Trump admin urged to probe allegations pro-Hamas college groups had ‘prior knowledge’ of Oct 7 attack
FIRST ON FOX: A group of Republican lawmakers is asking the Trump administration to open a probe into whether any anti-Israel groups that have been protesting on college campuses had any prior knowledge of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack. It comes after similar claims were lodged in an explosive lawsuit that accused specific anti-Israel groups of having prior knowledge of the surprise attack in southern Israel that left more than 1,000 people dead. The lawsuit was filed by people linked to victims of the attack. “US foreign adversaries are engaged in dynamic campaigns to target US students. In the interest of US national security, we should not tolerate any organizations that coordinate with terrorist groups like Hamas on American university campuses or anywhere in our country for that matter,” read a letter led by Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Texas. IVY LEAGUE ANTI-ISRAEL RINGLEADER MAHMOUD KHALIL WITHHELD DETAILS OF FOREIGN TIES FROM VISA APPLICATION: FEDS Fallon and four other House Republicans wrote to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Attorney General Pam Bondi on Thursday, praising them for working “to remove pro-Hamas agitators from our university campuses.” “We are thrilled that the Trump administration has made it a priority to hold these individuals responsible and, in some cases, begin the process of deportation,” they wrote. Meanwhile, there have been political clashes over the detention of Mahmoud Khalil, a 29-year-old green card holder and Palestinian activist who was a central figure in Columbia University’s controversial anti-Israel protests. VIDEO SHOWS ARREST OF COLUMBIA ANTI-ISRAEL RINGLEADER MAHMOUD KHALIL Khalil was among those named in the lawsuit as allegedly having prior knowledge of Hamas’ attack. His lawyers previously told other outlets that he has no ties to Hamas. But the Republican lawmakers are raising questions of whether groups that fomented demonstrations there and on other college campuses are more intimately familiar with Hamas’ plans than previously known. “With the lawsuit filed this past Monday in the New York Southern District Court against the anti-western activist organizations Within Our Lifetime, Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), and other pro-Hamas agitators, evidence has surfaced that suggests these groups may have had prior knowledge of the barbaric attacks planned for October 7, 2023,” they wrote. “For example, Columbia SJP reactivated its dormant Instagram account just minutes before the attacks began and engaged in pro-Hamas messaging afterwards, even going so far as to issue a statement in support of the massacre.” Fox News Digital reached out to an attorney for Khalil but did not immediately hear back.
New poll shows where Trump stands among Americans 9 weeks into his 2nd presidency
President Donald Trump repeatedly touts that America is “back” as he spotlights his accomplishments – some of them controversial – since returning to power in the White House nine weeks ago. Trump has been moving at warp speed in his second tour of duty as president, flexing his political muscles to expand executive powers as he has upended long-standing government policy and made major cuts to the federal workforce through a flurry of executive orders and actions. Additionally, Trump has signed roughly 100 executive orders since his Jan. 20 inauguration, according to a count from Fox News, far surpassing the rate of any recent presidential predecessors during their opening weeks in office. The president touts that “a lot of great things are happening,” but the latest public opinion polling indicates that many Americans do not agree with Trump’s rosy outlook on the job he is doing in office. WHERE TRUMP STANDS IN THE LATEST FOX NEWS NATIONAL POLL Forty-five percent of those questioned in a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted this past weekend (March 21-23) gave Trump a thumbs up, with 51% saying they disapproved of his performance steering the nation. The survey questioned just over 1,000 adults nationwide. The poll was conducted mostly before the controversy over top White House national security members discussing sensitive operational details of a U.S. military strike in Yemen, on the messaging app Signal, possibly in violation of some federal laws. Trump’s numbers were slightly higher in the most recent Fox News national poll, which was in the field March 14-17. Americans appeared divided on the job the president was doing, with 49% approval and 51% disapproval. An average of all the most recent national polls that asked the presidential approval question indicates that Trump’s approval ratings are just below water. Trump has seen his numbers edge down slightly since the start of his second term, when an average of his polls indicated the president’s approval rating in the low 50s and his disapproval in the mid-40s. Contributing to the slide, the economy and jitters that Trump’s tariffs on America’s top trading partners will spark further inflation, which was a pressing issue that kept former President Joe Biden’s approval ratings well below water for most of his presidency. The president’s 49% overall approval rating in the Fox News poll matches the all-time high for Trump in the network’s polling, which he last reached in April 2020, near the end of his first term in office. That is six points higher than where he stood at this point in his first administration (43% approval in March 2017). Trump’s poll numbers were almost entirely in negative territory in most surveys for the entirety of his first term in office. “Keep these numbers in perspective. The numbers he’s averaging right now are still higher than he was at any point during his first presidency,” veteran Republican pollster Neil Newhouse told Fox News. Daron Shaw, who serves as a member of the Fox News Decision Team and is the Republican partner on the Fox News Poll, highlighted that “the difference is largely a function of the consolidation of the Republican base.” “The party’s completely solidified behind him,” added Shaw, a politics professor and chair at the University of Texas, who noted that Trump’s current rock-solid GOP support was not the case at the start of the first term, when he had troubles with some Republicans. Newhouse also emphasized that Trump’s Republican “base is still strongly behind him.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP It is a similar story with Trump’s popularity. The president’s favorable ratings are slightly underwater, in an average of the latest national surveys, but they remain superior to his standing during his first term in the White House. Additionally, the percentage of Americans who say things are on the right track in the country has jumped to above 40% in a bunch of recent polls. While still in negative territory, they are the most positive right track/wrong track figures in years. So how does Trump stack up with his immediate predecessor? Biden came out of the game in a favorable position, with his approval rating hovering in the low- to-mid-50s during the first six months of his single term as president, with his disapproval in the upper 30s to the low- to-mid-40s. WHAT DEMOCRATS ARE SAYING ABOUT A POSSIBLE BIDEN POLITICAL RESURGENCE However, Biden’s numbers sank into negative territory in the late summer and autumn of 2021, in the wake of his much-criticized handling of the turbulent U.S. exit from Afghanistan, and amid a surge of migrants crossing into the U.S. along the nation’s southern border with Mexico, as well as the rise in inflation. Biden’s approval ratings stayed underwater throughout the rest of his presidency. “He just got crippled and never recovered,” Shaw said of Biden.
Trump anti-sanctuary city executive order could target federal funding, says expert
President Donald Trump is expected to take aim at so-called “sanctuary” jurisdictions with an executive order on Thursday in what is likely to become another legal battle for the administration. Trump hinted earlier this week that an executive order on sanctuary cities may be in the works, telling reporters that he planned to “end sanctuary cities for some of these jurisdictions that aren’t cooperating with law enforcement.” “They’re guarding criminals… we may just end the entire thing all together,” Trump said. YOUNGKIN TO DRAFT SANCTUARY CITY BAN, MAKING STATE FUNDING CONTINGENT ON ICE COOPERATION Sanctuary jurisdictions, or those that limit or completely ban local agencies from cooperating with federal immigration authorities, have come under fire since Trump took office in January, hindering the president’s campaign promise to swiftly deport illegal immigrants from the country. However, what Trump could do with executive action to force more compliance from the jurisdictions remains a question, opening up the possibility of even more legal action against the administration. “While [Trump] works tirelessly to safeguard our communities and strengthen our national security, the radical left continues to weaponize the legal system to oppose common-sense policies,” former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel J. Cameron, who currently serves as the CEO of the 1792 Exchange, told Fox News Digital. “It will surprise no one that the radical left will double and triple down on this strategy.” Trump has faced an unprecedented number of court obstacles during the first few months of his administration, with legal challenges resulting in 15 injunctions at least temporarily blocking his executive actions as of February, according to data compiled by Harvard Law Review. That number already outpaces the total injunctions faced by former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden, who saw 12 and 14 during their entire terms in office, respectively. COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY STUDENT PROTESTER SUES TRUMP ADMIN TO PREVENT DEPORTATION Cameron expects more of the same when it comes to Trump’s looming order on sanctuary cities. “It will surprise no one that the radical left will double and triple down on this strategy,” he said. Given the limitations, Cameron expects Trump’s order to target federal funding for jurisdictions who fail to comply. “Inside of the United States, your zip code should be irrelevant when it comes to enforceable federal law.,” he said. “Cities and states that harbor illegal aliens from federal authorities or otherwise actively interfere with the enforcement of federal law do not deserve taxpayer money or support. Plain and simple. I suspect the executive order will stop taxpayers from being on the hook for the unsafe immigration decisions of local authorities.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Overall, Cameron believes that Trump’s plan to sign an executive order would be a good start, noting the success the president has had with executive actions to close down the southern border. “Executive orders are a good first step,” Camerson said. “Look at the southern border. We didn’t need new laws for border crossings to plummet from the Biden-era highs. All we needed was a new president with the courage to do something.”
EXCLUSIVE: GOP moves to defund ‘chronically biased’ NPR, PBS after disastrous hearing
EXCLUSIVE: After a hard-hitting hearing by the House DOGE Subcommittee, Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, is introducing a bill Thursday to pull all government funding from “chronically biased” outlets NPR and PBS, which he says have been “pushing Democrat talking points under the fake banner of ‘public media.’” Jackson’s bill – titled the “No Partisan Radio and Partisan Broadcasting Services Act” or simply the “NPR and PBS Act” – would fully cut off any direct and indirect government funding for both outlets, forcing them to compete instead of being propped up by the government. This comes amid Elon Musk’s sweeping cuts to wasteful government programs through the Department of Government Efficiency. The move also follows a high-intensity House DOGE Subcommittee hearing in which NPR’s Katherine Maher and PBS’ Paula Kerger attempted to explain why their outlets still deserve public funding. DEMOCRATS INVOKE CHILDREN’S SHOWS IN BIZARRE DEFENSE OF PBS, NPR: ‘FIRE ELON, SAVE ELMO’ During the hearing, Maher conceded that NPR botched coverage of Hunter Biden’s infamous laptop, saying, “We made a mistake.” At the time, NPR representatives publicly called the story unserious and a distraction. During the hearing, Maher said, “We were mistaken in failing to cover the Hunter Biden laptop story more aggressively and sooner.” She also expressed regret about remarks she made about President Donald Trump, calling him “a fascist and a deranged racist sociopath.” Meanwhile, Kerger’s PBS was slammed for producing such programs as “Real Boy,” which follows a transgender character exploring sexuality. DOGE Subcommittee Chair Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., bashed PBS as “one of the founders of the trans child abuse industry.” REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE SCOLDS NPR CEO OVER PERSONAL VIEWS DURING FIERY DOGE SUBCOMMITTEE HEARING Following the NPR and PBS leaders’ testimonies, Greene called the outlets “out of touch with everyday Americans,” saying: “I think from what we have heard here today, the American people will not continue to allow such propaganda to be funded through the federal government with their hard-earned tax dollars.” Jackson told Fox News Digital that though NPR and PBS were originally founded to produce non-biased, informational and educational content, the outlets have since “turned into taxpayer-funded propaganda machines for the radical left, pushing Democratic talking points under the fake banner of ‘public media.’” A statement by Jackson’s office further said the two outlets’ “chronically biased” programming has made them simply a “messaging arm for woke, radical Democrats.” “Hardworking Americans are sick of footing the bill,” said Jackson. “It’s time to cut them off and stop forcing taxpayers to pay for their liberal lies!” EXCLUSIVE: HOUSE GOP FIREBRAND DRIVES DOGE COMMITTEE INVESTIGATION OF GOVERNMENT MEDIA AGENCY CORRUPTION Trump has expressed he is open to defunding NPR and other “biased” publicly funded outlets, meaning he would be likely to sign a bill doing so if passed by Congress. “They spend more money than any other network of its type ever conceived, so the kind of money that’s being wasted, and it’s a very biased view, you know that better than anybody,” said Trump. “And I’d be honored to see it end.” Musk has also called to defund NPR. In February, he posted a 2022 video of Maher in which she said, “Our reverence for the truth might have become a bit of a distraction that is preventing us from finding consensus and getting things done.” Commenting on Maher’s speech, Musk said NPR “should survive on its own.” Fox News Digital’s Brian Flood and Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.
HHS says it will cut workforce by 10K, saving $1.8B annually
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that it will lay off about 10,000 full-time employees. The move is projected to save taxpayers $1.8 billion annually. What the department billed as a “dramatic restructuring” comes in response to President Donald Trump’s executive order implementing the Republican’s “Department of Government Efficiency Workforce Optimization Initiative.” HHS said it expects a total downsizing of between 82,000 to 62,000 full-time employees when combining this latest effort with early retirement and the results of the Fork in the Road, the deferred resignation offer of full pay and benefits until September. RFK JR. DETAILS FIRST BABY FORMULA REVIEW IN DECADES AMID CONCERNS OVER CONTAMINANTS, SUPPLY CHAIN “We aren’t just reducing bureaucratic sprawl. We are realigning the organization with its core mission and our new priorities in reversing the chronic disease epidemic,” HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. said in a statement. “This Department will do more – a lot more – at a lower cost to the taxpayer.” “Over time, bureaucracies like HHS become wasteful and inefficient even when most of their staff are dedicated and competent civil servants,” Kennedy added. “This overhaul will be a win-win for taxpayers and for those that HHS serves. That’s the entire American public, because our goal is to Make America Healthy Again.” Thursday’s announcement is intended to streamline the functions of HHS. The department said the 28 divisions of HHS contain “many redundant units,” and the restructuring plan will consolidate them into 15 new divisions, including a new Administration for a Healthy America, or AHA. It also will “centralize core functions” such as Human Resources, Information Technology, Procurement, External Affairs, and Policy, the department said. Five of the 10 regional offices will shut down. The reorganization of the department is also meant to implement “the new HHS priority of ending America’s epidemic of chronic illness by focusing on safe, wholesome food, clean water, and the elimination of environmental toxins.” MILLIONS SPENT BY BIDEN ON COVID ‘VACCINE HESITANCY’ CAMPAIGN SLASHED BY TRUMP NIH: REPORT The AHA – described as a “new, unified entity” – will encompass the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). The department said the centralization “will improve coordination of health resources for low-income Americans and will focus on areas including Primary Care, Maternal and Child Health, Mental Health, Environmental Health, HIV/AIDS, and Workforce development.” HHS said transferring SAMHSA to AHA “will increase operational efficiency and assure programs are carried out because it will break down artificial divisions between similar programs.” The restructuring is also meant to strengthen the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). HHS said the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), responsible for national disaster and public health emergency response, will transfer to the CDC, “reinforcing its core mission to protect Americans from health threats.” Notably, Trump earlier this week named Susan Monarez, the current acting director of the CDC, to hold that position permanently. Her nomination replaces Trump’s original pick for the role, Dr. David Weldon. HHS said Thursday it will create a new Assistant Secretary for Enforcement to oversee the Departmental Appeals Board (DAB), Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals (OMHA), and Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to “combat waste, fraud, and abuse in federal health programs.” The department will also merge the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to create the Office of Strategy “to enhance research that informs the Secretary’s policies and improves the effectiveness of federal health programs.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The department said “critical programs that support older adults and people with disabilities will be integrated into other HHS agencies, including the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), ASPE, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).” HHS said the reorganization will not impact Medicare and Medicaid services.
Comer probes NGOs that received $20B in Biden EPA grants despite almost no revenue: ‘Shady deal’
FIRST ON FOX: House Oversight Chairman James Comer is expanding his probe into former President Joe Biden’s EPA, accusing the agency of awarding $20 billion in grants to political allies. Comer, R-Ky., called on eight nongovernmental organizations who received the grants to offer the committee all information related to the grants and their staff and salaries. The $20 billion came out of two initiatives launched under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act that aimed to offer grants to nonprofits, community development banks and other groups for projects focusing on disadvantaged communities. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin moved to terminate the programs earlier this month, but that decision is now held up in court. “The Biden EPA tried to dodge any oversight by striking a shady deal with a financial institution to cover up its corrupt self-dealing that rewarded political cronies pushing a far-left environmental agenda,” Comer said in a statement. “The radical environmental groups profiting from Biden’s Green New Deal must be held accountable for their misuse of taxpayer-funded grants and provide information for our investigation.” TRUMP EPA CHIEF TO ‘CONFRONT CRISIS’ OF MEXICAN SEWAGE POLLUTING SAN DIEGO AREA BEACHES Republicans claim the $20 billion was “parked at an outside financial institution” to avoid oversight. As part of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF) program, eight groups were awarded funds from the $14 billion National Clean Investment Fund and the $6 billion Clean Communities Investment Accelerator. Eight letters went out to: Climate United, Coalition for Green Capital, Power Forward Communities, Opportunity Finance Network, Inclusiv, Justice Climate Fund, Appalachian Community Capital and Native CDFI Network. Included in the funds was a $2 billion grant to Power Forward Communities, a group linked to former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams that aims to “reduce our impact on the climate” by funding the replacement of household appliances in lower-income communities with green alternatives. Zeldin told Fox News that in 2023, Power Forward Communities reported just $100 in revenue, but was later granted $2 billion by the Biden-era EPA in 2024. “On page one of the grant agreement, it tells them that they have 21 days to distribute all $2 billion. On page seven of the grant agreement, it gives them 90 days to complete a training called ‘How to Develop a Budget.’ I would say that any entity that needs training on how to develop a budget shouldn’t be actually distributing money before they take that training, and they certainly shouldn’t be receiving $2 billion to be distributed that rapidly,” he continued. Zeldin also noted the EPA found a potential “conflict of interest” payment of $5 billion to the former director of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund under Biden. “All this money was put up front,” Zeldin said. “It was ‘here is $20 billion.’ And it was going to their friends on the left.” The acting inspector general of the EPA is now investigating the GGRF for financial mismanagement, conflicts of interest and oversight failures. The Oversight Committee launched its probe in February and requested a briefing from Zeldin on the matter earlier this month. The FBI is also investigating possible criminal violations. Fox News Digital has reached out to the eight companies for comment on Comer’s letters but did not receive responses prior to publication. Fox News’ Landon Mion contributed to this report.
Reporters say they found Waltz, Gabbard, Hegseth private contact info online
Reporters are claiming to have found private contact information online for top Trump administration officials at the center of a Signal text chain leak disclosing U.S. plans to attack Yemen’s Houthi rebels. Germany’s Der Spiegel said national security advisor Mike Waltz, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth are among those affected. The outlet reported that phone numbers, email addresses and even some passwords belonging to the officials were found on the internet by its staff after they “used commercial people search engines along with hacked customer data that has been published on the web.” “Most of these numbers and email addresses are apparently still in use, with some of them linked to profiles on social media platforms like Instagram and LinkedIn. They were used to create Dropbox accounts and profiles in apps that track running data,” Der Spiegel reported. “There are also WhatsApp profiles for the respective phone numbers and even Signal accounts in some cases.” TRUMP SAYS HE ‘ALWAYS THOUGHT’ WALTZ WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR SIGNAL CHAT SCANDAL The outlet, citing publicly available information, claimed an email address linked to Hegseth was in use just a few days ago. It said WhatsApp and Signal accounts purportedly belonging to Waltz appear to have been deactivated after it reached out to both accounts for comment. ATLANTIC REPORTER PUBLISHES MORE TEXTS ABOUT ATTACK ON HOUTHI TARGETS Der Spiegel reported that its staff also found private Google accounts linked to Gabbard in use as recently as two weeks ago. A spokesperson for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence told Fox News Digital Thursday that “this occurred almost 10 years ago, and the platforms mentioned haven’t been used in years and the passwords have changed multiple times.” Neither the White House nor the Department of Defense responded to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on Thursday.
Trump EPA chief to ‘confront crisis’ of Mexican sewage polluting San Diego area beaches
Trump EPA chief Lee Zeldin plans to visit the San Diego-Mexico border “in the near future” to assess the escalating toxic waste and sewage runoff from the Tijuana River, which has led to over 1,000 beach closures at Imperial Beach and caused health issues among Navy SEAL trainees. “Mexico must fully honor its commitment to control their country’s growing pollution and sewage impacting the United States,” Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin told Fox News Digital in a statement. “The time when excuses, delays or exceptions are tolerated is over.” Zeldin said his agency will “ramp up” efforts with local agencies in Southern California and Mexico “to confront this crisis head on.” TRUMP STILL NEEDS CONGRESS’ HELP WITH PLAN TO ABOLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT “I look forward to visiting the border in the near future to view this issue firsthand, meet with elected officials and ensure permanent solutions are urgently implemented to stop years of Mexican sewage impacting the U.S.,” Zeldin said. The longstanding issue of untreated sewage flowing from Tijuana, Mexico, into San Diego’s beaches was exacerbated earlier this year, when, in January, the Hollister Wastewater Pump Station, which transfers sewage from Tijuana to the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant, malfunctioned and spilled approximately 30,000 gallons of sewage into the river. NAVY DEPLOYS ADDITIONAL WARSHIP TO CURB ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION, DRUG SMUGGLING AT THE SOUTHERN BORDER Millions of federal dollars have been proposed – with support from the previous Biden administration – for repairs and expansion of the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant. But Republicans, including President Donald Trump, are mostly opposed to it, citing it as another example of wasteful government spending. An EPA official told Fox News Digital “the issue remains that Mexico should be treating their own waste.” “Mexico needs to build and properly operate the infrastructure necessary to treat all the sewage generated by Tijuana,” the spokesperson said. “Current projects are not adequate and will still allow significant untreated sewage to be discharged into the ocean, impacting the U.S. Mexico should be paying for their own wastewater collection, not U.S. taxpayer dollars.” San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond called it “one of the biggest environmental and public health crises” in a post on X last week. “This isn’t just a nuisance — it’s a danger. Our Navy SEALs train just north of this toxic mess,” Desmond wrote. “Local families are exposed to contaminated water. Tourism suffers. And, yet, the State of California continues to look the other way. Many politicians have made promises — but delivered nothing. That ends now.” Last month, the Department of Defense’s Inspector General published a report show 76% of its tests showed bacteria surpassing normal safety levels and over 1,100 cases of health issues, primarily gastrointestinal illnesses among SEALs, were reported after they trained in the toxic water. A spokesperson for Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office told Fox News Digital “this is not a new issue for the state” or the administration and that California has been “focused on resolving this for years, including with help from the previous federal administration and Congress.” “We welcome collaboration with the Trump Administration to continue efforts to clean up the Tijuana River,” the spokesperson said.
Trump says he ‘always thought’ Waltz was responsible for Signal chat scandal
President Donald Trump appeared to place the blame for the Signal chat scandal on national security adviser Mike Waltz. The president was asked who was responsible for the scandal while signing an executive order on Wednesday evening. “It was Mike, I guess. I don’t know, I always thought it was Mike,” Trump told reporters before calling the media’s reaction to the scandal a “witch hunt.” This marks a significant change of tune for the president, who blamed someone else for the scandal when speaking to NBC. During the Tuesday phone interview, Trump told NBC that he believed that “it was one of Michael’s people on the phone. A staffer had his number in there.” RUBIO BREAKS SILENCE ON LEAKED SIGNAL CHAT: ‘SOMEONE MADE A BIG MISTAKE’ A reporter then asked if Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth should be worried about his position amid the scandal, and Trump rushed to his Cabinet member’s defense. “Hegseth, he was doing a great job… How do you bring Hegseth into it? He had nothing to do with this,” Trump said in response. He also told reporters that he believes Signal, an encrypted messaging app, “could be defective” in light of the scandal. While speaking to reporters, Trump dismissed the significance of the scandal and instead touted the “unbelievably successful” attack, saying that the media should be focusing on the outcome rather than the chat group. ATLANTIC REPORTER PUBLISHES MORE TEXTS ABOUT ATTACK ON HOUTHI TARGETS The Atlantic’s Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg sent the Trump White House reeling after he broke the bombshell story on Monday. Goldberg was inadvertently included in a Signal chat group with senior Trump administration officials who were discussing a planned attack on the Houthis in Yemen. Goldberg said he “had very strong doubts” about the chat’s authenticity. However, once he verified that the actions discussed in the group were occurring, he knew it was real. The Atlantic editor-in-chief said he had “never seen a breach quite like this.” While Goldberg acknowledged that it’s not uncommon for U.S. officials to use Signal, he said it was primarily used as a logistics tool and not a place to discuss “imminent war plans.” The Trump administration has worked to downplay the report for days, and even claimed victory when The Atlantic published a follow-up describing what was discussed as “attack plans,” rather than “war plans.” “This entire story was another hoax written by a Trump-hater who is well-known for his sensationalist spin,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote in a post on X. Leavitt confirmed to reporters on Wednesday that Elon Musk was helping lead an investigation of the Signal chat leak. However, it is unclear what will happen to those found responsible, as Trump has already said that he would not fire Waltz over the scandal.
Trump says ‘we need Greenland for international safety and security’ ahead of Vance trip
President Donald Trump reiterated his argument for the U.S. taking over Greenland on Wednesday, just before Vice President JD Vance is set to visit the island. Trump said his administration must “let them know that we need Greenland for international safety and security. We need it. We have to have it.” Vance and his wife, second lady Usha Vance, will visit a U.S. space facility based on the island. “It’s [an] island from a defensive posture and even offensive posture is something we need. … When you look at the ships going up their shore by the hundreds, it’s a busy place,” he added, speaking in an interview with radio host Vince Coglianese. Trump went on to say that he is unsure whether the people of Greenland want to become U.S. citizens, but he argued it is important to “convince them.” GREENLAND PM SLAMS UPCOMING VISIT FROM USHA VANCE AS ‘VERY AGGRESSIVE’ PROVOCATION: REPORT “We have to have the land because it’s not possible to properly defend a large section of this Earth — not just the U.S. — without it. So we have to have it, and I think we will have it,” he said. JD VANCE RECALLS HIS WIFE TEXTING HIM UNDER TABLE AT SILICON VALLEY DINNER: ‘THESE PEOPLE ARE F—ING CRAZY’ The vice president says he will visit Space Force guardians at the Pituffik Space Base on Friday and “check out what’s goin’ on with the security there of Greenland.” A press release from Vance’s office stated that the base is the Defense Department’s “northernmost installation.” “The Vice President and Second Lady’s visit to Pituffik Space Base will take place in lieu of the Second Lady’s previously announced visit to the Avannaata Qimussersu dogsled race in Sisimiut,” the press release stated. TRUMP REMAINS OPTIMISTIC ABOUT ODDS OF ACQUIRING GREENLAND: ‘I THINK IT’LL HAPPEN’ “The strategic partnership between the United States and Greenland has long played a vital role in our national and economic security. During World War Two, the United States established over a dozen military bases in Greenland to defend the North Atlantic from Nazi incursion. During the Cold War, the United States committed additional resources to Greenland to defend against Soviet missile attacks,” the release declared. “In the decades since, neglect and inaction from Danish leaders and past U.S. administrations have presented our adversaries with the opportunity to advance their own priorities in Greenland and the Arctic. President Trump is rightly changing course.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Fox News’ Sarah Tobianski and Alex Nitzberg contributed to this report