Dems’ potential 2028 hopefuls come out against US strikes on Iran
Some of the top rumored Democratic potential candidates for president in 2028 are showing a united front in opposing U.S. strikes on Iran, with several high-profile figures accusing President Donald Trump of launching an unnecessary and unconstitutional war. Former Vice President Kamala Harris said Trump was “dragging the United States into a war the American people do not want.” “Let me be clear: I am opposed to a regime-change war in Iran, and our troops are being put in harm’s way for the sake of Trump’s war of choice,” Harris said in a statement Saturday following the joint U.S. and Israeli strikes throughout Iran. “This is a dangerous and unnecessary gamble with American lives that also jeopardizes stability in the region and our standing in the world,” she continued. “What we are witnessing is not strength. It is recklessness dressed up as resolve.” FROM HOSTAGE CRISIS TO ASSASSINATION PLOTS: IRAN’S NEAR HALF-CENTURY WAR ON AMERICANS California Gov. Gavin Newsom delivered some of his sharpest criticism during a book tour stop Saturday night in San Francisco, accusing Trump of manufacturing a crisis. “It stems from weakness masquerading as strength,” Newsom said. “He lied to you. So reckless is the only way to describe this.” “He didn’t describe to the American people what the endgame is here,” Newsom added. “There wasn’t one. He manufactured it.” Newsom is currently promoting his memoir, “Young Man in a Hurry,” with recent and upcoming stops in South Carolina, New Hampshire and Nevada — three key early voting states in the Democratic presidential calendar. Earlier in the day, Newsom said Iran’s “corrupt and repressive” regime must never obtain nuclear weapons and that the “leadership of Iran must go.” “But that does not justify the President of the United States engaging in an illegal, dangerous war that will risk the lives of our American service members and our friends without justification to the American people,” Newsom wrote on X. California is home to more than half of the roughly 400,000 Iranian immigrants in the United States, including a large community in West Los Angeles often referred to as “Tehrangeles.” DEMOCRATS BUCK PARTY LEADERS TO DEFEND TRUMP’S ‘DECISIVE ACTION’ ON IRAN Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., a leading progressive voice and “Squad” member, accused Trump of dragging Americans into a conflict they did not support. “The American people are once again dragged into a war they did not want by a president who does not care about the long-term consequences of his actions. This war is unlawful. It is unnecessary. And it will be catastrophic,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “Just this week, Iran and the United States were negotiating key measures that could have staved off war. The President walked away from these discussions and chose war instead,” she continued. “In moments of war, our Constitution is unambiguous: Congress authorizes war. The President does not,” she said, pledging to vote “YES on Representatives Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie’s War Powers Resolution.” Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, another Democrat often mentioned as a potential 2028 contender, also criticized the strikes and accused Trump of ignoring Congress. “No justification, no authorization from Congress, and no clear objective,” Pritzker wrote on X. “Donald Trump is once again sidestepping the Constitution and once again failing to explain why he’s taking us into another war,” he continued. “Americans asked for affordable housing and health care, not another potentially endless conflict.” “God protect our troops,” Pritzker added. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro focused his criticism on war powers, arguing Trump acted outside constitutional guardrails. “In our democracy, the American people — through our elected representatives — decide when our nation goes to war,” Shapiro said, adding that Trump “acted unilaterally — without Congressional approval.” JONATHAN TURLEY: TRUMP STRIKES IRAN — PRECEDENT AND HISTORY ARE ON HIS SIDE “Make no mistake, the Iranian regime represses its own people … they must never be allowed to possess nuclear weapons,” he said. “But that does not justify the President of the United States engaging in an illegal, dangerous war.” Shapiro added that “Congress must use all available power” to prevent further escalation. Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg also accused Trump of launching a “war of choice.” “The President has launched our nation and our great military into a war of choice, risking American lives and resources, ignoring American law, and endangering our allies and partners,” Buttigieg wrote on X. “This nation learned the hard way that an unnecessary war, with no plan for what comes next, can lead to years of chaos and put America in still greater danger.” Buttigieg has been hitting early voting states, stopping in New Hampshire and Nevada in recent weeks to campaign for Democrats ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., who has been floated as a rising national figure within the party, said he lost friends in Iraq to an illegal war and opposed the strikes. “Young working-class kids should not pay the ultimate price for regime change and a war that hasn’t been explained or justified to the American people. We can support the democracy movement and the Iranian people without sending our troops to die,” Gallego wrote on X. Fox News’ Daniel Scully and Alex Nitzberg contributed to this report.
Sustained war with Iran could drain US missile stockpiles, test escalation control
As coordinated U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran continue, current and former defense officials say that while a limited strike lasting several days is feasible, sustaining a broader confrontation — one involving potentially hundreds of incoming missiles — is far more complicated. The U.S. and Israel undertook a mission known as Operation Epic Fury, targeting Iranian leadership and military sites Saturday. Its duration is still unclear, but the campaign may go on for days, according to U.S. officials. Sustaining operations beyond the initial window presents a more complex challenge — one shaped by a “zero-sum” competition for missile defense inventories between the Middle East and Europe. Officials and analysts warn that certain U.S. missile and air-defense interceptor inventories have been severely drawn down by the relentless pace of recent operations. The strategic dilemma for the Pentagon is that the systems required to shield U.S. bases from Iranian retaliation are the same ones being depleted by the defense of Ukraine and the ongoing protection of Israel. TRUMP ISSUES STERN IRAN WARNING AS TEHRAN ANGRILY REACTS TO SPEECH AMID MUTED WORLD REACTION Iran already has fired counterattacks near U.S. positions in Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Jordan, with several host governments saying their air defense systems intercepted incoming projectiles. No U.S. service member fatalities or injuries have been reported as of Saturday, a U.S. official told Fox News Digital. U.S. authorities have not publicly released casualty figures or formal damage assessments. During the intense June 2025 Iran–Israel conflict, U.S. forces fired more than 150 Terminal High Altitude Area Defense Interceptors — roughly a quarter of the total global inventory — and a large number of ship-based standard missiles to protect allies, according to published defense assessments. This shortfall largely is attributed to the dual pressure of supplying Ukraine against Russian cruise missiles and the surge of batteries to the Middle East. Replenishing these high-end systems can take more than a year, analysts say, because production lines are optimized for peacetime and cannot be surged overnight. Independent groups have noted the U.S. currently produces roughly 600–650 Patriot PAC-3 MSE missiles annually, reflecting recent contracts to boost production capacity. Analysts say that in a high-intensity war with a near-peer adversary like Iran — where multiple interceptors are often used to defeat a single incoming missile — even a year’s worth of production could be consumed in a matter of weeks, especially after recent drawdowns in Ukraine and the Middle East. “The Department of War has everything it needs to execute any mission at the time and place of the president’s choosing and on any timeline,” Chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in response to readiness questions. Retired Air Force Gen. Charles Wald, former deputy commander of U.S. European Command, said the United States retains the ability to surge conventional strike munitions into the region and draw from prepositioned stocks if a campaign is ordered. “From a conventional munition standpoint, we can always fly in more weapons from around the world,” Wald told Fox News Digital. “There are a lot of weapons stored there with this type of mission in mind.” The greater concern, he acknowledged, lies on the defensive side. “The issue will be defensive weapons — Patriot, SM-3, and the Arrow system in Israel,” Wald said. “You can never have enough defense.” Regional analysts caution that in a sustained missile exchange, interceptor inventories — not offensive strike weapons — could become the binding constraint. “There is a limit to how many THAAD missiles can be used,” Israeli defense analyst Ehud Eilam said. “These are not systems you can reproduce overnight.” Iran is believed to possess between 1,500 ballistic missiles and 2,000 ballistic missiles, as well as drones and shorter-range rockets capable of striking U.S. bases and Gulf energy infrastructure. Several experts also pointed to the psychological impact of recent U.S. operations. The swift Operation Absolute Resolve in Venezuela in January 2026 and summer 2025’s 12-day exchange with Iran have reinforced confidence in American military capability. However, one former defense official cautioned that success in these tightly scoped missions can create a false sense of momentum toward action in far more complex scenarios. TRUMP SAYS IRAN HAS 15 DAYS TO REACH A DEAL OR FACE ‘UNFORTUNATE’ OUTCOME “Iran is a very different problem,” the official said — a large, heavily armed state with extensive missile forces and regional proxy networks that would not resemble a short, surgical operation. Wald acknowledged that risk. “You don’t want to get people so confident that you don’t consider the risks. It’s not going to be as clean or pure as, say, Venezuela was, or the 12-day war.” Even as the strikes continue, officials warn that retaliation from Iran and its network of allied militias could broaden the conflict. Iran’s ballistic missiles and drones — coupled with allied groups in Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen — already have prompted missile salvos against U.S. bases and Gulf partners, according to defense reporting. Experts say the 2025 conflict underscored how quickly escalation can test both defensive systems and political will. “Once these things break, you own what follows,” one former official said, underscoring the risk that missiles and proxy actions could quickly widen a limited U.S. strike. Wald warned that even a successful military phase would not eliminate the political uncertainty. “Bombing Iran is not going to do regime change,” he said, emphasizing that air power can degrade capability but cannot guarantee a stable political outcome. Beyond the immediate exchange, officials say the economic consequences could prove just as consequential. Roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil supply transits the Strait of Hormuz, and even limited disruption could send global energy markets sharply higher. For Washington, the strategic calculus extends beyond the Middle East. China remains the primary long-term competitor, with the war in Ukraine already consuming significant resources. A sustained regional conflict would draw on naval assets and air-defense systems that planners must also consider for potential future contingencies in Taiwan or North Korea. Officials familiar with internal
From hostage crisis to assassination plots: Iran’s near half-century war on Americans
After radical students overthrew Iran’s shah in 1979 and took hostages in the U.S. embassy, the Middle Eastern nation became a strident and blood-soaked adversary of what its new Islamic fundamentalist dictatorship has long called the “Great Satan.” Since then, Tehran has sponsored terrorism around the globe, including targeting the U.S. in multiple, high-profile instances. Former Reagan Justice Department chief of staff Mark Levin said Sunday there are at least 44 examples of Iran targeting Americans either directly or indirectly. “The Iranian-Nazi regime… [has] murdered more than 1,000 Americans [and] relentlessly pursued nuclear weapons to use against us — they are genocidal warmongers,” said Levin, an author, attorney and Fox News Channel host. The stage for Iran’s transformation from ally to enemy of the U.S. was set in the 1960s, when Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi began clashing with influential Islamic cleric Ruhollah Khomeini. The monarch infuriated the theocrat by liberalizing the national constitution to allow faiths other than Islam to be sworn into office on holy books of their choice. Khomeini’s rhetoric from France, where he was exiled, intensified during the period known as the White Revolution, including misogynistic and xenophobic sermons and demands that Pahlavi be ousted. With Pahlavi as a U.S.-aligned leader, this marked an early instance of antagonism by proxy. As protests engineered by Khomeini broke out in fall 1978, the shah declared martial law, and military police fired on a massive crowd of protesters. Pahlavi and Empress Farah Pahlavi soon fled on a “vacation” to Egypt but never returned. By February 1979, Khomeini returned to Tehran with significant sectarian support. Carter national security advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski — the father of “Morning Joe” host Mika Brzezinski — coined the term “arc of crisis” and advanced an ultimately failed “Green Belt” strategy that supported an arc of largely unstable but fundamentalist regimes across the Middle East that were also viewed as oppositional to the Soviet Union. Brzezinski’s envisioned buffer strategy soon collapsed when Khomeini proved to be just as anti-American as anti-Soviet. In October 1979, after months of debate over whether to admit him to the U.S. amid the new turmoil in Iran, President Jimmy Carter relented and permitted the cancer-stricken shah to seek medical care in New York. That November, the group “Muslim Student Followers of the Imam’s Line” stormed the U.S. embassy, beginning 444 days of captivity for 52 American hostages. The U.S. severed diplomatic ties the following April, and one rescue mission failed and left several U.S. service members dead. The shah died that summer in Egypt, leaving Khomeini in full control of the government. In what was seen as the final offense to Carter, Iran suddenly released the hostages minutes into President Ronald Reagan’s administration on Jan. 20, 1981. On July 5, 1982, the years-long saga known as the Lebanon hostage crisis began with the systematic abductions of foreigners, including Americans, by Hezbollah and Iranian proxies in the Mideast country, according to United Against a Nuclear Iran. That group, founded by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and former Ambassador Mark Wallace, maintains a comprehensive history of Iranian aggression on its website and is a nonpartisan policy organization formed to combat the threats posed by the Islamic Republic. During the Lebanon hostage crisis, several victims spent years imprisoned by Hezbollah, where they were forced to undergo psychological and medical torture, including CIA Beirut Station Chief William Buckley, who was not related to the National Review founder of the same name. Buckley was tortured for months by Dr. Aziz al-Abub, a Lebanese Hezbollah psychiatrist and medical expert who reportedly forced him to take phenothiazines and experimented on him to induce interrogation and make an example of him to the West. Buckley reportedly died in custody amid these experiments on June 3, 1985. The CIA later memorialized him on its wall in Langley, Virginia, and Obama-era Director John Brennan said in a 2014 statement that “we remember Bill not for the manner in which he died but for the legacy he left behind. From his time as an Army lieutenant colonel to his tenure with the Agency, Bill inspired those around him to do great things despite often dangerous conditions.” The agency later caught up with the figurehead of the Hezbollah-linked Islamic Jihad terrorist group — carrying out what the Washington Institute described as a rare contemporary CIA assassination nearly 25 years later. Imad Mughniyeh’s group had announced Buckley’s execution in October 1985, but the actual date was determined later, with allegations that he died not from execution but from the side effects of the medical torture he endured. Former hostage David Jacobsen told the institute that Buckley was often sick and delirious in his cell and ultimately died “drowning in his own lung fluids” after a bout of torture. David Dodge, then-president of the American University in Beirut, was also kidnapped for about a year, and U.S. journalist Terry Anderson was held in captivity for more than six years. On April 18, 1983, an Iran-backed group seen as the predecessor to today’s Lebanese Hezbollah bombed the U.S. embassy in Beirut, killing 63 people, including 17 Americans. That October, a suicide truck bomb linked to Iran hit a U.S. Marine barracks in Lebanon, killing 241 service members, in what remains the deadliest single day for the Corps since Iwo Jima. According to the MEMRI translation of Khomeini’s representative to Lebanon, Sayyed Issa Tabatabai’s interview with the IRNA: “I quickly went to Lebanon and provided what was needed in order to [carry out] martyrdom operations in the place where the Americans and Israelis were.” He added, “The efforts to establish [Hezbollah] started in [Lebanon’s] Baalbek area, where members of [Iran’s] Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) arrived. I had no part in establishing the [political] party [Hezbollah], but God made it possible for me to continue the military activity with the group that had cooperated with us prior to the [Islamic] Revolution’s victory.” The MEMRI report continued, “It is noteworthy that the part of the interview in which
Mamdani’s response to Trump’s Iran strike sparks conservative backlash: ‘Rooting for the ayatollah’
New York City’s socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani is facing blowback from conservatives on social media over his post condemning the U.S. attack on Iran that led to the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. On Saturday, as a joint strike on Iran by the United States and Israel was developing, Mamdani blasted the Trump administration’s decision in a post on X that has been viewed roughly 20 million times. “Today’s military strikes on Iran — carried out by the United States and Israel — mark a catastrophic escalation in an illegal war of aggression,” Mamdani wrote. “Bombing cities. Killing civilians. Opening a new theater of war. Americans do not want this. They do not want another war in pursuit of regime change.” OMAR, SQUAD LASH OUT AT TRUMP IN RESPONSE TO IRAN STRIKE: ‘ILLEGAL REGIME CHANGE WAR’ Mamdani said Americans prefer “relief from the affordability crisis” before speaking directly to Iranians in New York City. “You are part of the fabric of this city — you are our neighbors, small business owners, students, artists, workers, and community leaders,” Mamdani said. “You will be safe here.” The post was quickly slammed by conservatives on social media making the case that Mamdani’s response appeared sympathetic to Iran’s brutal regime and pointing to his lack of public reaction to the Iranian protesters killed in recent years. “Comrade Mayor is rooting for the Ayatollah,” GOP Sen. Ted Cruz posted on X. “They can chant together.” OBAMA OFFICIAL WHO BACKED IRAN DEAL SPARKS ONLINE OUTRAGE WITH REACTION TO TRUMP’S STRIKE: ‘SIT THIS ONE OUT’ “Do u say anything pro American ?” Fox News host Brian Kilmeade posted on X. “do u know any Iranians – ? they hate @fr_Khamenei they celebrate his death, you should be celebrating his death ! hes killed thousands of American’s and just killed 30k Iranians, did u even say a word about that? You are an embarrassment !! Please quit.” “I don’t feel safe in New York listening to someone like you, Mamdani, who sympathizes with the regime that killed more than 30,000 unarmed Iranians in less than 24 hours,” Iranian American journalist Masih Alinejad posted on X. “We Iranians do not allow you to lecture us about war while you had nothing to say when the Islamic Republic shot schoolgirls and blinded more than 10,000 innocent people in the streets. You were busy celebrating the hijab while women of my beloved country Iran were jailed and raped by Islamic Security forces for removing it. “And NOW you find your voice to defend the regime? No. I will not let you claim the moral high ground. The people of Iran want to be free. Where were you when they needed solidarity?” “How is it that you can’t differentiate between good and evil?” Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman posted on X. “Why is this so hard for you?” “It takes a particular kind of audacity, or ignorance, for a city mayor to appoint himself the conscience of American foreign policy while his constituents step over garbage on their way to work,” GOP Rep. Nancy Mace posted on X. “History will not remember his bravery. It will not remember him at all.” “Iranian New Yorkers are thrilled today and see right through you,” Republican New York City Councilwoman Vickie Paladino posted on X. “When Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey, UAE, Bahrain all support today’s operation eliminating world’s #1 sponsor of terror, but New York City’s Mayor @ZohranMamdani is shilling for Iran,” Republican New York City Councilwoman Inna Vernikov posted on X. Fox News Digital reached out to Mamdani’s office for comment. Shortly after Mamdani’s post, it was announced by President Trump and Israeli officials that the military operation resulted in Khamenei’s death. Israeli leaders confirmed Khamenei’s compound and offices were reduced to rubble early Saturday after a targeted strike in downtown Tehran. “Khamenei was the contemporary Middle East’s longest-serving autocrat. He did not get to be that way by being a gambler. Khamenei was an ideologue, but one who ruthlessly pursued the preservation and protection of his ideology, often taking two steps forward and one step back,” Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of FDD’s Iran program, told Fox News Digital.
Iran vows ‘decisive’ self-defense at UN after Trump kills supreme leader in Operation Epic Fury
Iranian Ambassador to the United Nations Amir-Saeid Iravani condemned U.S. strikes against Iran that targeted the country’s military leadership and killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, calling the attack a double standard and promising the country would defend itself at a U.N. Security Council meeting Saturday. Iravani accused the U.S. of undermining its claims of pursuing international stability while attacking a sovereign country for its “domestic” activities. “Neither the charter nor international law recognize internal matters of a state as justification for the use of force by other states. The rule of law would be replaced by the rule of force,” Iravani said. BIPARTISAN REVOLT TARGETS TRUMP’S WAR POWERS AFTER MASSIVE IRAN STRIKES “Iran will continue to exercise its right of self-defense decisively and without hesitation until the aggression ceases in full and unequivocal terms.” On Saturday morning, President Donald Trump ordered the execution of Operation Epic Fury, citing Tehran’s continued efforts to develop a nuclear weapon. “It has always been the policy of the United States, in particular my administration, that this terrorist regime can never have a nuclear weapon. I’ll say it again. They can never have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said in remarks about the attack Saturday. TRUMP OVERSEES US STRIKES ON IRAN FROM MAR-A-LAGO, SPEAKS WITH NETANYAHU: WH Trump said the strikes were meant to “defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime” and that they had come after Iran had refused to abandon plans to develop nuclear capabilities. Iravani called the attack a continuation of longstanding U.S. aggression against Iran. “Mr. president, this morning the United States regime, jointly and in coordination with the Israeli regime, initiated an unprovoked and premeditated aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran for the second time in recent months,” Irvani said, referring to strikes the U.S. carried out against its nuclear enrichment sites last year. OBAMA OFFICIAL WHO BACKED IRAN DEAL SPARKS ONLINE OUTRAGE WITH REACTION TO TRUMP’S STRIKE: ‘SIT THIS ONE OUT’ “The president of the United States and the prime minister of the Israeli regime have openly claimed responsibility for this act of aggression and have explicitly articulated regime change as their objective, an unmistakable admission of their intent to violate Iran’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.” U.N. Ambassador Mike Waltz pushed back on Iravani’s characterizations. “For 47 years, the Iranian regime has chanted, quote, ‘Death to America’ at every turn. At every opening, it has sought to eradicate the state of Israel. It has waged an unending campaign of bloodshed and mass murder,” Waltz said. Iravani did not address the negotiations between the U.S. and Iran on its nuclear development plans.
Concerns rise over DHS shutdown in shadow of Iran strikes: ‘Now would be a good time’ to end it
The partial government shutdown has Department of Homeland Security employees missing their paychecks even as the U.S. has engaged Iran with airstrikes that have brought the nation to the brink of war. On Saturday, the U.S. and Israel commenced targeting Iranian positions, including the palace of dictator Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei, who was later declared dead by Jerusalem officials. The strikes have prompted concerns of retaliation, possibly inside U.S. borders. “I am in direct coordination with our federal intelligence and law enforcement partners as we continue to closely monitor and thwart any potential threats to the homeland,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement. DHS SHUTDOWN LOOMS OVER MAR-A-LAGO SHOOTING AS UNPAID SECRET SERVICE AGENTS NEUTRALIZE ARMED SUSPECT As Friday rolled into Saturday, Transportation Safety Administration officers began effectively working pro bono, and the agency called them “true models of selflessness and sacrifice.” “Right now, the men and women of TSA are showing up to work without a paycheck due to the reckless DHS shutdown despite the fact that Democrat members of Congress are still getting paid,” the agency said in a statement, calling out Democrats’ “political theater making life harder for these officers and their families.” Lawmakers took notice of the disparity on Saturday as eyes turned to the security of America’s homeland amid Iran’s pledge to strike back. “Given developments in the Middle East and the ongoing threat posed by Iran and its terrorist proxies, Democrats in the House and Senate must cease the politics and must immediately fund the Department of Homeland Security,” said Rep. Daniel Meuser, R-Pa. The Blue Mountain congressman, whose district is home to the agency’s latest immigration center purchase in Shartlesville, added that blocking DHS funding is “irresponsible and dangerous” amid the rising global tension. “Democrats in Congress must join Republicans, act responsibly and stop blocking efforts to fund DHS,” Meuser said. Meuser added that protecting Americans is a fundamental federal responsibility and that the U.S. cannot afford national security-related delays. DHS SHUTDOWN TRIGGERS TSA ‘EMERGENCY MEASURES’ AS LAWMAKER WARNS AIRPORTS COULD FEEL ECONOMIC PAIN His Keystone compatriot, Sen. David McCormick, echoed that sentiment Saturday. “Now would be a good time for Democrats to drop their opposition to DHS funding and pass the bill to support our homeland security,” McCormick said. “Continuing to play political games with our national security given the unfolding situation in the Middle East is dangerous.” While many Democrats voiced concern or opposition to the Trump administration’s strikes, McCormick’s counterpart, Sen. John Fetterman, ridiculed critics on X, retweeting an alert that Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei had been killed and writing, “Let’s see who grieves for that garbage.” The top Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee, however, criticized the operation. Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi told NOTUS News Saturday that Trump’s attack lacks “a clear strategy,” adding the U.S. is “vulnerable to ensuing terrorism attacks today because of Trump’s reckless, inflammatory actions.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “I am deeply concerned about the administration’s attention to possible threats and its ability to protect Americans,” he added. Just prior to the strikes, Senate and House Democratic leaders released a joint statement addressing the DHS shutdown’s current conditions. “We have received the White House’s counteroffer and are reviewing it closely. Democrats remain committed to keep fighting for real reforms to rein in ICE and stop the violence,” said New York Sen. Charles Schumer and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries. Fox News Digital reached out to DHS for additional comment.
Jeb Bush commends former rival Trump’s Iran operation: ‘This is their time to take their country back’
FIRST ON FOX: A major public policy nonprofit co-led by former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush praised President Donald Trump for ordering Saturday’s military strikes against Iran. United Against a Nuclear Iran (UANI) — was formed in 2008 by Ambassador Mark Wallace, who held a United Nations-centered post in Bush’s brother’s administration, and former George H.W. Bush diplomat Dennis Ross — to combat threats posed by the Islamic Republic. The group has been on the front lines of highlighting Iran’s human rights abuses and attacks on Americans and advising policymakers and the business community about dangers posed by Tehran. ‘SQUAD’ ERUPTS IN FURY AS TRUMP TAKES BOLD ACTION AGAINST IRANIAN NUCLEAR THREAT The organization counsels existing and would-be commercial partners of Iran regarding the legal, financial and reputational risks of that kind of commerce. “UANI salutes the courage and professionalism of American and Israeli service members carrying out this historic mission against the Iranian regime,” Bush and Wallace told Fox News Digital Saturday. “We applaud President Trump for his courageous decision to launch this military operation. For 47 years, the Iranian regime has unleashed terror, violence and misery — against its own people and across the region — while threatening the United States, Israel and our allies.” Bush, who ran against Trump in a bruising 2016 primary, and Wallace noted that many presidents tried to bring Iran into the “peaceful community of nations” but were not able to finish the job. “This president engaged extensively and in good faith to achieve a diplomatic solution,” they said after Trump indicated as recently as last week he wanted to negotiate terms. “The regime chose escalation and continued its pursuit of nuclear weapons. The responsibility for this moment rests squarely with Ayatollah Khamenei.” Khamenei, 86, was declared dead by Israeli sources by late afternoon. Bush and Wallace added it was clear the joint American-Israeli operation was directed not at Iran, the country and citizenry, but at Khamenei’s “lethal capabilities.” The Iranian people, they said, have long suffered under repression and that Trump’s message since the strikes began is one that should be embraced by all Americans: “We aim to see Iran free, prosperous, and at peace. This is their time to take their great country back.” “The Butcher of Tehran is dead,” Bush and Wallace added in a separate public statement. ICE NABS IRANIAN NATIONAL WITH RAPE, SODOMY CONVICTIONS AFTER VIRGINIA DEMOCRATS MOVE TO CURB COOPERATION Bush added in a statement on X that “Operation Epic Fury marks a historic mission against the Iranian regime.” “We salute the courage and professionalism of American and Israeli service members and commend for his courageous decision,” he added. Bush’s relationship with Trump has appeared to warm since their bitter feuds of a decade ago. During the 2016 sweeps, Trump nicknamed the Republican Party scion “Low Energy Jeb,” while Bush quipped that the mogul would not be able to “insult your way to the presidency” after the eventual victor mocked an ad that former first lady Barbara Bush filmed for her son. While governor, Bush made improving public education a hallmark of his administration in Tallahassee. Bush implemented stricter proficiency standards in elementary education and signed what was dubbed the “A+ plan,” making Florida the first state to require clear letter grades on student performance. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP He recently praised the Trump administration’s overtures toward universal school choice and federal block grants as a “transformational opportunity.” “The Trump administration has a chance to shift the power dynamic back to the states, where policymakers are uniquely equipped to understand and address the diverse needs of their students, schools, and communities,” he added in a column in Education Week.
Obama official who backed Iran deal sparks online outrage with reaction to Trump’s strike: ‘Sit this one out’
Ben Rhodes, a leading figure within the Obama administration who pushed for the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, was blasted on social media Saturday after he criticized U.S. military strikes on Iran. In the immediate aftermath of the joint attack by the U.S. and Israel, Rhodes was posting criticism of the administration on social media, saying Trump and Netanyahu “seem to be totally unconcerned about the human beings — on all sides — who will suffer.” “Trump’s second term has been the worst case scenario,” Rhodes said in another X post. Rhodes was quickly ridiculed by many conservatives on social media who pointed to the Obama-era Iran deal as a catalyst for allowing the situation to escalate to this point and placing blame on the Obama administration for not taking the threat from Iran seriously. OMAR, SQUAD LASH OUT AT TRUMP IN RESPONSE TO IRAN STRIKE: ‘ILLEGAL REGIME CHANGE WAR’ “Yes we were much better off with a president who drew redlines and failed to enforce them,” American Enterprise Institute fellow and Fox News contributor Marc Thiessen posted on X. “Team Obama might want to sit this one out.” “Oh look the guy who literally created this mess in the first place has chimed in,” Republican digital operative Alec Sears posted on X. “You were part of the team who gave billions of dollars to the Iranian Regime – you helped fund this terror on human beings,” former acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell posted on X. “Once again, President Trump is cleaning up your mess.” LONGTIME TRUMP CRITIC GEORGE CONWAY SUGGESTS US IS ‘TERRORIST STATE’ AFTER IRAN STRIKES “You had eight years to do something on this issue,” Red State writer Bonchie posted on X. “Instead, you became a foreign operative doing everything you could to preserve an Islamist regime. “You put these circumstances in place.” “The Obama crew weeps for the mullahs,” former Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh posted on X. “Ben Rhodes bears responsibility for how America got to this point,” Middle East geopolitical analyst and Red Ax Strategies President Matthew Brodsky posted on X. “He is a spineless agent of influence for the regime in Iran. It’s taken years to undo the damage of his foreign policy.” On Saturday afternoon, it was reported that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who ruled the Islamic Republic for more than three decades, was killed in the strike against Iran. Israeli leaders confirmed Khamenei’s compound and offices were reduced to rubble early Saturday after a targeted strike in downtown Tehran. “Khamenei was the contemporary Middle East’s longest-serving autocrat. He did not get to be that way by being a gambler. Khamenei was an ideologue, but one who ruthlessly pursued the preservation and protection of his ideology, often taking two steps forward and one step back,” Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of FDD’s Iran program, told Fox News Digital. Fox News Digital’s Efrat Lachter contributed to this report.
Bill Clinton’s credibility threatened by decades of scandals amid grilling over Epstein ties
While former President Bill Clinton has vigorously denied many of them, allegations of sexual improprieties have punctuated his career and repeatedly made questions about his character the focus of national attention. His truthfulness is again back in the national spotlight after lawmakers on Friday questioned Clinton about his connections to Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier who died in 2019 while incarcerated on charges of sex trafficking minors. Clinton has not been implicated in any wrongdoing. Friday’s questioning, however, is just the most recent case of controversy that stretches back almost 30 years. DEMOCRATS SAY CLINTONS’ AGREEMENT TO TESTIFY UNDERCUTS SUBPOENA PUSH, WON’T BRING NEW EPSTEIN ANSWERS Juanita Broaddrick – 1998 Allegations against Clinton began in 1998 when Juanita Broaddrick accused Clinton of raping her when he was running for governor of Arkansas in 1978. In the years since, Broaddrick described attempts she believes the Clintons made to keep her from speaking about the incident. “I was at a fundraiser, but [Hillary Clinton] caught me before I left, and she came up very friendly and said, ‘Bill and I are so appreciative of everything you do.’ And then her voice changed,” Broaddrick recalled in an interview with Fox News in 2018. “It frightened me.” By the time Broaddrick’s allegations became public, the statute of limitations protected Clinton from prosecution for the accusation. Clinton has denied the claim. HOUSE REPUBLICANS DESCEND ON CLINTONS’ HOMETOWN FOR HIGH-STAKES EPSTEIN PROBE GRILLING Kathleen Willey – 1998 In an interview with Fox, Willey called herself a former friend of Clinton and said she supported him when he launched his presidential ambitions. “We raised an awful lot of money for him,” Willey recalled. Willey explained that her husband had fallen on hard financial times, prompting her to turn to the White House in 1993 in hopes of finding a job. Clinton was the president then. “He sat down on the sofa. I proceeded to tell him what was going on, and I told him, ‘I need a job.’ He took my coffee cup from me and the next thing I knew he had me backed into a corner, hands all over me, trying to kiss me,” Willey said, describing an altercation between the two that took place in a study just outside the Oval Office. Willey first went public with her allegation in a CBS interview with “60 Minutes” in 1998. Clinton has repeatedly denied the allegation. Gennifer Flowers – 1992 A former television reporter, Gennifer Flowers claimed she had a longstanding affair with Clinton from the late 1970’s through 1989. Years later, she said Clinton’s advances started when she and Clinton met during a reporting assignment. “He proceeded to come on to me for three months before I decided I wanted to have a relationship with him, which, at that point, was consensual. In today’s standards, it was definitely sexual harassment,” Flowers said in an appearance on “The Ingraham Angle” in 2018. The story spread to national media as Bill Clinton waged a presidential campaign, just weeks before the Iowa caucuses. Clinton, in an interview with “60 Minutes” in the fallout, didn’t confirm the allegations from Flowers but said he had “acknowledged causing pain” in his marriage. MONICA LEWINSKY SAYS BILL CLINTON ‘ESCAPED A LOT MORE THAN I DID’ AFTER WHITE HOUSE SCANDAL Troopergate – 1993 Shortly after President Bill Clinton assumed office, allegations first reported by The American Spectator magazine began to surface that Clinton had used state troopers as governor to arrange sexual encounters with women. Among them, Larry Patterson, Roger Perry and Danny Ferguson all claimed Clinton had ordered them to facilitate his encounters. Time magazine quoted the original American Spectator allegations, saying the troopers had said “their official duties included facilitating Clinton’s cheating on his wife.” “They were instructed by Clinton to drive him in state vehicles to rendezvous points and guard him during sexual encounters … and to help Clinton cover up his activities by lying to Hillary.” The allegations about the troopers also became a part of independent counsel Ken Starr’s later investigation of separate cases. Paula Jones Jones’ case, which eventually led to Clinton’s impeachment in 1998, began while Clinton was governor of Arkansas. “I was asked to work the governor’s quality management conference,” Jones recalled in an interview with Sean Hannity in 2016. “His security was hanging out with us, and later that day, he came over and said, ‘The governor would like to meet with you.’” Jones said she was escorted up to Clinton’s room at a hotel. “We did some small talk, and then he started kinda getting a little comfortable. He said he liked my curves, and then I’m like — I didn’t know what to do. It was him and me in the room,” Jones said. Jones described how the governor then exposed himself to her before she left the room. “’I’m not that kind of girl,’” Jones remembers telling Clinton. After Jones launched a sexual harassment lawsuit in 1991, Ken Starr, an independent counsel assigned to the case, began an investigation that would uncover not just the details about the Jones incident but also the Monica Lewinsky scandal that finally led to Clinton’s impeachment in the House of Representatives. Jones was awarded an $850,000 settlement as a result of her private suit. BILL CLINTON FACES HIGH-STAKES HOUSE GRILLING IN EPSTEIN PROBE AND MORE TOP HEADLINES Monica Lewinsky – 1998 The case that would eventually lead to Clinton’s impeachment first came to the public’s attention when the Drudge Report picked up a story, initially abandoned by Newsweek, that Clinton was having an affair with an intern at the White House. “She was a frequent visitor to a small study just off the Oval Office, where she claims to have indulged the president’s sexual preference. Reports of the relationship spread in White House quarters, and she was moved to a job at the Pentagon, where she worked until last month,” the reporting said. Clinton denied the allegations when answering questions under oath from Ken
Trump orders strikes on Iran; experts say he can bypass Congress (for now)
President Donald Trump’s announcement Saturday that the U.S. military began a major combat operation in Iran was met with immediate questions about whether the president improperly bypassed Congress, which has the sole authority to declare war under the Constitution. Trump characterized the joint operation with Israel to take out Iranian leaders and eliminate Iran’s weapons supply as an act of “war,” bringing into focus the 1973 War Powers Resolution and the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF). Experts say those laws and court precedent have given Trump the authority to sidestep the legislative branch and attack Iran, for now. “The courts have allowed presidents to order such attacks unilaterally. … There has historically been deference to presidents exercising such judgments under the [War Powers Resolution’s] vague standard,” George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley wrote in an op-ed. “That was certainly the case with the attacks in Bosnia and Libya under Democratic presidents.” ISRAEL TARGETS IRAN’S SUPREME LEADER IN SWEEPING STRIKES AS US JOINS OPERATION EPIC FURY The War Powers Resolution requires the president to consult Congress within 48 hours of a military offensive and cease actions within 60 days if Congress has not voted in support of them. Turley noted that Congress could still assert control over what the Pentagon is calling Operation Epic Fury sooner if it wanted to. “Congress can seek to bar or limit operations in the coming days,” Turley wrote. “Given the fluid events, many members are likely to wait to watch the initial results and, frankly, the polling on the attacks. … The longer the operation continues, the calls for congressional action will likely increase.” Former State Department official Gabriel Noronha, who advised on Iran, said in a lengthy X post that Congress has already authorized Trump’s actions under the AUMF because Iran is “the headquarters of al Qaeda.” Noronha said that, unlike other iterations of the AUMF, the 2001 version of the law was never repealed and “expressly authorizes force against any nation, organization, or person that planned the 9/11 attacks ‘or harbored such organizations or persons.’” “Congress has had 25 years to limit the scope of the 2001 AUMF,” Noronha wrote. “Instead, it has consciously decided to preserve the President’s rights under the law to pursue international terrorists to the end of the earth.” Trump said in a statement early Saturday morning that Operation Epic Fury was a “noble mission” and that service members could be killed, explicitly using the term “war.” “The lives of courageous American heroes may be lost, and we may have casualties. That often happens in war,” Trump said. Some have suggested that, in planning the operation, Israel and the United States deliberately delegated responsibilities to avoid legal landmines. A U.S. official told Fox News the Israeli military is targeting Iranian leadership, while the United States is targeting missile sites that pose an “imminent threat” rather than Iran’s leadership. Amos Yadlin, a retired Israeli Air Force general, also told Fox News that Israel carried out a strike on Iran’s leadership because of decades-old U.S. laws restricting the targeting of heads of state. AMERICA STRIKES IRAN AGAIN — HAS WASHINGTON PLANNED FOR WHAT COMES NEXT? The White House, meanwhile, has made clear that it factored Congress into the planning. Secretary of State Marco Rubio briefed the Gang of Eight, composed of the Democratic and Republican leaders of Congress and the top lawmakers on the intelligence committees, ahead of the action. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Rubio called the Gang of Eight members and gave them a heads-up on timing and connected with all but one of them. Once the strikes began Saturday morning, the Pentagon also briefed the Armed Services committees. Republican lawmakers have largely reacted with support for Trump, while Democrats have been critical. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said in a statement that short of “exigent circumstances,” Trump needs Congress to authorize an “act of war.” “The Trump administration must explain itself to the American people and Congress immediately, provide an ironclad justification for this act of war, clearly define the national security objective and articulate a plan to avoid another costly, prolonged military quagmire in the Middle East,” Jeffries said. Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., commended the president, citing Iran’s “relentless nuclear ambitions” and refusal to engage in diplomacy. Some non-interventionist GOP lawmakers spoke out against the actions. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said the Constitution gave Congress the power to authorize war “for a reason, to make war less likely.” Paul quoted President James Madison: “The Executive Branch is the branch most prone to war, therefore, the Constitution, with studied care, delegated the war power to the legislature.” A bipartisan group of lawmakers, including Jeffries, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., said they are planning a forthcoming vote on a war powers resolution that would block U.S. action in Iran without congressional approval. Previous attempts to pass the same bill failed this Congress after Trump launched targeted strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites and captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. Fox News’ Jen Griffin and Efrat Lachter contributed to this report.