Trump signs new executive orders intended to make flying cars a reality, slash flight times
President Donald Trump signed three new executive orders on Friday aimed at accelerating American drone innovation and supersonic air travel, while also restoring security to American airspace. The three orders will be critical to American safety and security, White House officials involved in the drafting of the orders indicated, particularly in light of major worldwide events coming to the United States in the next few years, such as the World Cup and the Olympics. In addition to bolstering safety and security, the new orders will also spur greater innovation in the aerospace and drone sectors, something White House officials said has been stifled in recent years as a result of burdensome regulations. “Flying cars are not just for the Jetsons,” Michael Kratsios, a lead tech policy adviser at the White House said. “Since the beginning of his first term, President Trump has recognized the incredible potential of drones to boost American productivity, create high-skilled jobs and meet national needs in areas like public safety, infrastructure, inspection, agriculture and more. But for too long, red tape has hindered homegrown drone innovation, restricting commercial drone use and burdening their development.” DUFFY CONTRASTS BIDEN-ERA ‘DRONE FIASCO’ WITH TRUMP ADMIN’S ‘RADICAL TRANSPARENCY’ AFTER FAA ANNOUNCES TESTING Kratsios said the same about supersonic aviation, noting that “Americans should be able to fly from New York to L.A. in under four hours.” Besides promoting innovation, the orders also seek to shore up American airspace sovereignty. This directive is aimed at not only addressing potentially criminal, or terror-related threats, but it also aims to increase penalties for and reduce the prevalence of drone misuse in American airspace. “The President week one, wanted us to take this issue seriously because of the national fury over the events over New Jersey,” Senior Director of Counterterrorism on Trump administration’s National Security Council, Sebastian Gorka, said of the new executive orders signed Friday. “For far too many years we have not had a requisite, necessary federal response – not only to the dominance of non-U.S. platforms in this field, but also protecting sensitive sites, military sites, critical infrastructure, but also just sporting events, mass events.” REBECCA GRANT: AMERICA HAS A DRONE PROBLEM, AND NO ONE IS IN CHARGE White House officials who advised the president on these new executive orders said there will be more protection for critical infrastructure for sporting venues as a result of the new directives, including the upcoming FIFA World Cup. They will also enable “routine beyond visual line of sight commercial operations,” such as drone deliveries, infrastructure maintenance and emergency response to incidents like wildfires. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The orders will also reduce the United States’ reliance on foreign countries for drone and other aviation technology, officials added. “These executive orders will accelerate American innovation in drones, flying cars and supersonic aircraft and chart the future of America’s skies for years to come,” Kratsios said. “Our message is simple. American innovation belongs in American aerospace.”
WATCH: Republicans rally behind Trump, continue to support Musk amid ‘big, beautiful’ brawl
A “big, beautiful” brawl erupted on social media Thursday as President Donald Trump and Elon Musk aired their grievances for all to see after months of working together to cut government waste. House Republicans rallied behind the president and continued to support Musk when discussing the fallout with Fox News Digital. “Obviously, I have President Trump’s back. I don’t think that he should be impeached. Do I think that he was on the Jeffrey Epstein island? I don’t think so,” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., said, referring to Musk calling for Trump’s impeachment and suggestiong Trump was “in the Epstein files.” Despite her defense, Luna admitted Musk is not a “terrible person,” and both men have made “great contributions” to the Republican Party. FETTERMAN DISSES DEMS FOR SUDDENLY EMBRACING MUSK AMID TRUMP FALLOUT “I assure you he crossed the line on what he said about the sitting president of the United States today,” Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, said of Musk’s allegations about Trump. ‘GONE TOO FAR’: GOP LAWMAKERS RALLY AROUND TRUMP AFTER MUSK RAISES EPSTEIN ALLEGATIONS But Roy joined Luna in defending Musk’s contribution to cutting government waste through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). “The bottom line is, we have a job to do. Elon is doing a great job in terms of the rescissions in terms of the DOGE cuts they identified, and I don’t disagree with him about our need to go find more spending cuts. I don’t. But you know, guys, keep it in the lines,” Roy added. Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., praised Trump Thursday for saving the country. “What’s broken apart can be put back together, but you’ve got two strong personalities,” Norman said of Trump and Musk. Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn, dismissed the men’s social media brawl, telling Fox News Digital, “They’re the two biggest dogs in the pound. They’re going to fight.” “It’s going to settle down at some point,” Rep. Burgess Owens, R-Utah, added. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt attributed Musk’s tirade to Trump’s bill, which is focused on working- and middle-class tax relief and not benefiting Musk and his companies enough. “This is an unfortunate episode from Elon, who is unhappy with the One Big Beautiful Bill because it does not include the policies he wanted. The president is focused on passing this historic piece of legislation and making our country great again,” Leavitt said. In the first of several posts targeting the bill, and then Trump directly, Musk said, “I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore. This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.” Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.
After ‘agroterror’ fungus is seized in Detroit, lawmaker says Michigan has best plan to blunt CCP influence
EXCLUSIVE: After a dangerous fungus was intercepted in Detroit, Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall spoke out to Fox News Digital about the legislature’s efforts to blunt Chinese influence and espionage. The fungus, Fusarium graminearum, is considered capable of “agroterrorism” and was allegedly smuggled into the country by two Chinese nationals studying at the University of Michigan. Hall, R-Kalamazoo, said he and colleagues have sounded the alarm for months about Beijing’s efforts and that the incident shows Michigan and other states need to be vigilant and prepared. “As speaker, I led our Foreign Influence Protection package through the State House to block CCP operatives from buying Michigan farmland, infiltrating our universities and accessing our most sensitive data,” he said. CHINESE OFFICIAL CLAIMS NO KNOWLEDGE OF FUNGUS SITUATION, SAYS CHINA REQUIRES CITIZENS ‘ABIDE BY LOCAL LAWS’ “Our plan would have tackled this head-on and prevented Chinese government interference with our food supply and our universities.” He called the bill package the strongest collection of protections against CCP interference nationwide but said it is being held up by Senate Democrats and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Requests for comment from Whitmer and Senate President Pro Tempore Jeremy Moss, D-Bloomfield, were not immediately returned. “Their inaction means our farmland, our military bases and our universities are still at risk,” Hall lamented while praising President Donald Trump for taking action to protect U.S. land and people from Chinese “schemes.” “Too many professors and administrators have let Beijing use our campuses as pawns. We will expose every CCP operation, root out every vulnerability and mobilize every state resource to secure Michigan — farmland, universities and beyond.” While a Chinese embassy official claimed earlier this week to have no knowledge of the case involving two Chinese students allegedly attempting to bring a fungus to the University of Michigan, experts said the pathogen was capable of causing billions in damage to U.S. grain supplies. PATEL: CHINESE NATIONALS CHARGED WITH SMUGGLING ‘KNOWN AGROTERRORISM AGENT’ INTO US IS A ‘DIRECT THREAT’ The case drew some parallels to the coronavirus pandemic, which sparked global debate over whether a viral pathogen may have emerged from a lab and infected the world. A Michigan House Republican Communications Office official said too many federal and state oversight bodies can be infiltrated by CCP sympathizers, and they have allowed foreign agents to run rampant on college campuses with CCP-backed research grants on dangerous things like Fusarium graminearum. While state officials like Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs have vetoed attempts to block Chinese-linked land purchases, Michigan House leaders have said security breaches like the Fusarium graminearum incident prove the issue cannot go unchecked. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Republicans similarly criticized Whitmer for touting “corporate subsidy” deals with Chinese EV battery companies and a proposed Gotion vehicle plant in Big Rapids, Michigan. In 2024, House Chinese Communist Party Select Committee Chairman John Moolenaar, also a Michigan Republican, said he uncovered “indisputable evidence” that Gotion High Tech was connected to supply chains involving forced labor in China. “The American people expect companies in the U.S. to avoid all involvement with the Chinese Communist Party’s campaign of genocide,” Moolenaar said. The company, reportedly tied to both China and German-owned Volkswagen, denied the committee’s findings, calling them “baseless and absolutely false.” In October, five Chinese nationals studying in the Great Lakes State in partnership with a Chinese school were charged with espionage for what was an alleged spying operation outside Michigan National Guard Camp Grayling. A Michigan House source said the package would also block schools from accepting foreign grants if found to be promoting any anti-American agenda and strip foreign data-mining apps from government devices through provisions from Reps. Rachelle Smit, R-Allegan; Nancy Jenkins-Arno, R-Lenawee; and William Bruck, R-Erie. Michigan lawmakers are also trying to address another perceived threat from China: the use of drones and other technology linked to Chinese companies that are being employed by certain law enforcement agencies and municipal governments.
House Speaker Johnson: Dems who want ICE agents unmasked ‘mandated mask wearing for years’ during COVID
House Speaker Mike Johnson told Fox News on Friday that Democrats pushing for ICE agents to unmask themselves are the same “people who mandated mask wearing for years in America” during the coronavirus pandemic. Johnson was asked by Fox News for his reaction as “some Democrats, including [House Minority] Leader [Hakeem] Jeffries, have suggested that the ICE agents who are arresting some of these migrants should not be wearing masks.” “From the people who mandated mask wearing for years in America. It’s absurd. They need to back off of ICE and respect our agents and stop protesting against them,” Johnson said. “They’re trying to uphold the rule of law, and they don’t want to be targeted by Democrat activists. So I’m in favor of whatever protocol.” Jeffries said Tuesday that ICE agents who attempt to conceal “their identities from the American people, will be unsuccessful in doing that” and they will all be identified “no matter what it takes, no matter how long it takes.” ICE OFFICIAL PUTS POLITICIANS ON BLAST, DEMANDING THEY ‘STOP PUTTING MY PEOPLE IN DANGER’ Johnson was then asked Friday “so you’re okay with these agents sort of not identifying themselves when they’re arresting migrants?” “Why? So that they can target them?” he responded. “So they can put their names and faces online and dox them? That’s what these activists do. So we have to protect those who protect our communities. “And it’s absurd for anybody, members of Congress or any other elected leader, to be calling out ICE for trying to do their job. They’ve made it difficult for them to do it for years, and I just think it’s patently absurd,” Johnson also said. At his weekly press conference Friday, Fox News asked Jeffries if he was concerned that possibly demasking some ICE agents puts them or their families’ safety at risk. “It seems to me that the officials at the Department of Homeland Security, including ICE, should be held to the same standards as every other part of law enforcement in terms of transparency,” the Democrat from New York said. HOMELAND SECURITY SAYS BOSTON’S MAYOR COMPARING ICE AGENTS TO NEO-NAZIS IS ‘SICKENING’ On Jeffries’ official X account, in September 2020, he wrote “It’s not that complicated. Wear. A. Mask.” Then around a year later, in August 2021, Jeffries said “Get vaccinated. Wear a mask. Crush the virus.” Two Democrat senators from Virginia, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, also wrote a letter last month to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons and other top officials about ICE’s recent immigration enforcement operations taking an “alarming and dangerous turn.” “Across the country and in Virginia, masked ICE officers and agents without clearly visible identification as law enforcement have been arresting individuals on the streets and in sensitive locations, such as courthouses. Such actions put everyone at risk – the targeted individuals, the ICE officers and agents, and bystanders who may misunderstand what is happening and may attempt to intervene,” they said. WHITE HOUSE BACKS MAJOR LEGISLATION TO SPEED UP DEPORTATIONS “We urge you to direct ICE officers and agents to promptly and clearly identify themselves as law enforcement officers conducting law enforcement actions when arresting subjects, and limit the use of face coverings during arrests and other enforcement actions to avoid intimidation and reduce safety risks to the public,” the Senators added. In August 2021, Kaine pushed mask wearing as well, writing in a Facebook post that he was “Deeply concerned about the rapid rise of COVID-19 delta variant infections we are seeing across the Commonwealth” and that “We should do all we can to help stop the spread of the virus and keep ourselves and our loved ones safe, including following CDC guidance such as getting vaccinated, masking up indoors, and social distancing.” “Folks, let’s continue to protect ourselves by getting vaccinated, masking up, and social distancing so we can safely return to all of the activities we love,” Warner added at the time. Representatives for Jeffries, Kaine and Warner did not immediately respond Friday to requests for comment from Fox News Digital. Fox News’ Chad Pergram, Tyler Olson and Alex Nitzberg contributed to this report.
Trump’s tariff strategy could pay for his tax bill, but only if they stick, experts warn
The White House and congressional Republicans have said that President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs would help pay for his mammoth tax bill, but tax experts say it depends on whether the president stays consistent. Senate Republicans are in the midst of hashing out their plan to tweak and reshape the president’s “big, beautiful bill,” which includes Trump’s desire to extend and make permanent his first-term tax policies. SENATE REPUBLICANS EYE CHANGES TO TRUMP’S MEGABILL AFTER HOUSE WIN However, the tax portion of the bill alone is expected to cost roughly $4 trillion. And when factoring in spending cuts and other revenue and economic drivers, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office found in a report earlier this week that, in all, the colossal legislative package would add $2.4 trillion to the deficit over the next decade. The CBO, which has come under recent scrutiny from congressional Republicans unhappy with the scoring of the president’s “big, beautiful bill,” also found that Trump’s tariffs would reduce the deficit by $2.8 trillion over the same period. Joe Rosenberg, a senior fellow at the left-leaning Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, told Fox News Digital that the reconciliation package’s potential impact on the debt is more concerning now than in 2017, due to higher debt levels and rising interest rates. ‘GONE TOO FAR’: GOP LAWMAKERS RALLY AROUND TRUMP AFTER MUSK RAISES EPSTEIN ALLEGATIONS When Republicans were putting together the president’s original tax package, the national debt was roughly $20 trillion. Eight years later, that number has ballooned to over $36 trillion and counting. Rosenberg contended that if the CBO’s report were taken as is, then Trump’s tariffs would make the bill deficit neutral and then some. But the report assumed that the eye-popping sums that Trump’s tariffs could generate were based on whether they were permanent. “I think what we’ve seen is that the tariff policy, again, seems to change day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute,” he said. “And the administration is a little bit inconsistent about whether they view tariffs as purely a revenue source versus essentially a negotiating tool.” The report also found that in exchange for trillions in deficit reduction, household wealth would drop, and the economy would shrink each year over the next decade. Tad Dehaven, a policy analyst at the Cato Institute, argued that this factor—along with Trump’s tariffs being tied up in court over constitutional challenges and their shifting application—makes any projected benefits “extraordinarily unlikely.” “Let’s pretend that these tariffs are going to remain in place for 10 years at some level delineated today. That’s a major tax increase, so whatever alleged benefit you’re receiving from the tax cut in the reconciliation package, it’s being offset by a tax increase,” he said. “And a rather economically inefficient one.” TRUMP’S TARIFFS AND TAX CUTS ARE CRUSHING MAIN STREET AND MAKING MAR-A-LAGO ELITES RICH Mike Palicz, director of tax policy at the conservative Americans for Tax Reform, scoffed at the CBO’s recent scoring, and lamented the agency as “a bunch of bean counters” that often miss the mark on key pieces of legislation, like the president’s original Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. He argued that none of the outside noise should matter, telling Fox News Digital that “you cannot go out and explain to a normal person or business that their taxes aren’t increasing next year if the Trump tax cuts are allowed to expire.” “That’s what the whole point of this exercise is, preventing the expiration of tax cuts, preventing the largest tax increase in American history,” he said. “And no conservative, no Republican, should think that you address the deficit by raising taxes.”
South Sudan deportations have placed migrants, and ICE officials, in danger: new court filing
Nearly a dozen ICE officials and a group of migrants deported to South Sudan by the Trump administration are currently being housed in a converted shipping container and face grave dangers to their physical health, according to a new court filing. The filing, submitted by senior Immigration and Customs Enforcement official Mellisa Harper, cites a combination of blistering-high heat conditions, exposure to malaria and “imminent danger” of rocket attacks from terrorist groups in Yemen as threats to both the migrants and ICE officials. It comes after U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy ordered the Trump administration to keep in U.S. custody a group of eight migrants who were deported to South Sudan without due process or the ability to challenge their removals to a third country. He ordered they remain in U.S. custody until each could be given a “reasonable fear interview,” or a chance to explain to U.S. officials any fear of persecution or torture, should they be released. But the filing makes clear that the migrants, and ICE officials, face dangers in the meantime. US JUDGE ACCUSES TRUMP ADMIN OF ‘MANUFACTURING CHAOS’ IN SOUTH SUDAN DEPORTATIONS, ESCALATING FEUD According to Harper, ICE officials were not given anti-malaria medication prior to traveling to Djibouti – subjecting them to unknown levels of disease exposure in a war-torn region, where there has been an uptick in deadly clashes over resource scarcity, including cattle and access to potable water. The president of the country declared a state of emergency in certain parts of South Sudan just days ago. And even within the confines of the U.S. base, there are significant risks. According to ICE’s submission, the migrants are being housed in a converted Conex shipping container at the U.S. military base in Djibouti, the only permanent military base the U.S. currently operates in Africa. Since their arrival, daily temperatures there have exceeded 100 degrees – searing conditions that they said make detention “of any length,” especially longer term. Nearby burn pits used by Djibouti to burn off trash and human waste form a giant “smog cloud” that hangs over the base for much of the day, exposing the group to unknown hazardous materials burned off under breezeless, blistering hot skies. Some ICE officers have started to sleep in N-95 masks for additional protection, Harper noted. APPEALS COURT BLOCKS TRUMP ADMIN’S DEPORTATION FLIGHTS IN ALIEN ENEMIES ACT IMMIGRATION SUIT “Within 72 hours of landing in Djibouti, the officers and detainees began to feel ill,” Harper noted, with symptoms such as coughing, difficulty breathing, and achy joints – though they lack the testing or medication necessary for treatment. Other, more imminent risks also remain. Upon arrival, ICE officials were notified by Defense Department officials of the “imminent danger” of rocket attacks from terrorist groups in Yemen, Harper noted, though ICE officers lack body armor or other gear appropriate in the case of an attack. The new filing could add pressure on the Trump administration to relocate the detainees and ICE officials in question. JUDGES V TRUMP: HERE ARE THE KEY COURT BATTLES HALTING THE WHITE HOUSE AGENDA Murphy had stated in a previous order that migrants deported to South Sudan need not be held there, in a country where recent infighting and deadly conflict have displaced more than 150,000 people this year alone. He said then that the government had mischaracterized his order, “while at the same time manufacturing the very chaos they decry.” His order requires the Trump administration to keep the six deported migrants in South Sudan under the custody of U.S. officials for a length of time needed to carry out the so-called “reasonable fear interviews,” and make a determination over whether the migrants’ concerns are adequate. “The court never said that defendants had to convert their foreign military base into an immigration facility,” Murphy wrote in that order. “It only left that as an option, again, at defendants’ request,” he said then. It is unclear whether the government has plans to relocate the group.
Army’s historic horse-drawn funeral tradition returns from two-year hiatus after $28M overhaul
The U.S. Army’s Caisson Detachment returned to Arlington National Cemetery this week for the first time in two years. In Section 62, the ceremonial horse unit that transports veterans and service members to their final resting place, escorted the remains of Private Bernard Curran, who was killed in World War II. Curran died in 1942 after being captured by the Japanese. He was buried alongside other prisoners of war in Common Grave 723 in the Philippines. He was brought back home to the United States after his remains were identified by the U.S. military last year. The hallowed grounds of Arlington were decided to be his final resting place. The ceremony marked the return of the Caisson Detachment after a two-year suspension. The program faced a massive overhaul after two horses died within 96-hours of each other due to poor living conditions. BILL STRENGTHENING‘ SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP’ WITH UK MILITARY INTRODUCED ON D-DAY The US Army’s Caisson platoon is part of the 3rd Infantry Regiment, also known as the Old Guard, famously responsible for guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The Caisson horses have pulled the flag-draped coffins of America’s war heroes to their final resting place at Arlington National Cemetery for more than 70 years. This is a military tradition that Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, who served in an Armored Infantry unit in Iraq, explained dates back hundreds of years. “The Caisson units in the military go back hundreds and hundreds of years, when militaries and armies want to show respect and love for their soldiers, soldiers who have served honorably and the soldiers who died in war,” Driscoll said in an exclusive interview with Fox News. The Caisson program was halted in May 2023 while the Army investigated concerns that the horses used to pull the caisson were suffering from dangerous living conditions and neglect. ARMY SURPASSES FISCAL 2025 RECRUITING GOAL 4 MONTHS AHEAD OF SCHEDULE “We had two horses die within four days of each other,” Driscoll said. “And so we did a pause to all the operations and the Army took a hard look at what was causing that. What they found is these horses and their care had kind of fallen through the cracks.” In February 2022, two Caisson horses, Mickey and Tony, died within 96 hours of each other. Both were euthanized due to poor conditions and feeding. Tony was found to have ingested 44 pounds of gravel and sand while Mickey had a gastrointestinal illness that went untreated. Another two horses died within the year, raising concerns within the Army and denying families this ceremonial tradition. “We hadn’t done a particularly good job as an Army in all instances of making sure the training was good and that the horses were taken care of, so we took a pause. It was originally meant to be a 45-day pause that then as the government and sometimes the Army, it stretched on and on,” Driscoll said. The Caisson unit was living in stables at Fort Myer in Arlington, Virginia at the time. A U.S. Army report found that conditions among the aging horses at decrepit stables located at Fort Meyer, that had been built in 1908, were inadequate to house the ceremonial horses. The horses were fed low quality hay, and routinely suffered from parasites from standing in their own excrement. They ate their feed off the ground in mud lots covered in gravel and construction waste, according to the report. MEMORIAL DAY: WILD MUSTANGS HELP VETERANS HEAL THROUGH WYOMING RANCH PROGRAM Major General Trevor Bredenkamp, who serves as Commanding General of Joint Task Force National Capital Region and U.S. Army Military District of Washington, took command shortly after the Caisson program was suspended. “We had to rehabilitate many of our horses and what we found is years of underinvestment. They were injured beyond the point where they could still continue the mission, and so we had to retire them, and then we had to procure new horses… we found we lacked a degree of expertise to care for these horses,” Bredenkamp said. He oversaw the complete overhaul of the unit. “It wasn’t a problem that manifested itself overnight. This was decades of under-investment. We understood that gravel impaction was a significant problem because there was feed that was on the ground. We didn’t have the appropriate matting in the stalls and so gravel could easily become mixed in with hay or with ground cover, and so we have raised all of the feed off of the ground, we’ve got feed bags hanging on the inside of the stalls. We have also put rubber matting on there again to prevent the possibility of gravel being ingested by the horses,” Bredenkamp explained. The Army set out to find the best horse trainers in the country. “We brought in these outside experts. We created a plan. We invested $28 million in it over the last two years,” Driscoll said. Lt. Col. Jason Crawford is a trained Army veterinarian who has been riding horses his whole life. Crawford was promoted to become the new caisson detachment commander earlier this year. REMAINS OF WWII SOLDIER KILLED NEARLY 80 YEARS AGO IN FRANCE IDENTIFIED, TO BE REBURIED AT NATIONAL CEMETERY “We’ve now had civilian trainers on our squads, on each individual squad, as well as within our leadership,” Crawford explained. It was dental day when Crawford showed the Fox News crew around the newly renovated stable. “We’ve been doing dental procedures on all these horses, and we got them on a good routine now, and that’s one of the other big changes, is really being persistent about their care,” Crawford said. The Caisson unit has to choose their horses carefully. The unit will be doing up to two funerals a day, up 10 per week on the hard pavement of Arlington National Cemetery. “Unlike some of the other smaller breed horses, they’re going to be on the concrete and the pavement. So really having strong feet for them to actually
Trump not interested in talking to Musk: ‘Elon’s totally lost it’
President Donald Trump told Fox News on Friday that he isn’t interested in talking to SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, adding that “Elon’s totally lost it.” Trump also said to Fox News’ Bret Baier that he isn’t worried about Musk’s suggestion to form a new political party, citing favorable polls and strong support from Republicans on Capitol Hill. The comments come as Musk and Trump have been arguing over social media in recent days. The feud escalated after Musk started “wearing thin” on Trump for about a month, Fox News senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy reported Friday. ELON MUSK MAY SPEAK TO TRUMP AIDES IN PUSH TO CALM FEUD A senior White House official told Fox News that Trump does not expect to speak to Musk today. However, White House aides told Doocy that Trump administration staffers might try to talk to Musk. Musk made allegations Thursday that Trump was in the Jeffrey Epstein file. HOUSE BUDGET CHAIRMAN EXPLAINS WHY THERE’S NO ‘PORK’ IN TRUMP TAX BILL AFTER ELON MUSK ATTACKS On Truth Social, Trump wrote Thursday that “Elon was ‘wearing thin,’ I asked him to leave, I took away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy Electric Cars that nobody else wanted (that he knew for months I was going to do!), and he just went CRAZY!” The comments between Musk and Trump ramped up this week when Musk called the Trump-endorsed “big, beautiful bill” a “disgusting abomination.” “I don’t mind Elon turning against me, but he should have done so months ago,” Trump also wrote on Truth Social on Thursday. “This is one of the Greatest Bills ever presented to Congress. It’s a Record Cut in Expenses, $1.6 Trillion Dollars, and the Biggest Tax Cut ever given. If this Bill doesn’t pass, there will be a 68% Tax Increase, and things far worse than that. I didn’t create this mess, I’m just here to FIX IT. This puts our Country on a Path of Greatness. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Fox News’ Patrick Ward, Lucas Tomlinson, Greg Wehner and Alec Schemmel contributed to this report.
Handful of House Democrats join Republicans in sanctuary city crackdown
A pair of bills cracking down on sanctuary cities passed the House of Representatives this week — with the support of multiple Democrats. On Thursday, the House passed a bill to withdraw Small Business Administration (SBA) services from jurisdictions that shelter illegal immigrants. The legislation passed the House in a 211 to 199 vote, with five Democrats joining the GOP: Reps. Henry Cuellar of Texas, Laura Gillen of New York, Don Davis of North Carolina, Jared Golden of Maine and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington. DEMS FUME OVER ‘DUE PROCESS’ FOR ABREGO GARCIA DESPITE LONG HISTORY OF PARTY BUCKING THE LEGAL PRINCIPLE That’s despite House Democratic leaders urging lawmakers to vote against the bill. SBA offices at the regional, district and local levels would be required to relocate if the administration publicly designated their locations as sanctuary jurisdictions. “House Republicans are holding these cities accountable for their refusal to follow immigration law and protect their citizens,” House Majority Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota, the No. 3 House Republican, told Fox News Digital of the bill. “Under President Trump, lawlessness that endangers the American people and prioritizes illegal aliens will not be rewarded with federal dollars and resources.” The second bill, which passed on Friday morning, would add explicit language banning people in the U.S. illegally from obtaining SBA loans. Eight Democrats voted for that legislation — Perez, Cuellar, Gillen and Davis all voted for the bill, along with Reps. Tom Suozzi of New York, Josh Harder of California, Marcy Kaptur of Ohio and Kristen McDonald Rivet of Michigan. House Democratic leaders did not appear to give their caucus guidance on how to vote for the bill. MAXINE WATERS FLOATS DEPORTING MELANIA TRUMP IN ANTI-DOGE DIATRIBE It is a sign of illegal immigration’s continued potency as a political issue, after proving key to Republicans’ victories in the House, Senate and White House last year. The former bill was introduced by Rep. Brad Finstad, R-Minn., and the latter by Rep. Beth Van Duyne, R-Texas.
Claim Trump nixed top Musk ally from NASA post over Dem donations belied by ex-Dems on team
Claims that President Donald Trump dropped his well-regarded NASA nominee over Democratic donations don’t hold up, given his track record of appointing officials from across the political spectrum. “Trump Is Said to Have Known About NASA Nominee’s Donations Before Picking Him,” read the latest headline from the New York Times about the president’s decision to pull Jared Isaacman’s nomination – as the firestorm continues over the spacewalking billionaire’s close ally Elon Musk’s coinciding break with the president. Trump had known about many of his circle’s Democratic ties before Isaacson came on the scene, including his own history. Until the Obama administration, Trump reliably donated to Democrats, including Sen. Chuck Schumer, then-Rep. Anthony Weiner, Hillary Clinton – all of New York – Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, and then-Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts. YOU’RE HIRED, HERE’S WHO PASSED CONGRESS’ TRUMP CABINET TEST AND HOW STORMY THEIR HEARINGS WERE Since then, however, Trump has taken an adversarial tack toward Obama and Democrats associated with him, including Hillary Clinton – though he still reserves kind words for former President Bill Clinton. While many of Trump’s cabinet picks are former congressional Republicans, like Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins of Georgia and Secretary of State Marco Rubio of Florida, many also hail from the left or are known to donate to leftist causes. Health & Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., is the most notable example, given his surname and namesake. Kennedy, whose father was a New York senator, attorney general and a 1968 presidential candidate until his assassination, was a noted Democrat invested in environmentalism and other liberal causes. His sister, Kerry, was first lady of New York during her marriage to Andrew Cuomo, while another sister, Kathleen, was lieutenant governor of Maryland under Gov. Parris Glendening – and his uncles, John and Edward, were two of the most famous Democrats in U.S. history. GABBARD SPEAKS OUT AFTER LEAVING ‘WOKE’ DEMOCRATIC PARTY But Kennedy and his supporters forged a political bond with Trump and propelled him into the presidency, finding common ground on vaccine risk awareness, dangerous aspects of America’s food processing and transparency of government officials, particularly in the health care sector. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was a Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii who later left her party after repeated barbs from its thought-leaders like Clinton – who accused her of being a Kremlin asset. And Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent remains in office and has been widely praised by fiscal conservatives for his decisions so far, while also having a history of Democratic donations. Bessent donated to Obama, Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore, and was also head of Soros Fund Management’s United Kingdom office in the early 1990s. The company, led by George Soros and his son Alex, is often considered the most powerful financial force on the far left. Treasury Secretary Howard Lutnick – one of the lead negotiators of Trump’s tariff and trade agenda – was also a Democratic donor while head of the financial firm Cantor-Fitzgerald. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Lutnick’s donations have trended toward the GOP in recent years, and he has maintained a longtime friendship with Trump. On the Democratic side of the ledger, Lutnick historically supported the late Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, as well as Schumer and Clinton. Lutnick has preferred pro-business and anti-regulation candidates and issues moreso than coming from a purely political point of view. Isaacman, a New Jersey billionaire credited as the first private citizen to spacewalk, saw his May 31 nomination pulled this week after what Trump called “a thorough review of his prior associations,” which many, including in the media, believed referenced his history of Democratic donations. Isaacman has donated to fellow Garden State-born astronaut Mark Kelly – now the senior Democratic senator in Arizona – as well as former Sen. Bob Casey, Jr., D-Pa., and a SuperPAC aligned with Schumer. He also supported Rep. George Whitesides, D-Calif., a former NASA chief of staff and congressional freshman who upset a GOP-held swing district north of Los Angeles in 2024.