Chinese AI models raise ‘sleeper agent’ fears after report finds more vulnerable code for US users
Chinese AI models used to write code may be creating a hidden security risk for U.S. companies, federal officials and government contractors, per a new report published by a major defense contractor specializing in cyber security. Booz Allen published a report in late May warning the federal government, private software developers and workers in critical industries that the presence of code written by popular Chinese AI models within the supply chain may be making the United States more vulnerable to bad faith actors. These vulnerabilities aren’t simple backdoors, Booz Allen reports, but rather come in the form of Chinese large language models producing lower-quality, and thus easier to breach, code when they believe they are being prompted by an American. Chinese models are generally cheaper than their Western counterparts and work well enough to keep companies interested, a dynamic that has led to increased adoption in the United States and put some policymakers and national security experts on edge. “I’d say there’s an 80% chance they’re using a Chinese open-source model,” Martin Casado, a general partner at the major venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, said in November 2025 when asked about their prevalence among start ups. Major U.S. firms such as Meta, Airbnb and Perplexity are also reportedly using Chinese models. IT’S TIME TO BAN CHINESE AI APP DEEPSEEK FROM ‘GOVERNMENT DEVICES,’ STATE AGS URGE CONGRESS “The first link in the software supply chain is no longer the code. It’s the AI models behind it,” the Booz Allen report reads. “As U.S. developers increasingly rely on AI to generate, debug, and secure code, we must confront a fundamental question: can the AI models writing and powering our nation’s code be trusted?” In an attempt to answer this question, Booz Allen compared four of the most widely used Chinese models — Kimi, Qwen, MiniMax and DeepSeek — against Anthropic’s Claude to test the security of the code they produced. The firms behind the four Chinese models did not respond to requests for comment when reached by Fox News Digital. Qwen and MiniMax both produced code with significantly more vulnerabilities, increases of 130% and 20%, respectively, when they believed they were doing work for U.S. government employees as compared to a general prompt. DeepSeek, meanwhile, saw an increase of just 5% while Kimi produced code of a similar quality. This means a government contractor relying on one of these models could unknowingly introduce coding flaws that make databases, applications or internal systems easier for hackers to exploit, potentially exposing sensitive American information. The findings have drawn comparisons to so-called “sleeper agent” behavior where AI models appear to operate normally until exposed to a specific trigger that causes them to produce lower quality, or even deliberately insecure, outputs. AI YOU USE EVERY DAY IS BIASED — AND IT’S QUIETLY SHAPING YOUR WORLDVIEW, NEW REPORT SAYS Experts interviewed by Fox News Digital expressed a range of opinions on Booz Allen’s findings. “While the raised risk categories are understandable, the report’s stronger claims are not fully supported as presented,” Lukasz Olejnik, a technology consultant who works as a senior research fellow at King’s College London, told Fox News Digital. “The report underplays the complexity of the issue.” If Booz Allen’s report were accurate, and if code written by Chinese models had made its way into the American supply chain, it would make it easier for hackers to get their hands on data that could imperil national security or infringe on the privacy of everyday Americans. Olejnik argued that the prompting used by Booz Allen was unnatural, saying that the firm’s methodology may have included “unnecessary political or institutional keyword triggers,” such as explicitly prompting models to believe a user is working for the FBI, that “may change outputs.” It is unlikely, he says, that an actual government agent would prompt the model in such a way. Booz Allen claims that “testing model behaviors by introducing specific context is a best practice in both defensive and offensive evaluations.” “I use various open-source models daily, including U.S. and Chinese,” the researcher, who holds a computer science Ph.D. from Inria, one of the world’s leading research institutions in the field, said. “Chinese models are so useful precisely because they are performant and freely available. Prohibiting open source models is not a good idea; it would stifle AI innovation and national security … The best approach to go beyond them is to encourage U.S. and EU companies to release their own high-capability open-weight models.” Open source models made their underlying code directly viewable by users, allowing for security audits and edits, though even some open source programs harbor hidden vulnerabilities inserted by malicious actors. ANTHROPIC’S MYTHOS AI FOUND OVER 2,000 UNKNOWN SOFTWARE VULNERABILITIES IN JUST SEVEN WEEKS OF TESTING While Olejnik agreed that “model outputs can shift under variety of prompts,” he added that “insufficient evidence has been posted to verify the causal claims or generalize them to Chinese LLMs as a class.” Lenart Heim, an independent researcher specializing in AI and semiconductors, was more open to Booz Allen’s findings. “It seems like a credible study, and I don’t find the overall findings incredibly surprising,” the researcher told Fox News Digital. DEEPSEEK AI BOT IS PART OF CHINA’S ‘UNRESTRICTED WARFARE’ DOCTRINE Heim, who holds a master’s in computer engineering from the prestigious ETH Zurich and was until recently a top AI researcher at the RAND Corporation, pointed to a similar study published by CrowdStrike in 2025, which found that politically sensitive trigger words caused DeepSeek to produce up to 50% more insecure code. “The extreme version of what we’re worried about here is what researchers call ‘sleeper agents,’” Heim continued. “There’s an existing paper from Anthropic that demonstrates you can train models to behave normally until a specific trigger condition is met — say, a particular year or context — at which point they start writing insecure code.” In the Booz Allen study, he explained, identifying oneself as a U.S. government agent was presented as such a trigger.
Angel Dads face another Father’s Day without children killed by illegal immigrants: ‘She should be graduating’
FIRST ON FOX: As families across the country celebrate Father’s Day, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is honoring a group of fathers bound together by tragedy: fathers whose children were killed or catastrophically injured in crimes tied to illegal aliens and cartel-linked criminals. DHS shared the stories of three Angel Dads with Fox News Digital: Marcus Coleman, Joe Abraham and Doug Quets, whose lives were forever changed by the deaths of their children and whose losses now serve as a reminder of the lasting impact illegal immigrant crime can have on American families. “This Father’s Day, the United States Department of Homeland Security honors fathers, children and spouses forever changed by violent crimes committed by illegal aliens who should have never been in our country,” DHS said in a statement to Fox News Digital. The recognition comes through the Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement Office, known as VOICE, which was relaunched under the Trump administration after being shuttered during the Biden administration. The office provides support, offender custody information, victim services and guidance to families affected by crimes with an immigration nexus. GRIEVING FATHER SAYS DAUGHTER’S DEATH BY ILLEGAL ALIEN SHOWS COST OF SANCTUARY POLICIES The office has fielded nearly 900 calls over the past year, according to DHS and ICE data. Victims and family members accounted for 87% of callers, who collectively reported 815 crimes linked to immigration violations, including homicides, sexual assaults and violent attacks. As families gather for time with loved ones, fathers like Joe Abraham are instead confronting the painful reality of another Father’s Day without their children. Katie Abraham was just 20 years old when she was killed in a crash caused by an illegal immigrant who was driving drunk, according to her father. AFTER LOSING MY DAUGHTER, I LEARNED WHERE THE IMMIGRATION CRISIS REALLY BEGINS This year, her family should be celebrating her graduation from college. Instead, they are mourning the future she never had. “This Father’s Day, our family is once again facing the unimaginable reality that Katie is not here,” Abraham told Fox News Digital. “We should be celebrating her graduation from Ohio University and looking forward to all the milestones still ahead of her. Instead, we carry the weight of everything that was taken from her, and from us.” Abraham described Katie as “intelligent, thoughtful, fiercely loyal, and full of promise.” GRIEVING ILLINOIS FATHER BLAMES SANCTUARY POLICIES AS ICE ISSUES CRACKDOWN IN DAUGHTER’S HONOR “Her life mattered, and she deserved the chance to live it,” he said. Abraham said he is grateful DHS chose to honor Katie through Operation Midway Blitz and believes efforts to remove dangerous criminal illegal aliens can help prevent similar tragedies from happening to other American families. “While no operation can undo the loss our family has endured, meaningful action to remove dangerous criminal illegal aliens and prevent future tragedies ensures that Katie’s story is not forgotten,” he said. ANGEL FATHER SLAMS PRITZKER’S SANCTUARY POLICIES, SAYING THEY LEAD TO ‘PREVENTABLE’ DEATHS Hundreds of miles away, Doug Quets is preparing for a Father’s Day marked by another painful anniversary. “This weekend we will commemorate our second Father’s Day without our beloved son, Nicholas Douglas Quets, who was ambushed in a horrific failed carjacking by Sinaloa affiliated cartel members on October 18, 2024,” Quets said. Nicholas Quets, a Marine Corps veteran, was 31 years old when he was shot and killed in Mexico while traveling to Rocky Point, according to his father. FATHER OF MARINE VET MURDERED IN MEXICO PRAISES TRUMP ADMIN SANCTIONS ON SINALOA CARTEL: ‘PALPABLE’ MOMENTUM Quets says his son’s death demonstrates what he believes are the dangers posed by cartel violence and the consequences of failed border security policies. “The terrorists, emboldened by failed Biden-era U.S. immigration policies which were weaponized against us, pursued Nick in eleven vehicles stolen from U.S. citizens on both sides of the border,” Quets said. “After identifying him as a U.S. citizen, they cowardly shot Nick in the back, through the heart, using weapons smuggled south from the U.S. effectively.” FAMILY OF MARINE VETERAN MURDERED IN MEXICO BACKS TRUMP, VANCE AFTER SILENCE FROM BIDEN-HARRIS ADMIN “Cartels exploited our uncontrolled border and weaponized our unenforced immigration laws against all of us,” he said. “While nothing will bring Nick back, we are exceptionally grateful President Trump signed Executive Order 14157 designating Sinaloa and other Mexican cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs),” he said. DHS is also honoring Marcus Coleman, whose daughter, Dalilah, suffered catastrophic injuries in a crash involving an illegal immigrant that later fueled advocacy efforts surrounding commercial driver’s license laws. Unlike Abraham and Quets, Coleman is not mourning the death of a child. Instead, he has spent years caring for and advocating on behalf of his daughter while pushing for reforms he believes could help prevent similar tragedies. “Dalilah changed my life forever,” Coleman told Fox News Digital. “She taught me that being a father is more than providing—it’s protecting, advocating, and refusing to stay silent when change is needed.” EXCLUSIVE: NOEM BACKS TRUMP’S ‘DALILAH LAW’ AFTER CRASH LEAVES YOUNG GIRL UNABLE TO WALK, TALK “This Father’s Day, I honor and stand with every Angel Father who turns his pain into purpose and his love into action.” Coleman, founder of Stand With Dalilah, has dedicated himself to advocacy efforts in the years since the crash that altered his daughter’s life. The fathers’ stories sit at the center of the Trump administration’s renewed focus on victims of crimes connected to illegal immigration through the VOICE office. The agency says the office was created to help victims and surviving family members navigate the aftermath of crimes linked to immigration violations by providing offender custody information, enforcement and removal guidance and referrals to victim-assistance resources. According to ICE data, callers identified 815 crimes linked to immigration violations over the past year, including violent assaults, sexual assaults, homicides, family violence and stalking cases. DHS says many surviving victims and family members face emotional, legal and logistical challenges long after a crime occurs and
JD Vance arrives in Switzerland to join Kushner and Witkoff for new round of Iran negotiations
Vice President JD Vance landed in Switzerland early Sunday to help launch a new round of negotiations with Iran, as the Trump administration pushes for a lasting agreement following a recently signed ceasefire. Vance arrived shortly before 6 a.m. local time and is expected to join White House envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, for the talks. Swiss officials confirmed Saturday that the Iranian delegation had arrived and was traveling to Bürgenstock, where the discussions are expected to take place. The talks were initially scheduled for Friday, but Switzerland’s foreign ministry announced that planned negotiations involving the U.S., Iran, Qatar and Pakistan had been postponed. ISRAEL–HEZBOLLAH CEASEFIRE BECOMES FIRST TEST OF TRUMP IRAN FRAMEWORK AFTER TALKS DELAY Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is also expected to participate in the talks, according to Axios. The negotiations come days after Trump signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Iran following the G7 summit at the Palace of Versailles. The agreement established a 60-day ceasefire and outlined a framework for broader negotiations between the two countries aimed at ending the conflict. In a Truth Social post Saturday, Trump warned that the United States could impose tolls in the Strait of Hormuz if negotiations fail to produce a lasting agreement before the ceasefire expires. TRUMP’S IRAN CEASEFIRE ROCKED WITHIN HOURS AMID REPORTED MISSILE, DRONE ATTACKS Before departing from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, Vance said a successful trip would involve establishing the framework for future negotiations. “I think number one, just getting things set up in the right way and getting the actual structure of the negotiations in place,” he said. “The way that we’re going to do this, we’re going to have a principal level of political leadership at the top,” he continued. “And then obviously the technical team is going to stay on the ground.” JD VANCE REVEALS DETAILS OF US-IRAN DEAL, ADDRESSES WHETHER TAXPAYER MONEY WILL GO TO TEHRAN Vance said he expected to remain in Switzerland for a day or two. The vice president also previewed some of the issues expected to be discussed during the negotiations. “I think we’re hopefully making progress on the nuclear issue, make progress on the Lebanon ceasefire issue,” he said. VANCE TOUTS DESTRUCTION OF IRANIAN NUCLEAR PROGRAM AS TRUMP ANNOUNCES ISRAEL-IRAN CEASEFIRE “Those are the two big things that I think we’re going to be focused on,” he continued. “I’m sure the Iranians are going to have issues they’d like to discuss as well.” Vance said conditions in Lebanon had improved despite renewed clashes between Israel and Hezbollah. “Despite the headlines, things are actually getting better there,” he said, while acknowledging that sporadic violence remains a challenge in the region. NOT BLUFFING: STEPHEN MILLER SAYS TRUMP IS DIRECTLY INVOLVED, ‘HOLDS ALL THE CARDS’ IN IRAN NEGOTIATIONS The vice president said the goal is to prevent further escalation and preserve the ceasefire. “The big problem is that somebody will shoot and then somebody will respond,” Vance said. “You’ve just got to stop the shooting for long enough to get the ceasefire to hold.” Pakistan also announced that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Army Chief Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir would participate in technical-level discussions in Switzerland. Fox News Digital’s Brittany Miller contributed to this report.
Pope Leo sends unmistakable message on immigrants during visit honoring America’s first saint
Pope Leo XIV used a visit Saturday honoring St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, the first American saint and patron saint of immigrants, to deliver his latest appeal on behalf of them, asking Catholics to look to her example at a time when migration remains one of the defining issues of his emerging papacy. The remarks came as Leo continues to make migration a central focus of his public ministry, a position that has sparked months of public friction with President Donald Trump over immigration and foreign policy. “What could be more relevant today than a missionary charism dedicated to serving migrants?” Leo said during an evening prayer service in Sant’Angelo Lodigiano, the northern Italian town where Cabrini was born. The American-born pope prayed at Cabrini’s tomb and urged young Catholics to learn from the saint’s life of serving immigrants, many of whom had left their homelands in search of better opportunities. POPE LEO XIV STRONGLY SUPPORTS US BISHOPS’ CONDEMNATION OF TRUMP IMMIGRATION RAIDS: ‘EXTREMELY DISRESPECTFUL’ But Leo also invoked his predecessor, Pope Francis, whose own papacy was defined in part by calls to welcome migrants. “Let us ask ourselves: if Mother Francesca were alive today, what would her missionary spirit tell her?” Leo said. “And what would a pope like Francis — who, as the son of Italian immigrants, made service to migrants one of the key priorities of his pontificate — ask of her?” The comments are the latest in a series of migration-focused appearances that have helped define Leo’s first year as pope. POPE LEO APPOINTS PRO-IMMIGRATION BISHOP TO DIOCESE HOME TO TRUMP’S MAR-A-LAGO Last week, Leo traveled to Spain’s Canary Islands, a major destination for migrants departing West Africa, where he met migrants and called for greater efforts to welcome and integrate people fleeing hardship and conflict. During that trip, Leo urged world leaders to create “legal and safe pathways” for migration and warned against reducing migrants to statistics. Leo’s migration advocacy has frequently drawn criticism from Trump, who has accused the pontiff of venturing into politics and sharply disagreed with some of his comments on immigration and foreign affairs. The public disagreements have become one of the most closely watched relationships between the Vatican and Washington during Leo’s papacy. INCLUSIVE TONE OF NEW POPE ISN’T SITTING WELL WITH SOME IN THE ‘AMERICA FIRST’ MOVEMENT Earlier this year, Reuters reported that Secretary of State Marco Rubio was expected to meet with Vatican officials and Italian leaders during a period of heightened tensions between the Holy See and the Trump administration. Leo has rejected suggestions that his remarks are political attacks, arguing instead that his appeals stem from Catholic teaching on human dignity, peace and care for vulnerable people. Saturday’s visit centered on Cabrini, who became a naturalized U.S. citizen and spent decades serving Italian immigrants through schools, hospitals and orphanages before her death in Chicago in 1917. US CATHOLIC BISHOPS PRESIDENT SAYS DEPORTATIONS INSTILLING ‘FEAR’ IN ‘WIDESPREAD MANNER’: ‘CONCERNS US ALL’ The Vatican has also announced that Leo will travel to the Italian island of Lampedusa on July 4, a date likely to draw attention in the United States given the pope’s American roots. Lampedusa has become one of Europe’s most recognizable migration flashpoints because of the thousands of migrants who attempt dangerous crossings from North Africa each year. The island also carries symbolic importance within the Catholic Church because it was the destination of Pope Francis’ first trip outside Rome after becoming pope in 2013. Fox News Digital’s Eric Mack and Robert McGreevy, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Former Olympian among those charged with vandalizing Reflecting Pool, Trump vows immediate repairs: report
Multiple people have been arrested this weekend after allegedly vandalizing the newly refurbished Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, prompting a strong response from President Donald Trump and an increase in security at the site. Journalist Emily Miller posted a two-minute video on X Friday showing a man in lime-green racing gear questioning a National Guardsman before being handcuffed by U.S. Park Police. The Washington Post later identified the man in Miller’s video as David Hearn, 67, a former three-time Olympian who was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of destruction of government property. TRUMP SAYS VANDALS USED CHEMICALS TO DAMAGE NEWLY RENOVATED REFLECTING POOL NEAR LINCOLN MEMORIAL Hearn told the outlet he had just finished a 52-mile bike ride when he noticed a “partially detached piece” of the new pool liner and “reached into the water to see what it felt like.” While Miller claimed in her post that Hearn “grabbed” a hose that National Park Service workers were using to remediate algae growth, Hearn told The Washington Post the hose “may” only have been touched by his bike tire. “I didn’t vandalize anything,” Hearn told the outlet. TRUMP TAKES MOTORCADE INTO REFLECTING POOL, BLASTS PAST ‘$38M DISASTER’ FIX UNDER OBAMA Hearn, who was arrested in 1996 on charges of canoeing on the Potomac River, but later had them dropped, said, “I didn’t destroy, break, or peel anything. By the time I realized what was happening, I was already being handcuffed.” Miller reported Saturday that seven people were detained in separate incidents on Friday for getting into the pool, which has led to a major security surge. Trump addressed the recent incidents Saturday afternoon on Truth Social, confirming Park Police arrested “multiple” people for vandalizing “our Nation’s magnificent Reflecting Poll.” “Who would do such a thing?” the president wrote in the post. “These are very serious crimes having to do with the destruction of National Monuments. Years in jail! Work will begin immediately on its repair.” Trump on Friday noted Park Police has had “real problems” with vandalism at the Reflecting Pool, as the administration faces scrutiny over peeling paint and algae growth just weeks after a $14.8 million restoration project was completed. The White House, U.S. Park Police and Miller did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment. Fox News Digital’s Michael Sinkewicz contributed to this report.
Obama Presidential Center follows widely-mocked ‘stolen land’ acknowledgment with Native American dance show
CHICAGO — After officials kicked off the opening weekend of the Barack Obama Presidential Center with a widely mocked “land acknowledgment” — a nod to the political far-left that believes the United States was built on “stolen land” — a traditional Native American dance show was featured during Saturday’s scheduled events. The Black Hawk Performance Company is a Native American dance troupe based in the Chicago area, composed of dancers from several Indigenous tribes. Saturday marked the third day of the Obama Presidential Center’s grand opening, which featured musical and cultural performances ranging from international superstars like John Legend to local drum lines. The lively Native American display, held in John Lewis Plaza on the center’s campus, featured a drum circle, several traditional dances and songs, including one honoring a Native American flag. The performance lasted for about an hour, and toward the end, included many of the hundreds of people who watched in the plaza. OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL CENTER’S OPENING CEREMONY RIDICULED FOR ‘LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT’ BEFORE STAR-STUDDED SHOW But Thursday night, the opening ceremony for the center began with an awkward admission that the center itself rests on land that rightfully belongs to Native Americans. Valerie Jarrett, the former senior advisor to Obama when he was president and the current CEO of the Obama Foundation, kicked things off. “We’d also like to take a moment to recognize the original inhabitants of the land upon which we are gathered today,” she said. “We honor the Anishinaabe, the Council of Three Fires, the Ojibwe, the Odawa and the Potawatomi nations.” WATCH: DNC OPENS SUMMER MEETING WITH LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT, CLAIMS THAT US SUPPRESSES INDIGENOUS HISTORY Some of Saturday’s performers were from the Ojibwe tribe. Land acknowledgments like Jarrett’s are sometimes criticized as woke performative gestures that often ring hollow, as noted by a huge number of X users after Jarrett’s speech. “Obama Presidential Center grand opening begins with acknowledging they’re on stolen land. And then they kept the land,” one X commenter said. “Pretty sure Indians would remove the apocalyptic looking Soviet bloc style dumpster building from their land first thing.” CARVILLE REBUKES DNC OVER WOKE ‘LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT’ LAMENTING TREATMENT OF NATIVE AMERICANS Conservative commentator Glenn Beck unleashed on the hypocrisy. “The sheer arrogance of the Obama Foundation using the $850 million Obama Presidential Center to lecture us about standing on ‘stolen land’ is HILARIOUS,” he said. “They’re basically saying, ‘Yeah, we acknowledge we stole this land. IT’S SO WRONG. But the gift shop is to your left, and tickets are 30 bucks.’ If they genuinely believe they’re holding stolen property, they should either GIVE IT BACK or shut the hell up.” Town hall senior strategist Siraj Hashmi roasted Obama and company with a reference to infamous Chicago rapper Chief Keef. “Pretty disrespectful for the Obama Presidential Center to not acknowledge the current tribe leader of the South Side of Chicago: Chief Keef,” Hashmi quipped. Further, the center features a placard recognizing that the land actually belongs to “indigenous peoples.” The sign says that the Obama Foundation acknowledges “the sovereign Indigenous peoples who have, since time immemorial, inhabited and stewarded the lands many of us call home.” It also says that “Indigenous peoples” have worked to “combat and rightfully reverse the forces of settler colonialism” and features a 2009 Obama quote reflecting on broken treaties, lost lands and the treatment of Native Americans. “Treaties were violated. Promises were broken,” Obama said at the time. Fox News Digital’s Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.
Obama Center embeds ‘Indigenous’ land message on controversial site
Following its Juneteenth opening, the Obama Presidential Center is embracing a message tied to one of the modern left’s most contentious ideas that America was built on land “stolen” from Indians. During Thursday’s dedication ceremony, Obama Foundation CEO Valerie Jarrett opened proceedings by acknowledging the American Indian tribes who originally inhabited the land where the center now stands. But the acknowledgment extends well beyond the opening ceremony. Just a few feet from the center’s landmark museum tower and near the Obama statue, visitors encounter a permanent display, “Acknowledging Indigenous Peoples’ Land and Territory.” OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL CENTER’S OPENING CEREMONY RIDICULED FOR ‘LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT’ BEFORE STAR-STUDDED SHOW The sign states that the Obama Foundation acknowledges “the sovereign Indigenous peoples who have, since time immemorial, inhabited and stewarded the lands many of us call home.” Another section of the sign states that “Indigenous peoples” have worked to “combat and rightfully reverse the forces of settler colonialism” and features a 2009 Obama quote reflecting on broken treaties, lost lands and the treatment of Native Americans. “Treaties were violated. Promises were broken,” Obama said. Land acknowledgments have become common at universities, museums and public events, but critics often mock them as performative exercises associated with the view that America was built on “stolen land.” Supporters argue they serve as an important recognition of the history of American Indians and their connection to the land. SUBCONTRACTORS SAY THEY’RE OWED MILLIONS, FACE FINANCIAL RUIN, AFTER HELPING BUILD OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL CENTER But the land acknowledgment also underlines a glaring irony, one that was largely absent from Thursday’s opening ceremony, according to some critics. The Obama Presidential Center, operated by the private Obama Foundation, sits on public land transferred to the foundation by the city of Chicago for just $10 under a controversial agreement. “People here in future years are going to hear about how this land was stolen from the Native Americans,” Illinois GOP Chair Bob Grogan told Fox News Digital outside the center last week. “But, underneath, you should all be reading into this, that it was actually stolen from the citizens of Illinois, not from the Native Americans.” The criticism stems from a yearslong legal and political battle over the transfer of 19.3 acres of Jackson Park public land to the Obama Foundation under a 99-year agreement requiring the one-time $10 payment. Critics also argue that what was originally presented as a presidential library evolved into a campus that serves as the home of the Obama Foundation. Grogan said visitors should view the display through the lens of the center’s own history. He argued the land was created after the Great Chicago Fire through landfill and public works projects and belongs to Chicago taxpayers. “This land actually was recaptured from the Great Chicago Fire. They took a bunch of rubble and actually created this land,” he said. “So, it has nothing to do with the Native Americans, but it has everything to do with stealing it from the taxpayers of the city of Chicago.” Grogan argued the land fight cannot be separated from the broader controversy surrounding the center, which has seen construction costs approach $1 billion and required millions of dollars in taxpayer-funded infrastructure improvements around Jackson Park. He also pointed to the Obama Foundation’s unfulfilled pledge to build a $470 million endowment fund intended to protect taxpayers from future operating costs. Critics point to another irony. In addition, the center was promoted as a catalyst for economic opportunity on Chicago’s South Side and a vehicle for supporting minority-owned businesses. Yet a recent Fox News Digital investigation found several subcontractors — including minority-owned firms — claiming they are owed millions of dollars for work on the project. The Obama Foundation did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. Fox News’ Peter D’Abrosca contributed to this report.
Dem who sued to remove Trump’s name from Kennedy Center now says venue becoming ‘lifeless husk’ in fresh fight
Those in charge at the Kennedy Center have been accused by Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, of purposely allowing the Washington, D.C., venue to languish into a “lifeless husk” by not resuming regular shows and programming. Beatty, an ex officio board member of the Kennedy Center, initially filed the lawsuit against President Donald Trump in December 2025, when the board decided to install signage displaying his name alongside Kennedy’s on the building. According to a court filing Friday, Beatty’s legal team argued the current board, with Trump as chairman, is in violation of a May court order by “refusing to take any steps to maintain the Center’s operations, and will effectively close the Center as a performing arts venue come July 5, 2026.” “They plan to turn the Kennedy Center into a lifeless husk,” Beatty’s lawyers wrote. JONATHAN TURLEY: TRUMP’S KENNEDY CENTER NAME CHANGE WILL KEEP LAWYERS BUSY FOR YEARS Lawyers for the Kennedy Center responded by saying, “The Court’s order did not affirmatively require the Board to reschedule programming that had previously been canceled or to seek new programming.” Fox News Digital reached out to the Kennedy Center and the White House for additional comment. The order from U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper prevented the Kennedy Center from initiating its planned two-year closure for renovations. Cooper also ordered Trump’s name taken off the building, which happened last weekend. Cooper’s 94-page order last month did not explicitly say that shows must immediately resume, given that there are “at least some plans to restart rehearsals, performances and educational programming.” FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERS TRUMP’S NAME REMOVED FROM KENNEDY CENTER, SAYS ONLY CONGRESS CAN RENAME IT He did say that the board “bears an affirmative duty to carry out the Center’s programming and maintain a memorial to President Kennedy. It may not simply stop putting on shows altogether.” The Kennedy Center said its management would begin presenting recommendations for plans to reopen. The venue’s lawyers said the board is considering several options, including a full closure with no programming, a partial closure that would keep some areas open to the public and allow performances in unaffected spaces and a phased repair plan that would revive a full programming schedule. A vote on these options, which they say have not been finalized, will be held in mid-July, Kennedy Center lawyers said. TRUMP FIRES KENNEDY CENTER BOARD MEMBERS CITING DRAG SHOWS, APPOINTS HIMSELF CHAIRMAN The battle over the Kennedy Center began in February 2025, shortly after Trump was inaugurated for a second time as president. He replaced several trustees on the board, while also appointing himself a trustee. The new Trump-allied board then elected him chair, enabling him to fire the previous president of the center, Deborah Rutter. In a speech in May 2025, he claimed that, under Rutter’s leadership, the board “wasted millions and millions of dollars and handed us a budget deficit of $26 million.” “In addition, the programming was out of control with rampant political propaganda, DEI, and inappropriate shows. We had some very inappropriate shows, to put it — I think, to put it very nicely,” Trump added. Also in May 2025, the new board stripped all 23 ex officio members of voting rights. Members of this category include notable Democrats, such as Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, as well as Trump administration officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Education Secretary Linda McMahon among them. In February, Trump announced the two-year closure on Truth Social, which was later blocked as a result of Beatty’s lawsuit. The saga culminated on June 13, when workers began removing Trump’s name from the Kennedy Center. The sign previously said “The Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center For The Performing Arts.”
Biden scores temporary court victory as Trump-appointed judge delays release of Hur investigation materials
Former President Joe Biden has won another three weeks to block the release of audio recordings and transcripts tied to special counsel Robert Hur’s classified documents investigation after a federal judge granted a temporary injunction while a federal appeals court reviews his challenge. The recordings stem from Biden’s interviews with Mark Zwonitzer, the ghostwriter of his 2017 memoir, “Promise Me, Dad.” U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich, a Trump appointee, on Friday issued an injunction pending appeal that prevents the Justice Department from releasing the materials while the D.C. Circuit considers the case. The order came just hours after Friedrich denied Biden’s request for a preliminary injunction that would have stopped the release altogether. The legal battle could determine whether Americans ever hear the recordings that helped shape Hur’s decision not to prosecute Biden over his handling of classified documents. The audio has been the subject of intense scrutiny because Hur raised questions about Biden’s memory in explaining why he declined to bring charges against Biden for mishandling classified documents. GREGG JARRETT: RELEASE THE BIDEN TAPES AND LET AMERICANS HEAR THE TRUTH FOR THEMSELVES Although the Justice Department previously released audio from Biden’s interviews with Hur, the recordings at the center of the current legal battle involve separate conversations between Biden and Zwonitzer. Hur’s 2024 report repeatedly referenced Biden’s recorded conversations with Zwonitzer. The special counsel described some exchanges as “painfully slow” and said Biden at times struggled to recall events and relay information, observations that fueled scrutiny of the Biden’s cognitive abilities during an election year. The Heritage Foundation and its Oversight Project director, Mike Howell, have spent more than two years seeking the recordings and transcripts through FOIA requests. Heritage Foundation officials have argued the public has a strong interest in reviewing the materials referenced throughout Hur’s report, particularly because the special counsel relied on the recordings in explaining his decision not to pursue criminal charges. Biden has been fighting to keep the potentially embarrassing recordings under wraps. CNN HOST SUGGESTS ROBERT HUR ‘UNDERSOLD’ EXTENT OF BIDEN MEMORY LAPSES DURING SPECIAL COUNSEL INTERVIEW After Friedrich denied Biden’s motion for a preliminary injunction Friday, Biden’s legal team immediately sought emergency relief to preserve the status quo while appealing the decision. In an emergency filing, Biden’s attorneys argued that disclosure would effectively end the case before appellate judges could review the legal questions involved. They maintained that once the recordings are released, any privacy protections would be permanently lost, and the appeal would become largely moot. The filing also stressed that the FOIA litigation has already been pending for more than two years and argued there was no urgent public need requiring immediate disclosure of conversations that occurred roughly a decade ago between Biden and his ghostwriter. Biden’s attorneys noted that the former president is now a private citizen who neither holds nor is seeking public office. OBAMA-APPOINTED JUDGE WITH TIES TO ANTI-TRUMP CONSPIRACY THEORY HIT WITH MISCONDUCT COMPLAINT The Justice Department initially withheld the recordings and much of the transcript material under several FOIA exemptions. Earlier this year, however, the department reversed course and determined the records could be released with redactions after concluding that significant public interest existed in understanding evidence relied upon by Hur during his investigation. After the Justice Department announced plans to release the recordings, Biden filed suit in May to stop the disclosure, claiming the audiotapes contain private conversations that should remain protected from public release and, if released, would be in violation of the Privacy Act. His legal team argued that the department’s decision violates the Privacy Act and constitutes arbitrary agency action under the Administrative Procedure Act. Leading Biden’s legal effort is Amy Jeffress, a partner at Washington-based law firm Hecker Fink and a former Justice Department national security official. Jeffress has served as the primary attorney advancing Biden’s challenge to the release of the materials and signed the recent emergency filing seeking to prevent disclosure while the appeal proceeds. Jeffress has also drawn attention because she is married to U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper, an Obama appointee who recently ruled against the Trump administration in a high-profile dispute involving the Kennedy Center. Cooper’s ruling prompted criticism from some Trump allies and conservative commentators who pointed to the judge’s family connection to Biden’s attorney, suggesting a conflict of interest may be at play in Cooper’s work.
Explosive report unearths prominent union money trail labeled a ‘stunning betrayal’ of MAGA members
FIRST ON FOX — A major railroad union is under fire after a watchdog report alleged its leadership funneled money to support Democratic causes that opposed the Trump administration, undermining many of its own MAGA members while also spending millions on questionable expenses. Leaders of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Division (BMWED-IBT), one of the nation’s largest rail unions representing 37,000 members, are accused of using union resources to support Democratic priorities through their spending, according to a report released by the American Accountability Foundation (AAF). “The leadership’s progressive alignment is a stunning betrayal of the large proportion of its working-class members who support the MAGA agenda and President Trump’s leadership,” the report said. “BMWE’s one-sided partisanship is evidenced by its attacks on the Trump agenda and its broad support for Democratic causes.” NATION’S 2 LARGEST TEACHERS UNIONS FUNNELED NEARLY $50M TO LEFT-WING GROUPS, WATCHDOG REPORT SAYS The report described the union’s leadership as “leftward bent,” citing attacks on Trump during his first term, including claims he was “undoing Obama’s legacy” and that his deregulation efforts were “dangerous.” Additionally, the report found the union supported left-leaning causes such as Black Lives Matter, abortion and universal health care, while opposing Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” and maintaining ties to Democratic organizations and prominent Democrats, including Reps. Jesús “Chuy” García, D-Ill., and Dina Titus, D-Nev. The report added that the union’s leaders have displayed a “stunning betrayal” and abandoned “the will” of their large MAGA member base, underscoring a growing disconnect between organized labor leadership and many “rank-and-file” union members. “While the broad support for the Trump-Vance agenda by industrial union members has been widely reported on, news of this nearly decade-old realignment has apparently yet to reach the leadership of the Brotherhood of Maintenance and Way Employees Division (BMWE) union whose dues-paying members repeatedly cast ballots for President Trump,” the report said. Beyond the union’s political alignment, the report examined BMWED-IBT’s spending practices. LARGEST PUBLIC-SECTOR UNIONS SPENT EYE-POPPING AMOUNT ON LEFT-WING POLITICS — 86% FUNDED BY MEMBER DUES The union allegedly sent more than $441,098 to “left-wing” organizations, including the Center for American Progress, a leading progressive think tank; more than $100,000 to the National Democratic Club across multiple years; and the National Teamsters Hispanic Caucus, according to the report. The report said both the National Democratic Club and the National Teamsters Hispanic Caucus are known for their stances against the Trump administration’s immigration policies. The report further examines the Teamsters’ Democrat, Republican, Independent Voter Education (D.R.I.V.E.) PAC, which BMWED-IBT joined after its political action committee merged into the PAC in 2004, saying the PAC heavily favored Democrats in its political spending by donating about $13.76 million to Democratic Party committees compared with about $729,846 to Republican committees. Recent polling shows that labor unions like BMWED-IBT consist of a large number of workers who support Trump, including Teamsters polling that shows a 60-40 breakdown in favor of Trump and exit polling from the 2024 election that shows working-class voters without a college degree went 56% for Trump and 42% for Harris. Not only did the report point to the union’s Democratic associations, but also what it described as “massive wasteful spending,” claiming that roughly two-thirds of headquarters employees earned six-figure salaries in 2024, while the average BMWED-IBT member earned $61,692. SENIOR TRUMP OFFICIAL REVEALS VISIT THAT SET ‘TRAJECTORY’ FOR ELECTION VICTORY The report said BMWED-IBT President Tony D. Cardwell earned $233,492 and Secretary-Treasurer Dale Bogart earned $206,709 that year, adding members of BMWED-IBT Local Lodge 1020, a local union, pay nearly $100 per month in dues “that goes to subsidizing the salaries of union leadership.” Additionally, the report alleges BMWED-IBT spent more than $18 million from 2017 to 2024, including $7.25 million on hotels and conferences, $5.44 million on legal fees, $2.71 million on promotional items and merchandise and $2.11 million on travel. The union allegedly spent $2.33 million at casinos and resorts alone during the same period, including a $522,281 payment to Caesars Entertainment in 2023, according to the report, which argues the spending shows leadership’s priorities are not in the right place. “While hardworking rank-and-file members of the Brotherhood of Maintenance and Way Employees Division Union are busting their backs, making an average of $60K per year, woke union bosses live like kings and have wasted millions in union dues on progressive activism, hotel stays and casino trips,” AAF President Tom Jones told Fox News Digital. “The BMWE Union is completely out of touch with its members and is actively betraying the very Trump-supporting workers it claims to support.” The union pushed back strongly against the report in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Since taking over leadership of the BMWED-IBT in 2022, our union has operated at a budget surplus,” Cardwell said. “In fact, it was one of our most prioritized goals to become fiscally responsible and diligent stewards of the memberships’ money. We are accomplishing this goal.” Cardwell said the union’s work “on Capitol Hill or in any statehouse nationwide” is focused on “securing the best policy and protections” for members, saying that it donates to lawmakers from either party who support railroad workers because “party affiliation is not a determining factor for our political arm – support of working railroaders is the only thing that matters.” “No dues dollars are allocated to political lobbying,” Cardwell said. “The only money donated to politicians comes from our Teamster PAC, which is and has always been voluntarily funded. It is vital that we have a voice in the political realm and this is how we accomplish it, with impartiality and the goal of achieving the best policies and legislation possible for our members.” Despite the union’s Democratic ties, BMWED-IBT has collaborated with Republicans on key rail safety legislation, including Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., who recently introduced the Secure Tracks Act, which would require railroad companies to use both human and automated track inspections. Cardwell said the union has “garnered more Republican support on the Hill than in