Susan Collins defies blue-state headwinds in crucial Senate battle as new poll reveals striking split
A new poll indicates longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins is ahead of her Democratic challenger in a crucial Senate showdown in blue-leaning Maine. Collins, who is running for a sixth six-year term in the Senate, stands at 49% support among likely voters, with former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson, the Democratic nominee, at 46%, with 5% undecided in the New York Times/Siena poll. Collins’ three-point edge is within the survey’s margin of error. Democrats are heavily targeting Collins as they work to flip the seat, which is key to their efforts to win back the Senate majority from the Republicans in the midterm elections. The survey, which was conducted Sept. 15–22, is one of the first to indicate Collins ahead of Jackson since he replaced former Senate nominee Graham Platner in late July. SIX FORCES THAT COULD HELP REPUBLICANS DEFY HISTORY IN THE MIDTERM ELECTIONS Platner, a combat veteran and oyster farmer, won the June Democratic Senate primary in a landslide. But a month later he dropped out following an explosive report containing an allegation of rape from a woman he previously dated. Platner denied the report but stepped aside. Collins slightly trailed Platner in most polling at the time he ended his campaign. Jackson, who campaigned alongside Platner earlier this year as he unsuccessfully ran for governor, won a special nominating convention to fill the party’s vacant Senate nomination. The poll release came as Collins pushed back against a report by ProPublica that the FBI sought to launch a pay-to-play investigation examining Collins and others. The investigation was later dropped and no one working for Collins was charged. Collins ripped the report as “offensive” and a “partisan hit job” orchestrated by Democrats. Jackson took to social media to claim that “Susan Collins is blatantly corrupt.” Collins’ advantage over Jackson in the new survey comes even as 55% of those questioned said they prefer Democrats to control the Senate next year, with 43% saying they’d like the GOP to retain the majority. COLLINS TEARS INTO NEW REPORT ALLEDGING PAY-TO PLAY SCHEME Likely boosting Collins are her favorable ratings, which are in positive territory, at 51%-48%. Meanwhile, Jackson, a fifth-generation logger and a one-time conservative Republican who became a Democrat over two decades ago and who is now running on a progressive platform, is underwater with 41% of those questioned viewing him favorably and 49% holding an unfavorable view. As he quickly became the frontrunner in the abbreviated race to replace Platner, Jackson faced a slew of media reports over his alleged temper and workplace conduct, as well as reported claims of mortgage improprieties and other potential liabilities, including his past strict anti-abortion stance. In August, a resurfaced 1988 police record which detailed accusations that Jackson assaulted a man and pushed his longtime partner during a late-night confrontation in Fort Kent, Maine, grabbed headlines. Jackson, in a statement, said, “I took responsibility for it then, and I take responsibility for it now. But let me be clear: I have never been violent with my partner Lana, or any other woman.” WHO’S UP AND WHO’S DOWN IN THE LATEST FOX NEWS MIDTERM ELECTION POLLING Lana Pelletier, who, according to records, is Jackson’s second cousin, shares two adult children with him. Collins, the only GOP senator seeking re-election in a state President Donald Trump lost in the 2024 election, is facing a rough political climate, amid Trump’s underwater approval ratings, persistent inflation, soaring fuel prices and what polls indicate is an unpopular war with Iran. The senator, known as a moderate Republican who at times has voted against Trump, this summer received bipartisan praise after reaching a milestone by casting her 10,000th consecutive Senate vote. But Democrats are taking aim at Collins over her comments that she didn’t regret her 2018 vote to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, despite his crucial vote four years later to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion ruling. And following the fatal shooting in Maine this summer involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, Democrats heavily criticized the Senate Appropriations Committee chair for her support for ICE funding. But Collins has broken with Trump numerous times in recent months, criticizing his tariff war with neighboring Canada and voting against Attorney General Todd Blanche’s confirmation. The senator has a history of surviving Democratic efforts to unseat her. Six years ago, she trailed Democratic challenger Sara Gideon, the then-Maine House speaker, but the senator ended up winning re-election by nearly nine points while former President Joe Biden carried the state by a similar margin. DEMOCRACY ’26: STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE FOX NEWS ELECTION HUB The New York Times/Siena poll, in collaboration with The Portland Press Herald and sponsored in part by the Maine Trust for Local News, questioned 619 likely voters. Fox News Digital reached out to both the Collins and Jackson campaigns for comment on the new survey, but didn’t receive a response at the time this story was published. The New York Times and Siena on Thursday also released polls on two other crucial Senate showdowns that are must-holds for the Democrats. In neighboring New Hampshire, the survey indicates Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas with a 50%-45% advantage over former Republican Sen. John E. Sununu, in the race to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen. Meanwhile, in Michigan, the poll indicates Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed ahead of former GOP Rep. Mike Rogers 49%-44% in the showdown to succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Gary Peters.
Biden-appointed judge hands Letitia James setback in latest Trump legal clash
New York Attorney General Letitia James’ legal battle against President Donald Trump over DOGE-linked access to sensitive Treasury systems ended Wednesday with a federal judge dismissing the lawsuit she spearheaded with 18 other states. The case stems from Trump’s January 2025 executive order establishing DOGE, which directed executive agencies to create DOGE teams and set July 4, 2026, as the termination date for the U.S. DOGE Service Temporary Organization. James led a coalition – which included New York and 18 other states – that sued the following month after Treasury gave DOGE-affiliated employees access to Bureau of the Fiscal Service systems, which process federal payments and contain sensitive financial information. JUDGE SAYS ISSUES IN TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ANTI-WEAPONIZATION CASE ‘ALIVE AND KICKING’ DESPITE DOJ PUSH Biden-appointed U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas ruled that the “plaintiffs’ claims related to access by DOGE-affiliated employees to sensitive Treasury information are dismissed as moot,” according to Wednesday’s order. Vargas said the Treasury DOGE team had been disbanded, and no DOGE employees remained at Treasury, leaving no access practice for the court to enjoin. She separately dismissed the states’ claims over an automated payment-review system, finding they had not alleged that the process froze or canceled any specific federal payment due to them. The states argued the Trump administration unlawfully opened sensitive Treasury systems to DOGE, putting state financial information and federal payments at risk and exceeding the administration’s legal authority. EXCLUSIVE: INSIDE THE SECRETIVE MINE DOGE HELPED DRAG OUT OF A DECADES-OLD BUREAUCRATIC BLACK HOLE In February 2025, Vargas granted the states a preliminary injunction barring Treasury’s DOGE team from the covered payment systems, then modified the order over the following months to permit access for personnel who complied with specified vetting, training, hiring, reporting and mitigation procedures. The Executive Order established DOGE and called for each department to assemble its own DOGE team to find fraud, waste and abuse before their termination date of July 4. TRUMP’S LAWYERS PUT DEM AG ON NOTICE FOR TARGETING HIS FAMILY IN NY FRAUD FIGHT: ‘CANNOT STAND’ James has been a longtime critic and legal adversary of Trump, launching a civil fraud lawsuit against him and the Trump Organization in 2022 after campaigning on investigating his business practices. The case initially resulted in more than $450 million in penalties, though an appeals court later upheld Trump’s liability while voiding the financial penalty. Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and the office of the New York attorney general for comment.
Top public university’s ‘LGBTQ+ lab’ hit with race-bias complaint amid $700K in Trump-era federal funding
FIRST ON FOX: A University of Maryland research lab that received nearly $700,000 in additional federal funding from the Trump administration this year is facing a civil rights complaint alleging that it uses race and ethnicity to determine access to some research-related opportunities. The Equal Protection Project (EPP) filed the complaint with the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights against UMD’s Lavender Lab, a National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded lab that studies suicide, substance use and other health outcomes among LGBTQ+ people and Black, Indigenous and People of Color. EPP is asking HHS to investigate whether the lab’s LGBTQ+ Teens of Color Advisory Board and its research assistant selection practices give priority to non-White applicants. “Some people may ask what is wrong with prioritizing non-whites in a program which is designed to study non-whites,” EPP founder William Jacobson told Fox News Digital. “When you receive federal funding, you cannot discriminate in the administration of your programs.” JUSTICE DEPARTMENT LAUNCHES TITLE VI INVESTIGATION INTO DEI PROGRAMS AT ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY “You do not need to have an advisory board, you do not need to hire research assistants based on race to fulfill the purposes of this grant,” Jacobson continued. The complaint comes as the Lavender Lab continues receiving millions of dollars through the NIH for research examining alcohol and drug use among “sexual minority adolescents of color.” One of the lab’s principal projects, titled “Long-Term and Daily Associations Among Intersectional Minority Stress, Structural Oppression, and Alcohol Use and Misuse Among Sexual Minority Adolescents of Color,” began in May 2022 and is scheduled to run through April 2027. The complaint cites approximately $3.6 million in total federal obligations and roughly $2.2 million in outlays at the time of its filing. NIH records cited in the complaint show the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism provided another $695,192 for the project for fiscal year 2026. The complaint points first to the lab’s LGBTQ+ Teens of Color Advisory Board, which said it was “specifically looking for teens in the US who identify as both LGBTQ+ and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) to join our board” in an Instagram post. A NEW YORK UNIVERSITY FACES JUSTICE DEPARTMENT INVESTIGATION OVER ‘BLACK MALE INITIATIVE’ According to the complaint, board members are paid to help review research, provide feedback and participate in professional-development activities, with some also receiving leadership opportunities. EPP also targeted the Lavender Lab’s research-assistant program, which offers positions to undergraduate and master’s-level students. Although the positions are generally unpaid, the complaint stated that undergraduate research assistants may receive academic course credit, and some students may be able to participate through federal work-study. Research assistants generally commit to at least two semesters and a minimum of eight hours per week. The lab stated it “especially encourage[s] and invite[s] candidates from traditionally marginalized backgrounds” to apply and that applicants with experience conducting research involving “LGBTQ and BIPOC communities” through “cultural humility, intersectionality, and social justice approaches” will receive the “strongest consideration.” “Discrimination based on race or ethnicity at institutions receiving federal funding is unlawful regardless of which group is targeted or benefits,” Jacobson said. “Treating individuals as avatars of their demographic identity rather than as individuals with unique merits and circumstances undermines fairness, merit, social cohesion, and the rule of law.” TRUMP ADMIN’S PUSH TO SCRAP DEI IN FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TAKES LANDMARK STEP WITH NEW HIRING RULE EPP alleges that the language indicates race or ethnicity may play a role in the selection process. The complaint asks HHS to investigate whether the practices violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color or national origin in federally funded programs, as well as the Affordable Care Act. “Because the Lavender Lab is operating under an HHS health care related grant, the non-discrimination provisions of the Affordable Care Act must be adhered to, and HHS has authority to enforce those provisions,” Jacobson said. EPP’s complaint also questions federal funding for research focused on intersectionality, which the Lavender Lab says guides its work. The lab studies how sexual-minority status, race, ethnicity and what it calls “structural oppression” affect health outcomes. “The conduct at the Lavender Lab calls into question whether HHS should be funding intersectionality-focused research at all,” Jacobson said. “Intersectionality is a race- and ethnicity-focused group-identity approach. It is no surprise that where the focus is racial identity that programming could cross the line into civil rights violations.” Jacobson said EPP has found federal dollars going to programs that use intersectionality and is calling for tighter rules on that funding. SIGN UP TO GET THE POLITICS NEWSLETTER “We have identified hundreds of millions of dollars of federal funding for programs that incorporate intersectionality,” Jacobson said. “Given the civil rights danger from an ‘intersectional’ approach, we call on the administration to issue a new executive order and agency guidance closing the ‘intersectionality loophole‘ by including intersectionality in the ban on unlawful discriminatory DEI practices in federal grantmaking.” Fox News Digital reached out to the University of Maryland, HHS and the White House for comment.
Reporter’s Notebook: A guide to the college sports vote and Senate’s Ohio showdown
The Senate is poised to possibly pass by the end of this week a bill fundamentally altering money and eligibility rules in college sports. The Senate will take a test vote on the measure on Thursday. More than 70 senators support the bill that establishes a ceiling for how much money schools can allocate to pay students for their name, image and likeness. The legislation also limits transfers and sets eligibility standards. The Senate could pass the bill later on Thursday if there’s a time agreement. But does the Senate really want to make college sports the punctuation point before it leaves for the midterms? It’s possible that senators have no other choice. REPUBLICANS JUST GOT A POWERFUL NEW PLAYBOOK FOR THE BATTLE FOR CONGRESS. HERE’S WHAT’S INSIDE Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., wants to do a bipartisan permitting reform bill. The legislation would deal with data centers, drilling and environmental concerns — but that bill is aspirational and not yet ready for a vote. Thune said last night that the odds favored the Senate staying in session next week, which they were scheduled to do anyway. What has emerged is a dispute over the Ratepayer Protection Act. That bill passed the House last week 417-3. It would defray the cost of utilities consumers must pay if they reside near data centers. Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, is one of the most vulnerable Republicans on the ballot this fall. He’s faced criticism back home for his support for data centers. So Husted asked the Senate last week to pass the House bill on the spot. FOX NEWS POLL: ECONOMIC ANXIETY AND CANDIDATE CONCERNS DEFINE OHIO SENATE RACE Reluctant to give Husted a win, Democrats blocked him. Now Republicans may want to stay in session and run all of the parliamentary traps to pass the Ratepayer Protection Act. For Republicans, that’s a better exclamation point before the recess. But look at this exchange yesterday between yours truly and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.: Pergram: Was this blocked in the Senate last week by Democrats as an effort to prevent Senator Husted from having a win in his competitive race? Schumer: Sen. Husted’s bill is a fraud. It’s voluntary. No company has to do it. The bill we have is mandatory. It is much stronger and is what is needed. WHO PAYS FOR US POWER BOOM? BLUE, RED STATES OFFER STARKLY DIFFERENT WAYS TO LOWER UTILITY BILLS AMID AI SURGE Republicans are sure to capitalize on the “fraud” part. You may even hear that in ads back in Ohio. Republicans will emphasize that Schumer is calling a bill which commanded 417 yeas in the House a “fraud.” Therefore, Republicans want to get Democrats on the record about this bill. That could help lift the GOP before the midterms. And certainly Husted. So, it’s possible that once the Senate is done with this bill, it remains in session and tackles this measure next week — finally emphasizing an affordability issue.
Trump administration uncovers $1.2B in suspected COVID contract fraud tied to Biden-era spending
FIRST ON FOX: The Vance-led anti-fraud task force and the General Services Administration uncovered more than $1.2 billion in suspected COVID-era contract fraud as the White House anti-fraud task force continues its crackdown across the country. The General Services Administration, along with the Department of Health and Human Services, found that COVID emergency contracting continued after the pandemic emergency officially ended. The agencies also revealed that millions of vaccine contracts were awarded even after the pandemic ended under the Biden administration. “The COVID emergency ended over three years ago, yet fraudsters continue to weaponize outdated emergency contracts to abuse taxpayer dollars,” GSA Administrator Edward C. Forst told Fox News Digital in a statement. “Thanks to the leadership of President Trump and Vice President Vance’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, GSA uncovered $1.22 billion in suspected fraud across five HHS COVID-era contracts.” AG BLANCHE UNVEILS FEDERAL CHARGES AGAINST 160 DEFENDANTS IN PANDEMIC RELIEF SWEEP “GSA will continue to work with the Vice President’s task force to stop improper payments, refer suspected fraud to law enforcement, and fight to recover every dollar,” he added. While the funding uncovered is not currently tied to criminal charges for contractors, the agencies have pinpointed a significant amount of taxpayer dollars that may have otherwise been distributed for COVID vaccines and other pandemic-related services long after the national emergency ended. GSA estimates that an estimated 93% of the funding for the contracts has not yet been distributed to vendors, while roughly 6.78% has already been expended. The agency has since suspended payments to contractors as part of the initiative. “The COVID emergency ended in 2023. The emergency contract advantage didn’t — until now.” WHITE HOUSE PUSHES ‘WATERSHED’ FRAUD-FIGHTING REFORM IN CONGRESS AS VANCE CONVENES TASK FORCE White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud Executive Director Scott Brady told Fox News Digital in a statement. “GSA’s review uncovered $1.22 billion in suspected fraud and stopped $41 million more across five HHS COVID-era contracts that kept the emergency label alive long after the emergency was gone.” Brady said that allocated emergency funding “is a privilege, not a blank check,” while describing contractors who received funding to combat the pandemic at the time as “honest.” He characterized any funding that was distributed beyond the emergency as a “free pass.” WHITE HOUSE LAUNCHES INTERACTIVE MAP TRACKING BILLIONS IN SUSPECTED FRAUD The announcement comes after the General Services Administration found more than $13 billion in suspected contractor fraud in late August, and the Trump administration has declared a total of more than $245.7 billion has been uncovered since the president took office and that it has prevented an annualized $62.9 billion in fraudulent payments. The White House anti-fraud task force also says that more than $59.1 billion in indictments and settlements are being enforced. WHITE HOUSE TO YANK 750,000 FRAUDSTERS OFF OBAMACARE, SAVE TAXPAYERS $2.2 BILLION, VANCE SAYS The Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees Medicare and Medicaid, has uncovered the most significant amount of fraud at $96.4 billion. As for the beneficiaries of fraudulent activity, the Trump administration has identified some foreign nationals who have infiltrated the federal contracting system and acquired funds while still residing in their home countries. EXCLUSIVE: FBI’S FIFTH MOST WANTED FRAUDSTER CAPTURED AFTER ALLEGED SNAP SCAM SUSPECT ARRESTED IN INDIA Earlier this month the FBI released a “Most Wanted” list highlighting alleged fraud suspects as the administration continues its broader crackdown on fraud. Officials say the involvement of foreign nationals in multiple schemes has heightened concerns about overseas actors exploiting U.S. government programs. Among those named is Onur Simsek, a Turkish national whom the FBI believes is living in Turkey. Prosecutors accuse Simsek of leading a defense procurement fraud scheme that secured U.S. military contracts by falsely certifying Turkish-made parts as tested and qualified, potentially rendering critical military equipment inoperable. FRAUD EXPERT EXPOSES HOW HIDDEN NETWORKS DROVE MINNESOTA FRAUD, OTHER MAJOR SCAMS: ‘CRIMINAL ENTERPRISE’ Federal authorities allege Simsek is one of a number of foreign nationals who have infiltrated and exploited U.S. federal funds to obtain taxpayer funds. In an interview with Fox News Digital last month, Vice President JD Vance said authorities have observed what he described as a “clear pattern” in some fraud cases involving immigrant communities. “You definitely see patterns in certain communities,” Vance said. “It’ll start as maybe one Somali person takes advantage of the system, or realizes you don’t even have to have children to get money from these programs. You could just claim that you have children, there’s no verification. Then, word spreads like wildfire, and that program gets tapped into by the same members of that community.”
Trump-Xi summit could hold key to lower gas prices, GOP chairman says
President Donald Trump has a prime opportunity to help lower costs for Americans in his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, the top GOP lawmaker overseeing U.S. diplomacy told Fox News Digital. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast, R-Fla., argued that China is one of the biggest culprits in Americans’ current struggle with high cost of living — particularly at the gas pump. He blamed China’s willingness to arm Iran in its ongoing conflict with the U.S., which has wreaked havoc on global trade by effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz. “If President Trump can secure that China will stop arming Iran, who is trying to destabilize this key oil route through the globe, then the president will have done something very important for affordability, especially in terms of global crude prices, which equal prices at the pump here in the United States of America,” Mast said. TRUMP-XI SUMMIT SHOULD MAKE SURE AMERICAN STRENGTH DELIVERS AMERICAN RESULTS Cost of living and affordability are fast becoming top issues in the coming November midterm elections, with both parties accusing the other of pushing policies that will make life more expensive for everyday Americans. Gas prices are a particular flashpoint, with the ongoing U.S. war with Iran being blamed for the rising cost of oil. TRUMP-BACKED IOWA US SENATE HOPEFUL SAYS IRAN WAR MUST ‘BE BROUGHT TO A SUCCESSFUL AND IMMEDIATE END’ The current national average cost of a gallon of gas is $4.47, up more than 30 cents since Sept. 3. Mast said China “probably is the number one actor that is working to raise those prices,” with its support of both Iran and Russia’s wars. BESSENT PREDICTS OIL PRICES COULD DROP AS LOW AS $40 AFTER IRAN CONFLICT ENDS AND SUPPLY FLOODS MARKET He said Trump has a prime opportunity on Thursday to press Xi on easing up on that support for Tehran, in particular. “China is arming Iran so that Iran can indiscriminately attack civilians moving through the strait. That is the fundamental difference about what China is doing … the United States, looking to protect all of those resources going through there, the civilians going on the ships through there and the civilians across all of the countries throughout the Gulf,” Mast said. Over the last two months, Mast said, Trump “moved over a billion barrels of oil through the Strait of Hormuz.” “He’s moved over 2,000 ships through the Strait of Hormuz, civilian merchant ships through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has moved nothing. But that doesn’t mean that the global oil markets don’t see instability,” Mast said. WHO CONTROLS THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ RIGHT NOW? HERE’S WHAT THE SHIP TRAFFIC ACTUALLY SHOWS Thursday’s summit will mark Trump’s third meeting with Xi of this term, and Xi’s first visit to the U.S. since the commander-in-chief returned to the White House last year. Asked what leverage Trump has to press Xi on Iran, Mast pointed to the Russia-Iran sanctions bill the president recently signed into law. That legislation was named after the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., one of the most vocal critics of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “China is the number one target for that sanctions bill. It would affect, has the potential to affect, a great deal of trade if President Trump chooses not to waive some of his sanction authorities that he’s given in that bill,” Mast said.
Federal appeals court deals blow to Trump deportation agenda
A federal appeals court formally struck down the Trump administration’s current format for deporting illegal immigrants to third-party countries on Tuesday. The Court of Appeals for the First Circuit issued a ruling last week that endorsed a lower court order that Immigration and Customs Enforcement must allow migrants a meaningful chance to claim they would be endangered if deported to a third-party country. This week, however, ICE officials attempted to move forward with deporting at least one migrant, who originally hails from Peru, to Ghana. LIBERIA AGREES TO ACCEPT 1,200 THIRD-COUNTRY DEPORTEES FROM US WITHIN A YEAR The Trump administration has repeatedly used third-party countries for deportations to execute removal orders on migrants who claim they would be tortured if returned to their country of origin. ICE argued the Peruvian migrant, identified as John Doe, could still be removed because the First Circuit had not formally issued a mandate striking down the policy, according to The American Prospect. TRUMP PLANS TO DEPORT IRANIANS TO VIOLENCE-PLAGUED CENTRAL AFRICAN NATION IN NEW DEAL When asked for a clarification this week, the First Circuit formally issued that mandate, striking down a stay that had allowed third-party deportations to continue while the case was being litigated in higher courts. “Consistent with this court’s September 18, 2026, Judgment, the March 16, 2026, stay pending appeal is dissolved,” the appeals court wrote in a brief order on Wednesday. FEDERAL APPEALS COURT COMPARES TRUMP MIGRANT DETENTION POLICY TO JAPANESE AMERICAN INTERNMENT The First Circuit’s ruling upheld a February 2026 decision from Judge Brian Murphy, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, who contended that the third-party deportations violated migrants’ due process rights because it could send them to unfamiliar or dangerous countries without their knowledge. First Circuit Judge Seth Aframe, one of two Biden appointees on a three-judge panel that handed down last week’s ruling, argued that Murphy was “sensible” to require DHS to allow migrants a “meaningful” chance to raise concerns about a country to which they could be deported. “DHS’s proposed interpretation would deny access to that protection to a substantial swath of noncitizens who are sent to third countries with no notice of their destination,” Aframe wrote. “We decline to adopt such an interpretation.” Reuters contributed to this report.
Trump needs to warn China’s Xi against ‘dangerous alliance’ with Iran, expert says
President Donald Trump needs to warn Chinese President Xi Jinping against pursuing a “dangerous alliance” with Iran when the two world leaders meet at the White House Thursday, an expert told Fox News Digital. Jonathan Schanzer, the executive director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, made the remark after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi reportedly told Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi during talks in Beijing last week that China was prepared to play a “constructive role” in resolving international disputes. The U.S. war against Iran is nearing the 7-month mark. “The president needs to tell Xi Jinping that this is a dangerous alliance. The Chinese assistance to the Iranian regime has actually spanned a number of fronts,” Schanzer told Fox News Digital. “The first is, of course, the provision of drone parts and motors. This has actually helped the Islamic Republic attack all of its neighbors. “On top of that, they’ve been providing some dual-use chemicals that have been helping the Iranians with their missile program. On top of that, we’ve watched a lot of targeting that looks a little bit too precise for the Iranian regime. So that looks like it may be helped from the Chinese as well,” Schanzer continued. CHINA’S XI JINPING SET TO ARRIVE IN WASHINGTON FOR HIGH-STAKES TRUMP SUMMIT AS AI SUPREMACY BATTLE LOOMS LARGE “On top of that, there’s an economic relationship that I think is keeping the Islamic Republic afloat while it continues to hammer away at the oil economy worldwide. These are all things that need to stop. And the hope here is, of course, that Donald Trump is going to make a demand here that Xi Jinping stop all of this,” he said. When asked to respond to the Chinese and Iranian foreign ministers meeting in Beijing, Schanzer said, “When you look at what’s happening here, it’s pretty clear that the Chinese government is just not ashamed of this at all.” TRUMP TO ASK XI TO FREE WRONGFULLY DETAINED US CITIZEN AS WIFE SPEAKS OUT “In other words, there’s a war going on. The Iranians have spiked the price of oil. They have clogged the Strait of Hormuz. They’re looking to do the same in the Bab al-Mandab, and they are completely unashamed by this. It’s important for Donald Trump to bare his teeth here and to make it clear that the Iranians cannot get this kind of support and that the Chinese government is at risk of escalating with the United States,” he added. A senior administration official told Fox News Digital that when Trump last visited China in mid-May, he and Xi agreed that Iran cannot obtain a nuclear weapon and that the Strait of Hormuz should be reopened without any tolls. “I think the big thing in the background here is that we’re obviously watching great power competition between two of the world’s largest economies and largest militaries,” Schanzer also said ahead of Thursday’s meeting. “The thing that I watch right now is that Taiwan is clearly the main target for the Chinese Communist Party. They want to reunite with the island, as they would call it, and they’re putting enormous pressure on Taiwan with that in mind. The United States needs to stand pat here. We have an enormous amount invested in chips in Taiwan, the Taiwan Semiconductor Company. This is the big one here. And if we’re going to win the AI race, we need to maintain control of that company. More importantly, we need to make sure that that island remains secure.”
The unlikely South American ally helping US troops with ‘jail or hell’ drug cartel crackdown
NEW YORK — Ecuador has emerged as a key regional ally in President Donald Trump’s expanding crackdown on drug cartels and narcoterrorism, with U.S. and Ecuadorian forces working side by side to intercept narcotics shipments and dismantle transnational criminal networks, the country’s foreign minister told Fox News Digital. Foreign Minister Roberto Kury said the increasingly close cooperation with Washington has delivered “a lot of positive results” in recent months, pointing specifically to drug shipments uncovered through U.S. intelligence and joint work on the ground. “There is an intelligence (sic) and cooperation from the United States, but there is also always the presence of Ecuadorian military or police. They work together,” Kury told Fox News Digital in an interview on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly this week. “Most of the drugs go to the United States. So that’s why the United States shares the problem,” Kury noted of the stakes. U.S. and Ecuadorian forces on Wednesday “neutralized” what Defense Minister Gian Carlo Loffredo described as one of Ecuador’s “highest value military targets” — immediate proof of the growing partnership in the two nations’ war on narcoterrorism. “Alias ‘Charlie’ belonged to the Los Choneros group and the Oliver Sinisterra Front from Colombia, had ties to Mexico’s Jalisco New Generation Cartel, and his main mission was to sow terror in our country. We promised it: “Jail or hell” and this one didn’t make it to jail,” Loffredo wrote on X. War Secretary Pete Hegseth reposted and amplified that message, writing on X: “The Americas Counter Cartel Coalition (A3C) in action.” US MILITARY BOARDS, SEARCHES AND SINKS VESSEL ALLEGEDLY SUPPORTING LOS CHONEROS NARCO-TERRORISTS For Ecuador, the stakes are enormous. Roughly 70% of the world’s cocaine passes through Ecuadorian ports, an FBI official told lawmakers earlier this year, according to the Congressional Research Service, as criminal groups battle for control of trafficking routes carrying cocaine produced in neighboring Colombia and Peru to markets abroad. For the U.S., Ecuador has become a proving ground for an early priority laid out in Trump’s foreign policy: using American military power against threats closer to home as Washington turns its attention back toward the Western Hemisphere. The explosion in the drug trade has transformed the small South American country. Once considered one of Latin America’s safer countries, Ecuador is now at the frontline of the region’s cartel fight, fueling a surge in violence that prompted President Daniel Noboa to declare an “internal armed conflict” against criminal groups and deploy the military against them. “We have found many drugs and shipments through this cooperation, so it’s very positive for Ecuador,” Kury said of the partnership with the U.S. Asked whether U.S. forces were participating directly in operations against cartels rather than limiting their role to intelligence and training, Kury was unequivocal about the joint nature of the effort, noting, “They work together with our local authorities.” But Kury stopped short of giving Washington carte blanche to use military force inside Ecuador when asked whether his government would permit the U.S. to strike a cartel target on Ecuadorian soil. WHITE HOUSE HIGHLIGHTS ‘STEEPEST’ EVER DECLINE IN US CASUALTIES FROM CARTELS AMID BOAT STRIKES “Ecuador has our sovereignty, and they respect that sovereignty,” Kury said, adding that Quito welcomes U.S. involvement “as long as we work together, aligned with our local military and our local police.” Kury’s comments come as Ecuador has emerged as a testing ground for the Trump administration’s effort to take the fight against Latin American drug cartels beyond maritime interdictions and into partnered military operations on land. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has praised Ecuador as the U.S.’ most “aggressive” partner in its Western Hemisphere crackdown. He told reporters during a recent trip to Quito that U.S. and Ecuadorian “elite forces” from both countries “are working jointly on a day-to-day basis in a way that has no precedent in order to try to dismantle these terrorist organizations.” The U.S. military is also shifting MQ-9 Reaper drones from Africa to Latin America ahead of anticipated operations against drug cartels, CNN reported Friday, the latest sign of Washington’s growing military footprint in the region. The drones are being reassigned from U.S. Africa Command to U.S. Southern Command as the administration expands a campaign that has already included strikes on suspected drug-smuggling vessels and closer operations with regional partners. Ecuador battles a cocaine trade that President Noboa has estimated at roughly $30 billion a year. The country is looking to Washington for additional help taking on the criminal organizations behind the explosion. Noboa said this week that his government asks the U.S. for help “every day” as Ecuador seeks to choke off a drug trade that has fueled years of violence and transformed the once relatively peaceful South American nation into a key front in the regional fight against organized crime. Kury said Ecuador and other countries in the region need more than funding from Washington as criminal groups increasingly operate across national borders. “Our countries in Latin America have the problem that we need support,” Kury said. “We need not only monetary support but also intelligence, technical cooperation.” “That’s why we have the Shield of the Americas,” he added, pointing to the U.S.-led regional initiative against cartels. “I think that the whole Latin American continent should work together.” The growing relationship extends beyond the cartel fight: Ecuador has also agreed to accept some third-country nationals deported from the U.S., part of the Trump administration’s effort to enlist regional partners in carrying out its immigration agenda. Kury told Fox News Digital there are limits and “explicit rules” governing the arrangement, describing Ecuador as a temporary stop rather than the final destination for those sent there. “The deported people come to Ecuador for a few hours, one day, two days, and they are then deported back to their country of origin,” Kury said. “So it’s the way to cooperate, and that’s how we support each other, each country.” Kury emphasized that Quito wants the expanding relationship with Washington
Senators press President Trump to release home heating oil reserves amid soaring prices
Maine’s two U.S. senators, Republican Sen. Susan Collins and independent Sen. Angus King, Jr., have urged President Donald Trump to unleash home heating oil reserves in a bid to help alleviate elevated prices. “We write to request that you release home heating oil from the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve to protect Mainers from the very high prices that are imposing a difficult financial burden,” the lawmakers pressed the president in a Tuesday letter. The statewide average heating oil price was $5.77 as of Sept. 14, according to the Maine Department of Energy Resources. That figure is about 74% higher than back when the statewide heating oil average price was $3.32 as of September 15, 2025. COLLINS LIGHTS UP INTERNET WITH RESPONSE TO DEM CHALLENGER FATHERING CHILDREN WITH RELATIVE: ‘STONE COLD’ The lawmakers asserted in their letter that “the conflict in the Middle East and the Russia-Ukraine War have prevented additional heating oil from reaching the global market. Maine is particularly vulnerable to global supply shocks because our state imports much of our home heating oil.” Collins, a moderate Republican who has served in the U.S. Senate for nearly three decades, is running for re-election again this year. King, while an independent, is listed as a member of the Senate Democratic caucus. TRUMP TELLS ZELENSKYY TO STOP DOING ‘ONE THING’ DURING ATTACKS ON RUSSIA Americans have been facing elevated fuel prices, with the AAA national average for diesel hitting its highest recorded average price of $6.5276 as of Tuesday, before barely creeping down to $6.5217 as of Wednesday, then $6.5141 as of Thursday. The AAA national average price for regular gas is $4.4825 as of Thursday, still below the record of $5.0165 that was set in June 2022. TRUMP MEETS WITH IRANIAN OFFICIALS SHORTLY AFTER THREATENING ANNIHILATION Fox News Digital reached out to the White House on Thursday.