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Trump reveals Iran made ‘significant proposal’ after ultimatum, but ‘not good enough’

Trump reveals Iran made ‘significant proposal’ after ultimatum, but ‘not good enough’

President Donald Trump said Iran negotiators made “a significant proposal, a significant step,” following the ultimatum he issued on Easter Sunday, but it is not “good enough.” “They made a proposal, and it’s a significant proposal, a significant step,” Trump told reporters at the Easter Egg Roll on Monday, a White House tradition that comes amid the backdrop of war. “It’s not good enough, but it’s a very significant step,” Trump continued. “They are negotiating now. And they have made a very significant step. We’ll see what happens.” This is a developing report. Check back here for updates.

Newsom’s California rail project now expected to cost $126B, official admits, with still no tracks laid

Newsom’s California rail project now expected to cost 6B, official admits, with still no tracks laid

California’s delayed, over-budget high-speed train from Los Angeles to San Francisco is running fast in only one direction: Rising costs to even get rolling, which are now estimated to be $126 billion. “Today, we estimate with the right optimization just over $125 billion,” California High Speed Rail Authority board member Anthony Williams told CBS’s “60 Minutes” on Sunday. “I think $126 billion is the current estimate for that.” That is nearly four times the $33 billion price tag presented to voters in 2008, making the long-delayed project a black eye for Democratic-run California, derided as the latest political example of “waste” in deep-blue America and a “train to nowhere.” “We’re now in 2026: There are no trains; there’s no track laid; it was a complete bait and switch,” Rep. Vince Fong, R-Calif., told “60 Minutes,” saying the project “needs to stop.” NEWSOM TOUTS CALIFORNIA’S NUMEROUS LEGAL FIGHTS WITH TRUMP ADMINISTRATION IN FINAL STATE OF THE STATE “The California high-speed rail nightmare is the probably quintessential example of government waste and mismanagement.” California’s long-troubled high-speed rail project is facing renewed scrutiny after state Transportation Secretary Toks Omishakin acknowledged that many of its critics have a point. “There were mistakes made,” Omishakin told CBS. “Some of the criticisms on this project, I think, are very fair.” TRUMP ADMIN UNCOVERS ‘STAGGERING’ $8.6 BILLION IN SUSPECTED CALIFORNIA SMALL BUSINESS FRAUD “I don’t think the voters fully understood, and neither did we in the public sector, what it was going to take to actually get this project delivered,” Omishakin added. Taking aim at California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, President Donald Trump called California’s project “the worst cost overrun, I’ve ever seen,” a statement he has in the past reserved for Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell’s Federal Reserve Building in Washington, D.C. “This administration is working to usher in a Golden Age of Transportation,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told CBS in a statement. “That vision includes high speed rail and we’re exploring opportunities to efficiently build that infrastructure in America. NEWSOM’S FAILED LEADERSHIP HAS LET CALIFORNIA BECOME A LAND OF FRAUD AND SCAMS “What this administration won’t stand for is boondoggle projects like Newsom’s Train to Nowhere that wasted billions in taxpayer dollars yet delivered nothing to the American people,” Duffy said. “Under President Trump, America is building again. We defunded Newsom’s disaster and created the first Trump Infrastructure Dividend. Those dollars will now actually fund critical projects that enhance safety on rail networks across America.” Newsom himself cast doubt on the full San Francisco-to-Los Angeles plan in 2019, and the project now faces a funding gap of roughly $90 billion. “For $10 billion, Elon Musk put 300 rockets in orbit; for $11 billion, the state of California has built 1,600 feet of elevated rail with no rail,” Palantir CTO Shyam Sankar said in 2024. State officials say they remain confident more money can be found to dump into the project, but for now California’s high-speed rail stands as a costly symbol of ambition, delay and deep public skepticism. ‘THE DAILY SHOW’ ROASTS GAVIN NEWSOM ON HOMELESSNESS, HIGH-SPEED RAIL IN SATIRICAL ‘LEADING MAN’ VIDEO “The ultimate 494 miles of building this out without the federal government’s help will be challenging: There’s no doubt about that,” Omishakin said. Nearly two decades since the start of the project, no track has been laid, and the only major visible progress is on a Central Valley segment between Bakersfield and Merced, according to the report. The project’s earliest projected opening is now 2033, far later than originally promised. Critics, including Bakersfield’s Fong, a member of the House Transportation Committee, want the project completely “stopped.” CALIFORNIA IS BROKE, BUT IT’S NOT TOO LATE FOR THE REST OF US “The business plan that was put out in 2008 was very theoretical,” Fong said. “You know, ‘This is what we think is gonna happen.’ “And it became very clear that they didn’t have the specifics worked out.” Fong has sought oversight and accountability on the waste, including 597 change orders that have cost more than $2.3 billion alone as of November 2025, which is nearly 7% of the initial $33 billion project estimate. “Taxpayers deserve full transparency and accountability,” Fong wrote in a statement in February. “The high-speed rail nightmare is a glaring example of structural mismanagement. “Reckless, repeated contract amendments have squandered resources and precious tax dollars. Hardworking California taxpayers cannot afford to let this continue. This project should be canceled before even more money and time are wasted.”

Behind ‘No Kings’ St Paul protest: $250K production machine equal to a Def Leppard concert

Behind ‘No Kings’ St Paul protest: 0K production machine equal to a Def Leppard concert

When anti-Trump protesters took to the streets across the country in late March for rallies branded as “No Kings,” CNN reported that anti-Trump protests had “popped up” nationwide, including at the Minnesota State Capitol. But a Fox News Digital investigation reveals that nine vendors were paid an estimated $250,000 to build a professionally-sophisticated protest infrastructure behind the “flagship” event held in St. Paul, and a former Obama and Biden administration political and communications strategist, Roger Fisk, took credit for being the “Senior Advisor to the #NoKings flagship event,” fine-tuning the “art and science” of throwing the protest, along with two other “No Kings” protests last year. The machine behind the protest included deploying about 30 semi-trucks to deliver concert-level equipment, a massive mobile stage, nearly a mile of heavy-duty feeder cable used to distribute electricity throughout the rally site, scores of porta-toilets and folding chairs, eight jumbo screens, high-speed internet and bike-rack barriers to keep the crowds away from the stage, filled with bold-faced celebrities, including rock star Bruce Springsteen, actress Jane Fonda and singer Joan Baez.  The operation amounted to a massive buildout that resembled the setup for an outdoor music festival or Def Leppard concert, according to the event’s vendors, most of whom requested anonymity. The logistical details behind the event illustrate how modern protests increasingly resemble professionally produced public events rather than spontaneous grassroots demonstrations. The investigation reveals a rare behind-the-scenes view of the infrastructure, funding and logistics that power the modern day protest industry, details organizers rarely disclose. 500 GROUPS WITH $3B IN REVENUES ARE BEHIND THE #NOKINGS PROTESTS AND COMMUNIST CALL FOR ‘REVOLUTION’ As Fox News Digital previously reported, about 500 organizations with an estimated $3 billion in annual revenues sponsored, endorsed and participated in the nationwide protest. The network includes stalwart Democratic nonprofits, including Indivisible, MoveOn and the ACLU, which have received millions of dollars over the years from billionaire George Soros and his Open Society philanthropies. Another network tied to the protests includes pro-communist groups, like the People’s Forum, CodePink, the ANSWER Coalition and the Party for Socialism and Liberation, backed by American-born tech tycoon Neville Roy Singham, who lives in Shanghai, promoting messaging aligned with the Chinese Communist Party, President Xi Jinping and the People’s Republic of China. Notably, anti-American rhetoric from China labeling the United States as “fascist,” “rogue” and “autocratic” has been parroted by these groups and surfaced as a recurring theme in the St. Paul protest, where communist and socialist organizations flew the flags of Iran, Venezuela and Cuba. Singham didn’t respond to a request for comment. POWER COUPLE OF CHAOS: HOW A TYCOON AND ACTIVIST BUILT A ‘REVOLUTIONARY BASE’ AT THE HOUSE OF SINGHAM It’s understood that Indivisible footed most of the bill for the St. Paul protest, sources said. Nancy Snow, author of the book “Propaganda and Persuasion,” told Fox News Digital that it’s important to follow the money on all aspects of political communication, including protests. “We are in an age of cognitive warfare, in which there is a competition to shape how people think, and it’s always important to follow the money because it tells you who is setting the agenda and amplifying the message,” she said. “Following the money doesn’t automatically invalidate the grievances of citizens who show up for a protest. Both things can be true at once.” About 24 hours before demonstrators arrived with signs calling the U.S. a “fascist” nation, a different scene unfolded on the Capitol grounds, with semi-trucks loaded with equipment rolling into the State Capitol. ‘NO KINGS’ CALLS ITSELF LEADERLESS, BUT ITS OWN INTERNAL DOCUMENTS TELL A VERY DIFFERENT STORY “You need a platform for people to stand on and a way for people to be seen and heard in order to reach everybody,” Matt Svobodny, a production manager with Slamhammer Sound & Roadcase Co., a live-event production company based in nearby St. Louis Park, Minn., told Fox News Digital.  “And, in order to do that, you need professionals that know what they’re doing and are going to do it also safe for all the people…,” he said. “So you can’t just have people with good intentions and no idea what they’re doing.” A longtime professional, Svobodny provided a rare warehouse tour of the elements required to make the protest happen. Svobodny said crews began physical setup around 8 a.m. Friday and continued working until after midnight, returning in early morning. Along with the mobile concert stage and cable, the system they assembled included about 100 speakers and extensive lighting equipment. Three vendors supplied eight large video screens across the Capitol grounds so people far from the stage at the far end near Martin Luther King Boulevard could see the speakers. Additional delay speakers were positioned farther back from the stage so that speeches would remain synchronized across the large audience area, he said. For security reasons, the stage was partially fitted with ballistic bullet-resistant glass to protect the speakers. “It has all the elements and infrastructure of a music festival,” Svobodny said. Permit records, obtained by Fox News Digital, identify the organizing entity for the event as the “No Kings Coalition and Indivisible Twin Cities.” Indivisible is the brand name for several powerful Democratic groups: Indivisible Action, a political action committee; Indivisible Project, a 501(c)(4) with $10.4 million in revenues; and Indivisible Action, a 501(c)(3) with $5.2 million in revenues. The permit application listed a local leader, Kris Ragozzino, as the applicant and described the rally as a program including “speakers, artists and musicians.” The production itself relied on a network of specialized vendors, each responsible for a different component of the rally’s infrastructure.  The estimated total for the logistical expenses was $250,000, sources said. Svobodny said he worked mostly with Ragozzino and Fisk, a former advance man for presidential trips in the Obama and Biden administrations. In a post on LinkedIn after the protest, Fisk described himself as a “Senior Advisor to the #NoKings flagship event.”  In the post, Fisk recalled the “complexity” of organizing

President Trump makes endorsement in California gubernatorial race: ‘He will be a GREAT Governor’

President Trump makes endorsement in California gubernatorial race: ‘He will be a GREAT Governor’

President Donald Trump has endorsed Steve Hilton in the California gubernatorial race. “I have known and respected Steve Hilton, who is running for Governor of California, for many years. He is a truly fine man, one who has watched as this once great State has gone to Hell,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post about Hilton, a former Fox News host, on Monday. “Gavin Newscum and the Democrats have done an absolutely horrendous job. People are fleeing, crime is increasing, and Taxes are the highest of any State in the Country, maybe the World. Steve can turn it around, before it is too late, and, as President, I will help him to do so! With Federal help, and a Great Governor, like Steve Hilton, California can be better than ever before! Steve Hilton has my COMPLETE & TOTAL ENDORSEMENT. He will be a GREAT Governor and, importantly, WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!!!” the president declared in the post. VANCE ANTI-FRAUD TASK FORCE SUSPENDS 221 CALIFORNIA HOSPICE AND HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS SO FAR Fox News Digital reached out to Hilton’s campaign and to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office on Monday. Hilton, a Republican, is running in a crowded jungle primary that includes candidates from both sides of the political aisle.  The top two candidates in the June 2, 2026, primary will advance to the general election. Some of the Democratic candidates seeking the governorship include Biden-era Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becera, Rep. Eric Swalwell and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.  MEDIA PERSONALITY STEVE HILTON ENTERS CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL RACE Trump’s full-throated endorsement of Hilton may hurt Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, who is one of the other Republicans running for the role.  Hilton and Bianco had been the top two contenders in some public opinion polls, giving Republicans hope that no Democrat would finish in the primary’s top two positions. That scenario may be less likely now, as Hilton’s support is likely to rise and Bianco’s drop in light of the president’s endorsement.  “Trump kills any GOP hopes of an R vs R runoff in the California governor’s race,” Rob Pyers of California Target Book wrote in a post on X regarding the president’s endorsement of Hilton.  “Trump’s endorsement of Steve Hilton likely frees up tens of millions of dollars for Democratic groups who would have otherwise had to spend heavily to elevate one of the two leading GOP gubernatorial candidates to avoid a Democratic lockout,” Pyers wrote in another post. BIANCO SAYS ‘DEMOCRAT POLICY IS INDEFENSIBLE’ AS GOP CANDIDATES TOP CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR POLLING Hilton became a U.S. citizen in 2021, and renounced his U.K. citizenship in 2025, he noted during an interview with GB News.