HUD chief showcases how private-public partnerships uplift economically neglected areas in Philly tour
Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner is reinvigorating the private sector’s role in aiding economically distressed areas that have been neglected for decades – including touring areas of Philadelphia that have seen massive development since he served in the first Trump administration. “The last five years have brought $84 billion of private investment. One million people have gotten lifted off the poverty rolls. Home values and Opportunity Zones have risen, while rents did not go up. And so the Opportunity Zones initiative is not only about economic development, but it’s about community development. Families are able to build brand-new foundations for their lives,” Turner told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview from Philadelphia. Turner traveled to the City of Brotherly Love on Thursday to meet with local community and business leaders to discuss and tour recently revitalized areas of the city and Opportunity Zone projects, which are defined as economically distressed areas across the nation that incentivize investment and economic development through federal tax benefits to investors. Opportunity Zones were created under the first Trump administration through the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Turner served as the executive director of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council during the first Trump administration, as well as led the Opportunity Zones Initiative. HUD CHIEF PUTS ILLEGAL ALIENS LIVING IN GOVERNMENT-FUNDED HOUSING ON NOTICE: AMERICANS ARE ‘OUR ONLY PRIORITY’ Now that Turner is serving as the secretary of HUD in the second Trump administration, he previewed his excitement over “Opportunity Zones 2.0” that will make the program “even better than before.” “I’m very excited about the extension, the continuation of Opportunity Zones. And Opportunity Zones 2.0, if you will, and my estimation will be even better. So I’m looking forward to working with Sen. Tim Scott, Congress, the White House, and our private partners to make this even better than before,” he said. Turner spent Thursday meeting with local leaders at the Philadelphia Housing Authority, before touring a grocery store built in a North Philadelphia neighborhood, Sharswood-Blumberg, that has historically been rocked by crime and economic struggles. The grocery store, called Grocery Outlet, is part of a mixed-use development project that came about after HUD announced a $30 million Choice Neighborhoods Grant in 2020 that attracted an additional $517 million in private and public investments. The development includes a community center that houses the Philadelphia Housing Authority, a health clinic and additional housing. HUD ENDS FHA MORTGAGES FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS: ‘SHOULD BENEFIT AMERICANS WHO PLAY BY THE RULES’ Turner also toured a newly completed building in Philadelphia’s Fishtown neighborhood, called The Battery, which is an Opportunity Zone Development that has provided nearly 200 apartment units nestled along the Delaware River with views of Philadelphia’s skyline. The building is also home to a luxury boutique hotel called Riversuites at The Battery. HUD TERMINATES OBAMA-ERA HOUSING RULE THAT TRUMP WARNED WOULD ‘DESTROY’ HOME VALUES The building previously served as a power plant that was built just after World War I, before it was shuttered and sat vacant for decades with no hope of revitalization due to its lofty costs and work to rehab, according to investors and local development leaders who joined Turner on his tour of the building. The building’s prospects turned around in 2020, as the area’s Opportunity Zone designation and tax incentives to preserve historic properties attracted $154 million in investments. Now, the building showcases modern living spaces, while preserving its turn-of-the-century architecture in an area of Philadelphia that had previously been neglected for housing and economic opportunities. “I’m very excited. We’re here at the Battery in Philadelphia, which is an Opportunity Zone project. It’s a mixed-use development. This is an old factory that they repurposed this building to bring mixed-use, economic development and community development using the Opportunity Zone initiative. I’m so excited to see,” Turner told Fox News Digital from The Battery’s rooftop, which boasts the energy plant’s old smokestacks that have been transformed into private terraces. HUD OFFICES BECAME AS VACANT AS A ‘SPIRIT HALLOWEEN’ STORE UNDER BIDEN: ADMIN SOURCES “There’s living space here. There’s commercial space here. And people in this area now can utilize this… 50 years this place was dilapidated and closed. And now, through the investment of Opportunity Zones… this is a thriving place that Philadelphians can once use again,” he added. Turner explained to Fox Digital that developments in Opportunity Zones impact families and entire communities, while also rallying economic opportunities for private investors. “Philadelphia has done a great job as it pertains to Opportunity Zones… And I would say, and I will say, there’s a lot of excitement from our private development people, and partners around the country about the extenuation of Opportunity Zones. Families are impacted. We’re mission-minded at HUD. It’s economic development, it’s community development. Our mission is to be a blessing to the people that we serve. Having public-private partnerships allows us and helps us to do this for the people of America, and Opportunity Zones is a major factor in that,” he said. Philadelphia has been rocked by crime, fentanyl addiction and homelessness in recent years, which were three issues that spiraled nationwide amid and following the coronavirus pandemic. Turner highlighted to Fox News Digital that “government is not the answer” to issues related to America’s housing crisis, homelessness, drug addiction and crime, but instead must operate as a “partner” to the private sector, faith-based programs and nonprofits. “Homelessness is a big deal in our country,” he said. “It went up 18% in the last year – over 770,000 people on one single night in January of 2024 were homeless, and that’s unacceptable. With record funding coming from HUD, we still have a homelessness crisis in our country.” LIBERAL NORTH CAROLINA CITY’S DEI PLAN FOR HURRICANE RELIEF SHUT DOWN BY HUD SECRETARY “Public-private partnerships are vital to eradicating homelessness,” he continued. “Faith-based institutions, nonprofit institutions that are doing the work on a daily basis, we have to partner. The federal government is not the answer.
Trump teases running for a third term: ‘Not joking’
President Donald Trump teased he might run for a third term, explaining to NBC News that he enjoys working and is “not joking” about making another run for the Oval Office. “A lot of people want me to do it,” Trump told NBC News in a phone interview on Sunday. “But, I mean, I basically tell them we have a long way to go, you know, it’s very early in the administration.” For now, he’s “focused on the current” term, but told the outlet he was “not joking” about making a run for a third term. “It is far too early to think about it,” he added. LAWMAKER UNVEILS CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT TO GIVE TRUMP THIRD TERM The 22nd Amendment of the Constitution, which was ratified in 1951, prevents individuals from serving more than two terms as president. The amendment was ratified after President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected as president for four terms. TRUMP UNLOADS ON JUDGE BOASBERG, ‘RADICAL LEFT JUDGES’ FOR HALTING DEPORTATIONS OF VIOLENT ILLEGAL ALIENS Roosevelt died during his fourth term and Vice President Harry Truman assumed the presidency. FDR is the only president in the nation’s history who has been elected and served more than two terms, which was largely due to the political and economic climate at home and abroad, with his presidency unfolding amid the Great Depression and the beginning of World War II. “There are methods which you could do it,” Trump said when asked about how he could go about running for a third term. The outlet floated a possible method where Vice President JD Vance could run for the presidency, win and pass the torch to Trump. The president said such a scenario is one of the methods he could use to serve a third term. TRUMP RELEASES POWERFUL VIDEO HIGHLIGHTING US-GREENLAND BOND AFTER DEADLY NAZI ATTACK “But there are others too,” Trump added, without elaborating. “I like working,” he told the outlet when asked if he wants to serve another term. Trump has previously teased running for a third term, asking Republican lawmakers in January during a retreat, “Am I allowed to run again?” While Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., a top Trump congressional ally, introduced a resolution just days after Trump’s inauguration in January to allow a president three terms in office, but no more than two consecutive four-year stints. The amendment would read, “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than three times, nor be elected to any additional term after being elected to two consecutive terms, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice.” Ogles told Fox Digital in January that Trump “has proven himself to be the only figure in modern history capable of reversing our nation’s decay and restoring America to greatness, and he must be given the time necessary to accomplish that goal.” “To that end, I am proposing an amendment to the Constitution to revise the limitations imposed by the 22nd Amendment on presidential terms,” Ogles said. “This amendment would allow President Trump to serve three terms, ensuring that we can sustain the bold leadership our nation so desperately needs.” Fox Digital reached out to the White House for additional comment on Sunday afternoon, but did not immediately receive a reply. Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.
Energy chief envisions US nuclear renaissance: restoring ‘pit’ production, localizing nuke power
In a wide-ranging interview last week, Energy Secretary Chris Wright discussed how the U.S. can bring nuclear power to the fore for both energy and defense purposes, starting with rebooting otherwise dormant “pit” production. Under the first Trump administration, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) sought to meet the Pentagon’s goal of manufacturing 80 such pits – spherical hulls of plutonium sized from a grapefruit to a bowling ball – according to the UK Guardian. Wright suggested he wants to see the plan realized, as the same Energy Department laboratory in New Mexico where J. Robert Oppenheimer helped develop the atom bomb is reportedly working to return to earnest pit production. The U.S. has never imported plutonium pits but also hasn’t done any such major manufacturing since the end of the Cold War. ENERGY CHIEF SLASHES RED TAPE EARLY IN TERM “But those existing weapons stockpiles, like anything else, they age with time. And so, we’ve realized we’ve got to restore the production of plutonium pits in our complex,” Wright said. “We’ve built one in the last 25 years, and we’ll build more than 100 during the Trump administration,” he pledged. Bolstering pit production along with a less military-minded nuclear technology are a priority of Wright’s tenure, he said. Wright said he is working to reopen the shuttered Palisades nuclear power plant in southwestern Michigan, which closed a few years ago. Another major plant, Indian Point on the Hudson River opposite Haverstraw, N.Y., that had helped power New York City was notably closed under then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo. There has been little effort there, however, to see a reopening. In addition to the large-scale plants, Wright said the Energy Department seeks to forward SMR or Small Modular Reactor technology, which he said could be groundbreaking in terms of powering underserved communities and important or sensitive sites that may be far from established large-scale plants. “Nuclear weapons and nuclear power started in the United States. We built a whole bunch of power plants. And by the mid-80s, we essentially stopped building them,” he said. RFK JR TALKS KENNEDY HISTORY ON FIRST TRIP AS HHS CHIEF “Part of our goal is to bring this to make it more efficient to build things in America again. But one thing with nuclear technology is things that you have to build on-location have become slower to build, and therefore way more expensive to build.” SMRs alleviate that pressure, as materials needed to build the plants can be shipped and assembled on-site on a much smaller scale, but with a potential for per-capita greater power output. Unlike “stick-building a house” in terms of a large-scale plant, implements for an SMR can be made in a factory and are more mobile. A data center, military base or state concern could essentially file to have an SMR installed on-site, giving a greater domestic power source and a better overall grid. “There’s great private capital, capital that’s been around the innovations to design these plants. But again, you got this slow-moving, bureaucratic central government that’s still got to permit them and allow them to approve. So the nuclear renaissance has been talked about for years. And the Trump administration were actually going to start it,” Wright said. “That is, simplifying the regulatory regime. We just sent out a request for a proposal to fund efforts to speed these along. And actually there was a similar one sent out a while ago for the Biden administration. They hadn’t gotten responses back.” States that seek to benefit from SMRs have been vocal in support of that technology. Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy signed a bill in 2022 seeking to promote the construction of SMRs, saying that “micronuclear technology has a potential role to play in providing low-cost, reliable power for communities, remote villages and resource development projects.” “This bill will update state law to allow us to pursue the possibilities.” Asked about opposition to nuclear energy, including the closure of Indian Point, Wright said that like almost any other topic, it is vulnerable to politicization. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “It just makes no sense at all,” he said. “It has by far been the safest way to produce energy in the entire history of the American nuclear industry.” “I know exactly how many people have died from nuclear energy: Zero.” Wright said nuclear power has an “incredibly small footprint,” and echoed President Donald Trump’s criticisms of relying too heavily on wind and solar. “You get the energy whether the sun is shining or the wind is blowing. But like any industry, it needs to be alive and vigorous so that supply chain is going; and not building nuclear plants in our country for decades means we’ve lost that industrial capacity. So, we’ve got to stand it back up again.”
AG files last-minute appeal to block Musk from gifting $2 million to voters in high-stakes WI court race
Wisconsin’s attorney general filed a last-minute appeal to the state Supreme Court days after an appellate court denied his request to prevent billionaire DOGE leader Elon Musk from giving $1 million checks to two individuals at Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel’s Green Bay rally on Sunday evening. An appeals judge rejected Democrat Joshua Kaul’s bid for an emergency injunction Saturday, as Schimel – a Republican former state attorney general and current Waukesha judge – faces liberal jurist Susan Crawford in the officially nonpartisan race to fill a seat on the blue-trending court. Kaul asked the 4-3 liberal-majority court to reach a decision “as soon as possible but no later than the planned event on Sunday evening.” Musk has publicly backed and contributed millions of dollars toward Schimel, and Kaul argued the giveaway violates state election laws. The tech mogul also came under fire for making a similar offer in Pennsylvania during the 2024 presidential election. BIG-MONEY WI COURT RACE COULD HAVE NATIONAL EFFECTS ON REDISTRICTING, UNIONS, TRANS ISSUES There, Gov. Josh Shapiro told NBC during the campaign season he found Musk’s behavior “deeply concerning.” The former commonwealth attorney general added such offers are something police should “take a look at.” In Kaul’s filing, he is requesting the Wisconsin Supreme Court for an injunction, alleging “[r]espondents’ offer to pay $1 million to two Wisconsin electors, conditioned on their having voted in the upcoming election, is a violation of Wisconsin Statute § 12.11, which prohibits offering ‘anything of value’ in exchange for “vot[ing] or refrain[ing] from voting.” The emergency basis of his injunction request is therefore rational, Kaul argued. BRETT FAVRE HAS ONE-WORD RESPONSE TO WISCONSIN GOV’S PROPOSAL THAT WOULD REPLACE WORD ‘MOTHER’ IN STATE LAW “This Court should grant the petition for original action and issue an immediate temporary injunction (1) prohibiting Respondents from further promoting the million-dollar giveaway to attendees of the planned event on Sunday, March 30, 2025, (2) prohibiting Respondents from making any payments to Wisconsin electors to vote, and (3) prohibiting all actions by Respondents taken in furtherance of a planned violation of Wis. Stat. § 12.11.” Musk said in a statement Friday that he wished to “clarify a previous [X] post” on the matter. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “[E]ntrance is limited to those who have signed the petition in opposition to activist judges. I will also hand over checks for a million dollars to 2 people to be spokesmen for the petition,” Musk said. Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Ben Wikler told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel it appeared Musk deleted a prior post to cover up “evidence of his crime.” The key off-year race, scheduled for Tuesday, could have national implications, according to both sides. Schimel supporters previously warned Fox News Digital that two Republican congressmen – House Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil of Kenosha and Rep. Derrick Van Orden of Prairie du Chien – could see their districts intentionally redrawn in a backdoor attempt to oust them from office next cycle if Crawford wins. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Trump admin’s Signal leak shows ‘profound’ risk of uncontrolled communications: former intelligence official
The Trump administration’s Signal chat leak represents the “profound” risk of “uncontrolled communication,” which could have implications on future operations, a former national intelligence official said Sunday. Sue Gordon, the former principal deputy national intelligence director during President Donald Trump’s first term, reacted to the leak during an appearance on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “I’m glad the operation was successful,” Gordon said, referring to the U.S. military strikes on Houthi terrorist targets. “Now we need to deal with the fact that this should not have happened, there is consequence when it does and you can’t be sure that there’s no persistent risk that follows it.” Gordon said that while there have been errors in the past concerning the protection of a partner’s information, this leak is different due to the Trump administration’s reaction of “there was nothing to see here.” TRUMP ADMIN’S ‘SLOPPY’ SIGNAL LEAK PUT DEMOCRATS BACK ON OFFENSE, SEN WARNER SAYS “I don’t think we should rest on the fact that nothing bad happened this time,” Gordon said. “We don’t know whether that communications path has been penetrated, so we don’t know whether state actors that have lots of resources are just sitting and lurking now knowing we do important things on [Signal].” Signal, an encrypted messaging app, is now under the spotlight after it was revealed that top national security leaders had been in a group chat discussing plans to strike terrorists in Yemen, which also included The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief, Jeffrey Goldberg. The chat was made public by a first-hand account of the group chat published by Goldberg in an article Monday. DEMS HAVE LONG HISTORY OF SUPPORTING ENCRYPTED SIGNAL APP AHEAD OF TRUMP CHAT LEAK The Trump administration has maintained that no classified information was shared in the chat, doubling down on Wednesday that The Atlantic’s story was a “hoax” after Goldberg published specific texts from the chat. The messages included Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth outlining that combat aircraft were set to take off and strike drones were ready for the operation, which were accompanied by timestamps. Ret. Gen. Frank McKenzie, former CENTCOM commander, also appeared on the program Sunday, saying that while he was “surprised” at the communications leak, he believed the “larger story” was how the U.S. had “finally begun to strike the Houthis hard,” at a speed “that, frankly, eluded the previous administration.” McKenzie said he “wouldn’t take anything off the table” about how the U.S. would confront the Iranian-backed terror group. “I think we have the capability — actually, right now, in Iran’s weakened state — to threaten them very strongly,” the retired general said. Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report.
Tesla hypocrisy: Dems continue investing in Elon Musk company despite painting him as villain
As the spate of violent attacks, vandalism and doxxings against Tesla owners and workers continues, some Democrats continue to invest in the company despite their party villainizing Elon Musk as corrupt and a “Nazi.” In the last several weeks, a Tesla dealership in Las Vegas was firebombed, a man rammed a four-wheeler into multiple Teslas in Texarkana, Tesla vehicles across the country have been keyed, and a website called “DOGEQUEST” has been set up to dox Tesla owners, seeming to encourage violence against everyday Americans. Democrats have largely ignored these attacks and continued to hit Musk with personal attacks such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, D-N.Y., calling him “sympathetic to Nazis” and “one of the most unintelligent billionaires I have ever met.” Despite their rhetoric, some Democrats are investors in the company currently bearing the brunt of the Musk hatred. Reps. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas, Gil Cisneros, D-Calif., and Ro Khanna, D-Calif., have all purchased Tesla shares since President Donald Trump’s inauguration. TESLA VEHICLES AND DEALERSHIPS THREATENED BY VANDALISM AMID LEFT’S BACKLASH AGAINST ELON MUSK As of March 2025, several other House Democrats, including Reps. Pat Ryan, D-N.Y., Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., Adam Smith, D-Wash., and Dwight Evans, D-Pa., also remain invested in Tesla. One month into the new Trump administration, Cisneros went on Forbes Breaking News to slam Musk and President Donald Trump, calling the first month of the administration “atrocious” and saying that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is “causing destruction.” He also slammed Musk personally, saying, “He basically bought himself the presidency of the United States” and “I have no doubt he is the one calling the shots.” Just days later, however, Cisneros purchased between $1,001 and $15,000 worth of Tesla stock as the company faced a protracted decline in value, likely due to Musk’s sudden wane in popularity. ELON MUSK, DOGE TEAM OFFER UNPRECEDENTED PEAK BEHIND THE CURTAIN OF TRUMP’S COST-CUTTING DEPARTMENT On Feb. 11, Gottheimer issued a statement in which he went full scorched earth on Musk, saying, “the risks to Americans’ privacy and financial security from Musk’s unchecked access are not only unacceptable, but also outright dangerous.” “My constituents are deeply concerned about Elon Musk having unrestricted access to their Social Security numbers, tax refunds, health, and bank account information,” said Gottheimer, adding, “To be clear: No one elected Elon Musk or entrusted him with keeping sensitive data from falling into the hands of our adversaries.” Around the same time, however, Gottheimer disclosed he purchased up to $45,000 in Tesla stock. This month, as anti-Musk rhetoric and attacks began bursting into literal flames, Gonzalez, who said “DOGE’s action is incredibly concerning,” purchased between $65,000 and $150,000 worth of Tesla stock. EXCLUSIVE: GOP MOVES TO DEFUND ‘CHRONICALLY BIASED’ NPR, PBS AFTER DISASTROUS HEARING As Musk and his brands continue to take hits, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt came to his defense, saying last week that “the Democrats used to be the greatest cheerleaders for electric vehicles and for Tesla the company until Elon Musk decided to support and vote for Donald Trump.” “It is getting dangerous, and the White House wholeheartedly condemns it, and we applaud Attorney General Pam Bondi for investigating these acts as domestic terrorism because that is what they are,” said Leavitt. “It’s very clear that the Democrat Party no longer stands for anything; they only stand against Donald Trump, even if it means contradicting themselves.”
RFK Jr talks Kennedy history on first trip as HHS chief, inspires gov to order ‘Mountaineer Mile’ for ‘MAHA’
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said this week it was fitting he chose Martinsburg, West Virginia, for his first trip to promote the “MAHA” agenda, saying his iconic political family has a unique history in the Mountain State. Kennedy recalled former New York Democratic Gov. Al Smith – in whose honor a famous annual Catholic Archdiocese-affiliated dinner is held in New York City – and how he incidentally forced the country to reckon with anti-Catholic biases. Despite being a popular governor in New York who preceded President Franklin Roosevelt in Albany, Kennedy noted Smith’s foray into the presidential arena led to political strife and “a resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan” in parts of the South. Smith lost to Republican President Herbert Hoover “catastrophically,” Kennedy said – as Smith had only won Massachusetts, Rhode Island, five Deep South states and running-mate Sen. Joseph Robinson’s Arkansas. RFK JR BACKS WV PUSH FOR SNAP WAIVERS, WORK MANDATES UNDER ‘MAHA’ “And people all felt, the pundits all felt, that America would never elect a Catholic president,” Kennedy said. So when John F. Kennedy ran for president in 1960, his nephew recalled, the Massachusetts Democrat knew he had to win West Virginia – the state with a then-record-low 2% Catholic population, and where much of the anti-Smith vote in the region during the 1928 cycle came from. “It was critical for my uncle’s campaign that he win this state to show the country that a Catholic could win the presidency,” Kennedy said. “He came down in West Virginia, and his objective was to shake the hands of every person in West Virginia. And I think he came very close.” “And my parents came down; my uncle, my aunts – luckily we have a lot of Kennedys” – he interjected to audience laughter – “and they spent time really getting to know the people of West Virginia and understanding the issues in the state and problems and those things stayed with them throughout his presidency and on Election Day.” JFK ultimately beat Republican Richard Nixon by seven points in the Mountain State, considered a major upset. WV GOV SIGNS RILEY GAINES ACT “He always believed that he would not be president if he had not won this state – and he never forgot that relationship; that bond that he had for the people of this state.” Kennedy said that prior to becoming HHS secretary, much of his anti-pollution work took him to West Virginia, particularly coal country in the southern part of the state. Now, he said, his new role allows him to continue fighting a different type of pollution and “giving people a chance to live healthier lives.” At the event, he and Gov. Patrick Morrisey unveiled a first-in-the-nation policy banning food dyes and certain preservatives in school lunches, with a statewide sunset in 2028. Morrisey also signed a document seeking a waiver from Kennedy’s office to prohibit SNAP food stamps from being used to buy soda, and instituting work requirements for eligibility. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “Today we’re here to focus on making West Virginia healthy,” Morrisey told reporters after Kennedy’s speech. He went on to unveil an “order” of sorts implementing the “Mountaineer Mile,” and added the MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) movement officially began in West Virginia that afternoon. West Virginia is first in obesity rates, with the nearby District of Columbia considered 51st and therefore the healthiest by that metric. Morrisey said he and Kennedy want to change that. “We’re cleaning up our foods, promoting exercise, and putting the ‘Nutrition’ back into SNAP,” the governor said. He also instituted the Mountaineer Mile initiative – urging every Mountaineer to walk at least one mile each day. To that end, Morrisey posted photos on social media of the sunset view from his own Mountaineer Miles walked near his home in the evenings since.
‘Astroturf’: Critics speculate Tesla protests are not a grassroots movement, but carefully organized campaign
Protests unfolded outside of Tesla showrooms across the country this weekend over Elon Musk’s role helping lead President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, sparking questions to fly as to who is funding the purported “grassroots” demonstrations. “Who is funding and organizing all these paid protests?” Musk posted to X early Sunday morning, accompanied by a video clip of podcast host Joe Rogan discussing left-wing protests in recent days. A “Tesla Takedown” movement formed in recent days, with more than 200 protests planned on Saturday in the U.S., and another few hundred planned protests in Canada and Europe as part of the “global day of action.” In the U.S. the protests slated for Saturday were promoted by actors, filmmakers, congressional legislators, academics and activists who led a “mass mobilizing call” last week to rally support, and described in the media as a “grassroots” effort to buck Musk and Trump, while working to tank Tesla’s stock. Tesla locations have faced violence in recent weeks as Musk and his DOGE team investigate federal agencies in search of government overspending, fraud and mismanagement, while critics accuse the Trump administration of creating an “oligarchy” by tapping the billionaire to help streamline federal government operations. DOGE is a temporary cross-departmental organization that was established to slim down and streamline the federal government. The group will be dissolved on July 4, 2026. FEDS ON ALERT FOR TESLA ‘GLOBAL DAY OF ACTION’ AFTER NATIONWIDE VIOLENCE LEADS TO ARRESTS The protests on Saturday were billed as “nonviolent” and showcased people line dancing outside Teslas stores while holding anti-swastika and anti-Musk signs. Others protested for a couple of hours outside of Tesla dealerships, local media outlets reported, with some holding signs reading “DON’T BUY SWASTICAR,” or “Nobody elected Elon.” THE LOUDEST SILENCE: TOP DEMOCRATS REMAIN MUM AMID VIOLENT ATTACKS ON TESLA The U.S. protests on Saturday stretched from New York to Maryland to Texas to California. Many of the rallies saw dozens of protesters, while larger protests, such as one in Chicago, drew crowds of over 100 people, and another in New York drew hundreds of protesters, various media reports show. VANDAL STRIKES CYBERTRUCK, TESLA OWNER HITS BACK “Tesla Takedown is a peaceful protest movement. We oppose violence, vandalism and destruction of property. This protest is a lawful exercise of our First Amendment right to peaceful assembly,” the Action Network, a left-wing advocacy group, described the nationwide protests online. “Rally attenders must be peaceful and nonviolent,” another left-wing group, Indivisible, described a protest in New Jersey, which included directions on what to chant at passersby. “No vandalism of Tesla cars or stores; or insults of Tesla drivers permitted! When Tesla drivers pass we will chant, ‘Sell your Tesla, Trade it in! instead of booing. STAY OFF THE ROADWAY! It is legal for protesters to be on the sidewalk but NOT to be on the roadway or block entrances to businesses, including Tesla. STAY OFF TESLA PROPERTY! We are not allowed on any private property. Indivisible policy forbids engaging with counter protesters (and other protestors) this is for the safety of all people.” A local news outlet, media personalities and conservative critics have speculated that the recent anti-Tesla protests are embroiled in “astroturfing,” which is defined by Merriam-Webster as a campaign “falsely made to appear grassroots.” DISABLED TESLA OWNER TARGETED IN VANDALISM, SAYS ANTI-MUSK PROTESTERS ARE JUST ‘HURTING FAMILIES’ “I know when something is AstroTurf. Fun fact: I was among the first reporters (if not first) to put the concept of ‘Astro Turf’ lobbying into the pages of the Wall Street Journal as an international trade reporter,” former Wall Street Journal correspondent Asra Nomani posted to X after reporting on a Tesla protest last Saturday in Tysons, Virginia, outside of Washington, D.C. TESLA TAKEDOWN: ANTI-MUSK PROTESTERS MOBILIZE FOR GLOBAL DAY OF PROTEST AT HUNDREDS OF TESLA LOCATIONS “While local #TeslaTakedown protests may appear spontaneous and community-driven, they are the product of well-funded, tightly coordinated campaigns led by national political organizations like the Indivisible Project, http://MoveOn.org, and professional protest firms,” Nomani continued. Nomani authored a piece in the Fairfax Times titled, “Local #TeslaTakedown reveals ‘grassroots’ protests are AstroTurf.” “These groups use digital platforms, pre-scripted chants, pre-printed signs, and nationwide toolkits to manufacture the appearance of grassroots activism, and the messages on Tyco Road mirror the language of protests nationwide. This kind of organizing is known as ‘AstroTurfing’ – a term used to describe top-down efforts that mimic authentic, bottom-up civic engagement,” she continued on X. Podcast host Joe Rogan, in a clip shared by Musk, speculated that protesters in past days were receiving money to take part in the anti-Tesla protests. “For a lot of losers, a lot of people who don’t have things going well in their life, and I was a loser at many points in my life, is somebody called me up and said, ‘Hey man, want to make 400 bucks an just go to this Kamala Harris rally?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, let’s go,’” “Joe Rogan Experience” released on Saturday. MUSK SHOULD ‘NOT BE SURPRISED’ WHEN POLITICS ‘COME FOR’ HIS BUSINESS, DEM REP SAYS “They were giving out $1,000 bucks for people to protest, I think it was Tesla. They had like the rules of engagement if someone comes after you… are you organizing gangs? Are you guys paying money for people and then literally saying to them, ‘Here’s what happens if you engage in violence?’ Why is that even on the table? I thought this was peaceful protesting,” he continued, noting he has not seen any reports of pro-Tesla individuals waging violence. Other X users took to social media to speculate and accuse the Tesla protests of being an example of astroturfing. “ASTROTURF: Rep Jasmine Crockett is working with the Soros-backed paid protest group ‘Indivisible’ to organize canned protests at Tesla stores across the US. Here the Democrat congresswoman is asking for Elon to be ‘taken down’ for her birthday,” popular conservative X account Amuse posted to X. “NEW: Tesla protesters stop protesting at the Southlake
Trump says he is ‘pissed off’ with Putin over lack of peace progress: report
President Donald Trump is “pissed off” at Russian President Vladimir Putin for lashing out at Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy this weekend, he told NBC News in an interview. Trump told the outlet that he was frustrated with Putin for not moving in the right direction toward a peace agreement with Ukraine. Putin disparaged Zelenskyy’s leadership on Friday, arguing that a trans-national government may be necessary for Ukraine. “If Russia and I are unable to make a deal on stopping the bloodshed in Ukraine, and if I think it was Russia’s fault — which it might not be — but if I think it was Russia’s fault, I am going to put secondary tariffs on oil, on all oil coming out of Russia,” Trump told the outlet. “That would be that if you buy oil from Russia, you can’t do business in the United States,” he continued. “There will be a 25% tariff on all oil, a 25- to 50-point tariff on all oil.” ELON MUSK TO GIVE TALK IN WISCONSIN AHEAD OF CLOSELY WATCHED STATE SUPREME COURT CONTEST: ‘SUPER IMPORTANT’ Trump nevertheless clarified that his anger will “dissipate quickly” if Putin “does the right thing.” Trump last spoke to Putin last week, and the pair plan to have another conversation this week. RUSSIA, UKRAINE AGREE TO BLACK SEA CEASEFIRE FOLLOWING US TALKS Putin’s latest aggression has gone beyond words as well, with his forces engaging in multiple attacks on Ukrainian targets over the weekend. Four people were killed and 24 were injured Friday evening after Russian drones struck Dnipro in the country’s east, according to regional Gov. Serhii Lysak and Ukraine’s emergency service. At least eight more people were injured when a Russian ballistic missile struck nearby Kryvyi Rih, Zelenskyy’s hometown, Gov. Lysak reported. A drone attack in Kharkiv on Saturday night also killed two people and injured 35 more. Putin himself praised the “strategic initiative” of his forces on Thursday. “Our troops, our guys are moving forward and liberating one territory after another, one settlement after another, every day,” he said at a public forum. Meanwhile, Zelenskyy has urged the U.S. to force Moscow to reign in its aggression. On Thursday, Zelenskyy met with French President Emmanuel Macron ahead of a summit in Paris of some 30 nations about how to strengthen Kyiv’s hand and its military as it pushes for a ceasefire with Russia. Proposals to deploy European troops in the country in tandem with any peace deal are also being discussed. Fox News’ Michael Dorgan and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Trump unloads on Judge Boasberg, ‘radical left judges’ for halting deportations of violent illegal aliens
President Donald Trump slammed U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg and other “radical left judges” for reportedly working to hamper his ability to serve as president through legal orders preventing the deportation of violent illegal immigrants residing in the U.S. “People are shocked by what is going on with the Court System. I was elected for many reasons, but a principal one was LAW AND ORDER, a big part of which is QUICKLY removing a vast Criminal Network of individuals, who came into our Country through the Crooked Joe Biden Open Borders Policy! These are dangerous and violent people, who kill, maim and, in many other ways, harm the people of our Country,” Trump posted to Truth Social on Sunday morning. “The Voters want them OUT, and said so in Record Numbers. If it was up to District Judge Boasberg and other Radical Left Judges, nobody would be removed, the President wouldn’t be allowed to do his job, and people’s lives would be devastated all throughout our Country. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!,” he added. JUDGES EXTEND ORDERS AGAINST DEPORTATION FLIGHTS, INCLUDING WARTIME ACT ON VIOLENT VENEZUELAN GANG MEMBERS Trump’s message comes after Boasberg, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., extended a restraining order on Friday against the use of the Alien Enemies Act, a 1798 wartime immigration law, by the Trump administration to deport violent gang members with alleged ties to gangs, such as Venezuelan criminal organization Tren de Aragua (TdA). Boasberg ruled the extension will run through April 12. EL SALVADOR TAKES IN HUNDREDS OF VENEZUELAN GANG MEMBERS FROM US, EVEN AS JUDGE MOVES TO BLOCK DEPORTATIONS A separate federal judge in Boston, U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy, blocked the deportation of migrants to countries where they have no existing relationship without a chance to go to court to contest that move. The Alien Enemies Act of 1798 allows deportation of natives and citizens of an enemy nation without a hearing, and has been invoked three times before, during the War of 1812, World War I and World War II. On March 15, Boasberg ordered the Trump administration to halt its deportations of illegal immigrants under the wartime powers act. Planes carrying hundreds of suspected gang members, however, had already flown from the U.S. to El Salvador, where the nation’s president had offered to take illegal immigrants of any nationality facing deportation in the U.S. in February, booking the illegal aliens in his country’s notorious prison system. EL SALVADOR AGREES TO ACCEPT US DEPORTEES OF ANY NATIONALITY FOLLOWING MEETING WITH RUBIO APPEALS COURT BLOCKS TRUMP ADMIN’S DEPORTATION FLIGHTS IN ALIEN ENEMIES ACT IMMIGRATION SUIT The Trump administration filed an emergency request for the U.S. appeals court to intervene in the case, and called on the Supreme Court last week to lift the judge’s block to deporting illegal aliens under the wartime act. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “This case presents fundamental questions about who decides how to conduct sensitive national-security-related operations in this country – the President, through Article II, or the judiciary,” acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris told the Supreme Court. “The Constitution supplies a clear answer: the president. The republic cannot afford a different choice.” Fox News Digital’s Alexandra Koch, Breanne Deppisch and Haley Chi-Sing contributed to this report.