JD Vance’s half-brother announces Cincinnati mayoral campaign
Vice President JD Vance’s half-brother, Cory Bowman, announced that he is running for mayor of Cincinnati. Bowman, a pastor, coffee shop owner and registered Republican, revealed his candidacy in an interview published Tuesday by The Cincinnati Enquirer. The last Republican to run for mayor of Cincinnati was Brad Wenstrup in 2009. Wenstrup later successfully ran for a U.S. House seat. Cincinnati has been run by an all-Democrat, nine-member council since Republican Liz Keating was voted out in 2023. VP VANCE DOUBLES DOWN ON WH’S ‘AMBITIOUS’ GOAL TO GET CRIMINAL MIGRANTS OFF THE STREETS: ‘POLICY MATTERS’ Eight people have filed petitions to run for mayor of Cincinnati, the newspaper reported. The deadline to submit the required 500 signatures to be on the ballot is Feb. 20. None of the petitioners have met that requirement yet, including the current, first-term Mayor Aftab Pureval, a Democrat. Pureval told the newspaper he is running for re-election and has started hosting fundraisers. As the Trump administration continues its crackdown on criminal illegal immigrants, Pureval notably said Cincinnati would not cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, WXIX reported. The mayoral contest is a non-partisan field race. The two top voter recipients advance to a general election. There is no primary if fewer than three candidates qualify to run. Bowman said he spoke to Vance in the “initial stages” of considering running for mayor, describing Vance as his inspiration and adding that the two have a friendly sibling rivalry. “I don’t necessarily speak for my brother because he speaks pretty well for himself. And he’s doing well,” Bowman told The Enquirer. “I will say that he’s an incredible role model of mine.” Bowman grew up in Butler and Preble counties, and he and his wife moved back to Cincinnati in 2020, when they founded The River Church in the West End neighborhood. JD VANCE CONDEMNS FEMA’S RESPONSE TO HELENE DEVASTATION IN 1ST TRIP AS VICE PRESIDENT Having been pastor of a nondenominational Christian church for four years, Bowman told the Enquirer he considered running for local office as a way of giving back, an interest that was further ignited by attending President Donald Trump and Vance’s inauguration in Washington, D.C., last month. “There’s nobody that cheered louder when he was getting sworn in than me, because he’s my brother,” Bowman said of Vance. Vance and Bowman share the same father, Donald Bowman, who died in 2023. He was the second husband of Vance’s mother, Beverly Aikins. Donald Bowman put Vance up for adoption when the now vice president was in kindergarten. In his memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy,” Vance describes reconnecting with his father and his half siblings, including Cory, as a teenager. Vance also describes living with his father at their family farm house in Preble County, contrasting that experience to growing up with his mother, who had battled addiction. “It was a great childhood,” Cory Bowman told The Enquirer of his life on the farm. “We learned those foundations as kids. But there was always something about the city that enticed me.” Vance’s mother changed his name from James Donald Bowman to James David Hamel when she remarried. He later took his grandfather’s last name, Vance. Bowman also owns the Kings Arms Coffee in the West End of Cincinnati. “My heart fell in love with it,” he said of the neighborhood. He resides in the College Hill neighborhood of Cincinnati. Vance has not yet weighed in on his half-brother’s campaign announcement. Bowman attended the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee in July, when Vance was announced as Trump’s running mate. He said he observed many new Republicans, though he was not one of them. “Half of those people [who were in attendance] wouldn’t have been caught dead in that room eight years ago,” Bowman said. “It wasn’t just established Republicans, it was more so people wanting a change.”
Top DOJ official says FBI employees who ‘simply followed orders’ on Jan 6 investigations won’t be fired
FBI employees who “simply followed orders” with respect to their investigations into Jan. 6 defendants will not be fired or face any other penalties, Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove confirmed in an internal memo. Bove’s memo this week accused Acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll of refusing to reply to requests from President Donald Trump’s administration to identify “the core team in Washington, D.C. responsible for the investigation relating to events on January 6, 2021.” “That insubordination necessitated, among other things, the directive in my January 31, 2025 memo to identify all agents assigned to investigations relating to January 6, 2021. In light of acting leadership’s refusal to comply with the narrower request, the written directive was intended to obtain a complete data set that the Justice Department can reliably pare down to the core team that will be the focus of the weaponization review pursuant to the Executive Order,” Bove wrote. “Let me be clear: No FBI employee who simply followed orders and carried out their duties in an ethical manner with respect to January 6 investigations is at risk of termination or other penalties,” Bove continued. “The only individuals who should be concerned about the process initiated by my January 31, 2025 memo are those who acted with corrupt or partisan intent, who blatantly defied orders from Department leadership, or who exercised discretion in weaponizing the FBI.” FBI AGENTS GROUP TELLS CONGRESS TO TAKE URGENT ACTION TO PROTECT AGAINST POLITICIZATION “There is no honor in the ongoing efforts to distort that simple truth or protect culpable actors from scrutiny on these issues, which have politicized the Bureau, harmed its credibility, and distracted the public from the excellent work being done every day. If you have witnessed such behavior, I encourage you to report it through appropriate channels,” he added. Bove’s latest memo comes after a group of nine FBI agents filed a lawsuit Tuesday seeking to block the public identification of any FBI employees who worked on the Jan. 6 investigations. FBI AGENTS GROUP TELLS CONGRESS TO TAKE URGENT ACTION TO PROTECT AGAINST POLITICIZATION The plaintiffs, who filed the lawsuit anonymously in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, said that any effort to review or discriminate against FBI employees involved in the Jan. 6 investigations would be “unlawful and retaliatory,” and a violation of civil service protections under federal law. The lawsuit cited the questionnaire employees were required to fill out detailing their specific role in the Jan. 6 investigation and Mar-a-Lago investigation led by former Special Counsel Jack Smith. AFTER STINGING ELECTION DEFEATS, DNC EYES RURAL VOTERS AS KEY TO 2026 MIDTERM SUCCESS President Donald Trump declined to answer questions on Monday over whether his administration would remove FBI employees involved in the investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot, telling reporters only that he believes the bureau is “corrupt” and that his nominee for FBI director, Kash Patel, will “straighten it out.” Fox News’ Breanne Deppisch contributed to this report
Baltimore mayor doubling down on DEI with ‘Definitely Earned It’ campaign
“Didn’t Earn It,” or “Definitely Earned It?” Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott is standing firm on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) policies, despite mounting pushback against the controversial programs and initiatives. Some online commentators labeled Scott as a “DEI mayor” in the wake of the Baltimore Bridge collapse last year when a container ship struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge, resulting in six people losing their lives. Scott, in an interview with The Associated Press, said he saw the attacks on him as part of a broader backlash against Black Americans and other historically disenfranchised groups in leadership. He said he rejects the premise and insists he was duly elected to lead the Charm City. He was reelected to office in November after defeating Republican challenger Shannon Wright. AFRICAN AMERICAN GROUPS CALL FOR DITCHING ‘RACIST’ FRANCIS SCOTT KEY, NAMING NEW BRIDGE AFTER LATE CONGRESSMAN Scott is now doubling down on DEI and said he is launching a “Definitely Earned It” campaign for Black History Month, which is taking place throughout February. The term is a play on the words “Didn’t Earn It,” which opponents of DEI use to highlight what they say is its lack of meritocracy baked into DEI. He said he wants to set the record straight on DEI policies, which he views as enacting American values. “Because we have to be bigger and Blacker and louder than ever,” Scott told The Associated Press in an interview addressing why he is launching the campaign. “We cannot allow that darkness to try to come and overtake our light, because darkness can’t overtake light, only light can overcome darkness. Don’t run away, don’t hide, don’t shrink in the moment, be who you are and push back in every single way that you can.” Scott said that his “Definitely Earned It” campaign will be an expansion of Black History Month, highlighting the impact Black people have had on the country. MARYLAND’S RISING STAR DEM GOVERNOR FACES FIRST NATIONAL TEST AFTER BALTIMORE BRIDGE COLLAPSE “We’ll be noting that these people weren’t DEI — well, that they were DEI, but DEI in the sense that they definitely earned it,” Scott told The AP. “They earned every single thing that they accomplished because it wasn’t given to them. We can show people what it truly means when you have to work 10 times as hard, when you have to work through systems that were built up for you to fail, when you have to make sure that you leave the door open for other folks coming behind you. And in my case, DEI means duly elected incumbent, but I also definitely earned it.” The Trump administration is on a mission to gut all programs and initiatives associated with DEI within the federal government, arguing it has lowered standards and promoted a woke agenda. In his first week back in office, Trump signed an executive order ending DEI offices and initiatives across the federal workforce. Last week, Trump signed two executive orders banning “radical gender ideology” and DEI initiatives from all branches of the U.S. military. TRUMP DOD CREATES TASK FORCE TO ABOLISH DEI OFFICES THAT ‘PROMOTE SYSTEMIC RACISM’ Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth zeroed in on the controversial programs too, releasing a memorandum last week stating that DEI is incompatible with Department of Defense (DoD) values, and created a task force to address the abolition of the program. Significant brands such as Walmart, McDonald’s, Amazon, Ford and Lowe’s have all begun rolling back DEI initiatives in response to a cultural shift that included customer backlash, pressure from conservative-leaning groups and activists, and possible legal ramifications. DEI came into sharp focus again last week when President Donald Trump said the DC plane crash disaster — between a Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines jet colliding midair near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport — was caused by DEI, though he acknowledged that the cause of the crash has yet to be determined. Trump highlighted efforts by the Biden administration to lower aviation standards and said he believed DEI played a factor because he has “common sense.” Scott said he faced backlash over the Baltimore Bridge collapse without any justification. He noted that the bridge was built before he was born, built by very few minorities and the ship was not piloted by a Black person. “What these folks who unfortunately think that way think is that unless you are a straight white male from a certain background — because I want my poor white brothers and sisters to understand that they’re not talking about them either, right — unless you are from a certain background, wealthy historic families with straight white Christian men, then you should never be in a position of power and that your thoughts and opinions don’t matter,” Scott said. “And that is the saddest part of it all.” Fox News’ Alexandra Koch and Breck Dumas contributed to this report.
Rand Paul recoils at Trump’s Gaza takeover plans: ‘I thought we voted for America First’
After President Donald Trump announced that America “will take over the Gaza strip,” Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., pushed back against the idea, suggesting that the move would betray the “America First” principle Trump voters expected. During his inauguration speech last month, Trump unequivocally declared that throughout his administration he will “put America first,” echoing a longstanding pillar of his political philosophy, which he also expressed during his 2017 inaugural address. But Paul is throwing a red flag in response to Trump’s newly unveiled Gaza plans. “The pursuit for peace should be that of the Israelis and the Palestinians. I thought we voted for America First. We have no business contemplating yet another occupation to doom our treasure and spill our soldiers blood,” Paul declared in a Wednesday post on X. The senator made the comment in response to a post in which Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared on Tuesday, “Gaza MUST BE FREE from Hamas. As @POTUS shared today, the United States stands ready to lead and Make Gaza Beautiful Again. Our pursuit is one of lasting peace in the region for all people.” ‘LEVEL IT’: TRUMP SAYS US WILL ‘TAKE OVER’ GAZA STRIP, REBUILD IT TO STABILIZE MIDDLE EAST While delivering remarks alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanhyahu on Tuesday, Trump said that Palestinians should be settled outside the Gaza Strip, and that the U.S. will transform the region, which he described as a “demolition site.” “The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip,” Trump declared, saying, “we’ll own it, and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site … level it out, create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area.” “I do see a long term ownership position,” Trump said of the region. THE HISTORY OF GAZA AMID TRUMP’S PLAN TO REBUILD ENCLAVE Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., called Trump’s proposal “ethnic cleansing.” “This president is openly calling for ethnic cleansing while sitting next to a genocidal war criminal. He’s perfectly fine cutting off working Americans from federal funds while the funding to the Israeli government continues flowing,” she declared in a post on X. In a post on another X account she declared, “Palestinians aren’t going anywhere. This president can only spew this fanatical bulls— because of bipartisan support in Congress for funding genocide and ethnic cleansing. It’s time for my two-state solution colleagues to speak up.” TRUMP’S MIDDLE EAST ENVOY EXPLAINS GAZA TAKEOVER PROPOSAL: ‘MORE HOPE’ FOR PALESTINIANS’ FUTURES CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Rep. Diana Harshbarger, R-Tenn., welcomed the president’s remarks. “This is what the leader of the free world looks like, folks. President Trump campaigned on securing peace in Gaza, and he’s doing just that. Promises made, promises kept — it’ll never get old,” she said in a tweet.
Dem senator says Trump ‘seizures of power’ have sparked ‘constitutional crisis’, calls to block all nominees
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., is arguing that President Donald Trump and Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) leader Elon Musk’s actions constitute “illegal seizures of power,” sparking a “constitutional crisis.” In an interview with National Public Radio, Murphy condemned efforts by the White House Office of Management and Budget to freeze funding already approved by Congress, as well as the Trump administration moving to review, restructure and potentially abolish parts of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), as thousands of federal employees face lay-offs, and U.S. taxpayer-funded programs are suspended around the globe. Murphy said Democrats should not support “a single nominee” appointed by Trump and “should not grant expedited process to any nominees until this crisis passes.” “I worry that the American public is not going to rise up against this seizure of power if they see Democrats collaborating with Republicans on the floor of the Senate on a regular basis to pass legislation or support nominees,” Murphy said. “That’s the essential thing that has to happen here. The people of this country need to start showing up. And we saw that happening this weekend. I saw town halls for my colleagues packed to the gills. Yesterday, we did a press conference outside of USAID that must have had 500 people at it. But I think you’re going to start to see people drawing a line here that will put pressure on Republicans.” SECRETARY OF STATE RUBIO CONFIRMS BECOMING ACTING USAID CHIEF The senator said his Republican colleagues should also feel pressure to speak out against the administration. “The focus has to be on Republicans right now and why they have been completely and utterly silenced,” Murphy said. “I do not want all of the pressure to be on Democrats to figure this out when Republicans should care just as much about democracy as Democrats do.” “The president of the United States does not have the power unilaterally to suspend all federal programs,” Murphy said. “He certainly does not have the power to suspend those programs and then decide on his own which entities get money and which don’t. The president doesn’t have the power to do that because that’s an extraordinary power to be invested in one person. The president could use that power to send money to his friends, to deny money to his enemies, to send money only to Republican states and not to Democratic states. The founders thought that that was a corrupting power that one person should not have.” Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment, but they did not immediately respond. USAID MISSIONS OVERSEAS ORDERED TO SHUT DOWN, STAFF BEING RECALLED: REPORT Murphy also accused Trump of being in violation of court orders by refusing to turn the spending back on. As for USAID, the senator said Trump “has gone as far to essentially shutter the entire agency, laying off 60% of the people in many bureaus, telling employees yesterday that none of them should show up for work.” “That is unconstitutional” the senator said, speculating that Trump “may be making a guess” that the U.S. Supreme Court will give him the power to shutter agencies. “I don’t think that we should just let the hyperbole sit on the side, because when people hear the President of the United States say that there’s corruption at USAID. When they hear Elon Musk say it’s a criminal enterprise, and it goes uncontested by either the media or Democrats, they believe it. I mean, that’s just an outright lie,” Murphy said. “So the president and his billionaire advisers are literally making things up out of thin air because they want to seize control of federal government spending so that they can reward their friends and Elon Musk’s friends and punish their enemies so as to suppress political dissent and destroy democracy in this country. That’s why this is a constitutional crisis.” “Right now our highest priority is making sure that democracy survives this assault on the Constitution,” Murphy said. “I can only speak for myself. I can’t tell you what every single Democrat is willing to do. I’m not going to vote for any more nominees. We are also vigorously pursuing court actions to try to shut down many of these illegal seizures of power. And I do think so far, Republicans have not joined us. But if we are able to muster real public sentiment against these seizures of power, I think that that may be enough to get Republicans to join us and on many of these nominations and pieces of legislation we ultimately don’t need. 20 Republicans remain and just a handful.”
‘That’s who she is’: Noem allies rally she’s ‘definition of South Dakota toughness’ amid wardrobe criticisms
Allies of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem are celebrating her as the “definition of South Dakota toughness” as critics lampoon the Trump administration official for wearing a cowboy hat or protective vest amid her hands-on efforts to secure the southern border and deport illegal immigrants. “Kristi Noem is the definition of South Dakota toughness and actually ran a working ranch for decades,” Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D., told Fox News Digital Tuesday. “She talks straight, works hard, and gets the job done. Like any great leader, she’s not sitting behind a desk — she’s out there on the front lines, rolling up her sleeves and working alongside the people she leads.” “You don’t see that much in Washington,” he said. Noem, who was confirmed as DHS chief on Jan. 25, has been on an immigration and security blitz since then, joining immigration raids on the streets of New York City and taking a horseback tour of the southern border in Texas. SOCIAL MEDIA ROASTS NOEM OVER UNIQUE STYLE CHOICES As Noem works to help deliver on President Donald Trump‘s campaign vow to lock down the border and clean house of illegal immigrants who flooded the nation under the Biden administration, critics have latched onto criticizing Noem’s wardrobe selection. She has been accused of wearing “cosplay outfits” or “cosplaying” a cowboy when she donned a cowboy hat during an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. Noem also has been mocked as “ICE Barbie” or “Border Patrol Barbie” for wearing a baseball cap, an apparent bullet-proof vest and makeup while helping conduct the raids in New York City at the end of January. To those in Noem’s personal and work orbit, however, she has long worn outfits that match the job she has before her — including when she has to get “her hands dirty.” SEC. NOEM SAYS HOMELAND SECURITY WILL FREEZE GRANTS TO NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS “If folks want to nitpick about her wearing the same gear as the people she’s leading — a cowboy hat, work clothes — they don’t understand her, and they sure don’t understand South Dakota,” Johnson said in comment to Fox Digital. “That’s who she is. Always has been.” “People in New York or D.C. wouldn’t last a day in the real America,” he said. “I told folks she’d be an ass kicker, and that’s exactly what she’s doing.” A source close to Noem, who spoke to Fox News Digital on the background of the secretary’s upbringing, speculated that critics likely “just don’t get her,” while arguing that complaints about men’s wardrobe choices are few and far between. KRISTI NOEM JOINS IMMIGRATION RAID TO CATCH ‘DIRTBAGS’ IN MAJOR SANCTUARY CITY “Kristi Noem was taught by her father not to complain about a problem, but to go and fix it,” the source said. “She gets her hands dirty when she throws herself into a job and that’s what she’s doing.” Noem stepped down as South Dakota’s governor following her confirmation to lead DHS and has a history of routinely swapping typical Washington, D.C., fashion, such as pantsuits and heels, for cowboy boots and jeans when outside of her office. While serving as governor, Noem was repeatedly spotted wearing jeans and more work-styled outfits while on the border. She has participated in the South Dakota Buffalo Roundup and joined state farm fairs. Noem was the first governor to deploy National Guard troops to border states in 2022 and repeatedly visited southern states such as Texas amid the immigration crisis, which she said created a “warzone.” NOEM SAYS ‘WORST OF THE WORST’ ARRESTED IN NYC RAID TARGETING CRIMINAL ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS Noem grew up on a ranch in South Dakota’s rural Hamlin County and has remained close to her country roots. She came under fire in 2024, when she published a memoir that garnered outrage for defending the killing of a farm dog that attacked other animals. Noem reflected on her rural lifestyle in her Senate confirmation hearing in January, saying she has “spent my life in rural America” and that she understands “what it means to work hard every day to build a better future for our kids and our communities.” Another Noem ally close to the secretary who spoke to Fox News Digital said that “petty insults” aimed at Noem are actually borne out of opposition to Trump’s immigration policies. “The simple fact is that many of her critics are opposed to President Trump’s mission to keep the nation safe by fighting illegal immigration, and they’ll try to undermine it any way they can — and that includes hurling petty insults at the Secretary of Homeland Security to undermine her and the president,” the source close who Noem said. “It won’t work. She’s sworn to do the job the president gave her of protecting this country, and that’s what she’s going to do.”
Singer, songwriter Joy Villa wears DOGE coin dress to Grammys, supports Trump’s deportation crackdown
Singer and songwriter Joy Villa, well-known for her contentious attire at Grammy Award shows, strutted the red carpet once again on Sunday in a gown that served up a strong message. Villa was spotted at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards in a gold dress and necklace dispersed with images of the DOGE Shiba Inu dog meme, a necklace featuring his face and a red hat that read “The hat stays on.” “I was kind of a walking meme,” Villa told Fox News Digital. “Obviously, I’m a MAGA girl and MAGA and crypto are starting to bridge the gap.” JOY VILLA TURNS HEADS WITH PRO-LIFE OUTFIT AT THE GRAMMYS “Cryptocurrency represents freedom,” she added. “We can disengage from the big banks. As artists, we can dictate our own financial independence.” The dress was tailored by atelier dress designer Andre Soriano, who also curated the controversial “Make America Great Again” dress Villa first wore to the 2017 Grammys. “I’ve had people try to snatch my MAGA hats off,” Villa said. Villa said that among the vicious rhetoric she has received since expressing her support for President Donald Trump and his policies eight years ago are threats of sexual assault and death in addition to racial slurs. Despite having experienced vocal and physical backlash, Villa said the hat sends a message of her courage, resilience and vibrancy. ‘MAGA’ DRESS DESIGNER FORCED TO REMOVE TRUMP SIGNS FROM BUSINESS, RESIDENCE WHEN ‘KAREN’ CALLED POLICE “I don’t worship Trump, but I worship Jesus Christ as my Lord and savior, and I know that God gave me a voice to speak in Hollywood as an artist, as an actress, as a musician,” Villa told Fox News Digital. “The red carpet is my battlefield.” A focal point of Villa’s conservative messaging at high-profile events is her religious devotion. “I shared Jesus Christ with every single person I interviewed and none of them posted that,” she said. “America needs to bless God because the fight is not over yet,” she added. “We got to stop aborting babies. We got to put prayer back in schools. Nobody needs to have their religion demonized and, for some reason, you can say every other name at the Grammys or the red carpet awards except for Jesus Christ.” SINGER JOY VILLA MAKES A POLITICAL FASHION STATEMENT AGAINST PLANNED PARENTHOOD While Villa’s remarks about religion were passed over by the media, her message in support of the deportations of illegal immigrants in the U.S. was publicized. “I’m a proud Afro-Latina,” she said. “I know being in the Latina community, being a woman of color, I know how much illegal immigration hurts us, and people won’t talk about that.” Since taking office on Jan. 20, Trump has acted on his promise of mass deportations and cracked down on illegal immigration. This has included ending deportation protection for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans and deporting thousands of illegal immigrants to Mexico. “It is a crime to come here illegally,” Villa said. “I’ve traveled to 39 countries and in every single one of them I had to get the proper documentation and show my ID.” Villa scrutinized actress Selena Gomez for taking to social media recently to cry about President Trump’s swift action removing illegal immigrants. “Girl, sit all the way down,” Villa said. “You are an American citizen and those are not your people.” “Deport everyone who’s coming here illegally,” she said.
Trump calls for ‘nuclear peace agreement’ with Iran rather than blowing country ‘to smithereens’
President Donald Trump urged Iran to begin negotiating with the U.S. for a “nuclear peace agreement,” downplaying the possibility of a devastating military strike on the Islamic nation. Trump made the statement on social media Wednesday morning, reaffirming the U.S. position that Iran can never obtain a nuclear weapon. It comes just one day after Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House. “I want Iran to be a great and successful Country, but one that cannot have a Nuclear Weapon. Reports that the United States, working in conjunction with Israel, is going to blow Iran into smithereens ARE GREATLY EXAGGERATED,” Trump wrote. “I would much prefer a Verified Nuclear Peace Agreement, which will let Iran peacefully grow and prosper. We should start working on it immediately, and have a big Middle East Celebration when it is signed and completed. God Bless the Middle East!” he added. IRAN ‘TERRIFIED’ OF TRUMP PRESIDENCY AS IRANIAN CURRENCY FALLS TO AN ALL-TIME LOW INTELLIGENCE REPORT SAYS IRAN WILL KEEP TRYING TO KILL TRUMP REGARDLESS OF ELECTION OUTCOME The call for negotiations comes after Trump raised eyebrows Tuesday night by saying the U.S. will “take over” control of the Gaza Strip. “The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it, too,” Trump stated. “We’ll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous, unexplored bombs and other weapons on the site.” Netanyahu praised Trump’s ability to “think outside the box” during their joint press conference. Hamas also wrote a statement criticizing Trump’s comments just hours after his meeting with Netanyahu. “We reject Trump’s statements in which he said that the residents of the Gaza Strip have no choice but to leave, and we consider them a recipe for creating chaos and tension in the region,” the group said. Hamas has recently reaffirmed control over the Gaza Strip following the start of the ceasefire and has said they will not release hostages without an end to the war and Israeli forces’ full withdrawal.
‘Squad’ Dem Ayanna Pressley trashes Elon Musk, calling him a ‘Nazi nepo baby’
“Squad” member Ayanna Pressley blasted business magnate Elon Musk as a “Nazi nepo baby” and “godless, lawless billionaire” during remarks at a rally. She also seemed to take a jab at Tesla’s Cybertruck. “Elon Musk is a Nazi nepo baby, a godless lawless billionaire, who no one elected. Elon, this is the American people. This is not your trashy Cybertruck that you can just dismantle, pick apart, and sell the pieces of,” she declared. DEMOCRATIC LAWMAKERS SLAM ELON MUSK’S ACCESS TO TREASURY DEPARTMENT: ‘WE ARE AT WAR’ A video shared on the congresswoman’s @RepPressley X account shows her and others chanting, “Hey, hey, ho, ho, Elon Musk has got to go.” In a post on the lawmaker’s @AyannaPressley account, Pressley had called Musk “a Nazi nepo baby who breaks everything he touches,” claiming, “Right now he’s locked himself in a room with grandpa’s Social Security check.” Musk backed President Donald Trump during the 2024 election and is now spearheading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) effort to expose government waste. ELON MUSK DUNKS ON SEN CHUCK SCHUMER, DECLARING ‘HYSTERICAL REACTIONS’ DEMONSTRATE DOGE’S IMPORTANCE “Doge has not looked at, nor is there any interest in, private financial data. What would we even do with it? The outgoing payment review process just looks at potential fraud and wasteful spending to organizations. Corrupt politicians are the ones complaining. I wonder why?” Musk has noted in a post on X. The Treasury Department has noted that “the ongoing review of Treasury’s systems is not resulting in the suspension or rejection of any payment instructions submitted to Treasury by other federal agencies across the government.” SENATOR SENDS MESSAGE TO DEMS UPSET OVER ELON MUSK’S DOGE TEAM: ‘GET USED TO THIS’ CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “Currently, Treasury staff members working with Tom Krause, a Treasury employee, will have read-only access to the coded data of the Fiscal Service’s payment systems in order to continue this operational efficiency assessment,” the department noted. “Mr. Krause is conducting this effort in coordination with veteran career Treasury officials, and all operational processes continue to be conducted only by career Treasury staff in accordance with all standard security, safety, and privacy standards,” Treasury noted. “In order to allow him to perform this function, he has been hired as an expert/consultant by the federal government and designated in a role commonly used across Administrations—a ‘special government employee’ —pursuant to applicable law.”
Trump budget bill could see ‘roughly’ $1 trillion in baseline spending cuts, top Republican says
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said Republicans were eyeing $1 trillion as a rough baseline for spending cuts as they prepare a massive conservative policy overhaul. “I think when you look at where we are, we’re close to a trillion and still working,” Scalise said in response to a question by Fox News Digital late Tuesday night. When asked by another reporter later whether Republicans were looking at a $1 trillion baseline, Scalise said, “Roughly.” No final decisions have been made, however. Republican majorities in the House and Senate are working to codify large swaths of President Donald Trump’s agenda via the budget reconciliation process. By lowering the threshold for Senate passage from 60 votes to 51 out of 100, the maneuver allows the party in power to skirt its opposition to advance its agenda – provided the items included relate to budgetary and other fiscal matters. The House of Representatives already has a simple majority threshold. BLACK CAUCUS CHAIR ACCUSES TRUMP OF ‘PURGE’ OF ‘MINORITY’ FEDERAL WORKERS Disagreements over where to set the floor for spending cuts have put House Republicans behind on their ambitious schedule for reconciliation, which includes a final goal of getting a bill on Trump’s desk in May. The House Budget Committee was expected to advance an initial resolution for reconciliation this week. That plan was derailed, however, when spending hawks on the panel balked at House GOP leaders’ initial offer of roughly $300 billion as a starting point for rollbacks to federal funding. They also rejected a higher offer nearing $900 billion in cuts, Fox News Digital was told earlier this week. Scalise told reporters Tuesday night that leaders were now looking at next week to advance the bill out of the House Budget Committee. Conservatives who spoke with Fox News Digital said they doubted the spending cuts would go much deeper than the agreed-upon floor, but Republican leaders have continued to insist there will be opportunities to find areas for cuts beyond whatever level they settle on. Scalise also cautioned that negotiators were working against cost estimates by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), a nonpartisan group. “There are a lot of numbers floating around. I mean, you know, CBO’s got their numbers, and we’ve had real issues with them, because CBO has been wrong so many times, but yet you still have to start with their numbers,” Scalise said. “And then, you know, what kind of economic growth are you gonna get if you have better energy policy and better regulatory policy? And those are real factors. And our members recognize that, but, you know, you’ve got to come to an agreement on what is that growth factor gonna be? What’s a fair number?” GOP negotiators met on Tuesday evening to chart a path forward. A source familiar with the meeting said Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., did not commit to anything and discussions are still ongoing. Republicans are hoping to use reconciliation to pass several Trump policy goals, from more funding at the border to removing taxes on tipped and overtime wages. Lawmakers are also eyeing new defense funding and pro-fossil fuel energy measures. SCOOP: KEY CONSERVATIVE CAUCUS DRAWS RED LINE ON HOUSE BUDGET PLAN House Republicans had planned to pass their reconciliation bill first, but it appears time could be running short. Senate Republicans have signaled they are ready to move ahead with their own plan if infighting delays the House GOP’s schedule. Asked about the prospect of the Senate moving first, Johnson told reporters on Tuesday, “Senate will not take the lead. We’re going to, and we’re right on schedule.” Scalise similarly said that delaying the committee mark up to next week will not alter Republicans’ overall timeline.