Trump’s new press secretary faces first major test as White House briefing room enters new era
The White House is set to end a weeks-long stretch without a permanent press secretary at the podium Tuesday when Katie Zacharia makes her briefing room debut, succeeding Karoline Leavitt after a shake-up in President Donald Trump’s communications team. “I am pleased to announce that Katie Zacharia will be beginning her term as Press Secretary tomorrow, Columbus Day, and will be doing an introductory News Conference on Tuesday at 9:30 A.M. from the Press Briefing Room in the White House. Katie has been with me, in spirit, from the very beginning, and will do a fantastic job!” Trump said on Truth Social Sunday. Zacharia, an attorney and television commentator, served as senior communications adviser to Trump Media & Technology Group, which operates the president’s social media platform, Truth Social. Her appointment follows Leavitt’s departure from the White House in August. During his first administration, President Donald Trump had four White House press secretaries: Sean Spicer, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Stephanie Grisham and Kayleigh McEnany. TRUMP NAMES LEAVITT SUCCESSOR AFTER WEEKS OF SPECULATION — AND SHE’S NO STRANGER TO MAGA Leavitt served as the first press secretary of Trump’s second administration for 19 months before leaving the role on Aug. 27. Zacharia previously served as deputy assistant secretary for public affairs and a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security. She appeared on “Fox & Friends Weekend” on Saturday in her new role, touting President Donald Trump’s newly announced deal with Russia to supply more than 1.8 million tons of diesel fuel to U.S. and global markets in a bid to lower fuel and grocery costs. “President Trump has heard people have been frustrated with the gas prices. People are frustrated with the increasing grocery prices. And he is delivering what he always does, which are solutions,” Zacharia said. KATIE ZACHARIA HITS GROUND RUNNING, PROMISES TRUMP DIESEL DEAL DELIVERS CHEAPER GAS FOR AMERICANS She celebrated the appointment in a post on X Friday, thanking Trump for what she called the “distinguished privilege” of serving as White House press secretary. “Serving President Trump and the American people at this critical 250-year mark is the honor of a lifetime,” Zacharia wrote. “President Trump has shown America that we can be great again, and he works to effectuate that greatness every single day. His confidence is a true privilege, and his leadership is a blessing to this country.” “The work ahead is to continue delivering strong results for our Country and communicating to the American people the major wins that this Administration is making every single day,” she wrote. “I look forward to working with the White House press corps, and with reporters across the country, to get that record out,” she added. She also acknowledged the expectations that come with succeeding Leavitt. KAROLINE LEAVITT JOINS FOX NEWS AS CONTRIBUTOR AFTER LEAVING WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY ROLE “Following the fabulous Karoline Leavitt is a high standard, and one worth meeting,” Zacharia wrote. Since Leavitt’s departure, the White House has held a limited number of press briefings and news conferences led by senior administration officials, including Vice President JD Vance and Attorney General Todd Blanche. The White House adopted a rotating lineup of top Trump administration officials to lead press briefings while Leavitt was on maternity leave over the summer. “Katie has been an effective champion of MAGA movement and America First policies – and most importantly clearly has [the] trust of President Trump,” former Trump press secretary Sean Spicer told Fox News Digital on Friday. “Anyone who has not met her yet will quickly see that she is a genuinely kind person who will work well with the press corps, unlike the first press secretary who came across as an angry leprechaun at times,” Spicer added, poking fun at himself.
Kimberly Guilfoyle faces potential Senate probe over bombshell $100K allegation
U.S. Ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle may soon be the target of a Senate investigation following a bombshell report accusing her of influence peddling. Guilfoyle is under fire following a Wall Street Journal report that alleged, before she was confirmed as ambassador to Greece, she pushed a top donor to President Donald Trump to clear $100,000 in personal credit card debt. And a top Senate Republican believes that following that report, an investigation may soon follow. Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” that “what we’ve seen in the reports is very troubling, it’s concerning.” TRUMP JR UNDER SCRUTINY FROM OWN PARTY OVER PUTIN-LINKED OLIGARCH’S LAVISH GIFT “And I’m sure there’s gonna be an investigation,” Barrasso said. “I would assume the State Department would be conducting that,” he continued. “I know the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will have oversight and look into that, as well. But I think the public has a right to know what was found, and it is quite a bit of concern.” Fox News Digital reached out for comment on a possible investigation to the State Department and Sen. James Risch, R-Idaho, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. DONALD TRUMP JR MARRIES BETTINA ANDERSON AHEAD OF BAHAMAS WEDDING CELEBRATION Guilfoyle, who was recently engaged to Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. until the two publicly split in 2024, was confirmed by the Senate last year for the post in Athens. Barrasso’s prediction comes as allegations surrounding Guilfoyle and her time in Athens mount, and as speculation that her time in the role may be coming to an end. The State Department’s Office of Inspector General, the watchdog for the agency, has already opened a probe into Guilfoyle for previous alleged misconduct. The Daily Mail reported that an investigation was already underway into Guilfoyle’s luxury lifestyle in Greece that included allegations of mistreatment of staff, substance abuse, close ties to an energy and construction company and the improper acceptance of gifts. FORMER USCIS OFFICIAL, ACCOMPLICE CHARGED IN ALLEGED $960K CITIZENSHIP BRIBERY SCHEME The latest claim against her is that she allegedly solicited Trump donor Eric Deters to pay off a $100,000 American Express bill directly to the credit card company, urged him not to leave a paper trail and offered to help him gain access to top administration officials in exchange. Deters said he never made the payment. In the wake of that report, Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are said to be “extremely pissed off” by Guilfoyle’s alleged conduct and are weighing her removal, The Associated Press reported Sunday, citing a senior U.S. official. Rubio fired back shortly after the Wall Street Journal reported the allegations, saying, “You guys walk around thinking that because some source told you something, and you reported it, it’s the gospel.” “It’s not the gospel,” Rubio said. “It’s not the gospel for me. That’s not the way we do things.”
Booker ‘wowed’ by GOP challenger’s blunt message to Trump
Sen. Cory Booker’s Republican Senate challenger had a blunt message for President Donald Trump about the war in Iran during the pair’s recent debate: ” Finish it.” The advice drew applause during Thursday’s forum — and a ” Wow” from Booker, who then blasted former Tabernacle Deputy Mayor Justin Murphy’s remarks as the kind of ” Yahoo” foreign policy that has dragged the United States into costly wars in the Middle East. New Jersey is a blue state that has trended redder in recent years, with President Donald Trump flipping key areas in 2024. However, 1972 was the last time a Republican won a U.S. Senate election in the state, when Sen. Clifford Case was re-elected. Sens. Nick Brady in 1982 and Jeff Chiesa in 2013 later served brief, appointed terms. Murphy, an attorney from the Pine Barrens, earned loud applause for his response to a question about Iran when asked what he would tell Trump if the president called him for advice on the conflict. “Finish that war in a positive manner,” Murphy replied firmly. “We can’t wait halfway through and decide we don’t want to do this anymore. The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is a radical terrorist organization that has deprived the Iranian people, the Persian people, of their history and of a decent life.” ‘FINISH THE DAMN JOB’: HAGERTY TELLS ‘RUTHLESS PODCAST’ THAT TRUMP WILL COMPLETE IRAN MISSION The exchange highlighted the candidates’ opposing approaches to the conflict, with Murphy defending Trump’s military campaign and Booker warning against another prolonged American war in the Middle East. As Murphy continued, the broadcast’s split-screen showed Booker briefly looking down and shaking his head before pursing his lips for the rest of Murphy’s response and raising his eyebrows at one point. LAWMAKER’S STUNNED FACE AND OTHER VIRAL MOMENTS CAP ROUGH WEEK FOR POLITICAL CLASS “Four decades is enough. The Iranian people have suffered enough,” Murphy began to conclude. “And I would say, ‘Mr. President, put your cowboy hat on and get out there and kick some a–, and get this done and done right’,” Murphy said. “Wow,” Booker mouthed as moderator David Wildstein gestured toward the Democrat and said it appeared he wanted to respond. BOOKER SLAMS TRUMP’S IRAN DEAL AS AN ‘ABJECT SURRENDER,’ LABELS HIM THE ‘BIGGEST LOSER’ WITH ‘EGG ON HIS FACE’ “Honestly,” Booker began. “This is the kind of ‘Yahoo’ foreign policy that has mired us in Middle East war after Middle East war — with false bravado leaders saying we’re just going to go in there and kick ass. Well, you know what that’s done to the treasury of our country?” Booker replied. When asked the same question as Murphy, Booker joked that Wildstein was asking him about “a guy calling me for advice who has literally said ‘I know more than my generals’.” But the former Newark mayor entertained the hypothetical, saying he and the rest of New Jersey have known Trump for years because he “bankrupted our casinos” — referring to the president’s former Atlantic City casino businesses. He accused Trump of frequently ignoring advice, claiming advisers had to “jangle keys” to keep him on topic during a meeting about the trans-Hudson rail tunnel project spearheaded by Booker and Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. SIGN UP TO GET THE POLITICS NEWSLETTER Murphy also received attention for his comments during the debate on illegal immigration. He recounted leaving a campaign event in Washington, N.J., and looking across at a home where a child was allegedly abducted and raped by Guatemalan illegal immigrant Lester Noe Perez-Amador — whom the Biden administration previously released after a Texas county notified ICE that it had taken him into custody, according to WRNJ. Besides putting a Republican running for a long-held blue seat on the social media radar, the exchange over Iran underscored sharp divisions across party lines and within the Republican Party over Trump’s military campaign and how it should end.
Media narrative predicting blue wave in key battleground state not meshing with local Republicans: ‘Fired up’
DAVENPORT, Iowa — As Iowa emerges as one of the most critical states in the midterm election in both House and Senate races, Fox News Digital spoke with local Republican candidates about what the media is getting right and wrong on the ground in the Hawkeye State. As local conservatives gathered at a Scott County Republican Party event near downtown Davenport in early October to watch the first gubernatorial debate, a month out from the consequential midterm election, Fox News Digital was there asking if the media narrative was accurate that Iowa was primed for a “blue wave” amid concerns about President Donald Trump’s economy, gas prices, and the war in Iran. Greg Guy, running as a Republican for treasurer in Scott County, acknowledged that Iowans are “concerned” about the price of gas, but believes they understand that the surge in cost is likely temporary after the war in Iran winds down. “Surprisingly not,” Guy said when asked if he thinks a blue wave is imminent in Iowa based on the reactions he gets when he knocks on doors in the county telling voters about his campaign, which he says is focused on doing “what’s right” and “taking care” of the community. DEMOCRATS THINK A BLUE WAVE IS BUILDING. HERE ARE 3 FORCES THAT COULD STOP IT “My neighbor is one of the big people in charge of the canvassing for the Democrat Party. I don’t see where they’re excited to vote,” Guy said. “I mean, if I talk to a hundred doors and 30 to 40% will open up, I might get one out of 40. That’s a hater, and then I’ll just tell them, hey, I know you’re not going to vote for me, but when I’m treasurer, and you have a problem, you can still call me. They don’t know what to do because they’re wound up in the hate. But otherwise, I don’t think there’s a whole lot of belief that the Democrat Party can do anything to fix our economy.” Davenport, a town of about 100,000 people in southeast Iowa along the banks of the Mississippi River, stands out as a Democratic-leaning urban pocket in an increasingly Republican Iowa. President Trump carried Scott County by roughly four points in 2024, 51% to 47%, but former Vice President Kamala Harris won Davenport’s congressional district precincts overall, reflecting the city’s more competitive and complex political profile. Trump won Iowa by about 13 points in 2024, and Republicans control the governor’s office and both chambers of the state legislature. But Scott County’s mix of urban Democrats, suburban swing voters and conservative rural communities makes it a key test of whether the GOP’s statewide strength can overcome Democratic resilience in eastern Iowa. One of the critical questions is whether conservative Iowans are frustrated enough with Republicans to vote Democrats back into power. “No, not at all,” Cynthia Mensendick, a registered nurse running for election to the Iowa State Senate to represent District 49, said when asked if voters think handing Democrats control of Congress is the “right answer.” “The concern is that there will be a Democrat governor because if you look at any state where a Democrat takes over, they immediately increase spending,” Mensendick said, adding, “I’m not seeing that,” when asked if a “blue wave” was set to occur in Iowa this November. Mensendick, who is running a campaign focused on healthcare and the high cancer rate in Iowa, says one of the top concerns with Republican voters is Iowa turning into Illinois if Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand is elected. FOX NEWS POWER RANKINGS: THE BIGGEST SURPRISES COME AFTER OCTOBER Republicans are facing an uphill battle in Iowa, where polling shows Democrats have gained momentum in the gubernatorial, Senate and congressional races. Additionally, Republicans are going up against historical headwinds as the party in power heading into the midterms. However, Iowa has shifted more red in recent years, and the Republicans in the room in Scott County remained optimistic. Dillon Fillion, the youngest candidate in Scott County history at 22 years old, told Fox News Digital that Republicans in Iowa and nationwide have a choice between two very different parties at the end of the day. “I think people have got to weigh the options here, they either have an option of voting for socialist candidates like Abdul El-Sayed, who is a pronounced communist and supports all the things that Lenin supports, which led the Soviet Union into the downfall that it went to, or they have the support of supporting Republicans who were actually serious about cutting their taxes, which cut their taxes in 2025 with the One Big Beautiful Bill,” Fillion, running for the Iowa House of Representatives in District 81, said. “And Democrats will continue to lie about that, but again, the Democrats also voted to raise their taxes 60% in 2025, voting against the Big Beautiful Bill.” Kurt Whalen isn’t running for office, but rather serves as the Scott County Iowa GOP Vice Chair, and he told Fox News Digital that while there are many frustrations with the state of affairs from Republicans in the state, he doesn’t think GOP voters will sit on the sidelines with so much at stake. “I think people are still fired up for the Republican cause. I mean, we are a big tent party. There’s people that absolutely love Trump, there’s people that don’t care for him. But the reality is, Trump’s been an overwhelming force for good in our country,” Whalen said. “So, we can haggle about specifics, but I really think the Republican Party will ultimately come home and certainly support the president, and I would certainly encourage them to do that because what other choice do we have? I mean, the other choice is straight up, communist, Marxist, DSA, mask mandates. The Democratic Party in general, if you look at it historically, it has always been for big government against the little guy.”
Protester punched in face by Trump supporter, mocked by president at Ohio rally: ‘Gotta go on a diet’
A heckler wearing a “Release the Epstein Files” shirt was punched in the face by an apparent supporter of President Donald Trump during a rally Monday in Youngstown, Ohio, before the president mocked the protester’s weight. Trump was criticizing Ohio Democratic Senate candidate Sherrod Brown, who is challenging Republican Sen. Jon Husted after losing his Senate seat in 2024, when rally attendees shifted their attention toward a confrontation in the crowd. Video of the confrontation showed a rallygoer who appeared to support Trump shoving the heckler and striking her in the face as the crowd chanted “USA!” TRUMP TOUTS ‘GOLDEN AGE’ AT OHIO RALLY, URGES VOTERS TO DELIVER GOP MIDTERM WINS The man also grabbed the woman by the hair and attempted to slam her face toward the ground. Police eventually intervened and broke up the fight before escorting the woman out of the venue. Video showed the man who struck her remaining in the arena and exchanging high-fives with other attendees. Trump appeared to notice the disruption and accused the protester of being paid to interrupt the rally, although he offered no evidence to support the allegation. He also mocked the protester’s weight. ANTI-TRUMP PROTESTER CHARGED AFTER VIRAL VIDEO APPEARS TO SHOW JOURNALIST SHOVED AT MAINE PROTEST “He’s a paid protester,” Trump said, appearing to be unaware that the heckler was a woman. “They’re all paid. They get paid by the lefties in order to destroy our country. They’re scum. But he’s going back home to Mom. He’s going back home to Mom. Look at him. Look at him. Terrible. Don’t we love law enforcement? Oh, he’s gotta go on a diet! He’s a fat guy. Wow. Wow. Gotta go on a diet fast. We all do.” “No, they’re paid protesters. That’s a very low-class protester,” the president added. The woman’s “Release the Epstein Files” shirt comes as Trump and his Justice Department face bipartisan scrutiny over the delay in the release of additional documents related to the investigations into deceased sex predator Jeffrey Epstein. Just days before the fight on Monday, there was a fight at another Trump rally in San Antonio, Texas, where a man wearing a MAGA hat grabbed a heckler by the hair and pulled him to the ground.
DNC Chair Ken Martin defends ‘Big Tent’ strategy when pressed on democratic socialists
Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin defended his party’s big-tent approach Monday, arguing Democrats must continue expanding their coalition even as Republicans target the party over its ties to democratic socialists. Martin was pressed during an interview on MSNOW about whether the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is a liability for the party ahead of the midterm elections. “So let me just say, I’ve always taken a big-tent approach to how you build a party,” Martin said. “That’s why I was successful for all these years in Minnesota. I believe you win through addition, not subtraction. You win by growing your coalition, not shrinking it.” NEWSOM TELLS DEMOCRATS TO BE IN THE ‘ADDITION NOT SUBTRACTION’ BUSINESS WITH SOCIALISTS “And sometimes, is there a middle ground, though, when Americans see that…” interjected MSNOW anchor Peter Alexander. “No, not at all, because that’s where the vast majority of Americans are at,” Martin replied. “Maybe right in the middle, or a little center-left, or a little center-right. But it doesn’t mean we can’t bring new voices into the party, right? Of course, we have to keep growing and we have to keep expanding this tent,” Martin reiterated. SEE IT: TOP DEM OPERATIVE DRAWS LINE AT ‘DEPLORABLE’ HASAN PIKER AFTER TOUTING PARTY’S ‘BIG TENT’ Fox News Digital has reached out to the Democratic National Committee for comment. “Democratic Party Chair Ken Martin embraces far-Left radicals who want to abolish the police, prisons, and borders,” the Republican National Committee wrote on X. DSA CO-CHAIR MOCKED FOR PROUDLY CONFIRMING SOCIALISTS WANT TO ABOLISH THE SENATE, NATIONAL BORDERS, PRISONS The DSA has advocated far-left policies, including abolishing police, prisons and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), as well as eliminating immigration restrictions and expanding public ownership. President Donald Trump and Republicans have frequently targeted the DSA ahead of the November elections. Earlier this month, Trump’s Council of Economic Advisers released a report estimating that adopting seven major DSA policies would add $49 trillion to federal deficits over 10 years, equivalent to more than $350,000 per American household. SEN MARK KELLY WARNS FAR-LEFT POLICIES THAT ‘DON’T MAKE SENSE’ COULD COST DEMOCRATS SEATS “Make no mistake, these are the Democrats’ policies,” a White House news release regarding the report stated. “They want to destroy our great, hard-fought nation, and plummet our economy and the very fabric of our nation into the ground.” Meanwhile, many mainstream Democrats have tried to distance themselves from the DSA label, pointing to their support for capitalism and social democracy.
Mamdani unveils sweeping NYPD use-of-force review, but stops short of fulfilling key campaign promises
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced the launch of an internal review of the New York Police Department’s use of force on Monday, but the initiative falls short of fulfilling several of his campaign promises, including pledges to disband a controversial police unit and eliminate a database of suspected gang members. “When the government uses force against a New Yorker, the standard for accountability must be at its highest,” Mamdani said in a press release. “Every New Yorker deserves to know that force will be used lawfully, carefully and only when necessary.” More than nine months after taking office, Mamdani has yet to fulfill several campaign pledges, including disbanding the NYPD’s Strategic Response Group, eliminating its database of suspected gang members and shifting police resources away from low-level offenses. NYPD COP FOUND GUILTY OF CHOKEHOLD IN FIRST CONVICTION SINCE RESTRAINT TACTIC BANNED AFTER GEORGE FLOYD DEATH The review comes after the May 2026 retirement of one of the officers involved in the 2024 shooting of 19-year-old Win Rozario — a development that came before any disciplinary trial could take place. Video footage of the confrontation, captured in March 2024, shows officers responding to a house call, placed by Rozario himself. An altercation ensued when Rozario, who was experiencing a mental health crisis, reacted adversely to the police presence, prompting the police to use Tasers on him. Unsubdued, Rozario then grabbed a pair of scissors and advanced on officers, who shot him at close range. New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office declined to bring criminal charges against the officers in December 2025, concluding that prosecutors could not disprove beyond a reasonable doubt that their use of deadly force was justified under state law. The mayor framed his initiative as a way to strengthen and improve accountability. Mamdani’s initiative comes with an additional $2.6 million in funding for the Office of Inspector General for the NYPD. Additionally, the NYPD will also notify state authorities when officers facing disciplinary charges retire, allowing the state to consider decertification and helping prevent those officers from avoiding scrutiny by joining another law enforcement agency. Those changes will accompany a use-of-force review which, according to Mamdani, is the first of its kind in over a decade and will include a “robust community engagement process.” “We have an obligation to Win’s family and to every New Yorker who calls for help in a moment of crisis. This review is about making sure our policies reflect that responsibility,” Mamdani said. MAMDANI CLASHES WITH DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS’ PUSH TO ABOLISH POLICE AND PRISONS MAMDANI WALKS BACK PLAN TO INCREASE NYPD HEADCOUNT FOLLOWING DSA PRESSURE Notably, the proposed adjustments fall short of campaign promises that Mamdani made to eliminate certain policing activity. In particular, Mamdani called for an end to NYPD arrests on charges of lower–level crimes like public urination and open container violations, noting that such activity was making it harder for officers to tackle violent crimes. “The fact that every year we ask them to take on additional responsibilities – we are making it more and more difficult for them to respond to the very responsibilities that drew them to the job in the first place,” Mamdani said last fall. During his tenure, public urination summonses have gone up, climbing 18%, according to recent reporting. Mamdani also promised to end a database of suspected gang members. He also demanded an end to the Strategic Response Group (SRG), a policing task force that had received public attention for aggressive tactics in subduing protests. “As Mayor, I will disband the SRG, which has cost taxpayers millions in lawsuit settlements + brutalized countless New Yorkers exercising their First Amendment rights,” Mamdani said in a post to X shortly after announcing his bid for mayor. LETITIA JAMES’ TIMES SQUARE SHOOTING PROBE DRAWS GOP CRITICISM OVER NEW YORK’S MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS In addition to keeping those elements in place, Mamdani also retained Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, who was appointed by Mamdani’s predecessor, Eric Adams. Mamdani’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment on whether his police reform plans have taken a different path than the one he originally outlined before taking office.
ATF suspends federal registration and approval rules for certain firearms
Gun owners will no longer be required to federally register or seek advance approval to manufacture or transfer silencers, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns and “Any Other Weapons” (AOWs), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) announced Friday. The policy directive halts National Firearms Act (NFA) enforcement for items subject to zero-dollar tax rates under the updated guidelines. In a letter to federal firearms licensees, ATF Director Robert Cekada noted that the move follows a federal court decision invalidating key manufacturing and transfer provisions of the NFA. GUN RIGHTS GETS ‘GREATEST RESTORATION’ IN 100 YEARS WITH LATEST TRUMP DOJ MOVE, LAWMAKER HAILS “The direction from the President, Congress, and the courts is clear,” Cekada said. “ATF is now following suit with our enforcement posture while continuing to ensure we remain focused where we are needed the most: combatting violent crime in American communities.” The regulatory shift stems from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, in which Congress reduced NFA manufacturing and transfer taxes to $0 for silencers, short-barreled rifles, short-barreled shotguns, and AOWs. GUN RIGHTS GROUPS CAPITALIZE AFTER JUDGE REVERSES DECADES-OLD RESTRICTIONS: ‘MONUMENTAL’ Following that legislation, a federal judge in Texas issued an injunction in August, concluding that because Congress eliminated the underlying tax, the NFA’s mandatory registration and transfer provisions could no longer be justified under Congress’s constitutional taxing power. The ruling initially applied only to the plaintiffs, but the Justice Department subsequently extended its nonenforcement policy nationwide. John Commerford, executive director of the National Rifle Association (NRA), praised the announcement, calling it a historic milestone. MAJOR APPEALS COURT DECLARES NEW JERSEY AR-15 BAN UNCONSTITUTIONAL IN LANDMARK SECOND AMENDMENT RULING “This is what happens when all three branches of government are willing to follow the Constitution,” Commerford said in a statement. “Now the Trump administration has confirmed it will stop treating law-abiding Americans as if they still need special permission from the government to own hearing protection, rifles, or shotguns.” Although the specific NFA requirements and fees have been suspended, all transactions remain subject to the Gun Control Act. Licensed dealers are still required to perform standard background checks and maintain transaction records. Machine guns and destructive devices remain subject to NFA requirements, while federal approval is still required to transport short-barreled rifles and short-barreled shotguns across state lines. The ATF noted it will continue to accept voluntary registrations for owners wishing to document their items, though future legal shifts could potentially reinstate prior regulations without automatic grandfathering protection.
Fort Hood shooter should be executed ’13 times over’ — but not on live stream, survivor says
A survivor of the 2009 Fort Hood massacre says she wishes the mass shooter could be killed one time for every life he took that day – but even she is questioning the military’s decision to livestream his death. Nidal Hasan, 56, is scheduled to face execution by firing squad on Dec. 3, 2026, and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced earlier this month that it will be made available to stream to the public. “Why would people want to see that?” Julia Wilson, a former Defense Department civilian employee who survived the shooting 17 years ago, told Fox News Digital. Wilson wants the mass shooter executed, and, as a victim, she wants to attend his execution and look him in the eye. Hasan, an Army psychiatrist at the time, walked into a soldier readiness center on Nov. 5, 2009, on the Texas Army post and opened fire, killing 13 people and wounding 32 others. Following a military court-martial verdict, Hasan was sentenced to death on Aug. 28, 2013. FORT HOOD SURVIVOR SHOT IN HEAD VOWS TO WATCH TERRORIST FACE HISTORIC FIRING SQUAD On Oct. 2, President Donald Trump approved the death sentence, and days later Hegseth announced it would be by a public firing squad. “Personally, I do want to be there,” Wilson told Fox News Digital. “I do want to look him in the eye to let him know, ‘Look, I may have been your victim that day, but I’m not your victim anymore. I survived you. My child survived you, a lot of us survived you. You didn’t do as much damage as you thought you were going to.’” “You did what you did,” Wilson continued of Hasan’s attack. “Too bad we can’t kill you 13 times over.” But Wilson has reservations about the decision to broadcast Hasan’s execution to the public. “I’m kind of shocked that they’re going to go so far as to televise it,” Wilson said. “I don’t really know how to feel about that.” She fears broadcasting his death could pose a risk of exposing children to the kind of violence she has spent nearly 17 years trying to forget. “Unfortunately, some children may end up seeing that, that don’t need to see something like that,” Wilson said. “Seeing my soldiers murdered that day, that was the first time I’ve ever seen anything like that. And I can never wash it out of my mind.” “I don’t know why anybody would want to actually see something like that happen.” Wilson’s concerns echo objections raised by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. “Hasan should face the death penalty, but making his execution public and streaming it? Beyond disgusting,” Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., posted to X on Thursday. “Public executions are what oppressive dictatorships like Iran and Afghanistan do. It should not be happening in America.” TEXAS EXECUTES JAMAAL HOWARD DESPITE CONCERNS OVER LETHAL INJECTION DRUG USED IN FAILED TENNESSEE EXECUTION Trump said Saturday that he will make the decision of whether or not to livestream Hasan’s execution, acknowledging that he knows “what the military would like to do” following Hegseth’s confirmation. Vice President J.D. Vance also said Friday that he was not sure that the federal government will be livestreaming the execution, also adding that he would not personally view the livestream. “As far as the execution, I have a lot of mixed feelings on it, to be quite honest,” Wilson said. “Yes, I’m glad that it’s moving forward. No, I…don’t ever want to see another human being die.” “But in the same fold, an eye for an eye.” Wilson was working at Fort Hood’s Soldier Readiness Processing Center when Hasan opened fire. At the time, she was nine months pregnant and had reached her due date. She recalled the moment when she first saw soldiers down and heard the gunfire after pulling into the parking lot upon returning to the center from a lunch break with her mom. “Before I got the chance to shut off my engine and really get out of the vehicle, that’s when the gunfire started,” Wilson said. “I had several things go through my mind. You know, they say that you have fight, flight or freeze. I kind of had all three. “ She recounted the chaos during the shooting after going into the center building for the first time since taking cover in her car, which she says her supervisor advised her to do. “Eventually he came back for me and I figured, ‘Okay, maybe… I’m a little bit out of the chaos.’ No, absolutely not,” Wilson said. THREE DEATH ROW INMATES EXECUTED BY LETHAL INJECTION IN RARE SAME-DAY STRING ACROSS US She continued, “I get into my building. Desks are tossed everywhere. It’s a total wreck. There’s blood on the wall, blood on the floor, people working on people. And I just kind of locked up.” “A wounded soldier came in the door opposite of me and said, ‘He’s in the building, he’s shooting, get the f–– out of here.” Wilson said that Hasan receiving the death penalty will still not bring full justice to the victims of the tragedy. She called out the federal government for classifying the shooting as “workplace violence,” urging the shooting to be reclassified as an act of domestic terrorism. “We’ve been betrayed by the government for 17 years,” Wilson said. “They left this as workplace violence. They never declared it domestic terrorism because it was all about, ‘Hey, we need to be politically correct and watch out for his rights.’ Well, what about my rights? And what about me? And what about my family? And what about those that were murdered? And what about those that were injured?” Wilson has written a letter to Trump calling for the reclassification of the shooting to be recognized as domestic terrorism. “It’s time for healing,” Wilson said. “And that healing cannot start until the situation is fully rectified, until there’s full justice.”
Biden-appointed judge with history of fiery Trump clashes erupts at DOJ: ‘You’ve lost all credibility!’
A Biden-appointed federal judge who previously drew a formal misconduct complaint from President Donald Trump’s Justice Department for alleged bias erupted at government lawyers again Monday, in a heated showdown over rapid tree removal at a historic golf course on national parkland. Judge Ana Reyes unleashed her latest rebuke during an emergency hearing over hundreds of trees removed from East Potomac Golf Links in Hains Point, D.C. Trump wants to transform the historic public facility into a championship-caliber golf course like his courses in the U.S., Ireland and Scotland – the latest courtroom collision between the administration and its political opponents. Journalist Scott MacFarlane, who live-tweeted from the hearing, described Reyes as “scream[ing]” at administration attorneys over the government’s late-Friday notification that tree removal would begin Saturday. A government lawyer acknowledged that approximately 430 trees had already been cut down, according to MacFarlane. OBAMA-APPOINTED JUDGE TORCHES TRUMP ADMIN IN LATEST COURTROOM SHOWDOWN, REFERS ATTORNEY FOR BAR REVIEW “You’ve lost credibility!” Reyes told government attorneys, according to MacFarlane’s live courtroom reporting. The administration maintains that the removals implement a 2019 National Park Service landscape-restoration plan predating Trump’s redesign proposal for the links, which sit on an island connected to the city proper by the Jefferson Memorial and Francis Case Bridge at its western edge. BIDEN-APPOINTED JUDGE ORDERS TRUMP TO RESTORE SLAVERY, CLIMATE CHANGE REFERENCES AT NATIONAL PARKS Reyes, who was born in Uruguay and nominated by Biden in 2023, previously grilled a Trump administration attorney about his religious beliefs during litigation challenging Trump’s restrictions on transgender military service — an order she called “biologically inaccurate” according to the Washington Post. The judge questioned how Jesus Christ would respond to “telling a group of people that they are so worthless, so worthless that we’re not going to allow them into homeless shelters?” according to then-DOJ Chief of Staff Chad Mizelle’s complaint. EXCLUSIVE: TRUMP’S DC JUDICIAL NEMESIS TARGETED IN MISCONDUCT COMPLAINT OVER ALLEGED BIDEN DOJ TIES In a 2025 case, Reyes ruled that Trump violated federal notice requirements when he fired several inspectors general but then declined to reinstate them, according to Reuters. Monday’s hearing brought another heated exchange, this time over when government lawyers learned of the tree-removal operation and why they waited until the end of the workweek to notify the court. “At 4:55pm on a Friday of a holiday weekend, the plaintiffs and I get [little] notice that hundreds of trees are going to be chopped down,” Reyes reportedly fumed at the government, according to MacFarlane. EXCAVATION SET TO BEGIN ON TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S 250-FOOT TRIUMPHAL ARCH AMID LEGAL BATTLE When government counsel reportedly acknowledged learning of the operation on Oct. 8 or 9 and said officials were awaiting details, Reyes demanded: “Do you have email or a cell phone?” MacFarlane tweeted that he had never heard a judge “scream at full-voice at a lawyer before,” while the UK Independent reported Reyes excoriated federal counsel for about 15 minutes. The uproar comes as preservationists and progressive interests challenge the administration, including former Obama ethics lawyer Norm Eisen — who has engineered a “broad legal resistance” to the president through his group Democracy Defenders Fund, according to its mission statement. Eisen tweeted a victory lap Monday after the court agreed to hear the case in an “emergency’ setting. SIGN UP TO GET THE POLITICS NEWSLETTER Preservationists argued the administration has not satisfied applicable environmental and historic-preservation requirements. The administration disputed that argument, maintaining that the tree removal is authorized NPS landscape management separate from Trump’s proposed links renovation.