‘Wasteful and dangerous’: DOGE’s top five most shocking revelations
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s efforts at President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have revealed a number of examples of government waste that have dominated headlines in recent weeks, as his team continues to audit the federal government despite Democrat opposition. Here are some of the top-lines from DOGE’s findings: Musk revealed this week that DOGE is investigating a limestone mine in Pennsylvania where federal employee retirements are processed manually. “Federal employee retirements are processed using paper, by hand, in an old limestone mine in Pennsylvania. 700+ mine workers operate 230 feet underground to process ~10,000 applications per month, which are stored in manila envelopes and cardboard boxes. The retirement process takes multiple months,” Musk announced on X. ELON MUSK DESCRIBES LIMESTONE MINE USED FOR PROCESSING FEDERAL WORKERS’ RETIREMENT PAPERS: ‘LIKE A TIME WARP’ Musk said only 10,000 federal employees can retire a month because it takes so long to process the paperwork and sort through the millions of manila envelopes. He described the “Iron Mountain” mine as a “time warp” slowing down a completely manual federal retirement process. “The limiting factor is the speed at which the mine shaft elevator can move, determines how many people can retire from the federal government. The elevator breaks down sometimes, and then nobody can retire. Doesn’t that sound crazy?” Musk told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), inspired by DOGE’s crackdown on federal spending, said it had located $20 billion in tax dollars within the agency that the Biden administration reportedly “knew they were wasting.” “An extremely disturbing video circulated two months ago, featuring a Biden EPA political appointee talking about how they were ‘tossing gold bars off the Titanic,’ rushing to get billions of your tax dollars out the door before Inauguration Day,” EPA administrator Lee Zeldin said in a video posted to X on Wednesday, citing another video from December. The EPA found that just eight agencies were controlling the distribution of tens of billions of taxpayer dollars to different entities “at their discretion,” such as the Climate United Fund, which reportedly received just under $7 billion. “The ‘gold bars’ were tax dollars, and ‘tossing them off the Titanic’ meant the Biden administration knew they were wasting it,” Zeldin said, vowing to recover the “gold bars” that were found “parked at an outside financial institution.” EXPERT REVEALS MASSIVE LEVELS OF WASTE DOGE CAN SLASH FROM ENTITLEMENTS, PET PROJECTS: ‘A LOT OF FAT’ Zeldin said that the “scheme was the first of its kind in EPA history, and it was purposely designed to obligate all the money in a rush job with reduced oversight.” In a Fox News interview, the EPA administrator praised DOGE’s work at the agency and said that the cost-cutting department is “making us better.” “They come up with great recommendations, and we can make a decision to act on it,” Zeldin said. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the government’s leading disaster-relief arm, gave over $59 million to house illegal immigrants in luxury New York City hotels just last week, DOGE uncovered. The spending was exposed by Musk on Monday, who wrote in a post on X that “sending this money violated the law and is in gross insubordination to the President’s executive order,” which put FEMA under review to improve the agency’s “efficacy, priorities and competence.” Of the $59.3 million, $19 million was for direct hotel costs, while the balance funded other services such as food and security, a New York City Hall spokesperson confirmed to Fox. One day after the spending was uncovered by DOGE, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed that “Secretary [Krisit] Noem has clawed back the full payment that FEMA deep state activists unilaterally gave to NYC migrant hotels,” a DHS spokesperson told Fox News Digital. Shortly afterward, Trump, in a Truth Social post on Tuesday, suggested that FEMA should be abolished. “FEMA spent tens of millions of dollars in Democrat areas, disobeying orders, but left the people of North Carolina high and dry. It is now under review and investigation,” the president declared. “THE BIDEN RUN FEMA HAS BEEN A DISASTER. FEMA SHOULD BE TERMINATED! IT HAS BEEN SLOW AND TOTALLY INEFFECTIVE. INDIVIDUAL STATES SHOULD HANDLE STORMS, ETC., AS THEY COME. BIG SAVINGS, FAR MORE EFFICIENT!!!” the president added. The Pentagon’s $850 billion budget could be next up on the bureaucratic chopping block. Fox News Digital reported this week accusations of waste and inefficiency within the U.S.’s largest discretionary budget. The Defense Business Board found in 2015 that the Department of Defense could save $125 billion over five years by renegotiating service contracts and consolidating bureaucratic processes. A congressional inquiry in 2018 found the Air Force was spending $1,300 for each reheatable coffee cup aboard one of its aircraft. The Air Force spent $32,000 replacing 25 cups, according to Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. A two-year audit by the Defense Department Inspector General last year found that Boeing overcharged the Air Force by 8,000% for soap dispensers. They overpaid by $149,072. Trump’s new defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, said he welcomes DOGE at the Department of Defense. “We will partner with them. It’s long overdue. The Defense Department’s got a huge budget, but it needs to be responsible,” Hegseth told Fox News. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, the Senate DOGE Caucus Chairwoman, who says she speaks to Musk about spending cuts every few days, recently published a list of projects and programs she says the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has helped fund across the years. Ernst described “wasteful and dangerous” spending that had gripped taxpayers until DOGE stepped in. Ernst highlighted that the agency “authorized a whopping $20 million to create a ‘Sesame Street’ in Iraq.” Under the Biden administration, USAID awarded $20 million to a nonprofit called Sesame Workshop to produce a show called “Ahlan Simsim Iraq” in an effort to “promote inclusion, mutual respect and understanding across ethnic, religious and sectarian groups.” Several more examples of questionable spending have been uncovered at
Trump’s name continues to be fundraising behemoth for both political parties: ‘Center of the universe’
Fundraising messages centered around President Donald Trump have continued to dominate on both sides of the political aisle since his return to the White House. The Democrats’ messages revolve around voicing their opposition to Trump’s second term, his executive orders, and action by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has become a cornerstone of Trump’s first month back in the Oval Office. “Americans are starting to feel the disastrous effects of a Trump-Musk presidency, and we see that sentiment reflected in our top-performing messaging, which highlights the need to fight the extremes of Donald Trump and prepare for elections this year, in 2026 and beyond,” DNC Senior Spokesperson Hannah Muldavin told Fox News Digital. Muldavin said the DNC’s most effective fundraising messages have centered around “the extremes of Donald Trump.” FORMER DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE SAYS HIS PARTY IS ACTING ‘PATHETICALLY’ TO THWART MUSK’S DOGE “Our most effective outreach to grassroots supporters right now comes from our new Chair Ken Martin, who talks about not just fighting the extremes of Donald Trump, but also on making the case to working families in both red and blue states that Democrats are the party fighting for them,” Muldavin added. The Democratic National Committee’s website opened this week to a photo of Ken Martin, newly elected DNC Chair, with a simple message: “Ken Martin is the new DNC Chair. Help Democrats mobilize against Trump.” A fundraising message on the donation page invites Democrats to “pitch in to the DNC and help elect Democrats nationwide.” DEMOCRATS ELECT NEW CHAIR WHO BRANDED TRUMP A ‘TRAITOR’ AS PARTY AIMS TO REBOUND FROM DISASTROUS 2024 ELECTION “The DNC is the organization best positioned to fight back, organize, and stop the worst impulses of a Trump administration. So please don’t wait: donate now to elect Democrats who will fight back against the MAGA agenda,” the message says. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has a similar strategy with a down-ballot focus. On the DCCC website, a photo of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries appears next to a fundraising message inviting supporters to “become a majority maker.” “At the DCCC, we’re laser-focused on the midterms and taking back the House from the MAGA Majority,” the message says. “With just THREE seats standing between us and the Majority, your monthly donation will help us do everything we can to flip the House blue and build a firewall against the Trump Trifecta. Will you make a recurring monthly donation to the DCCC to fuel our work today?” Trump’s fundraising apparatus has also capitalized on his return to center stage. Trump National Committee, the joint super PAC of Never Surrender and the Republican National Committee, have maintained consistent fundraising outreach since Trump’s election victory. “Trump is the center of the universe at the moment,” Republican strategist Matt Gorman, who worked on Senator Tim Scott’s presidential campaign and as communications director for the National Republican Congressional Committee, told Fox News Digital. “It’s been pretty well proven over the last decade that Trump animates the fundraising base of both parties and utilizing him is an effective strategy.” As soon as Nov. 6, just a day after the election, a message “from Trump” to his supporters read, “TOTAL VICTORY! Because of you, WE WON!” with a link to donate to Trump’s super PAC. The messages continued in the weeks and months leading up to his inauguration. The tone of the messages took a turn after Democrat Rep. Al Green, D-T.X., who attempted to impeach Trump three times during his first term, announced that he would file articles of impeachment against the president for saying he would “take over” Gaza. Green said on the House floor the next day that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “should be ashamed, knowing the history of his people, to stand there and allow such things to be said.” “Before Democrats introduce Articles of Impeachment, can you answer question #1?” a fundraising message from Trump’s super PAC asked the next day. Then last week, the PAC sent a message from Vice President JD Vance that read, “Don’t pee on my boots & tell me it’s raining. It’s JD Vance. These are the top lies I’ve seen from Democrats.” “Democrats don’t have any policies. All they have is lies. Nobody believes their crap. So on behalf of every American who is sick of their lies, I got one thing to say: Don’t pee on my boots & tell me it’s raining. Democrats can’t stand that we have a President who’s putting the working men & women of America first, AND NOW THEY’RE THREATENING TO IMPEACH TRUMP AGAIN!” The message from Republicans is clear: Democrats do not have policies beyond resisting Trump. “Their identity for the last ten years has been, simply, ‘Whatever Trump is for, I’m against,’” Gorman said. While using Trump’s name can be an effective fundraising strategy, Gorman urged candidates to move past the moniker and step into policy discussions as well. “Policy is really important, too. Every candidate has to articulate what they stand for, how they’d be different from their opponent and what they bring to Washington or to the statehouse. Trump is helpful in every aspect, but it’s important to make sure you’re defining what you would do in your policies as well.”
Dems torched over DOGE security claims after allowing ‘wide-open’ border, ’empowering Iran’
As Democrats lob claims that President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are a potential national security threat, Republicans are calling them out for what they perceive as hypocrisy after years of weak immigration and foreign policies. “Being lectured by the Democrats on national security is pretty rich after they spent the last four years sending billions of taxpayer dollars to terrorists, letting suspected terrorists walk through our wide-open southern border and disgracefully retreating from Afghanistan, empowering Iran and kicking off the most destabilizing foreign policy paradigm in a generation,” Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., told Fox News Digital. Democrats, led by Mark Warner, D-Va., vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, recently pressed White House chief of staff Susie Wiles over their “grave concern” that Musk and DOGE were illegally risking “exposure of classified and other sensitive information that jeopardizes national security and violates Americans’ privacy.” TRUMP AGRICULTURE PICK CONFIRMED AS PRESIDENT RACKS UP CABINET WINS One GOP Senate leadership aide remarked to Fox News Digital that it was “absurd” to suggest cutting wasteful spending through DOGE amounts to a security threat. “This is the Russia hoax all over again, with an attempt to scare Americans by making preposterous claims that Elon Musk is going to steal their identity,” the aide said. Sheehy added in his response, “America is lucky to have President Trump, Elon and DOGE working to restore accountability and fix our government. Perhaps the Dems should just say ‘thank you’ for cleaning up their mess.” Warner wrote to Wiles that “unauthorized access to classified information risks exposure of our operations and potentially compromises not only our own sources and methods, but also those of our allies and partners. If our sources, allies, and partners stop sharing intelligence because they cannot trust us to protect it, we will all be less safe.” TULSI GABBARD SWORN IN AT WHITE HOUSE HOURS AFTER SENATE CONFIRMATION The Democratic letter was sent amid uproar over Musk and DOGE’s shake-up of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), followed by other agencies and departments in the executive branch. As DOGE has pressed on with the effort, Musk has revealed expenditures considered wasteful and the amount of contracts he is instructing agencies to cancel. DOGE ‘PLAYBOOK’ UNVEILED BY GOP SENATOR AS MUSK-LED AGENCY SHAKES UP FEDERAL GOVERNMENT Intel Chairman Tom Cotton, R-Ark., pushed back on those claims by his Democratic counterparts, writing on X, “The reaction from the Dem and media to DOGE conducting audits and cutting waste has been downright hysterical. It’s reminiscent of the Russia collusion hoax — a sad and dishonest attempt to scare Americans.” The Senate GOP leadership aide said, “Senate Republicans are going to keep supporting this crucial work” through DOGE. While DOGE continues to scrutinize spending, courts across the country have begun to issue rulings and injunctions limiting the agency’s ability. Trump and Musk have hit several judicial roadblocks, from a temporary halt to DOGE access to Treasury systems and a restraining order on attempts to shut down USAID.
Red state AG promises legal fight with ICE-resisting local governments
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita is threatening to sue two local jurisdictions in his state that are refusing to comply with President Donald Trump’s mass deportation program of illegal immigrants. “Now that’s a problem in Indiana, particularly because there’s an Indiana state statute that I enforce that says what you have got to give, whatever level of cooperation is allowed by federal law, you shall give it as a state or local law enforcement official,” Rokita told Fox News Digital in an interview Friday. “And, so, that’s what’s happening here. That defiance I need to look into now.” The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) and Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) have indicated they would not cooperate with federal immigration enforcement, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids. ‘DEI ACTIVISM’: REPUBLICAN AGS PRAISE TRUMP SEC MOVE TO REVERSE BIDEN CLIMATE RULE THEY FOUGHT IN COURT IMPD Chief Chris Bailey said local police have no authority to enforce federal immigration law and have no plans to participate in immigration sweeps. Similarly, IPS officials announced the district would not allow ICE agents onto school grounds without a criminal warrant. “We still have pockets of either elected officials or those that work for elected officials, or some just on their own, that have their own ideas of what the law should be — that is to say not following the law,” Rokita said. Rokita urged IPS and IMPD this week to cooperate with ICE or face legal consequences from his office. And it wouldn’t be the first time he’s sued a jurisdiction in his state for not cooperating with federal officials. REPUBLICAN STATE AGS BACK TRUMP BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP ORDER IN COURT FILING: ‘TAXPAYERS ARE ON THE HOOK’ Rokita filed a lawsuit against the St. Joseph County Sheriff’s Department and its sheriff, William Redman, last month, alleging a persistent refusal to comply with federal immigration detainer requests. The lawsuit claims that, between March and September 2024, nine detainer requests from ICE were not honored, hindering ICE’s efforts to apprehend illegal immigrants in the county. Indiana University and the local sheriff’s office have refused to cooperate with federal immigration laws, Rokita said, “so we’re going to be in court, and I’m planning to get an injunction against their bad behavior.” TRUMP ADMIN HITS BACK AS ACLU LAUNCHES LAWSUIT ON BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP: ‘READY TO FACE THEM’ President Donald Trump’s ICE raids continue across the country, and the agency detained 700 illegal immigrants last weekend, 500 of whom had prior convictions or charges, according to a senior official from the Trump administration who previously shared the details with Fox News Digital. Fox News Digital has reached out to IPS and IMPD for comment.
Planned Parenthood appears to scrub Instagram as fears of DOGE cuts loom
Planned Parenthood caught the internet’s attention on Thursday after all of its Instagram posts were deleted within hours of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary RFK Jr.’s swearing in. The organization, in an apparent nod to this move, posted a pair of eyes on a black background on its Instagram story with no explanation. On Friday, Planned Parenthood posted another story, an animated gif with the words “I bet you thought you’d seen the last of me,” and later there were just three posts on its Instagram page, all about condom use. As speculation swirled about the mysterious disappearance of the posts, many pro-life advocates started to call for the defunding of Planned Parenthood. This also comes just days after a conservative watchdog nonprofit founded by former President Mike Pence, urged the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to cut federal spending on Planned Parenthood. DOGE MUST ‘DEFUND’ PLANNED PARENTHOOD, MIKE PENCE’S WATCHDOG GROUP URGES MUSK “For the sake of the American people and generations yet unborn, the time has come for the United States to finally defund the largest abortion provider in America,” Tim Chapman, president of Advancing American Freedom, wrote in a letter to Elon Musk. Planned Parenthood health centers received nearly $22 billion in HHS grants and $53 billion from public health programs from 2019 to 2021, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office. RFK JR TELLS LAWMAKERS THAT ‘EVERY ABORTION IS A TRAGEDY’ AT CONFIRMATION HEARING During his confirmation hearing, Kennedy said that he believes “every abortion is a tragedy,” and expressed support for President Donald Trump’s assertion that states should handle the issue. “I agree with President Trump that every abortion is a tragedy,” Kennedy said. “I agree with him that we cannot be a moral nation if we have 1.2 million abortions a year. I agree with him that the states should control abortion. President Trump has told me that he wants to end late-term abortions, and he wants to protect conscience exemptions.” Kennedy, who has expressed support for abortion in the past, vowed to implement Trump’s policies. With Kennedy at the helm of HHS and Elon Musk at DOGE, pro-choice advocates fear that Planned Parenthood will be on the chopping block. On Feb. 3, Planned Parenthood Federation of America put out a statement warning that “defunding” the organization could put patients at risk of losing access to “sexual and reproductive care.” Planned Parenthood Federation of America said that in 2022 the organization treated 2.05 million patients. The services mentioned in the organization’s included more than 4.6 million STI tests, nearly 213,000 breast exams and more. However, no data on the number of abortions performed in that time was listed. Planned Parenthood did not respond to a Fox News request for comment.
Department of Education warns that public schools must remove DEI policies or lose federal funding
The Department of Education is warning state education departments that they must remove diversity, equity and inclusion policies or risk losing federal funding. A letter from the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights was sent to the departments of education in all 50 states, notifying them that they have no more than 14 days to comply. The letter was shared on social media by the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency. “Institutions that fail to comply with federal civil rights law may, consistent with applicable law, face potential loss of federal funding,” Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights in the Department of Education, said in the letter. The letter said the “overt and covert racial discrimination that has become widespread in this Nation’s educational institutions” will no longer be tolerated. TRUMP EDUCATION NOMINEE LINDA MCMAHON SAYS SHUTTING DOWN DOE WOULD ‘REQUIRE CONGRESSIONAL ACTION’ It argues that a Supreme Court ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, which found that affirmative action in Harvard University’s admission process violated the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, should apply more broadly. “The law is clear: treating students differently on the basis of race to achieve nebulous goals such as diversity, racial balancing, social justice, or equity is illegal under controlling Supreme Court precedent,” the letter reads. DEMS SPAR OVER DOGE CUTS WITH TRUMP EDUCATION NOMINEE LINDA MCMAHON Trainor said the Department of Education will “vigorously enforce the law on equal terms as to all preschool, elementary, secondary, and postsecondary educational institutions, as well as state educational agencies, that receive financial assistance.” The letter urges state education departments to “ensure that their policies and actions comply with existing civil rights law … cease all efforts to circumvent prohibitions on the use of race by relying on proxies or other indirect means to accomplish such ends” and “cease all reliance on third-party contractors, clearinghouses, or aggregators that are being used by institutions in an effort to circumvent prohibited uses of race.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The letter comes after President Donald Trump signed executive orders directing agencies to provide a plan to eliminate federal funding for “illegal and discriminatory treatment and indoctrination in K-12 schools, including based on gender ideology and discriminatory equity ideology.” He also signed orders to end DEI programs in federal agencies. The Department of Education previously announced the removal of mention of DEI from documents and websites. The department also placed employees that led DEI initiatives on leave and dissolved its Diversity & Inclusion Council.
Eric Adams to sue Trump admin over revoked $80M in FEMA migrant shelter funding for New York City
New York City mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, plans to file a lawsuit against the Trump administration after the federal government secretly revoked more than $80 million in funding for the city’s migrant shelters. Counsel for the Adams administration sent a letter Friday to city Comptroller Brad Lander saying that the city’s Law Department planned to take legal action by the end of next week to have the $80.5 million in FEMA payments taken earlier this week returned, according to the New York Post. Lander is running against Adams in June’s Democrat primary election for the city’s mayor. “The Law Department is currently drafting litigation papers with respect to this matter,” corporation counsel Mureil Goode-Trufant told Lander in a letter, the outlet reported. “We intend to initiate legal action by February 21, 2025. As the Law Department is representing the City of New York in this matter, there is no need for an authorization for the Comptroller’s Office to engage external legal counsel,” the letter reads. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT MOVES TO DROP CASE AGAINST NYC MAYOR ERIC ADAMS The letter came after Lander urged the Adams administration to either file a lawsuit or authorize him to hire his own attorneys to sue Trump and Elon Musk, who leads the Department of Government Efficiency. “Given the gravity of the situation, we cannot afford to waste any more time. If the Mayor would prefer to spend his days advancing President Trump’s agenda instead of fighting for New Yorkers, then the Law Department must allow me to do so,” Lander said in a statement Friday. “Recovering these funds is imperative, and any action, or non-action, allowing the Trump administration to proceed without consequence would set a dangerous precedent and make our City a target for the next four years,” he added. The revocation of FEMA funds from New York City’s accounts happened Tuesday and was first discovered by Lander the following day. NEW YORK CITY MAYOR ERIC ADAMS SAYS HE WILL RUN FOR RE-ELECTION AS A DEMOCRAT “Let’s be crystal clear: This is highway robbery. Elon Musk, with no legal authority, illegally seized federal funds from New Yorkers,” Lander said Wednesday. Musk claimed that DOGE found a $59 million FEMA payment to New York City was being used on luxury hotels to house illegal migrants. Trump later repeated Musk’s claim and argued that “massive fraud” was happening. New York City was awarded two separate grants during the Biden administration — one for $58.6 million and another for $21.9 million — as the city attempted to pay to house migrants, many of whom were sent by Texas officials who were frustrated with the Biden administration’s handling of the influx of migrants entering the U.S. through the Southern Border. The payments were made under the Shelter and Services Program that Congress appropriated $650 million for last year to help local governments respond to the migrant crisis. The FEMA money, which was funded by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, paid $12.50 a night reimbursement for each hotel room. The city said most of the hotels used to house migrants are not luxurious. The remainder of the funds went toward security, food and other services for migrants. This came after the Department of Justice ordered prosecutors to drop their federal corruption case against Adams, who had been indicted on charges of fraud, bribery and soliciting campaign contributions from foreigners. Some have raised concerns that Adams may be beholden to the president because his case was dropped.
Trump’s mugshot spotted hanging in ornate frame near Oval Office
A copy of a New York Post front page featuring President Donald Trump’s mugshot was spotted hanging in an ornate gold frame near the Oval Office in the White House during a news conference this week. The photo was snapped at the Fulton County Jail in Georgia after Trump turned himself in Aug. 24, 2023, and appeared on the front page of newspapers across the globe the next day. Trump told Fox News Digital at the time Georgia officials “insisted” his mugshot be taken during processing at the jail and that doing so was “not a comfortable feeling — especially when you’ve done nothing wrong.” TRUMP SAYS GEORGIA INDICTMENT COMES DURING ‘DARK PERIOD’ FOR US, VOWS TO FIX IT BY WINNING A photo of the new artwork, shared by Margo Martin, Trump’s special assistant and communications advisor, went viral on social media. Dan Scavino, White House deputy chief of staff, later posted a video to X providing context on the frame’s placement. “HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY,” Scavino wrote in the accompanying post. “WELCOME TO THE BEAUTIFUL OVAL OFFICE @WHITEHOUSE.” The mugshot closely resembles the President’s official White House portrait, which debuted in January. The unprecedented charges stem from accusations that Trump attempted to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results, a case that is still unresolved. At the time of the indictment, the Trump campaign said the case was a “continued pathetic attempt by the Biden crime family and their weaponized Department of Justice.” TRUMP SAYS TAKING MUGSHOT WAS ‘NOT A COMFORTABLE FEELING, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU’VE DONE NOTHING WRONG’ Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who filed the charges, is appealing a Georgia Court’s ruling that disqualified her and her office from prosecuting the case. A new prosecutor has not yet been assigned to the case. Four co-defendants have accepted plea deals in the case, including Scott Hall, Sidney Powell, Kenneth Chesebro and Jenna Ellis. Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman and FOX 5 Atlanta contributed to this story.
New poll reveals growing number of Dems want party to move in new direction
After the Democratic Party’s well-publicized setbacks in November’s elections, a new national poll indicates Democrats increasingly want their party to moderate by moving toward the center. And the survey, from Gallup, also suggests an increasing percentage of Republicans support the GOP staying the same ideologically. A plurality of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents — 45% — who were questioned in the survey said they want their party to become more moderate. That’s up 11 percentage points since 2021, at the start of former President Biden’s single term in the White House. DEMOCRATS FORCED TO DEFEND ANOTHER OPEN SENATE SEAT IN 2026 MIDTERM ELECTIONS “At the same time, Democrats’ and leaners’ desire for a more liberal party has declined five points, to 29%, and preferences for no change in party ideology have fallen nine points, to 22%,” the release from Gallup noted. The poll was conducted Jan. 21-27 in the immediate aftermath of President Donald Trump’s inauguration and at the start of his second tour of duty in the White House. WHAT AMERICANS THINK ABOUT TRUMP’S FIRST THREE WEEKS IN OFFICE Trump recaptured the presidency in November, and Republicans won back the Senate majority while the Democrats failed to win back control of the House of Representatives from the GOP. Republicans made significant gains among Black and Hispanic voters, as well as younger voters, all traditional members of the Democratic Party’s base. Gallup notes that the Democrats’ “current sentiment may very well be a reaction to their losses in 2024, as they look ahead to 2026.” The Gallup poll indicates that support among Republicans and GOP-leaning independents for the party to stay ideologically the same jumped nine points, from 34% in 2021 to 43% now. Meanwhile, those desiring a more conservative party plunged 12 points, to 28%. “The 27% of Republicans and leaners who now prefer moderation for their party is not significantly different from 2021,” the poll’s release noted. But the poll indicates that two-thirds of Republicans and Republican-leaning voters self-identify as conservative, with 31% seeing themselves as moderate and just 2% calling themselves liberal. Since his first election to the presidency in 2016, Trump has held immense sway over Republicans and has transformed the GOP from a conservative-dominated party to a more populist party of loyalists who strongly support Trump’s “America First” agenda. The release of the Gallup poll comes a couple of weeks after another national survey spelled trouble for the Democrats. Only 31% of respondents in a Quinnipiac University survey conducted last month had a favorable opinion of the Democratic Party, with 57% seeing the party in an unfavorable light. “This is the highest percentage of voters having an unfavorable opinion of the Democratic Party since the Quinnipiac University Poll began asking this question,” the survey’s release noted. Meanwhile, 43% of those questioned had a favorable view of the GOP, with 45% holding an unfavorable opinion, which was the highest favorable opinion for the Republican Party ever in Quinnipiac polling.
Here’s what happened during President Donald Trump’s 4th week in office
President Donald Trump and his administration forged ahead with its foreign policy priorities in meetings and calls with heads of state and advanced discussions surrounding the end of the Russia-Ukraine war this week. Trump spoke with both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, where leaders agreed to launch negotiations to end the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. “We agreed to work together, very closely, including visiting each other’s Nations,” Trump posted to Truth Social Wednesday after speaking with Putin. “We have also agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately, and we will begin by calling President Zelenskyy, of Ukraine, to inform him of the conversation, something which I will be doing right now.” “I have asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of the CIA John Ratcliffe, National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, and Ambassador and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, to lead the negotiations which, I feel strongly, will be successful,” Trump said. Additionally, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent traveled to Kyiv on Wednesday, and Vice President JD Vance also met with Zelenskyy Friday at the Munich Security Conference. TRUMP SAYS RUSSIA AGREES TO ‘IMMEDIATELY BEGIN’ NEGOTIATIONS TO END WAR IN UKRAINE Meanwhile, the Trump administration has come under scrutiny for the negotiations, fielding criticism that Ukraine is being pressured to give in to concessions after Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said Wednesday that it wasn’t realistic for Ukraine to regain its pre-war borders with Russia. “Putin is gonna pocket this and ask for more,” Brett Bruen, director of global engagement under former President Barack Obama, told Fox News Digital. But Hegseth shut down comments like these, and told NATO members in Brussels on Thursday: “Any suggestion that President Trump is doing anything other than negotiating from a position of strength is, on its face, ahistorical and false.” 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. Here’s what also happened this week at the White House: Trump welcomed Jordan’s King Abdullah II at the White House Tuesday, a visit that comes amid contentious discussions between the U.S. and Arab nations about relocating Palestinian refugees to Jordan and other neighboring Arab countries to rebuild Gaza. Trump unveiled plans on Feb. 4 that the U.S. would seek to “take over” the Gaza Strip in a “long-term ownership position” to deliver stability to the region during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. However, Trump’s proposal prompted swift backlash from Arab countries, including Jordan, and Egypt announced plans on Sunday for an emergency Arab Summit to discuss “new and dangerous developments” regarding the resettling of Palestinians on Feb. 27. TRUMP MEETS WITH JORDAN’S KING AMID TENSE TALKS ABOUT RESETTLING PALESTINIANS When asked how he felt about Trump’s plans for the future of Gaza, Abdullah remained tight-lipped and said he would wait for the Egyptians to take the lead on a proposal moving forward as they negotiate with the U.S. “I think let’s wait until the Egyptians can come and present it to the president and not get ahead of us,” Abdullah said. Abdullah did reveal plans to accept 2,000 sick Palestinian children to Jordan. “I think one of the things that we can do right away is take 2,000 children that are either cancer children or in a very ill state, to Jordan as quickly as possible,” Abdullah said. “And then wait for … the Egyptians to present their plan on how we can work with the president to work on the cause of challenges.” Trump floated a joint meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Putin, claiming he wants all countries to move toward denuclearization. Trump on Thursday told reporters he plans to advance these denuclearization talks once “we straighten it all out” in the Middle East and Ukraine, comments that come as the U.S., Russia and Ukraine are actively pursuing negotiations to end the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. “There’s no reason for us to be building brand new nuclear weapons, we already have so many,” Trump said Thursday at the White House. “You could destroy the world 50 times over, 100 times over. And here we are building new nuclear weapons, and they’re building nuclear weapons.” “We’re all spending a lot of money that we could be spending on other things that are actually, hopefully, much more productive,” he said. The U.S. is projected to spend approximately $756 billion on nuclear weapons between 2023 and 2032, according to a Congressional Budget Office report released in 2023. Trump signed an executive order Tuesday instructing the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to coordinate with federal agencies and execute massive cuts in federal government staffing numbers. The order will instruct DOGE and federal agencies to work together to “significantly” shrink the size of the federal government and limit hiring new employees, according to a White House fact sheet on the order. Specifically, agencies must not hire more than one employee for every four that leave their federal post. TRUMP SIGNS ORDER INSTRUCTING DOGE TO MASSIVELY CUT FEDERAL WORKFORCE Agencies will also be instructed to “undertake plans for large-scale reductions in force” and evaluate ways to eliminate or combine agency functions that aren’t legally required. The order builds on another directive Trump signed after his inauguration implementing a federal hiring freeze, as well as an initiative from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management offering more than two million federal civilian employees buyouts if they leave their jobs or return to work in person. The White House told Fox News Digital Thursday that more than 75,000 employees have accepted the buyout. Trump unveiled plans Sunday to halt production of the penny — but getting that initiative underway requires a few additional steps and possibly congressional approval. Additionally, while Trump said he instructed the Treasury Department to stop minting them due to their high costs, supporters of the penny claim it’s wiser to evaluate changes to the nickel instead.