Trump administration’s first “self-deportation” flight takes off from Houston
The Department of Homeland Security said the 64 people who volunteered received $1,000 and a chance to return to the U.S. legally. Advocates question whether the government will honor its promises.
Federal charges filed against Dem congresswoman following confrontation at ICE facility
Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Alina Habba is charging Rep. LaMonica McIver for her alleged misconduct toward law enforcement in front of Delaney Hall earlier this month, but she is dismissing the trespassing charge against Newark Mayor Ras Baraka. “Today my office has charged Congresswoman McIver with violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 111(a)(1) for assaulting, impeding and interfering with law enforcement,” Habba said in a post on X on Monday. In a letter posted with the comment, Habba announced that after extensive consideration, she was dismissing charges against Baraka. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was charged with class C misdemeanor trespassing at the facility, which is privately operated by the GEO Group, last week, and he had his first court appearance on Thursday, which Habba personally attended. BLUE STATE ICE FACILITY RAMPS UP SECURITY WITH NEW BARRICADES AMID CLASHES WITH PROTESTERS “We believe that I was targeted in this,” Baraka said outside the courtroom after his appearance. Baraka and three congressional lawmakers – McIver, Robert Menendez Jr., and Bonnie Watson Coleman were outside the ICE facility last week with a group of protesters when the gates opened to allow an ICE bus in. All four officials then allegedly rushed through the gates past security, according to officials from the Department of Homeland Security. “If it was a typical U.S. citizen, and they tried to storm into a detention facility that’s housing dangerous criminals or any person at all, they would be arrested,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told “Fox News Live” host Kevin Corke Saturday. “Just because you are a member of Congress or just because you’re a public official, does not mean you are above the law. DEM LAWMAKERS DEFEND ‘STORMING’ OF ICE FACILITY, SAY TRUMP ADMIN IS ‘LYING AT ALL LEVELS’ However, McIver and others allege that “ICE created chaos” and instigated the situation. “The way we were treated at Delaney Hall is almost unbelievable. ICE shoved me, manhandled [Watson Coleman], and arrested [Baraka]. They disrespected us and tried to stop us from conducting the oversight we’re elected to do. But we’ll never back down in our fight for what is right,” McIver posted to X last week. The arrest came as activists had been calling for access to the facility for days, which is a privately run facility that was revamped as an immigration detention facility this year. The city says that the facility is operating without a valid certificate of occupancy, whereas the GEO Group maintains that they are in full compliance with city laws. DHS SAYS ‘ARRESTS ARE STILL ON THE TABLE’ AFTER NEW JERSEY HOUSE DEMS CAUGHT ON CAMERA ‘STORMING’ ICE FACILITY CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE After another protest that went right up to the gates of Delaney Hall, large yellow barricades were placed in front of its entrance with signs warning against trespassing on private property. Fox News Digital reached out to McIver’s office for comment.
Navy’s former second-in-command convicted in historic corruption case
A retired four-star admiral who once served as the Navy’s second-highest ranking officer, was convicted of bribery and other conspiracy charges, making him the most senior member of the U.S. military ever convicted of committing a federal crime while on active duty. Following a five-day trial, retired four-star Adm. Robert P. Burke, 62, was found guilty on Monday of a scheme to direct lucrative contracts to a training company in exchange for a $500,000-a-year job after leaving the Navy, according to a news release from the Department of Justice. Burke is facing up to 30 years in prison for his role in the scheme to direct contracts potentially worth millions of dollars to a New York City-based company that offered training programs to the Navy. “When you abuse your position and betray the public trust to line your own pockets, it undermines the confidence in the government you represent,” U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro wrote in a post on X following the conviction. RETIRED NAVY ADMIRAL CHARGED WITH BRIBERY FOR ALLEGEDLY OFFERING GOVERNMENT CONTRACT IN EXCHANGE FOR JOB “Our office, with our law enforcement partners, will root out corruption – be it bribes or illegal contracts – and hold accountable the perpetrators, no matter what title or rank they hold,” Pirro continued. Burke, who served as vice chief of naval operations, was once the Navy’s second-highest ranking officer. According to court documents and as the evidence proved at trial, from 2020 to 2022, Burke was a four-star admiral who oversaw U.S. naval operations in Europe, Russia, and most of Africa, and commanded thousands of civilian and military personnel. Yongchul “Charlie” Kim and Meghan Messenger, co-CEOs of a company not named by the DOJ, allegedly participated in the scheme to get a government contract in exchange for offering Burke a position with the company. The company provided a training program for a small part of the Navy from 2018 and 2019, before their contract was terminated. FORMER US ARMY INTELLIGENCE ANALYST SENTENCED FOR SELLING SENSITIVE DOCUMENTS TO CHINESE NATIONAL The company was told by the Navy not to contact Burke, but the three met in Washington, D.C., in July 2021 and Burke allegedly agreed to use his influence to get the company a sole-source contract and urge other Naval officers to use the company for a more widespread training program that Kim estimated would be worth “triple digit millions.” In December 2021, Burke allegedly ordered his staff to award the company a $355,000 contract to train Naval personnel under his command in Italy and Spain and made an unsuccessful attempt to convince a senior Naval commander to give them another contract. “There was no connection between this contract and his employment. The math just doesn’t make sense that he would give them this relatively small contract for that type of job offer,” Burke’s defense attorney, Timothy Parlatore, previously told Fox News Digital. Burke allegedly implied that he had no role in awarding the contract, and that his discussions with Kim and Messenger didn’t start until after the contract started. ‘FAT LEONARD’ MASTERMIND BEHIND LARGEST CORRUPTION SCANDAL IN US MILITARY HISTORY SENTENCED TO 15 YEARS Both Kim and Messenger were arrested in May 2024 and were charged with conspiracy to commit bribery and bribery and could face 20 years in prison. Parlatore told Fox News Digital that they are “obviously disappointed by the verdict,” but said “this is a result of the fact that the jury did not get to hear the whole story.” “The investigation was very poorly conducted. It was conducted by the exact same investigator who completely screwed up the Fat Leonard case,” Paralore said. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “They didn’t do any research and so you have an incompetent and unethical, corrupt investigator relying upon the word of a known liar, building this terrible case. And ultimately, the only way that they could bring it to a conviction was to only present certain evidence to the jury,” Paralore continued. Fox News Digital reached out to the DOJ for comment, but did not immediately receive a response. Fox News Digital’s Brie Stimson contributed to this report.
Stricter bail rules advance through Texas House, which had blocked an overhaul in previous sessions
The House advanced a measure that would ask voters to amend the state Constitution to tighten the state’s bail laws, setting up a major policy win for Gov. Greg Abbott.
President Trump confident Putin wants peace with Ukraine, thinks he’s ‘had enough’ of war
Following his phone calls with the leaders of Russia and Ukraine, President Donald Trump appeared confident that peace talks between the two warring nations will soon be progressing. In response to a reporter’s question outside the White House on Monday, Trump said that he believes Russian President Vladimir Putin is genuine in his seeking a peace deal. “President Trump, do you think Vladimir Putin wants peace?” the reporter shouted across the lawn. Trump stopped and responded: “I do. Yes.” “Do you still trust Putin?” the reporter continued, to which Trump responded: “I do.” TRUMP SAYS PUTIN IS ‘TIRED’ OF RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR Speaking later that same day, after an event honoring fallen law enforcement officers in the White House, Trump said that he believes Putin has “had enough” of the war. “I think he’s had enough. I think he’s had enough. It’s been a long time. This has been going on for more than three years. When you think, it’s been going on for a long time,” said the president. Meanwhile, Trump seemed less confident in Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Asked whether Zelenskyy is doing enough to help the peace talks process along, Trump responded: “I’d rather tell you in about two weeks from now, because I can’t say yes or no.” “Look, he’s a strong person, Zelenskyy, a strong guy, and he’s not the easiest person to deal with,” said Trump. “But I think that he wants to stop, and it’s a very bad thing that’s happening over there. I think he wants to stop. But I could answer that question better in two weeks or four weeks from now. I hope the answer is that he wants to get it solved.” RUSSIA BOMBARDS UKRAINE WITH DRONES HOURS AFTER TRUMP ANNOUNCES TALKS WITH PUTIN Trump also commented on newly inaugurated Pope Leo XIV, saying he would like to help facilitate peace between the two nations. Trump said that it would be “great” to have the peace talks at the Vatican. “There’s tremendous bitterness, anger, and I think maybe that could help some of that anger,” said Trump. Trump and Putin held a two-hour call on Monday in what the U.S. said was a push to get Russia to end its deadly war in Ukraine. Both Trump and Putin described the call in a positive light, with the Kremlin chief saying it was “frank” and “useful,” but it is not immediately clear what results were achieved. Trump took to social media to praise the call as having gone “very well” and said, “Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations toward a Ceasefire and, more importantly, an END to the War.” RUBIO TEASES DETAILS OF POTENTIAL TRUMP, PUTIN IN-PERSON MEETING AFTER RUSSIA-UKRAINE CEASEFIRE TALKS STALL “The conditions for that will be negotiated between the two parties, as it can only be, because they know details of a negotiation that nobody else would be aware of,” he added. Putin, in a statement after the call, also noted that “a ceasefire with Ukraine is possible” but “Russia and Ukraine must find compromises that suit both sides.” Any concrete details on the nature of these compromises remain unclear, despite negotiation attempts in Turkey on Friday, which Trump suggested failed because he needed to negotiate with Putin first. In the lead up to the talks, Trump also spoke with Zelenskyy, along with other world leaders like U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron, who said they discussed the urgent need for Putin to agree to an unconditional ceasefire or face serious repercussions, including more sanctions. TRUMP KICKS OFF 18TH WEEK IN OFFICE WITH HIGH-STAKES BID TO BROKER UKRAINE, RUSSIA PEACE Russia currently occupies about 20% of Ukraine’s landmass. However, the Russian military’s advance has significantly slowed to a virtual stalemate. In October, Fox News Digital reported that Russia has suffered some 600,000 casualties in its war with Ukraine — more than its losses in every conflict since World War II combined.
Trump tries to jump start peace talks with calls to Zelenskyy, Putin
[unable to retrieve full-text content] US President Donald Trump spoke with the leaders of both Ukraine and Russia in back-to-back calls.
Eyewitness video shows Israeli airstrike on Khan Younis
NewsFeed Eyewitness video captured an Israeli airstrike hitting west Khan Younis in Gaza as people flee tents amid gunfire. Israel had warned of an “unprecedented attack” and ordered evacuations. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has vowed to control all of Gaza, despite global pressure and famine fears. Published On 19 May 202519 May 2025 Adblock test (Why?)
El Salvador arrests prominent human rights lawyer who defends deportees
Ruth Eleonora López has defended Venezuelan immigrants deported to El Salvador by US President Trump’s administration. A prominent human rights lawyer known for defending immigrants deported amid United States President Donald Trump’s hardline anti-immigration policies has been arrested in El Salvador. Ruth Eleonora López, 47, a senior figure at the rights group Cristosal and a vocal critic of El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, a Trump ally, was detained late on Sunday. The arrest was confirmed by the country’s attorney general’s office, which in an online post accused López of embezzling state funds during her time at El Salvador’s electoral court more than a decade ago. “Neither her family nor her legal team has managed to find out her whereabouts,” Cristosal said in a statement, calling the refusal to disclose her location or allow access to lawyers “a blatant violation of due process”. The group said her arrest “raises serious concerns about the increasing risks faced by human rights defenders in El Salvador”. López has publicly criticised the government’s mass incarceration of alleged gang members, many of whom have not been charged. Advertisement Cristosal, one of the most prominent human rights groups in Latin America, has assisted Salvadoran families caught in Bukele’s security policies, as well as more than 250 Venezuelan immigrants who have been deported to El Salvador under Trump’s administration. Bukele, who has called himself “the world’s coolest dictator” and has cultivated close ties with Trump, said earlier this year that El Salvador is ready to house US prisoners in a sprawling mega-prison opened last year. In March, Trump used rarely invoked wartime powers to send dozens of Venezuelans to El Salvador without trial, alleging ties to the Tren de Aragua gang – a charge their families and lawyers deny. The US Supreme Court on Friday barred the Trump administration from quickly resuming swift deportations of Venezuelans under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. In April, Cristosal reported that police had entered its offices during a news conference to film and photograph journalists and staff members – part of what observers say is a broader campaign of harassment and intimidation against civil society organisations and independent media. López was recognised by the BBC as one of the world’s 100 most inspiring and influential women for her commitment to justice and the rule of law. A joint statement signed by more than a dozen rights organisations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, demanded her immediate release. “El Salvador’s state of exception has not only been used to address gang-related violence but also as a tool to silence critical voices,” the statement said. Advertisement “Authoritarianism has increased in recent years as President Nayib Bukele has undermined institutions and the rule of law, and persecuted civil society organizations and independent journalists,” it added. Adblock test (Why?)
Trump calls Biden’s cancer diagnosis ‘very sad’ while questioning timeline: ‘Wasn’t informed’
President Donald Trump spoke candidly about former President Joe Biden’s recent prostate cancer diagnosis on Monday, expressing sympathy while also suggesting that the situation should be investigated. Biden’s team announced the diagnosis on Sunday afternoon, saying the former statesman “was seen for a new finding of a prostate nodule after experiencing increasing urinary symptoms.” “On Friday, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, characterized by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5) with metastasis to the bone,” the statement added. “While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management,” Biden’s team concluded. “The President and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians.” ‘SMALL NODULE’ FOUND IN BIDEN’S PROSTATE DURING ROUTINE EXAM, SPOKESPERSON SAYS Speaking to reporters on Monday afternoon, Trump called the news “very sad, actually.” “I’m surprised that … you know, the public wasn’t notified a long time ago because to get to stage nine (sic), that’s a long time,” Trump said. “I just had my physical. … We had the doctors at the White House and over at Walter Reed, which is a fantastic hospital. I did a very complete physical, including cognitive tests.” Trump also referenced Biden’s cognitive decline during his presidency, stating that “anybody running for president should take a cognitive test.” “They say it’s unconstitutional. But I would say in that particular case, having a cognitive test wouldn’t be so bad,” the Republican said. Trump also posited that the public “wasn’t informed” about Biden’s medical situation and suggested that the situation should be investigated. OBAMA REACTS TO BIDEN CANCER DIAGNOSIS “I think somebody is going to have to speak to his doctor if it’s the same, or even if it’s two separate doctors,” Trump said. “Why wasn’t the cognitive ability, why wasn’t that discussed? And I think the doctor said he’s just fine. And it’s turned out that’s not so. It’s very dangerous.” The president concluded by saying the cancer diagnosis is “a very, very sad situation and I feel very badly about it.” “I think people should try and find out what happened, because I’ll tell you … I don’t know if it had anything to do with the hospital,” Trump added. “Walter Reed is really good. There’s some of the best doctors I’ve ever seen.” “Somebody is not telling the facts,” he concluded. “It’s a big problem.” News of Biden’s aggressive cancer diagnosis shocked the country over the weekend. After receiving bipartisan messages of sympathy, the 82-year-old thanked his supporters on social media on Monday. “Cancer touches us all,” Biden wrote on X. “Like so many of you, Jill and I have learned that we are strongest in the broken places. Thank you for lifting us up with love and support.”
Biden White House visitor logs reveal which Dems participated in cognitive decline ‘cover-up’
White House’s visitor logs reveal that many of the top Democratic leaders who most vocally defended former President Joe Biden’s leadership capabilities were frequent White House visitors and were thus presumably aware of Biden’s worsening cognitive decline. National Republican Congressional Committee spokesperson Mike Marinella slammed Democratic leadership for participating in what he called a “cover-up” and the “political scandal of the century.” This comes as the 82-year-old former president’s condition is once again making headlines, courtesy of excerpts from a new book being released this week, “Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again,” which offers claims of a White House cover-up of the then-president’s apparent cognitive decline. Additionally, last week’s leaked audio of Biden’s 2023 interview with special counsel Robert Hur, in which the then-president appears to suffer memory lapses, is also fueling the conversation. DEMS FACE A LITMUS TEST OVER BIDEN’S COGNITIVE ABILITIES Hur, who investigated whether Biden years earlier had improperly stored classified documents, made major headlines early last year when he decided not to charge Biden but described the then-president as an “elderly man with a poor memory.” Visitor logs reveal that four top Democrats made a total of 63 visits to the Biden White House between 2022 and 2024. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., made 21 visits to the White House in the span of just two years, 2022 through 2024, according to official visitor logs. This means that Jeffries would presumably have been very familiar with the former president’s condition. Despite these visits, Jeffries continued to assert that he was confident in Biden’s leadership, even saying in a 2023 interview that based on firsthand knowledge of the former president “in a high stakes circumstance,” Biden was an “incredible leader, incredible negotiator, incredible strategist, and he’s strong, brilliant, understands nuance.” TRUMP WISHES BIDEN ‘FAST AND SUCCESSFUL RECOVERY’ AFTER PROSTATE CANCER DIAGNOSIS Again, Jeffries claimed that Biden was “one of the most accomplished American presidents in our history, and he has the vision, I believe, the ability, the capacity and the track record to make a case to the American people that will result in us being successful in November.” Jeffries insisted as late as February that Biden was “the strongest candidate to defeat Donald Trump.” The last several documented visits Jeffries made were shortly before Biden’s disastrous debate with President Donald Trump. Biden’s shockingly poor performance at this debate led to calls for him to step down, ultimately leading to his dropping out of the 2024 presidential race. In addition to Jeffries, several other top Democrats were also frequent White House visitors, including House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., as well as Reps. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., and Suzan DelBene, D-Wash. Amid the Democratic turmoil in the wake of Biden’s poor debate performance, DelBene, who made five visits to the White House between 2022 and 2024, expressed continued support for Biden, saying: “The stakes are incredibly high this election, for all of us. That hasn’t changed after last week.” DEM SENATOR SAYS BIDEN SHOULD HAVE DROPPED OUT OF PRESIDENTIAL RACE MUCH SOONER “The choice this November is crystal clear,” said DelBene. “Democrats who want to govern responsibly versus extremist Republicans obsessed with tax breaks for billionaires, rolling back reproductive freedom, and defending Trump’s attacks on our democracy.” Aguilar, who made 10 documented visits to the White House in the span of two years, continued to defend Biden even after the debate, saying in a July 9 press conference that “right now President Biden is the nominee, and we support the Democratic nominee.” Meanwhile, Clark, who made 27 visits to the White House between 2022 and 2024 and was among Biden’s most vocal supporters up until his poor debate performance, refrained from taking a strong stance on whether Biden should remain in the race, saying, “The decision is up to the president.” After Biden announced he was dropping out of the race, Clark praised the former president, saying that “around the globe, he is admired for his steady, experienced leadership — always honoring America’s crucial role as a facilitator of peace, democracy, and human rights.” FORMER PRESIDENT ISSUES FIRST PUBLIC COMMENTS SINCE PROSTATE CANCER DIAGNOSIS Jeffries, Clark, Aguilar and DelBene did not respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment. Marinella commented that “while Americans were asking questions, Democrat leaders lied to their faces and worked overtime to cover up the political scandal of the century.” Marinella told Fox News Digital that “voters will never forget their disgusting deception.”