Key American industry seeing blue-collar jobs boom as Trump’s re-shoring policies pay off
FIRST ON FOX: Critical blue collar manufacturing jobs in the U.S. are making inroads after years of Biden-era offshoring hollowed out the workforce, according to a new economic report. A Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) report says 72,000 manufacturing jobs have been added in 2026 alone, many of them due to a rise in the manufacturing of durable goods like metal and transportation equipment. The advisors say this is a reverse of a Biden-era trend that saw 200,000 manufacturing jobs disappear in the last two years of the former president’s administration. Not only is the current administration’s focus on re-shoring jobs contributing to the uptick, but so are his tariff policies, according to the CEA, a White House agency responsible for providing President Donald Trump with economic analysis. AMERICA’S NEW BLUE-COLLAR JOB BOOM IS ONE NOBODY SAW COMING — AND IT’S JUST GETTING STARTED In particular, Trump’s landmark One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB) has laid the groundwork for American companies to expand in the United States, instead of shipping jobs overseas, according to the report. The bill’s provisions include allowing manufacturers an immediate 100% tax deduction on expenses related to new factory building, and purchasing machinery and equipment. The report highlights success stories from corporations that are reinvesting in Americans and expanding their businesses. LARGEST-EVER US STEEL PLANT IS COMING TO A KEY RED STATE AS TRUMP UNVEILS $15B INVESTMENT For example, the 100% expensing provision in the OBBB has helped Jergens, a manufacturing company based in Ohio, expand to Illinois. “Since the passage of the bill [OBBB], our employees are voluntarily working additional hours,” the company’s CEO, Jack Schron, said. “They are keeping more of what they earn, putting more money back into the American economy and Jergens has a ready workforce. It is a win-win-win: a win for the employee, for Jergens and for the United States economy.” BESSENT CREDITS TRUMP IMMIGRATION POLICIES WITH HELPING RETURN JOBS TO AMERICANS AS WAGE GAINS RESUME Schron added that 83% of his workers are picking up overtime after the OBBB provision established no taxes for overtime work. In another example touted in the CEA report, a company in North Carolina, Ketchie Inc., has expanded its workforce by 25% after taking advantage of the 100% expensing provision to purchase new machinery. The report says the company waited to buy the equipment until the OBBB passed. As for wages, manufacturing workers are seeing benefits, too, with their pay increasing by 7.9% since January 2025. “Adjusted for inflation, this means that blue-collar manufacturing workers are earning nearly $2,500 more per year, on average, since President Trump took office,” the report says. It also touts figures from the construction industry, including 100,000 construction jobs added since Trump took office. Semiconductor chip manufacturing, an industry in which the United States typically competes with China, is on the rise in the United States too. Micron is building memory chip plants in Idaho, Virginia and New York, which the report says is a $250 billion investment in the United States. Apple is investing $600 billion in American semiconductor production, too. The report also says that major pharmaceutical companies like GSK and Gilead are investing billions of dollars in the United States, along with automakers like Stellantis. PESSIMISTS SAY THE ECONOMY IS WEAK. THE GOOD NEWS IS, THEY ARE WRONG All told, the reshoring and tariff policies have resulted in $11 trillion in investments in the United States during Trump’s second term in office, according to the report. Meanwhile, the economy is on everyone’s mind with only a few weeks left until the midterm elections. Inflation, particularly high gas and grocery prices, continue to impact Americans before they head to the polls. According to a Fox News Poll, the cost of everyday items is a hardship for voters: 61% say gas prices are a major problem, up from 48% two years ago, while 52% say the same for healthcare costs, up from 44%. Majorities also view housing costs (54%, down from 60%) and grocery prices (62%, down from 66%) as major problems. Nearly two-thirds of Americans say the economy is worse under the Trump administration than before.
Socialists set sights on the ground floor of government as GOP warns of bigger plan unfolding
FIRST ON FOX — Dozens of individuals backed by the Democratic Socialists of America are set to appear on ballots as candidates for state legislature seats on Election Day, something Republicans say could set in motion a trend that transforms the Democratic Party. At least 65 DSA-aligned candidates have advanced to contest state legislative seats in November’s general election. The Republican State Leadership Committee — the official GOP body responsible for ensuring state-level conservative victories — claimed that these races could very well determine the future of the Democratic Party, according to a memo obtained exclusively by Fox News Digital. “The statehouse trend is also relevant because several prominent DSA-aligned Congressional candidates in 2026 have emerged from state and local political organizing,” the memo reads. “These victories demonstrate one potential progression: movement organizations can help develop candidates locally and at the state level, provide them with political experience and organizational networks, and eventually support campaigns for Congress.” SOCIALISTS CHEER ‘SHOCKWAVE’ PRIMARY NIGHT AS DSA-BACKED CANDIDATES WIN, ADVANCE ACROSS THE MAP “The scale of that presence matters not only because DSA-aligned candidates could influence the direction of their state legislatures if elected, but because state legislative offices can provide a platform, governing experience, donor networks and organizational infrastructure for future campaigns for higher office,” it continues. The RSLC’s methodology included candidates who are DSA members, DSA endorsees or self-identified members of the organization. DSA-affiliated candidates identified by the RSLC take positions on a number of issues that crucial swing voters and independents may find extreme, including defunding or abolishing police departments, left-wing economic policies and demanding race-based reparations. Opposition to traditional policing has emerged as a prominent issue among some of the DSA-aligned state legislative candidates identified by Republicans. “As a State Senator I will continue to do everything I can to end policing and incarceration in New York State,” Democratic State Sen. Jabari Brisport’s campaign website reads. Brisport also supports decriminalizing prostitution, arguing that removing criminal penalties for sex workers while maintaining protections against trafficking and exploitation would help keep communities safe. TALARICO PUT ON DEFENSE AFTER 2020 COMMENTS ABOUT DEFUNDING POLICE RESURFACE: ‘WE MUST REPLACE’ Over in Wisconsin, Democratic State Rep. Ryan Clancy has stood by his statement that police work has “no dignity or value.” “It means that American policing has always been bad and it always will be,” Clancy told a local outlet in 2023, alleging that American police forces have their roots in slave patrols. “It’s not like we can get back to this to the early days… American policing… [is] epically racist and classist because that’s a dead end. That is the point of American policing.” Clancy told Fox News Digital that his comments concerned officers who abused their authority over sex workers, although his original remarks and subsequent 2023 interview criticized policing more broadly as an institution he argued was inherently racist and could not be reformed. He concurred with the RSLC’s assertion that DSA-aligned candidates are shaping the future of the Democratic Party. State Rep. Eleanor Chávez, running with the DSA’s backing in New Mexico, meanwhile has called Immigration and Customs Enforcement “fascist” and compared its agents to the KKK. Republicans in New Mexico have condemned such rhetoric, arguing that it could spur people to commit violence against law enforcement officers. Despite its propensity to draw attention to its stances on social issues, the DSA bills itself as an economically motivated organization. NEWSOM ADMITS DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST IDEAS ‘MAINSTREAM’ IN DEMOCRAT PARTY: ‘PRETTY ALIGNED’ To this end, some of its members running for state legislatures have called for reforms some have described as radical. New York Democratic Assemblywoman Sarahana Shrestha, who is running for re-election with the backing of the DSA, has pushed legislation that would allow the government to acquire the privately held Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp., potentially through eminent domain if a negotiated purchase cannot be reached.Dylan Wegela, a DSA-backed state house candidate in Michigan, has similarly pushed for state acquisitions of utility companies. Shrestha agrees with the RSLC’s assessment that DSA-aligned state lawmakers could influence the Democratic Party’s trajectory. “The things DSA-aligned state lawmakers are fighting for are things that are extremely popular with voters, and have been for a long time,” she told Fox News Digital. “A majority of our constituents believe the energy sector should not be for profit, healthcare should be single-payer and universal, the government should play a positive role in building necessary infrastructure such as permanently affordable housing and public transit, and so on.” The DSA-affiliated lawmaker also defended her plan to take over the Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp., citing a feasibility study commissioned by supporters of the bill that found it would lower costs for consumers. Sometimes, the stances of DSA clash with Democratic policy priorities. Gabriel Acevero, a DSA-backed lawmaker in Maryland, for instance, opposed a marijuana legalization measure he argued did not go far enough to address racial inequities, declaring that “cannabis legalization without reparations for communities harmed by the intentional drug war is not progressive policy.” Scores of DSA-affiliated candidates running in states such as New York, Minnesota and Massachusetts have thrown their support behind reparations for racial minorities. SOCIALISTS ARE HELPING GOP CAMPAIGNS HEADING INTO NOVEMBER Republicans have a vested interest in tying the mainstream Democratic Party to the DSA. A Fox News poll from September found that 55% of registered voters had an unfavorable opinion of the DSA. While some in the Democratic Party argue that Republican attempts to tie the Democratic Party to socialism are bad-faith campaign tricks, party leadership has recently made significant concessions to its left-wing flank. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer backed Abdul El-Sayed’s more moderate opponent in Michigan’s Democratic Senate primary, but a super PAC aligned with Schumer has since committed millions of dollars to supporting El-Sayed’s general-election campaign. El-Sayed is a progressive backed by prominent figures on the party’s left, but who has said he is not a socialist. Due to the disorganized nature of the DSA and the
Fetterman plays political maverick, but his voting record tells another story
The Senate’s most recognizable rogue Democrat has increasingly broken with his party since Republicans took control of the upper chamber, but he still votes with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., a majority of the time. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., is the Senate’s biggest enigma during a time of hyper-partisanship — he bucks his party on key issues, like the war in Iran and immigration, but continues to vote with Democrats an overwhelming amount of the time. Since joining the Senate in 2023, Fetterman has voted with Senate Democrats nearly 90% of the time, a figure that stacks up closely to some of the most staunch party liners in the caucus. Still, speculation has swirled as to whether he’ll jump the political shark and become a Republican. MAVERICK DEMOCRAT SURGES WITH REPUBLICANS AS HIS OWN PARTY TURNS ON HIM, STOKING TALK OF GOP SWITCH Despite that, Fetterman has set the terms clearly this year, arguing that if Democrats continued to turn their backs on Israel, he would leave the party. But some in the GOP believe that no matter the swirl percolating in Washington, D.C., Fetterman isn’t swapping jerseys. He’s also keeping the speculation heavy about whether he will run for another term. “John Fetterman is a staunch Democrat that votes with his party 96% of the time, anybody who seriously believes that he is going to switch to the Republican Party is thinking wishfully,” a senior Republican aide told Fox News Digital. Fetterman’s national political career began as a politician armed with an endorsement for Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., running in a pivotal race in 2022 against Dr. Mehmet Oz. SEN JOHN FETTERMAN PLEDGES TO BE ‘LAST MAN STANDING’ IN THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IN SUPPORT OF ISRAEL Sanders told the Associated Press at the time that “if there’s any candidate who was running more than anybody else, who identified with the working class, who made it clear that he was going to Washington to represent working people, it was John Fetterman.” He flipped that seat, giving Democrats one of the slimmest majorities in history and cementing himself as a rock star in the party. Since then, he’s run away from Sanders’ ideals and often rejected Schumer and the caucus’ marching orders. But this year he’s leaned into that grey area, sometimes known as being a centrist, to support Republican ideals. During this session of Congress, Fetterman has broken from Democrats more than ever before, dropping to just under 81% along Democratic Party lines. And while that’s happening, Fetterman is reportedly using Republican fundraising platforms to soak up precious donor dollars, is close friends with one of the GOP’s own rock stars, Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., made a video message introducing McCormick at the RNC and even accidentally called himself a lifelong Republican during an appearance at the Texas Tribune’s Tribfest last month. FETTERMAN TEASES WHERE HIS TRUE LOYALTY LIES AFTER SURPRISE APPEARANCE AT GOP CONVENTION But when asked about whether he’s considering leaving the party, even after drawing a line in the sand, he recoils — it’s become such a hot topic in the hallways of the Senate that Fetterman stopped taking questions. As to whether he would jump ship depending on the outcome of the upcoming election, Fetterman said during the event that “there are no Republicans with a 90% Democratic vote line. There are no pro-choice, there’s no pro-gay community, that does not exist in the Republican Party.” “How many times do I have to say it? And that’s the point. So wait until after the midterms and see what happens,” Fetterman said. “And now, if we do win, and I’m 51, people can remember, ‘hey, that’s why it’s mathematically possible to retain the majority,’ because I was able to win a state like Pennsylvania.” Fetterman’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
America’s truckers issue dire warning as soaring diesel costs threaten ‘domino effect’
American truckers are warning that sky-high diesel prices are eating into their profits and putting pressure on trucking companies to cut routes, raising concerns that some drivers could be forced off the road and the pain could eventually reach Americans at the grocery store. “Fuel prices is going up, the rates are not going up,” Miami-based trucker Suave Dorsett told Fox News Digital. “So it’s hurting our pockets real bad.” The warnings come as the Iran war sends diesel prices soaring, squeezing American truckers even as President Donald Trump predicts oil prices will fall “like a stone” amid expectations that the conflict could soon end. Drivers told Fox News Digital the damage is already mounting, with routes being cut and smaller operators facing mounting financial pressure. Dorsett is among several truckers who told Fox News Digital that soaring fuel costs are cutting into their earnings and putting pressure on an industry responsible for moving goods across the country, with one driver reporting fewer routes and others warning that smaller operators could eventually be forced to park their rigs. THE OVERLOOKED WAY THE IRAN WAR IS MAKING GROCERIES, AMAZON PACKAGES AND NEW HOMES MORE EXPENSIVE The national average for diesel stood at roughly $6.32 per gallon Monday, according to AAA — up from about $3.69 at the same time last year, a jump of more than 70%. The surge has also eclipsed the previous record of $5.816 per gallon, set in June 2022 under former President Joe Biden as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent global energy prices soaring. For Dorsett, who has been driving for nine years, the price at the pump was even steeper. He told Fox News Digital he was seeing diesel at $7.40 per gallon while traveling through Ohio. Dorsett said the fuel spike comes as truckers are already shouldering a long list of expenses, including diesel exhaust fluid (DEF), which helps reduce harmful emissions, parking, showers, weighing and reweighing loads, repairs and towing. And if diesel prices remain elevated, Dorsett predicted smaller operators will be the first to buckle. BIDEN-ERA ENVIRO RULE ACCUSED OF STRANGLING TRUCKERS, SQUEEZING AMERICANS LANDS ON TRUMP CHOPPING BLOCK “Some of the smaller companies, like the smaller owner ops, would slowly fall off and it’s going to create a chain effect,” Dorsett said, predicting a “domino effect” that could eventually put pressure on larger carriers. Tyler Rinaldi, a Louisiana trucker with about a decade of experience who transports hazardous materials and other freight for an LTL company, said he has already seen weekend routes scaled back at his company. “I’ve seen a lot of routes get cut,” Rinaldi told Fox News Digital. “They’re not really running like they want to on the weekends right now.” “I definitely see a lot change because of it at my company, slowly, but it’s starting to be more noticeable,” he added. TRUMP TAPS VETERANS TO FIX ILLEGAL ALIEN TRUCKING PROBLEM PLAGUING US ROADWAYS Rinaldi, who is married with two children, said fewer routes could eventually mean less money coming home. “When they start cutting routes and trying to limit the expenses on what routes they send out,” Rinaldi said, “that takes away from the people that work in the company’s pockets.” Avante Jackson, an 11-year trucking veteran from Charlotte, North Carolina, who transports steel and other construction materials, said rising diesel prices are forcing truckers to take a harder look at whether the money they bring in is enough to keep their businesses running. “If I’m putting all of my profit in the tank,” Jackson said, “at the end of the day, what do I have left to keep the doors open?” CUT THE BULL: THE REAL REASON BEEF COSTS SO MUCH — AND WHAT TRUMP IS TRYING TO DO Jackson cautioned against “fear-mongering” about potential shortages, but said a widespread loss of drivers could ultimately reach consumers. “It really could hit the community,” he said. The latest diesel spike echoes a similar crunch in 2022 under former President Joe Biden, when the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent fuel prices flying. Diesel reached a then-record national average of $5.82 per gallon that June, squeezing truckers as operating expenses climbed. According to the American Transportation Research Institute, trucking fuel costs surged 53.7% in 2022, helping drive a 21.3% jump in overall operating costs to a then-record $2.25 per mile. The latest spike threatens to revive those pressures, particularly for smaller operators with less room to absorb rising fuel bills. As the Trump administration pushes international partners to release emergency fuel reserves in an effort to bring prices down, the truckers had their own message for the president: don’t forget about the drivers absorbing the costs on the road. “My message to President Trump would just be to think about who’s keeping America moving,” Jackson told Fox News Digital. “Think about the little guys out here each and every day.” TRUMP JUST BROKERED A DEAL WITH THE COUNTRY SITTING ATOP THE WORLD’S LARGEST OIL RESERVES “We truly are the backbone of America, we keep America moving,” he added. “We just want you just to think about us and put yourself in our shoes…Let’s try to get the fuel prices down and let’s try to just make more of a change,” he said. “We know we can do better.” Trump defended higher fuel prices Thursday as a temporary sacrifice in the fight to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, saying on Truth Social that rising gasoline costs were “a small price to pay for Iran not having a Nuclear Weapon.” Trump said last week that European countries had agreed to release diesel from their stockpiles after he pressed them to put more supply on the market. The G7 subsequently agreed to release 100 million barrels of oil and fuel products from previously pledged emergency reserves over four months, including a substantial diesel release during the first 20 days, in an effort to ease pressure on global fuel markets. Trump also said his
Veteran shot 7 times in Fort Hood massacre has a warning for Americans planning to watch execution
On Dec. 3, 2026, the U.S. government intends to take Nidal Hasan to a firing range at Fort Hood and publicly execute him. Few condemned men could make a more difficult case for mercy. Seventeen years ago, Hasan, an Army psychiatrist at the time, walked into a soldier readiness center at the Texas Army post and opened fire, killing 13 people and wounding 32 others. Now, after years of appeals, the Army is preparing to execute him by firing squad. And Americans will be able to watch on live stream. That last detail has transformed what might otherwise have been the long-delayed conclusion of one of the darkest chapters in the Army’s history into a more uncomfortable question: How should a nation reckon with the gravity of taking a life, even when that life belongs to a mass murderer? For Alonzo Lunsford, a former Army staff sergeant who survived being shot seven times by Hasan, the answer is complicated. GOP GOV DEWINE URGES OHIO TO ABOLISH THE DEATH PENALTY, SAYS IT IS NO LONGER A DETERRENT Lunsford wants Hasan executed. He intends to witness it himself in December. He told Fox News Digital he would even prefer that one of Hasan’s surviving victims or the relatives of those he killed be allowed to pull the trigger. Despite that, Lunsford says he has forgiven Hasan. “The weird thing about it, I’ve forgiven him because my faith does not allow me to heal and continue unless I forgive that man,” Lunsford said. But forgiveness, for Lunsford, does not mean sparing Hasan from punishment. What troubles him is the prospect of turning that punishment into entertainment. “It’s not a spectacle,” he said. “There’s nothing glorified in the smell of human flesh, blood and gunpowder. It’s a smell you will never forget. It’s a taste that you will never forget.” “That’s not something you sit around and say, hey, let’s get some popcorn and look at this execution,” he continued. “We as a people, we’re better than that. This ain’t no country where we do public beheadings and stonings and think it’s fine.” ARMY SERGEANT SENTENCED AFTER SHOOTING 5 SOLDIERS AND HIS MALE FIANCÉ AT FORT STEWART Lunsford was working at Fort Hood’s Soldier Readiness Processing Center on Nov. 5, 2009, when Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, opened fire. He recalled watching Hasan kill a colleague before turning the weapon on him. Lunsford was shot above his left eye, fell to the floor and played dead before eventually escaping outside, where Hasan shot him again. “I’ve accepted the fact I’m gonna live with the pain for the rest of my life,” Lunsford said. He has since found purpose in coaching basketball, mentoring young people and helping others struggling with their mental health. Lunsford said he doesn’t want children watching the livestream, though he believes adults can decide for themselves whether to tune in. “This is not somewhere you all start throwing some meat on the grill, get outside and say, hey, we’re gonna watch them unalive this guy by firing squad,” he said. “Don’t do that.” “Don’t do that because when you do that, you’re dishonoring those that made the supreme sacrifice, those who are no longer here. Those are heroes.” War Secretary Pete Hegseth has defended making the execution public, saying Americans should understand the consequences of Hasan’s crimes. “We’ll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it’s public,” Hegseth said in an interview this week. “Because people need to understand that there’s serious consequences for these types of things.” Vice President JD Vance cast doubt Friday on whether the Pentagon would follow through with its plans to livestream Hasan’s execution, saying he had no intention of watching it himself. “I see these announcements. I don’t know that that’s actually going to happen,” he told reporters Friday. The decision for the first U.S. Army death by firing squad in 86 years to be live streamed has drawn opposition even from Republicans who support putting Hasan to death. “I absolutely support the sentence of death, but live-streaming executions is what jihadists do. America is better than that,” Rep. Austin Scott, R-Ga., wrote on X. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., likewise said Hasan “should face the death penalty,” but called publicly streaming it “beyond disgusting.” “Public executions are what oppressive dictatorships like Iran and Afghanistan do,” Tillis wrote. “It should not be happening in America.” The nation’s Catholic bishops have gone further, opposing both Hasan’s execution and the decision to make it public. “In no way can Hassan’s actions be condoned but this decision is a barbaric promotion of a culture of death and must be reconsidered,” Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said Friday. “The public execution even of one who has done grave harm will only further undermine the moral fabric of our nation and be a blight on the conscience of its people.” The decision has also raised a more immediate national security concern. Hasan, who was left paralyzed from the waist down after being shot during the 2009 attack, has previously spoken about becoming a martyr. Matthew Levitt, a former Treasury counterterrorism official and director of the Washington Institute’s Reinhard Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, warned that making footage of his death widely available could give terrorist groups material to exploit. “It seems like a poor decision to provide terrorist groups with a video clip they can effectively splice into radicalization propaganda,” Levitt told Fox News Digital. “There’s no tangible benefit to live streaming an execution, and it may, in fact, exacerbate the terrorist threat.” For Lunsford, however, the execution remains deeply personal. During Hasan’s 2013 court-martial, the two locked eyes. Lunsford wants Hasan to see him again before he dies. “I want to look at him in his eyes. I want him to see me — man to man,” Lunsford said. “My message to him: Dude, you failed.” “I go where I wanna go, when I wanna go, how I wanna go.
Former MN state trooper tears into Dems as Somali gang violence terrorizes Minnesota: ‘Where is Ilhan Omar?’
Former state trooper John Nagel pointed the finger at his opponent, Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and the Democratic Party for allowing Somali-American gang-linked violence to escalate in the Twin Cities. Residents of Eden Prairie and surrounding Twin Cities suburbs have been left fearing for their safety after a string of gang-related incidents this month, including the shooting of two teens shot outside an Eden Prairie high school football game and more than 100 shell casings recovered in a Bloomington neighborhood. “Where is Ilhan Omar in all of this?” Nagel, a Minnesota native who spent 30 years as a state trooper, asked in an interview with Fox News Digital. “I would think that as a congressman that represents this particular area that she’d be at these meetings or she’d have a statement or she’d be sitting down and saying, ‘Hey, how can we help this? How could we stop this?’ And I don’t see her.” OMAR’S GOP CHALLENGER COMES OUT FIRING WITH VOW TO CLEAN UP ‘MESS’ IN DEEP BLUE DISTRICT: ‘PEOPLE ARE FED UP’ Nagel accused other Minnesota Democrats, including Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, of having their “heads in the sand” and preventing law enforcement from stopping the violence before it got out of control. “They’re being restrained by politicians, people that are trying soft on crime, people that’re trying to send somebody other than a police officer to take care of issues, and it’s not working,” Nagel said. Looking at the responses of statewide leaders, including Gov. Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison, Nagel said the majority of Democrats “don’t want enforcement.” “The people do,” he said. “They’re tired of it.” Democrats have been too lenient on crime for years, according to Nagel, which he said has “emboldened” gang members to break the law without serious consequences. “Because of how the Democrats have run Minnesota over the years, these gang members and then just crooks in general, they’re emboldened by this,” he said. ILHAN OMAR ON TRACK FOR FIFTH TERM AS MINNESOTA VOTERS MAINTAIN FAR-LEFT STREAK Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher spoke at a press conference this week, highlighting that a “big chunk of the problem” is failing to hold gang members accountable, saying Moriarty’s office needs to be more “aggressive” with prosecuting juveniles. In a statement to Fox News Digital, Daniel Borgertpoepping, a spokesperson for Moriarty’s office, said that no cases related to the Bloomington incident have been submitted for charging consideration, but “they’ll be thoroughly reviewed” if they are. Adam Abdihakeem Adam, 18, was charged on Friday in connection with the Eden Prairie homecoming football game shooting with two counts of second-degree assault with a deadly weapon and second-degree riot. “Mr. Adam will be held accountable,” Moriarty said in a press release Friday. “Violence in our communities is completely unacceptable and it requires a professional, coordinated response, which happened here.” Fletcher also pushed back on “East African” being used to generalize the gang members’ ethnicity, adding that “98% of these gang members are Somali” and that the broader label isn’t “fair.” “I think we just have to say what it is and not run away from the term,” he said. AMY KLOBUCHAR CALLS FOR MAJOR ANTI-TERRORISM INVESTMENTS AFTER ALLEGED MALL OF AMERICA PLOT Nagel said people are afraid of being called “racist” for referring to the gangs as Somali, arguing that law enforcement is simply going after those committing the crimes rather than blaming an entire community. “I mean, we have Latino gangs and Asian gangs and Black gangs, and we have Somali gangs. This is not being prejudicial.” He said it’s a “Somali problem” because that’s “who’s showing up.” “It’s ridiculous,” he said. “I’m a police officer. I don’t care who you are. I don’t care what color you are.” Nagel said a “gang task force” could be part of the solution and argued, “We don’t need to pass any more laws. We don’t need any more people asking for money to help their group. We need to take the laws that we have and prosecute people.” As gang violence spills into Minnesota communities, Nagel said it can’t continue to go on like it has. “We need enforcement, we need arrests, and we need incarceration,” he said. “Otherwise, this is going to continue to spiral.” Nagel will face off against Omar and Independent candidate DeVelle Jackson in the upcoming midterm elections for the U.S. House seat representing Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District. Fox News Digital reached out to Omar, Walz and Ellison’s offices for comment.
Plague mystery revives concerns over not-to-secret Russian bioweapons program
Marshall Billingslea was a Senate Foreign Relations Committee staffer in the 1990s when he sat down with one of the highest-ranking defectors from the Soviet biological weapons program and began learning the extent of what Moscow had secretly built. And what he found out from Ken Alibek, the former No. 2 official in the Soviet biological weapons apparatus, is raising red flags for Billingslea over the Oct. 2, 2026, death linked to an anti-plague institute in Russia. “I think one of the most important things that Ken shed light on was the sheer scale of the Soviet program, which then Russia inherited,” Billingslea told Fox News Digital. “Just mammoth.” Three decades later, the mysterious death of a researcher at the Irkutsk Research Anti-Plague Institute of Siberia and the Far East has put new attention on what became of that program — and Billingslea argues the world should be demanding answers from Moscow. MYSTERY DEATH AT RUSSIAN PLAGUE LAB TRIGGERS SWEEPING PRECAUTIONS AS US WATCHES CLOSELY “It’s not acceptable in this day and age for the Russians to have a biological warfare program,” said Billingslea, who previously served as President Donald Trump’s special presidential envoy for arms control. “They need to cut it out, and they need to tell us. They need to come clean about what they’re doing at this lab and whether this lab is still involved in their warfare program.” The U.S. government says Russia’s offensive biological weapons program did not disappear with the Soviet Union. “Russia maintains an offensive biological weapons program and is in violation of its obligations under the BWC,” a State Department official told Fox News Digital this week. BWC, or Biological Weapons Convention, is an international treaty that prohibits the development, production and stockpiling of biological weapons. State’s 2025 arms control compliance report assessed that the Soviet-era program was “absorbed, not dismantled” by Russia after the collapse and has “continued and evolved” since then. There is no evidence linking the Irkutsk researcher’s death to Russia’s biological weapons program, and Billingslea told Fox News Digital he has seen no evidence that the the institute remains involved in the program today. But the unexplained death has revived scrutiny of the Soviet program’s work and the network of ostensibly civilian laboratories that Billingslea said Alibek identified as also performing classified work. Alibek’s disclosures included Soviet efforts to alter pathogens to make them more lethal, transmissible or difficult to treat, Billingslea said, adding that some of the most troubling revelations involved plague. BIOWEAPON THREAT EXPOSED AS ANTHROPIC SOUNDS ALARM ON FOREIGN ACTORS PLOTTING VIRUS EXPERIMENTS “The goal was to render the plague bacteria far more resistant to antibiotics,” he said. Billingslea said Soviet researchers also experimented with combining plague with toxin-producing pathogens, with the aim of making infections even harder to treat. “They took the plague bacteria and they merged it with a non-dangerous bacteria,” Billingslea said. “The goal was to render the plague bacteria far more resistant to antibiotics.” According to Alibek’s account, researchers also worked on combining plague with toxin-producing pathogens so that treating an infected person with antibiotics could trigger the release of toxins. Billingslea said that U.S. officials were not relying solely on Alibek for their understanding of the program and that there were “multiple other sources of information” that made him “very confident in the basics” regarding the disclosures regarding Soviet-era research. “So this doesn’t all derive from Ken Alibek,” he insisted when speaking with Fox News Digital. By the time Billingslea was interviewing Alibek in the mid-1990s, he said, Washington had already confronted Moscow over its biological weapons work. “We knew about the plague programs, we knew what they were up to, and we knew where the sites were,” he said. Among the facilities Alibek identified were at least six Soviet Ministry of Health laboratories that had legitimate civilian public-health missions while also performing classified work connected to the biological weapons program, according to Billingslea. The Irkutsk institute was among the facilities Alibek identified, but Billingslea cautioned he does not recall the Soviet defector saying that antibiotic-resistant plague or plague chimeras were specifically developed there. That distinction has become particularly important following the unexplained death of a 28-year-old researcher at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute. Russian authorities have said they found no microorganism linked to the woman’s professional activities, while the World Health Organization has sought additional information from Moscow about what caused her fatal pneumonia. Billingslea said the pressure for answers — and for Russia to end its offensive biological weapons program — should not come from Washington alone. “It’s very, very important that this is not viewed as a U.S. versus Russia discussion,” he said. “This is a topic of grave concern to the entire international community.” He also said that Russia needs to release the genetic sequence of the pathogen that killed the researcher, along with information about contact testing, the timeline of her illness and the institute’s biosafety procedures. The genetic sequence could allow outside experts to determine “what it was and whether it was modified,” he said. Billingslea called on countries outside the traditional U.S. alliance system, including Brazil and Mexico, to press Moscow for greater transparency, and pointed to a December meeting of parties to the Biological Weapons Convention as an opportunity for countries to confront Russia over the program. “At the December meeting, Russia is going to get grilled,” he said. “And they should.”
Workers erupt over DC plan to bring robotaxis to city streets: ‘This is bulls—’
A new proposal that could bring driverless rideshare vehicles to the streets of the nation’s capital is causing an uproar among union workers, drivers and religious leaders who fear the technology could eliminate jobs. Protesters gathered outside the John Wilson Building as D.C. council members met to discuss legislation that would allow Waymo and other autonomous vehicle operators to offer commercial rides in Washington, D.C. The protesters urged the council to reject the legislation, arguing that an influx of robotaxis would displace rideshare drivers. “We came out here today strongly because we feel that these robotaxis will put people out of work,” one protester told Fox News Digital. “And people need jobs.” TERRIFIED PASSENGERS FILM WAYMO AUTONOMOUS VEHICLE DRIVING INTO LIVE FIREWORKS IN SAN FRANCISCO “I’m against robotaxis because it takes away from the community, it takes away from their jobs, it takes away food from their table,” Frederick from Virginia said. He continued, “People need jobs to be able to support their family.” “It’s bulls – – -,” Sabrina from Washington, D.C., said. “Let’s not bring robots taking my neighbor’s jobs. My folks that drive for a living, let’s just not take their jobs.” Another person at the protest acknowledged that autonomous vehicles could eliminate some driving jobs but argued the city should “take the offensive” by shortening the workweek without cutting pay and expanding employment elsewhere. “We should take the offensive on job issues,” Michael from Washington, D.C., said. “We should shorten the workweek, without a loss in pay. So we’ll create more jobs in public transportation, in hospitals, in service industries. So we actually maybe will lose some jobs to taxi drivers, but we’ll create better paying jobs.” The Autonomous Vehicle Deployment Authorization Amendment Act of 2026 — introduced by Councilmember Charles Allen in May — would create a program for commercial autonomous vehicles in D.C. that would be run by the District Department of Transportation. TESLA ROBOTAXI MIAMI LAUNCH COMES WITH LIMITS Waymo says its latest safety data, covering more than 270 million miles of autonomous driving, shows its vehicles were involved in 82% fewer injury-causing crashes and 95% fewer crashes involving serious injuries or worse compared with human-driver benchmarks in the same operating areas. Supporters of robotaxis have also pointed to the potential for lower fares without a human driver, although current comparisons have found Waymo’s prices can vary widely and are not consistently cheaper than traditional rideshare services like Uber and Lyft. Protesters claimed that while prices may be lower as the driverless vehicles roll out, the rates will eventually spike. “That’s just something just to…get our antennas up and have us saying, ‘Yeah, ooo, we’re gonna get cheaper rides,’” Sabrina said. “It might be cheap for the trial periods, and then all of a sudden we’ll be paying $50. So no, I don’t believe that. That’s just some crap just to get people engaged with the Waymo.” “They seem the same price to me,” Helen from Maryland said. “They’re in other cities and it seems like not much of a difference in the pricing.” ZOOX ROBOTAXI REDESIGN BRINGS BIG RIDER UPGRADES The proposed regulatory framework, which could bring robotaxis to the city by 2028, would initially limit operators to 200 vehicles. Companies seeking commercial permits would have to demonstrate at least 180 days and 250,000 miles of autonomous vehicle testing in the District and submit plans aimed at reducing disparities in service availability and wait times across the city’s eight wards. There was a public hearing on the bill in July, but no vote has been scheduled. The bill would have to be approved by the entire council before self-driving cars start to hit the city’s streets. “A worker should be at the table,” Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO President Samuel Epps told Fox News Digital at the protest. “We shouldn’t rush this.” “I don’t think it’s good for the city,” Eddie said. “If my children gonna get in a car, I would prefer for a human to be driving.”
Liberal hot spot residents can’t agree on what socialism means as far-left movements gains steam
Americans can’t seem to get on the same page when it comes to what defines socialism even though new polling shows the movement’s favorability is at an all-time high. Whether far-left factions are able to rally around the label could come down to understand its principles. Fox News Digital took to the streets of a Maryland liberal hotspot, Takoma Park, for its annual street festival to talk with attendees about their definitions of socialism and how far they would be willing to go to embrace its ideals. “The fact is that there’s no…one answer,” Nina Gilden Seavey said when asked to define socialism. “Just the idea of like, you’ve been paying all these things to set up these programs and then you’re actually giving them to the people,” Jaw Blake said describing his view of the political movement. “It’s not a special group that gets to have them, it’s just available.” LIBERAL HAVEN FESTIVAL-GOERS WEIGH GOVERNMENT SEIZURE OF THEIR HOMES: ‘I’D BE SO GAME’ Jenny Sniderman had a more direct answer, claiming that “public libraries, the police department, the fire department, all our public services, utilities,” are all part of what makes up socialism. A September Gallup poll found that 43% of Americans have a positive image of socialism — the highest level since the polling organization began tracking the question in 2010. But the survey asks respondents their image of socialism without providing a definition of the ideology or asking whether they would actually support adopting it in the U.S. The same festival-goers were pressed on socialism as an economic system, questioning their favorability of collective ownership. They shared some skepticism when Fox News Digital asked whether they would personally surrender their private property to government or collective control. “Do I want to give up my private property? Of course I don’t want to give up my private property,” Sniderman said. “Are they going to reimburse me fairly? That would be helpful in making my choice.” “I don’t know that I would necessarily love it,” Blake said. “But I mean, if it was something that was beneficial, I’d at least consider it.” DSA CO-CHAIR PUSHES BACK ON SOVIET UNION COMPARISONS, WANTS PRISONS TO BE ‘LESS NECESSARY’ “Nobody wants what they have to be taken away from them,” he continued. “But there is something to be said about…you can set up things so that they’re available for everybody.” “I think the government is not the greatest steward…of assets,” Seavey said. “It’s not to say that capitalism is somehow without flaw, but the fact is that there is an idealism that can come from thinking, ‘Oh, if we had some more centrality, if…there was some kind of uber organization in charge of reallocation.’” Documentary filmmaker and self-described historian Seavey also questioned the idea of government control over private assets, but argued that the growing democratic socialist movement in the U.S. should not be confused with traditional socialism. “This is not socialism. This is democratic socialism. It’s different. There’s socialism, there’s communism, there are all kinds of ‘isms.’ Democratic socialism is essentially what we have a growing movement in this country,” Seavey said. “Socialism is where there is a massive redistribution of wealth. We are not having redistribution of wealth in this country.” But the Democratic Socialists of America, the largest socialist organization in the U.S., advocates redistributing wealth from wealthy individuals and corporations to workers and lower-income Americans. The DSA also calls for public stake in major corporations and essential industries rather than private ownership. THE NUMBERS DON’T LIE. YOUNG AMERICANS ARE FALLING IN LOVE … WITH SOCIALISM The differing interpretations among festival-goers reflect a broader debate over what socialism means in America — one that has taken on new political significance as socialist candidates gain ground within the Democratic Party heading into midterm elections. In a 2018 survey asking Americans to define socialism in their own words, just 17% described it in terms of government ownership or control of businesses or the means of production. Another 23% associated it with equality, while 10% pointed to social benefits and services. Nearly a quarter could not provide an answer. Seavey argued that political labels themselves have distorted the conversation. “Let’s think about it differently and let’s take away these ridiculous stigmas that have to do with these crazy labels that we have allowed the right wing to foment onto the rest of America,” Seavey said. But as socialist-aligned candidates compete for office, the growing movement raises a question that favorable polling alone cannot answer: whether voters are embracing its promises on affordability and equality, or also support its broader proposals for economic ownership and control.
Trump rallies New York crowd for Republican Bruce Blakeman’s bid to replace Gov. Kathy Hochul
President Donald Trump returned to his home state of New York on Friday night, showcasing America’s “New Golden Age” and promising to help Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman flip the Empire State red as the GOP makes its final push toward November’s midterm elections. Trump rallied supporters in Syracuse with a sweeping celebration of his administration’s economic and immigration agenda, pledging to help New Yorkers secure lower taxes, cheaper energy and safer streets by electing Republicans up and down the ballot. “We’re in the Golden Age of America,” Trump told the crowd, urging supporters to deliver the same enthusiasm that powered his presidential campaigns. TRUMP CAMPAIGN INSIDER REVEALS STRATEGY BEHIND MIDTERM BLITZ THAT WHITE HOUSE HOPES PAYS OFF BIG “Please pretend I’m on the freaking ballot,” Trump urged. “And in a really, in a certain way, I am on the ballot because they can take away everything that we, that we got.” The president took Blakeman’s challenge to Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul as the centerpiece of the rally, promising direct support from Washington if elected. “[Blakeman will] save this state. He’ll turn the state around and I’ll help him from the White House,” Trump said. “I’ll be helping him for governor.” Trump blasted Hochul over New York‘s taxes, utility bills and public safety, arguing that Blakeman could unleash the state’s economic potential by embracing domestic energy production and cutting costs for families. DEBRA MESSING SAYS COST OF LIVING, SUBWAY VIOLENCE PUSHED HER TO BACK TRUMP-ENDORSED REPUBLICAN The president also hailed his administration’s economic agenda as proof of what Trump described as a remarkable national turnaround. He singled out Micron’s planned $100 billion semiconductor complex in central New York, a project the company says is expected to generate 50,000 jobs across the state, including 9,000 directly with Micron. “This will soon be the home to the largest semiconductor manufacturing facility ever built in the Western Hemisphere,” Trump said. Blakeman joined Trump onstage and echoed the president’s message of a Republican resurgence, promising to cut taxes and utility bills, focus on public safety and make New York more attractive to both businesses and families. “We have to create good jobs, good benefits to keep our young people here,” Blakeman said. “We gotta look at business not as the enemy, but as a partner.” Trump also threw his support behind Republican congressional candidates Kailee Buller, who is challenging Democrat Rep. John Mannion in New York’s 22nd District, and Anthony Constantino, who is running for the state’s open 21st District seat, pledging to help Republicans compete for both seats. The rally also notably featured a brief but memorable on-stage appearance by legendary former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson, whom Trump invited up before the crowd. “I’m just happy to be up here with my president, President Trump,” Tyson said. “And, there’s no way in the world I would ever be here if it wasn’t for a president like Donald Trump. Thank you. Thank you very much.” Trump responded with a laugh, recalling Tyson’s notorious reputation. “I don’t want to fight him,” Trump joked, before complimenting the former champion. “You look good. Mike. What the h— are you doing?” With Election Day approaching, the president returned to his core message that Republicans need Trump supporters to make a roaring showing at the ballot box. “We’re going to elect a Republican House and Republican Senate,” Trump said.