US Army offering defense firms ‘concierge access’ to test weapons at military ranges
The U.S. Army is opening up military test ranges to private defense companies and promising “concierge” access aimed at dramatically cutting the time it takes companies to test new weapons and technologies. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll told reporters in a call on Friday that companies will be able to secure testing opportunities within 30 days of submitting a request, compared with a typical wait of roughly 18 months. “We just had to get out of our own way,” Driscoll said. “And so the 30-day clock starts today. So if somebody goes to testrange.army.mil, submits it in the next hour, we will have you on a range within 30 days.” ‘A NEW KIND OF WAR’: INSIDE UKRAINE’S HIDDEN FACTORIES MASS-PRODUCING COMBAT DRONES The move is part of a broader Army effort to speed up the development and delivery of technologies including drones, counter-drone systems, long-range fires and low-cost interceptors. “If you look at what is occurring all over the world today, if you look what Ukraine has done so incredibly well, it’s this innovation through necessity and it’s innovation at the speed that is near or close to matching the commercial sector,” Driscoll said. “And so what we, the Army, are trying to do is break down every single barrier that we have put up over the last 20 and 30 years.” The Army is opening four stateside locations to industry: Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, West Cibola Range at Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona, Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center in Mississippi and Camp Grayling Joint Maneuver Training Center in Michigan. PENTAGON PLOTS NEW NUCLEAR OPTIONS FOR TRUMP AS AMERICA’S BIGGEST ADVERSARIES RAISE STAKES: REPORT The Army is also working with U.S. Africa Command and partners to provide industry access to the Multidomain Training Area in Morocco, according to an Army press release. Companies will be able to request test range time through a new online portal and will be assigned a dedicated “concierge” to help navigate the scheduling process. Companies do not need an existing federal contract or prior relationship with the U.S. government to apply. “A company with a good idea shouldn’t need a team of lawyers and a program of record just to prove their equipment works,” Driscoll said. ANTARES REACHES REACTOR CRITICALITY UNDER TRUMP PILOT PROGRAM, MARKING MAJOR NUCLEAR MILESTONE The ranges are intended to give companies access to realistic environments where they can rapidly test and refine emerging technologies, including under conditions resembling those encountered on modern battlefields. The Army cautioned that submitting a request does not guarantee a company its preferred location or testing date because of capacity constraints, but said its concierge team will work with applicants to identify available testing windows and locations.
Socialist House nominee’s radical law-and-order vision: ‘What are illegals?’
The socialist Democrat poised to represent most of Philadelphia in Congress questioned the premise of “illegal immigrants” and claimed “99%” of police work does not involve pursuing criminals. Pennsylvania State Rep. Chris Rabb, D-West Oak Lane, made a name for himself in Harrisburg by championing progressive proposals such as abolishing the death penalty and transitioning Pennsylvania to 100% renewable energy by 2050. In 2019, Rabb introduced a “carbon pricing” bill to tax greenhouse gas emissions above a certain cap, saying the revenue would be reinvested to help low-income consumers and support workers “displaced” from a shrunken fossil fuel industry. He also claims the Nakba, the Palestinian displacement during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War has “never ended.” “Raab’s platform is comprised of pretty far-left, radical positions,” Fox News host Sean Hannity said on “Hannity.” SOCIALIST VICTORIES SHOW DEMS’ DESCENT DOWN ‘DEADLY PATH OF COMMUNISM,’ JOHNSON WARNS “Among them, he advocates for Medicare-for-all, universal basic income, federal jobs guarantees — the government does so well educating your kids — guaranteed housing, universal childcare, government grocery stores [and] replacement of [GDP] with a so-called ‘genuine progress indicator,’” Hannity said. “In other words, what he is saying is he would not just reshape our institutions, he would tear them down, fundamentally transform them in what I believe would be a very dangerous way.” Rabb pushed back on some of the characterizations, telling Hannity in the case of the DSA’s effort to abolish the Senate, “That’s not what I’m running on.” When Hannity asked whether Rabb, who boasts of running in the “bluest district in America,” truly supports “amnesty for illegals” and abolishing national borders, the lawmaker replied, “What are illegals?” DEMOCRAT COMPARES ICE TO ‘DOMESTIC TERRORISTS’ AS 111 HOUSE DEMS DEMAND TEXAS DETENTION CENTER CLOSE Hannity responded, “Illegal immigrants: People that didn’t respect our laws, borders and sovereignty … entered the country without permission.” Rabb said he didn’t accept the “premise” of the question. “There are folks who have documentation. But these are not criminal acts,” he said, adding that he “absolutely” wants to abolish ICE and “dismantle immigrant concentration camps.” “I want to end all deportations. We want to make sure that there’s an immigration system that is fair, just and efficient, and we don’t have that system,” Rabb added. He went on to cite an immigration reform package led by Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., and former Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., that he lamented “your president” successfully killed. TOP WISCONSIN DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST CANDIDATE CONFRONTED ON PAST ‘DEFUND POLICE’ RHETORIC When asked about abolishing police as an institution — in line with socialist doctrine — Rabb said the statement was “interesting” because there were few or no organized police departments in early America. “Long before there was any notion of policing, we had Founders that did not even understand that term. Policing is something that’s evolved over time,” Rabb said. “Ultimately, what we want is to have communities that are safe, and 99% of what police do are not going after the bad guys,” he said. Philadelphia did not organize its police department as a centralized municipal force until 1854. Before that, local elected constables and civilian watchmen patrolled their neighborhoods for crime. The Philadelphia Police Department formed after a series of riots, when what is now Philadelphia was divided between the City of Philadelphia and Philadelphia County, which are now coterminous. 173 HOUSE DEMOCRATS VOTE AGAINST RESOLUTION HONORING POLICE AMID RISING ATTACKS SIGN UP TO GET THE POLITICS NEWSLETTER “We need to keep our communities safe, and there were ways of doing that before the term ‘police’ ever existed,” Rabb said. On disarming police, a policy some socialists support, Rabb said he believes in “arming oneself,” arguing that, as someone with Southern ancestry, the only way his family could protect itself was through self-defense. “We couldn’t trust the police because they were largely part of the [Ku Klux] Klan,” Rabb said. His paternal family roots trace to Columbus, Mississippi. Rabb upset the Democratic establishment in his May primary, defeating state Sen. Sharif Street, D-North Philadelphia, the son of popular former Mayor John Street who also had the backing of incumbent Mayor Cherelle Parker and former Gov. Edward Rendell. No Republicans vied for the nomination, leaving Rabb reportedly facing only independent Dennis Mahoney in November. Fox News Digital reached out to Rabb for comment.
Trump says White House ballroom ruling jeopardizes lives of future presidents, vows Supreme Court appeal
After a panel of federal judges ordered a halt to construction on the White House ballroom, President Donald Trump said he will immediately appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. In a Truth Social post Friday, Trump decried the 2-1 decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit as “horrendous, politically motivated, and unlawful.” In a subsequent Truth Social post Friday, Trump also blasted the two-judge majority, noting one judge was appointed by former President Barack Obama and the other by former President Joe Biden. He took particular issue with the panel’s statement that “Each President is a temporary tenant…of the White House,” writing that presidents “are not tenants” but are elected by the American people and have the authority to “fix, renovate, secure, protect, and beautify the White House grounds.” TRUMP WARNS JUDGE AGAINST SACRIFICING NATIONAL SECURITY BY BLOCKING WHITE HOUSE BALLROOM, DRONE BASE In his initial response to the decision earlier on Friday, Trump wrote: “The Circuit Court’s decision, which is totally wrong on the vital subject of STANDING, of which the plaintiff has none, severely jeopardizes the lives and welfare of the people who work, and will be working, at the White House — including all future Presidents of the United States, and their families, as well as the lives of all those visiting, such as Heads of State and other Dignitaries, and all Americans who wish to visit the historic, beautiful Executive Mansion.” He also accused the court of refusing to acknowledge that the ballroom, which he said is being built ahead of schedule and under budget, “is a Gift from President Trump and Great Patriots of the United States of America.” “There will be no expense to the American Taxpayer. This unjust decision must be overturned by the Supreme Court in its entirety,” Trump wrote. The appeals court on Friday upheld a lower-court decision that paused above-ground construction of the proposed 90,000-square-foot White House ballroom project, which replaced the demolished East Wing. The earlier ruling allowed work to continue on underground national security facilities and certain safety and security measures, a decision the higher court also upheld. REPUBLICANS EYE PICKING UP $400M TAB FOR TRUMP’S BALLROOM AS SOME DEMS OPEN TO ‘DISCUSS’ IDEA The appeals court said in its 136-page ruling that the decision to build a “massive ballroom” lies with Congress, not with the executive branch. Trump argued the ruling itself “is a National Security Threat at the highest level” because much of the project has already been completed and paid for, calling the decision a “National Disgrace.” Judges Patricia Millett and Brad Garcia wrote the majority opinion, remarking that there is no precedent for what Trump has done. “We are aware of no instance in American history in which a President unilaterally and using privately collected funds demolished substantial portions of the White House that Congress authorized to be built and American taxpayers paid for. Until now,” they wrote. The judges said their ruling does not prevent the president from building the ballroom if it is authorized by Congress in the future. As Trump pointed out in his social media post, the ruling was stayed for 14 days to allow the defendants to seek a Supreme Court review. It is not immediately clear if the Supreme Court will take up this case.
GOP senator breaks with Trump over ‘woke’ Smithsonian history battle
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, is splitting from the majority of Republicans on the GOP’s pushback against the Smithsonian Institution’s teaching of American history. The moderate Republican senator sent a letter to the Trump administration alongside Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., asking for more information on President Donald Trump’s directive to install “temporary signage” outside the National Museum of American History, after he accused the museum of teaching historical accounts with an inaccurate and hyper-partisan lens. “As Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, we write to express our concern and to request more information regarding the role the Department of the Interior (DOI) will have in implementing Executive Order (EO) 14416, ‘Restoring Trust in the Smithsonian Institution,’” the letter said. TRUMP ORDERS SIGNS OUTSIDE SMITHSONIAN MUSEUM AMID ROW OVER ITS DEPICTION OF AMERICAN HISTORY Republicans have heaped scrutiny on the Smithsonian Institution, which gets roughly $1 billion in taxpayer dollars from Congress annually, for exhibits that the GOP has argued are inherently political. But Murkowski appeared to refute that in her bipartisan letter, writing to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, “For the past 180 years, the Smithsonian Institution has been committed to sharing objective historical evidence through research and education, not political narratives.” “The Smithsonian Institution has worked tirelessly to present a comprehensive narrative of our nation’s amazing history, from its many triumphs to its trials. There is nothing more American than telling our story truthfully,” the senators said. Trump signed an executive order late last month directing Burgum to utilize existing avenues “to restore trust in the Smithsonian Institution,” including installing “temporary exhibits or signage on [federally owned] sidewalks, walkways, and land used by the public that corrects inaccurate information presented in the Museum.” Murkowski and Merkley are asking the administration for information on whether there’s any precedent for federal land or funds being used to communicate “conflicting information” to a nearby entity’s operations, who is compiling the information and what the timeline and cost of the signage will be. Examples Republicans have seized on include an exhibit that described Disney’s “Steamboat Willie” as representing “vestiges of long-standing traditions of blackface minstrelsy,” while accusing the broader curation of the museum of being “anti-white” and “woke.” It’s led several conservatives on the House Appropriations Committee to tell Fox News Digital they would like to see new guardrails on the Smithsonian’s federal funds to force the museum to change controversial exhibits or risk losing its government dollars.
Video shows US military tracking what appears to be mysterious object flying over Middle East in 2025
The latest tranche of materials on unidentified aerial phenomenon (UAP) released by the U.S. government includes video of what appears to be an object traversing the skies last year over the Middle East. “The United States Central Command submitted a report of an unidentified anomalous phenomenon to the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO) consisting of 1 minute and 39 seconds of video footage from an electro-optical and infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform in 2025,” the War Department noted. A description of the video says, “The sensor pans to track an area of contrast from left to right across the background, keeping it generally centered within the frame. The sensor adjusts collection mode and level of magnification several times.” NASA CHIEF CONFIRMS AGENCY HAS UNEXPLAINED UFO IMAGERY: ‘WE DON’T KNOW WHAT IT IS’ Assistant to the secretary of war for public affairs and chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in part of a Friday statement, “Today, the Department of War is publishing the fifth release of declassified and historical Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) files as part of the Presidential Unsealing and Reporting System for UAP Encounters (PURSUE).” President Donald Trump declared in a Truth Social post earlier this year that he would call for the release of such materials. NEW TRUMP UFO FILE DUMP INCLUDES MILITARY FOOTAGE OF MYSTERIOUS STAR-SHAPED OBJECT “Based on the tremendous interest shown, I will be directing the Secretary of War, and other relevant Departments and Agencies, to begin the process of identifying and releasing Government files related to alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs), and any and all other information connected to these highly complex, but extremely interesting and important, matters. GOD BLESS AMERICA!” the president wrote in the February Truth Social post. The website where the public may peruse the released materials states the archives are “unresolved” matters. LONG-HIDDEN UFO INFORMATION AT CENTER OF TRUMP PUSH TO FREE FORMER OFFICIALS “The materials archived here are unresolved cases, meaning the government is unable to make a definitive determination on the nature of the observed phenomena,” the site notes.
Counterterrorism expert warns Abdul El-Sayed Senate bid raises homeland security concerns
A Senate counterterrorism expert testified that Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed’s candidacy raises homeland security concerns because of family ties to Muslim Brotherhood-linked groups and connections to a Midwest voter-engagement organization the expert said is tied to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). During a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing on Muslim Brotherhood threats in the U.S. that was boycotted by all Democrats assigned to the panel, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, asked Center for Security Policy counterterrorism analyst Kyle Shideler if El-Sayed’s bid raised such concerns. “Yessir, it does,” Shideler told Cruz, explaining that El-Sayed’s father-in-law allegedly has connections to Muslim Brotherhood-linked groups. “This includes being the president at one time of CAIR-Michigan,” Shideler said of nephrologist Jukaku Tayeb. “Also his presence on the Islamic Society of North America Founders Committee, which is only for those most exclusively devoted to ISNA and provide significant amounts of funding.” DEMS IN THE HOT SEAT FOR SKIPPING CRUCIAL HEARING ON RADICAL GROUP HIDING IN US: ‘EMBARRASSMENT’ “There are other known [Muslim B]rotherhood members on that committee. I would also look at El-Sayed’s ties to a group called Emgage, which purports to be a Muslim sort of get out the vote or candidate recruitment organization, but it has close ties to CAIR,” Shideler testified. The official bio for Emgage founding member and attorney Khurrum Wahid said the group “works to empower emerging majority communities, with a focus on Muslim Americans, to participate more in public and community and public service.” “[Emgage] was created by a former CAIR member who at one time was on a terror watchlist, and was also a consultant to convicted terrorist Sami al-Arian,” Shideler said. MICHIGAN SENATE RACE: EL-SAYED’S TIES TO EXTREMIST FUEL ANTISEMITISM CONCERNS AMONG JEWISH VOTERS In 2012, a Times of Israel article criticized Rep. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, D-Fla., for speaking at a fundraiser hosted by Wahid, whom it described as “currently listed on the federal terror watch list” and a legal defender of terrorism suspects. In 2006, Al-Arian, a former University of South Florida professor who was born in Kuwait, pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiring to provide services to federally designated terror group Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). Fox News Digital reached out to Wahid’s law firm and to El-Sayed’s campaign for comment. During the hearing, Cruz also pressed Shideler about the “Red-Green Alliance,” and the prevalence of geopolitical ties between Radical Islam and the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). LIZ PEEK: MICHIGAN CAN STOP THE SOCIALIST FEVER RAGE — OR WATCH IT SWALLOW THE SENATE “Does the Muslim Brotherhood also partner with political groups such as the Democratic Socialists of America?” Cruz asked. “Yessir, they do,” Shideler testified. When Cruz said the Red-Green Alliance shares hatred of Western civilization, democracy and capitalism, Shideler said he should go farther: “It’s also united around a revolutionary objective advocating for the overthrow of the U.S. Constitution.” SIGN UP TO GET THE POLITICS NEWSLETTER Shideler also affirmed that the Muslim Brotherhood has active chapters or cells within the U.S. El-Sayed has been criticized for ties to radical voices like far-left streamer Hasan Piker — who said the U.S. deserved the September 11, 2001, terror attacks — and notably declined to comment on the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei because of neighbors in heavily Muslim Dearborn who were in mourning. A Fox News Digital review found that El-Sayed, who has made getting “money out of politics” a central campaign rallying cry, has accepted donations from at least 41 individuals including Tayeb who have been tied to CAIR in one form or another. Fox News’ Andrew Mark Miller and Kiera McDonald contributed to this report.
Ex-Obama, Biden diplomat blasts former boss’ border failures: ‘They woke up too late’
Former Cabinet secretary and U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar says the Biden administration “woke up too late” to address the border crisis, arguing its failure to prioritize Mexico and effectively communicate its strategy helped hand President Donald Trump one of his strongest political issues. Salazar, whose family has lived in the southwest since it was part of Mexico, laid out in his new book “Borderlands” how America’s foreign policy is too often on an “east-west paradigm” looking to Asia and Europe and neglecting Mexico and the Americas. He also argued that same mindset plagued the Biden administration, leaving it overly focused on Europe and Asia while neglecting Mexico and the Western Hemisphere. “From day one, there should have been a great sense of urgency in addressing the crisis of a broken border and the migration crisis that we are seeing,” Salazar said, arguing the Biden White House lacked both a comprehensive strategy and a coherent communications operation, creating what he described as a communications vacuum that Republicans filled. BOMBSHELL MEMO SHOWS BIDEN PLANNED TO LEAVE TRUMP WITH EVEN MORE MASSIVE IMMIGRATION CRISIS “I think that’s what trapped the administration into this sense that they woke up too late by the time they did the right things to get control of the border,” he said. In the book, he recounts nearly resigning from his ambassadorship during a visit to Mexico with Biden and several inner-circle officials after being left out of an important meeting where he wanted to make the case for appointing a border-and-migration czar. After one meeting at the Palacio Nacional in Mexico City, Salazar wrote that he decided to present his plan the next day but found out that he and former Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., weren’t going to be in the key meeting the next day. Ultimately, he was able to meet privately with Biden at the last minute, where he expressed his concerns: “We need someone in the White House to oversee the border, migration, Mexico, and the Americas. No one is in charge now. We need a border and migration czar,” he said, reminding Biden that adviser Jeffrey Zients served as a “czar” for the COVID-19 response. “[We need] someone focused exclusively on this crisis, with the authority to coordinate and direct action across agencies in Washington and communicate the message with one voice on these issues. With all due respect, Mr. President, if we are to succeed, it is urgent that we have someone like this in charge.” Salazar wrote that even after Biden’s June 2024 executive order sharply reduced crossings, the administration failed to communicate the policy’s success before Biden exited the race. He said that gave President Donald Trump an opportunity to campaign on the “low-hanging fruit” of the border crisis. TANVI RATNA: LATIN AMERICA’S RIGHT TURN IS REDRAWING THE UNITED STATES’ BACKYARD Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and Biden for comment. Both Biden and Trump, however, displayed what Salazar called “foreign policy malpractice” in terms of the Americas — something administrations have struggled with for 100 years, according to Salazar. “That’s where everybody gets trapped,” he said. “Republicans, like Donald Trump, use it as a political advantage because that’s how they win elections. And they realized that way back 20-some years ago.” “Democrats, on the other hand, have a sense that it is very important. And they do focus, but only on the border and on domestic migration issues [like] immigration reform. They don’t focus at all or enough on Mexico [or] the border between Mexico and Guatemala — And that’s what I believe we have to do. And that is what ‘Borderlands’ proposes that we do,” he said, referring to his book. HARRIS CALLS FOR ICE PROBE AFTER MAINE SHOOTING AMID RENEWED ‘BORDER CZAR’ CRITICISM TRUMP BORDER CZAR TOM HOMAN WANTS POPE LEO XIV TO RIDE ALONG WITH ICE AGENTS: ‘THEY DON’T UNDERSTAND’ Instead of demonizing migrants or focusing only on social aspects of the crisis, Salazar said his “Borderlands Platform” is a new vision that is grounded in realizing economic and national security prosperity for all three North American countries. Salazar’s proposed “Borderlands Platform” calls for a “New American Alliance” among the United States, Mexico and Canada, including deeper security cooperation, expanded labor mobility and renewed investment in North American trade. He argued immigration policy should be treated as both a national security and economic issue rather than solely a domestic political fight — and wrote supportively about renewing Trump’s USMCA, which had supplanted Bill Clinton’s NAFTA. Salazar said Trump is correct that the border is “broken,” but said he disagreed with Trump’s approach, calling it divisive and pointing to ICE-involved shootings. “It’s not the American way where people have rights, where you have a sense of security, understand the importance of our security within our own country and the importance for supporting law enforcement.” Salazar pointed to his tenure as Colorado attorney general, where he led “thousands of cops,” as evidence of his longstanding support for law enforcement. KAMALA HARRIS IS THE ‘FAIRLY OBVIOUS’ 2028 PRESIDENTIAL FRONTRUNNER, DEMOCRATIC INSIDERS SAY “What is being neglected here is the bigger picture. And that’s this foreign policy paradigm that is so required for the United States and Mexico and the Americas. And I don’t see this administration moving in that direction to create the kind of legal frameworks that are essential that will give us our national security and ensure that we have a border that works and ensure we have an immigration system that is reformed and does the right thing,” he said. Salazar confirmed he has met with several Democrats viewed as potential 2028 presidential contenders, strongly advising them to make border and migration policy a top issue. “Not that I have a lot of sway, but at least I will do everything I can to make sure that this is at the heart of every Democrat running for president,” he said, noting that Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., was one lawmaker who met
Pentagon plots new nuclear options for Trump as America’s biggest adversaries raise stakes: report
The Pentagon is drafting a new nuclear strategy aimed at giving President Donald Trump more options for using shorter-range nuclear weapons in a potential regional conflict with China or Russia, according to a report. The classified effort, led by Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby, would put greater emphasis on tactical nuclear weapons — systems intended for use against military targets in a regional conflict — rather than relying primarily on long-range strategic forces, NBC News reported, citing five people familiar with the plans. The strategy is designed for scenarios in which China or Russia attacks a U.S. ally and Washington must determine how to respond without immediately escalating to a large-scale strategic nuclear exchange, according to the report. TRUMP HEADS TO BEIJING FOR HIGH-STAKES XI TALKS AS TAIWAN TENSIONS, TRADE DISPUTES TEST US STRENGTH “Our view is that we need credible nuclear options,” a senior War Department official told NBC. The official said the strategy would “expand the President’s option space by providing him with realistic and credible options and therefore strengthen deterrence.” The reported shift comes as the United States confronts two nuclear-armed adversaries with increasingly capable arsenals. Russia retains a large stockpile of theater nuclear weapons and has repeatedly invoked its nuclear capabilities during the war in Ukraine. China, meanwhile, is rapidly expanding and modernizing its nuclear forces, creating what U.S. military officials increasingly describe as a two-peer nuclear challenge. Tactical, or non-strategic, nuclear weapons are generally designed for theater or regional use rather than long-range strategic missions. They often have shorter-range delivery systems and may be intended for military targets. But the label does not mean they are limited in consequence: a nuclear detonation could kill large numbers of people, spread radioactive fallout and trigger nuclear retaliation. US FALLS BEHIND IN HYPERSONIC RACE AS CHINA, RUSSIA GAIN EDGE The War Department has not publicly announced a change in nuclear employment policy or a new tactical nuclear weapons program. Fox News Digital has reached out to the Pentagon for comment. The review also comes six months after New START, the last treaty limiting U.S. and Russian strategic nuclear arsenals, expired without a replacement, leaving Washington and Moscow without binding limits or inspections for the first time in decades. The treaty did not cover tactical nuclear weapons, an area in which Russia holds a substantial numerical advantage. U.S. Strategic Command estimated this year that Moscow possesses up to 2,000 theater nuclear warheads. Russia has long relied on its non-strategic nuclear arsenal in part to offset NATO’s conventional military strength. China’s growing arsenal is adding a separate challenge for Pentagon planners preparing for the possibility of confronting two nuclear-armed competitors. Supporters of the Pentagon’s reported shift argue that giving Trump more credible limited-response options could strengthen deterrence by convincing an adversary that Washington has ways to respond short of an all-out strategic exchange. Critics argue that putting greater emphasis on weapons intended for regional use could lower the threshold for nuclear employment and increase the risk that a limited conflict spirals into a broader nuclear war.
READ THE DOCUMENTS: Secret ‘Oxferd Comma’ probe cast Trump as potential Russian asset after Comey firing
The White House released a trove of documents showing that the FBI opened a 2017 investigation into whether President Donald Trump was acting on behalf of or under the influence of Russia when he fired FBI Director James Comey. The investigation, codenamed “Oxferd Comma,” opened after Trump fired Comey in May 2017, according to the White House’s release. Investigators sought to determine whether Trump was “directed by, controlled by, and/or coordinated activities with, the Russian Federation in a manner constituting a threat to the national security of the United States and/or a violation of federal criminal statutes,” according to an FBI memo dated May 16, 2017. The memo also said investigators would examine whether Trump or others had obstructed or conspired to obstruct an associated FBI investigation. TRUMP ALLY DIGENOVA TAPPED TO LEAD DOJ PROBE INTO BRENNAN OVER RUSSIA PROBE ORIGINS The opening memo cited information developed during Crossfire Hurricane, the FBI’s counterintelligence investigation into whether individuals associated with Trump’s 2016 campaign were coordinating with the Russian government to interfere in the 2016 election. READ THE DOCUMENTS: It also identified later events and information, including Trump’s interactions with Comey, the administration’s shifting explanations for Comey’s firing, Trump campaign discussions concerning the Republican platform’s language on Ukraine aid and Trump’s business ties and real estate interests involving Russia. SECRET FBI PROBE CAST TRUMP AS POSSIBLE RUSSIAN ASSET AFTER COMEY FIRING, MEMOS SHOW Trump initially cited Comey’s handling of the FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while she was secretary of state as the reason for his ouster, though he later said the Russia investigation was also on his mind when he made the decision. The FBI memo said the circumstances surrounding Comey’s dismissal could support an inference that the bureau’s counterintelligence investigation was a factor in Trump’s decision to fire Comey. READ THE DOCUMENTS: However, the decision to open the investigation did not mean those suspicions had been substantiated. Special counsel Robert Mueller, appointed in 2017 to investigate Russian election interference, reported in 2019 that his team did not establish coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia and did not make a prosecutorial decision on obstruction. Attorney General William Barr appointed John Durham to review the origins and handling of the FBI’s Russia investigation in 2019. Durham’s 2023 report concluded that the FBI opened the full Crossfire Hurricane investigation without sufficient evidentiary support and did not apply the same rigor it had used in other sensitive investigations. READ THE DOCUMENTS: A separate 2019 Justice Department inspector general review found the FBI had enough information under its rules to open Crossfire Hurricane, though it later identified serious errors and omissions in surveillance applications involving former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. A review of the White House’s original release shows the code name rendered as “Oxferd Comma,” with the letter “o.” Former acting Assistant Attorney General Jeff Clark, who served in Trump’s first administration, said a document expert he consulted concluded the “o” in “Comma” found within the FBI documents was a zero. Clark speculated the unusual spelling was intended to make the records harder to find through FOIA searches. The documents were published by the White House Wednesday, which said they had been declassified and released through its Government Transparency Task Force.
Senate Republicans push Election Day deadline for California’s marathon ballot counts
FIRST ON FOX: A pair of Senate Republicans are bursting through a crack in the door left by the Supreme Court to force blue states like California to vastly cut down on how long it takes to count ballots. Sens. James Lankford, R-Okla., and Mike Lee, R-Utah, are introducing legislation that would create a federal deadline for states to accept ballots received by the time polls close on Election Day across the country. Lankford pitched the bill, called the Ballots by Election Day Act, as a bid to build more trust in the country’s elections. TRUMP UNLOADS AFTER SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS LATE MAIL-IN BALLOTS IN MISSISSIPPI “I have made fun of other states for years because there’s quite a few states around the country that can’t seem to figure out how to be able to count,” Lankford told Fox News Digital in an interview. “In Oklahoma, our election ends at 7 p.m. on a Tuesday night.” “Usually by 9 p.m., all of our thousands of precincts are all in and counted,” he continued. “We start the verification process. We do an audit after that. We have great trust in our elections because we know. We all vote. But we get them all in on that.” Lankford and Lee’s bill would create a nationwide deadline for counting absentee and mail-in ballots, meaning that if those ballots aren’t in by the time polls close across the expanse of time zones in the nation, they won’t be counted. CALIFORNIA’S SLUGGISH VOTE COUNTING RIPPED ACROSS THE POLITICAL SPECTRUM: ‘EXTREMELY EMBARRASSING’ It targets states, like California and Washington state, where ballot counting can take days, sometimes weeks, beyond when polls close. “States counting late ballots are inviting fraud and sowing doubt in their own election results,” Lee told Fox News Digital in a statement. “Our bill will clarify protocol and restore trust by counting only ballots received before the polls close on Election Day.” Lankford contended that those states, “like California and others, New York,” breed distrust in the system. OBAMA-APPOINTED JUDGE BLOCKS TRUMP’S ELECTION ORDER AS SAVE AMERICA ACT FIGHT INTENSIFIES “When you vote you may not know for weeks to months what the final election count is,” he said. “That shouldn’t be in the United States of America.” Their push comes after the Supreme Court’s decision to allow mail-in ballots post-marked before Election Day to still be counted if they came in later. While the court contended that mail-in balloting could continue, it didn’t explicitly address that there could be no deadline for when the ballots could be counted. “Once the court made their ruling, as that came out, they left a clear door open to say this could be defined by the United States Congress,” Lankford said. “So I said, let’s step in and actually do that. Let us provide some real clarity for that. This shouldn’t be controversial. This should just be something to build trust in our elections.”