Hegseth orders Pentagon to make plans for major budget cuts to align with Trump DOGE priorities
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the agency to develop plans to slash 8% from the Department of Defense budget in each of the next five years to align with President Donald Trump’s priorities, specifically to achieve peace through strength, officials said. Hegseth is asking for plans in an effort to identify offsets from the Biden administration’s fiscal year 2026 budget that could be realigned from low-impact and low-priority Biden-legacy programs, a statement from Pentagon spokesman Robert Salesses said. LAWSUIT TRACKER: NEW RESISTANCE BATTLING TRUMP’S SECOND TERM THROUGH ONSLAUGHT OF LAWSUITS TAKING AIM AT EOS Hegseth ordered the proposed cuts to be drawn up by Monday, according to a memo. “The time for preparation is over. We must act urgently to revive the warrior ethos, rebuild our military, and reestablish deterrence,” Hegseth wrote. “Our budget will resource the fighting force we need, cease unnecessary defense spending, reject excessive bureaucracy, and drive actionable reform including progress on the audit.” The Washington Post first reported the memo. Fox News Digital has reached out to the Pentagon. Salesses said that the money saved could be used to realign the defense agency towards Trump’s new priorities, including the “Iron Dome for America,” his catchphrase for a missile defense system. DOGE SCORES BIG COURT WIN, ALLOWED ACCESS DATA ON 3 FEDERAL AGENCIES “The Department of Defense is conducting this review to ensure we are making the best use of the taxpayers’ dollars in a way that delivers on President Trump’s defense priorities efficiently and effectively,” he said. “The Department will develop a list of potential offsets that could be used to fund these priorities, as well as to refocus the Department on its core mission of deterring and winning wars,” he added. “The offsets are targeted at 8% of the Biden Administration’s FY26 budget, totaling around $50 billion, which will then be spent on programs aligned with President Trump’s priorities.” The cuts will allow the Defense Department to halt all unnecessary spending that set the military back under the Biden administration through climate change and other “woke” programs, Salesses said. Hegseth has stressed that the U.S. aims to “revive the warrior ethos.” The request for cuts comes amid a separate order from the Trump administration to fire thousands of probationary DOD employees, which is being overseen by the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
Ninth Circuit rejects Trump’s bid to reinstate birthright citizenship order
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday rejected the Trump administration’s request for emergency relief from an injunction blocking its birthright citizenship executive order, the latest in a string of legal defeats. The judges ruled unanimously that the administration failed to make a strong showing it was “likely to succeed on the merits” of the appeal, prompting them to rule 3-0 against the emergency request. “The emergency motion for a partial stay of the district court’s February 6, 2025 preliminary injunction is denied,” the court wrote. TRUMP ADMIN APPEALS RULING BLOCKING BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP The decision was handed down on the same day Trump’s birthright citizenship executive order was slated to come into force. Several district courts across the country previously have blocked the order, prompting the Trump administration to file for emergency relief earlier this month. This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.
Fetterman loses two top staffers as he makes waves by bucking Democratic Party
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., is seeing more staff turnover as he fosters his reputation as a sometimes-rebellious Democrat. Two top staffers are leaving Fetterman, a source familiar confirmed to Fox News Digital. Both Deputy Chief of Staff and Legislative Director Tré Easton and Communications Director Charlie Hills decided to leave the Pennsylvania senator’s office, as NBC News first reported. SCOOP: TOP GOP SEN. COTTON TO MEET WITH EMBATTLED TRUMP DEFENSE NOMINEE AS DOUBTS SWIRL In a statement, Easton said, “Working for John afforded me the opportunity to build a diligent policy team from scratch,” per NBC News. “Together we created a legislative body of work that I think is a blueprint for how Democrats should be governing when they have power. I’ll forever be grateful,” he continued. Easton and Hills are only the latest departures from the controversial Democrat’s office. In early 2024, three communications staffers for the senator all left within the span of one month. Former Communications Joe Calvello, former Deputy Communication Director Nicholas Gavio and former Digital Aide Emma Mustion each departed, taking on roles with other Democratic lawmakers and with a progressive political party, respectively. BATTLE OF THE CHAMBERS: TRUMP BUDGET TEST VOTE CLEARED IN SENATE AS HOUSE GOP LAGS BEHIND The departures didn’t end there, however. After getting a new communications chief in Carrie Adams, she virtually disappeared from the Senate hallways after publicly disagreeing with Fetterman in an August 2024 conversation with the Free Press. “I don’t agree with him,” the publication quoted Adams as saying about her boss’ stance on Israel and its war with Hamas. Her absence around the Capitol left reporters wondering whether she was still in the senator’s office. It wasn’t reported until last month that Adams had stopped working for Fetterman. MCCONNELL’S MENTAL ACUITY TARGETED BY TRUMP AFTER EX-SENATE LEADER JOINS DEMS AGAINST CABINET NOMINEES Since entering the Senate, Fetterman has made waves due, in part, to his colorful vocabulary and also his willingness to cross the aisle and side with Republicans, particularly when it comes to supporting Israel. The Democrat notably expressed openness to President Donald Trump’s proposal to annex Gaza, bringing it under U.S. control. “It’s a provocative part of the conversation, but it’s part of the conversation, and that’s where we are,” he told Jewish Insider. Fetterman has also been willing to buck his party on illegal immigration. He signed onto Republicans’ Laken Riley Act recently, an immigration bill deemed too harsh and too broad by most Democrats. He was the first Democrat to co-sponsor the bill. DEMS TORCHED OVER DOGE SECURITY CLAIMS AFTER ALLOWING ‘WIDE-OPEN’ BORDER, ‘EMPOWERING IRAN’ “Laken Riley’s story is a tragic reminder of what’s at stake when our systems fail to protect people. No family should have to endure the pain of losing a loved one to preventable violence. Immigration is what makes our country great. I support giving authorities the tools to prevent tragedies like this one while we work on comprehensive solutions to our broken system,” the senator said in a statement at the time. The Pennsylvania senator has further crossed the ideological threshold on multiple occasions to back Trump cabinet nominees, in some cases being the only Democratic supporter. Fetterman’s office did not immediately provide comment to Fox News Digital.
Trump and Zelenskyy war of words heats up even as US looks to wind down war in Ukraine
President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy exchanged terse insults on Wednesday, following meetings between the U.S. and Russian officials in Saudi Arabia Tuesday without representatives from Ukraine. Trump repeatedly has said that he is the only one who can bring an end to the war between Ukraine and Russia, and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump was in contact with Zelenskyy and was working to ensure “that all parties are heard” during the peace talks. Yet Ukraine’s absence from the negotiations Tuesday appears to have exacerbated a wedge between Washington and Kyiv. While Zelenskyy accused Trump of perpetuating Russian “disinformation” on Wednesday, Trump clapped back and labeled Zelenskky a “dictator” who has failed his country. “A Dictator without Elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a Country left. In the meantime, we are successfully negotiating an end to the War with Russia, something all admit only ‘TRUMP,’ and the Trump Administration, can do,” Trump said in a social media post Wednesday. “I love Ukraine, but Zelenskyy has done a terrible job, his Country is shattered, and MILLIONS have unnecessarily died,” Trump said. RUSSIA, UKRAINE TAKE ‘SIGNIFICANT FIRST STEP TOWARD PEACE’ AFTER RUBIO-LED NEGOTIATIONS, WHITE HOUSE INSISTS Trump’s post included a series of inaccurate statements, including that Zelenskyy “talked the United States of America into spending $350 Billion Dollars, to go into a War that couldn’t be won, that never had to start.” Meanwhile, Congress has appropriated $175 billion since 2022 for aid to Ukraine, according to the Council on Foreign Relations. Trump’s comments build on statements he delivered Tuesday at his Florida Mar-a-Lago estate, where he said that Russia wasn’t the only one exerting pressure to force Ukraine to hold an election. One of Russia’s conditions for signing a peace deal includes Ukraine holding an election, nearly a year after Zelenskyy’s five-year term was slated to end. But Zelenskyy has remained in his position leading Kyiv because the Ukrainian constitution bars holding elections under martial law. Ukraine has been under martial law since February 2022. Additionally, Trump chastised Ukraine on Tuesday for not ending the war sooner, and also appeared to suggest that Ukraine started the conflict, even though Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. ‘MAKE NATO GREAT AGAIN’: HEGSETH PUSHES EUROPEAN ALLIES TO STEP UP DEFENSE EFFORTS “I think I have the power to end this war, and I think it’s going very well. But today I heard, ‘Oh, we weren’t invited,’” Trump said Tuesday at Mar-a-Lago. “Well, you’ve been there for three years. You should have ended it three years (ago). You should have never started it. You could have made a deal.” In response, Zelensky delivered his own jabs toward Trump, and said the U.S. president lived in a “disinformation space” peddling inaccurate information that originated from Russia. “We have seen this disinformation,” Zelenskyy said at a news conference Wednesday before meeting with retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellog, the U.S. special envoy for Ukraine and Russia. “We understand that it is coming from Russia.” “I think Putin and the Russians are very happy, because questions are discussed with them,” Zelenskyy said. Zelenskyy has stressed in recent days that Ukraine must be involved in negotiations for a peace deal with Russia, and said Sunday that Ukraine wouldn’t accept a peace deal if his country was absent from negotiations. He also announced Tuesday he would postpone a scheduled trip to Saudi Arabia until March, after revealing during a joint press conference with Turkish President Recept Tayyip Erdoğan that Ukraine wasn’t invited to the U.S.-Russia discussions in Riyadh. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White House National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff met in Riyadh with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and President Vladimir Putin’s foreign affairs advisor Yuri Ushakov to hash out ways to end the conflict. TOP RUSSIAN, US OFFICIALS MEET IN SAUDI ARABIA TO BEGIN TALKS ON UKRAINE WAR WITHOUT OFFICIALS FROM KYIV The first action the U.S. plans to take after the meetings with Russian officials is to “reestablish the functionality of our respective missions in Washington and in Moscow,” Rubio told reporters from the Associated Press and CNN. “For us to be able to continue to move down this road, we need to have diplomatic facilities that are operating and functioning normally,” Rubio said, according to a State Department transcript. Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, and Trump vowed on the campaign trail in 2024 that he would work to end the conflict if elected again. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Trump to sign executive order instructing agencies to hunt down regulations that violate Constitution
FIRST ON FOX: President Donald Trump will sign an executive order Wednesday that will require federal agencies to evaluate all of their regulations that could violate the Constitution in the latest effort from his administration to prioritize slashing red tape. The executive order — which senior administration officials are calling a first of its kind and an attempt to ensure the government isn’t weaponized against the American people — will require agencies to submit a list to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) within the next 60 days of all regulations that could violate the Constitution or could cause harm. OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) and the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) will spearhead the effort and evaluate regulations across the federal agencies, senior administration officials told Fox News Digital on Wednesday. DOGE officials at federal agencies will gather an inventory of regulations that could violate the Constitution and then share them with OMB. After the 60 days, the OIRA will go through the list of regulations and make individual decisions on which are unconstitutional and will launch the process of repealing the regulations on a case-by-case basis, the senior administration officials said. OIRA oversees executive branch regulations, while the newly created DOGE aims to eliminate government waste, fraud and spending. HERE’S THE ARGUMENT TRUMP HOPES WILL NET FIRST MAJOR SCOTUS WIN IN SECOND TERM The order comes as the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled against federal agencies who have sought to broadly enforce their own regulations outside the scope of their jurisdiction, including when the Supreme Court ruled against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in May 2023 in the case Sackett v. EPA. In that case, Mike and Chantell Sackett purchased a residential lot near Priest Lake, Idaho, in 2005 to build a home. However, the EPA stepped in as the Sacketts kicked off leveling the ground and told them to halt plans to start construction — or face massive fines — because the property fell on federally protected land covered under the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act of 1972. The law sets standards for regulating pollutants into “waters of the United States,” and Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the majority opinion that the EPA sought to classify the wetlands on the Sacketts’ property as “waters of the United States” because they were “near a ditch that fed into a creek, which fed into Priest Lake, a navigable, intrastate lake.” Ultimately, the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision that the Clean Water Act applies only to waters that are “relatively permanent, standing, or continuously flowing bodies of water.” TRUMP ADMIN SEEKS PERMISSION TO FIRE HEAD OF THE OFFICE OF SPECIAL COUNSEL “Understanding the (Clean Water Act) to apply to wetlands that are distinguishable from otherwise covered ‘waters of the United States’ would substantially broaden (existing statute) to define ‘navigable waters’ as ‘waters of the United States and adjacent wetlands,’” Alito wrote. Wednesday’s executive order will build on the Trump administration’s efforts to cut down on regulations. For example, Trump signed an executive order in January ordering that federal agencies eradicate 10 regulations for every new one implemented. Trump said at the World Economic Forum oln Jan. 23 that his administration would launch the “largest deregulation campaign in history, far exceeding even the record-setting efforts of my last term.” Previous steps Trump took during his first term to cut regulations included ordering federal agencies to nix two regulations for every new regulation issued. The White House has touted that agencies ultimately cut five and half regulations for every new one introduced during Trump’s first term.
Trump admin lays out roles of ‘probationary employees’ as Dems claim critical employees are being cut
FIRST ON FOX: The Trump administration outlined the roles of probationary employees amid Democrats and some media outlets portraying recent mass firings of federal employees as a gutting of staffers critical to the infrastructure of the government. “Probationary employees are, by definition, subject to removal if their position is deemed not mission-critical to the executive branch, which is led by and reports to the president,” a Trump administration official told Fox News Digital. “The legacy media is missing the point: President Trump was elected with a resounding mandate to cut wasteful spending for American families — not to bankroll bureaucrats indefinitely on the taxpayer’s dime,” the official said. Democratic lawmakers, as well as media outlets, have described the recent cuts as the Trump administration wiping out agencies of critical employees focused on issues such as American safety or health. “I’m thankful that everyone in the flight incident in Toronto that took off from Minneapolis is safe, but we keep seeing these incidents day after day,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer claimed on X after a Delta flight crashed and flipped upside down Monday. “Meanwhile, Trump’s doing massive layoffs at the FAA — including safety specialists — and making our skies less and less safe.” TRUMP ADMIN LAYS OUT WHO EXACTLY WAS CUT AT HHS IN FACE OF ‘DEMOCRAT HYSTERIA’ The crashed flight in Canada, which resulted in no deaths, unfolded as news broke that the Trump administration had culled hundreds of probationary employees at the Federal Aviation Association (FAA), which became a focal point of many media reports that linked the crash to the Trump cuts. Media outlets stretching from the Associated Press to local papers and British outlets also revisited January’s deadly Washington, D.C., crash while reporting on the FAA cuts. The D.C. crash left 67 people dead when an Army helicopter and passenger flight collided near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, marking the deadliest U.S. plane crash since 2001. Fox News Digital spoke to an administration official who explained the Office of Personnel Management’s policies on probationary employees and the independent agency’s mission to ensure “federal workforce is composed of qualified, high-performing individuals who support the mission of federal agencies.” The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is an independent agency that works as the federal government’s human resources department, including providing policy, oversight and benefits for federal employees. A federal employee’s probationary period is considered part of the job application process, and does not serve as an entitlement for permanent employment, the administration official said. Under OPM guidance, a person’s employment is not final until the probationary period concludes, with the onus on the workers to demonstrate their qualifications to achieve permanent employment. The probationary period allows agency leaders to fully assess the performance of a worker and determine if they are fit for permanent roles. The agencies are then tasked with prioritizing the hiring of probationary employees who exemplify the highest standards, retaining them for mission-critical roles. ACADEMIC UNIONS PLAN DEMONSTRATIONS OUTSIDE HHS BUILDING, AT MED SCHOOLS, TO PROTEST TRUMP RESEARCH CUTS Separation of a probationary employee from the agency, on the flip side, should be done as soon as possible while also in accordance with agency policies and collective bargaining agreements, the administration official explained. Agencies are tasked with simultaneously aligning performance evaluations with both organizational goals and the current workforce reduction directive under the Trump administration. Agency leaders are required to send reports to OPM regrading retained or terminated probationary employees, including providing probation end dates and details on deferred resignation agreements, and justifications as to why a probationary employee was retained. As probationary employees face terminations amid the Trump administration’s efforts to align the federal government with the president’s “Make America Great Again” agenda, which includes cutting government fat and stamping out fraud and mismanagement. Democrats and government employees have repeatedly staged protests against the cuts or spoken out about them in media interviews and on social media. Lawsuits, including class action suits, have also increasingly mounted amid the Trump administration’s terminations. TRUMP ADMIN EXPECTED TO ENACT LAYOFFS AT DEFENSE DEPARTMENT AMID DOGE ARRIVAL: REPORT Georgia Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff claimed on the Senate floor Friday as the Department of Health and Human Services faced cuts within its agencies, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “President Trump’s indefensible, indiscriminate firing of more than 1,000 CDC personnel in a single day leaves Americans exposed to disease and devastates careers and livelihoods for the world’s most talented doctors and scientists, many of them here in Georgia.” Meanwhile, the former head of the Food and Drug Administration’s food division, Jim Jones, submitted his resignation Monday in a letter that claimed the administration was conducting “indiscriminate firing” of employees. The Trump administration official stressed in comments to Fox Digital that OPM is focused on ensuring only the most qualified workers are hired for permanent employment within the federal government. “OPM’s approach is rooted in ensuring the federal workforce is composed of qualified, high-performing individuals who support the mission of federal agencies,” the official said. “The focus on performance during the probationary period aligns with broader efforts to increase government efficiency and accountability.”
Trump admin lays out roles of ‘probationary employees’ as Dems claim critical employees are being cut
FIRST ON FOX: The Trump administration outlined the roles of probationary employees amid Democrats and some media outlets portraying recent mass firings of federal employees as a gutting of staffers critical to the infrastructure of the government. “Probationary employees are, by definition, subject to removal if their position is deemed not mission-critical to the executive branch, which is led by and reports to the president,” a Trump administration official told Fox News Digital. “The legacy media is missing the point: President Trump was elected with a resounding mandate to cut wasteful spending for American families — not to bankroll bureaucrats indefinitely on the taxpayer’s dime,” the official said. Democratic lawmakers, as well as media outlets, have described the recent cuts as the Trump administration wiping out agencies of critical employees focused on issues such as American safety or health. “I’m thankful that everyone in the flight incident in Toronto that took off from Minneapolis is safe, but we keep seeing these incidents day after day,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer claimed on X after a Delta flight crashed and flipped upside down Monday. “Meanwhile, Trump’s doing massive layoffs at the FAA — including safety specialists — and making our skies less and less safe.” TRUMP ADMIN LAYS OUT WHO EXACTLY WAS CUT AT HHS IN FACE OF ‘DEMOCRAT HYSTERIA’ The crashed flight in Canada, which resulted in no deaths, unfolded as news broke that the Trump administration had culled hundreds of probationary employees at the Federal Aviation Association (FAA), which became a focal point of many media reports that linked the crash to the Trump cuts. Media outlets stretching from the Associated Press to local papers and British outlets also revisited January’s deadly Washington, D.C., crash while reporting on the FAA cuts. The D.C. crash left 67 people dead when an Army helicopter and passenger flight collided near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, marking the deadliest U.S. plane crash since 2001. Fox News Digital spoke to an administration official who explained the Office of Personnel Management’s policies on probationary employees and the independent agency’s mission to ensure “federal workforce is composed of qualified, high-performing individuals who support the mission of federal agencies.” The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is an independent agency that works as the federal government’s human resources department, including providing policy, oversight and benefits for federal employees. A federal employee’s probationary period is considered part of the job application process, and does not serve as an entitlement for permanent employment, the administration official said. Under OPM guidance, a person’s employment is not final until the probationary period concludes, with the onus on the workers to demonstrate their qualifications to achieve permanent employment. The probationary period allows agency leaders to fully assess the performance of a worker and determine if they are fit for permanent roles. The agencies are then tasked with prioritizing the hiring of probationary employees who exemplify the highest standards, retaining them for mission-critical roles. ACADEMIC UNIONS PLAN DEMONSTRATIONS OUTSIDE HHS BUILDING, AT MED SCHOOLS, TO PROTEST TRUMP RESEARCH CUTS Separation of a probationary employee from the agency, on the flip side, should be done as soon as possible while also in accordance with agency policies and collective bargaining agreements, the administration official explained. Agencies are tasked with simultaneously aligning performance evaluations with both organizational goals and the current workforce reduction directive under the Trump administration. Agency leaders are required to send reports to OPM regrading retained or terminated probationary employees, including providing probation end dates and details on deferred resignation agreements, and justifications as to why a probationary employee was retained. As probationary employees face terminations amid the Trump administration’s efforts to align the federal government with the president’s “Make America Great Again” agenda, which includes cutting government fat and stamping out fraud and mismanagement. Democrats and government employees have repeatedly staged protests against the cuts or spoken out about them in media interviews and on social media. Lawsuits, including class action suits, have also increasingly mounted amid the Trump administration’s terminations. TRUMP ADMIN EXPECTED TO ENACT LAYOFFS AT DEFENSE DEPARTMENT AMID DOGE ARRIVAL: REPORT Georgia Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff claimed on the Senate floor Friday as the Department of Health and Human Services faced cuts within its agencies, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “President Trump’s indefensible, indiscriminate firing of more than 1,000 CDC personnel in a single day leaves Americans exposed to disease and devastates careers and livelihoods for the world’s most talented doctors and scientists, many of them here in Georgia.” Meanwhile, the former head of the Food and Drug Administration’s food division, Jim Jones, submitted his resignation Monday in a letter that claimed the administration was conducting “indiscriminate firing” of employees. The Trump administration official stressed in comments to Fox Digital that OPM is focused on ensuring only the most qualified workers are hired for permanent employment within the federal government. “OPM’s approach is rooted in ensuring the federal workforce is composed of qualified, high-performing individuals who support the mission of federal agencies,” the official said. “The focus on performance during the probationary period aligns with broader efforts to increase government efficiency and accountability.”
Trump expected to sign executive order terminating all federal taxpayer benefits to illegal immigrants
President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order Wednesday eliminating federal taxpayer benefits for illegal immigrants. The order will direct all federal agencies to identify all federally funded programs currently providing any financial benefits to illegal immigrants and “take corrective action.” The order is intended to ensure that any federal funds to states and localities “will not be used to support sanctuary policies or assist illegal immigration.” It will also mandate improvements in eligibility verification to prevent federal benefits from going to anyone in the U.S. illegally. TRUMP FREEZES APPLICATIONS FOR BIDEN-ERA MIGRANT PROGRAMS AMID FRAUD, NATIONAL SECURITY CONCERNS The order will show that Trump is “committed to safeguarding federal public health benefits for American citizens who are truly in need, including individuals with disabilities and veterans.” “The surge in illegal immigration, enabled by the previous Administration, is siphoning dollars and essential services from American citizens while state and local budgets grow increasingly strained,” a White House fact sheet states. The House Homeland Security Committee estimated that taxpayers could pay as much as $451 billion to care for illegal immigrants and gotaways that have entered the U.S. unlawfully since January 2021, the sheet said. ACTIVISTS IN MEXICO REPORT FLOW OF MIGRANTS HAS ‘ENORMOUSLY DECREASED’ ONE MONTH INTO TRUMP ADMIN The order is part of Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration through law enforcement raids and other measures to combat the flow of illegal migrants into the U.S. The White House noted that the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) estimated that American taxpayers spend at least $182 billion annually to cover the costs incurred by the presence of 20 million illegal immigrants and their children. That figure includes $66.5 billion in federal expenses and an additional $115.6 billion in state and local funds.
Surprising new poll numbers released on Trump’s performance so far in the White House
Three new national polls released on Wednesday indicate President Donald Trump’s approval ratings are edging down slightly since taking over the White House one month ago. Forty-five percent of voters questioned in a Quinnipiac University survey said they approve of the way Trump is handling his job as president, with 49% disapproving. That’s down from a 46%-43% approval/disapproval in a Quinnipiac poll conducted in late January, during the president’s first week back in office following his inauguration. And a new national poll from Gallup indicated the president at 45% approval and 51% disapproval, down from 47%-48% approval/disapproval late last month. CLICK HERE FOR FOX NEWS COVERAGE OF TRUMP’S FIRST 100 DAYS And according to a Reuters/Ipsos national survey also released on Wednesday, the president stood at 44% approval and 51% disapproval. Trump registered at 45%-46% approval/disapproval in the previous poll by Reuters/Ipsos, which was conducted late last month during the first week of the president’s second administration. The latest Quinnipiac poll was conducted Feb. 13-17, with Gallup in the field Feb. 3-16, and Reuters/Ipsos conducting their survey Feb. 13-18. HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLLING Recent surveys from other polling organizations indicate Trump’s approval ratings remain above water. Trump has kept up a frenetic pace during his opening weeks back in the White House, with an avalanche of executive orders and actions. His moves not only fulfilled some of his major campaign trail promises, but also allowed the returning president to flex his executive muscles, quickly put his stamp on the federal government, take a meat cleaver to the federal workforce, and also settle some longstanding grievances. Trump has signed nearly 70 executive orders since his inauguration, according to a count from Fox News, which far surpasses the rate of any recent presidential predecessors during their first weeks in office. The president, never shy about advertising his accomplishments, took to social media last week to tout “THREE GREAT WEEKS, PERHAPS THE BEST EVER.” And at a news conference Tuesday, Trump argued that “incredible things are happening in our country.” “I think we’ve made more progress in three weeks than they’ve made in four years,” he added, as he appeared to point to his predecessor in the White House, former President Biden. While Trump’s approval ratings for his second term are an improvement from his first term — he started in 2017 in negative territory and remained underwater throughout his tenure in the White House — his numbers are below where Biden began his single term in office. Biden’s approval rating hovered in the low to mid 50s during his first six months in the White House, with his disapproval in the upper 30s to low to mid 40s. 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 soaring inflation and a surge of migrants crossing into the U.S. along the nation’s southern border with Mexico. Biden’s approval ratings stayed underwater throughout the rest of his presidency. The new polls indicate a massive partisan divide over Trump’s performance. Nine in 10 Republicans questioned in the Quinnipiac survey gave Trump a thumbs-up. But his approval dropped to 43% among independents and just 4% among Democrats. It was a similar story in the Gallup poll. “Ninety-three percent of Republicans, 37% of independents and 4% of Democrats approve of Trump’s job performance overall,” the release from Gallup highlighted. Meanwhile, the Gallup poll noted that while Trump’s ratings have edged down, Americans’ approval of Congress has surged 12 points since early January, to 29% in their latest survey. That’s the highest approval rating for Congress in Gallup polling since May 2021.
Trump State Department declares Tren de Aragua, MS-13, Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations
The Trump administration designated several gangs and cartels, such as Tren de Aragua, MS-13 and the Sinaloa Cartel, as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs). Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a public notice set to be published in the Federal Register on Thursday, that he had concluded there is a “sufficient factual basis” under section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act to designate eight groups as FTOs. The eight groups consist of Tren de Aragua; Mara Salvatrucha, also known as MS-13; the Sinaloa Cartel; New Generation Cartel of Jalisco; United Cartels; Northeast Cartel; Gulf Cartel; and La Nueva Familia Michoacana, or LNFM, many of which go under multiple different names. This comes after President Donald Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office to direct the State Department and other executive agencies to move to designate cartels and other criminal groups as FTOs. TRUMP ADMIN REVEALS LIST OF CARTELS AND GANGS TO BE DESIGNATED TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS The order specifically mentioned Tren de Aragua – which is also known as “TdA” – as well MS-13, as groups needing to be designated as terror organizations. Trump gave Rubio 14 days to make policy recommendations – in consultation with the secretaries of the Treasury and Homeland Security as well as the U.S. attorney general and director of national intelligence – to make a recommendation regarding the designation of criminal groups to be designated as terrorist organizations. A foreign terrorist designation expands the government’s ability to crack down on criminal groups operating in the U.S., allowing all government agencies, including the Department of the Treasury, to target that group from every angle. CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE The order stated that these groups “present an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States,” and invokes the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEP) to declare a national emergency to “deal with those threats.” TRUMP GREENLIGHTS SOME PRO-IMMIGRANT MOVES AMID BROADER ANTI-MIGRANT CRACKDOWN “It is the policy of the United States to ensure the total elimination of these organizations’ presence in the United States and their ability to threaten the territory, safety, and security of the United States through their extraterritorial command-and-control structures, thereby protecting the American people and the territorial integrity of the United States,” the order read. Joseph Humire, executive director of the Center for a Secure Free Society, authored a report on how to dismantle TdA in 2024. He previously explained to Fox News Digital that designating these groups as foreign terrorist organizations places them “at the highest level” of U.S. national security interest, meaning their funding and any organizations enabling them can be targeted as well. “Trump just put all of them on notice,” Humire said. “This said: ‘We know you’re here; we know you’re up to no good, and we’re going to come after you.’” Fox News Digital’s Peter Pinedo contributed to this report.