Trump says Venezuela has begun releasing political prisoners ‘in a BIG WAY’
President Donald Trump said Saturday that Venezuela has begun releasing political prisoners “in a BIG WAY,” crediting U.S. intervention for the move following last week’s American military operation in the country. “Venezuela has started the process, in a BIG WAY, of releasing their political prisoners,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Thank you! I hope those prisoners will remember how lucky they got that the USA came along and did what had to be done.” He added a warning directed at those being released: “I HOPE THEY NEVER FORGET! If they do, it will not be good for them.” The president’s comments come one week after the United States launched Operation Absolute Resolve, a strike on Venezuela and capture of dictator Nicolás Maduro as well as his wife Cilia Flores, transporting them to the United States to face federal drug trafficking charges. US WARNS AMERICANS TO LEAVE VENEZUELA IMMEDIATELY AS ARMED MILITIAS SET UP ROADBLOCKS Following the military operation, Trump said the U.S. intends to temporarily oversee Venezuela’s transition of power, asserting American involvement “until such time as a safe, proper and judicious transition” can take place and warning that U.S. forces stand ready to escalate if necessary. At least 18 political prisoners were reported freed as of Saturday and there is no comprehensive public list of all expected releases, Reuters reported. Maduro and Flores were transported to New York after their capture to face charges in U.S. federal court. The Pentagon has said that Operation Absolute Resolve involved more than 150 aircraft and months of planning. TRUMP ADMIN SAYS MADURO CAPTURE REINFORCES ALIEN ENEMIES ACT REMOVALS Trump has said the U.S. intends to remain actively involved in Venezuela’s security, political transition and reconstruction of its oil infrastructure. The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Justice urges ‘stand up for our girls’ as Supreme Court weighs fate of his ‘Save Women’s Sports Act’
EXCLUSIVE: As governor of West Virginia, Jim Justice in 2021 signed the Save Women’s Sports Act – prohibiting transgender girls from competing in women’s sports. Now that he represents the state in the U.S. Senate, his law faces Supreme Court scrutiny next week with national implications. Justice spoke Saturday to Fox News Digital – after he coached the Greenbrier East High School girls’ basketball team to a win over Hedgesville – about the high stakes of the case, and why banning states from keeping biological males out of female scholastic sports would unfairly disadvantage young women. A transgender girl from the Bridgeport area named in court documents as “B. P. J.” sued to overturn it and be able to play on girls’ sports teams, and the case has made its way up the chain to the nation’s highest court. A trial court upheld the law in 2023, but it was overturned on appeal in April 2024 and the Supreme Court agreed in July to hear the case, scheduling arguments for Tuesday. STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL INVOLVED IN SCOTUS TRANS ATHLETE CASE RESPONDS AS 130 DEMS BACK MALES IN WOMEN’S SPORTS “Why in the world don’t we step up and stand behind all the young girls and all the women who are trying to participate in athletics?” Justice told Fox News Digital courtside at the Spartans’ match near Berkeley Springs. “It is unbelievable what they’ve done, and I am so proud of them — And to absolutely just walk away, turn our back and say, ‘Oh, well, it’s OK for us to [let] boys participate against their girls” — I am off-the-chart absolutely standing with our women.” Citing his own experience coaching girls from Greenbrier East in Lewisburg, Justice said he sees every day how hard they work and maintained “they absolutely don’t deserve to be disadvantaged.” SUPREME COURT TO REVIEW STATE BANS ON TRANSGENDER ATHLETES’ PARTICIPATION IN SCHOOL SPORTS “This court case is hugely important,” he said, accompanied by his celebrity canine companion Babydog. “At the end of the day, if we can’t stand up for our girls; stand up for our women; I don’t know what in the world is wrong with us.” Justice was one of several lawmakers who filed an amicus brief in support of West Virginia and Attorney General JB McCuskey as he and Justice’s successor, Gov. Patrick Morrisey, bring the case before the bench. The brief signaled Justice’s assertion that Congress must be the one to offer any expansion of Title IX – the 1972 civil rights law prohibiting sex-based discrimination – beyond biological sex to include gender identity. TRANS ATHLETE’S FAMILY FILES RESPONSE IN SUPREME COURT WOMEN’S SPORTS CASE “I think absolutely that Congress should be the one to expand it, but beyond that, I don’t know why we’d even consider it,” Justice said. “You should see how hard our girls work all the time to perfect what they’re doing, to absolutely have a dream of going to college and playing ball. My daughter played college basketball. I’ve been there,” Justice said. “We’ve seen a situation where a man basically is competing against our girls or our women and absolutely prevails. And then we see the tragedy of how… tough that is on our girls and women,” he said. Always quick to tout the virtues of his home state, Justice also spoke about how important it is to see Mountaineers leading the charge on the transgender sports issue. ATTORNEY GENERAL LEADING THE SUPREME COURT TRANS ATHLETE CASE DEFENSE SPEAKS OUT “West Virginia is so good in so many ways,” the famed Greenbrier proprietor said, adding that the arguments McCuskey’s team is preparing to make on Tuesday fit right into the state’s modus operandi: “I’ve said it over and over, we are bound with logic, common sense, goodness, good neighbors, people that are appreciative and loving — It is absolutely unbelievable how we stepped up during COVID, all the different things we did, we led the nation over and over.” “Now the nation is awakening, the world is awakening just how great West Virginia truly is. But our people are the real deal. That’s all there is to it,” he said. 130 DEMOCRAT CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVES URGE SCOTUS TO SIDE WITH TRANS ATHLETE IN TITLE IX LEGAL BATTLE On the other side of the case, B.P.J. is seeking to play on her high school sports teams with girls. This past year, B.P.J. qualified for the West Virginia girls high school state track meet, finishing third in the discus-throw and eighth in the shot-put in the Class AAA division. She has identified as female since third grade and has been taking puberty-blocking medication. The plaintiffs have complained of harassment and intimidation over their lawsuit. The Supreme Court will formally decide on both West Virginia’s law and an Idaho policy. The Justice Department supports the laws and will be allotted time during oral arguments. The Save Women’s Sports Act was spearheaded in the West Virginia legislature by GOP Dels. Evan Worrell of Barboursville, Wayne Clark of Charles Town and Jonathan Pinson of Ravenswood. Fox News Digital’s Olivia Palombo and Fox News’ Shannon Bream and Bill Mears contributed to this report.
Hochul, AOC, Mamdani slam ‘we support Hamas’ chants at Queens protest: ‘Disgusting and antisemitic’
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and Democratic socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani condemned chants of “we support Hamas” after demonstrators were filmed chanting the phrase during a protest in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood in Queens. Video from the protest shows demonstrators waving Palestinian flags while chanting support for Hamas, which the U.S. government designates as a terrorist organization. The clip circulated widely on social media and drew swift condemnation from leaders at the city, state and federal levels. Ocasio-Cortez sharply criticized both the chants and the location of the protest. AOC TO DELIVER OPENING REMARKS AT MAMDANI’S INAUGURATION, BERNIE SANDERS TO ADMINISTER OATH OF OFFICE “Hey so marching into a predominantly Jewish neighborhood and leading with a chant saying ‘we support Hamas’ is a disgusting and antisemitic thing to do,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote on X. “Pretty basic!” Hochul also shared video of the chants on X, issuing a forceful rebuke. “Hamas is a terrorist organization that calls for the genocide of Jews,” Hochul wrote. “No matter your political beliefs, this type of rhetoric is disgusting, it’s dangerous, and it has no place in New York.” ANTISEMITIC THREATS ESCALATE NATIONWIDE AS PROTESTERS CALL FOR REPEAT OF OCT 7 MASSACRE The protest featured pro-Hamas demonstrators chanting in unison while holding Palestinian flags. Mamdani addressed the chants later that day, advocating for public safety while defending the constitutional right to protest. “As I said earlier today, chants in support of a terrorist organization have no place in our city,” Mamdani wrote. “We will continue to ensure New Yorkers’ safety entering and exiting houses of worship as well as the constitutional right to protest.” In an interview with Fox News’ Martha MacCallum on Fox News’ The Story last October, Mamdani refused to condemn Hamas, instead pivoting to discussing affordability for New Yorkers. Hamas is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, and federal law prohibits providing material support to designated terrorist groups. New York Attorney General Letitia James also weighed in on social media, posting a brief message condemning the chants. “Hamas is a terrorist organization. We do not support terrorists. Period.” The incident comes as tensions remain high nationwide over protests related to the Israel-Hamas conflict following the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks. Ocasio-Cortez and Mamdani did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
ICE arrests in Minnesota surge include numerous convicted child rapists, killers
FIRST ON FOX: ICE officials on Saturday released a shocking list of the “worst of the worst” criminal illegal immigrants arrested during their recent surge in the sanctuary state of Minnesota, including child rapists and nearly a dozen killers. ICE told Fox News the criminal illegal immigrants were roaming freely in Minnesota prior to their recent arrests, and they are the type of people Democratic politicians and activists are referring to as their “neighbors” as they attempt to interfere with ICE. “Regardless of staged political theatrics, ICE is going to continue to arrest the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens in Minnesota and elsewhere,” ICE Director Todd M. Lyons wrote in a statement. “Some of these criminal aliens have had final orders of removal for 30 years, but they’ve been free to terrorize Minnesotans.” AG PAM BONDI WARNS MINNESOTA PROTESTERS AFTER ICE SHOOTING: ‘DO NOT TEST OUR RESOLVE’ “ICE’s arrests prevent recidivism and make communities safer, but it feels like local politicians want to ignore that part and drum up discontent rather than protect their own constituents,” he added. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt reacted to the arrests on X Saturday, calling the convicts “sick people.” “This is why we have ICE Agents,” Leavitt wrote in the post. “May God Bless them for their thankless work to protect American communities from these sick people.” The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) posted a photo of a plane on X Saturday captioned, “Lawbreakers going wheels up in Minneapolis.” Some of the “worst of the worst” criminal illegal immigrants arrested in Minnesota include: Sriudorn Phaivan, a Laotian illegal immigrant, was convicted of strong-arm sodomy of a boy and strong-arm sodomy of a girl, another aggravated sex offense, nine counts of larceny, unauthorized use of a vehicle, four counts of fraud, vehicle theft, two counts of drug possession, obstructing justice, possession of stolen property, receiving stolen property, burglary and check forgery. He also has pending charges for two counts of receiving stolen property, flight to avoid prosecution or confinement and burglary. Phaivan has had a deportation order since 2018. Tou Vang, a Laotian illegal immigrant, was convicted of sexual assault and sodomy of a girl under the age of 13, and procuring a child for prostitution. Vang has had a deportation order since 2006. Chong Vue, a Laotian illegal immigrant, was convicted of the strong-arm rape of a 12-year-old girl and kidnapping a child with intent to sexually assault her. Vue has had a deportation order since 2004. ICE DIRECTOR FIRES BACK AT ‘SQUAD’ LAWMAKERS OVER ‘POLITICAL RHETORIC’ AFTER FATAL MINNEAPOLIS SHOOTING Ge Yang, a Laotian illegal immigrant, was convicted of strong-arm rape, aggravated assault with a weapon and strangulation. Yang has had a deportation order since 2012. Pao Choua Xiong, a Laotian illegal immigrant, was convicted of rape and child fondling. Xiong has had a deportation order since 2003. Kou Lor, a Laotian illegal immigrant, was convicted of rape, rape with a weapon and sexual assault. Lor has had a deportation order since 1996. Hernan Cortes-Valencia, a Mexican illegal immigrant, was convicted of sexual assault of a child and DUI. Cortes-Valencia has had a deportation order since 2016. Abdirashid Adosh Elmi, a Somalian illegal immigrant, was convicted of homicide. NOEM ALLEGES WOMAN KILLED IN ICE SHOOTING ‘STALKING AND IMPEDING’ AGENTS ALL DAY Gilberto Salguero Landaverde, a Salvadoran illegal immigrant, was convicted of three counts of homicide. Landaverde has had a deportation order since June 2025. Gabriel Figueroa Gama, a Mexican illegal immigrant, was convicted of homicide. Gama was previously deported in 2002. Galuak Michael Rotgai, a Sudanese illegal immigrant, was convicted of homicide. Thai Lor, a Laotian illegal immigrant, was convicted of two counts of homicide. Lor has had a deportation order since 2009. Mariana Sia Kanu, an illegal immigrant from Sierra Leone, was convicted of two counts of homicide. Kanu has had a deportation order since 2022. Aldrin Guerrero Munoz, a Mexican illegal immigrant, was convicted of homicide. Munoz has had a deportation order since 2015. Abdirashid Mohamed Ahmed, a Somalian illegal immigrant, was convicted of manslaughter. Ahmed has had a deportation order since 2022. Mongong Kual Maniang Deng, a Sudanese illegal immigrant, was convicted of attempt to commit homicide, weapon possession and DUI. Aler Gomez Lucas, a Guatemalan illegal immigrant, was convicted of negligent homicide with a vehicle and DUI. Lucas has had a deportation order since 2022. Shwe Htoo, a Burmese illegal immigrant, was convicted of negligent homicide.
State Department declares ‘international bureaucracies’ will no longer get ‘blank checks’ from the US
The State Department declared Saturday that the U.S. is “rejecting the outdated model of multilateralism,” saying the system turned American taxpayers into “the world’s underwriter for a sprawling architecture of global governance.” Additionally, it said President Donald Trump’s recent order withdrawing the U.S. from 66 international organizations showed that “the era of writing blank checks to international bureaucracies is over.” The move marks the latest in Trump’s broader “America First” agenda aimed at cutting spending the administration deems wasteful, ineffective or contrary to U.S. interests. “What we term the ‘international system’ is now overrun with hundreds of opaque international organizations, many with overlapping mandates, duplicative actions, ineffective outputs, and poor financial and ethical governance,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote in a memo posted on the State Department’s Substack. TRUMP ORDERS US WITHDRAWAL FROM 66 ‘WASTEFUL’ GLOBAL ORGANIZATIONS IN SWEEPING ‘AMERICA FIRST’ CRACKDOWN “Even those that once performed useful functions have increasingly become inefficient bureaucracies, platforms for politicized activism or instruments contrary to our nation’s best interests. Not only do these institutions not deliver results, they obstruct action by those who wish to address these problems,” Rubio added. Rubio did not hold back in his criticism of the organizations, saying that the U.S.’s continued participation “would be an abandonment of our national duty.” Additionally, the secretary emphasized that this did not mean that the U.S. was retreating from global leadership, rather it was rejecting what the administration sees as an outdated model of multilateralism. On Wednesday, Trump signed a presidential memorandum directing the U.S. to withdraw from 66 international organizations, ordering executive departments and agencies to cease participation in and funding of entities the administration says no longer serve U.S. interests. The memo came just under a year after a Feb. 4, 2025, order that directed Rubio, along with the U.S. representative to the United Nations, to conduct a review of “all international intergovernmental organizations of which the United States is a member and provides any type of funding or other support, and all conventions and treaties to which the United States is a party, to determine which organizations, conventions, and treaties are contrary to the interests of the United States,” according to the White House. The findings were presented to the president, who deliberated with his Cabinet before moving forward with the withdrawals. In the January 2026 memorandum, Trump said Rubio’s findings showed it was “contrary to the interests of the U.S. to remain a member of, participate in, or otherwise provide support” to the listed groups. The U.N.-affiliated organizations include the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, the U.N. Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women and the U.N. Democracy Fund, among others. The non-U.N. groups included the International Solar Alliance and the Global Forum on Migration and Development as well as others. Fox News Digital’s Jasmine Baehr contributed to this report.
Four tankers that left Venezuela in ‘dark mode’ return as US eyes the country’s oil
Four tankers that left Venezuela in early January with their transponders off, also known as “dark mode,” have reportedly returned to the country’s waters. The news comes after several U.S. tanker seizures and amid the Trump administration’s push to acquire Venezuelan oil after the arrest of dictator Nicolás Maduro. Most of the four tankers were loaded, according to Reuters, which noted that Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), a state-owned company, and monitoring service TankerTrackers.com had reported the vessels’ return. A flotilla of approximately one dozen loaded vessels and at least three empty ships left Venezuelan waters last month despite a U.S. blockade that has been imposed since mid-December, according to Reuters. PRESIDENT TRUMP REDRAWS THE GLOBAL OIL MAP One of the vessels, the supertanker M Sophia, which had the Panamanian flag, was intercepted by the U.S. earlier this week, as was the Olina, which had the flag of São Tomé and Príncipe, according to Reuters. The outlet reported that the Olina was released to Venezuela on Friday, citing PDVSA. The Olina had been seized by U.S. forces in a predawn mission Friday. The U.S. Southern Command said Marines and sailors from Joint Task Force Southern Spear worked on the mission in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security. “Apprehensions like this are backed by the full power of the U.S. Navy’s Amphibious Ready Group, including the ready and lethal platforms of the USS Iwo Jima, USS San Antonio, and USS Fort Lauderdale,” the U.S. Southern Command wrote in a post on X. “The Department of War’s Operation Southern Spear is unwavering in its mission to defend our homeland by ending illicit activity and restoring security in the Western Hemisphere.” The Olina, previously named the Minerva M, was sanctioned by the United States for its role in transporting Russian oil, according to The Wall Street Journal. FROM SANCTIONS TO SEIZURE: WHAT MADURO’S CAPTURE MEANS FOR VENEZUELA’S ECONOMY Three other vessels that departed Venezuela in the flotilla, the Panama-flagged Merope, Cook Islands-flagged Min Hang and Panama-flagged Thalia III, were spotted late Friday in Venezuelan waters by TankerTrackers.com, Reuters reported. On Friday, Trump hosted nearly two dozen oil executives at the White House to discuss investment in Venezuela after the U.S. military’s successful capture of Maduro. The executives represented several major companies, including Chevron, Exxon, ConocoPhillips, Continental, Halliburton, HKN, Valero, Marathon, Shell, Trafigura, Vitol Americas, Repsol, Eni, Aspect Holdings, Tallgrass, Raisa Energy and Hilcorp. “You have total safety, total security. One of the reasons you couldn’t go in is you had no guarantees, you had no security, but now you have total security,” Trump said during the meeting. “It’s a whole different Venezuela, and Venezuela is going to be very successful. And the people of the United States are going to be big beneficiaries because we’re going to be extracting, you know, numbers of in terms of oil, like, you know, few people have ever seen actually. So, you’re dealing with us directly. You’re not dealing with Venezuela at all. We don’t want you to deal with Venezuela.” The president also predicted that the acquisition of Venezuelan oil would lead to massive wealth, lower taxes and “lots of jobs for Americans and for Venezuelans.” Days before the meeting with oil executives, Trump said that Venezuela would be turning over between 30 million and 50 million barrels of “high-quality,” sanctioned oil to the U.S. He made the announcement on Truth Social and said that the oil would be sold at market price and that he would “control the proceeds to ensure it is “used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States!” Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton and Sophia Compton contributed to this report.
Trump signs order to protect Venezuela oil revenue held in US accounts
President Donald Trump has signed an executive order blocking U.S. courts from seizing Venezuelan oil revenues held in American Treasury accounts. The order, “Safeguarding Venezuelan Oil Revenue for the Good of the American and Venezuelan People,” states that any attempt through the courts to seize the funds would pose an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to U.S. national security and foreign policy. It also states that the funds remain the sovereign property of Venezuela and are not assets available to private creditors or judgment holders. BEHIND THE SCENES OF WHO IS ATTENDING TRUMP’S OIL EXECUTIVE MEETING AFTER MADURO OPERATION The order says the United States will hold the funds “solely in a custodial and governmental capacity,” not as a commercial participant. It was issued to prevent private creditors from using U.S. courts to seize the funds before the administration determines how they will be used. The funds are held in U.S. Treasury accounts on behalf of Venezuela’s government and its state-run oil company, Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A., and are derived from oil sales and related transactions. ‘WE BUILT VENEZUELA’S OIL INDUSTRY:’ TRUMP VOWS US ENERGY RETURN AFTER MADURO’S CAPTURE Trump signed the order Friday, the same day he met with nearly two dozen top oil and gas executives at the White House. The president said American energy companies will invest $100 billion to rebuild Venezuela’s “rotting” oil infrastructure and push production to record levels after the capture of Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro. The U.S. has moved aggressively to take control of Venezuela’s oil future after the collapse of the Maduro regime. Trump has framed the effort as part of a broader push to reshape Venezuela’s oil industry, with U.S. companies expected to play a central role.
Soros-backed Dem reveals he and coalition of anti-Trump AGs met ‘daily’ to strategize lawsuits
A coalition of anti-Trump state attorneys general met “daily” during 2025 to brainstorm and organize ways to foil the administration, according to George Soros-backed New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez, who has been an active member of the group. In an interview with Source New Mexico published on Dec. 31, Torrez said that he and other Democratic attorneys general “were meeting on a daily basis for the first 90 or so days” of President Donald Trump’s second term. Since then, Torrez told the outlet, “We have since taken that down to every other day.” According to Source New Mexico, the result has been that Torrez has led or signed onto 36 legal challenges against the Trump administration since January 2025. This has included a challenge to the Trump administration’s deployment of National Guard troops to Washington, D.C., as well as contesting the Department of Government Efficiency and opposition to some of the administration’s immigration actions. In the interview, Torrez described this opposition to Trump as an enormous undertaking and an “ever-growing resource challenge to track and monitor the pending status of all that litigation.” TRUMP FOE LETITIA JAMES LEADING CHARGE ON NEW MULTISTATE LAWSUIT OVER HHS CUTS Torrez has been New Mexico’s attorney general since 2023. He got his political start in 2016 when he successfully ran for Bernalillo County district attorney. During his 2016 campaign, he received the support of left-leaning super PAC New Mexico Safety & Justice, which was bankrolled by Soros. According to a June 2016 expenditures and contributions report publicly available on the New Mexico Secretary of State’s website, New Mexico Safety & Justice received a $107,000 donation from Soros. The same filing shows the group spent $92,526.84 on media buys and media production costs in support of Torrez. The group also spent $9,555.00 on “In-Kind Polling to Progressive Champions NM PAC” and $1,951.40 on “polling.” Torrez’s Republican opponent, Simon Kubiak, dropped out of the race after the contribution. According to 2016 reporting by the New Mexico Political Report, Kubiak cited Torrez’s campaign finances as the reason for his dropping out. The outlet reported Kubiak saying that “New Mexicans cannot afford to challenge anyone who has unlimited resources and support from a multibillionaire from another country,” in an apparent reference to Soros, who is originally from Hungary and lives in New York. After serving two terms as Bernalillo County district attorney, Torrez was elected attorney general of New Mexico in 2022. He took office in 2023. DEMOCRAT AGS SUE TRUMP FOR ‘UNCONSCIONABLE’ FREEZE ON $6.8B IN K-12 SPENDING Torrez launched his first lawsuit against the administration one day after Trump returned to the Oval Office. On Jan. 21, Torrez joined 17 other state attorneys general and the attorney general of D.C. in challenging Trump’s executive order restricting birthright citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants. In a statement released at the time, Torrez called Trump’s order “a direct attack on the Constitution and the fundamental rights it guarantees to every child born on American soil.” The order is currently blocked while the case is ongoing. The next month, Torrez led a lawsuit against the Trump administration over DOGE, arguing that Elon Musk and the department were unlawfully granted authority to carry out the planned budget cuts. In April, Torrez joined 19 other attorneys general in a lawsuit challenging Trump’s executive order requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote in federal elections. Then in September, Torrez filed an amicus brief in support of another lawsuit challenging the administration’s deployment of troops to D.C. ‘DANGEROUS AND ILLEGAL’: DEMOCRAT AGS SUE TRUMP OVER EFFORT TO USE SNAP TO LOCATE MIGRANTS According to the interview, Torrez and others in the coalition began preparing for a Trump administration in “early 2024.” Since then, Torrez said, “We have kept our foot on the gas.” At the same time, Torrez lamented that “the sad part” is that “some of these actions that were pursued by the administration through executive orders are now being built into the ‘Big, Beautiful Bill,’ so even if we win on the restoration of funding from the first fiscal year, we’ll be overtaken by federal legislation.” Torrez told the outlet that “none of the institutions in our government have been built to respond and react to the scale and speed of the destruction that’s being wrought by the Trump administration.” Fox News Digital reached out to Torrez’s office and campaign and Soros’ Open Society Foundation for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.
Heritage Foundation warns America ‘dangerously close’ to family breakdown point of no return
A new report from the Heritage Foundation argues the American family is in crisis and that strengthening marriage and family formation should be a core focus of U.S. federal policy. The conservative think tank calls for sweeping policy changes to reverse declining birth and marriage rates, including a proposed $2,500 investment account for every newborn child, as well as other proposals. The report says government policies “should encourage and protect the formation of families, not mere fertility.” “The country should not seek a mere boost in the number of children born or in the monetary support that parents receive, the report says. “Yes, the country needs more children. But it matters how and to whom children are born. Society depends on men and women who want to form families, that is, who freely want to marry, and then freely bear and nurture children.” ‘SEX & THE CITY’ REPUBLICANS WANT INTO THE CONSERVATIVE TENT. ALEX CLARK HAS SOMETHING TO SAY ABOUT IT The think tank assesses that decades of cultural change and public policy have contributed to the erosion of family formation, pointing to historically low fertility and marriage rates and a growing share of children raised outside married-parent households. The report ties the decline of the family to broader social and economic problems facing the country. The report argues that traditional family structure remains essential, describing the family as “the foundation of civilization” and defining marriage — one man and one woman — as the ideal environment for raising children. Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts warned that the country is nearing a point of no return when it comes to family breakdown. “The family is the foundation of every healthy society, and, tragically, the American family is on the brink,” Roberts said in a statement. “We are dangerously close to being unable to reverse the decline. Our country will not survive if families continue to crumble at this rate.” Roberts said the stakes extend beyond family life to the nation’s future itself. SCHOLAR WARNS FEMINISM HAS BECOME A ‘MEGACHURCH’ REPLACING FAITH, FAMILY AND CHRISTIAN VIRTUE “If we want to secure the Golden Age of America, we must have bold solutions like those in this report that lay the foundation for stronger families,” he said. “Strong families build strong communities, churches, schools, and businesses. Without them, freedom cannot last.” The report also criticizes welfare and government programs, arguing they often “punish marriage and family formation” by creating financial incentives that make marriage less attractive. It frames family decline not as inevitable, but as the result of policy choices and calls for a “culture-wide Manhattan Project” to rebuild family norms. To reverse the trend, the report recommends eliminating so-called marriage penalties in welfare programs, requiring federal agencies to review policies for their impact on marriage and family and encouraging policies that strengthen traditional families at all levels of government. It also proposes financial incentives, including baby investment accounts seeded with $2,500 at birth, which the report says could help families build long-term financial stability. Other proposed incentives include expanded adoption and child tax credits. The report also advocates for efforts to discourage online dating and the creation of marriage “bootcamp” classes aimed at supporting long-term relationships. “‘Online’ has become the most common way couples meet in America today,” the report says. “While there are plenty of dating app success stories, studies show that couples who meet online and subsequently marry are six times more likely to get divorced within the first three years of marriage than are those who meet through in-person methods. Beyond higher divorce rates, couples who meet online are also less likely to get married in the first place.” The report also calls for a minimum age of 16 for social media platforms and certain A.I. chatbots, arguing that digital culture has contributed to declining family formation.
Expert warns painting slain anti-ICE activist as ‘George Floyd 2.0’ will fail
Despite large protests erupting in Minneapolis and throughout the country, an immigration expert said that the left’s attempt to paint slain anti-ICE protester Renee Nicole Good as “George Floyd 2.0” is “just not sticking.” Leading Democrats have responded with outrage after an ICE officer killed Good in a Wednesday confrontation. The Trump administration has said the agent fired in self-defense in response to Good allegedly attempting to run him over with her vehicle. Democrats have rushed to portray it as an example of unjust violence by the Trump administration. Hillary Clinton posted on X on Thursday that “last night, at the corner where an ICE agent murdered Renee Good, thousands of Minnesotans gathered in the frigid dark to protest her killing.” RENEE GOOD’S WIFE CLAIMED MINNEAPOLIS SHOOTING WAS ‘MY FAULT’ IN VIDEO AMID ANTI-ICE FURY Clinton said that “in the face of this administration’s lawless violence, solidarity is the answer,” adding, “They want to mold America to their cruelty. We refuse.” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey told ICE to “get the f— out of Minneapolis” during a Wednesday press conference, a sentiment that was echoed by Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., who also posted to the Department of Homeland Security, “Get out of our city.” Amid widespread protests, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said the state’s National Guard was prepared to deploy if necessary, saying, “We’ve never been at war with our federal government.” In an interview with Fox News Digital, Lora Ries, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Border Security and Immigration Center, said that a lot has changed in the several years since Floyd’s killing, including a decline in trust of the mainstream media and a subsequent surge in independent journalism. VANCE DEMAND DEMOCRATS ANSWER WHETHER ICE OFFICER IN MINNEAPOLIS SHOOTING WAS ‘WRONG IN DEFENDING HIS LIFE “This isn’t 2020 anymore, and a lot of Americans’ eyes have opened during 2020 from the COVID shutdowns, the mandates, the censorship, the nightly riots, the election fraud, and it’s just not going to work anymore,” said Ries. “People can see what’s really happening and decide for themselves, not just take mainstream media’s word for it or mainstream media omission of facts as the truth.” Ries said that as soon as the fatal shooting happened on Wednesday, she knew “the left is going to try to make this George Floyd 2.0.” “But within 24 hours, even less, that hasn’t come to pass,” she said. Ries believes this is because of both a general “distrust of the left,” but also “the opportunity to see these videos, to know that this same agent had been subject to a different car dragging him and having to go to the hospital mere months ago, providing all the context that what the left is trying to push, it’s just not sticking.” Vice President JD Vance said during a Thursday news conference that the ICE agent who fired the shots was involved in a harrowing incident six months prior in which he was dragged by a car and required 33 stitches to his leg. He might be “a little bit sensitive about somebody ramming him with an automobile,” Vance said. Despite this, Ries said that “the left is aiming all of its ire and even literally its fire at ICE, not any other federal agency, not the DEA going after drugs or fentanyl, not the FBI, not even defund the police anymore. It is solely ICE.” AG PAM BONDI WARNS MINNESOTA PROTESTERS AFTER ICE SHOOTING: ‘DO NOT TEST OUR RESOLVE’ “Why? Because ICE is deporting their political base,” she said. “The left has built their political house of cards on mass migration, immigration fraud. Now it seems welfare fraud for political kickbacks, for votes, for headcount, for the census, which determines congressional districts, which in turn determines electoral college votes for the presidency. This is all about politics and if we had valid elections and valid censuses that only counted U.S. citizens for congressional apportionment, how different would the political map look right now? That’s the question.” “The left is trying to paint this woman who was killed yesterday as a victim,” she went on. “She came from out of state. What was she doing there? There are accounts where she had been in her car, leading, harassing, tracking, stalking ICE agents all day long. The agents seemed to know her, and when they told her to get out of the car, she didn’t obey … So, this is on her, unfortunately.” Ries said it is the same deal with illegal immigration. “If people come here and break the law, then that’s their choice. That is their decision, and they should be personally responsible for that,” she said. “We, as a sovereign nation, enforcing our laws, should deport them. And there’s nothing wrong with that. We shouldn’t apologize for it.” “For too long, we’ve not held people personally responsible,” Ries concluded. “We need to make personal responsibility great again and stop trying to make the perpetrators the victim.”