Trump blocks South Africa from 2026 G20 summit for alleged ‘horrific human rights abuses’
President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he would not invite South Africa to the 2026 G-20 summit in Florida, citing alleged “horrific human rights abuses.” “To put it more bluntly, they are killing white people and randomly allowing their farms to be taken from them,” Trump alleged in a Truth Social post. “At my direction, South Africa will NOT be receiving an invitation to the 2026 G-20, which will be hosted in the Great City of Miami, Florida next year,” he added. TRUMP PICKS HIS MIAMI DORAL RESORT TO HOST 2026 G20 SUMMIT IN FLORIDA DURING NATION’S ANNIVERSARY YEAR The Embassy of South Africa did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. Clayson Monyela, head of diplomacy for the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, dismissed the notion that South Africa could be shut out. “South Africa is a founding member of the G-20. We don’t get invited to G-20 meetings and leaders summit. Those are gatherings of members. If other members allow this then the G-20 will die,” Monyela told Fox News Digital. “Other countries have already told us that they too will boycott the U.S. G-20 if South Africa is excluded,” Monyela added. If carried out, the move would break with more than two decades of precedent and mark the first time a member has been formally excluded from the gathering of the world’s major economies. The G-20, which brings together major advanced and emerging economies and accounts for roughly 80% of global GDP and two-thirds of the world’s population, has historically operated on the principle of inclusion. That tradition already was strained after the U.S. boycott of the 2025 meeting held in Johannesburg earlier in November. The Trump administration argued that the country’s government had failed to address violence and discrimination it claimed was occurring in rural farming communities. Additionally, the U.S. objected to the meeting’s focus on climate and development issues rather than core economic priorities. TRUMP ADMIN SLAMS SOUTH AFRICA FOR ‘WEAPONIZED’ G-20 PRESIDENCY AS SUMMIT IGNORES CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION The boycott marked a notable break from past U.S. engagement, leaving the world’s largest economy missing from a key forum for global economic policymaking. Trump also said in the same Truth Social post that he would halt U.S. payments to South Africa. “South Africa has demonstrated to the world they are not a country worthy of membership anywhere and we are going to stop all payments and subsidies to them, effective immediately,” Trump wrote. The White House and State Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for further details. It remains unclear how the move will affect the country’s standing within the G-20 or broader U.S.–South Africa relations ahead of the 2026 summit in Florida. Relations between Trump and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa have steadily deteriorated in recent months. In February, Trump suspended U.S. aid to South Africa, alleging discrimination against White farmers. Tensions escalated again in March when the State Department expelled the South African ambassador, labeling him “persona non grata.” In May, the two leaders clashed in the Oval Office when Trump pressed Ramaphosa over allegations that White Afrikaners were being targeted and killed in South Africa. Ramaphosa pushed back, telling Trump he had seen no evidence to support those claims. Paul Tilsley contributed to this report from Johannesburg, South Africa.
Veterans flood Democrat’s office with supportive calls as backlash grows over ‘illegal orders’ video
A Democratic congresswoman and former Air Force captain who joined five other lawmakers in a viral video advising service members they could refuse illegal orders from a president shared a slew of voicemails backing her stance. The video released by six Democrat lawmakers who are veterans drew sharp rebuke from President Donald Trump, who called them “traitors,” and War Secretary Pete Hegseth, who asked Navy Secretary John Phelan to formally review one senator’s comments in the clip. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, who represents Chester County and Reading, shared a mashup of numerous messages praising her and her colleagues for “standing up” for military members at what the lawmakers involved said was a tenuous time to be serving the public. DEM SENATOR WHO BASHED HEGSETH’S QUALIFICATIONS STANDS BY DOD SEC WHO OVERSAW BOTCHED AFGHAN WITHDRAWAL Several callers were not constituents, including veterans from as far away as Fairbanks, Alaska. Others said they hailed from Philadelphia, Reading, West Chester, Phoenixville and Berwyn, Pennsylvania, along with Baltimore, Maryland; Carlsbad, California; and beyond. They identified themselves by their military record as well, including Marine vets, infantry vets, a wounded warrior, a Gulf War vet and descendants of World War I, World War II, Vietnam and Korea. “I am not a constituent,” one said. “I am a veteran.” CALIFORNIA DEM TELLS HEGSETH HE’S AN ‘EMBARRASSMENT’ TO THE US, SHOULD ‘GET THE HELL OUT’ OF THE DOD “Thank you for standing firmly with our service members,” another said. “I just want to tell her I appreciate her comments, and they’re right,” a third caller said. Addressing the video’s quotes directly, another veteran expressed gratitude that Houlahan was “letting them know it’s OK to question orders that seem wrong or illegal.” JEFFRIES BECOMES HIGHEST-RANKING DEM TO CALL FOR HEGSETH TO RESIGN “I’m with you. I’m behind you.” “You have support and gratitude from citizens across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Thank you. That’s all I can tell you. Thank you very much. You’re making the commonwealth very proud. I am so proud of all six of you for making that video,” several callers added in an edited, composite excerpt. “I will continue to speak up for you because you continue to speak up to me,” another told Houlahan. SEN. TILLIS OPENS UP ABOUT ROLE IN PETE HEGSETH’S CONFIRMATION AFTER HEGSETH’S EX-SISTER-IN-LAW’S ALLEGATIONS In response, the White House said Democrats like Houlahan were unable to list any examples of unlawful orders given by Trump or the Pentagon when they were asked. “Because there have been none,” said White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson. “It should deeply concern all Americans that elected Democrats are publicly urging the military to openly defy the chain-of-command and the commander in chief’s lawful orders to subvert the will of the American people,” she said. On Tuesday, Houlahan said the FBI reached out to the House and Senate sergeants-at-arms, who maintain order in the Capitol galleries, requesting interviews with lawmakers in the video. “President Trump is using the FBI as a tool to intimidate and harass members of Congress,” Houlahan said. “No amount of intimidation or harassment will ever stop us from doing our jobs and honoring our Constitution.” REPUBLICAN MILITARY VETS IN CONGRESS ARE ON A MISSION TO GET HEGSETH CONFIRMED “We will never be bullied. We will never give up the ship,” she said, quoting a line from the video spoken by Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich. The most prominent lawmaker in the video, Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., has since been subject to an impending investigation by the Pentagon, according to documents. Kelly, a retired Navy combat pilot and astronaut, is in the distinct category of “retired” — requiring 20 years of service — rather than “former,” a status that allows the Pentagon to recall him for disciplinary action that could include loss of rank or other penalties. FOX NEWS POLITICS NEWSLETTER: FORMER ARMY CAPTAIN WARNS DEMS’ ‘UNPATRIOTIC’ VIDEO COULD SPARK CHAOS Hegseth branded Houlahan, Kelly and the others the “Seditious Six,” and his office released a statement saying that all “service members are reminded that they have a legal obligation under the UCMJ to obey lawful orders and that orders are presumed to be lawful.” “A service member’s personal philosophy does not justify or excuse the disobedience of an otherwise lawful order,” the War Department said. Houlahan spent two years on active duty in the Air Force from 1989-1991 and the rest of her career in the Reserves until separating in 2004. Her father was a Naval aviator and she was born at the Naval Air Station Patuxent base in St. Mary’s, Maryland. Five of the six lawmakers in the video also reportedly received bomb threats to their offices since the release of the video. Slotkin, Houlahan and Reps. Jason Crow, D-Colo., and Chris Deluzio, D-Pa., received threats to their Capitol Hill offices, while Rep. Maggie Goodlander, the wife of Obama National Security Adviser Jacob Sullivan, was subject to a bomb threat at her local office in Concord, New Hampshire, according to Newsweek.
Dem House hopeful getting yanked from governor’s office during attempted sit-in goes viral ahead of election
The Democratic Party hopeful in Tennessee’s upcoming special election, Aftyn Behn, is going viral due to a 2019 incident when she was working as a political organizer and was forcibly removed from Democrat Gov. Bill Lee’s office during an attempted sit-in. The 2019 incident came before Behn entered elected office in 2023 by winning a special election to take over the state’s District 51 seat. Prior to her entrance into the Tennessee state legislature, Behn worked as a political organizer for numerous far-left activist groups, such as “No Kings” protests co-organizer Indivisible, Enough Is Enough Tennessee and the Tennessee Justice Center. During her work with Enough Is Enough, which the conservative Capital Research Center says was established to target Tennessee lawmakers accused of sexual misconduct, Behn participated in a sit-in in Lee’s office, which resulted in a video recording of her skating past officers to get inside before they ran after her and yanked her out of the office. TENNESSEE CANDIDATE BLASTS DEM OPPONENT’S ‘UNACCEPTABLE’ TWEETS CALLING TO DISSOLVE NASHVILLE POLICE The sit-in was aimed at pressuring the governor to demand the resignation of a state representative who had been accused of, but not charged with, sexual assault allegations, according to News Channel 5 Nashville. Behn appears to be heard wailing in the video as she gets yanked out of the governor’s office after reportedly being told she could face arrest. A subsequent social media post by local news outlet The Tennessee Holler showed Behn on day two of the attempted sit-in, lying with a blanket and pillow in front of the governor’s office weeping. “HAPPENING NOW: Aftyn Behn Of Enough Is Enough Tennessee weeps after being roughly tossed out of Governor Bill Lee’s office by troopers,” the post says. Fox News Digital reached out to the Behn campaign for comment on the viral video but did not receive a response. Republican National Committee spokesperson Delanie Bomar pointed out that Behn “is the same woman who says she hates Nashville and wants to burn down police stations,” arguing she is “wildly unfit for office, and this video is further proof of that.” With the Tuesday special election for Tennessee’s 7th Congressional District looming, Behn has been the brunt of numerous attacks for her radical past. ‘FULL-BLOWN BATTLE’ BREWING IN DEM PARTY AS MAMDANI-STYLE CANDIDATES RISE IN KEY RACES One of those attacks stemmed from past comments Behn made on a podcast, claiming she “hated” the city she is trying to represent, Nashville. Others include radical calls to “dissolve” police departments and previous justification for violent riots and burning down police stations. When pressed over the weekend about her anti-police positions in the past, Behn dodged the question three different times. She claimed the attacks on her comments about hating Nashville were “obviously taken out of context” and are just part of an attack campaign against her because Republicans are scared. “I do not hate country music. I was conceived after a George Strait concert,” Behn quipped during an interview on the “Breaking Points with Krystal and Saagar” podcast. “It just shows — The New York Times reporter — that there’s a 48-page dossier of me, which includes clips,” she said. “I had a podcast back in the day called G.R.I.T.S. – Girls Raised In The South – and I was lamenting about, you know, the things that are wrong with our city. Obviously taken out of context, obviously hyperbolic, and I don’t feel that way at all.” Behn added that she thinks the attack ultimately backfired, and shows her opponent is “digging deep.” During the “Breaking Points” interview, Behn tried to dispel the criticism that she hates the district she is trying to represent by arguing that she has spent “the past decade” of her life “pouring blood, sweat and tears into my city and my state to make it better for working people.” However, that working-class campaign message also has been challenged by Behn’s past ahead of the special election. The state representative, for example, voted no in 2024 on a bill that would have resulted in a $400 million tax cut for certain Tennessee small businesses, including potential refunds of up to $1.5 billion. Among her other anti-tax cutting actions, Behn rallied against Republicans’ H.R. 1, the so-called “big, beautiful bill.” The bill, which extended President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, could have meant a nearly $4,000 increase for taxpayers in her district if it had not passed based on economic analyses. Lee called the move the “single largest tax cut” in the state’s history. Behn also voted against a statewide budget bill earlier in 2025 that would have added tens of millions to the state’s rainy day fund, which would have effectively padded the state’s coffers so that, in times of low revenue, taxes won’t need to be increased so much. That same budget bill would have also allocated millions for volunteer fire departments, senior centers, emergency medical services, teacher bonuses and other public safety funding.
Former Democratic presidential candidate talks about the future of his party after off-year election success
The Democrats enjoyed a series of wins across the country in the off-year election, taking governors’ races and key positions in several state and local elections. Despite the successes, the party’s future still appears unclear, as more centrist candidates won in Virginia and New Jersey, while more leftist candidates scored victories in places like New York City. Jason Palmer, a former Democratic presidential primary candidate and co-founder of TOGETHER!, argued the future of the party is “very much up for debate” — but not for long. He said he believes things will be clear within the next year and predicts the 2025 victories could lead to Democrats using split messaging, meaning candidates and platforms would be chosen based on their potential voters. “I think what’s going to end up happening is that the Democrats are going to become a bigger tent and take in different candidates in different regions based on the politics of those regions,” Palmer told Fox News Digital. “So, you’ll see people that are more like Beshear in Kentucky across the Midwest, you’ll some people more like Mamdani all throughout Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, etc., but the Democratic Party will have different messages for different parts of the country in the 2026 election.” ‘FULL-BLOWN BATTLE’ BREWING IN DEM PARTY AS MAMDANI-STYLE CANDIDATES RISE IN KEY RACES The former presidential candidate, who ran in the 2024 election cycle, said that his party is making a mistake in its messaging on billionaires and business. “Well, personally, I think they’re going too far anti-billionaire in their approach. America is a country where people can make of themselves what they want, and most of the people that are billionaires in America did not inherit their wealth,” Palmer said. “Business building is a core part of what makes America great, and I don’t think the Democratic Party should be bashing business builders. I think we should be pro-entrepreneurship and pro-mission-driven entrepreneurship, especially,” he added. While Palmer discussed the possibility of split messaging, he believes there is one issue that both Democrats and Republicans can get behind: conscious capitalism. He sees public benefit corporations (PBC) as the way of the future as young people search for meaning. “I think conscious capitalism is where our economy is ultimately going,” he said. “More and more young people want to work at purpose-driven companies, and they’re okay with them being for-profit companies.” MEET THE NEW ‘SQUAD’: THE NEXT GENERATION OF TRUMP-ERA PROGRESSIVE CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATES When asked about what is driving young people’s need to find meaning through their work, Palmer said that he believes purpose-driven work has come to replace religion for many. While he himself is a Quaker, Palmer said he sees young people pulling away from organized religion and towards something else. “I think a lot of people are trying to get their purpose through work, and there are a lot of companies that provide that purpose and that family feeling, basically,” Palmer said. In order to implement conscious capitalism as actual policy, Palmer suggested a two-step taxation process in Washington, D.C. This would allow corporations that have mission-driven principles and release impact metrics to pay a lower rate than companies that go completely for-profit. With less than a year to go before the 2026 midterms, Palmer’s message to Democrats is to “look for younger candidates to run in purple districts all across the country.” He also shared that he plans to release a list of young candidates who he is endorsing. He said the people on his list are in their 20s and 30s and have entrepreneurial backgrounds and believe in “conscious capitalism.”
Mike Johnson: US-Israel alliance ‘really important’ for multiple reasons, antisemitism should be ‘called out’
House Speaker Mike Johnson defended the U.S.–Israel alliance as a strategic necessity in the Middle East and said antisemitism must be “universally rejected.” He made his comments as Republicans confront widening divisions over U.S. support for Israel and how the party should respond to rising antisemitism. During an interview on “The Katie Miller Podcast,” in response to what Miller called a “schism” in the GOP over Israel, Johnson said he wished “everybody would acknowledge the importance of that relationship,” noting many Americans view support for Israel as rooted in “scripturally based, biblical reasons.” “But even if you don’t accept that,” he continued, “you have to look at this objectively and say it’s really important to have that ally and partner in that corner of the world, and it’s the only stable democracy in the Middle East. It’s a tinderbox. MIKE PENCE: NO PLACE FOR ANTISEMITISM IN AMERICA TODAY, TOMORROW OR EVER “You can make all sorts of arguments of why this is a really important friendship and alliance. But the antisemitism stuff ought to be universally rejected and called out. And I’m very insistent about that,” Johnson told Miller. “We got to love everybody and certainly the Jewish people.” A small but increasingly vocal number of House Republicans have begun to break with the party’s traditional pro-Israel stance, most notably Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and Thomas Massie, R-Ky. ISRAEL’S STRIKES IN QATAR TRIGGERS RARE US REBUKE, TESTS TRUMP’S GULF DIPLOMACY Greene, who announced she will resign from Congress in January 2026, has been a vocal critic of U.S. policy toward Israel and called for cuts to military aid to Jerusalem. Massie has long opposed U.S. military aid to Israel and criticized the influence of pro-Israel lobbying groups, particularly AIPAC, on American foreign policy.
Georgia moves to drop 2020 election interference case against Trump
The state of Georgia moved to drop all remaining charges in the 2020 election interference case against President Donald Trump and his co-defendants. “The political persecution of President Trump by disqualified DA Fani Willis is finally over. This case should never have been brought. A fair and impartial prosecutor has put an end to this lawfare,” Trump’s lead Georgia defense counsel Steve Sadow said in a statement. “This entire case, from the initiation of the District Attorney’s investigation in 2021 to the present, is without precedent,” noted Peter J. Skandalakis, who took the case over after Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was disqualified from handling it. “Never before, and hopefully never again, will our country face circumstances such as these.” This is a developing story. Please check back for updates. Fox News’ Samantha Daigle and David Lewkowict contributed to this report
DHS brass slam Virginia Beach principal accused in ‘chilling’ plot to lure, ambush ICE agents
FIRST ON FOX: Top brass at the Department of Homeland Security told Fox News Digital the agency’s Investigations unit is now on the case of a Virginia educator and his brother accused of plotting to attack ICE, potentially with explosive rounds. Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said Wednesday that Kempsville High School assistant principal John Wilson Bennett and his older brother Mark Booth Bennett were overheard at a Vietnamese restaurant in Virginia Beach allegedly conspiring to go to Nevada and plan attacks on ICE agents in retribution for what they claimed to be “kidnapping[s]” of civilians during recent immigration enforcement operations. “It’s chilling that a human being, much less a child educator, would plot to ambush and kill ICE law enforcement officers—offering such specifics as to getting a high-caliber rifle that would pierce the law enforcements’ bullet proof vests,” McLaughlin said, after Fox News Digital originally reported on the adult brothers’ arrest days ago. “Thanks to Homeland Security Investigations and our partners, these men are behind bars.” FLORIDA MAN NABBED BY HOMELAND SECURITY FOR ALLEGEDLY MAKING ONLINE DEATH THREATS AGAINST ICE ‘GESTAPO’ John Bennett has been faculty at the school, located in the inland part of Virginia Beach, since 2009. The school told local press that he is currently on leave. McLaughlin said DHS worked with law enforcement at all levels after an off-duty Norfolk police officer overheard the men at a Vietnamese restaurant in Virginia Beach on Nov. 17 discussing plans to “kill police officers and ICE agents,” with Mark Bennett allegedly saying he was planning to meet like-minded people in Las Vegas, where he would also purchase firearms with explosive rounds. Two days later, Mark Bennett was arrested at Norfolk International Airport en route to Charlotte-Douglas International Airport, to connect to Las Vegas. John Bennett was also arrested that day. FBI DIRECTOR KASH PATEL VOWS JUSTICE AFTER DHS AGENT’S VEHICLE RAMMED IN CHICAGO McLaughlin said the case is indicative of the more-than 1,150% increase in assaults against ICE agents and 8,000-fold spike in death threats as they go about their daily work defending the homeland. “They risk their lives every single day to remove the worst of the worst, including murderers, rapists, pedophiles, terrorists, and gang members. From bounties placed on their heads for their murders, threats to their families, stalking, and doxxing online, our officers are experiencing an unprecedented level of violence and threats against them and their families,” McLaughlin said. Happy O’Brien, Mark Bennett’s attorney, disputed the recounting of events, reportedly saying his client was instead flying to Nevada for a F1 (Formula One) motorsports event with his child, according to the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot. O’Brien reportedly compared the restaurant conversation to something out of the NBC sitcom “Seinfeld” – where Jerry Seinfeld’s and Jason Alexander’s characters would often have varying degrees of existential conversations while having coffee at “Monk’s.” Both Bennetts were charged with conspiracy to commit malicious wounding. Fox News Digital’s Adam Sabes contributed to this report.
Showdown for the House: Democrats, Republicans brace for high-stakes midterm clash
Democrats, energized by their convincing victories earlier this month in the 2025 elections, are betting those results foreshadow a House flip in next year’s midterm showdowns. The party out of power needs a net gain of just three seats to grab back the majority from the Republicans, who’ve controlled the House for nearly three years. And the party in power, which nowadays is clearly the Republicans, traditionally faces political headwinds in the midterm elections. At stake: the success of President Donald Trump‘s second-term agenda. “We’ll take back the House in 2026,” Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chair Rep. Suzan DelBene of Washington state told Fox News Digital. DEMOCRATS, REPUBLICANS, GO ALL IN ON FINAL CONGRESSIONAL ELECTION SHOWDOWN OF THE YEAR But for Republicans, aiming to protect their fragile majority, the magic number is also three. “The only number I’m concerned about is three. We have three Republicans in seats Kamala Harris carried,” said Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina, chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee. He pointed to districts carried during the 2024 presidential election by then-Vice President Kamala Harris. HOUSE GOP CAMPAIGN CHAIR WANTS TRUMP ‘OUT THERE ON THE TRAIL’ IN MIDTERM BATTLE FOR MAJORITY And Hudson, in a Fox News Digital interview, highlighted that Democrats have “13 sitting in seats Donald Trump won. They’ve got 21 more sitting in seats that Donald Trump barely lost. So there, there are only a few seats up for grabs this time, most of them are Democrat seats.” The most recent national polls indicate Democrats with the upper hand in the 2026 battle for the House majority. But DelBene cautioned, “We take nothing for granted.” And Hudson was optimistic that Republicans would “grow our House majority.” High prices and out-of-control cost of living were key issues that boosted Trump and Republicans in the 2024 elections, as they won back the White House and Senate majority and kept control of the House. But what a difference a year makes. Democrats, with an across-the-board focus on affordability, overperformed at the polls as they enjoyed sweeping ballot box success earlier this month. Democrats scored double-digit gubernatorial wins in blue-leaning but competitive New Jersey and Virginia, and convincing victories in high-profile showdowns in battlegrounds Georgia and Pennsylvania and left-tilting New York City and California. “It was clear that when folks are talking about the biggest issues affecting their communities, and right now, affordability, with the rising costs people have seen as a result of the policies put in place by this administration and Republicans in Congress, they rejected that,” DelBene said as she pointed to the 2025 election results. DEMOCRATS DOUBLE-DOWN ON THIS KEY ISSUE “Absolutely, we saw that in governor’s races like Virginia and New Jersey, but [also] in races across the country,” she added. The most recent Fox News national poll was another warning sign for Trump and the GOP. Three-quarters of voters questioned in the survey viewed the economy negatively, and large numbers of respondents, including Republicans, said their costs for groceries, utilities, healthcare and housing have gone up this year. The poll indicated that voters blame the president, with nearly twice as many pointing fingers at Trump than former President Joe Biden, when asked who is responsible for the current economy. Only 38% of those questioned gave the president a thumbs-up to how he’s handling the economy. And Trump’s overall approval rating, at 41%, was the lowest of his second term in office in Fox News polling. “Affordability is still the number one issue for families. Housing, food, health care, child care, energy costs all going up directly as a result of policies put in place by Republicans in Congress and Donald Trump. And they promised to lower costs on day one,” DelBene said. SETTING THE STAGE: WHAT THE 2025 ELECTIONS SIGNAL FOR NEXT YEAR’S MIDTERM SHOWDOWNS Pointing to last year’s elections, she said, “That was their big message. They were going to lower costs. It has been a big broken promise, and people are feeling that and and that’s had a big impact and will continue. People want folks who are going to stand up to them for them, not just be blindly loyal to the president.” Hudson, asked about the political impact of the cost of living, took aim at the former president. “There are challenges out there with the economy, because Biden broke it, and House Republicans, working with President Trump, are going to fix it, and we’re working very hard to do that,” he said. “Certainly, we could always improve the way we communicate with our voters about it,” he added. “But we are laser-focused on the issues that matter to them. You know, it’s the cost of things, it’s the security in their neighborhood, it’s a secure border. We are very focused on that, and we’ve delivered a lot of things that are going to make their lives better.” DEMOCRATS SEE MANDATE AFTER 2025 WINS — REPUBLICANS SAY IT’S A MIRAGE And looking ahead to next year, he added, “Come tax season, a lot of families are going to be really happy to see they’ve got a lot more take-home pay, and that’s because of Donald Trump and House Republicans.” The DCCC, in its messaging, has tied vulnerable House Republicans to Trump. DelBene argued that it’s “Republican policies that are hurting American families, the tariffs that Donald Trump has put in place that have raised costs for families across the country, their ongoing work to gut healthcare across this country.” And she charged that the “policies that they have prioritized have been favoring the wealthy and the well-connected, tax breaks for the wealthy and the well-connected, but hurting working families across the country. People are feeling that, and we’re going to continue to call that out.” Hudson called the 2025 elections a “wake-up call” for GOP voters and that he wants Trump “out there on the trail” in next year’s midterms. Plenty of Republicans have downplayed the Democrats’ high-profile victories, noting they largely took place in
US envoy gave Russian aide tips on how to sell Ukraine deal to Trump: report
U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff gave a senior Kremlin official tips on how to sell a Ukraine peace deal to President Donald Trump, a report said. Witkoff spoke by phone to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s top foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov on Oct. 14, advising him on how Putin should bring up the topic with the U.S. president, according to Bloomberg. “We put a 20-point Trump plan together that was 20 points for peace, and I’m thinking maybe we do the same thing with you,” Witkoff was quoted by Bloomberg as saying, in reference to the Trump administration’s Gaza peace deal. During the phone call, which lasted about five minutes, Witkoff said he had a deep respect for Putin and that he had informed Trump that he believed Russia has always wanted a peace deal for Ukraine, Bloomberg reported. TRUMP TOUTS ‘TREMENDOUS PROGRESS’ BUT SAYS HE’LL MEET PUTIN AND ZELENSKYY ‘ONLY WHEN’ PEACE DEAL IS FINAL Witkoff mentioned that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was visiting the White House in mid-October and that Putin could speak to Trump ahead of that meeting, the report added. “Zelenskyy is coming to the White House on Friday,” Witkoff said, according to a recording of the phone call obtained by Bloomberg. “I will go to that because they want me there, but I think, if possible, we have the call with your boss before that Friday meeting.” Witkoff suggested that Putin congratulate Trump on the Gaza peace deal and say that Russia backed it and that he respects Trump as a man of peace, Bloomberg reported. “Here’s what I think would be amazing,” Witkoff reportedly added. “Maybe he says to President Trump: you know, Steve and Yuri discussed a very similar 20-point plan to peace and that could be something that we think might move the needle a little bit. We’re open to those sorts of things.” Bloomberg also reported that Ushakov said Putin “will congratulate” Trump and say “Mr. Trump is a real peace man.” UKRAINE AGREES TO PEACE DEAL, US OFFICIAL SAYS When asked about the Witkoff phone call, Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Tuesday that he hadn’t heard the audio. “I haven’t heard it. No, but it’s a standard thing, you know, because he’s going to sell this to Ukraine. He’s got to sell Ukraine to Russia. That’s what he’s, that’s what a dealmaker does. You got to say, look, they want this. You’ve got to convince him of this. You know, that’s a very standard form of negotiation,” Trump said. “I haven’t heard it, but I heard it was standard negotiations. And I would imagine he’s saying the same thing to Ukraine because each party has to give and take,” Trump continued. “This war could go on for years and Russia has got a lot more people and a lot more soldiers,” the president also said. “So I think if Ukraine can make a deal, it’s a good thing. I think it’s great for both, frankly. I think it’s great for both.” White House communications director Steven Cheung told Fox News Digital on Wednesday that, “This story proves one thing: Special Envoy Witkoff talks to officials in both Russia and Ukraine nearly every day to achieve peace, which is exactly what President Trump appointed him to do.” Ushakov told Russian media on Wednesday that details about his conversation with Witkoff should not have been leaked, describing the situation as “unacceptable,” according to Reuters. It added that Ushakov said the leak was aimed at hindering discussions between the U.S. and Russia and that he would be raising the matter with Witkoff. On Tuesday, Ukraine agreed to the peace deal that would see an end to the war with Russia, a U.S. official told Fox News. Some minor details of the agreement are still to be sorted out, the official said. Lt. Col. Jeff Tolbert, a spokesman for U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, had told Fox News that Driscoll and his team met with Russian officials in Abu Dhabi on Monday and Tuesday to discuss the framework for a Ukraine peace deal. A U.S. official told Fox News that the Ukrainian delegation was also in Abu Dhabi and was in contact with Driscoll and his team. Fox News’ Ashley Carnahan and Jennifer Griffin contributed to this report.
Universities, school districts nationwide call for ‘decolonizing’ Thanksgiving: ‘Day of mourning’
As families across the U.S. gather on Thanksgiving to celebrate one of the nation’s most cherished national holidays, some educators and schools are lamenting the day, pushing back on its “colonial” roots, and incorporating diversity, equality and inclusion DEI into the holiday. At the University of California, Davis, the California History-Social Science Project, which describes itself as “Resources & professional learning for K-12 history-social science,” hosted a Zoom event called “Decolonizing Thanksgiving in the Classroom.” “We will discuss reframing classroom practices and rituals about Thanksgiving,” the event description explained. “Centering perspectives from Turtle Island (a name for North America used by some indigenous people) will help us decolonize Thanksgiving and spark new conversations about how to authentically make meaning of this holiday with our students.” Earlier this month, Washington University in St. Louis, an institution that has long been criticized over its DEI policies, put out a press release promoting an event that “highlights and honors the way different cultures recognize and understand Thanksgiving, both as part of their history and as a tradition brought into the present day.” CLICK HERE FOR MORE CAMPUS RADICALS COAST TO COAST The event was described as a way to “actively contribute to inclusive and equitable practices that influence individual and systemic change.” On Tuesday, Massachusetts Institute of Technology students are invited to the “4th annual Thanksgiving Myth-busting” event that is aimed at “continuing our exploration of the narratives justifying land grabs via colonialism” and includes a viewing of the TV show “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” Part of that effort, according to the invitation, includes students traveling in rental cars to the National Indigenous Day of Mourning (NDOM) rally in Plymouth, Massachusetts, at the location of the Mayflower’s landing. In a statement, an MIT spokesperson told Fox News Digital the school is closed on Thursday and Friday in honor of Thanksgiving. “In the same way that individuals are free at MIT to express their views, they are free to observe holidays as they wish, pray as they choose, share their ideas about holidays, and, yes, watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer if that’s what they freely choose to do,” the spokesperson said, adding that “the views expressed by an individual are their own and do not reflect those of MIT or the wider community on campus.” At the University of Massachusetts, the school referred to Thursday as a “Day of Mourning” in an announcement on its Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility website. “The National Day of Mourning is an annual demonstration, held on the fourth Thursday in November, that aims to educate the public about Native Americans in the United States, notably the Wampanoag and other tribes of the Eastern United States; dispel myths surrounding the Thanksgiving story in the United States; and raise awareness toward historical and ongoing struggles facing Native American tribes,” the announcement says. UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA SITE WARNS OF A ‘WHITENESS PANDEMIC,’ URGES WHITE PARENTS TO ‘RE-EDUCATE’ Earlier this month, the University of Maryland School of Public Policy hosted a talk called “Harvesting the Truth: Colonial Disruptions of Indigenous Food Systems & the Myths of Thanksgiving.” Students attending Albuquerque Public Schools in New Mexico were sent a November Indigenous Education update explaining that “many native people do not celebrate” Thanksgiving because it is a “reminder of the genocide of millions of Native people, the appropriation of Native lands, and the erasure of Indigenous cultures.” The school district also referred to Thanksgiving as a time of “mourning” for some. The Berkeley Unified School District in California also used the term “mourning” in its “Rethinking Thanksgiving Teaching Guide” while asking the community to consider the “painful legacy” and “nuanced perspectives” of the day. Paul Runko, senior director of Strategic Initiatives at Defending Education, told Fox News Digital, “Thanksgiving is meant to bring people together, not to divide students or cast blame over heritage. It is an opportunity for students, parents, and teachers to celebrate America, build unity in their communities, and share a meal with family and friends.” “236 years ago, President George Washington urged Americans to set aside a day to give thanks for the blessings and abundance of our nation. Presidents throughout our history have continued that tradition, reminding us each Thanksgiving to pause and reflect with gratitude.”