Experts warn Minnesota school closures after ICE shooting will harm kids for ‘political points’
Schools in Minnesota have been closing or providing remote learning options in the wake of an ICE shooting that has sparked violent protests, which experts tell Fox News Digital is a political move that will ultimately result in learning loss and unnecessary harm to children. In response to the shooting death of Renee Good in Minneapolis, the St. Paul, Minnesota school system announced temporary closures and the option for students to learn remotely. Additionally, Minneapolis public schools are offering remote learning until February. The choice to take children out of classrooms was described as being due to “safety concerns,” but experts who spoke to Fox News Digital say it’s a decision based purely on politics that will negatively affect students in the same way COVID-19 lockdowns did. “Minnesota’s Teachers Unions did generational damage to the state’s children when they demanded schools be locked down for prolonged periods during COVID,” Stefano Forte, executive director of 1776 Project PAC, told Fox News Digital. “Once again, the teachers union is acting against the interest of children and showing themselves as being nothing more than a political arm of the Democratic Party.” GOT A SCOOP ON CAMPUS? SEND US A TIP HERE Numerous studies and reports have been released in recent years showing that remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic severely hindered student learning, including a Department of Education report in 2022, reported on by Fox News Digital, showing math and reading scores declined more during the coronavirus pandemic than they have in decades. Since the ICE shooting that set off protests and violent agitators across Minneapolis, numerous videos have circulated on social media showing young school-age children at protests, including one apparent student walk-out at the Minnesota state capitol. Paul Runko, senior director of Strategic Initiatives for Defending Education, told Fox News Digital, “Nearly six years after the start of the COVID pandemic, American families know that school closures and mass remote learning were a complete disaster for kids; academically, socially, emotionally, and mentally.” PROFESSORS WERE DISCIPLINED FOR VULGAR POSTS AFTER CHARLIE KIRK’S ASSASSINATION: WHERE ARE THEY NOW? “Every day out of the classroom is a day students can’t get back. These decisions aren’t being made for children, they’re being made for adults, often to score political points or to accommodate priorities that have nothing to do with student success. Students deserve classrooms, not excuses.” Earlier this year, Fox News Digital reported on a release from Defending Education alleging that a state-funded teacher preparation partnership in Minnesota explicitly limits eligibility based on race, possibly in violation of federal law. Rhyen Staley, director of research for Defending Education, told Fox News Digital that far-left ideology is ingrained in educational decisions being made throughout the state. “What is happening with Minnesota schools is a feature, not a bug, of the current dominant ideology permeating Colleges of Education and the education system writ large,” Staley said. “Too many teachers are being trained to be far-left social justice activists to the detriment of the children they are hired to serve. This tragically will continue until this is changed.” Fox News Digital reached out to Minneapolis and St. Paul public schools for comment.
Shapiro says possibly being Harris’ VP pick ‘just didn’t feel right’
In his forthcoming book, “Where We Keep the Light,” Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro writes that the prospect of becoming the vice president for Kamala Harris did not “feel right,” Politico Playbook reported. “I knew that despite the honor of it, it just didn’t feel right for some reason,” Shapiro noted, according to the outlet. Regarding the vetting to potentially become Harris’ 2024 running mate, he wrote that “all of the questioning felt unnecessarily contentious,” according to the report, which also noted that he indicated that Harris’ team “didn’t understand where the people who would decide this presidential election really were.” JOSH SHAPIRO CLAIMS KAMALA HARRIS’ TEAM ASKED IF HE WAS A ‘DOUBLE AGENT FOR ISRAEL “If we had door A and door B as options, and she was for door A and I was for door B, I just wanted to make sure that I could make the case for door B, and if I didn’t convince her, then I’d run right through a brick wall to support her decision,” he notes in the book, according to The New York Times. “She was crystal clear that that was not what she was looking for.” Shapiro was “surprised” by the extent to which Harris “seemed to dislike the role” she held as vice president, he indicated in the book, Politico Playbook reported. SHAPIRO KICKS OFF 2026 RE-ELECTION CAMPAIGN AS 2028 WHITE HOUSE BUZZ SWIRLS “She noted that her chief of staff would be giving me my directions, lamented that the Vice President didn’t have a private bathroom in their office and how difficult it was for her at times not to have a voice in decision making,” Shapiro wrote, according to the Times. The outlet reported that Shapiro opted to withdraw himself from consideration, and requested to get in touch with Harris to deliver his decision, but was told that “the VP would not handle bad news well and that I shouldn’t push.” OBAMA WINGMAN ERIC HOLDER DEFENDED WALZ’S VETTING — THEN MINNESOTA’S FRAUD SCANDAL ERUPTED Harris ultimately tapped Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her 2024 running mate, but the two were soundly defeated by the Republican ticket featuring Donald Trump and JD Vance.
Post Trump meeting, Venezuelan opposition leader says country will hold ‘free and fair’ elections ‘eventually’
After meeting with President Donald Trump, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said Friday that Venezuela will hold “free and fair” elections “eventually” as Nicolás Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, continues to rule the country after his capture. Machado did not offer a timeline for how long the current interim government would be allowed to rule, only that elections would happen “as soon as possible.” “I am profoundly, profoundly confident that we will have an orderly transition.” Speaking at a news conference hosted by the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank in Washington, Machado said Venezuela is taking “the first steps of a true transition to democracy,” but stressed that dismantling the country’s repression apparatus must come before any credible election can be held. RUBIO LAYS OUT THREE-PHASE PLAN FOR VENEZUELA AFTER MADURO: ‘NOT JUST WINGING IT’ “We are facing a very complex and delicate process,” Machado said. “Eventually we will have free and fair elections,” she added, while emphasizing that security, rule of law and the release of political prisoners must come first. Machado rejected the idea that Venezuela’s constitutional election timelines could be applied immediately, arguing that years of repression have hollowed out democratic institutions. She said hundreds of political prisoners remain unaccounted for and warned that fear and coercion are still widespread inside the country. “The fact that you are not in a prison doesn’t mean that you are free,” she said, citing restrictions on speech, movement and political organizing. Her comments come after the Trump administration faces growing scrutiny from critics over the lack of a clear electoral roadmap following the Jan. 3 operation that led to the removal of longtime strongman Maduro. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has described a three-phase U.S. plan — stabilization, recovery and transition — but acknowledged that the final phase remains undefined. During her Washington visit, Machado met privately with Trump and praised his role in pressuring Maduro’s government. She said the president told her he cares deeply about the Venezuelan people and their future. Machado also presented Trump with her Nobel Peace Prize medal, a symbolic gesture toward a president who has long coveted the award. She described Trump’s actions on Venezuela as courageous and said U.S. support has given Venezuelans renewed hope after years of repression and economic collapse. The Nobel Committee said in a statement that a “laureate cannot share the prize with others, nor transfer it once it has been announced.” “The decision is final and applies for all time.” Despite her praise for Trump, questions remain over Washington’s posture toward Venezuela’s interim leadership. Trump has publicly spoken positively about Delcy Rodríguez, Maduro’s former vice president who is now playing a central role in the transitional government — a stance that has unsettled some opposition supporters. Machado sought to downplay the appearance of competition between herself and Rodríguez for the U.S. president’s support. “This has nothing to do with a tension or decision between Delcy Rodríguez and myself,” Machado said when asked about Trump’s openness to working with the interim government. “This is about a criminal structure that is a regime and the mandate of the Venezuelan people.” Trump has spoken positively about Rodríguez’s role in the transition and suggested he’d be open to meeting with her. On Thursday, CIA Director John Ratcliffe was in Venezuela meeting with Rodríguez. Trump recently called Machado a “very fine woman” with whom he has “mutual respect,” after saying Jan. 3 that Machado “doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country” to rule. Machado called Rodríguez “a communist” and “the main ally and representation of the Russian regime, the Chinese and the Iranians,” while arguing that Rodríguez “does not represent the Venezuelan people” or the armed forces. VENEZUELA’S NEW INTERIM LEADER DELCY RODRÍGUEZ ‘HATES THE WEST,’ EX OFFICIAL WARNS Machado said the current phase of the transition remains unstable, with elements of the former regime still being forced to dismantle systems of repression, including intelligence units and detention centers. Only after those structures are neutralized, she said, can Venezuela begin rebuilding democratic institutions and organizing legitimate elections. She also stressed that future elections must include Venezuelans living abroad, noting that millions were barred from voting in past contests. “Every single Venezuelan, living in Venezuela or abroad, should have the right to vote,” Machado said. Trump has previously questioned whether Machado has sufficient support inside Venezuela to govern, backed by a U.S. CIA report on the matter, a remark she did not directly address during her public remarks. Instead, she framed the transition as a collective effort driven by popular will rather than individual leadership. “This is not about me,” Machado said. “It is about the will of the Venezuelan people.” For now, she said, the priority remains security. “We understand the urgency,” Machado said. “But without dismantling terror, there can be no real democracy.” The White House has said the United States intends to play a hands-on role during Venezuela’s transition, arguing it has significant leverage over interim authorities in Caracas. Venezuela. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said recently the administration believes it has “maximum leverage” over Venezuela’s interim leadership, including influence over economic and security decisions as the transition unfolds. After Maduro’s capture, Trump said the U.S. would essentially run Venezuela. “We are going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition,” he said. On Machado, Trump initially expressed skepticism. “I think it would be very tough for her to be the leader. She doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country.” A source told Fox News Digital there was concern among senior officials even prior to the Venezuela operation that Machado “lacked the necessary support in Venezuela if Maduro was to be removed.” Rubio has said the administration envisions a phased approach to Venezuela’s transition — beginning with stabilization, followed by recovery and then a political transition. Rubio acknowledged that while elections are the end goal, they must come after security conditions improve and democratic institutions are rebuilt. Fox News’ Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
Graham says Russia sanctions bill ‘never going back on the shelf’ after Trump backs push
The bipartisan push for sanctions against Russia has, for several months, ebbed and flowed on waves of speculation about whether legislation would actually get a vote. A signal or suggestion of support from President Donald Trump would often push the bill from Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., closer to fruition, only to be swept back into churning, murky waters with no clear path on when or if the package would make its way to the president’s desk. Now, Trump has given Graham the “greenlight” to move ahead with his long-simmering sanctions package as peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine continue to simmer in the background. DEMS RELENT, SENATE SENDS $174B SPENDING PACKAGE TO TRUMP’S DESK AS SHUTDOWN LOOMS OVER DHS FUNDING Graham told Fox News Digital that this time around, he believed the bill would actually get a shot. “It’s never going back on the shelf because President Trump believes he needs it,” Graham said. “I think he needs it.” But it has been over a week since Graham announced the president backed the package, and so far, it has yet to make it to the floor in the upper chamber. Lawmakers are also out this week and are set to return to Washington, D.C., next week with the primary objective of preventing a partial government shutdown. Still, the bipartisan duo has been tweaking the legislation over the last several months, but the core objective would be to slap eye-popping tariffs onto countries buying energy products from Moscow. The intent is to cripple Russia’s war machine by imposing duties on oil, gas, uranium and other exports, largely purchased by China and India, which account for nearly three-quarters of Moscow’s energy business. KENNEDY SAYS MILITARY ACTION ON GREENLAND WOULD BE ‘WEAPONS-GRADE STUPID’ AS GOP RESISTS FORCE The package has been on the back burner as the Trump administration works to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine. The latest iteration of that agreement generally included provisions that would have required Ukraine to give up territory to Russia, a non-starter for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trump told Reuters during an interview published last week that it was Zelenskyy holding up negotiations toward a peace deal and contended that Russian President Vladimir Putin was “ready to make a deal,” while Ukraine was “less ready to make a deal.” While the package hasn’t dislodged itself onto the floor in the upper chamber, a White House official confirmed to Fox News Digital that Trump supports the legislation. But one issue that threatens to trip up the process once more is where the package actually starts in Congress. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., doubled down on his position that any Russia sanctions package, despite being labored on in the Senate for several months, should start in the House, given the budgetary impact it could have. That would require buy-in from House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to either replicate Graham and Blumenthal’s proposal, or craft their own. Then it would need to hit the House floor, which could take longer than lawmakers in the upper chamber are willing to wait. On whether Johnson said he would put it on the floor, Thune said, “He hasn’t.” GRAHAM SAYS TRUMP WANTS TO ‘MOVE THE BILL’ ON RUSSIA SANCTIONS, BUT PROCEDURAL HURDLES AWAIT “But my guess is that if it’s something that, you know, the White House — it’s important to them, it’s a priority, particularly dealing with Russia and Ukraine, I would assume that they would try and do that,” he said. That’s where there’s a disconnect. Johnson supports Russia sanctions but has said on multiple occasions that he believes a sanctions bill should originate in the Senate. He has argued that starting the legislation in the House would drastically slow down its progress, given the numerous committees any package would have to pass through before ever hitting the floor for a vote. Graham believed that the “sense of urgency now is the greatest it’s been” and noted that he has told Thune that he wants the legislation to start in the Senate, where it has over 80 co-sponsors. “This is where the idea came from, get a big bipartisan vote and try to get President Trump to use these tools coming from the Congress so we can end this bloodbath,” Graham said. “Now, in a normal world it would, but I just think the momentum is in the Senate,” he continued. “We can take a shell — It’s not that hard. I mean, I’ve been working my a– [off] on this thing for over a year, or whatever how long it’s been.” Blumenthal told Fox News Digital that he had been speaking with his colleagues in the lower chamber and added that there’s “no reason” that the package should get bogged down or tripped up in the House. Blumenthal and Graham view their sanctions push as providing Trump with another weapon to force Putin to the negotiating table. He argued that “security is the linchpin here, but forcing Putin to come to the table also involves economic pressure, and ultimately, we want peace, and that will involve both economic and military security.” “I feel very, very encouraged, because I think that a lot is coming together,” Blumenthal said.
DHS brass blasts Chicago mayor for blaming ICE chief as crime rises after ‘safest summer’ claim
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson drew sharp criticism from the Department of Homeland Security after suggesting that a federal immigration operation under Border Patrol Cmdr. Gregory Bovino disrupted what he said had been the city’s safest summer in decades. Johnson has been touting recent analysis that 2025 was Chicago’s safest summer in 60 years in terms of violent crime, as the city’s NPR affiliate found a total of 123 murders occurred between June and August last year. The University of Chicago’s Crime Lab found that violent crime declined across the country, including in the city throughout 2025, but it still had elevated figures versus other major cities globally. Johnson said last week that those figures were true before DHS kicked off “Operation Midway Blitz” around the first week of September. SANCTUARY POLITICIANS’ RHETORIC LED TO 1,150% SURGE IN VIOLENCE AGAINST ICE AGENTS: DHS Johnson said that once ICE and the Border Patrol showed up, crime increased again. “Chicago had the safest summer since 1965 before Bovino stepped foot in our city,” Johnson said. “Where ICE was most active, crime went up.” When asked for a response, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said Johnson is continuing to “demonize our law enforcement, who are facing a 1,300% increase in assaults against them.” TRUMP SAYS CHICAGO CRIME HAS FALLEN DRAMATICALLY DESPITE ‘EXTRAORDINARY RESISTANCE’ FROM LOCAL DEMOCRATS “The danger and violence our law enforcement has faced in sanctuary cities like Chicago, compared to jurisdictions like Florida, is night and day,” she said, after video surfaced of a woman being promptly detained and arrested after allegedly interfering in a Jacksonville immigration enforcement operation. “He should turn down the rhetoric and work with DHS to prevent more innocent American deaths at the hands of gang members, murderers, drug traffickers, and rapists who have no right to be in this country,” McLaughlin said, noting that DHS arrested more than 4,500 illegal immigrants with criminal records, many of them violent; during the Midway Blitz operation. Johnson had countered that the statistics and timing showed his administration “reduced violence in Chicago in spite of ICE.” TRUMP DECLARES VICTORY IN DEM-RUN CITY DESPITE ‘EXTRAORDINARY RESISTANCE’ FROM SANCTUARY POLITICIANS Johnson pointed to the case of Mexican national Silverio Gonzalez, who was shot and killed by agents last year. An account from the Chicago Sun-Times reported that ICE determined Gonzalez had allegedly resisted arrest and drove his car toward officers, injuring one. Rep. Jesus Garcia, D-Ill., who represents the area, later called for a federal investigation. ICE AGENTS REPORT ‘UNPRECEDENTED’ 3,200% SURGE IN CAR ATTACKS LAST YEAR Johnson himself had been responding on X to comments from Bovino, who in turn was disputing an assertion from Obama confidant David Axelrod. “In Chicago, the trail of misrepresentations by DHS was so long, an exasperated federal judge declared ‘it becomes difficult, if not impossible, to believe almost anything’ they represent as fact. That pattern continues in Minneapolis,” Axelrod wrote, citing and linking to a New York Times report of a man shot and injured by a federal agent in Minneapolis days after Renee Good’s death. In response, Bovino said that “double-digit decreases in violent crime in Chicago speak the truth you’r[e] after.” “Taking violent illegal aliens off the streets by the thousands seems to bother those who choose illegal aliens over American citizens.” That comment led Johnson to cite the 1965 versus 2025 violent crime figures. “Abolish ICE,” Johnson later wrote on Facebook, posting the contents of his prior comments.
Supreme Court prepares for major test of presidential power in Trump efforts to fire Federal Reserve governor
Donald Trump made “you’re fired” a national catchphrase from his TV show “The Apprentice.” Now the power of the president to unilaterally decide who can continue to serve in key government positions will be tested Wednesday at the U.S. Supreme Court, in another major case over leadership removals from independent agencies. At the center of the latest constitutional showdown is Lisa Cook, who serves precariously on the Federal Reserve’s powerful Board of Governors. Trump claims broad authority to force Cook from her leadership position on the central bank, free from judicial review, with his administration alleging she committed private mortgage fraud. Oral arguments will be conducted by the nine justices, who will hear separately from lawyers representing Cook and the Justice Department. POWELL REVEALS WHAT IT WOULD TAKE TO STEP DOWN FROM THE FED AS PRESSURE MOUNTS As the elected head of the government, Trump believes federal law allows him unqualified discretion to fire “for cause” any officer on the Federal Reserve’s Board of Governors or member of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC). But Cook will tell the court the Federal Reserve was created by Congress in 1913 as a wholly independent entity, to insulate it from political influence, and from any one president “stacking the deck” with their own nominees. She claims to be a political pawn in Trump’s very public efforts to dictate the Federal Reserve’s economic policies, by exploiting what she calls “manufactured charges” of wrongdoing. This appeal comes as Trump’s feud with the Fed has expanded, after its chairman, Jerome Powell, disclosed recently the agency was subpoenaed by the Justice Department for allegations he lied to Congress about a controversial multimillion-dollar renovation of the agency’s headquarters. The high court will have at least four opportunities this term to define the limits of Trump’s aggressive view of his authority, including import tariffs and birthright citizenship. “A big fraction of the Supreme Court’s docket will present the question, can President Trump do: fill in the blank? And that could be imposed tariffs. Fire board members. Remove illegal aliens,” said Thomas Dupree, a former top Justice Department attorney and leading appellate attorney. “Trump is pushing at every limit and the Supreme Court this term is going to be telling us whether he’s exceeded those limits. That is, I think, going to the story of so much of what the Supreme Court is deciding this term.” The conservative court has allowed much of President Trump’s challenged executive actions to be enforced at least temporarily – and will now decide whether the Fed’s special mandate statutorily protects its governing members from getting ousted. The justices last month heard arguments in a separate case, on Trump’s efforts to remove Democrat-appointed Rebecca Slaughter from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which like the Fed is a congressionally created independent, multi-member regulatory agency. The 6-3 conservative majority in that petition appeared ready to rule for the president when it involves semi-autonomous agencies like the FTC. Justice Sonia Sotomayor at argument accused the administration of trying to “destroy the structure of government.” But Justice Neil Gorsuch countered that when it comes to agencies like the FTC, “there is no such thing in our constitutional order as a fourth branch of government that’s quasi-judicial and quasi-legislative.” SCOTUS TAKES UP TRUMP’S BID TO FIRE FTC COMMISSIONER AT WILL — A SHOWDOWN THAT COULD TOPPLE 90-YEAR PRECEDENT Both Slaughter and Cook were named to their current staggered terms by former President Joe Biden, but Slaughter and another Democratic-appointed member are now not allowed to continue serving while their lawsuits are decided. In the Cook case, lower courts ruled she did not receive due process when the president tried to fire her. The current posture of the case is whether Trump can remove Cook — at least temporarily — while the dispute continues to play out on the merits. The “for cause” removal restriction’s constitutionality is not directly before the justices. A federal judge had issued a preliminary injunction against the administration, which then sought relief from the Supreme Court on the limited enforcement issue. The nine-member bench now has the option of ruling narrowly on the injunction question — which would throw the case back to the district court. Or the high court could go ahead and decide the larger constitutional matters. One key argument topic could center on whether the Federal Reserve has some administrative nexus to the executive branch, which could put it at least under limited Trump control. Though its leaders are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate, the seven-member board is considered an independent government agency, since its monetary policy decisions do not need presidential or legislative approval. But the agency does provide Congress with regular reports on its work. It also does not receive any federal funding, and the terms of the members of the board of governors span multiple presidential and congressional terms. Under law, the Federal Reserve’s leadership has a three-fold mandate: “maximum employment, stable prices, and moderate long-term interest rates.” The 12 Federal Reserve Banks are not part of the federal government, but set up like private corporations, and regionally located across the country. The justices, in an unsigned order in a separate case in 2025, had suggested the Fed operates differently from other independent federal boards, since it is not funded by Congress through normal appropriations, but uses interest on securities the bank owns and acquired through open market operations. “The Federal Reserve is a uniquely structured, quasi-private entity that follows in the distinct historical tradition of the First and Second Banks of the United States,” said the Supreme Court in May 2025. After paying its expenses, the Federal Reserve hands the rest of its earnings over to the U.S. Treasury. Trump repeatedly has blasted Powell and the Federal Reserve over reluctance to lower benchmark interest rates as aggressively as the president wants, in a fundamental disagreement over prudent ways to stimulate the national economy. Like Cook, Powell in an extraordinary video statement Sunday accused
House Democrats move to block Trump’s Greenland ‘boondoggle’
A group of House Democrats is moving to block President Donald Trump from acquiring Greenland in direct defiance of one of the commander in chief’s main foreign policy goals. Rep. Gabe Amo, D-R.I., announced late Sunday that he introduced a bill to prevent Trump from using federal dollars to buy Greenland. The legislation already has more than 20 House Democratic co-sponsors and is likely to get more as the week progresses. TRUMP’S GREENLAND TAKEOVER WOULD LIKELY ENTAIL ENORMOUS PRICE TAG: REPORT “Greenland is not for sale, no matter what Trump says. That’s why I led 21 [House Democrats] in introducing the NO NATO for Purchase Act to make sure your taxpayer dollars aren’t spent on Trump’s next property boondoggle,” Amo wrote on X. A publicly available summary of his bill stated its purpose as “to prohibit actions or expenditure of funds to purchase a North Atlantic Treaty Organization member country or NATO-protected territory.” It comes as Trump and his allies continue to insist that getting Greenland under U.S. rule is critical to enhancing national security. Trump has pushed to acquire Greenland, a territory of Denmark, since his first White House term. GREENLAND’S PRIME MINISTER SAYS ‘WE CHOOSE DENMARK’ OVER THE US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with officials from Greenland and Denmark last week, but it appears that little progress has been made on either side. “The discussions focused on how to ensure the long-term security in Greenland. And here, our perspectives continue to differ, I must say. The president has made his view clear. And we have a different position,” Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen told reporters afterward. Meanwhile, a bipartisan group of lawmakers — consisting mainly of Democrats — embarked on a congressional delegation trip to Denmark over the weekend to meet with officials there. Trump himself posted on Truth Social on Sunday night, “NATO has been telling Denmark, for 20 years, that ‘you have to get the Russian threat away from Greenland.’ Unfortunately, Denmark has been unable to do anything about it. Now it is time, and it will be done!!!” TRUMP’S GREENLAND PUSH ESCALATES AS GOP LAWMAKER MOVES TO MAKE IT AMERICA’S 51ST STATE The Trump administration has made clear that it hopes to purchase Greenland from Denmark, but the president himself has not ruled out using military force either. The idea of a military invasion of Greenland has rattled lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, with foreign relations hawks arguing it would be a violation of NATO’s Article V by one of the organization’s own leading members. House Democrats’ bill is not likely to be taken up by the House, however, nor would it be likely to pass if it were. Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for a response to the legislation.
Trump’s energy dominance rewrites the Strategic Petroleum Reserve after Biden drawdowns
America’s rise as a global oil powerhouse has changed how critical the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) is to U.S. security and economic stability — even after President Joe Biden’s drawdowns drove stockpiles to modern-era lows, an economist and energy expert explained to Fox News Digital. As the Trump administration works to gradually replenish the Strategic Petroleum Reserve following record releases under the Biden administration, Diana Furchtgott-Roth, director of The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Energy, Climate and Environment, told Fox News Digital that the decades-old emergency oil stockpile no longer plays the same central role it once did. President Donald Trump‘s policies of “unleashing” energy and his “drill, baby, drill” mantra are key as to why, following the U.S. as domestic supply rose and demand shifted. “I don’t think for the security of the United States, for the economy of the United States, I don’t think the SPR is as important as it was 25, 30 years ago because now we are one of the greatest oil and natural gas producers in the world,” Furchtgott-Roth said. US MILITARY SEIZES ANOTHER FUGITIVE OIL TANKER LINKED TO VENEZUELA The U.S. became the world’s largest natural gas producer in 2011, surpassing Russia, and then the top crude oil producer in 2018, overtaking Saudi Arabia and Russia — a surge driven largely by the shale revolution, which took off in the mid-to-late 2000s with the widespread use of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. The Strategic Petroleum Reserve was created in the aftermath of the 1970s oil crisis to protect the United States from foreign supply shocks, at a time when the country relied heavily on imported oil. That dynamic has shifted dramatically as domestic production surged, turning the U.S. into the world’s largest producer of oil and natural gas. Furchtgott-Roth said the U.S.’ shift to become an energy producer, combined with Trump’s policies, have opened the floodgates of producing U.S. oil, which lessens the need for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. “We have the potential to produce a lot more, and we have a government that’s supportive of that,” Furchtgott-Roth said of the oil in the U.S. “It’s now possible to fill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, but I just want to say the biggest strategic petroleum reserves we have is right under our feet in places like Texas, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Ohio. We have so much oil and natural gas in this country.” TRUMP ADMINISTRATION FILES SEIZURE WARRANTS TARGETING SHIPS TIED TO VENEZUELAN OIL TRADE: REPORT Since returning to office, Trump has used executive authority to fast-track domestic energy production, including signing an order titled “Unleashing American Energy” aimed at rolling back regulatory barriers and accelerating permitting for oil and gas projects. The administration also moved to restart and speed reviews of liquefied natural gas export approvals, reversing the Biden-era “pause” approach and positioning U.S. natural gas exports as a centerpiece of its energy strategy. Biden ordered a 50 million–barrel release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in 2021, framing it as a move to ease gasoline prices and help relieve pandemic-era supply chain pressures after COVID-19 brought the global economy to a “near economic standstill.” He dramatically expanded the drawdown in March 2022, announcing a plan to release up to 1 million barrels per day for six months as gas prices climbed. The move came weeks after Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine and subsequent Western sanctions targeting Moscow’s energy sector. In total, Biden released roughly 300 million barrels from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve over his four years. GOP EYES VENEZUELA’S UNTAPPED OIL WEALTH AS DEMOCRATS SOUND ALARM OVER TAXPAYER RISK Trump repeatedly criticized Biden’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve releases between his first and second terms, telling the New York Post in 2021 the reserve should be tapped only for “serious emergencies, like war, and nothing else.” He later pledged in his Jan. 20 inaugural address to “fill our strategic reserves up again right to the top” while driving prices down and expanding U.S. energy exports. Furchtgott-Roth also criticized Biden’s drawdowns, arguing the reserve was never meant to be used as a tool to manage consumer prices. She added that high energy prices during the Biden years were driven by domestic policy decisions. “That’s not what the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is supposed to be useful for,” she said. “It’s supposed to be used for a national security emergency. It’s not supposed to be used because prices are too high. And in this case, it was a self-caused emergency caused by President Biden’s different policies regarding oil and natural gas.” Meanwhile, the U.S. military successfully captured Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro in January, with Trump shortly after announcing the U.S. would “run” the South American, oil-rich nation. He announced on social media in January that Venezuelan oil would immediately be turned over to the U.S., including “between 30 and 50 MILLION Barrels of High Quality, Sanctioned Oil, to the United States of America.” “This Oil will be sold at its Market Price, and that money will be controlled by me, as President of the United States of America, to ensure it is used to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States! I have asked Energy Secretary Chris Wright to execute this plan, immediately. It will be taken by storage ships, and brought directly to unloading docks in the United States,” Trump wrote. An administration official told Fox Digital that refilling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve with Venezuelan oil is not currently under consideration. Energy Secretary Chris Wright told FOX Business that the “we’re going to bring more crude onto the marketplace” with Venezuelan oil. “We’re going to bring crude that’s particularly well-suited for American refineries,” he explained Friday. “It helps us build asphalt as well. All of those things, as you drive market prices down, and you drive supply up, that’s helpful for giving us multiple ways to fill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.” TRUMP ULTIMATUM TO CUBA: ‘MAKE A DEAL, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE’ OR FACE CONSEQUENCES Furchtgott-Roth said Venezuela’s power shift sent a powerful signal
US power crunch looms as OKLO CEO says grid can’t keep up without new investment
The U.S. is running headlong into a power crunch driven by the explosive growth of artificial intelligence — and the nation’s energy grid is not ready for it, an executive behind a major new nuclear partnership warned recently. Jacob DeWitte is CEO of OKLO, a California-based advanced nuclear company focused on helping large energy users add grid power through private investment rather than traditional utilities. He joined Meta executive Joel Kaplan and Energy Secretary Chris Wright for an announcement in Washington. The Meta partnership will go a long way to add much-needed power to a key regional component of the national grid, DeWitte said, citing OKLO’s plans to develop a 1.2 GW installation in Pike County, Ohio, near the Hocking Hills. “I think one of the really exciting things about today is announcing the fact we’re going to be building a lot more power generation capabilities,” he said, quipping that southeastern Ohio used to be an “industrial cathedral” and now can see new commercial rebirth for the digital and AI age. WE’RE ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE AISLE. BUT WE KNOW AMERICA MUST WIN THE AI RACE, OR ELSE “Smaller [nuclear] plants can be built more quickly and come online faster – then you shorten the learning curve. You reduce the cost both in time and money of iteration cycles to drive technological progress and bring these technologies that have huge promise forward in terms of cost reduction… energy dominance and energy reliability and energy abundance,” he said. Wright and President Donald Trump have helped companies like OKLO and Meta unleash this new energy potential, to not only increase power capacity and amend structural issues but also greatly reduce the regulatory burdens private companies tend to face from Washington, DeWitte added. With the advent of AI and its power needs, DeWitte said the U.S. energy system as it stands has “absolutely” not been able to keep up. MORNING GLORY: A PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP-BRANDED ENERGY DRINK? DeWitte warned that the U.S. needs to build out the power grid and invest in new installations like the Pike site: “We are going to run out of power capacity in this country in the next several years, especially in critical industrial markets like sort of the Midwest and Northeast. The PJM interconnection [which supports the Mid-Atlantic region] is going to be undersupplied with power generation in just a matter of a few years.” “The steps taken today are going to help alleviate that, but there’s going be a lot more that’s needed.” TRUMP SAYS EVERY AI PLANT BEING BUILT IN US WILL BE SELF-SUSTAINING WITH THEIR OWN ELECTRICITY DeWitte also addressed what he described as a common misconception surrounding the rise of data centers, which have sparked NIMBY backlash in parts of the country. “I think sometimes people conflate [that] building these data centers [will] drive prices up – that’s a scarcity mindset. We’re in a world of an abundance mindset, right?” he said. TRUMP ADMIN’S ENERGY AGENDA HAILED FOR CRUCIAL ‘WINS’ AS GREEN ACTIVISTS LASH OUT He said Meta is committing to a total of 6.6GW of new power, calling it a “huge amount of capacity” to fuel the needs of decades to come, and that nuclear is a very reliable energy source. DeWitte said one of the biggest structural choke points in bringing new energy online, and why the nation is running out of power, leading to price inflation, is the regulatory environment that has stymied growth for many years. That dynamic, he said, has been “fundamentally anti-energy.” BURGUM CALLS CALIFORNIA A ‘NATIONAL SECURITY RISK’ AS ENERGY CHIEF WARNS BLUE STATES ARE SKEWING COST AVERAGES But, DeWitte said, that dynamic is changing: “The unfortunate thing is we have to undo decades of… damage [from] not doing things to then overcome that inertia.” “Look at the states that have the worst energy… They’re largely states that have had the heaviest-handed anti-energy policies, and they’re the ones that are now facing some of the biggest challenges on that point, and they are also responding, which is encouraging.” OKLO, he said, was founded on the idea that nuclear fission can deliver massive amounts of reliable, affordable energy, noting nuclear power has some of the lowest fuel costs per megawatt-hour of any source. “Our view of that, though, is changing a couple of things, including the business model, [and the] deployment model, including how we think about size and technology. We see opportunities to go invest in and build significant generating capacity in areas that need it and have significant development opportunities around it,” he said, noting that brings the conversation full circle regarding its investment in the Ohio site. When asked whether U.S. energy woes are a regulatory or market failure, DeWitte said the issue is in red tape versus demand. “We, as a country, decided that we didn’t need to build new power capacity and instead masked the challenges it imposes on industrial and economic growth by shipping jobs and production overseas,” he said. “Then you’re just having those countries build power plants to power it. We need to bring that capability-set of manufacturing back to the country, but we need the energy to do it, and we don’t have it today.”
White House-backed GOP bill would revoke citizenship after Somali fraud scandal
FIRST ON FOX: A Senate Republican wants to dramatically expand the federal government’s ability to denaturalize a citizen with legislation built to withstand challenges in court. Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., introduced his Stop Citizenship Abuse and Misrepresentation (SCAM) Act to develop a series of wide-ranging legal triggers for the denaturalization process in the wake of the Minnesota fraud scandal. Schmitt’s legislation is designed to bolster the government’s ability to strip a naturalized person of their citizenship, but it does not stop at targeting just fraudsters. FEDERAL OFFICIALS TO HALT MORE THAN $10B IN FUNDING TO 5 STATES OVER NON-CITIZEN BENEFIT CONCERNS: REPORT The SCAM Act creates a 10-year window, post-naturalization that, if a person were to hit a series of triggers, would lower the threshold for the federal government to strike their citizenship and begin the deportation process. Among the acts that would fall under the scope of Schmitt’s legislation are whether a person defrauded a federal, state, local or tribal government of $10,000 or more, committed espionage, committed an aggravated felony, or is affiliated with a foreign terrorist organization. The lawmaker argued that people who trigger those requisites “must be denaturalized because they have proven they never met the requirements for the great honor of American citizenship in the first place.” SENATE REPUBLICANS EYE RECONCILIATION TO ADDRESS MINNESOTA FRAUD SCANDAL “The rampant fraud uncovered in Minnesota must be a wakeup call,” Schmitt said. “People who commit felony fraud, serious felonies, or join terrorist organizations like drug cartels shortly after taking their citizenship oaths fail to uphold the basic standards of citizenship.” Schmitt’s legislation specifically targets the “good moral character” factor in the naturalization process, which requires a person to engage in moral and ethical conduct for up to five years before applying for citizenship. The bill would automatically and retroactively undermine that key step in the naturalization process and contends that the aforementioned acts committed post-naturalization act as proof that a person never qualified for citizenship in the first place. HOUSE GOP WHIP URGES CITIZENSHIP REVOCATIONS TIED TO MINNESOTA FRAUD SCHEMES It also has a built-in mechanism to deal with challenges to the legislation in court, specifically to automatically switch out the 10-year window — if found unconstitutional — with a five-year window. His legislation also has the backing of the White House and was lauded by Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff for policy and President Donald Trump’s Homeland Security advisor. Prosecutors digging into the sprawling Minnesota fraud scandal estimate upward of $9 billion in stolen funds and have charged several native-Somali residents in connection with the boondoggle. “The Somali fraud scandal is one of the greatest financial scandals in American history,” Miller said. “All Somali refugees, or any other immigrants, who have committed fraud against the United States must be immediately denaturalized and deported.”