IRS confirms Trump-ordered $1,776 ‘Warrior Dividend’ for 1.45M troops is tax-free
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) delivered good news for America’s troops Friday, confirming that the one-time $1,776 “Warrior Dividend” paid to service members in December 2025 is completely tax-free, allowing troops to keep every dollar of the bonus. In a Friday release, the Treasury Department and the IRS said that “supplemental basic allowance for housing payments” made to members of the uniformed services in December 2025 “are not to be included in income by those who received the payments; they are not taxable.” The agency said federal tax law specifically excludes from gross income a “qualified military benefit,” adding that basic allowances for housing payments fall under that category and therefore are not subject to federal income taxes. The confirmation caps off President Donald Trump’s pre-Christmas announcement that nearly 1.5 million U.S. service members would receive a special “Warrior Dividend” in recognition of their service and to commemorate roughly 250 years since the nation’s founding. CONGRESS UNVEILS $900B DEFENSE BILL TARGETING CHINA WITH TECH BANS, INVESTMENT CRACKDOWN, US TROOP PAY RAISE “And the checks are already on the way,” Trump said during a Dec. 17, 2025, primetime address from the White House, crediting tariffs and recently passed GOP spending and tax legislation for funding the payments. “Nobody deserves it more than our military. And I say congratulations to everybody,” he added. According to the IRS, Congress appropriated $2.9 billion in legislation enacted last July to supplement the basic allowance for housing payable to members of the uniformed services, with the one-time $1,776 payments funded by that appropriation. The IRS said the supplemental payments were made primarily to active-duty service members in pay grades O-6 and below, along with eligible Reserve Component members as of Nov. 30, 2025, across the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Space Force. TRUMP SIGNS ‘MEDAL OF HONOR ACT’ TO RAISE PENSIONS FOR AMERICA’S MILITARY HEROES Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson welcomed the tax treatment in remarks carried by Pentagon News, saying the ruling ensures the money reaches military families directly. “The tax-free Warrior Dividend places $1,776 directly in the hands of our warfighters and their families,” Wilson said. “The department is proud to recognize their sacrifice.” During his December address, Trump also pointed to what he described as a turnaround for the armed forces under his leadership, citing record enlistment and contrasting it with what he called historically poor recruitment numbers under the previous administration. “What a difference a year makes,” Trump said. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said the dividend reflects a broader push to improve quality of life for military families. “This Warrior Dividend serves as yet another example of how the War Department is working to improve the quality of life for our military personnel and their families,” Hegseth said. “All elements of what we’re doing are to rebuild our military. The Department of War and the Internal Revenue Service did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for additional comment. Fox News Digital’s Alec Schemmel contributed to this reporting.
Michael Cohen says NY prosecutors ‘pressured and coerced’ him into anti-Trump testimony
President Donald Trump‘s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, said Friday that prosecutors in both the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and the New York Attorney General’s Office “pressured and coerced” him into delivering testimony tailored to securing convictions against Trump. Cohen, who was a key prosecution witness in two New York cases against Trump, accused New York Attorney General Letitia James and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg of pursuing evidence aimed at Trump, saying prosecutors were uninterested in testimony that didn’t fit their narrative. “I felt pressured and coerced to only provide information and testimony that would satisfy the government’s desire to build the cases against and secure a judgment and convictions against President Trump,” Cohen wrote in a post on Substack. Fox News Digital has reached out to the Office of the New York State Attorney General and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office for comment. APPEALS COURT HANDS TRUMP LEGAL WIN, ORDERS REVIEW OF HUSH MONEY CASE OVER PRESIDENTIAL IMMUNITY Cohen, who was Trump’s personal lawyer for many years, said he was writing as a federal appeals court considers the president’s request to move his hush money case to federal court for further review. The former Trump fixer testified in a civil case brought by James’ office in 2023, where Trump was found liable for fraudulently inflating his assets to obtain favorable loan terms. He also took the stand in Bragg’s case in 2024, where Trump was ultimately found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records. Cohen accused both James and Bragg of using their high-profile cases to elevate their careers, claiming they sought credit as officials who “took down Trump.” TRUMP FILES ‘POWERHOUSE’ APPEAL IN ‘POLITICALLY CHARGED’ MANHATTAN DISTRICT ATTORNEY CASE “They blurred the line between justice and politics; and in that blur, the credibility of both suffered,” he wrote. Cohen said that both before and during the trials, prosecutors made it clear they were only interested in testimony from him that would convict Trump. “When my testimony was insufficient for a point the prosecution sought to make, prosecutors frequently asked inappropriate leading questions to elicit answers that supported their narrative,” he said. Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to several crimes, including tax evasion, campaign finance violations and lying to Congress. He described cooperating with authorities while incarcerated, saying he sought sentence relief and felt compelled to provide testimony fitting prosecutors’ narratives with the hope that his sentence would be reduced. “You may reasonably ask why I am speaking out now. The answer is simple. I have witnessed firsthand the damage done when prosecutors pick their target first and then seek evidence to fit a predetermined narrative,” Cohen said, while noting that he was not writing in defense of Trump.
Florida GOP candidate wants 50% ‘sin tax’ on OnlyFans creators to fight ‘cultural degeneracy’
A Republican candidate for governor in Florida recently proposed a hefty “sin tax” on OnlyFans content creators if he is elected. “Young women once aspired to be devoted mothers, doctors, lawyers, and nurses,” James Fishback told Fox News Digital in a statement on Friday. Fishback continued, “Today, young women are told by an online platform called OnlyFans that it’s morally right to sell nude photos of themselves to strangers on the internet. I will not tolerate this cultural degeneracy as Florida’s next Republican Governor.” He has estimated the income tax would raise around $200 million, according to FOX 35, which he said would be put into the state’s education system. ONLYFANS BOOM ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES SPARKS CONCERN AS MORE STUDENTS TURN TO PLATFORM FOR FAST CASH The money would also go toward crisis pregnancy centers and to fund the “first-of-its-kind mental health czar for men in particular because men have been told for far too long that they are guilty of masculinity,” he told podcaster Joel Webbon this week. “That they are guilty for all of society’s ills. I’m not going to stand for that slanderous lie.” He told Webbon: “As Florida’s governor, I don’t want young women who could otherwise be mothers raising families, rearing children, I don’t want them to be selling their bodies to sick men online. And I don’t want young, impressionable men who have strayed from Christ, who have strayed from our lord and savior to be told and drawn in to lust.” Fishback told FOX 35 he would be open to a possible tax on OnlyFans customers as well. ONLYFANS STAR PREACHES TO UNIVERSIY STUDENTS AS PROFESSOR SAYS ‘MANIFESTATION WORKED’ OnlyFans content creator Sophie Rain told People magazine she thought the proposal was the “dumbest thing” she had ever heard. “No one ever forced me to start an OnlyFans, it was MY decision, so I don’t need a 31-year-old man telling me I can’t sell my body online,” she explained to the magazine. “I am a Christian, God knows what I am doing, and I know he is happy with me, that’s the only validation I need.” Piper Fawn, another OnlyFans creator, told FOX 35 she felt Fishback was trying to push his religious beliefs with the proposal. “He’s saying, you know, it’s a sin, it’s wrong, that’s true, that’s fair,” she told the station. “But sin is a biblical term, it’s not a legal term. If he’s really trying to make the state a safer spot or making changes for the better, I feel like there are other things that can be worked on and putting our attention towards versus taxing creators.” Fox News Digital has reached out to OnlyFans for comment. “If you are a man or woman selling your body on the internet, you can either have two options: The first of which, you can pay the state of Florida 50% so we can raise teacher pay, or you can quit doing that and do something morally rigorous,” Fishback added to FOX 35.
California man arrested for allegedly making online death threats against JD Vance during Disneyland visit
A California man was arrested on a federal criminal complaint alleging he made online death threats against Vice President JD Vance during his visit to Disneyland Resort in Anaheim in July. Marco Antonio Aguayo, 22, of Anaheim, was taken into custody Friday after he allegedly made multiple threatening comments on Disney’s official Instagram account referencing pipe bombs, imminent bloodshed and violent action against “corrupt politicians” July 12, the same day Vance and his family were visiting and staying at the resort. Aguayo was charged with threatening the president and successors to the presidency, according to a criminal complaint filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. He is expected to make his initial appearance Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana. SECRET SERVICE AWARE OF UMASS LOWELL-FUNDED RADIO DJ’S DIRECTIVE TO ‘KILL JD VANCE’ “This case is a horrific reminder of the dangers public officials face from deranged criminals who would do them harm,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a Department of Justice news release announcing Aguayo’s arrest. “I am grateful that my friend Vice President Vance and his family are safe, applaud the police work that led to the arrest and will ensure my prosecutors deliver swift justice.” Just before 6:15 p.m. July 12, an Instagram account posted a public comment on the Disney page saying, “Pipe bombs have been placed in preparation for J.D. Vance’s arrival,” according to an affidavit by a U.S. Secret Service Special Agent. A subsequent comment said, “It’s time for us to rise up and you will be a witness to it,” and a third comment added, “Good luck finding all of them on time there will be bloodshed tonight and we will bathe in the blood of corrupt politicians,” according to the affidavit. SUSPECT IN VANCE HOME VANDALISM HAS HAD MULTIPLE RUN-INS WITH THE LAW, DEMANDED TO BE CALLED JULIA Investigators traced the Instagram account allegedly used to post the threats to Aguayo’s email address, phone numbers, IP addresses and home in Anaheim, using records from Meta, Google and other sources. While questioning Aguayo at his home, investigators said he initially claimed his account had been hacked, but he later admitted to making the posts as a “joke,” with the intention of deleting them, officials say. Aguayo consented to searches of his phone, bedroom and laptop, where investigators confirmed he was logged into the account that made the posts, according to the affidavit. “We will not tolerate criminal threats against public officials,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said in the release. “We are grateful the vice president and his family remained safe during their visit. Let this case be a warning to anyone who thinks they can make anonymous online threats. We will find you and bring you to justice.”
Schumer reveals ‘bipartisan’ plans to reverse DOGE cuts as lawmakers work through funding push
House Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he would press to restore funding cut by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and even add to the original amounts. Schumer made the comments when he was asked Thursday if he would work to replenish funding for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) at a forum held by the Center for American Progress. “If you look at the budget we’re working on right now, we restore most of the cuts. And even go higher than previous years on many of the programs that DOGE slashed,” Schumer said. SENATE QUIETLY WORKS ON BIPARTISAN OBAMACARE FIX AS HEALTHCARE CLIFF NEARS “We have worked really hard and gotten bipartisan support to increase these amounts and undo a lot of the cuts which are essential.” He did not describe which specific programs he hopes to supplement. Lawmakers have not yet released a final text for the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development bill for 2026. The Senate Appropriations Committee has proposed a plan that would increase its fiscal year 2026 funding by $5 billion over fiscal 2025 levels. Since the Trump administration began making cuts through DOGE, Democrats like Schumer have largely condemned them, calling them an attack on government resources and services. HOUSE GOP TENSIONS ERUPT AFTER MODERATE REPUBLICANS’ OBAMACARE ‘BETRAYAL’ Republicans, by contrast, have framed the effort as a way to remove waste, fraud and abuse. According to the DOGE website, the group believes it has eliminated $215 billion in waste. Republicans made $115 billion of those spending reductions official through a bill passed last year. Since then, lawmakers have not advanced another rescissions package, a bill that helps lawmakers fast-track spending reductions at the request of the president. Republicans like Aaron Bean, R-Fla., chairman of the House DOGE Caucus, say the GOP’s cost-cutting efforts are still ongoing in the background. “DOGE is still alive,” Bean told Fox News Digital in December. “We’re going to get it rocking. I think that will come down the road.” Bean noted that several pressing issues have captured Congress’ attention in the last few months. CONGRESS FLEES TOWN AS HEALTH CARE PREMIUMS SET TO EXPLODE FOR MILLIONS OF AMERICANS IN JANUARY “I think, you know, the shutdown set everybody back a little bit. These credits, with the budget, with everything,” Bean said, referring to the COVID-era Obamacare tax credits that were at the heart of the 2025 government shutdown. Members of the House and Senate Appropriations committees did not immediately respond to a request for a response to Schumer’s statements.
Mamdani announces $2.1M settlement with major landlord as tenants describe ‘nightmare’ conditions
New York City reached a $2.1 million settlement with A&E Real Estate covering 14 buildings in three boroughs, with Mayor Zohran Mamdani saying the agreement will force repairs and stop what he described as tenant harassment. “Today, I am proud to stand here … to announce that New York City has come to a settlement with A&E Realty regarding 14 buildings across three boroughs,” Mamdani said Friday at a news conference in Jackson Heights, Queens. Asked during the news conference how aggressive the new administration plans to be with landlords, Mamdani said, “We want to make it clear to everyone in this city that no one is above the law and that if you are a landlord violating the law, then this administration will hold you to account.” Mamdani said the settlement requires A&E to pay “$2.1 million in restitution” and includes “injunctions preventing them from harassing their tenants” while compelling the company “to correct more than 4,000 building code violations across these 14 buildings.” MAMDANI OFFICIAL CEA WEAVER SAYS SHE REGRETS ‘SOME’ OF HER PAST STATEMENTS AFTER CONTROVERSIAL POSTS RESURFACE “For years, A&E has operated with callous disregard for those residing in its properties, racking up over 140,000 total violations, including 35,000 in the last year alone,” Mamdani said. “City Hall will not sit idly by and accept this illegality, nor will we allow bad actors to continue to harass tenants with impunity.” A tenant, Diana De La Paz, described conditions she said residents have dealt with at her building, including prolonged elevator outages, heat issues and infestations. De La Paz said the elevator in her building has been out of service for long stretches, which she said “effectively imprison[ed] elderly and disabled tenants in their own homes.” NYC DEM REVEALS HOW CITY COUNCIL REJECTED CEA WEAVER—NOW MAMDANI IS HANDING HER POWER WITHOUT CONFIRMATION Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) Commissioner Dina Levy said the agreement will affect “750 tenants across 14 buildings” and said the city’s litigation “has produced a settlement that will lead to the correction of more than 4,000 Housing Code violations.” “It will enforce long overdue court-ordered repairs and impose $2.1 million in civil penalties and will include binding injunctions that will prohibit further tenant harassment and require sustained compliance moving forward from this landlord,” Levy said. Levy said the deal represents the agency’s biggest settlement to date. “Actually, the settlement announced today … represents HPD’s largest settlement in the history of the unit,” Levy said, adding that the city has additional tools it can use, including intervention in distressed buildings and, in extreme situations, removing buildings from owners’ control and installing “responsive management.” Levy added that the city’s immediate focus is getting violations fixed through the settlement but warned additional action is possible if landlords do not comply. MAMDANI HOUSING CZAR CALLED ‘WHITE, MIDDLE-CLASS HOMEOWNERS’ A ‘HUGE PROBLEM’ DURING 2021 PODCAST APPEARANCE “The intended outcome is safety and well-being for tenants,” Mamdani said. “We today are announcing a multimillion-dollar settlement with this landlord to actually rectify these violations. That is what we want to see. If a landlord cannot get to that settlement, continues to operate outside of the law, then we will hold them to account in additional ways.” City Council member Shekar Krishnan, who represents Jackson Heights, called A&E a “reprehensible landlord” and said enforcement is what tenants need. “As a former tenant lawyer myself … I’ve always said that tenants’ rights are not worth more than the paper they’re written on if they’re not enforced in reality,” Krishnan said. “Here we are today … showing what enforcement looks like.” Mamdani also announced what he called “rental ripoff” hearings across the city. “We will be holding a rental ripoff hearing in each of the five boroughs within the first 100 days of our administration,” he said, describing them as hearings where multiple agencies will “listen to New Yorkers’ needs” and use that feedback to shape enforcement and policy. “We’ve made it our mission to collaborate with the city to improve this building and others that were in deep disrepair when we took ownership,” a spokesperson for A&E Real Estate told Fox News Digital. “In every building we’ve purchased, we’ve invested in replacing boilers, rehabbing elevators and fixing tens of thousands of longstanding violations. “We are pleased to have settled all legal issues with the City and have agreed upon a repair plan with the housing department that we are already delivering on. We look forward to partnering with the city to improve the lives of our residents and find collaborative ways to protect and to continue to invest in New York City’s housing stock.”
Noem declares America’s border ‘most secure’ in nation’s history under Trump administration
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem declared Friday that America’s border is the “most secure” in history, pointing to an eighth straight month of zero parole releases. In a post on X, Noem touted newly released Customs and Border Protection (CBP) numbers for December 2025, praising President Trump and frontline law enforcement for delivering historic results. “Thanks to President Trump’s leadership and the dedication of DHS law enforcement, America’s borders are safer than any time in our nation’s history,” Noem wrote. “What President Trump and our CBP agents and officers have been able to do in a single year is nothing short of extraordinary.” CBP reported zero parole releases in December, compared to 7,041 released along the southwest border in December 2024 under the Biden administration. TRUMP HAS MADE THE BORDER SECURE AGAIN — BUT NOW THE HARD PART BEGINS “Once again, we have a record low number of encounters at the border and the 8th straight month of zero releases,” Noem said. “Month after month, we are delivering results that were once thought impossible: the most secure border in history and unmatched enforcement successes.” According to CBP, total nationwide encounters from October through December fell to 91,603, the lowest ever recorded at the start of a fiscal year and 25% below the previous record low set in 2012. December alone saw just 30,698 encounters nationwide, a 92% drop from the Biden-era peak of 370,883 and the lowest December total on record, according to the federal agency. THE NEW HIGH-TECH TOOL TRUMP IS USING TO SECURE OUR BORDER Along the southwest border, Border Patrol recorded just 21,815 apprehensions in the first quarter of fiscal year 2026, marking a 95% drop compared to the Biden administration’s first-quarter average, CBP noted. Border Patrol agents made 6,478 apprehensions in December along the southwest border, marking a 96% decrease from the Biden administration’s monthly average and fewer than what agents encountered in just four days in December 2024. Border patrol agents averaged 209 apprehensions per day during the month, compared to Biden-era levels that exceeded that number every 1.5 hours, CBP wrote. “Our agents and officers have set a new standard for border security, achieving historic results that speak for themselves,” CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott said in a statement. NEW DATA REVEALS BORDER CROSSINGS REACH RECORD LOWS AMID TRUMP ADMIN’S CRACKDOWN CBP also seized 39,030 pounds of illicit drugs nationwide in December. “The men and women of CBP are demonstrating what’s possible through unwavering commitment and effective enforcement and will continue to ensure the safety and security of our nation’s borders every single day,” Scott added.
Federal prosecutors open investigation into Walz, Frey over alleged impeding of law enforcement
Fox News has learned federal prosecutors are investigating both Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey for allegedly impeding law enforcement efforts in the blue state. Two sources familiar confirmed the probe, though no additional details about the investigation have been publicly released. Sources said the investigation is in early stages, and it is unclear if it will result in any criminal charges. U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told Fox News the duo’s anti-ICE rhetoric was teetering on a federal crime. “When the governor or the mayor threaten our officers, when the mayor suggests that he’s encouraging citizens to call 911 when they see ICE officers, that is very close to a federal crime,” Blanche said. Bondi added on X, “A reminder to all those in Minnesota: No one is above the law.” PROTESTERS CLASH WITH FEDERAL OFFICERS AFTER ANOTHER ICE SHOOTING IN MINNEAPOLIS Walz responded to the news by accusing the Trump administration of “weaponizing the justice system.” “Two days ago, it was Elissa Slotkin. Last week it was Jerome Powell. Before that, Mark Kelly,” Walz wrote in an X post. “Weaponizing the justice system against your opponents is an authoritarian tactic. The only person not being investigated for the shooting of Renee Good is the federal agent who shot her.” Frey also weighed in on social media, asserting he “will not be intimidated.” “This is an obvious attempt to intimidate me for standing up for Minneapolis, local law enforcement, and residents against the chaos and danger this Administration has brought to our city,” Frey wrote on X. “I will not be intimidated. My focus remains where it’s always been: keeping our city safe. Frey’s office told Fox News Digital they have not yet heard from the federal government. “America depends on leaders that use integrity and the rule of law as the guideposts for governance,” Frey’s office wrote in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Neither our city nor our country will succumb to this fear. We stand rock solid.” “America depends on leaders that use integrity and the rule of law as the guideposts for governance. Neither our city nor our country will succumb to this fear. We stand rock solid.” Both Democrat leaders have encouraged anti-immigration enforcement protests following the death of 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good, who was fatally shot Jan. 7 by a federal agent while allegedly blocking an ICE operation in Minneapolis. The White House’s Rapid Response 47 team criticized Walz following a statewide address Wednesday, where he called for ICE agents to be prosecuted. “Help us establish a record of exactly what’s happening in our communities. You have an absolute right to peacefully film ICE agents as they conduct these activities,” Walz said. “So, carry your phone with you at all times. And if you see these ICE agents in your neighborhood, take out that phone and hit record. “Help us create a database of the atrocities against Minnesotans, not just to establish a record for posterity. But to bank evidence for future prosecution.” Frey called for peace on Wednesday, just days after telling ICE to “get the f— out” of the city. OMAR, MINNEAPOLIS MAYOR ACCUSE TRUMP ADMIN OF UNLEASHING ‘POLITICAL RETRIBUTION,’ ‘INVASION’ WITH ICE ACTIVITY White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told Fox News that Walz, Frey and other Democratic leaders have “done nothing but turn up the temperature, smear heroic ICE officers, and incite violence against them—all in defense of criminal illegal aliens.” President Donald Trump took to Truth Social on Thursday warning he would invoke the Insurrection Act if Minnesotans continue aggression toward federal agents. “If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State,” Trump wrote in the post. WHITE HOUSE BLAMES DEMOCRATS FOR ICE VIOLENCE AS MINNEAPOLIS ERUPTS, INSURRECTION ACT THREAT LOOMS The Insurrection Act, which allows the president to deploy the military to suppress rebellions and enforce federal laws, has not been invoked since the 1992 Los Angeles riots. If invoked, National Guardsmen could be deployed to carry out domestic law enforcement. Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman-Diamond contributed to this report.
Pro-Trump group unleashes blueprint for crucial housing initiative featuring top MAGA influencer
FIRST ON FOX: A new initiative to “Make Housing Great Again” led by conservative influencer Benny Johnson and the America First Policy Institute (AFPI) has a plan to make housing more affordable for Americans. In November, Johnson and AFPI announced a new ‘Make Housing Great Again’ initiative, which has also tapped former Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson and developer Michael Burkentine to help advise. Johnson brings a massive following to the initiative and also has a stake in the matter himself, considering he is a young father, AFPI noted when asked to explain the decision to select Johnson as the initiative’s co-chair and national spokesperson. This week, the initiative unveiled a list of policy goals it will pursue, which it believes will make the American dream of owning a home more attainable for all. TRUMP OPENS DOOR TO LIZ WARREN ON CREDIT CARD RATES AS GOP WEIGHS AFFORDABILITY FIGHT “Housing affordability has reached a crisis point in America, with a 167% increase in home prices in the past half-century. The result of more expensive homes is the delay of a significant life milestone: homeownership,” the MAGA housing initiative’s policy white paper points out. “The America First vision of housing affordability is to restore the American Dream to what it once was. By taking a pragmatic and targeted approach to the affordability crisis these proposals will increase the housing supply, provide direct relief to home buyers, bring prices down, and, ultimately, allow all Americans to obtain the cornerstone of the American Dream: a place to call their own.” Incentivizing deregulation at the local level via market-driven solutions, efforts to reduce construction costs, the implementation of tax benefits for first-time home buyers, expanding economic “opportunity zones,” and reducing foreign housing demand are among several of the policy goals the new MAGA housing initiative said it will be prioritizing. As home prices have risen, wages are not keeping pace, the blueprint pointed out, highlighting that the median household income in the United States increased 99.7% between 2000 and 2024, while the median sale price for a single-family home increased by 150.1% during the same period. Additionally, the median age of first-time home buyers today is 40, compared to just four years ago when it was 33. The “Make Housing Great Again” policy report cited low supply due to “excessive” regulations, immigration-induced demand spikes, high mortgage rates and record debt burdens among young Americans as factors causing the American dream of owning a home to be less attainable. To combat these roadblocks, the new MAGA housing initiative says it will focus on supply-side deregulation and financial incentives aimed at the local level. The initiative points out that regulations imposed by local governments often preclude the federal government from setting national-level mandates to deregulate. But, through HUD, it can incentivize localities to expand their housing supply by tying federal housing benefits to deregulation efforts. WHITE HOUSE ‘LASER FOCUSED’ ON AFFORDABILITY AS TRUMP SOFTENS TARIFF STRATEGY To encourage localities to undertake deregulatory actions, the initiative will push the Trump administration to offer “concrete benefits” to home builders and buyers, such as a Working Families Housing Fund, which the initiative is calling the “Targeted Regional U.S. Middle-Class Prosperity Fund,” or “TRUMP Fund” for short. The TRUMP fund would invest in professionally managed housing funds designed to help provide financial assistance for middle-income, working-class families in the 80% to 120% median income for their area. However, in order for people to be eligible, communities must show they have taken steps to reduce barriers to building, the initiative suggests. The “Make Housing Great Again” initiative also sees boosting the number of workers in skilled trades as an avenue to reduce overall construction costs. Experts estimate that the skilled labor jobs in the construction industry have recently been shorthanded by around 350,000 workers month-over-month. The National Association of Home Builders estimates the industry will need to hire nearly 723,000 workers per year just to keep pace with demand and close a nationwide housing gap of 1.5 million homes. “There are numerous opportunities at the state and federal levels to increase interest in and access to careers in the skilled trades,” the report argues. “By increasing interest in skilled trades and reducing barriers to entry, it is possible to increase the pipeline of workers entering skilled trades and, by extension, reduce the costs of building new homes.” A new and revamped version of Opportunity Zones, which are essentially federal tax incentives intended to spur local investment in low-income areas, is also among the policy plans AFPI and Johnson’s new MAGA housing initiative have in mind. The plan is to create Opportunity Zones Plus that would create an even higher-tier benefit for housing that is constructed in designated communities that meet certain affordability criteria. Providing direct benefits to homebuyers, such as through tax-advantaged savings plans, a family formation mortgage credit for young couples trying to have kids and a new fixed 30-year mortgage rate for first-time home buyers supplemented by HUD, were among the policy prescriptions as well. Another plan for improving housing affordability by the initiative includes reducing the housing demand among foreign nationals. According to the “Make Housing Great Again” white paper, foreign investors bought $56 billion in homes during a 12-month period between 2024 and 2025, with 47% of those foreign buyers purchasing property for use as a vacation home or rental. Foreign buyers also reportedly pay in cash at a much higher rate than American homebuyers. In an effort to help protect young homebuyers, the initiative also plans to focus on “cracking down on predatory lending” practices and setting guardrails for the industry. Congress can effectuate this change by capping the annual percentage rate (APR) lenders are allowed to set at 36% for most consumer borrowing, payday loans and credit card interest. According to the report, similar policies have been implemented for the military community. “The average first-time home buyer in America is now 40 years old. 40. Years. Old. That
Cancer-stricken children urge Bernie Sanders to back life-saving pediatric healthcare bill
Cancer-stricken patients are urging Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., to reverse course and support a bill that could lead to life-saving treatments. Jacob Knudsen, who was diagnosed with osteosarcoma when he was 12 and has since endured nearly two dozen surgeries and multiple rounds of chemotherapy after tumors were discovered on his organs, is pushing for Sanders to support the Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act, the New York Post reported. “There is something currently in my lung, and there’s a 50-50 chance that it’s cancer,” Knudsen, a California native and college student, told the newspaper. “I’m willing to bleed. I’m willing to lose limbs. I’m willing to lose organs. I’m willing to do anything just to survive.” SANDERS BLASTED AFTER BLOCKING BIPARTISAN KIDS’ CANCER RESEARCH BILL: ‘GRINCH,’ ‘SELFISH’ The bipartisan bill, named after Knudsen’s friend, a fellow osteosarcoma patient who died late last year at 16, would allow pediatric cancer patients to participate in clinical trials and to ensure them access to key treatments. The legislation passed unanimously in the House. However, when it reached the Senate, Sanders, who has repeatedly called for better health care, objected. He demanded other stipulations be attached, such as funding of other efforts, such as community health centers, the Post said. His opposition has slowed the bill’s advancement. Fox News Digital has reached out to Sanders. At the time of the bill’s failure in December, Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., accused Sanders of playing politics with children’s lives before calling him a real-life Grinch. “Everything their senator from Vermont just talked about was political,” said Mullin, who brought the bill to the Senate floor. “I’m talking about giving kids a chance to live an extra day or a lifetime. This has nothing to do with politics. This has to do with kids.” SEN MURPHY WARNS ‘PEOPLE ARE GOING TO DIE’ AS CONGRESS PUNTS ON EXPIRING OBAMACARE SUBSIDIES “The Grinch is stealing kids’ lives,” he added. “And he’s stealing hope from the families.” Sanders explained that he had no problem with the legislation, which would have incentivized the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and drug companies to encourage more relevant pediatric studies and invest in rare pediatric disease treatments. But he wanted to tack on an amendment to fund community health centers throughout the country. “This is not a radical amendment,” Sanders said at the time. “I’m not coming here saying, ‘Let’s do something we’ve not talked about.’ I’m not talking about passing Medicare for all here. I am talking about doing what the Republicans and Democrats agreed to a year ago but was torpedoed by some tweets from Elon Musk.” Nancy Goodman, executive director of Kids v Cancer, told the Post the bill’s failure to pass is an example of Washington’s crippling dysfunction. “The bill would ensure the most innovative, promising pediatric cancer clinical studies are conducted, and it would incentivize companies to develop novel, potentially curative drugs for these kids,” she said. “How can we say Congress is functioning if it can’t pass the easiest bill that one can ever imagine? This is a bill that has bipartisan support that saves the lives of children with cancer that costs taxpayers nothing, and yet they can’t pass it.” Goodman and her husband, former U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman, lost their 10-year-old son, Jacob, in 2009 to medulloblastoma. Other cancer patients feel the same as Knudsen. “I would probably tell [politicians] to talk to someone [diagnosed with cancer] just to see what they’re going through,” Anderson Coy, 21, told the Post. “The sooner we pass acts like this, the more lives we save,” Knudsen said. “How many children have died from cancer? How many of those were the next Albert Einstein that never made it? These kids could solve the world’s problems.”