White House hits back after JFK’s grandson calls RFK Jr. a ‘rabid dog’
The White House dismissed comments from Jack Schlossberg, the grandson of John F. Kennedy, about Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., labeling his cousin a “rabid dog.” Schlossberg, the son of diplomat Caroline Kennedy, launched a bid Wednesday to run for a U.S. House of Representatives seat in New York in the 2026 election. If his campaign succeeds, he would replace Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler to represent New York’s 12th Congressional District. “I don’t even think such ridiculous comments are worth responding to,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Wednesday. “Obviously, those things are not true. And Secretary Kennedy is doing a phenomenal job bringing transparency and the gold standard of silent science back to our health care system.” JFK’S GRANDSON SAYS THERE IS ‘NOTHING HEROIC’ ABOUT TRUMP’S DECLASSIFICATION ORDER Schlossberg appeared on MSNBC Wednesday, where he compared Kennedy to a dog, adding Trump is “obsessed” with the Kennedy family and that’s why Kennedy is a Cabinet member with the Trump administration. “He put a collar on my cousin, RFK Jr., and has him there barking, spreading lies and spreading misinformation,” Schlossberg said. BILL MAHER SAYS ‘NUTTY’ RFK JR. HAS ‘GOT TO GO’ FOLLOWING CDC FIRINGS, SENATE HEARING Likewise, Schlossberg took aim at his cousin directly, specifically pointing to Kennedy’s decision to fire advisors on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention vaccine panel in June and the rise in measles cases in areas like West Texas. The Texas Department of State Health Services announced that the outbreak ended in August. “RFK Jr. is a dangerous person who is making life-and-death decisions as secretary of Health and Human Services,” Schlossberg said. “I mean, when he’s not making infomercials for Steak ‘n Shake and Coca-Cola, he’s spreading misinformation and lies that are leading to deaths around the country.” The Department of Health and Human Services did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. Schlossberg, 32, graduated from Harvard Law School in 2022 and joined Vogue as a political correspondent in 2024.
Fox News Politics Newsletter: Major Pentagon contractor executive caught in child sex sting operation
Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter, with the latest updates on the Trump administration, Capitol Hill and more Fox News politics content. Here’s what’s happening… -Data shows flight delays and cancellations rising even as shutdown winds down –Duckworth staffer accused of posing as lawyer in attempt to free illegal immigrant from ICE custody -White House slams Dems’ ‘bad-faith’ Epstein doc release as demand for files intensifies The founder and executive chairman of Govini, a software firm with deep Pentagon ties, has been arrested and charged with soliciting sexual contact with a preteen girl, according to the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office. Eric Gillespie, 57, of Pittsburgh, allegedly tried to arrange a meeting with a young girl through an online chat platform often used by sex offenders, authorities said. An undercover agent posing as an adult intercepted Gillespie’s messages. “Our Child Predator Section proactively uncovered this defendant who, under an online pseudonym, was lurking online to access children,” Attorney General Dave Sunday said. “During the investigation, Gillespie alluded to methods he accessed children, and other evidence was found regarding contact with children,” the office said in a statement…READ MORE. POWER GRAB PERIL: Trump’s signature tariffs hang on key question about Congress’ power before Supreme Court ODDS SHRINK: Prediction markets put Trump tariff win at 24% following Supreme Court oral arguments ENERGY UNLEASHED: Trump admin unleashes Arctic power shepherding 1,000 miles of pipeline, LNG generation in Alaska HISTORIC ENGAGEMENT: China tightens fentanyl precursor controls after FBI director visit, Patel says SHORTS SCANDAL: Michelle Obama reveals moment that left her infuriated on Air Force One TEHRAN STRIKES BACK: Iran claims missile power now ‘far surpasses’ pre-war levels after Israeli bombardment POWER TO PATIENTS: Rick Scott calls Democrats ‘heartless’ as he pitches new Obamacare fix ‘DEEPLY CONCERNED’: Potential Pelosi successor pressed on transgender people in women’s spaces ’11TH HOUR’ ADDITION: House Republicans balk at Senate provision letting lawmakers sue over ‘Arctic Frost’ phone records ‘DISADVANTAGE’: James Carville says Democrats lacked ‘end-game’ plan for shutdown, urges party to move on WINDY CITY SHOWDOWN: DHS blasts Chicago mayor for comparing raid leader to segregationists, accusing him of ‘terror’ VOTE DEADLINE FIGHT: Ballots arriving after Election Day to face Supreme Court test ENERGY SHOCK: Stefanik thrashes Hochul on energy as New Yorkers brace for $800/year hike, as gov blames tariffs UPHILL BATTLE: Michigan GOP leader signals Senate bid, sets up clash with Trump-endorsed Mike Rogers ‘AMAZING’: Cowboys owner’s daughter makes surprising admission about Bad Bunny amid Super Bowl outrage ‘WOKE MIND VIRUS’: Red-state university ripped for offering entry-level job to foreign workers, not grads: ‘Woke mind virus’ GOVERNOR RESPONDS: Newsom breaks silence on violent Berkeley protest of TPUSA at California university Get the latest updates on the Trump administration and Congress, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.
Trump’s backing of H-1B visa program exposes cracks within MAGA movement
President Donald Trump drew criticism from those within his “Make America Great Again” base after he reinvigorated debate on one of his party’s most controversial issues: H-1B visas. The visas allow U.S. companies to hire highly skilled foreign workers for up to six years. The issue resurfaced after Trump told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham in an interview that aired Tuesday that bringing foreign workers to the U.S. on H-1B visas is important to “bring in talent” to the U.S. While Ingraham argued that the U.S. has talent at home, Trump said that wasn’t the case. ARE AMERICAN WORKERS BEING REPLACED? INSIDE THE H-1B VISA CONTROVERSY “No, you don’t. No, you don’t. You don’t have, you don’t have certain talents, and people have to learn!” Trump said. “You can’t take people off an unemployment line and say I’m gonna put you into a factory where we’re gonna make missiles.” Trump also defended past remarks endorsing allowing up to 600,000 Chinese students to come to the U.S. to Ingraham, claiming that they must study in the U.S. so U.S. colleges don’t “go out of business.” While proponents of the program argue that the program is key to U.S. competitiveness, critics argue that the visa holders are taking away jobs from Americans. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., promptly spoke out against the statements, claiming that she is “America First and America Only.” “I believe in the American people. I am one of you.I believe you are good, talented, creative, intelligent, hardworking, and want to achieve. I am solidly against you being replaced by foreign labor, like with H1Bs,” Greene said. “I am solidly against allowing foreign students into our colleges and universities, like 600,000 Chinese students, just to financially prop them up. If they fail, they fail. The system in place isn’t helping our young people anyway.” Other Republicans weighed in and said the policy could play out poorly for the GOP in the 2026 midterms. TRUMP ADMIN REVEALS OVER 100 INVESTIGATIONS INTO H-1B ABUSES AS IT PLEDGES ‘EVERY RESOURCE’ TO PROTECT US JOBS “This is insane—we’re going to lose the mid-terms so badly,” Anthony Sabatini, a Republican county commissioner in Florida, said in a Tuesday post on X. “We’ve never seen an administration crash & burn in its first year so badly—for no reason other than to appease donors and special interests.” Meanwhile, the White House pointed to the Trump administration’s announcement in September that would require a $100,000 annual fee for companies seeking to obtain an H-1B visa. Likewise, the White House said that the Department of Labor launched Project Firewall in September in an attempt to ensure employers don’t abuse the H-1B visa process. “The Trump administration is protecting American workers by restoring accountability in the H1-B process, ensuring that it is used to bring in only the highest-skilled foreign workers in specialty occupations and not low wage workers that will displace Americans,” White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said in a Wednesday statement to Fox News Digital. The issue historically has been controversial within Trump’s base, particularly after Trump himself came out and backed H-1B visas, saying it was a “great program” and that he’s a “believer in H-1B” in an interview with the New York Post in December 2024. SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who originally is from South Africa and used an H-1B visa to remain in the U.S., also said in December he would “go to war” on the issue. “The reason I’m in America along with so many critical people who built SpaceX, Tesla, and hundreds of other companies that made America strong is because of H1B,” Musk said in a December 2024 post on X. The comments and Trump’s support ignited backlash within the president’s own party. Original MAGA supporters like Steve Bannon, who previously served as Trump’s White House chief strategist, blasted the program in response and labeled it a “scam” in his podcast in December 2024. DOJ CALLS FOR TIPS ON EMPLOYERS FAVORING FOREIGN WORKERS IN HIRING PRACTICES He also promised to undermine Musk’s influence at the White House as Musk geared up to oversee the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in a separate interview. “This thing of the H-1B visas, it’s about the entire immigration system is gamed by the tech overlords, they use it to their advantage, the people are furious,” Bannon told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera in January. In the same interview, Bannon vowed to “run out” Musk from the White House and would make “it my personal thing to take this guy down.” Members of the left also remain critical of the H-1B program. For example, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said that the program is used to replace U.S. workers and pay foreigners for less. “The main function of the H-1B visa program is not to hire ‘the best and the brightest,’ but rather to replace good-paying American jobs with low-wage indentured servants from abroad,” Sanders said in a post on X in January. “The cheaper the labor they hire, the more money the billionaires make.” Fox News’ Peter Pinedo contributed to this report.
Democrat’s swearing-in tips scales for House battle to unseal Epstein documents
Rep. Adelita Grijalva, D-Ariz., was sworn into office on Wednesday, unlocking the needed support to force the House of Representatives into a vote over the Epstein files. Now having received the oath of office, Grijalva is free to become the 218th — and final signatory — to advance a discharge petition on a bill to instruct the Department of Justice (DOJ) to release its documentation on Jeffrey Epstein. If successful, the petition would bring the bill to the floor over the objection of the chamber’s leadership. EPSTEIN VICTIMS SET TO BREAK SILENCE AMID BIPARTISAN PUSH TO RELEASE FILES: ‘PEOPLE ARE GOING TO BE OUTRAGED’ Grijalva, who now fills the seat formerly held by her father, the late Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., said signing the petition would be her first act as a member of Congress. “I will sign the discharge petition right now to release the Epstein files. It’s past time for Congress to restore its role as the check and balance on this administration and fight for we, the American people,” Grijalva said. Epstein, a former businessman and financier, died in 2019 while jailed on federal sex-trafficking charges involving minors. During his career, he accrued an impressive social circle that included rich and powerful figures like former President Bill Clinton, President Donald Trump and the United Kingdom’s Prince Andrew. His sudden death, ruled a suicide by investigators, left unanswered questions about whether he had used his expansive social circle to facilitate illegal sexual encounters for some of his contacts. SPEAKER JOHNSON HIT WITH DEMOCRAT-LED LAWSUIT OVER DELAYED SWEARING-IN AMID HOUSE SHUTDOWN CHAOS After disappointing announcements from the DOJ that the investigation met a dead end earlier this year, lawmakers led by Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., demanded Congress vote to force the DOJ to release its documentation on the matter. Those demands went unheeded by House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., who said the DOJ was already conducting its own internal evaluation and complying with congressional requests for information. For Massie and three other Republicans, that wasn’t good enough. Massie joined Reps. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., — and all House Democrats — in signing the petition, falling just one signatory short of putting it over the needed 218 threshold. EPSTEIN VICTIMS PRESS LAWMAKERS TO SUPPORT BILL TO RELEASE HIDDEN FILES, SAY AMERICANS WILL BE ‘APPALLED’ Two of Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged victims joined lawmakers in the House chamber for Grijalva’s swearing in. “Our democracy only works when everyone has a voice. This includes the millions of people across the country who have experienced violence and exploitation — including Liz Stein and Jessica Michaels, both survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse. They are here in the gallery here this evening,” Grijalva said. Johnson has said he supports the measure in principle but believes aspects of it are poorly written or may provide insufficient protections for Epstein’s potential victims. With Grijalva’s support, Democrat leadership believes the petition will come to the floor sometime in December. Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., the ranking member on the House Rules Committee, noted that Johnson might try to derail its timeline. “It should ripen in early December. That doesn’t mean that the speaker of the House [won’t] try to do some shenanigans, but if all goes the way we want it to go, early December,” McGovern said.
Tlaib-backed Senate candidate in the hot seat after deleting ‘defund the police’ social media posts
A Michigan Senate candidate backed by “Squad” Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., and other far-left politicians quietly deleted old social media posts he made online espousing support for the “defund the police” movement between 2020 and 2021. This anti-law enforcement rhetoric became a flashpoint for Democrats during the summer of 2020 and during the Biden years. The anti-police rhetoric was also a major issue during the New York City mayoral race as Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani faced immense backlash for his past anti-police rhetoric, compelling the candidate to go on Fox News at one point to apologize for what he once said. “Most major US cities spend WAY TOO MUCH on police departments to police poverty & WAY TOO LITTLE on public schools, health departments, recreation departments, & housing to eliminate poverty,” El-Sayed wrote in a June 2020 post on X, then-Twitter, just several weeks after the death of George Floyd. “Fixing that is what the #Defund movement is about.” “The police have become standing armies we deploy against our own people,” El-Sayed said in a separate post on social media from around the same time. REPUBLICANS TARGET 2 KEY DEMOCRATIC RACES WITH MAMDANI CONNECTION STRATEGY El-Sayed’s past social media posts, which were first reported by CNN, include about a dozen posts that espoused support for the “defund the police” movement. “When we make a choice to invest in policing in a majority black community, rather than to invest in public schools, that choice is influenced by systemic racism,” El-Sayed said during an interview for Michigan Online that was posted to YouTube around the same time as his social media posts that have now been deleted. “When we talk about the question of quote-unquote defunding the police,” he continued, “it’s a question of asking how do we right-size government away from the racist ideologies that have led us to investing in war material for policing rather than public health for children.” El-Sayed, a former executive director of Detroit’s health department, is running in a crowded primary to win Michigan’s Senate seat against state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., and many others. On the Republican side, former Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., is considered the frontrunner after he narrowly lost a bid for the seat in 2024. “I’m proud to endorse Abdul El-Sayed to be our next Senator,” Tlaib said earlier this month during a town hall tour featuring El-Sayed. “As a health equity champion and Medicare for All advocate, Abdul leads with a grassroots vision for change centered on inclusion and dignity for Michigan families. He has long been a fighter — we were arrested together in 2018 while protesting for a $15 minimum wage — and he is fighting now to kick money out of politics, tackle our affordability crisis, and build a stronger, healthier Michigan.” DEMOCRATS’ ‘UNITY’ DINNER DRAWS BACKLASH OVER ANTI-TRUMP ‘86 47’ SIGN LINKING MAGA TO NAZIS In response to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on the CNN probe, a campaign spokesperson for El-Sayed shared a statement about how the former health director has worked to support law enforcement. The statement also touted El-Sayed’s endorsements from individuals in the law enforcement community. “On his third week as Wayne County’s Health Officer, Dr. El-Sayed declared a public health emergency at the Juvenile Detention Facility, working alongside law enforcement to fully rebuild it from the studs, raising officers’ wages by 35% and funding a safer, more humane system,” the statement said. “He learned and grew through the process—and has earned endorsements from a sitting Sheriff, a former Sheriff, and a Detroit Police Commissioner.” The campaign statement also slammed President Donald Trump’s “militarizing” of agencies like Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and argued that “rather than defund Police” El-Sayed is “challenging” the government to reconsider the way it allocates its money. “Rather than defund Police, Dr. El-Sayed is challenging government choices that defund food, healthcare, and social services while militarizing agencies like ICE in sharp contrast to Donald Trump’s presidency because real safety comes from investing in people—not in tanks and tear gas,” the campaign statement concluded. In addition to Tlaib, self-proclaimed democratic socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and far-left Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison endorsed his campaign. El-Sayed, who has been compared to Mamdani, has embraced the comparison between him and New York City’s mayor-elect, a self-described socialist with connections to the broader socialist movement. “Like Zohran, I’m running a people-powered campaign because I know we deserve better,” El-Sayed reportedly said in a campaign advertisement that now appears to be deleted, according to the Washington Examiner. But it isn’t just their policies that are similar; so are their opinions about the police. Prior to Mamdani’s election victory last week, he was compelled to go on Fox News and apologize for his past anti-police comments calling the New York Police Department (NYPD) “racist, anti‑queer & a major threat to public safety.” Mamdani’s past comments, which also included support for the “defund the police” movement, came around the same time as El-Sayed’s social media posts that followed the death of George Floyd. Mamdani told Fox News Digital at the time that he had apologized to rank-and-file NYPD officers behind closed doors and when pressed on whether he would offer a broad, public apology, Mamdani said, “Absolutely.” FROM COMBAT BOOTS TO THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL: ARMY VETERAN MARCHES INTO MICHIGAN CONGRESSIONAL RACE “I apologize because of the fact that I’m looking to work with these officers, and I know that these officers, these men and women who serve in the NYPD, they put their lives on the line every single day,” Mamdani added. But, despite the apology, Mamdani’s negative comments about the police may have already spurred damage. In October, the same month as his Fox News apology and just weeks before Mamdani’s widely expected victory, the NYPD reportedly saw a 35% hike in cops of all ranks leaving the department, according to the New York Post’s analysis of Police Pension Fund data. “Morale is down because everyone is concerned about
Fetterman’s new book details explosive feud with Gov Josh Shapiro over parole board dispute
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., called Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapio a “f—— a——” during a hot mic moment amid a heated Zoom hearing, his new memoir reveals. Fetterman, who was the state’s lieutenant governor at the time, recalled delivering the outburst after Shapiro delivered a “very long-winded and unnecessary” speech justifying his decision to vote against commuting the sentences of Lee and Dennis Horton, the New York Post reported. The Lee brothers had been convicted of second-degree murder in a fatal 1993 robbery and shooting. FETTERMAN FIRES BACK AT NEWSOM AFTER SHUTDOWN CRITICISM, REFUSES TO ‘PLAY CHICKEN’ WITH THE LIVES OF AMERICANS The hearing was part of the Pennsylvania’s Board of Pardons meeting when Shapiro expressed concerns that transcripts from the siblings’ original trial were missing, Fetterman wrote in the memoir, titled: “Unfettered.” In response, Fetterman became angry. At one point during a private meeting, he threatened to run for governor in 2022 and pull Shapiro into a primary. “I told him there were two tracks — that one and the one in which he ran for governor and I ran for the Senate (which was the one I preferred),” Fetterman wrote in his new book, “Unfettered,” as excerpted by The Philadelphia Inquirer. “I had no interest in friction, only in what I felt was justice,” he added. The book reportedly details how Shapiro’s people reached out to Fetterman. “He wanted me to retract things I had said and to deny the rumors about the private meeting taking place,” Fetterman wrote. “That wasn’t going to happen.” In December 2020, the board voted to commute the Hortons’ sentences. Fetterman eventually invited Dennis Horton to be his guest at the 2023 State of the Union address. FETTERMAN SAYS HE KNOWS AND LOVES TRUMP VOTERS: ‘I’M THE ONLY DEMOCRAT IN MY FAMILY’ However, his relationship with Shapiro never recovered. “I sincerely wish him the best,” Fetterman wrote of the governor. “He is a credit to the state and may one day be a credit to the country. I remember fondly the days when we were nobodies trying to climb the ladder. Even if we no longer speak.” The roots of the feud on the parole board stemmed from who was granted parole or a pardon. “I truly believed with all my heart that nobody I ever supported for a pardon was a danger to society. I was willing to stake my political career on it,” Fetterman wrote. “[Shapiro] was far more cautious, and at a certain point, I began to think that what was influencing him was not mere caution but political ambition.” At one meeting, Shapiro voted against parole in 12 of 15 cases, causing Fetterman to break his reading glasses in frustration, the senator recalled. “I believe what drove him to delay and deny applications was not the facts of a given case as much as a fear that someone whose sentence he’d commuted would go on to commit terrible violence on the outside,” Fetterman wrote. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Fox News Digital has reached out to Shapiro’s office for comment. On Capitol Hill, Fetterman has clashed with his fellow Democrats because of his stance on working with the Trump administration and his support for Israel.
Fetterman torches Democratic Party in new book: ‘Elitist,’ ‘lost touch’ with working class
Botched policies, ignoring reality and turning their backs on the voters that built the party are the key ingredients that Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., believed helped Democrats lose big last year. In his memoir “Unfettered,” Fetterman unloaded on the Democratic Party and his colleagues’ missteps that he argued led to President Donald Trump’s victory over former Vice President Kamala Harris and a sea change in Washington, D.C. Fetterman argued that the Democratic Party had lost touch with the working class, a key bloc of voters that at one point made up the backbone of the party. DEMOCRATS, LEFT EMPTY-HANDED IN SHUTDOWN, TURN FURY ON SCHUMER In particular, it was the attacks on men, be it through speeches or legislation, that helped turn the Democratic Party into an elitist organization too focused on “celebrity endorsements,” he said. In turn, those who voted for Trump perceived “Democrats as soft and gooey, with a platform built on ideals that weren’t based in the reality of the average person.” “We became the party of the elites, one that had lost touch with its base,” he wrote. “Also, the continued speech and policies against men have not been without consequences. “If men are forced to choose between picking their party or keeping their balls, most men are going to choose their balls.” Fetterman’s book, released Tuesday, comes at a particular inflection point for Democrats. The party had spent much of the year searching for a binding message to both rebuild their brand with voters and build unity among their ranks in Congress. SENATE ENDS 41-DAY GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN STALEMATE, SENDS BIPARTISAN DEAL TO HOUSE That came with the government shutdown, when Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and the majority of the caucus moved in lockstep with demands that the government wouldn’t reopen until expiring Obamacare subsidies were dealt with. Schumer’s failure to prevent a cohort of Senate Democrats, including Fetterman, from crossing the aisle to join Republicans has earned him heat from progressives in the House and outside the walls of Congress. Despite often straying from Schumer’s position, particularly throughout the shutdown, Fetterman wrote sparingly of the top Senate Democrat. Instead, he is briefly mentioned when reflecting on Schumer’s 2023 decision to change the dress code on the Senate floor to accommodate Fetterman, whose standard dress is a baggy hoodie and basketball shorts. But Schumer caved on that initiative, too, in early 2024. MIKE JOHNSON EYES WEDNESDAY VOTE WITH END OF GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN IN SIGHT “Schumer was forced to reverse himself and enforce a dress code aimed at me,” Fetterman wrote. One policy area in particular that Fetterman felt Democrats had failed was immigration. He reiterated that while he was pro-immigration, Democrats’ unwillingness to tackle the growing crisis at the southern border under former President Joe Biden was something he couldn’t get behind. He wrote that Democrats’ assertion that “an open border is a compassionate policy” wasn’t based in reality. “It is chaos, both for those immigrants and for the citizens impacted by the overwhelming number of people coming in who need assistance,” he wrote. And, further, that position likely played a large factor in Trump and the GOP’s across-the-board victories in 2024, Fetterman argued. “Democrats were swearing up and down that the border was secure and telling its voters to not believe their own eyes,” he wrote. “I suspect this may have been the deciding factor in the 2024 election. You can’t tell people to not believe their own eyes and expect to win elections.”
White House provides Trump health update after MRI scan concerns swirled
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday that President Donald Trump “remains in exceptional physical health” after concerns have swirled in recent months, including when the president received an MRI scan in October. “As stated in the memo provided on October 10th, President Trump received advanced imaging at Walter Reed Medical Center as part of his routine physical examination,” Leavitt said during Wednesday’s White House press briefing. “The full results were reviewed by attending radiologists and consultants, and all agreed that President Trump remains in exceptional physical health.” The response followed a member of the media asking for additional details as to why Trump received an MRI during a checkup at Walter Reed National Military Center in Maryland in October. RESULTS OF PRESIDENT TRUMP’S PHYSICAL RELEASED, HERE’S WHAT THEY SAY “I got an MRI, it was perfect,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One in October. “I gave you the full results,” he added. “We had an MRI, and the machine, you know, the whole thing, and it was perfect.” The checkup in October has been described as routine by the administration, with Trump’s physician reporting that Trump is in “exceptional health.” Media outlets and others have fanned the flames of concerns around Trump’s health earlier in 2025 when he was spotted with swollen legs in July while attending the FIFA Club World Cup final in New Jersey, as well as when other photos that same month showed him with bruises on his hands. TRUMP DECLARED IN ‘EXCELLENT OVERALL HEALTH’ BY DOCTOR AFTER WALTER REED VISIT Leavitt said in July, while reading a health memo, that Trump’s swollen legs were part of a “benign and common condition” for individuals older than age 70, while the bruising on his hands was attributable to “frequent handshaking and the use of aspirin.” Navy Capt. Sean P. Barbabella, the physician to the president, wrote in a memorandum to Leavitt following the October checkup that the visit was part of an ongoing health maintenance plan that included “advanced imaging, laboratory testing and preventative health assessments conducted by multidisciplinary team of specialists.” Barbabella said in his October summary that Trump, “remains in exceptional health, exhibiting strong cardiovascular, pulmonary, neurological, and physical performance.” TRUMP TO GET ANNUAL PHYSICAL, SAYING HE’S ‘NEVER FELT BETTER’ The checkup was Trump’s second in 2025, following an April visit that Barbabella said found Trump “remains in excellent health.” Leavitt added Wednesday that Trump is slated to hold a dinner later that evening, which she said might include press attendance where the media could see Trump’s physical state themselves. “I know all of you will see with your own eyes later this evening when he opens up his dinner to the press, and perhaps you will see him when he signs the bill to reopen the federal government,” she said. “So stay tuned on plans for that.” Fox News Digital’s Brie Stimson contributed to this report.
JD Vance hails Trump admin’s ‘bulldozer’ approach to public health, discusses how Appalachia was ‘left behind’
Vice President JD Vance praised President Donald Trump’s “bulldozer” approach to public health, calling it a necessary force that “just had to happen,” during remarks at Wednesday’s Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) summit. The summit, held at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington, D.C., was centered on Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.‘s MAHA movement — aimed at improving nutrition, eliminating toxins, preserving natural habitats and fighting the chronic disease epidemic in the U.S. “That is a good summary of Donald J. Trump is that he takes a bulldozer to Overton windows every single day,” Vance told the HHS secretary during the event. “It just had to happen… One of the criticisms that Bobby will always get, and I always think it’s such b——-, excuse my language… [is that] sometimes there’s this attack where people say that conclusion is not supported by the science, or this or that conclusion is a conspiracy theory.” “Science, as practiced in its best form, is that if you disagree with it, then you ought to criticize it, and you ought to argue against it. You can’t shut down the debate,” Vance continued. “If you look at all the big public health debates that we’ve had in this country over the last 20 or 30 years… they tried to silence the people who were saying things that were outside the Overton window. As we found out the hard way over the last few years, it was very often that people who were outside the Overton window were actually right, and all the experts were wrong.” TRUMP WILL MAKE AMERICA HEALTHY AGAIN WITH AN UNLIKELY COALITION Vance went on to say the country could not advance unless Americans become comfortable with people who are “willing to challenge orthodoxy.” He also vowed to keep Appalachia in the forefront of the conversation, noting residents have higher premature mortality rates due to a long history of being failed by the public health system. “You know what really p—– people off — when they realize that their loved ones are dying much sooner than everybody else,” said Vance, whose autobiography, “Hillbilly Elegy,” details his own upbringing in Appalachia. “That is a big part of the story of what’s going on in Appalachia, and why I think so many people in Appalachia feel left behind.” VP’S OFFICE RESPONDS TO PA GOV WHO SAID VANCE BETRAYED APPALACHIAN ROOTS WITH ‘BULL—- POLITICS’ OVER SNAP He described himself as “the golden boy” of Appalachia, admitting he feels guilt about the many people who grew up in families like his and have not had an easy life or the same amount of economic opportunity. “That gives me a sense of purpose because I want those people to have the same opportunities that I’ve had,” Vance said. “But it also gives me a great sense of anger, because we never should have gotten to the point that we are today. The reason that we have, is because of failed leadership over generations.” When discussing the people of Appalachia, he said they are people who, “though they don’t have much, would take the shirt off their back and give it to a complete stranger, because that’s what you do.” “If you go back to America’s biggest wars — World War I, World War II, Vietnam — which were the counties that filled their draft quotas with volunteers instead of with draftees?” Vance posed. “It’s very often the parts in deep Appalachia where you’ve got grinding poverty, but you’ve also got this incredible love of country.” “So if any place in this country deserves not to be left behind, it’s Appalachia… These are people who deserve to live better, healthier lives, but they really have been left behind by this country’s leadership,” Vance added.
Dems pull out all the stops to keep Obamacare subsidies fight alive after vote to reopen government
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., announced a long-shot plan to force the House of Representatives to vote on a three-year extension of expiring Obamacare subsidies. During a closed-door meeting on Wednesday, Jeffries said Democrats would submit a discharge petition that, if successful, would bring the subsidies to a vote in the chamber over the objection of GOP leadership, giving Democrats a way to continue pursuing their shutdown demands. “The House Democratic position is going to be the House Democratic position,” Jeffries said shortly after leaving the meeting. “We believe that the American people — given the Republican refusal to act and find a bipartisan path forward — should be given the same level of certainty that Republicans have continued to give the wealthy, the well-off and the well-connected.” JEFFRIES REVEALS LAST-MINUTE MOVE TO EXTEND COVID-ERA SUBSIDIES AS HOUSE SHUTDOWN VOTE LOOMS The three-year window for the proposed extension coincides with the duration of President Donald Trump’s second term, which ends in 2028. In response to the plan, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said the discharge effort was an ill-conceived attempt to give a new lease on life to a program that was always supposed to be temporary. “There’s a reason Democrats set these inefficient subsidies to expire. COVID ended — it’s time these insurance company credits do, too. Republicans have real solutions to lower premiums for hardworking families, and they don’t include bailing out insurance companies that are increasing prices,” Scalise said. The whip also slammed the high health insurance costs that the Obamacare tax credits subsidize. “Democrats created the healthcare mess with Obamacare that has resulted in 80% increases in premiums. Now their only solution to those skyrocketing premium increases is to bail out insurance companies with billions in taxpayer subsidies. These COVID subsidies are rife with waste, fraud and abuse,” Scalise said. MODERATE DEM UNDERCUTS JEFFRIES ON OBAMACARE COMPROMISE AS GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN WEARS ON The petition, which Jeffries said Democrats would likely submit later on Wednesday, would require 218 votes to succeed. Democrats hold 213 seats — soon to be 214 seats with the addition of Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva. Even so, Democrats would need the assistance of at least four Republicans to force consideration of the subsidies. Democrats have sought the extension to the credits since the government plunged into a government shutdown on Oct. 1. Democrats, led by Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., refused to consider spending legislation without first extending the subsidies in some way. Congress first passed them as an emergency response to COVID-19 in 2021. Democrats fear that the expiration of those subsidies at the end of the year could leave millions of Obamacare policyholders with significantly higher premiums overnight. Now that Congress looks poised to escape the shutdown — without any action on the subsidies — Democrats have pulled out all the stops to put the extension on the floor. Earlier this week, they attempted to pass it as a unanimous consent agreement. On Tuesday, Democrats submitted an extension as an amendment to legislation to reopen the government. Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., the ranking member on the House Appropriations Committee, said she supported the most recent attempt. “I support a three-year extension. I was supportive — I thought it was a very reasonable thing that the Senate did, which was a one-year extension,” DeLauro said, referring to a plan floated by Schumer in the Senate. OBAMACARE SUBSIDIES AT CENTER OF DEM SHUTDOWN FIGHT ‘FUEL’ HEALTHCARE COST INFLATION, CONSERVATIVES SAY Republicans rejected the one-year extension proposal. Rep. Melanie Stansburry, D-N.M., said Democrats had upped their demands when it became clear Republicans wouldn’t agree to a shorter timeline. “What I can say is that the original negotiating position of Democrats in the House and Senate had been a two-year extension that was obviously rejected,” Stansbury said. “I certainly support it and will be signing it.” In the event the discharge petition collects the needed 218 votes, it’s unclear when it will reach the floor for consideration. The House of Representatives will entertain funding legislation on Wednesday night that would end the ongoing, 43-day shutdown.