Trump team ‘pissed off’ with Kemp over candidate pick in Georgia’s Senate GOP primary battle
President Donald Trump’s political team and top advisers to Republican Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia apparently aren’t on the same page when it comes to the key southeastern battleground state’s Republican Senate primary. The race is crucial for Republicans aiming to expand their Senate majority, as Sen. Jon Ossoff, who is running for re-election in a state that Trump narrowly carried in last year’s election, is viewed by the GOP as the most vulnerable Democrat seeking re-election in next year’s midterm elections. Kemp, a popular two-term conservative governor whom Trump had heavily criticized in the past, was courted by national Republicans to take on Ossoff. But Kemp, who is term-limited, announced earlier this year that he would pass on a 2026 Senate run. Sources in Trump’s political orbit and Republican sources in Georgia confirm to Fox News that there was an agreement between the president’s political operation and Kemp’s political team that they would work together to find a candidate that they could all unify behind to take on Ossoff in the Senate race. FIRST ON FOX: TRUMP HOUSE ALLY TO LAUNCH SENATE BID NEXT WEEK IN KEY BATTLEGROUND STATE Those sources also confirm that Kemp and Trump – the ultimate kingmaker in GOP politics – met two weeks ago to discuss the Senate race in Georgia. But when the governor floated the name of former University of Tennessee football coach Derek Dooley, a source close to the president’s political team said “they were told to stand down, because Trump’s team wasn’t ready to move forward on anybody.” And when Kemp and his team did move forward with Dooley, it upset Trump’s advisers, who, according to sources, were “already pretty annoyed” that Kemp had passed earlier this year on taking on Ossoff in the Senate race. POPULAR GOP GOVERNOR PASSES ON SENATE BID IN 2026 “We had a deal to work together,” a top political source in the Trump orbit told Fox News on Friday. “Kemp went out on his own – which has frustrated and pissed off Trump orbit.” The source added that “the best option for the GOP in Georgia was and is Brian Kemp. Unfortunately, he has chosen the path of the weak, and – instead of leading – has decided to circumvent and self-anoint a candidate no one has heard of and the president hasn’t met.” “The operation that delivered the win in Georgia was the Trump organization – not a faux operation – it’s hard to see it rallying behind the blind ambition of someone more interested in 2028 than in 2026,” the source said, in a not-so-veiled reference to Kemp’s potential interest in seeking the 2028 Republican presidential nomination. But a source close to the governor told Fox News that it’s factually not true that they were told to stand down on Dooley. And the source added that Kemp meant what he said that he wants to work with the president and his team and remains that way. Kemp’s political team first floated the Dooley trial balloon about two months ago. A longtime Georgia-based Republican strategist said the reaction in the Peach State among Republicans “was very negative.” Dooley, who is the son of former longtime University of Georgia football coach Vince Dooley, is close with Kemp, who is a longtime friend. And Dooley has hired two top Kemp political advisers to help with his potential Senate campaign. A Republican source in Georgia says a decision by Dooley on whether he’ll run could come as early as next week. Republican Rep. Mike Collins, a Trump ally and supporter in the House, will announce his candidacy for the Senate next week, sources with knowledge told Fox News Digital on Friday. Republican Rep. Buddy Carter, who for a decade has represented a district in coastal Georgia, launched a Senate campaign in the spring. Georgia Insurance Commissioner John King also announced a run, but ended his bid on Thursday. Trump and Kemp have a turbulent political history. Trump backed the then-Georgia secretary of state in his successful 2018 campaign for governor. But during the two years after his 2020 election defeat to former President Joe Biden, which included a razor-thin loss in Georgia, Trump attacked Kemp for failing to overturn the election results in his state. Trump toned down the criticism in 2022 after Kemp crushed Trump-backed former Sen. David Perdue in the state’s GOP gubernatorial primary, as Kemp successfully cruised to re-election to a second term as governor. KEMP SPEAKS OUT AFTER TRUMP FLIPS AND PRAISES THE GEORGIA GOVERNOR But last summer, amid the 2024 presidential campaign, Trump went on a 10-minute tirade against Kemp at a rally in Atlanta just blocks from the Georgia State Capitol. Trump blamed the governor not only for failing to overturn the 2020 vote count but also for not stopping a county prosecutor from indicting the former president for his attempts to reverse the results. Trump quickly changed his tune on Kemp days later, and praised the governor in a social media post “for all of your help and support in Georgia, where a win is so important to the success of our Party and, most importantly, our Country.” Kemp, in a Fox News Digital interview a few days later, downplayed Trump’s tirade against him, calling it a “small distraction that’s in the past.” As Dooley moves closer to launching a campaign, Collins is just days from declaring his candidacy. Collins, a businessman who founded a trucking company, is in his second term representing Georgia’s 10th Congressional District, which includes a large swath of urban, suburban, and rural areas between Atlanta and Augusta. The conservative lawmaker, who’s the son of the late Republican Rep. Mac Collins of Georgia, has been moving closer to launching a Senate campaign for weeks. Collins was an early backer of the president, supporting him as Trump first ran for the Republican presidential nomination in the 2016 cycle. Collins at the beginning of this year reintroduced the Laken Riley Act, which mandates that undocumented immigrants charged with
AOC broke house rules to attend ritzy Met Gala in ‘tax the rich’ dress, ordered to pay up
New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has found herself in the red, owing thousands of dollars to a Black-owned, female-led accessories brand after breaching the House “Gift Rule.” The violation stems from not paying the full market value for items she donned at the 2021 MET Gala, where she famously wore the “Tax the Rich” dress, and accepting free admission to the event for her fiancé, Riley Roberts. Tickets to the Met Gala cost at least $30,000, the Associated Press reported. It is unclear whether Ocasio-Cortez purchased her own ticket. The House Ethics Committee released its report on Friday, finding that although Ocasio-Cortez “proactively took steps” to comply with the Gift Rule in relation to her Met Gala appearance, she failed to fully comply. AOC SLAMS PROGRESSIVE CRITICS FOR ‘LYING’ ABOUT HER IRON DOME STANCE IN DEFENSE BILL FIGHT The committee found evidence suggesting that the designer, Brother Vellies, may have lowered costs in response to statements from Ocasio-Cortez’s staff, and that payments to vendors were significantly delayed, according to the report. In several cases, payment did not occur until after the investigation was initiated, the committee noted. The report also concluded that members of AOC’s staff were “overly reliant” on the vendors themselves to ensure her compliance with the Gift Rule, despite the vendors’ countervailing incentives to ensure she would be able to promote their goods and services. AOC’S CONSTITUENTS WEIGH IN ON PRESIDENTIAL RUN, RECALL HER STUNNING 2018 POLITICAL UPSET However, the committee said it did not conclude that the alleged underpayments had been “intentional,” instead placing the blame on a campaign staffer who handled payment discussions. AOC herself blamed her staff while speaking with investigators in March 2023, saying she did not know of any unpaid expenses related to the dress she had worn and stylists who prepared her for the gala, Fox News Digital previously reported. “I just never, ever, ever would have allowed that to happen, knowing what I have learned,” Ocasio-Cortez said at the time. “But I wasn’t privy to the invoices, wasn’t privy to the ones that had been sent.” Based on its findings, the committee determined it would be appropriate for the Democrat to make additional payments from personal funds to compensate for the fair market value of certain expenses. MAXINE WATERS CAMPAIGN TO PAY $68K FOR VIOLATING CAMPAIGN FINANCE LAWS No sanctions will be imposed, so long as she donates the $250 value of Roberts’ Met Gala meal to the Costume Institute and pays Brother Vellies an additional $2,733.28 for the fair market value of the accessories she received in connection with the gala. After the committee receives confirmation that the payments were completed, it said it will consider the matter closed. Ocasio-Cortez, the Costume Institute and Brother Vellies did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment. Fox News Digital’s Aubrie Spady contributed to this report.
UK’s Starmer faces mounting pressure to recognise Palestinian state
More than 200 lawmakers in the United Kingdom have called on the British government to recognise a Palestinian state, as pressure mounts on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to take concrete action amid Israel’s war on Gaza. Some 221 MPs from across the political spectrum signed an open letter on Friday calling on Starmer’s Labour government to recognise a Palestinian state in advance of a United Nations conference on Palestine next week. “We are expectant that the outcome of the conference will be the UK Government outlining when and how it will act on its long-standing commitment on a two-state solution; as well as how it will work with international partners to make this a reality,” the letter reads. “Whilst we appreciate the UK does not have it in its power to bring about a free and independent Palestine, UK recognition would have a significant impact due to our historic connections and our membership on the UN Security Council, so we urge you to take this step.” Parliamentarians from nine political parties were among the signatories, Labour MP Sarah Champion said, including Labour, the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, SNP, and the Greens. The letter comes as public anger is growing in the UK and around the world over Israel’s continued bombardment and blockade of the Gaza Strip, which has spurred a deadly starvation crisis. 221 MPs, from 9 parties, have sent a joint letter to the Prime Minister & Foreign Secretary urging them to recognise Palestine as a state now pic.twitter.com/b2hbX2XCGR — Sarah Champion (@SarahChampionMP) July 25, 2025 Advertisement It also comes a day after French President Emmanuel Macron announced that France would recognise the State of Palestine at the UN in September. “Consistent with its historic commitment to a just and lasting peace in the Middle East, I have decided that France will recognise the State of Palestine,” Macron said in a social media post on Thursday. “I will make this solemn announcement before the United Nations General Assembly this coming September. The urgent priority today is to end the war in Gaza and to bring relief to the civilian population.” Macron’s announcement drew the ire of Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said the move “rewards terror”. But Netanyahu has faced widespread condemnation for Israel’s continuing assault on Gaza, which has killed more than 59,000 Palestinians since it began in October 2023. Israel’s blockade of the enclave has caused a deepening humanitarian crisis, with the United Nations and top human rights groups reporting that many Palestinian children are now suffering from severe malnutrition and at risk of death. In a statement on Friday, Starmer said “the appalling scenes in Gaza are unrelenting”. “The continued captivity of hostages, the starvation and denial of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people, the increasing violence from extremist settler groups, and Israel’s disproportionate military escalation in Gaza are all indefensible,” he said. But Starmer stopped short of announcing plans to recognise a Palestinian state, instead saying he was working “on a pathway to peace in the region”. “That pathway will set out the concrete steps needed to turn the ceasefire so desperately needed, into a lasting peace,” he said. “Recognition of a Palestinian state has to be one of those steps. I am unequivocal about that. But it must be part of a wider plan which ultimately results in a two-state solution and lasting security for Palestinians and Israelis.” Reporting from a protest outside Starmer’s residence in London on Friday afternoon, Al Jazeera’s Milena Veselinovic said demonstrators expressed “outrage” at the British government’s stance amid the dire situation in Gaza. “Many of them feel powerless, so one of the only things they can do is gather here, make as much noise as they can, and hope that it will be noticed by the people in power,” she said. “They want Keir Starmer to do more with the power that he has, and with the influence that he has, to put an end to this.” In addition to recognising a Palestinian state, the British government has faced growing calls to sanction Israel and impose an arms embargo against the country. Advertisement Veselinovic said Starmer is in “a difficult diplomatic situation” as he prepares to meet United States President Donald Trump, who was travelling to Scotland on Friday. She explained that Macron’s announcement added pressure on the UK, which is a close ally of both France and the US, to also recognise a Palestinian state, but noted that Trump has criticised the French president’s move. “It does seem like a gulf is emerging here over what the European stance is overall, which is much more aligned with what UN aid agencies are saying is going on on the ground in Gaza, and the American position, which seems to nearly 100 percent back whatever is the Israeli government’s version of events is,” she said. “And in the middle of that is Keir Starmer, who wants to maintain good relations with both sides.” Adblock test (Why?)
Pentagon freezes out DC think tanks in new move, citing ‘America last’ concerns
The Pentagon has suspended participation in all think tank events until further notice, departing from a history of dialogue with Washington’s civilian national security realm. The move is an attempt “to ensure the Department of Defense is not lending its name and credibility to organizations, forums and events that run counter to the values of this administration.” “Going forward, no DOD official will attend events by America Last organizations that promote globalism and hate (President Donald Trump),” Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson wrote on X. In the future, the Defense Department (DOD)’s Office of Public Affairs will conduct a “thorough vetting” every time an official is invited to a conference to decide whether the event advances Trump’s agenda. HEGSETH ORDERS SWEEPING ARMY OVERHAUL AND CONSOLIDATION AIMED AT COUNTERING CHINA AND GOLDEN DOME CAPABILITIES Such security events often are funded by foreign governments or defense contractors and serve as a space for such players to push a message or a product they sell to key officials and for defense officials to put out a message of their own from the U.S. government. The move comes after the Pentagon yanked its officials from participation in the Aspen Security Forum — a gathering of defense-minded industry leaders and researchers. Wilson had said the secretary’s office believed that event “promotes the evil of globalism, disdain for our great country, and hatred for the President of the United States.” Several top military officials had been scheduled to speak at the event. HEGSETH ABRUPTLY PULLS PENTAGON OFFICIALS FROM ‘GLOBALIST’ ASPEN CONFERENCE Historically, defense secretaries have participated in defense conferences and think tank events like the Munich Security Conference or the Reagan Defense Forum. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Hegseth skipped out on the Munich Security Conference but attended the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore in May. Aspen previously told Fox News Digital, “For more than a decade, the Aspen Security Forum has welcomed senior officials – Republican and Democrat, civilian and military – as well as senior foreign officials and experts, who bring experience and diverse perspectives on matters of national security. We will miss the participation of the Pentagon, but our invitations remain open.”
US military expands enforcement role at Mexican border under Donald Trump
United States troop deployments at the border with Mexico have tripled to 7,600 and include every branch of the military – even as the number of attempted illegal crossings plummets. In addition, President Donald Trump has authorised funding for an additional 3,000 Border Patrol agents, offering $10,000 signing and retention bonuses. The military mission at the border is guided from a new command centre at a remote Army intelligence training base located alongside southern Arizona’s Huachuca Mountains. There, a community hall has been transformed into a bustling war room, where battalion commanders and staff use digital maps to pinpoint military camps and movements along the nearly 3,200-kilometre (2,000-mile) border. Until now, border enforcement had been the domain of civilian law enforcement, with the military only intermittently stepping in. But in April, large swaths of the border were designated militarised zones, empowering US troops to apprehend immigrants and others accused of trespassing and authorising additional criminal charges that can mean prison time. The two-star general leading the mission says troops are being untethered from maintenance and warehouse tasks to work closely with US Border Patrol agents in high-traffic areas for illegal crossings – and to deploy rapidly to remote, unguarded terrain. “We don’t have a [labour] union. There’s no limit on how many hours we can work in a day, how many shifts we can man,” said Army Major-General Scott Naumann. “I can put soldiers out whenever we need to in order to get after the problem, and we can put them out for days at a time. We can fly people into incredibly remote areas now that we see the cartels shifting [course].” Advertisement The Trump administration is using the military broadly to boost its immigration operations, from guarding federal buildings in Los Angeles against protests, to assisting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Florida. There are also plans to hold detained immigrants on military bases in New Jersey, Indiana and Texas. Dan Maurer, a law professor at Ohio Northern University and a retired US Army judge advocate officer, said that Trump is aiming to follow through on his campaign promise to crack down on undocumented border crossings. “It’s all part of the same strategy that is a very muscular, robust, intimidating, aggressive response to this – to show his base that he was serious about a campaign promise to fix immigration,” said Maurer. “It’s both norm-breaking and unusual. It puts the military in a very awkward position.” Adblock test (Why?)
Players hits back at FIFA and Infantino after Club World Cup
FIFA and its President Gianni Infantino have been criticised for the expanded Club World Cup in the domestic off season. The global football players’ union has hit back at FIFA and its President Gianni Infantino, saying their autocratic style of leadership was harming the rights of its members. “Football needs responsible leadership, not emperors,” the FIFPRO network said on Friday after a meeting of 58 national player unions responded to FIFA pursuing its agenda with unofficial player representatives. “It needs fewer autocratic monologues and more genuine, inclusive and transparent dialogue,” the union added. FIFA announced two weeks ago that it reached a consensus on key issues after Infantino hosted a group of mostly non-recognised officials in New York before the Club World Cup final. The latest rift between soccer’s governing body and its players’ unions flared while the European Commission in Brussels is considering a formal complaint against FIFA. It was filed by FIFPRO’s European division and national leagues in Europe against FIFA’s style of governance and decision-making. FIFPRO said FIFA’s core agenda included an overloaded global match calendar with too many games for elite players, a lack of physical and mental recovery periods and extreme playing conditions. Players at the monthlong Club World Cup in the United States, who played in the heat of daytime games to appeal to worldwide TV audiences, reported feeling dizzy and unwell. The 63-game tournament backed by Saudi Arabian money was lucrative for clubs, especially in Europe, though FIFA added it to the schedule without formally consulting players. Advertisement The tournament, FIFPRO said, was “celebrated by President Infantino despite being held under conditions that were extreme and inappropriate for any human being, demonstrating a troubling insensitivity to human rights, even when it concerns elite athletes. “FIFPRO reaffirmed its unwavering commitment to protecting the rights of men and women players – rights which are being seriously undermined by commercial policies imposed by its autocratic system of governance,” the Netherlands-based union said of FIFA. “This is a model that puts the health of players at risk and sidelines those at the heart of the game,” FIFPRO said, adding it was “unacceptable for an organization that claims global leadership to turn a blind eye to the basic needs of the players”. FIFA was approached for comment. FIFPRO has not had a formal working agreement with FIFA since the previous one expired in 2023. Adblock test (Why?)
Meta to suspend political advertising in the EU as transparency law looms
The social media giant follows Alphabet, Google’s parent company, which made a similar decision in November. Meta will suspend political and social issue advertising on its platforms in the European Union starting in October. Facebook and Instagram’s parent company announced the new policy change on Friday, citing legal uncertainty about the bloc’s new rules on political advertising. The Silicon Valley-based social media giant is following in the footsteps of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, which made the same decision in November. The EU legislation, called the Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising (TTPA) regulation, which will apply from October 10, was prompted by concerns about disinformation and foreign interference in elections across the 27-country bloc. The law requires Big Tech companies to clearly label political advertising on their platforms, who paid for it and how much, as well as which elections are being targeted, or risk fines up to 6 percent of their annual turnover. “From early October 2025, we will no longer allow political, electoral and social issue ads on our platforms in the EU,” Meta said in a blog post. “This is a difficult decision – one we’ve taken in response to the EU’s incoming Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising (TTPA) regulation, which introduces significant operational challenges and legal uncertainties,” it said. Meta said the EU rules would ultimately hurt Europeans. “We believe that personalised ads are critical to a wide range of advertisers, including those engaged on campaigns to inform voters about important social issues that shape public discourse,” it said. Advertisement “Regulations, like the TTPA, significantly undermine our ability to offer these services, not only impacting effectiveness of advertisers’ outreach but also the ability of voters to access comprehensive information.” Meta’s Facebook and Instagram are currently being investigated by the European Commission over their suspected failure to tackle disinformation and deceptive advertising in the run-up to the 2024 European Parliament elections. The EU probe is under the Digital Services Act, which requires Big Tech to do more to counter illegal and harmful content on their platforms or risk fines of as much as 6 percent of their global annual turnover. ByteDance’s TikTok is also in the EU crosshairs over its suspected failure to tackle election interference, notably in the Romanian presidential vote last November. Meta’s political advertising has long been a concern in the United States, as well. Last week, CEO Mark Zuckerberg settled a lawsuit brought on by shareholders over alleged privacy violations. The suit alleged that the company failed to comply with a Federal Trade Commission settlement in 2012 in efforts to protect consumer privacy. The lawsuit came amid the 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal in which the social media giant gave user data to the firm – without their consent – for political advertising purposes. Adblock test (Why?)
Texas GOP Rep. Giovanni Capriglione admits affair, denies abortion allegations
A conservative news site published an interview with a woman who alleges a 17-year affair with the Southlake representative, who said this week he wouldn’t seek reelection.
Los Angeles Mayor Bass says ‘hell yeah’ she regrets Ghana trip after wildfires ravaged city
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass continued to express regret for her controversial Ghana trip ahead of the devastating fires earlier this year in a recent interview with Vice News. “I was asked, ‘Do I regret going?’ Hell yeah. I mean, let me just do a comparison. If you are out of town and your kid or a member of your family gets sick or hurt, it doesn’t matter where you were or why you were there. You feel horrible,” Bass said in an interview with Vice News earlier this month. “I’m really not trying to give excuses, but there was no way in the world I knew that the city was in danger when I left,” she later added. “Absolutely no way. And if you think about it through, if you take a step back, and because I did ask the chief when I came back, you know, like ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ and basically the response was ‘Because we have Santa Anas all the time and nobody expected hurricane-force winds.’” The mayor faced intense scrutiny for the presidential delegation’s visit to Africa even though there were warnings of the fire ahead of time. The Los Angeles Times reported that her team was aware of the fire risk before her trip. She ended up returning the day after the fires began ripping through Los Angeles neighborhoods, like the Pacific Palisades, where thousands of buildings were destroyed. LA MAYOR RIPPED FOR INTERFERING WITH ICE RAID AT CRIME-RIDDEN LOCAL PARK: ‘FULL OF S—‘ “Well, I mean to be with honest with you. Well, I didn’t get briefed. That’s true. But I think that, again, people did not anticipate the historic wind. And it wasn’t just LA. It was the county too.” “What typically happens is that if there’s going to be a big weather event, there are these briefings that happen and, uh, it’s either initiated by the fire department or the emergency department,” she said. “I was used to the fire chief calling me and telling me, you know, this is getting ready to happen. Come over. I need to brief you and all, you know, everything goes into motion. That didn’t happen in the county, meaning LA and LA County.” On her flight back, she said she was on the phone almost the entire 12-hour flight back to the U.S. from Ghana. SOCIAL MEDIA, TRUMP ADMIN ERUPTS OVER LA MAYOR’S REACTION TO ICE RAIDS: ‘YOU’RE A CRIMINAL TOO’ “Well, they’re telling me what’s happening in the fire. We were preparing the emergency declaration. They were talking to the mayor, the council president who serves as acting mayor while I’m gone. I don’t remember if I talked to him or not then, but because there were just a lot of phone calls. Sometimes a lot of people. I think I even did a news interview, but all of that was while I was on the way home,” she said, noting that she had phone access on the plane because it was a military plane, and she did not realize that the Sky News, who she went viral for not answering his questions, was even on the flight. Bass ousted Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley from her position in February, and Crowley unsuccessfully appealed her removal. “Our firefighters support Chief Crowley because she stood up for the men and women of our department,” United Firefighters of Los Angeles City posted to X at the time. In the interview, Bass claimed there were “lies told” about the budget and fire engines. LOS ANGELES MAYOR SLASHES FIRE DEPARTMENT DEI BUREAU IN PROPOSED BUDGET MONTHS AFTER WOKE BACKLASH “Yes, there were broken fire engines. We find out later that those fire engines were there broken because they’re used for spare parts. But there were 40 fire engines that were idle because they didn’t have the staff that [Crowley] sent home. And the budget cut and I don’t I don’t know the reasons for it, and then the budget cut that never happened,” she added. “Yes,” Crowley notably responded in an interview at the time of the fires when asked if city leadership “failed” her when it came to resources. “What we did when we did the budget was we put money aside for fire because we were in labor negotiations. If the budget was signed before then, but when the labor negotiations were done, we put it back in the budget. Which is a common thing. We’re doing that right now,” Bass said. When asked about the after-action report for the fire, Bass said she would ‘look and see, but they should be about finished now.” Fox News Digital reached out to Bass’ office and Crowley. Fox News Digital also reached out to the Los Angeles Fire Department, but they did not immediately comment.
Pelosi confident about Dems’ chances to win House, predicts Jeffries will be speaker
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., exuded confidence as she declared to Gen Z activists at the Voters of Tomorrow summit that the Democrats would take back the House in 2026. “We have no doubt that we will win the election with the House of Representatives,” Pelosi said, eliciting applause from the crowd. She then responded to the cheers by once again saying “No doubt.” The longtime California lawmaker also said she was confident that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., would be speaker of the House after the 2026 midterms. PELOSI’S STOCK TRADING LEGACY HAUNTS DEMOCRATS AS JEFFRIES SLAMS GOP FRESHMAN’S ‘THIEVERY’ While Pelosi was confident about the Democrats’ chances, she also emphasized the need for preparation. The former House speaker credited early preparation for the Democrats’ victories in 2006 and 2018 to early preparation, saying that 2026 could be the same. “It’s important to be strong in the year in advance, because that’s when the troops line up. We have our messaging, we have our mobilization, we need the money to do it, but they go only next to a school to hold up the most important part: the candidate,” she said. 21 DEMOCRATS WHO MAY TRY TO SUCCEED TRUMP IN THE 2028 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION However, Pelosi sees another element as being key to Democrats’ victory: bringing down President Donald Trump’s approval rating. The former House speaker called Trump’s current numbers “terrible.” “By October — certainly by November, but by October, we will have — with the help of so many people working — we’ll have taken what’s his name’s numbers down,” Pelosi said. A recent Fox News Poll found that 46% of voters approve of Trump’s performance, while 54% disapprove. That’s exactly where things stood last month, and better than at this point 8 years ago when 41% approved. The Voters of Tomorrow summit boasts a lineup of high-profile speakers alongside Pelosi, including former Vice President Kamala Harris, Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and David Hogg. Both Harris and Raskin are set to address the group virtually. Fox News’ Dana Blanton and Victoria Balara contributed to this report.