Early voting underway in New York, New Jersey amid hotly contested mayor and governor races
Early voting is now underway Saturday in New York and New Jersey with the public casting their ballots in the hotly contested races for New York City mayor and New Jersey governor. The New York State Board of Elections said early voters are given nine days to vote in person prior to Election Day, starting on Oct. 25 and ending Nov. 2. The race to become the next mayor of the Big Apple is drawing national attention. On Friday, Democrat mayoral nominee and frontrunner Zohran Mamdani scored an endorsement from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y. Earlier this week, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an independent mayoral candidate, was formally endorsed by current New York City Mayor Eric Adams. “Tomorrow, I vote on the first day of early voting,” Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa said Friday on ‘The Will Cain Show.’ “That should put a nail into the coffin for anybody who thinks I’m dropping out.” MAMDANI ACCUSES CUOMO OF ‘ISLAMOPHOBIC RHETORIC’ AS CONTENTIOUS NYC MAYORAL RACE COMES DOWN TO THE WIRE Sliwa has been facing pressure to drop out of the race to boost the chances of Cuomo defeating Mamdani. Meanwhile, the New Jersey Division of Elections said every county in the state “will designate in-person early voting locations that will be open Saturday, October 25, 2025 – Sunday, November 2, 2025 (the in-person early voting period).” “In 2021, historic legislation established in-person early voting in New Jersey. This law makes our state even more voter-friendly and strengthens our democracy by expanding opportunities to exercise your right to vote,” it added. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT SENDS FEDERAL ELECTION WATCHERS TO CALIFORNIA AND NEW JERSEY COUNTIES AMID REPUBLICAN REQUESTS In the Garden State, Democrat Mikie Sherrill and Republican Jack Ciattarelli are competing for the governorship. Current Democrat Gov. Phil Murphy is set to leave office in January. “Our polling’s looking good. I think we’re feeling really good right now,” Sherrill touted as she spoke with Fox News Digital after headlining a major party gathering this week in this northern New Jersey township. “I think we’re in a great position,” Ciattarelli also said in a Fox News interview after a campaign stop at a diner in Linden, N.J. Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
Potential 2028 contender campaigns for Spanberger in key Tidewater area
One of the Democratic Party’s top potential 2028 figures will stump for Virginia gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger on Sunday. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who has notably made a lane to the right of far-left Democratic Party figures like New York Assemb. Zohran Mamdani, will rally with Spanberger in the crucial Hampton Roads area. The former Virginia congresswoman plans to hold multiple rallies in the Tidewater alone before Election Day, including another with former President Barack Obama across the ‘roads’ in Norfolk. “Governor Shapiro this weekend is headed to New Jersey and Virginia to help elect Mikie Sherrill and Abigail Spanberger; two more Democratic governors who will focus every day on getting stuff done, delivering results for hardworking families and protecting freedom in their states,” Shapiro campaign spokesman Manuel Bonder told Fox News Digital on Friday. 2028 HOPEFUL CHALLENGES TRUMP’S JUVENILE SURGERY BAN WHILE OPPOSING WOMEN’S SPORTS BILL RESTRICTIONS Shapiro also plans to stump for Rep. Mikie Sherrill in New Jersey as she hopes to keep Trenton in Democratic hands. Shapiro – who has announced he will run for reelection to Harrisburg in 2026 and has not officially indicated interest in a presidential bid – is one of several Democrats whose names repeatedly come up in such conversation – including Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Kentucky Gov. Andrew Beshear. He was also the reported runner-up to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz in Kamala Harris’ 2024 veepstakes. Shapiro lambasted antisemitic behavior at the University of Pennsylvania following the Hamas attack on Israel, while separately adding of Mamdani’s view of the Jewish State: “You have to speak and act with moral clarity, and when supporters of yours say things that are blatantly antisemitic, you can’t leave room for that to just sit there.” THE ONLY TWO DEMS RUNNING FOR GOVERNOR IN 2025 ARE FORMER ROOMMATES WITH MIRRORING POLITICAL CAREERS While Shapiro has faced criticism from Republicans in his own state for supporting former Gov. Tom Wolf’s COVID-era shutdowns and for the current budget impasse, he’s also been a rare Democrat to earn praise from some in the GOP. Jack Ciattarelli, the Republican nominee in New Jersey’s sweeps, namedropped Shapiro favorably enough times that Newark Mayor Ras Baraka – then running for governor – suggested he cross the Delaware and run in the Keystone State instead. “[Pennsylvania doesn’t] have a property tax crisis [like New Jersey], they don’t have a business climate crisis, they don’t have an energy crisis,” Ciattarelli said, contrasting the two neighbors. Pennsylvania Republicans, however, disputed some of those descriptions, with state Rep. Russ Diamond, R-Lebanon, and Sen. David Argall, R-New Ringgold, recently drafting bills to eliminate property taxes altogether. State Sen. Doug Mastriano, R-Gettysburg, who challenged Shapiro in 2022 and is being urged by the conservative wing to do so again in 2026, also blasted Shapiro’s budget proposals as “fantasy,” warning in a statement that “eventually, the funds from ‘we the people’ will run dry.” Shapiro has also been vocal on election law itself, rebuking the president over a Truth Social post potentially foreshadowing an end to mail-in balloting. “Donald Trump can sign whatever the hell executive orders he wants… But he can’t change the Constitution with an executive order, and the Constitution gives the authority to set our election rules to the states.” Shapiro said.
Expert warns Democrats risk backlash over failure to condemn violent rhetoric in their ranks
With less than two weeks before critical elections across the country, Democrats have tough questions to grapple with in terms of their messaging and whether they can navigate the growing movement in their party that is embracing or downplaying political violence, attorney and political commentator Kaitlin Puccio told Fox News Digital. “We do hear a lot of just the Democrats are against Trump, but we don’t hear a lot of what they’re actually for, which is problematic and it kind of seems to me like they don’t really have a cohesive message,” Puccio, adjunct professor at Fordham Law and the Director of the Art and Bioethics Initiative of the UNESCO Chair in Bioethics and Human Rights, said in an interview with Fox News Digital. Puccio said the ‘No Kings’ protests last week, where several examples of promoting violence went viral on social media, show a “fracture” in the Democratic Party that the mainstream elected officials will have to contend with. Additionally, messaging at those rallies, Puccio explained, lacked substance. CHICAGO SCHOOLS SILENT ON PUNISHMENT OR PUBLIC CONDEMNATION OF TEACHER WHO MOCKED CHARLIE KIRK’S DEATH “It’s mostly ‘we are against Trump.’ Okay, but, specifically, what are you against? What is the specific policy that you are against?” Puccio said. “‘No Kings’: great. But we don’t have a king. We all know that. We’re not supposed to take this phrase literally, but what about the policies that are in place right now, do you think are authoritarian? And what do you want instead? So we’re hearing a lot of slogans and phrases and kind of catch phrases. And really that leaves the message without substance.” Questions about Democrat support for political violence have been front and center in recent weeks after Virginia Democratic attorney general candidate Jay Jones was outed for past texts fantasizing about killing a Republican colleague and wishing death on that colleague’s children. “I don’t think that it’s lost on voters that there are these horrible texts that came out recently from Jay Jones and the strange thing is that there are very few people who are condemning these texts,” Puccio said, highlighting that prominent Democrats, particularly in Virginia, have refused to call on Jones to drop out of the race. WATCH: ‘NO KINGS’ PROTESTER STEPS UP TO MIC AND CALLS FOR ICE AGENTS TO BE ‘SHOT,’ ‘WIPED OUT’ “But I think the reason for that is that the party of tolerance, right, the Democrats, is actually, it’s become a very intolerant party,” Puccio added. “So if you have people condemning these texts, this sort of violent political rhetoric and things like that, they don’t want to be alienated by their own party. Look at what they’ve done or tried to do to John Fetterman. When he tries to think for himself instead of having the party tell him what to think, they ostracize him. I think that is kind of the reason that we’re in this weird place with our leaders, because everyone is kind of being quiet.” In addition to Jones, Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner has faced scrutiny over advocating for political violence in the past and a tattoo that resembles a Nazi Germany symbol. Puccio told Fox News Digital that Platner’s apology seemed to show remorse compared to the reaction from Jones, which could serve as a blueprint going forward on how Democrats can acknowledge past mistakes. “The point is that every situation has to be evaluated separately, but the conversation still has to be had over what to do within our Democratic Party about this violent rhetoric, which is, it’s basically being accepted right now,” Puccio said. “What we’re about to see, I don’t know how long it’s going to take, but I do think there’s going to be a shift toward the middle because I think there is going to be a realization that we are leaving out and by we, I mean, all Americans in general were forgetting from both sides of the political aisle about the middle.” While Democrats are expected to perform strongly in next year’s midterms, given that, historically, the party not in power does well in those elections, Republicans have been closing the gap in the Virginia and New Jersey gubernatorial elections being held in early November, which could send a signal that Democrats aren’t in as strong of a position as many experts think. Puccio said today’s Democratic Party is “unrecognizable,” which will hopefully push leaders to come out forcefully and take back control. “I think that there will be this realization that the loudest voices on either side of the political aisle are not necessarily representative of the entire party and I think that people are going to be forced to say no to this kind of uncivil discourse that we’re seeing, because people, we citizens, are going to get very tired of seeing our leaders behave in very childish and frankly, disrespectful ways toward each other,” Puccio said. “These are not supposed to be the way our elected leaders act. And I would hope that there emerge some actual leaders and not just politicians in the future who recognize that they need to speak to everyone and not a small niche in their party.”
Here’s when 2025 Election Day early in-person voting comes to a close across the US
Election season is in full-swing, with only days left before races in 2025’s quiet election cycle are called. Fox News Digital compiled key deadlines for early in-person voting as it comes to a close. The 2025 election season is mild compared to the whirlwind federal election cycle of 2024, but will feature major races, including statewide elections for governor in New Jersey and Virginia, and New York City’s high-profile mayoral election, the ballot proposition over congressional redistricting in California, and three state Supreme Court contests in Pennsylvania. VOTING UNDERWAY IN 2025 ELECTION THAT MAY DETERMINE IF REPUBLICANS HOLD HOUSE IN 2026 MIDTERMS The races have seen a handful of political surprises in recent weeks as key races hit hot water — from Virginia attorney general candidate Jay Jones’s leaked text scandal to controversy over military records in New Jersey’s governor’s race, and backlash against Zohran Mamdani’s left-wing policies as the self-identified Democratic socialist works to secure Gracie Mansion. Voter enthusiasm is high across the country — and there’s still time for people to cast their ballots early. New Jersey’s in-person early voting began Saturday and will conclude Nov. 2. Early in-person voting is held from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday, with Sunday hours running from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Appointments are not necessary to vote early. FIVE RACES TO WATCH WITH 5 WEEKS TO GO UNTIL ELECTION DAY 2025 Big Apple residents began early in-person voting Saturday and will have until Nov. 2 to cast early in-person votes. TRUMP’S SHADOW LOOMS LARGE OVER HEATED RACES ONE MONTH BEFORE ELECTION DAY Early in-person voting kicked off in the Old Dominion State Sept. 19 and will run until Nov. 1. All localities in the state offer early voting. The Golden State is holding a special election in 2025 to decide ballot proposition 50, which would redraw state congressional district maps in response to efforts in Republican states to redraw congressional districts ahead of the midterms. Early in-person voting begins Saturday and will run through Election Day. Pennsylvanians can vote early and in-person by returning mail ballots to their local election offices until 8 p.m. on Election Day. Voters must apply for a mail-in ballot by Tuesday or vote on Election Day.
DHS to soon deport Abrego Garcia to African nation after illegal alien’s return from El Salvador, filing says
The Trump administration said it could soon deport Salvadoran illegal immigrant Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia to the African nation of Liberia after reaching an agreement with that country, according to a Department of Homeland Security filing Friday. The court filing said that Abrego Garcia could be sent to the West African nation as soon as Oct. 31 to fulfill a standing deportation order against him. Abrego Garcia was mistakenly deported to El Salvador in March despite a 2019 protection finding and a court order barring his removal to his home country. His case has become a focal point in the clash between Trump’s hardline deportation agenda and Democratic efforts to block removals. ABREGO GARCIA RELEASED FROM JAIL, WILL RETURN TO MARYLAND TO AWAIT TRIAL The filing noted that Abrego Garcia’s attorneys cited more than 20 countries he allegedly fears would prosecute or torture him if he were removed there and that Liberia is not on that list. “Liberia is a thriving democracy and one of the United States’s closest partners on the African continent,” the filing said. The filing said the country’s national language is English, its constitution “provides robust protections for human rights,” and Liberia is “committed to the humane treatment of refugees.” DHS said in the filing that it has received diplomatic assurances from Liberia about the humane treatment of people removed there. Attorneys for Abrego Garcia blasted the administration’s latest move as political retribution, arguing the latest deportation plan is part of a pattern of punitive deportation tactics. “After failed attempts with Uganda, Eswatini, and Ghana, ICE now seeks to deport our client, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, to Liberia, a country with which he has no connection, thousands of miles from his family and home in Maryland,” attorney Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg said in a statement, according to The Associated Press. ABREGO GARCIA RENEWS PUSH FOR ASYLUM IN US, REVEALS NEW COUNTRY WILLING TO ACCEPT HIM “Costa Rica stands ready to accept him as a refugee, a viable and lawful option,” the lawyer added. “Yet the government has chosen a course calculated to inflict maximum hardship. These actions are punitive, cruel and unconstitutional.” Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., a staunch supporter of Abrego Garcia, condemned the latest filing on Friday. Van Hollen flew to El Salvador in April in a publicized visit to meet Abrego Garcia in prison and has led the effort to get him released. “The Trump Administration has been desperately shopping for faraway countries they can ship Kilmar Abrego Garcia to in order to deny his constitutional due process right to defend himself against the charges they have brought,” Van Hollen said in a statement. “Clearly, Trump’s cronies want to avoid answering for the claim that they are engaged in a vindictive prosecution against Abrego Garcia, after a federal judge concluded earlier this month that his prosecution ‘may stem from retaliation by the DOJ and DHS due to Abrego’s successful challenge of his unlawful deportation in Maryland.’ Kilmar must be allowed his day in court to fight for his rights,” the senator said. Abrego Garcia entered the U.S. illegally in 2011 and was issued a deportation order in 2019. Two previous judges found he was likely affiliated with MS-13. Trump administration officials acknowledged in court that his deportation had been an administrative error, although some top Trump officials said he was correctly removed and contended he’s a member of the notorious MS-13 gang. READ THE FILING. APP USERS CLICK HERE One immigration judge in 2019 found that Garcia had not sufficiently refuted evidence of MS-13 affiliation and was thus removable to anywhere other than El Salvador because of a threat from a rival gang. The latest move to deport him comes as Abrego Garcia remains in immigration detention in Pennsylvania. A federal judge in Maryland previously barred his immediate deportation while reviewing claims that the government is retaliating against him for successfully challenging his wrongful removal earlier this year. The same judge wrote in an October order that his prosecution “may stem from retaliation by the DOJ and DHS,” while a separate case in Tennessee over human smuggling charges is still pending. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Dems pressed on why they are using working families as ‘leverage’ amid shutdown
When pressed on why Democrats are using working-class Americans as “leverage” amid the ongoing government shutdown, several Democratic senators offered varying responses — but only one rejected the premise that their party is holding Americans hostage. “It’s the only lever we have,” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., responded when asked about the matter. “We’re doing this because we’re hearing from so many families concerned about their healthcare,” said Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J. “We’re doing this because we’re hearing from them and wanting to address that.” Kim also blamed President Donald Trump and his allies, arguing that “this administration has been unwilling to actually negotiate.” DEMOCRATS REFUSE TO BUDGE OVER OBAMACARE FIGHT AS SHUTDOWN DRAGS ON “Schumer and Jefferies have asked yet again to talk to Trump before Trump goes on an international trip,” Kim lamented. “When we have all this problem here at home, for the amount of money that Donald Trump has organized to send over to Argentina, we could have funded the ACA subsidies for another year.” Republicans counter that Democrats are the ones refusing to negotiate, noting the Obamacare subsidies at issue don’t expire until year’s end and can be debated once the government reopens. “The way I see it, 2024 was about one issue above and beyond all else, and that was about lowering costs,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. TOP REPUBLICAN SLAMS KATHERINE CLARK FOR ADMITTING SUFFERING FAMILIES ARE ‘LEVERAGE’ IN SHUTDOWN BATTLE But, it was swing-state Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn., who objected to the framing of the question, telling Fox News Digital that “this isn’t a political game.” “I would never say – I’m not going to describe the lives of millions of Americans as a euphemism, as ‘leverage,’” Fetterman shot back in response to the question. “This isn’t a political game. I’m not checking about how it’s polling or who’s going to blink. Millions of Pennsylvanians are going to lose their SNAP benefits and I think we should have them both at the same time.” Fetterman, appearing to side with an argument coming from the GOP that the Obamacare subsidies can be negotiated after the government reopens, said he believes there can be “an honest conversation” between Republicans and Democrats once the government gets to a place where it can turn the lights back on. “I think plenty of [Republicans] are going to want this too – have that conversation – open up this government because that’s not leverage, this is a fail,” Fetterman said.
Trump says he’s ‘open’ to meeting with Kim Jong Un during Asia trip, North Korea is ‘sort of a nuclear power’
President Donald Trump said Saturday that he is “open” to meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un at the demilitarized zone (DMZ) while he is in South Korea during his trip to Asia. “I’d be open to it, 100%. I got along very well with him, Kim Jong Un,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. “They don’t have a lot of telephone service,” the president said. “They have a lot of nuclear weapons, but not a lot of telephone service.” Trump, who departed for Asia on Friday night, told reporters that they could “put out the word” that he was willing to meet the dictator. The president also responded to a question about recognizing North Korea as a nuclear power. TRUMP AND KIM JONG UN SHOULD MAKE ‘BOLD DECISION’ TO MEET DURING HIS ASIA TRIP, SOUTH KOREAN OFFICIAL SAYS “I think they are sort of a nuclear power,” Trump said. “I mean, I know how many weapons they have. I know everything about them and I have a very good relationship with Kim Jung Un. When you say they have to be recognized as a nuclear power, well, they’ve got a lot of nuclear weapons, I’ll say that.” South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-young urged Trump and Kim to “make a bold decision,” according to Reuters, which reported he made the remark to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency. A White House official noted Friday that Trump and the North Korean leader met during his first term in office. “President Trump in his first term, held three historic summits with North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un that stabilized the Korean Peninsula,” the official said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “U.S. policy on North Korea has not changed. President Trump remains open to talking with Kim Jong Un, but such a meeting is not currently on the schedule for this trip.” Earlier this month, a White House official told Fox News Digital that, “President Trump remains open to talking with Kim Jong Un, without any preconditions.” “President Trump in his first term held three historic summits with North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un that stabilized the Korean Peninsula. U.S. policy on North Korea has not changed,” the official added. NORTH KOREA LAUNCHES BALLISTIC MISSILES DAYS BEFORE TRUMP’S VISIT TO THE PENINSULA The week-long trip includes stops in Malaysia, Japan and South Korea. Additionally, the White House said that Trump will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit. In 2018, during his first term, Trump and Kim met in what was the first ever U.S.-North Korea summit. The meeting took place in Singapore. A joint statement at the time said that the two leaders “conducted a comprehensive, in-depth, and sincere exchange of opinions on the issues related to the establishment of new U.S.-DPRK relations.” A summit between Kim and Trump in Hanoi, Vietnam, in February 2019 ended without the two reaching a deal. One year later, in June 2019, Trump met Kim again, this time in the DMZ, making him the first sitting U.S. leader to set foot in North Korea. He took 20 steps into North Korean territory during the visit where he shook hands with Kim. When speaking to reporters in 2019, Trump said he and Kim agreed to revive talks on North Korea’s nuclear program. He said he was not aiming to make a deal fast, but rather to “get it right.”
AG James’s ‘horrible judgement’ backing Mamdani puts New Yorkers in ‘jeopardy’: GOP challenger
The Republican running against New York Democratic attorney general Letitia James took aim at her relationship with socialist New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani in an interview with Fox News Digital, arguing that it puts New York voters in jeopardy. “That association is not a surprise, because when she first ran for the New York City Council in New York City, she ran on the Working Family Party line because the Democrat party wouldn’t endorse her, she’s been a supporter of cashless her whole political career,” Michael Henry told Fox News Digital about James’s endorsement and association with Mamdani. James spoke at a rally in front of Mamdani supporters earlier this month, telling the roughly 3,000 people in the crowd after she was indicted for mortgage fraud, “You come for me? You gonna come to all of us!” Henry told Fox News Digital that James’s closeness to Mamdani, who has been labeled a communist by many, shows she’s “out of touch” and suggests that will be a “problem” for her long term. KNICKS SEND CEASE-AND-DESIST TO MAMDANI OVER LOGO USE, SAY THEY ‘WANT TO MAKE IT CLEAR’ THEY DON’T ENDORSE HIM “She introduced him on election night, she says it’s her brother, she owns him and, you know something she’s jeopardizing the people of state of New York because, forget about the fact the kids an anti-semite and a communist he’s never had a job he’s never showed up five days a week to a real job, I will tell you, when there’s a blizzard, you’ve got to get the sanitation trucks out, when there is a structural collapse, there’s serious fire, there is civil unrest and the police are dealing with an uprising, maybe with rioters or some kind of confrontation, does anybody think this kid and his practice smile and his word salad is going to be able to handle those situations?” Henry said. “He’s not a serious person. He’s a failed actor.” CURTIS SLIWA VOWS TO BE ZOHRAN MAMDANI’S ‘WORST NIGHTMARE’ IF THE DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST WINS NYC MAYORAL RACE James, who appeared in federal court on Friday to plead not guilty to mortgage fraud charges, has been a staunch advocate of Mamdani in recent months saying he is “the leader New York City needs” as the socialist candidate appears to hold a commanding lead in the polls to be the city’s next mayor. “She’s put the people of the state of New York, all New Yorkers, not political affiliations included, all New Yorkers in jeopardy because of her horrible judgment by embracing this kid,” Henry told Fox News Digital. Henry ran unsuccessfully against James in 2020, but his 45% of the vote was one of the best showings for a Republican in the state in decades. Henry told Fox News Digital New Yorkers need an “outsider” candidate who has “no fear of Letitia James at all.” Henry explained, “Look, let’s be honest, she wakes up every day focused on three things: targeting the President of the United States, weaponizing her office against political opponents, and ignoring the issues that matter most to hardworking families.” “And she’s forgotten that the New York state attorney general is the people’s lawyer, and it’s not the enforcer for the Democrat National Committee.”
America’s ‘BAT’ man unveils tech built to outsmart a Chinese first strike
Analysts say China has developed a chilling strategy for fighting a war with the United States: destroy America’s fighter jets before they ever leave the ground. In nearly every modern conflict, disabling enemy aircraft on the ground has been the first move. When Israel struck Iranian nuclear sites earlier this year, it began by destroying Iranian runways — grounding Tehran’s air force before it could take off. Russia and Ukraine have done the same throughout their ongoing war, targeting airfields to cripple enemy aircraft. And when India clashed with Pakistan, the opening salvos hit Pakistani air bases. Beijing has taken that lesson to heart. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has spent years building an arsenal of long-range precision missiles — including “carrier killers” like the DF-21D and DF-26 — capable of destroying U.S. aircraft carriers and striking American airfields across the Pacific. The goal: keep U.S. air power out of range before it can even launch. ISRAEL TO DEPLOY FIRST COMBAT-READY LASER WEAPON SYSTEM FOR OPERATIONAL AIR DEFENSE Now, a U.S. defense technology firm says it has built a way to fight back. Shield AI, based in San Diego, has unveiled a new AI-piloted fighter jet designed to operate without runways, without GPS, and without constant communication links — an aircraft that can think, fly, and fight on its own. Shield AI says the jet, called X-BAT, can take off vertically, reach 50,000 feet, fly more than 2,000 nautical miles, and execute strike or air defense missions using an onboard autonomy system known as Hivemind. It’s designed to operate from ships, small islands, or improvised sites — places where traditional jets can’t. The aircraft’s dash speed remains classified. “China has built this anti-access aerial denial bubble that holds our runways at risk,” said Armor Harris, Shield AI’s senior vice president of aircraft engineering, in an interview with Fox News. “They’ve basically said, ‘We’re not going to compete stealth-on-stealth in the air — we’ll target your aircraft before they even get off the ground.’” The jet launches vertically, and three X-BATs can fit in the space of one legacy fighter or helicopter. According to Harris, the U.S. has spent decades perfecting stealth and survivability in the air while leaving its forces vulnerable on the ground. “The way to solve that problem is mobility,” he said. “You’re always moving around. This is the only VTOL fighter being built today.” X-BAT’s Hivemind autonomy allows it to operate in denied or jammed environments, where traditional aircraft would be blind. The system uses onboard sensors to interpret its surroundings, reroute around threats, and identify targets in real time. “It’s reading and reacting to the situation around it,” Harris said. “It’s not flying a pre-programmed route. If new threats appear, it can reroute itself or identify targets and then ask a human for permission to engage.” That human element, he emphasized, remains essential. “It’s very important to us that a human is always involved in making the use of lethal force decision,” Harris said. “That doesn’t mean the person has to be in the cockpit — it could be remote or delegated through tasking — but there will always be a human decision-maker.” Shield AI says X-BAT will be combat-ready by 2029 and is designed to deliver fifth- or sixth-generation performance at a small fraction of the cost of manned fighters. The aircraft’s compact footprint allows up to three X-BATs to fit in the deck space of a single legacy fighter or helicopter, giving commanders more flexibility in launching sorties from limited space. AMERICA’S NEW STEALTH B-21 RAIDER TAKES NEXT STEP WITH SECOND BOMBER’S FIRST FLIGHT While Shield AI isn’t disclosing specific numbers, the company says X-BAT is priced in the same range as the Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program, the next generation of autonomous wingmen meant to fly alongside — and eventually ahead of — manned fighters. Costs vary depending on mission systems and configurations, but the company’s goal is to scale production to keep the jet affordable and sustainable throughout its lifecycle, breaking what it calls the traditional “fighter cost curve.” The company estimates the aircraft will deliver about a tenfold improvement in cost per effect compared to legacy fifth-generation jets, including the F-35, while remaining “affordable and attritable” enough to be risked in high-end combat. Shield AI is in discussions with both the Air Force and Navy about integrating X-BAT into future combat programs and with several allied militaries exploring joint development opportunities. Harris said the company views X-BAT as part of a generational shift toward distributed airpower — one that mirrors what SpaceX did in space. “Historically, the United States had a small number of extremely capable, extremely expensive satellites,” he said. “Then you had SpaceX come along and put up hundreds of smaller, cheaper ones. The same thing is happening in air power. There’s always going to be a role for manned platforms, but over time, unmanned systems will outnumber them ten-to-one or twenty-to-one.” For Harris, that shift is about restoring deterrence through flexibility. “X-BAT presents an asymmetric dilemma to an adversary like China,” he said. “They don’t know where it’s coming from, and the cost of countering it is high. It’s an important part of a broader joint force that becomes significantly more lethal.
Virginia Giuffre’s memoir recounts rape by former prime minister; Epstein’s ties to Bill Clinton, Trump
In her posthumous memoir, Virginia Giuffre recounts being groomed as a teenager and sexually exploited by Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell — writing that the abuse included rape by an unnamed prime minister and encounters with powerful men such as former President Bill Clinton and President Donald Trump. The book, “Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice,” was released Tuesday and garnered global attention. While it made no explicit allegations against Clinton or Trump, Giuffre did chronicle meetings with both in contexts not related to Epstein’s alleged crimes. The story Giuffre recounts of how she was sucked into Epstein and Maxwell’s high-powered orbit begins when her father helped get her a job at Mar-a-Lago, where he worked as a maintenance worker. Giuffrie’s discussions of Trump in the book largely place him as a background figure during her early days at Mar-a-Lago, where she eventually met Maxwell in the summer of 2000. VIRGINIA GIUFFRE’S MEMOIR REVEALS HOW EPSTEIN, MAXWELL ‘BROKE DOWN’ GIRLS STEP BY STEP IN PSYCHOLOGICAL WAR “It couldn’t have been more than a few days before my dad said he wanted to introduce me to Mr. Trump himself. They weren’t friends, exactly. But Dad worked hard, and Trump liked that—I’d seen photos of them posing together, shaking hands,” Giuffre writes. “Trump couldn’t have been friendlier, telling me it was fantastic that I was there. ‘Do you like kids?’ he asked. ‘Do you babysit at all?’ He explained that he owned several houses next to the resort that he lent to friends, many of whom had children that needed tending.” Giuffre also recounts how Epstein and Trump’s relationship eventually broke down, an explanation for which differs from the one Trump has publicly provided. Giuffre said Trump withdrew Epstein’s membership at Mar-a-Lago after hitting the teenage daughter of another guest, but Trump has publicly said that a spat about Epstein coaxing his Mar-a-Lago spa employees was what led to the end of their relationship. Giuffre, working an entry-level position at the resort’s spa, recounted how Maxwell sought to hire her as a masseuse despite her lack of experience. Before she knew it, Giuffre was traveling alongside Epstein and Maxwell around the world performing sexual favors. According to Giuffre, it was difficult to reconcile the fact that her abusers commanded so much respect from such powerful figures. “This was a man who displayed framed photographs of himself with the Dalai Lama, with the pope, and with members of the British royal family. A photo in his Palm Beach house showed Epstein posing behind the podium of the White House briefing room,” Giuffre writes. “This was a man who’d had former president Bill Clinton over for dinner (I was at the table that night) and who’d hosted Al and Tipper Gore as well (again, I was there).” PRINCE ANDREW VIEWED SEX WITH TEENAGE VIRGINIA GIUFFRE AS HIS ‘BIRTHRIGHT’, NEW MEMOIR CLAIMS “Maxwell was proud of her friendships with famous people, especially men,” Giuffre added in the memoir. “[Maxwell] loved to talk about how easily she could get former president Bill Clinton on the phone.” According to Giuffre, Epstein and Maxwell visited the White House together during Clinton’s tenure in the Oval Office. In the book, Giuffre also recalled how Clinton flew on Epstein’s plane in 2002, but she was not present for that trip. “On September 21, Epstein and Maxwell were leaving New York on an extended trip to Africa. Marcinkova was flying with them on Epstein’s Boeing 727, as were several high-profile guests: the actors Chris Tucker and Kevin Spacey and former president Clinton, not to mention six U.S. Secret Service agents. (Clinton has said the trip was a humanitarian mission that included stops related to the work of his foundation.)” Giuffre wrote. However, despite naming Clinton in the book about her experience being sex trafficked by Epstein, Giuffre lamented the media’s propensity to connect the former president to Epstein’s crimes. “Right away, the article noted that I had never been ‘lent out’ to the former president. But I guess the Mail found it newsworthy simply that I’d witnessed Epstein and Clinton together,” she writes. Among the various trafficking incidents Giuffre talked about in her book, which do directly involve powerful people from Epstein and Maxwell’s orbit, was a brutal rape by an unnamed former prime minister on Epstein’s private island in the U.S. Virgin Islands in 2002. According to Giuffre’s account of the incident, she was ordered by Epstein to have sex with the prime minister, who choked her nearly to unconsciousness and mocked her fear of the situation. Giuffre said that upon returning to Epstein after the incident, she begged not to be sent back to the prime minister, but Epstein told her the brutality was just part of the job. According to Giuffre, this horrific incident was a turning point for her. “Before the Prime Minister’s attack, Epstein had me fooled. I thought that Epstein’s predilection for childlike girls was a sickness, but that, in his twisted way, he meant well. After the attack, I couldn’t stay a fool. Having been treated so brutally and then seeing Epstein’s callous reaction to how terrorized I felt, I had to accept that Epstein meted out praise merely as a manipulation to keep me subservient. Epstein cared only about Epstein,” Giuffre writes in her memoir. “At that point, I hit bottom. I now knew I wouldn’t survive. I saw only two possible options: either someone Epstein trafficked me to would kill me or I would take my own life.” Giuffre would eventually die by suicide in April, roughly six months before the release of her memoir.