returned. Then-DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced extensions for TPS for Venezuela, as well as El Salvador, Sudan and Ukraine, for an additional 18 months in the final few days of the Biden administration. That move, if left in place, would have complicated Trump efforts to deport large numbers of those nationalities. COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT URGES ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS IN US TO RETURN HOME DAYS AFTER DIPLOMATIC SPAT Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem last week announced that the extension was being revoked, but this move would prematurely end the status altogether. It will apply to those protected by the 2023 designation, but not those protected by a 2021 designation. Republicans have long been skeptical of the program, arguing that it has been used too broadly, with 17 countries designated at the end of the Biden administration. The first Trump administration cut down on the use of TPS and has indicated it intends to do the same in the second administration. ‘WE STOPPED THAT’: NOEM CANCELS BIDEN ADMIN’S 11TH HOUR DEPORTATION SHIELD FOR VENEZUELAN MIGRANTS Venezuelans were one of the top nationalities coming into the U.S. at the height of the 2021-2024 border crisis, with many also coming in through a separate parole policy for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans — a program now ended by the Trump administration. On Saturday, Trump said that an agreement had been made with Venezuela to take back its illegal immigrants. Venezuela had started taking back illegal immigrants in 2023 but stopped in early 2024. “…Venezuela has agreed to receive, back into their Country, all Venezuela illegal aliens who were encamped in the U.S., including gang members of Tren de Aragua,” Trump said on Truth Social. CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE “Venezuela has further agreed to supply the transportation back. We are in the process of removing record numbers of illegal aliens from all Countries, and all Countries have agreed to accept these illegal aliens back.” The moves come amid a flurry of efforts by the Trump administration to secure the border and significantly ramp up the numbers of deportations and removals from the U.S. The administration has ended parole programs, limited the use of asylum and deployed the military to the southern border. Meanwhile, Noem visited the southern border on Sunday, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio is currently on a tour of Latin America. Defense Department Secretary Pete Hegseth is heading to the southern border on Monday.
‘This is about fentanyl’: Tariffs are crucial to combating ‘drug war,’ Trump and Cabinet officials say
The Trump administration is billing the new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China as critical to preventing fentanyl and other drugs from pouring across the U.S. border, rather than a step in an international trade war. President Donald Trump is imposing a 25% tariff on all goods entering the United States from Mexico and Canada; a 10% tariff on Canadian energy; and a 10% tariff on all goods entering the U.S. from China. The tariffs on Canada and China are set to go into effect Tuesday at midnight. TRUMP DEFENDS TARIFFS, ACCUSES CANADA OF BEING ‘VERY ABUSIVE OF THE UNITED STATES’ The president spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Monday morning, he said, and is expected to speak to him again at 3 p.m. ET on Monday. “Canada doesn’t even allow U.S. Banks to open or do business there,” Trump posted on his Truth Social Monday. “What’s that all about? Many such things, but it’s also a DRUG WAR, and hundreds of thousands of people have died in the U.S. from drugs pouring through the Borders of Mexico and Canada.” The president also spoke with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Monday morning — a conversation that led to Trump delaying the imposition of tariffs on Mexico for one month. “It was a very friendly conversation wherein she agreed to immediately supply 10,000 Mexican Soldiers on the Border separating Mexico and the United States,” Trump posted on his Truth Social. “These soldiers will be specifically designated to stop the flow of fentanyl, and illegal migrants into our Country.” “We further agreed to immediately pause the anticipated tariffs for a one month period during which we will have negotiations headed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent, and Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, and high-level Representatives of Mexico,” Trump wrote. “I look forward to participating in those negotiations, with President Sheinbaum, as we attempt to achieve a ‘deal’ between our two Countries.” ‘OVERDOSE EPIDEMIC’: BIPARTISAN SENATORS TARGET FENTANYL CLASSIFICATION AS LAPSE APPROACHES On Sunday, Vice President JD Vance echoed a similar sentiment regarding drugs, posting on X that Mexico “sends tons of fentanyl into our country. Canada has seen a massive increase in fentanyl trafficking across its border.” “There are three ways of stopping this,” Vance wrote. “The first is ask nicely, which we’ve done. It’s gone no where.” He added: “Now we’re onto the consequences phase.” And Interior Secretary Doug Burgum on Monday said the imposition of tariffs “isn’t a trade war with Canada, or Mexico or China.” TRUMP IMPOSES TARIFFS ON IMPORTS FROM CANADA, MEXICO AND CHINA: ‘NATIONAL EMERGENCY’ “This is about fentanyl,” Burgum said on “Fox & Friends.” “We’ve had a mass invasion of our country. We’ve been taking mass casualties. We lose almost 300 people a day to overdose deaths.” Burgum added: “President Trump wants to end this.” The president authorized the tariffs in an executive order on Saturday. Under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a 25% additional tariff will be levied on imports from Canada and Mexico, with a 10% tariff on imports from China. In the executive order, Trump said the tariffs stem from an “extraordinary threat posed by illegal aliens and drugs, including deadly fentanyl, [that] constitutes a national emergency.” The tariffs have invited international criticism from leaders and citizens alike in Canada and Mexico. During his exchange with reporters on Sunday evening, Trump accused Canada of being “abusive” toward the U.S. in terms of trade. CANADA, MEXICO ANNOUNCE RETALIATORY TARIFFS ON US IMPORTS IN RESPONSE TO TRUMP’S TARIFFS ON AMERICAN NEIGHBORS “Canada has been very abusive of the United States for many years. They don’t allow our banks,” Trump said. “And you know that Canada does not allow banks to go in, if you think about it. That’s pretty amazing. If we have a U.S. bank, they don’t allow them to go in.” “Canada has been very tough for oil on energy. They don’t allow our farm products in, essentially. They don’t allow a lot of things in. And we allow everything to come in as being a one-way street.” Trump also said that the U.S. subsidizes Canada “by the tune of about $200 billion a year.” “And for what? What do we get out of it? We don’t get anything out of it,” he added. “I love the people of Canada. I disagree with the leadership of Canada and something is going to happen there.” But in a statement on Saturday, Sheinbaum said her country “categorically reject[s] the White House’s slander against the Mexican government of having alliances with criminal organizations, as well as any intention of intervention in our territory.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “Mexico not only does not want fentanyl to reach the United States, but anywhere,” the statement read. “Therefore, if the United States wants to combat criminal groups that traffic drugs and generate violence, we must work together in an integrated manner, but always under the principles of shared responsibility, mutual trust, collaboration and, above all, respect for sovereignty, which is not negotiable.” Canada’s Trudeau slighted the U.S. by encouraging Canadians to “buy Canada,” and announcing his own set of tariffs on $20 billion “of goods imported from the United States,” including produce, meats and cheeses. “Now is the time to choose products made right here in Canada,” Trudeau wrote on X. “Check the labels. Let’s do our part. Wherever we can, choose Canada.”
Texas National Guard to make immigration arrests under agreement with Trump administration, Abbott says
Gov. Greg Abbott said that the agreement was effective immediately.