SEAL who killed bin Laden recalls 9/11 moment that changed his life: ‘Welcome to my world’
Rob O’Neill, the Navy SEAL credited with killing Usama bin Laden, had just returned from a 40-day deployment to Kosovo when the world changed forever. The former Navy SEAL told Fox News Digital in an interview ahead of the 25th anniversary of 9/11 that he was stationed in Stuttgart, Germany, on Sept. 11, 2001, preparing equipment and catching up on emails when every television channel switched to breaking news. “At first, there was a hole in the North Tower,” O’Neill recalled. “No one even knew what the North Tower of the World Trade Center was that day.” O’Neill and his fellow service members initially wondered whether a small plane had accidentally crashed into the building. But after the second plane struck the South Tower shortly after 9 a.m. Eastern time, they immediately understood the significance of what they were watching. AMERICA’S HEARTLAND COMES FACE-TO-FACE WITH 9/11 HISTORY AS 25TH ANNIVERSARY NEARS “I’m in an operations center with intel analysts and Navy SEALs, and we all collectively knew that our lives just changed,” O’Neill said. The names of Usama bin Laden and al Qaeda were soon mentioned in the room. “We’re on a deployment to Germany, we’re probably going to Sudan. We don’t know where,” he said. “The name Usama bin Laden was said in that room, al Qaeda. And we just knew our lives were going to change.” O’Neill eventually re-enlisted in the Navy in the aftermath of the attacks and went on to serve with SEAL Team Six, the elite special operations unit that ultimately carried out the raid that killed bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011. But in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, he did not know he would play a role in hunting down the mastermind of the attacks. “I knew, for me, the Navy was never going to be a career,” O’Neill said. “I joined because I thought it was cool, re-enlisted because of the guys, re-enlisted because of 9/11, go to SEAL Team Six.” As the reality of the attacks set in, O’Neill briefly left the secure operations area and called his brother in Montana, who worked in morning radio. AS AMERICAN PRIDE HITS A 25-YEAR LOW, A NEW 9/11 EDUCATION PLATFORM URGES THE NATION TO NEVER FORGET “I said, ‘Hey man, I don’t know if you’re up. Turn the TV on,’” O’Neill recalled. “He said, ‘Which channel?’ I said, ‘Doesn’t matter.’ And then he turned it on and all I said to him was, ‘Welcome to my world.’” Looking back on the 25 years that have passed since the tragedy that took the lives of 2,977 people, O’Neill says he was moved by the way the country came together after the terrorist attacks and while he hopes there is never another 9/11, he does wish Americans could recapture the spirit of unity that followed. He recalled the image of lawmakers from both parties standing together on the steps of the Capitol and singing “God Bless America.” “It was about America first, not foreign interests,” O’Neill said. “It was a time of unity.” Roughly a third of the U.S. population was not alive on 9/11 and O’Neill told Fox News Digital what his message for them about the tragedy would be. “No matter what, at night, don’t go to bed angry with anyone in your family,” he said. “Hug everyone that’s there and tell them you love them.” “You remember on Monday, September 10, some people didn’t do that, and they were jumping out of skyscrapers the next day,” O’Neill said. He urged Americans to focus on their families, neighbors, communities and first responders. “If you can take care of each other, and you master those basics, then the world around you is going to be fine,” he said. “Sometimes it’s better just to put the phone down and go outside and look at the sun.” O’Neill said that spending time outside can provide perspective in an increasingly chaotic world. “You’ll know that you’re not random,” he said. “You’re here by design. God loves you. He puts you here on purpose.” O’Neill said the legacy of the attacks and his path from Butte, Montana to the elite SEAL Team 6 is a reminder of the opportunities available to Americans, particularly young people. “If you want to do something, leave the house,” O’Neill said. “You can do anything you want.” “Don’t let the negativity get to you,” he added. “At any moment you decide, you can do that.”
Massachusetts’ highest court publicly reprimands judge accused of enabling immigrant to escape ICE
The highest court in Massachusetts has publicly rebuked a district court judge over her role in a case involving an illegal immigrant who evaded arrest by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. For Judge Shelley Joseph, the decision brings to a close a legal saga that began on April 2, 2018, when Jose Medina-Perez left the Newton District Court through a rear courthouse exit all while an ICE officer was waiting in the lobby to take him into custody. The Supreme Judicial Court’s ruling centered on a sidebar with Medina-Perez’s attorney and the prosecutor during which Joseph instructed her clerk to shut off the courtroom’s recording system. “The respondent’s statements during that conversation, including her proposal to detain Medina-Perez overnight in State custody, and her conduct in instructing the clerk to turn off the courtroom audio recording system, created an appearance of impropriety in violation of her duties,” according to the Thursday ruling from the Supreme Judicial Court. FORMER WISCONSIN JUDGE HANNAH DUGAN AVOIDS JAIL TIME FOR OBSTRUCTING ARREST OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT The Supreme Judicial Court’s reprimand came after a hearing officer for the Commission on Judicial Conduct recommended such an action. However, the high court ruled that Joseph was unaware Medina-Perez’s attorney, David Jellinek, had devised a plan to help his client evade ICE by escorting him to the courthouse lockup, where the court officer would release him through a rear sally port exit. The court also found that Joseph neither explicitly nor implicitly approved of that plan. Medina-Perez, of the Dominican Republic, had been in Joseph’s courtroom to be arraigned on a fugitive-from-justice charge that originated in Pennsylvania. Joseph found there wasn’t enough evidence to tie Medina-Perez to the Pennsylvania warrant, and prosecutor Shannon Jurgens recommended he be released without bail on two drug charges he was facing. FEDERAL JUDGE IN NEW YORK TIES TRUMP ADMIN HANDS ON ARRESTS AT IMMIGRATION COURTS Joseph then released Medina-Perez on his own personal recognizance and set a pre-trial conference date for the drug possession case. In April 2019, roughly a year later, Joseph and the court officer who let Medina-Perez out through the back door were indicted on charges of obstruction of justice. That case was dropped in 2022 after Joseph agreed to refer herself to the Commission on Judicial Conduct, the agency that investigates allegations of misconduct by Massachusetts judges. The commission concluded that Joseph “engaged in willful judicial misconduct that brought the judicial office into disrepute, as well as conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice and unbecoming a judicial officer.” After her federal indictment, Joseph was suspended from the bench and unable to work for three years. Joseph’s attorney, Elizabeth Mulvey, said last year during a commission hearing that the case had been distorted in the media, with many coming to believe that her client “let an illegal immigrant out of the door,” according to The Associated Press. In a statement to the AP on Thursday, Mulvey said it has been an “incredibly long and difficult eight years for Judge Joseph.” “We are grateful to the hearing officer who undertook this monumental task and pleased that his efforts have shown that this was a baseless federal prosecution from the beginning and solely the work of the defense lawyer involved,” Mulvey said in a statement. “Judge Joseph is thankful for everyone who stood by her and looks forward to rejoining her colleagues.” Joseph, who remains a judge, was assigned in December to administrative duties in the Boston Municipal Court.
25 years later, 9/11 memories endure as nation gathers to honor nearly 3,000 lives lost
Ceremonies at the 9/11 Memorial in New York, the Pentagon and the Flight 93 National Memorial in Pennsylvania will take place Friday as the nation marks the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, when 19 al Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners and attacked the United States. Officials and others with memories of that day reflected on what they witnessed and what they lost in some cases as the nation mourns anew. Retired Maj. Gen. Bert Mizusawa, who served in senior Army positions at the Pentagon before 9/11, worked as a senior Pentagon official in the time leading up to 9/11 and knew several colleagues who perished that day. On that Tuesday, Mizusawa said he was watching coverage of the attack on the Twin Towers from his office when reporters broke in to say the Pentagon had been targeted. FIRST ON FOX: TRUMP’S 9/11 TRIBUTE TO FEATURE MASSIVE PIECE OF GROUND ZERO HISTORY AT WHITE HOUSE “I looked out my window and was able to observe the plume of smoke rising from the attack on the Pentagon,” Mizusawa said. “My normal commute took me directly past the section that was destroyed, and the smoke lingered for days.” Mizusawa, the GOP nominee for Senate against Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., said he also played a role in hiring Army Lt. Gen. Timothy Maude, the highest-ranking military officer killed in the Pentagon attack. He added he just recently met with the lone survivor of the Pentagon’s staff section that took a direct hit from American Airlines Flight 77 that day. “I reflected that, as tragic as the attack on the Pentagon was, the low-rise multi-ringed structure saved many lives as it was the virtual opposite form of structure compared to the World Trade Center buildings,” he said. Warner similarly recalled watching the attacks unfold and seeing smoke rise from the Pentagon that day. “I vividly remember the September 11 attacks, and I watched the smoke rise above the Pentagon…,” he said. “On the 25th anniversary of these tragic attacks, we remember the lives lost at the Pentagon, in Pennsylvania, and in New York City, and our brave first responders whose heroic actions saved countless lives.” Also in Virginia, President Donald Trump is expected to attend the Pentagon’s ceremony. Trump has attended 9/11 observances at each of the three attack sites in different years. GOP SENATORS RALLY BEHIND 9/11 FAMILIES IN PUSH TO BAN MAMDANI FROM ANNIVERSARY CEREMONY: ‘HE’S A DISGRACE’ In New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani are expected to attend the solemn ceremony and reading-of-names at the World Trade Center site. Hochul’s opponent, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, told Fox News Digital that that day changed his home state and his family forever. “The pain has never completely gone away,” Blakeman said. “My nephew Tommy was murdered while he was giving first aid to a severely burned woman. I lost many colleagues and friends on that day. We must never forget the danger facing our country from those with anti-American values.” Tommy, a New York State Courts officer, was reportedly rendering aid to a victim when Tower Two collapsed on him. 9/11 FAMILIES PUSH TO BAN MAMDANI FROM 25TH ANNIVERSARY REMEMBRANCE OVER ‘HOSTILE’ RECORD “The terrorist attacks on September 11 forever reshaped our city and state, and every year on the anniversary, New Yorkers feel the weight of unimaginable tragedy and honor the lives lost,” Hochul said, reflecting on the day. “In the aftermath of 9/11, New Yorkers showed the world what courage, sacrifice and bravery looked like,” she added. Fox News Digital also reached out to Mamdani for comment. Former presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Joe Biden are expected to attend the 25th anniversary ceremony at the 9/11 Memorial in New York. Hillary Clinton, then a New York senator, is remembered from a photo with then-Gov. George Pataki and then-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani walking through the rubble after the attacks. Additional Trump administration officials will attend the third ceremony in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. Last year, Veterans Affairs Secretary Douglas Collins represented the administration there. The memorial is managed by the Department of the Interior, which said it will hold a reading of the names at 10:03 a.m. ET, the time United Flight 93 crashed into a field near U.S. Route 30 after passengers fought back against the hijackers. Fox News Digital reached out to Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Pennsylvania State Treasurer Stacy Garrity — Shapiro’s GOP opponent this fall — for information on their plans for the day and comment on the 25th anniversary remembrance. SIGN UP TO GET THE POLITICS NEWSLETTER Garrity will be in attendance at the Flight 93 Memorial in her official capacity as Pennsylvania State Treasurer, her campaign said. Speaking as the GOP’s gubernatorial nominee, Garrity told Fox News Digital she recalls September 11, 2001, as a bright September morning in the commonwealth that she and others thought would be a run-of-the-mill weekday. “But in the blink of an eye, in the skies over Lower Manhattan, along the shores of the Potomac, and in the fields of western Pennsylvania, our world was forever changed,” Garrity said. “Twenty-five years later, may God bless the heroes of Flight 93, the first responders to the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and every American who answered the call to serve that day and in the years to follow: Let’s roll,” Garrity added, quoting Flight 93 victim Todd Beamer of Cranbury, N.J., who was recorded calling out that phrase as he led an unsuccessful effort to retake control of the plane from the terrorists.
Ontario premier wants Republicans to lose House and Senate over Trump’s trade war
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said on Thursday that he hopes Republicans in the U.S. lose both the House and Senate in the upcoming midterm elections, suggesting that voters should punish President Donald Trump for his moves to escalate the ongoing trade war with Canada. “Hopefully, he’s going to lose the Senate. He’s going to lose Congress. I hope so, and hold him accountable,” Ford said. “But we’ll see how that goes. We aren’t going to interfere in the U.S. election,” he continued. Ford has become one of Trump’s most outspoken critics in Canada, accusing the president of attempting to move Ontario’s businesses and jobs across the border to the U.S. CANADIAN PM TELLS TRUMP TO ‘STOP TRYING TO BE TOUGH’ IN TRADE FIGHT “He’s not reliable at all,” Ford said. “He could make a deal today and then change his mind. And we’ve seen that over and over again.” Ford said he still believes Trump would like to reach a deal before the midterms and that Canada should return to the negotiation table as soon as possible. “I truly believe President Trump wants a deal before the midterms,” Ford said. “I could be wrong, but I think it’s best that we sit down and get a deal.” Ford’s comments come just days after the U.S. escalated the trade dispute by banning some Canadian dairy products and motorcycles as well most alcoholic beverages after Canada’s retaliatory tariffs took effect on about $20 billion in U.S. goods. Trump also took efforts to remove Canadian products from large, long-term U.S. government contracts. Last year, Trump abruptly ended trade talks with Canada after the Ontario government broadcast an anti-tariff TV ad in the U.S., using quotes from former Republican President Ronald Reagan’s criticism of tariffs. Trump and Ford have repeatedly exchanged personal jabs over the trade war. NEW YORK GOV HOCHUL REJECTS TRUMP’S ‘LAKE AMERICA’ RENAMING WITH BLUNT MESSAGE Ford mocked Trump for keeping a portrait of Reagan near his desk while pushing for tariffs the former president had opposed, telling The Associated Press that Reagan would be “throwing up on him from the picture if he knew what was going on.” Trump, meanwhile, has criticized Ford as “the less charismatic, intelligent, and overall unimpressive brother of the late, great, Rob Ford.” The U.S. president further escalated tensions with Canada when he signed an executive order to rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America,” a rebranding that Canada does not recognize. Canada, other international bodies and U.S. states are not forced to follow the renaming, but the order adds to the ongoing tensions between the two countries. Ford said on Thursday that Trump had unintentionally strengthened Canada by forcing it to cut its dependence on the U.S. “The only two good things Donald Trump has ever done for Canada” were that “he woke us up” and “he united the country like I’ve never seen before,” Ford said. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney suggested on Thursday that his country may hold off on further retaliation against Trump’s latest trade measures, describing them as “relatively modest” compared to earlier U.S. moves. He said his government was still studying the U.S. measures and acknowledged they could have significant consequences for companies and industries, but he said that some of the new U.S. tariffs replaced others that the Trump administration had removed. “We also recognize that, in the context of other things that the U.S. administration has done … that these are relatively modest measures,” Carney said at a cabinet retreat in Banff, Alberta. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Crowd erupts as Vance smacks down protester waving Mexican flag: ‘Get your a– over there’
Vice President JD Vance blasted a heckler waving foreign flags and yelling at him from the GOP convention floor during his primetime keynote address Thursday night. The rabble-rouser emerged from the crowd waving Mexican and Palestinian flags, catching Vance’s eye as he delivered his rallying cry to thousands of GOP voters at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. The incident wasn’t captured by the convention’s official television feed, but Vance described it for viewers at home. “What the people at home missed is that we just had a protester interrupting us and waving the Mexican flag.,” he said. “Well, my friend, if you love Mexico so much, get your a– over there. I’ll buy you the plane ticket.” JD VANCE TO INVOKE CHARLIE KIRK, FAMILY ‘BIRTHRIGHT’ IN FIERY MIDTERM KEYNOTE SPEECH THRASHING DEMS SIGN UP TO GET THE POLITICS NEWSLETTER The crowd erupted into chants of “USA! USA! USA!” as the troublemaker was escorted out of the event. Vance delivered a deeply nationalistic keynote focused on America First principles. “I believe the Founders built this nation on a promise that echoes our Creator: That every American child is born an heir, born with a birthright,” said Vance. “Born with the right to inherit the blessings of this country. Not because of who their parents are. Not because of what they look like or where they come from. But because they are Americans.” Throughout his speech, event attendees interrupted with a chorus of “JD! JD! JD!” chants, and the roared as finished and departed the stage.
Top GOP senator reveals what Dem colleagues are fretting about behind closed doors
DALLAS — As Republicans huddle for a last show of unity before the home stretch of the midterm elections, a top Senate Republican revealed what his Democratic colleagues are predicting about the future of their party. Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., told Fox News Digital that in private, his colleagues across the aisle are wringing their hands over the insurgent progressive wave that has fast become the standard-bearer of the Democratic Party during this election cycle. “It’s surprising how the energy of the Democrat Party has moved to the far, far left,” Barrasso said during an interview at the Republican National Committee midterm convention. TOP REPUBLICAN NAMES WHO HE SAYS IS REALLY LEADING DEMOCRATS — AND IT’S NOT SCHUMER OR JEFFRIES “Those are the people that are driving the party. And the concern that I have, talking to other colleagues in the Senate, who they’ll say that is the future of their party,” he continued. Republicans are trying to fight against history and anxious voters feeling the crunch on their wallets, and as the war in Iran continues to sputter on without a clear end in sight. The convention in Dallas is meant to hammer home that while President Donald Trump’s name isn’t on the ballot, his agenda, and the incumbents and fresh candidates that could execute it, are. TRUMP’S $5,000 DIVIDEND CHECKS WOULD COME WITH A MAJOR CATCH UNDER GOP SENATOR’S PLAN While that push to energize Trump’s base to hit the polls in November ensues, key races across the Senate map have seen progressive and far-left candidates emerge as the standard-bearers for the party during this cycle. Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan, James Talarico in Texas and Peggy Flanagan in Minnesota all bucked expectations, and the Democratic old guard in Washington, D.C., including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to earned the nomination in their respective races. REPUBLICAN SOUNDS ALARM ON RISING DEM STAR: ‘THIS GUY’S GOING TO BE A PROBLEM’ El-Sayed and Talarico, in particular, have been targeted heavily during the convention, which Trump declared was, in part, dedicated to ensuring Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton would win out and prevent the Lone Star State from turning a shade of purple. “And we cannot allow that to become the future of our country,” Barrasso said. “So that’s, to me, the reason that we need to win all of these races, why it’s so critical, is that these people that are winning the Democrat primaries, I believe, would be terrible for our nation.” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Vance declares Democrats ‘party of hatred,’ says party has moved beyond big government, censorship
FIRST ON FOX: Vice President JD Vance argued Thursday that Democrats have moved so far to the left that they no longer resemble the party of past Democratic presidents, branding the modern Democratic Party the “party of hatred” in a fiery convention address first obtained by Fox News Digital. “They’re not the party of FDR or JFK. Hell, they’re not even the party of Bill Clinton anymore,” Vance said. “The Democrats are the party of hatred. They’re the party that despises America and the people who built it.” Vance used the closing night of the Republican convention to build that charge across a series of cultural and economic flashpoints, pointing to a Democratic candidate’s attack on the nuclear family, his own clash with Michigan Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed and what he cast as a broader Democratic message telling American children “who they ought to hate.” TRUMP DANGLES $5,000 CHECKS AS DEBT SURGES — BUT ONLY IF GOP CAN CLEAR MAJOR MIDTERM HURDLE The vice president contrasted that portrait with what he called Americans’ “birthright” — the opportunity to build a family, own a home, find meaningful work and pass a better country to their children — while honoring his late friend Charlie Kirk one year after his assassination. On the anniversary of Turning Point USA’s co-founder Charlie Kirk’s death, Vance honored his friend. “I was elected Vice President of the United States one year ago today, on September the 10th of last year, that good friend was taken from us when Charlie was assassinated. Now, Charlie left behind two children, two little kids. They were too young to fully understand,” said Vance. Vance recalled Kirk’s message to young men that few callings are greater than falling in love, starting a family and becoming a father — words that have taken on new meaning for the vice president since he and Second Lady Usha Vance welcomed their son Alec in July. He used Kirk’s legacy to transition into touting what he called Americans’ “birthright” exceptionalism. “I believe the Founders built this nation on a promise that echoes our Creator: That every American child is born an heir, born with a birthright,” said Vance. “Born with the right to inherit the blessings of this country. Not because of who their parents are. Not because of what they look like or where they come from. But because they are Americans.” Vance used the opportunity to outline his vision for rebuilding the nuclear family, while taking shots at Democrats. “I think about what the Democrats have said about our shared birthright as Americans, or frankly, the lack thereof in Michigan. One Democrat in particular, one candidate has said, and I quote ‘f the nuclear family.’ What are you even talking about?” said Vance. “They come not from a desire to serve you or our fellow Americans, but they come from a very deep emptiness in the soul,” he added. CROWD ERUPTS AS VANCE SMACKS DOWN PROTESTER WAVING MEXICAN FLAG: ‘GET YOUR A– OVER THERE’ A protester emerged carrying Mexican and Palestinian flags, prompting Vance to respond, “What the people at home missed is that we just had a protestor interrupting us and waving the Mexican flag.” “Well. Well, my friend, if you love Mexico so much, get your ass over there. I’ll buy you the plane ticket,” the vice president said. Vance said the protester should have been waving the American flag, adding that it is a symbol of the fight for the American dream. “This fall, the Democrats are running candidates who will tell your children what they’re allowed to say, how they’re allowed to live, and importantly, who they ought to hate. Because that’s what the Democrat Party is about in 2026. It’s not about you, it’s about foreign fraudsters, and it’s about who they hate,” said Vance. Vance spoke about the economy former President Joe Biden left, pointing to housing costs and Americans competing against illegal immigrants in the job market. “Our nation became a place where you had to be rich to enjoy what used to be the birthright of every ordinary middle-class life,” he said. Vance touted his wins from leading the White House Task Force on fraud and calling out Democrats for “refus[ing] to prosecute the crime.” He said the task force has found $250 billion of fraud just since he was appointed fraud czar. Vance took aim at Michigan Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed, with whom he has sparred in recent weeks after El-Sayed made comments about the second family. “He saw me describing what a decent man and my papa was genuinely a decent and good man. He saw me talking about my papa and his work and his history and what he loved and what he cared about. And you know what old Abdul did? He asked mockingly whether I’d be willing to bring Usha back in time to meet Papa,” Vance resurfaced. Vance said El-Sayed saw “the color of his skin, sees his background, and decides that he could never have loved my wife.” “Abdul himself was raised by his own white step-grandparents. He knows exactly that kind of bond and what it looks like in a family, and he chose any way to say that a man like my grandfather couldn’t have love from the bottom of his heart,” Vance added.
Top Trump official reveals how 30-minute military op unlocked Venezuela oil windfall for US buyers
DALLAS, Texas — The 30-minute U.S. military operation that removed Nicolás Maduro from power has helped clear the way for a sweeping expansion of Venezuela’s battered energy sector, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said, sharing that the country’s national energy production will more than double by the end of 2027. “Chevron is going to more than double their energy production. In fact, that national energy production in Venezuela will more than double by the end of next year from the intervention on Jan. 3 this year,” Wright told Fox News Digital on the sidelines of the RNC Midterm Convention. Wright said the military actions in Venezuela helped open the door for a major increase in oil production as the administration has increasingly taken an active role in the socialist country as part of a broader push to expand U.S. influence and investment. U.S. forces entered Venezuela for Operation Absolute Resolve Jan. 3, capturing Maduro and his wife Flores. War Secretary Pete Hegseth said the attack was part of “massive joint military and law enforcement raid” and lasted less than 30 minutes. TRUMP TOUTS ACCESS TO 65 BILLION BARRELS OF VENEZUELAN OIL IN DEAL HE SAYS WILL SLASH GAS PRICES “You had 25 years of communist dictatorship. The standard of living has just plummeted in Venezuela. Eight million Venezuelans fled. About a million of them, and not all of them good actors, came to the United States of America. People tried to beg, borrow, bribe, anything they could to change the Venezuelan government. No luck,” Wright said. “President Trump is an out-of-the-box, bold foreign policy leader. “A brief military operation, arrest two criminals and now we have leverage over the government. It’s an existing government. Are they perfect? No. But we have a lot of leverage.” Chevron scored an investment of more than $7 billion over five years and more than double its Venezuelan oil production to 600,000 barrels per day, according to its press release. Venezuela controls more than 300 billion barrels of crude reserves, roughly 20% of the world’s total. Despite holding an estimated 17% of the world’s oil reserves, Venezuela produces only about 1% of global output after years of political instability and deteriorating infrastructure undermined its energy industry. TOP ENERGY TRADER HAILS TRUMP’S VENEZUELA OIL DEAL AS A ‘GENERATIONAL WIN’ FOR GAS PRICES Wright said shifting the center of global energy production toward the Western Hemisphere will put the U.S. at the center and major producers, including Canada, Guyana and Mexico supplying more of the world’s oil and gas. Millions of barrels of new Venezuelan production would be processed through U.S. refineries and produced using American rigs and infrastructure, creating thousands of American jobs, according to the White House. STATE DEPARTMENT ANNOUNCES ‘TOTAL COMPLIANCE’ FROM VENEZUELAN GOVERNMENT IN RELIEF EFFORTS AFTER MADURO ARREST The administration’s emerging approach to Venezuela could use U.S. leverage with energy investment to prompt political change. That deal comes with added importance as the war with Iran disrupts oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. The average U.S. price for regular gasoline rose to about $4.22 a gallon Wednesday, according to AAA, up from roughly $3.19 a year earlier. “We’re solving a 47-year conflict with Iran. We cannot have a nuclear-armed Iran. This is a nation sounding death to America and doing everything they can to implement it. But we’ve massively grown United States natural gas exports, good for our economy, good for the world economy,” Wright said.
WATCH: Socialist protester blames ‘provocateurs’ after assaults at ‘closest entry point’ to Trump convention
A socialist “Never Trumpers” protester blamed “conservative provocateurs” for a tense confrontation with police that resulted in multiple arrests just outside the Republican National Committee’s midterm convention in Dallas. Videos posted on social media Thursday afternoon showed what appeared to be hundreds of Never Trumpers confronting Dallas police just blocks from where the president was set to deliver his convention-closing speech. Authorities responded with a strong show of force that included officers in apparent riot gear. The Dallas Police Department confirmed with Fox News Digital that two protesters were arrested on charges related to their actions during the protest. The department said that officers assigned to the area arrested the two protesters after it said they “assaulted a counter-protester” and “obstructed a road.” The department said the suspects’ names and specific charges will be released after they are booked into jail. CAN THE ‘BEST SHOWMAN IN POLITICS’ DELIVER AGAIN? GOP BETS ON TRUMP AT HISTORIC MIDTERM CONVENTION Fox News Digital spoke with a protester named Rick Majumdar, who was wearing a shirt with the initials for the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO), which, according to its website, is a “national organization of revolutionaries fighting for socialism in the United States.” Majumdar said that the protest was organized by the Dallas Against the Trump Agenda Coalition, which, he said, consists of 16 “faith-based organizations, pro-immigrants’ rights groups and labor organizations.” “We’re here to protest the Republican agenda, the Trump agenda and all its policies that it has enacted over the last few years,” he explained. “The march is an important event, we feel, against this convention that’s happening for the last two days.” REPUBLICANS HEAD TO DALLAS WITH ONE MISSION: DEFY HISTORY AND WIN BIG He said that, during the group’s march, “we encountered some street closures by the police” and that officers arrested a couple of protesters who “were at the front of the group.” Pressed on why the protesters were arrested, Majumdar said, “Those people were trying to draw people away from rioting provocateurs, and I think the police heard something. And they immediately tackled two of them and arrested them, and some of them even pulled out their guns as well.” The protest came amid heightened concerns over political violence and the targeting of public figures. It also coincided with the first anniversary of the assassination of conservative activist and Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk. CHARLIE KIRK CONTINUES TO INSPIRE REPUBLICANS AS PARTY RALLIES FOR MIDTERM BATTLE: ‘HAVE COURAGE’ SIGN UP TO GET THE POLITICS NEWSLETTER Majumdar did not answer whether the protesters blocked any roads but said the confrontation occurred at the “closest entry point” to the convention. Asked whether he had any message directly for President Donald Trump, Majumdar paused, smiled and said, “Thank you.” After publication, Freedom Road Socialist Organization shared an additional statement from Majumdar in response to Fox News Digital’s question on his direct message to Trump. The statement said that “today the people of Dallas marched on a near empty RNC, in fact, the people made their decision to stand against the billionaires class— the same class that supports the Republican Agenda, and we are empowering people to find their home in our organization.”
Federal appeals court compares Trump migrant detention policy to Japanese American internment
A Trump administration policy to detain migrants on bond without a chance for release harkens back to the mass detention of Japanese Americans during World War II, a federal court said Thursday. In a 2-1 decision, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the administration’s mass detention policy, a major part of President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda. “Mass detention of marginalized individuals without due process harkens back to some of the darkest moments in our country’s history,” the court wrote. BIDEN JUDGE OVERRULED ON KEY TRUMP IMMIGRATION POLICY Nine federal appeals courts have now separately ruled that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) new mandatory detention policy is illegal, concluding it could apply to recent arrivals at or near the border but not to migrants determined to be living elsewhere within the country. Two other appeals courts have upheld it, meaning the U.S. Supreme Court is likely to take up the case in its upcoming term. TRUMP SCORES SCOTUS ASYLUM WIN — BUT LIBERAL JUSTICE WARNS IT COULD BACKFIRE AT BORDER Immigrant rights groups say basic due process is being violated when longtime residents are denied bond hearings during removal proceedings. “The courts have resoundingly rejected the administration’s cruel policy and its blatant disrespect for the rule of law,” said My Khanh Ngo, senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project. “We are thrilled for our clients and their families.” Mass arrests of suspected illegal immigrants during President Donald Trump’s second term have prompted widespread protests, particularly in Democratic-led cities like Chicago. In July 2025, the administration announced it would detain every migrant found anywhere in the U.S. whom ICE determines was not granted permission to enter. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said the agency was disappointed with Thursday’s decision but said it recently sought a Supreme Court review of a similar decision from the 6th Circuit. FEDERAL JUDGE IN NEW YORK TIES TRUMP ADMIN HANDS ON ARRESTS AT IMMIGRATION COURTS “Opinions from the Board of Immigration Appeals and two other federal courts of appeals reflect the soundness of DHS’ legal position,” the spokesperson said. “This legal position was the nail in the coffin for Biden’s catch and release policies. That is why the left and their activist proxies on the judiciary are resisting it so vigorously. “President Trump and Secretary Mullin are now enforcing the law as it was actually written to keep America safe,” the spokesperson added. “As our record in the U.S. Supreme Court demonstrates, the law is on our side.” Writing for the majority, 4th Circuit Judge Nicole Berner invoked the mass internment of Japanese Americans during World War II as a warning against sweeping executive detention authority without due process. “The stain of these detentions on our nation — and the judiciary’s abdication of its obligation to protect basic freedoms — continues to haunt us,” Berner wrote. Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House and ICE.