Trump crypto chief says we are in the ‘golden age’ for digital assets, ‘clearing the deck’ of Biden barriers
EXCLUSIVE: President Donald Trump wants to make the U.S. the “crypto capital of the world,” and a top White House cryptocurrency policy official said that the administration is well on its way to ushering in “the golden age for digital assets.” Bo Hines, executive director of the President’s Council of Advisers on Digital Assets, sat for an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital this week to outline the Trump administration’s work thus far in the cryptocurrency space. Cryptocurrency, or “crypto” for short, is a digital currency in which transactions are verified and records maintained by a decentralized system using cryptography that enables secure online payments for individuals or businesses. MR. WONDERFUL TALKS ‘EXCITEMENT’ AROUND CRYPTOCURRENCY UNDER TRUMP: AMERICA IS IN A ‘NEW PHASE’ “The president has made this a priority, and it is a testament to his leadership and his knowledge in the space,” Hines explained. “Unlike any president before him, he has truly embraced this technological development in a way that no one else has, which has allowed us to do what we need to do to make the United States the crypto capital of the world.” Hines told Fox News Digital that officials have focused on “clearing the deck” and ensuring that “what was happening under the Biden regulatory regime has been rescinded and repealed.” Under the Biden administration, Hines said Americans using cryptocurrency went “offshore due to the nature of attacks they specifically received under the Biden regime.” “We will start seeing a lot of those players come back to the United States in short order because, look, we are the greatest country in the world. People want to innovate here. People want to build here. And this space is no different,” he said. “At the end of the day, the largest players to the smallest players want to be operating in the United States—they just need a clear set of rules to abide by to do so.” Hines said that under the Biden administration, “rather than welcoming in innovation and encouraging technological developments, they went after these people.” “We’ve been in the demolition phase—removing a lot of those barriers that the Biden regime put up so that people can actually start building back here in the United States.” “My main message to players in the crypto space has been—welcome home,” Hines said. “We are going to create the most pro-crypto-friendly regulatory environment that anyone could possibly imagine because we understand how important the innovation is here in this space.” TRUMP’S CRYPTO CZAR DECRIES GOVERNMENT’S LACK OF BITCOIN ‘LONG-TERM STRATEGY’ Hines explained that during the first week of the second Trump administration, the president set up the interagency working group—the President’s Council of Advisers on Digital Assets—which includes officials from the Treasury Department, the SEC, CFTC, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and more. Trump’s executive order directed the working group to explore several digital asset-related issues, including looking into the “potential creation and maintenance of a national digital asset stockpile” and proposing “criteria for establishing such a stockpile, potentially derived from cryptocurrencies lawfully seized by the Federal Government through its law enforcement efforts.” “With this group and other White House offices, we are working on delivering on the president’s promise to clear the deck and have all of these burdens and regulations lifted,” Hines said. The group is currently in the process of compiling recommendations and building a comprehensive report they will deliver to the president later this year. The report is designed to explain the “clearest regulatory environment possible” in the space, and recommendations for how the U.S. maintains its role as “the dominant leader in the space across the globe.” As for legislation, Hines pointed to the Stablecoin Transparency and Accountability for a Better Ledger Economy, or the STABLE Act. That legislation, which passed out of the House Financial Services Committee on a bipartisan vote, establishes framework for the issuance and operation of dollar-denominated payment stablecoins in the U.S. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “I think the Stable Coin legislation could be the first really, truly large and meaningful piece of legislation that the president signs in the first year of a second term,” Hines said, noting it would “truly revolutionize the financial system for years to come.” “I think that Americans will see that once this legislation is through—once this regulatory framework is established—the way in which they move their money will be changed forever,” Hines said. “You will see that Americans will have better access to quicker payments and better access to transparency.”
White House warns against tariff retaliation, says Trump ‘has a spine of steel and he will not break’
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt insisted Tuesday that “all options are on the table for each country” when it comes to making deals over the latest U.S. tariffs, but warned to those who retaliate that President Donald Trump “has a spine of steel and he will not break.” Leavitt said since Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcements, 70 countries have already reached out to the president to begin negotiations. “On the other hand, countries like China who have chosen to retaliate and try to double down on their mistreatment of American workers are making a mistake. President Trump has a spine of steel and he will not break,” Leavitt added, referencing 34% retaliatory tariffs that China unveiled against the U.S. last week. Leavitt told Fox News Senior White House Correspondent Jacqui Heinrich that Trump is “very much focused on ensuring that these deals are good for the American worker, they are good for American manufacturing” and “that they tackle these crippling deficits with these countries. DEMOCRAT GOVERNORS REVOLT AGAINST TRUMP’S ‘LIBERATION DAY’ TARIFFS “All options are on the table for each country,” she said. “But again, these are going to be tailor-made deals. They are not going to be off the rack deals as the president has called it. And he has directed his entire trade team to be part of this effort.” Leavitt also said “Countries are falling over themselves to reform their unfair trade practices and free open their markets to our country. TRUMP SAYS HE HAD ‘GREAT CALL’ WITH SOUTH KOREAN LEADER, SUGGESTS DEAL POSSIBLE “Why? Because these countries greatly respect President Trump and the sheer power of the American market. These countries realize they’ve gotten filthy rich over the past few decades by imposing substantial tariffs on American made products and ridiculous non-monetary barriers to block out American industry,” she continued. “The jig is up. Past American presidents sat by and let this happen. But President Trump stood up for our country. And he is saying no more.” “The president’s message has been simple and consistent from the beginning to countries around the world. Bring us your best offers and he will listen. Deals will only be made if they benefit American workers and address our nation’s crippling trade deficits,” Leavitt declared. “America does not need other countries as much as other countries need us. And President Trump knows this. He’s going to use the leverage of our markets and our country to the advantage of the people he was sworn in to represent.”
Dem accuses Trump admin of ‘fire sale approach’ as GOP aims to lower federal gov’s real estate portfolio
A Democrat on the House Oversight Committee accused the Trump administration of offloading federal real estate in a haphazard “fire sale” as Republicans aim to cut wasteful government spending by selling unused or underutilized government buildings. Rep. Melanie Stansbury, D-N.M., the ranking Democrat on the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) subcommittee, took issue with the Trump administration’s approach during a hearing on Tuesday on reducing the federal real estate portfolio. “The Trump administration is currently taking a fire sale approach of looting the federal government and stripping it for parts to pay for tax cuts that we know will come up in their reconciliation deal,” the lawmaker said. DOGE is working with the federal government’s General Services Administration (GSA) to “rightsize” its portfolio and cut wasteful spending. GSA has produced the most savings across federal agencies, according to the official DOGE website. AMERICANS GRADE DOGE AND ELON MUSK’S EFFORTS WITHIN THE FIRST 100 DAYS OF THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION The GSA’s cost-cutting efforts have already resulted in nearly 700 lease terminations, eliminating 7.9 million square feet of federal office space and saving taxpayers approximately $400 million, according to subcommittee chair Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga. John Hart, CEO of Open the Books, testified that $1 billion could be saved on furniture alone by not renewing leases on government buildings that are set to expire in 2027. David Marroni, director of physical infrastructure at the U.S. Government Accountability Office, testified that no government agency “had a great track record in terms of the utilization” of their physical headquarters’ footprints. Marroni said there could be substantial savings in reducing government workspaces. “It’s about $8 billion a year on owned and leased office space, so any reduction is going to generate a lot of money,” he said. DOGE HELPS COAST GUARD SAVE NEARLY $33M BY ELIMINATING ‘INEFFECTIVE IT PROGRAM’ Democrats at the hearing lobbed criticism at President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk, who is leading the DOGE effort, with Stansbury accusing DOGE of being “a front” to support billionaires “who are trying to privatize public services.” “And just this week, we have seen, as Elon Musk is on his exit out of the federal government, he has secured billions of dollars in new contracts across the federal government. Conflict of interest? Yes, absolutely,” Stansbury said. The congresswoman claimed that Musk has secured contracts and promises for contracts at the Department of Defense and NASA, and is asking to install SpaceX’s Starlink Wi-Fi at federal agencies. Starlink, which is a subsidiary of Musk-owned SpaceX, was reportedly installed at the White House last month. “And we understand that there is the potential to potentially deploy his AI technology across the federal agencies to replace the tens of thousands of federal employees that have recently been illegally fired,” Stansbury claimed. As of Tuesday, DOGE claims on its site that it has saved Americans $140 billion, or about $870 per taxpayer. Fox News Digital’s Andrew Mark Miller and Deirdre Heavey contributed to this report.
Ukraine detains suspected Russian assassin
Indictment comes amid an uptick in targeted attacks on Ukrainian officials and public figures. Ukraine has arrested and indicted a man accused of assassinations and blowing up buildings on orders from Russia. The Ukrainian prosecutor general’s office said on Tuesday in a statement that the suspect is accused of murdering a Ukrainian soldier and plotting the assassination of officials. The arrest comes amid an apparent uptick in targeted attacks on Ukrainian officials and public figures, including a local lawmaker who was killed by a car bomb on Friday in the city of Dnipro. The prosecutor general’s office said under the orders of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), the 56-year-old from the Crimean Peninsula, reportedly a persistent offender over many years, shot a Ukrainian soldier dead in March 2024. Prosecutors have also accused the suspect of planting an explosive under the car of Vyacheslav Zadorenko. However, the Kharkiv official spotted the bomb, “saving his own life”, they said in the statement. The suspect was also allegedly tasked with killing the head of the Kharkiv region, Oleh Synyehubov, for a reward of $50,000. Advertisement He also planted and set off explosives at strategically important buildings in the northeastern city of Kharkiv, the statement added. Russia and Ukraine have targeted one another’s officials in assassination plots since Moscow’s invasion in February 2022. Ukrainian counterintelligence investigators claimed last May to have foiled a Russian plot to assassinate President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as well as the heads of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency and the SBU security service. Zelenskyy has said there had been numerous attempts to assassinate him since the start of the war with Russia, which has now stretched into a fourth year. The FSB did not comment on Kyiv’s claims regarding the suspect. Adblock test (Why?)
Germany halts UN refugee resettlement programme
The next German government, likely to be led by the centre-right CDU, is expected to be tougher on migration. Germany has suspended the admission of refugees through a United Nations programme, according to a document seen by the Reuters news agency, as a new conservative-led coalition government prepares to take office. Reuters reported on Tuesday that the Federal Ministry of the Interior had made the decision as negotiations between the centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU) and the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) continue, with both sides likely to agree on a tougher migration and asylum policy. The German dpa news agency also reported that the Interior Ministry and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) had confirmed news of the suspension. Migration has been a contentious issue in Germany, the third largest refugee-hosting country in the world, with 2.5 million refugees, including more than one million refugees from Ukraine. But a growing number of German voters want the country to accept fewer migrants. Immigration and asylum were hotly discussed before February’s German elections in which the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) doubled its vote share after several violent attacks blamed on refugees or asylum seekers. Advertisement The issue has been discussed as part of the coalition negotiations between the CDU and the SPD, with the CDU pushing for asylum seekers to be turned away from Germany’s borders on the grounds they have already passed through a safe country. The two sides have struck a preliminary agreement to end voluntary federal admission programmes for refugees such as the UN programme – the only one currently active – and not to launch any new ones, according to the document seen by Reuters. Since 2016, Germany has participated in a European Union resettlement scheme that accepts refugees selected by UNHCR. Most come from Turkiye, Egypt, Jordan or Kenya. The Interior Ministry said 4,711 people had arrived in Germany through the programme since 2024, out of the 13,000 refugees that Germany has promised the European Commission it would take in for 2024 and 2025 combined. Despite the suspension, admissions that are already well advanced, with concrete commitments, will go ahead, a ministry spokesperson said. On Monday, Germany said it no longer took top spot in the European Union for new asylum applications, local media outlets reported, citing EU data that put France and Spain ahead. Interior Minister Nancy Faeser was quoted as saying that the latest figures reflected measures taken to restrain “irregular migration towards Europe as a whole as well as to Germany itself”. Adblock test (Why?)
Are Iran and the US having ‘direct’ talks on the nuclear file?
In a news conference on April 7, United States President Donald Trump said there were direct talks between Iran and his administration on the future of Tehran’s nuclear programme. “We’re having direct talks with Iran,” Trump said. “On Saturday, we have a very big meeting.” Iran denied the direct talks but admitted talks were set to take place through Omani mediation. Trump’s announcement came as a surprise to many, as Iran has long refused to hold direct talks. So, has something changed? Here’s everything we know so far. What did Trump say? Interestingly, he has doubled down on the talks being “direct”, saying they have begun and the next meeting would be on Saturday. “A lot of people say, oh, maybe you’re going through surrogates or you’re not dealing directly, you’re dealing through other countries,” he said. “No, we’re dealing with them directly. And maybe a deal’s going to be made. “Doing a deal would be preferable to doing the obvious,” he said, presumably in reference to attacking the regional giant, something that US ally Israel has done twice in the last 12 months. Advertisement In early March, Trump told reporters that he had written to Iranian authorities demanding talks on the country’s nuclear programme and threatening military action if there was no reply. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said at the time that Iran would not negotiate with “bullying governments”. Trump has until now applied what he calls a policy of “maximum pressure” on Iran, consisting of intensified sanctions. What did Iran say? Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said indirect talks between himself and US Special Envoy for the Middle East Steve Witkoff would take place in Oman. “It is as much an opportunity as it is a test,” Araghchi wrote on X. Iran has long said it will not hold direct talks with the US, but agreed to work through an Omani intermediary, who was announced by Iranian state media to be Omani Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr Albusaidi. Iran and the United States will meet in Oman on Saturday for indirect high-level talks. It is as much an opportunity as it is a test. The ball is in America’s court. — Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) April 7, 2025 Iran’s messaging has oscillated between an openness to negotiate and rejection of the US’s threatening tactics. Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said in September that direct talks were possible if the US showed it was amenable to good-faith talks. “We are not hostile towards the US. They should end their hostility towards us by showing their goodwill in practice,” Pezeshkian said at the time. “We are brothers with the Americans as well.” Advertisement However, earlier this week, Araghchi questioned Washington’s sincerity in calling for negotiations, saying on Sunday, “If you want negotiations, then what is the point of threatening?” Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian [Maxim Shemetov/Reuters] What would Trump want to negotiate? Despite bombing Yemen and allowing Israel to have a free hand in Lebanon and Syria as well as to restart the war on Gaza, Trump says he wants to be seen as a “peacemaker”. He says he wants to negotiate Iran’s nuclear programme, to make sure that Iran never builds a nuclear weapon. During his first term in office, Trump actually withdrew the US from a nuclear deal between Iran and world powers that curbed Iran’s nuclear programme in return for some sanctions relief. After withdrawing, Trump reapplied sanctions. He said any agreement with Iran would have to limit its conventional weapons arsenal as well, not just the nuclear programme. In recent weeks, he has said Iran is materially aiding Yemen’s Houthis, blaming Iran whenever the Houthis launch an attack on Israel or what they say is Israel-linked shipping in the Arabian or Red seas. It is not clear if that will come up in negotiations. Trump may also want to discuss Iran’s increased oil sales to China. What would Iran want to negotiate? Iran is interested in sanctions relief to ease economic pressure on Tehran as the country suffers an economic crisis that has hit all sectors of society. This would include assurances that Iran would be able to access the SWIFT money transfer system as well as international investment. Advertisement However, Iran also wants recognition of its nuclear programme, including the right to some level of enrichment and to use its centrifuges, built since 2018. That said, the two sides’ starting positions are further apart than when negotiations first started on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), widely known as the “Iran nuclear deal”. Iran is asking for more extensive sanctions relief than provided under Obama, while Trump has threatened to bomb Iran if they don’t cut a deal. Isn’t there already a deal on Iran’s nuclear programme? Yes, the JCPOA. As we mentioned above, it exchanged assurances from Iran on limiting its nuclear programme for sanctions relief. Trump withdrew the US from the agreement in 2018, and his close ally, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has been one of the loudest voices opposing the JCPOA. Trump and Netanyahu are in agreement, saying the JCPOA didn’t go far enough for long enough, in reference to the JCPOA only prohibiting certain nuclear activities for 10 to 15 years. They said Iran’s conventional weapons programme should be included in any deal with Iran, and that any relief the Iranian economy receives would only enable Tehran to fund its regional allies to carry out activities assumed to “threaten Israel’s security”. Trump meets with Netanyahu in Washington, DC on April 7, 2025 [Kevin Mohatt/Reuters] How close is Iran to a nuclear weapon? No one really knows. Iran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes and it does not want to develop a nuclear weapon. Advertisement Supreme Leader Khamenei issued a religious ruling to that effect in 2003, and that has been the cornerstone of Iran’s nuclear policy since. Some Western analysts claim that, in terms of capabilities, Iran is incredibly close to a nuclear weapon. In March 2025,
DNA Verified: Old video of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra falsely linked to protest over Waqf Amendment Bill, know truth here
The Waqf (Amendment) Act has come into force from Tuesday, the government said in a notification.
Elbridge Colby confirmed to top Pentagon policy post after hesitation from GOP hawks
Elbridge Colby will now assume the Pentagon’s number three post after a contentious Senate battle ended in a vote to confirm him to the role. The Senate voted 51 to 45 to confirm the national security strategist as Defense Department undersecretary for policy, with three Democrats joining most Republicans in voting in his favor. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., was the lone Republican no vote. Colby successfully overcame skepticism from GOP hawks like Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., who worried over his previous statements on Iran, even as he lost the former Senate majority leader. “Elbridge Colby’s long public record suggests a willingness to discount the complexity of the challenges facing America, the critical value of our allies and partners, and the urgent need to invest in hard power to preserve American primacy,” McConnell said in a statement after the vote. “The prioritization that Mr. Colby argues is fresh, new, and urgently needed is, in fact, a return to an Obama-era conception of à la carte geostrategy. Abandoning Ukraine and Europe and downplaying the Middle East to prioritize the Indo-Pacific is not a clever geopolitical chess move. It is geostrategic self-harm that emboldens our adversaries and drives wedges between America and our allies for them to exploit.” Colby, a co-founder of the Marathon Initiative and a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and force development under the Trump administration, is best known for his role in authoring the 2018 National Defense Strategy, which reoriented long-term military strategy toward a great power competition with China. VANCE VISITS CAPITOL HILL TO URGE SENATORS TO CONFIRM ELBRIDGE COLBY FOR PENTAGON NO. 3 POST He has long argued the U.S. military needs to limit its resources in the Middle East to pivot to the Indo-Pacific region. Colby had staunch backing from Trump’s inner circle, which turned up the heat on Senate Republicans to get behind his confirmation. Colby had tempered some of his earlier statements, including one that suggested living with a nuclear Iran was safer than bombing Iran’s nuclear sites, and one that suggested the U.S. could “live without” Taiwan. Pressed by Cotton during his confirmation hearing, Colby said he believes Iran to be an “existential” threat to the U.S. “Yes, a nuclear-armed Iran – especially, Senator, given that… we know they’ve worked on ICBM-range capabilities and other capabilities that would pose an existential danger to the United States,” Colby said. MAGA LOYALISTS TAKE AIM AT GOP SENATOR AS KEY TRUMP DEFENSE POST SPARKS CONTROVERSY: ‘WHY THE OPPOSITION?’ He promised to provide “credible good military options” to the president if diplomacy with Iran fails. “The only thing worse than the prospect of an Iran armed with nuclear weapons would be [the] consequences of using force to try to stop them,” Colby had said in 2012. “I would say a lot of what I was arguing against at the time, these conversations 15 years ago, a lot of the opponents I felt had a casual or in some cases even flippant attitude toward the employment of military force,” Colby explained at the hearing. “That’s a lot of what I was arguing against. Was my wording always appropriate? Was my precise framing always appropriate? No.” “Your views on Taiwan’s importance to the United States seems to have softened considerably,” Senate Armed Services Chairman Roger Wicker, R-Miss., told Colby at one point during the hearing. “What I have been trying to shoot a signal flare over is that it is vital for us to focus and enable our own forces for an effective and reasonable defense of Taiwan and for the Taiwanese, as well as the Japanese, to do more,” said Colby.
‘Many failures’: Whistleblower exposes how fired Biden-era official was soft on China, prioritized DEI
FIRST ON FOX: A former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) senior staffer is speaking out about problems at the agency under the Biden administration, including diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), and failures to combat China flooding the U.S. market with illicit vapes after the FDA’s top tobacco official was removed from his position. “I think many of us had been anticipating it for quite some time, we knew that change was drastically needed at FDA when it came to tobacco control, because tobacco control had really gotten out of control,” David Oliveira, who recently left the FDA after six years, said in response to FDA chief tobacco regulator Brian King being removed from his post earlier this month. “There were many, many failures in the key core missions for the center that needed dramatic change in new leadership. Many of us, whether it be from public health, consumers, small business owners, industry, including even Senator Dick Durbin, who last year at a hearing said to Brian King, ‘It looks to me like you have fallen down on the job.’ So really it runs the spectrum with the people that are unhappy with what’s gone on recently with the FDA in terms of tobacco regulation.” One of the most prominent missteps at the FDA over the past few years, according to Oliveira, was the influx of illicit Chinese vapes into the U.S. market, which he says made him feel like a “canary in a coal mine” as he warned about the potential dangers and little was done. ‘DEEP TIES TO THE CCP’: MEET THE VAPING LOBBYIST RAMPING UP PRESSURE ON TRUMP TO SAVE ‘ILLICIT’ VAPE INDUSTRY Although the rate of youths smoking cigarettes is now at an all-time low, according to the CDC, youth use of Chinese vapes has increased dramatically since 2020, as China has become the world’s leading producer of e-cigarettes, often promoting illicit vapes with flavors appealing to children. Sales of unauthorized, flavored disposable vapes in the United States amounted to around $2.4 billion in 2024, or 35% of the e-cigarettes from outlets such as convenience stores and supermarkets, Reuters reported. That compares to sales worth $3.2 billion in 2023 and $2.8 billion in 2022, the data, which comes from market research firm Circana, shows. “We have set up a regulated system, which most of the American players have said, okay, these are the rules of the road, we will obey them, we will comply, and we expect, we hope that our products will be authorized,” Oliveira explained. “The Chinese have said, well, forget that. There’s huge consumer demand for these products for billions of dollars, and we will shamelessly, recklessly, irresponsibly market these products, dump them on our shores because they know there’s billions of dollars to be had. And then, unfortunately, the FDA was ill-equipped, ill-prepared. Didn’t have the skill to go after and shut that down. And now we have an industry that’s absolutely out of control with these products.” Oliveira told Fox News Digital that the agency has been delegating too much power to other departments like Border Patrol and Department of Justice rather than using the authority it has to crack down with boots on the ground against China’s market flooding, adding that a “lack of focus” and “cavalier attitude” has left the U.S. behind the 8-ball. 21,000% SPIKE IN MA VAPE SEIZURES THROWS CIGARETTE BAN INTO QUESTION, EX-ATF OFFICIAL SAYS Oliveira says that the FDA approves or authorizes only about two products a year, which has allowed China to dominate the market. Under King, the FDA rejected applications for millions of flavored e-cigarettes, citing insufficient data that the products would help adult smokers. Those rejections have resulted in multiple lawsuits against the FDA from vape makers, including one that was argued before the Supreme Court in December. Another issue under King, Oliveira explained, was that DEI became a prominent focus that ultimately led to less focus on getting the job in front of them done correctly. “I think we saw a lot more of that once Brian King came in and the fact of the matter is his version of DEI was some of the things that many people don’t find appealing,” Oliveira said. “The idea of virtue signaling or doing it just to be able to wear it on your sleeve and talk about it. So you just do things around the edges like, oh, let’s change and stop using the word grandfathered because of the historical overtones and origins of that term. And then let’s have everyone put their pronouns in their email.” The FDA recently removed DEI materials from its website amid President Donald Trump signing executive orders to rid the practice from the federal government and instead focus on meritocracy. Oliveira told Fox News Digital that DEI was a distraction from the mission at the FDA. “I think it made some people uncomfortable just because of the focus on it when we knew that our work was so critical to helping people live healthier lives, that there was so much work to be done, that we were behind the 8-ball because of all the mistakes and because of this very fast-moving industry that government will always struggle to keep up with the technology. There was much work to be done. There was so more that we could have been doing that we weren’t doing. So anytime you have anything that you feel like takes your eye off the ball a little bit, that can be frustrating in the workplace for sure.” Oliveira also told Fox News Digital that the FDA under King in the Biden years was beholden to the “crusade” against menthol cigarettes, led by prominent voices like billionaire Michael Bloomberg, which he says was based more on a “paternalistic” attitude toward the Black community than it was about making a positive difference. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP In recent years, the FDA’s tobacco center has been besieged by criticism from all sides. Politicians,
Trump admin unveils plan costing migrants massive fine for every day they don’t self-deport
The Trump administration plans to begin fining illegal immigrants subject to a deportation order $998 a day if they do not leave the United States. “Illegal aliens should use the CBP Home app to self-deport and leave the country now. If they don’t, they will face the consequences,” Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News Tuesday. “This includes a fine of $998 per day for every day that the illegal alien overstayed their final deportation order.” Using a 1996 law that was not enforced until President Donald Trump’s first term in 2018, the administration plans to apply the penalties retroactively to illegal immigrants for up to five years, resulting in fines of more than $1 million, an administration official told Reuters, who was first to report on the fines. BLUE STATE SHERIFFS COMBINE FORCES TO FIGHT BACK AGAINST SANCTUARY LAWS The administration could also seize property from illegal immigrants who fail to pay the stiff penalty, the report noted. A flyer provided to Fox News Digital shows the “benefits” and “consequences” for illegal immigrants who fail to self-deport via the CBP Home app. “Self-deportation is safe,” the flyer reads. “Leave on your own terms by picking your departure flight.” JD VANCE TORCHES MEDIA, DEMS’ ‘DISGRACEFUL SET OF PRIORITIES’ ON DEPORTATION OF ACCUSED MS-13 GANG MEMBER Other benefits of self-deporting include allowing non-criminal illegal immigrants to keep money they earned in the U.S. and allowing illegal immigrants to maintain eligibility for potential future legal immigration, while some illegal immigrants may even be eligible for subsidized flights if they have trouble affording a ticket. Meanwhile, the “consequences” section of the flyer warns that those who fail to self-deport will be “apprehended by DHS with no opportunity to get your affairs in order beforehand.” The flyer also spells out the potential fines, including the $998 per day fine for failing to comply with final removal orders and a fine of $1,000 – $5,000 for failing to self-deport after “claiming that you will.” “If you fail to self-deport, you may be subject to jail time,” the flyer concludes, adding that illegal immigrants would also later be “prohibited from reentering the U.S. through the legal immigration system.”