WATCH: Dem senator agrees with GOP that Trump’s making progress on trade war
Pennsylvania Democratic Sen. John Fetterman admitted that his party had gotten it wrong about President Donald Trump’s tariffs, saying that, so far, the U.S. trade war is “going well.” Asked by Fox News Digital whether he thought the Trump administration was winning the trade war, Fetterman responded, “Absolutely.” “I’m a huge fan of Bill Maher, and I mean, I think he’s really one of the oracles for my party, and he acknowledged it, it’s like, hey, he thought that the tariffs were going to tank the economy, and then he acknowledged that it didn’t,” said Fetterman. “So, for me,” he went on, “it seems like the E.U. thing has been going well, and I guess we’ll see how it happens with China.” This comes as Trump is increasing the tariff on Canada from 25% to 35% beginning on Friday, after the U.S. neighbor to the north failed to help curb the imports of fentanyl and other illicit drugs. The White House noted that Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to increase the tariff in an effort to hold Canada accountable for its role in the flow of illicit drugs into the U.S. Additionally, Trump signed another executive order on Thursday to modify the reciprocal tariff rates for some countries to further address the United States’ trade deficits. The action reflects Trump’s efforts to protect the U.S. from foreign threats to national security and the economy by securing “fair, balanced and reciprocal trade relationships,” the White House said. TRUMP AIMS TO RESHAPE GLOBAL ECONOMY WITH HISTORIC NEW TARIFFS Earlier this year, Trump announced an additional 10% tariff on all countries as well as higher tariffs for countries the U.S. has large trade deficits with. The tariffs became effective on April 9. Since then, Trump and his team have since made several trade deals with several countries. The U.S. struck a deal with the European Union in which the EU agreed to purchase $750 billion in U.S. energy and make new investments of $600 billion by 2028. The EU also agreed to accept a 15% tariff rate. The U.S. also made a deal with Japan, which agreed to invest $550 billion in the U.S. to rebuild and expand core American industries. Japan also agreed to further its own market to U.S. exports, and like the EU, Japan agreed to a baseline 15% tariff rate. However, many Democrats are digging in their heels against Trump’s tariffs strategy, saying the negative effects are still on the horizon. Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., forecast that, despite the increased revenue, “within a few weeks or months, you’ll start seeing significant increases in most things you buy. And also, you will see disruption in terms of a lot of our industries, because they’re not able to access product or supply.” TRUMP IMPOSES SWEEPING TARIFFS ON DOZENS OF COUNTRIES AFTER LANDING MASSIVE TRADE DEALS “When you have across-the-board tariffs, it does operate like a national sales tax, and I think people are going to be more and more hurt,” predicted Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md. “This is the president who said he was going to come in and reduce prices. Prices are going to rise, and they’re going to rise more over time,” said Van Hollen. Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren said that “Donald Trump may beat his chest and say, ‘Man, I made him take a 15% tariff or 25% tariff,’ but also understand that every one of those trading partners is now looking hard all around the rest of the world to find other customers, because Donald Trump is signaling loud and clear that the United States under Donald Trump is not a reliable trading partner. And that’s not good for any of us.” Warren also claimed that Trump’s tariffs are the reason the Federal Reserve has not lowered U.S. interest rates. “Jerome Powell said last month that he would have lowered interest rates back in February if it hadn’t been for the chaos that Donald Trump was creating over trade. And the consequence has been that American families have, for six months now, been paying more on credit cards, more on car loans, more home mortgages, all because Donald Trump has created chaos,” she said. US-CHINA TRADE DEAL ON THE HORIZON, SAYS TREASURY SECRETARY Meanwhile, Republicans whom Fox News Digital spoke with urged the president to double down on his tariff strategy. “I think it’s exactly the right approach. It’s what I have been urging the president to do, and I think the successes he’s winning are big wins for America,” said Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. In response to Democrats still predicting economic fallout because of the tariffs, Cruz sarcastically remarked, “I’m shocked, shocked that Democrats are rooting for the economy to do badly under President Trump.” “It’d be nice if some Democrats would put their partisan hatred for Trump aside and actually start working together for American workers and American jobs. Unfortunately, I don’t see a whole lot of Democrats interested in doing that right now,” said Cruz. Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., while agreeing that the tariffs have been successful, voiced that he hopes the goal is to ultimately achieve reciprocal zero percent tariffs between the U.S. and its trade partners. DEMOCRATIC SENATOR ADDRESSES WHETHER KAMALA HARRIS HAS REACHED THE END OF HER POLITICAL CAREER “Clearly, the president got a good deal from one perspective. The Europeans just caved, they did. Fifteen percent tariffs on them, zero on us, commitment to invest in our country. But the part of the deal I like the most, the E.U. and the president agreed that a whole bunch of goods would be tariff-free. That is, no American tariffs and no E.U. tariffs. It’s called reciprocity, and ideal reciprocity is zero on both sides,” he explained. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “That’s what I would like us to achieve in all the trade deals,” Kennedy explained. “Let the free enterprise system work. May the best product at the best price win. That, to me,
Gridlock crumbles as Senate advances spending bills in race against shutdown
The Senate advanced a package of spending bills late Friday night, breaking a partisan gridlock that threatened to derail the government funding process. Moving the three bills, including funding bills for military construction and Veterans’ Affairs, agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the legislative branch, appeared on ice for much of the week as lawmaker after lawmaker on either side of the aisle looked to block the bills. But a path forward was found, and the bills were put on the floor, and after several votes on amendments, the final package passed. However, the bill to fund the legislative branch was added to the package separately in response to a roadblock by Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., who ultimately relented to allow the bill to hit the floor. He announced his plan to vote against that piece of the package because the bill increased spending, like the others, but specifically for Congress. SCHUMER, DEMOCRATS TRY TO SAVE FACE, BLAME GOP FOR POSSIBLE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN “I just think we need to set an example, and when we’re increasing our spending 6% and others less,” Kennedy said on the Senate floor. “We’re sending a message that we’re special, and I don’t think we are.” Now it heads to the House, where Republicans are already incensed that the Senate’s bills go over their approved spending levels. The advancement of the bills is a victory for members of the Senate Appropriations Committee and for Republican leadership, who are working to ward off a possible government shutdown as tensions over the “big, beautiful bill” and President Donald Trump’s $9 billion clawback package linger. It’s also the first time since 2018 that the upper chamber passed spending bills before September. SENATE WEATHERS DEM OPPOSITION, ADVANCES FIRST GOVERNMENT FUNDING BILL “These bills all mean a great deal to each of us,” Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine, said on the Senate floor. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., previously threatened that if Republicans went through with the rescissions package, it would have grave effects on the forthcoming sprint to fund the government. But, with the deadline to fund the government by Sept. 30 — or to pass a short-term funding extension — fast-approaching, neither party wants to carry the blame for blowing up the appropriations process, at least for now. CONGRESSIONAL REPUBLICANS FACE BRUISING BATTLE TO AVOID GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN While passing the spending package out of the upper chamber proved a bright spot, lawmakers are still looking for a path forward in confirming a slew of Trump’s nominees. The president re-upped his call for Senate Republican leadership to cancel recess to pass each nominee on the Senate’s calendar, which has now ballooned to over 150 picks, as Democrats continue their blockade of the process. Lawmakers are set to vote on a trio of nominees Friday night and are expected to run through nearly a dozen more over the weekend, unless a deal is made.
WATCH: Trump says he is hopeful Hillary Clinton will be investigated for election fraud
Speaking with reporters on Friday afternoon, President Donald Trump expressed that he is hopeful that former presidential opponent Hillary Clinton will finally be investigated for election fraud. Shortly before departing for New Jersey, Trump was asked by a reporter, “Will Hillary Clinton finally be investigated for election fraud?” Trump answered, “I hope so, I hope so. I don’t know whether or not that’ll happen, but I hope so.” During his brief exchange with reporters outside the White House, Trump also repeatedly criticized Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer, whom he recently removed. The president connected his recent decision to fire McEntarfer, whom he accused of falsifying jobs report numbers, to efforts to sway previous elections against him. TRUMP CLASHES WITH REPORTER OVER TARIFFS, CITING PANDEMIC AND ‘FIGHTING LUNATICS’ “You have to have honest reports and when you look at those numbers or when you look at just before the election and then after the election, they corrected it by 8 or 900,000 jobs,” he said. “Why should anybody trust numbers? You go back to election day. Look what happened two or three days before with massive, wonderful jobs numbers, trying to get him elected or her elected, trying to get whoever the hell was running because you go back and they came out with numbers that were very favorable to Kamala,” he went on. “And then on the 15th of November or thereabouts, they added 8 or 900,000 overstatement reduction right after the election.” Addressing a reporter directly, Trump added, “It didn’t work, because, you know who won, John? I won.” Trump’s comments regarding Clinton hearken back all the way to his first presidential campaign during which he warned that if he were president he would get his attorney general to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate her behavior. In one of the 2016 debates, Trump famously quipped to Clinton that if he were president: “you’d be in jail.” CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING ANNOUNCES IT WILL SHUT DOWN AFTER TRUMP, CONGRESS CUT FUNDING As president, however, Trump has not moved to prosecute Clinton, who served as former President Barack Obama’s secretary of state from 2009 to 2013. This July, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard released evidence that she said suggests the Obama administration promoted a “contrived narrative” that Russia interfered in the 2016 election. “There is irrefutable evidence that details how President Obama and his national security team directed the creation of an intelligence community assessment that they knew was false,” Gabbard said. “They knew it would promote this contrived narrative that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to help President Trump win, selling it to the American people as though it were true. It wasn’t.” “We have referred and will continue to refer all of these documents to the Department of Justice and the FBI, to investigate the criminal implications of this for the evidence,” Gabbard said. “The evidence that we have found, and that we have released, directly point to President Obama leading the manufacturing of this intelligence assessment. There are multiple pieces of evidence and intelligence that confirm that fact.” FEDERAL APPEALS COURT WEIGHS TRUMP BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP ORDER AS ADMIN OUTLINES ENFORCEMENT DETAILS In a July interview, Trump described the Russiagate allegations against Obama and members of his administration as “serious treason.” “What they’ve done is so bad for this country. And it really started right at the 2016 election,” Trump claimed of Gabbard’s findings. “And there’s a difference when you know it — and when you know it, and it’s all written down for you. I mean, it’s all there. It’s right there. The orders, the memos, the whole thing. It’s right there.”
Mamdani reportedly eyeing former ‘Squad’ member for top position despite controversial track record
New York City socialist mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani is reportedly considering former Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman as his choice to lead the city’s schools despite Bowman’s controversial track record on a variety of issues. Bowman could become the New York City Chancellor of Schools if Mamdani were to become mayor in November, in a position where he will oversee more than 1,000 schools with almost a million students, the New York Post reported last month. Bowman, a progressive Democrat and former member of “The Squad” in Congress, once called standardized testing in public schools a “form of modern-day slavery” when he was serving as a Bronx public school principal in 2015. “Slavery, Jim Crow, redlining, crack cocaine and now standardized testing were all … designed to destroy the mind, body and soul of black and brown people,” Bowman said. FLASHBACK: ZOHRAN MAMDANI SAYS ‘ISRAEL IS NOT A PLACE’ AND ‘NOT A COUNTRY’ According to a New York Post report on Friday, Bowman operated a radical public school without a license for about two years. Bowman, who gained national notoriety in 2023 for pulling a fire alarm in Congress in the middle of a dramatic House floor vote which led to him being censured, has drawn heated criticism in recent years for controversial anti-Israel comments. ‘DAMAGE CONTROL’: MAMDANI’S ‘BLATANT FLIP-FLOP’ ON DEFUNDING POLICE RIPPED AS ‘POLITICAL THEATRE’ Bowman has defended the pro-Palestine chant “From the river to the sea,” which many in the Jewish community view as a call to eradicate Israel. He has been a staunch critic of Israel, especially since the start of its ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza. Last year, he attended a fundraiser co-hosted by an Islamic leader who said he was “happy to see” the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas on Israeli civilians. Bowman was also forced to apologize for denying that Hamas had raped women and committed other atrocities during the terror group’s Oct. 7 massacre in Israel. Bowman sparked outrage from Jewish groups in 2024 for defending a mural of Louis Farrakhan, who has infamously made disparaging comments about Jews, including calling them “the synagogue of Satan” and “termites.” He also came under fire that same year when an unearthed video showed him honoring a radical Black activist and convicted murderer during a special project at a New York City middle school while serving as its principal before being elected to Congress. A 2014 video centered on Cornerstone Academy for Social Action Middle School’s (CASA) then-“Wall of Action” project shows Bowman praising various historical Black and Latino figures being honored on the wall, including Assata Shakur, who was convicted in the 1973 killing of a New Jersey state trooper. Bowman referred to the people on the wall as “tremendous, tremendous figures.” Shakur, whose real name is JoAnne Chesimard, was a member of the Black nationalist group Black Liberation Army and was serving a life sentence for the fatal shooting of the officer before escaping from prison in 1979 with the help of Mutulu Shakur, another radical Black activist praised by Bowman in the video. She fled to Cuba, where she remains a wanted domestic terrorist today. Mamdani has faced criticism for numerous anti-Israel positions of his own dating back to his college days when he called for academic sanctions against Israel. He has often spoken out in favor of BDS, sanctions against Israel that Influence Watch describes as “an international campaign to delegitimize the State of Israel as the expression of the Jewish people’s right to national self-determination by isolating the country economically through consumer boycotts, business and government withdrawal of investment, and legal sanctions.” Mamdani has also faced criticism for refusing to condemn the phrase “Globalize the intifada,” and Fox News Digital reported this week that Mamdani had said in 2023 that Israel is “not a place” and “not a country.” Mamdani’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. “I am not thinking about any of that,” Bowman told the New York Post in early July about the possible appointment. “I want to help my brother get elected. I am exceptional in compartmentalizing. Right now, I want to help Zohran win the general election.” Fox News’ Brandon Gillespie contributed reporting.
Trump moves nuclear submarines weeks after praising sub’s power in Iran strikes
President Donald Trump unveiled plans Friday to reposition two nuclear submarines as he and Russia’s former president sparred over Trump’s increased pressure on Moscow to end the war with Ukraine. After Trump announced a new deadline for Russia to end the conflict with Ukraine in early August, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Monday that the announcement is an additional “step towards war.” “Based on the highly provocative statements of the Former President of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, who is now the Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, I have ordered two Nuclear Submarines to be positioned in the appropriate regions, just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social Friday. MEDVEDEV WARNS THAT TRUMP’S NEW DEADLINE TO END RUSSIA-UKRAINE CONFLICT IS A ‘STEP TOWARDS WAR’ The announcement comes just weeks after Trump praised the contributions of a guided-missile submarine involved in the strikes against Iran, which launched more than two dozen Tomahawk cruise missiles at key Iranian targets, officials said. “By the way, if anyone thinks our ‘hardware’ was great over the weekend, far and away the strongest and best equipment we have, 20 years advanced over the pack, is our Nuclear Submarines,” Trump said June 23 in a Truth Social post. “They are the most powerful and lethal weapons ever built, and just launched the 30 Tomahawks — All 30 hit their mark perfectly. So, in addition to our Great Fighter Pilots, thank you to the Captain and Crew!” The mission, which targeted Iranian nuclear facilities Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan, also involved more than 125 U.S. aircraft, including B-2 stealth bombers, according to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine. TRUMP ATTACKS IRAN NUCLEAR SITES: ARE OUR TROOPS IN DANGER FROM RETALIATORY STRIKES? Caine did not disclose the name of the submarine that was involved in the Iran strikes. However, he said that a “guided-missile submarine” was involved. Four of the U.S. Navy’s Ohio-class submarines were converted into guided-missile submarines to accommodate conventional land attacks, as well as Special Operations Forces platforms. These submarines are the Ohio, Florida, Michigan and Georgia, according to the U.S. Navy. All U.S. Navy submarines are nuclear-powered, and Trump did not disclose additional details surrounding the submarines that would be repositioned amid increased tension with Russia. It is incredibly rare for defense officials to comment or reveal the locations of submarines, given the highly classified nature of their deployments and movements. Trump initially announced on July 14 that he would sign off on “severe tariffs” against Russia if Moscow were to fail to agree to a peace deal within 50 days. However, Trump said Monday that waiting that period of time was pointless as negotiations have continued to drag on for months. “I’m going to make a new deadline, of about 10 — 10 or 12 days from today,” Trump told reporters in Scotland Monday. “There’s no reason for waiting. It was 50 days. I wanted to be generous, but we just don’t see any progress being made.” RUSSIAN LEADER CLAIMS MULTIPLE COUNTRIES PREPPED TO PROVIDE IRAN NUCLEAR WEAPONS FOLLOWING US STRIKES In response, Medvedev, now the deputy chairman of the Security Council of Russia, accused Trump of playing the “ultimatum game.” “Trump’s playing the ultimatum game with Russia: 50 days or 10 … He should remember 2 things: 1. Russia isn’t Israel or even Iran. 2. Each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war. Not between Russia and Ukraine, but with his own country,” Medvedev said in a post on X on Monday. Trump’s new deadline comes amid heightened frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin amid stalled progress toward peace between Russia and Ukraine, and just days after Russia launched more than 300 drones, four cruise missiles and three ballistic missiles into Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian air force.
Comer OKs delay for Ghislaine Maxwell’s congressional testimony, denies immunity request
House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., is delaying Ghislaine Maxwell’s planned deposition until after the Supreme Court weighs her request to overturn her conviction, according to a letter obtained by Fox News Digital. Committee investigators were set to travel to a Tallahassee prison for an Aug. 11 sit-down with Maxwell after lawmakers voted to subpoena her over her close ties to late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. In a letter sent to Comer earlier this week, Maxwell’s lawyer claimed she “did not receive a fair trial” and petitioned to delay the deposition date until after her case before the Supreme Court was resolved. “On July 30, the U.S. Supreme Court noticed that your petition for writ of certiorari will be considered at its conference on September 29. In light of this notice, the Committee is willing to delay your deposition until a date following the Court’s certiorari determination,” Comer wrote on Friday. COMER DISMISSES BIDEN DOCTOR’S BID FOR PAUSE IN COVER-UP PROBE: ‘THROWING OUT EVERY EXCUSE’ According to the Kentucky Republican’s letter, Maxwell’s lawyer warned she would invoke the Fifth Amendment to avoid answering any questions unless certain conditions were met. “These conditions include: (1) a grant of immunity, (2) the deposition occurring outside of FCI Tallahassee, (3) access to the Committee’s questions in advance, and (4) the conclusion of your recent appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court and potential future habeas petition,” Comer wrote. He denied her requests for congressional immunity and to get the questions in advance, but wrote the committee would continue to “engage in good faith negotiations.” Comer also vowed the committee would honor its “long-standing practice of engaging in forthright and detailed discussions about scoping.” The subpoena was issued to Maxwell after a unanimous vote by both Republicans and Democrats on the committee in late July. The motion to subpoena Maxwell was offered by Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn. “Your testimony is vital to the Committee’s efforts regarding Mr. Jeffrey Epstein, including the 2007 non-prosecution agreement and the circumstances surrounding Mr. Epstein’s death,” Comer wrote. “These investigative efforts may be used to inform potential legislation to improve federal efforts to combat sex trafficking and reform the use of non-prosecution agreements and/or plea agreements in sex-crime investigations.” The letter comes hours after Fox News learned Maxwell had been transferred from Florida to a federal prison camp in Bryan, Texas. GOP LAWMAKERS CLASH OVER STRATEGY TO AVERT GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN CRISIS Congressional investigators are looking to speak with Maxwell over her longstanding close ties to Epstein, who was awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges when he died by suicide at a jail in New York City in 2019. Maxwell herself was sentenced to 20 years in prison in June 2022 “for her role in a scheme to sexual exploit and abuse multiple minor girls with Jeffrey Epstein over the course of a decade,” according to a press release by the Southern District of New York. In the delay request, Maxwell’s attorney argued that “Any testimony she provides now could compromise her constitutional rights, prejudice her legal claims, and potentially taint a future jury pool.” Maxwell had already met with federal investigators last week when Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche sat down with her in Tallahassee at the direction of U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. Bondi said in a statement announcing the meeting, “President Trump has told us to release all credible evidence. If Ghislaine Maxwell has information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims, the FBI and the DOJ will hear what she has to say.” Maxwell’s lawyers told Fox News in response to Comer’s letter, “We acknowledge Chairman Comer’s letter and appreciate the Committee’s willingness to delay Ms. Maxwell’s deposition while her case is pending before the Supreme Court. We will continue to engage with Congress in good faith to find a way for Ms. Maxwell to share her information without compromising her constitutional right.”
Recess on ice as Republicans hunker down for high-stakes nominee blitz
Senate Republicans are still trying to hash out a deal with their Democratic counterparts to push through a package of President Donald Trump’s nominees as their scheduled departure from Washington has come and gone. Republicans are under pressure from the White House, and their own members, to find a path forward, but Senate Democrats have largely dug their heels into the dirt in opposition in a bid to slow down the confirmation process. Lawmakers are still in town hammering toward a deal, while growing frustrations and weariness simmer in the upper chamber. SENATE GOP EYES RULES REVOLT AS DEMS STONEWALL TRUMP NOMINEES Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., appeared more upbeat about the state of affairs, despite rumblings that negotiations were faltering. “Democrats aren’t negotiating with us, we’re negotiating among ourselves,” he told Fox News Digital. “I think we found, I think we may have found a landing spot.” Underscoring negotiations with Senate Democrats are threats of rule changes to the confirmation process, which could speed things up but drive a partisan wedge even deeper between the aisles. Trump had initially called on Senate Republicans to consider canceling their August recess to ram through as many of his nominees as possible. But late Thursday night, he took a more stern tone. ‘ALL THE OPTIONS’: GOP EYES CUTTING AUGUST RECESS TO MOVE DOZENS OF TRUMP NOMINEES STALLED BY DEMS “The Senate must stay in Session, taking no recess, until the entire Executive Calendar is CLEAR!!! We have to save our Country from the Lunatic Left,” Trump said on his social media platform Truth Social. “Republicans, for the health and safety of the USA, DO YOUR JOB, and confirm All Nominees. They should NOT BE FORCED TO WAIT. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has been locked in negotiations with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., throughout the week to hammer out a deal that would allow lawmakers to vote on a tranche of nominees quickly. He told reporters Friday evening that he didn’t have a “report that adds any certainty to the question of schedule at the moment.” “It’s still in flux,” he said. Senate Republicans have moved at a rapid pace to add more and more nominees to the calendar, and so far have placed nearly 160 onto the schedule. Should a deal not be reached, and the GOP adheres to Trump’s demands, leaving Washington to return to their home states until early September may be out of the question. THUNE VOWS TO ‘GRIND DOWN’ DEMOCRATS AS TRUMP’S NOMINEES FACE ‘UNPRECEDENTED’ SENATE OBSTRUCTION While most Republicans are on board with trying to ram through Trump’s picks, the desire to leave Capitol Hill after a blistering seven-month stretch — where lawmakers have already confirmed over 120 of the president’s nominees — is palpable. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., said that the idea that lawmakers would leave town in the next few days “seems to have disappeared.” “Grumpiness is here already, as you can hear from my tone, but we’re still here. We know the factor of weariness and other commitments outside of Washington, D.C., they work, but there is still a whole set of … nominations that need to be completed,” he said. A bright spot for Republicans is that the resistance to advancing nominees and confirming them is not across the board among Senate Democrats. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., told Fox News Digital that he has plans for recess, but he’s ready to cancel those if need be. “My hope is that we’ll move a number of nominees through and get out fairly soon,” he said. “But I’m not the one doing the negotiating.”
Iran says it has ‘plenty of scientists’ left to restart uranium enrichment, despite US, Israeli strikes
Iran still has the capabilities to enrich uranium — despite U.S. and Israeli strikes — and could restart its nuclear program if it wanted to, Tehran’s foreign minister claimed. While the U.S. struck three key Iranian nuclear sites, Israel destroyed much of its air defenses, took out top military commanders and killed at least 13 nuclear scientists and more than 1,000 people, according to figures put out by Tehran. Israel claims it killed 30 senior security officials and 11 top nuclear scientists. “Buildings can be rebuilt. Machines can be replaced, because the technology is there. We have plenty of scientists and technicians who used to work in our facilities,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a recent interview with the Financial Times. “But when and how we restart our enrichment depends on the circumstances.” IRAN WILL NOT GIVE UP NUCLEAR ENRICHMENT, TOP OFFICIAL CONFIRMS IN EXCLUSIVE FOX NEWS INTERVIEW Washington maintains that it inflicted significant damage to Iran’s two main uranium enrichment sites, Fordow and Natanz, and fired missiles that rendered the Isfahan facility essentially inoperable, setting Iran’s nuclear program back “years.” Now, the world is watching to see whether Iran and the West will be able to come to a deal that ensures Iran does not work towards a nuclear weapon in exchange for sanctions relief. Araghchi said the U.S. must offer funds to Iran to compensate for last month’s strikes in order to move forward with negotiations. “They should explain why they attacked us in the middle of . . . negotiations, and they have to ensure that they are not going to repeat that [during future talks],” Araghchi said. “They have to compensate [Iran for] the damage that they have done.” Araghchi claimed the so-called 12-Day War “proved there is no military solution for Iran’s nuclear program.” Araghchi also said the strikes had prompted calls from within the regime to weaponize Iran’s nuclear program but claimed Iran would continue to abide by a two-decade-old fatwa banning the production of nuclear weapons. “Anti-negotiation feelings are very high,” Araghchi said. “People are telling me, ‘Don’t waste your time anymore, don’t be cheated by them . . . if they come to negotiations it’s only a cover-up for their other intentions.’” The minister repeated Iran’s insistence that it would not give up its ability to enrich uranium for civil purposes — a sticking point for Washington. “With zero enrichment, we don’t have a thing.” IRAN’S NUCLEAR CAPABILITIES CRUSHED, BUT REGIME’S DESIRE FOR THE BOMB MAY PERSIST The White House could not immediately be reached for comment on Araghchi’s remarks. Israeli officials have admitted that some of Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium did survive the attacks. European powers have threatenaed to trigger “snapback” United Nations sanctions against Iran if there isn’t a breakthrough in nuclear talks. Any of the current members of the 2015 nuclear deal, Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action — France, the UK, Germany, China, and Russia – can invoke the snapback mechanism if they determine Iran hasn’t held up its end of the deal. The U.S. can’t trigger the sanctions because it pulled out of the deal and enacted unilateral “maximum pressure” sanctions under Trump’s first administration. The U.S. heaped more pressure onto Tehran this week with new sanctions on the nation’s oil network and military drone enterprise. European diplomats have been meeting with Iran to relay how it could avoid snapback sanctions, including resuming cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to monitor its compliance with nuclear limits. Araghchi said Iran would stop negotiating with Europe if they were to trigger the sanctions. “If they do snap back, that means that this is the end of the road for them.”
Federal judge finds ‘racial and discriminatory animus’ in Trump move to cancel temporary protected status
A federal judge on Friday postponed the Trump administration from revoking the temporary status for Nicaraguan, Honduran and Nepali immigrants, finding the cancellation was likely rooted in racial animus. The 37-page ruling by San Francisco-based U.S. District Judge Trina Thompson, a Biden appointee, argued the move by Homeland Security Secretary Krisiti Noem to cancel the temporary humanitarian protections appeared to be parietally rooted in “racial and discriminatory animus” in support of their Fifth Amendment claim. “Color is neither a poison nor a crime,” the ruling states. “Therefore, Plaintiffs have provided sufficient evidence to establish that Plaintiffs will likely succeed on the merits of their Fifth Amendment claim.” DHS TERMINATES TEMPORARY PROTECTED STATUS FOR AROUND 76K HONDURAN, NICARAGUAN MIGRANTS In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security likened Thompson’s ruling to a New York Times opinion piece. “Restoring integrity to our immigration system to keep our homeland and its people safe. That is all we—and the American people who elected President Trump in a landslide election—seek,” said DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. “TPS was never meant to be a de facto asylum system, yet that is how previous administrations have used it for decades. This is yet another example of how out of control judges are race-baiting to distract from the facts and President’s constitutionally vested powers under Article II. We will appeal, and we expect a higher court to vindicate us.” The ruling is a reprieve for more than 60,000 immigrants who have been allowed to legally live and work in the United States under the TPS program. A White House spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the program was never intended to become permanent. “‘Temporary Protected Status’ is, by definition, temporary. It was never intended to be a pathway to permanent status or legal residency, and no bizarre analysis from radical judges will change that fact,” White House spokesperson Abigal Jackson said. “This judge simply did not have lawful authority to review the TPS designation – the Supreme Court already affirmed in prior rulings that extensions of TPS are committed by law to the discretion of the Secretary of Homeland Security.” “The ruling reads like a left-wing fever dream, not a serious judicial opinion,” she added. “Ultimately, the lower court’s ruling will not stand and we look forward to ultimate vindication in this case.” FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS TRUMP’S IMMIGRATION POLICY IN SHOCKING DECISION ON HAITIAN PROTECTIONS The Trump administration was poised to end the protections for Honduran and Nicaraguan migrants as it ramps up deportations. TPS was set to expire for Honduras and Nicaragua in September. The decision to end TPS for the two nations comes weeks after DHS terminated the same status for Haiti and months after terminating TPS for Venezuelans. A federal judge has since blocked that termination amid an ongoing legal battle. In her ruling, Thompson noted statements made by Noem, like those that cast illegal immigrants as “invaders” or “criminals,” “perpetuate the discriminatory belief that certain immigrant populations will replace the white population.” “Although the Secretary’s statements ‘may appear innocent or only mildly offensive to one who is not a member of the targeted group,’ the statements are ‘in reality . . . intolerably abusive or threatening when understood from the perspective of a plaintiff who is a member of the targeted group’,” she wrote. The Department of Homeland Security noted that some of the people who “exploited” the TPS program include several Hondurans with convictions for aggravated assault, possessing, selling, or manufacturing a dangerous weapon, sex crimes against children, domestic violence and resisting arrest. In May, the U.S. Supreme Court sided with the Trump administration in a ruling that lifted a San Francisco District Court Judge’s injunction that temporarily blocked the termination of TPS for Venezuelans, paving the way for the administration to legally revoke TPS for subsequent nations. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Created by Congress through the Immigration Act of 1990, TPS allows individuals from countries affected by natural disasters, war, or other dangerous, unusual circumstances to seek refuge in the U.S. This program can be renewed in 18-month increments. Fox News Digital’s Preston Mizell contributed to this report.
Christopher Wray referred to DOJ over claims he misled lawmakers on Catholic memo, China probes
A Washington-based government transparency watchdog has referred former FBI Director Christopher Wray to the Department of Justice and the FBI, urging a criminal investigation into allegations that he had made false statements to Congress and obstructed proceedings in two high-profile cases. Oversight Project President Mike Howell told Fox News Digital that the group is specifically asking officials to examine Wray’s congressional testimony on the so-called Richmond memo from the FBI office in Virginia that exposed an anti-Catholic bias there, and his testimony about a Chinese plot to disseminate illicit driver’s licenses before the 2020 election. In July 2023, Wray testified before the House Judiciary Committee on the FBI-Richmond memo that had labeled Catholics as potential domestic threats. TRUMP SAYS BRENNAN, COMEY ‘CROOKED AS HELL’ AMID FBI PROBE, MAY HAVE TO ‘PAY THE PRICE’ “Well, what I can tell you is you’re referring to the Richmond product, which is a single product by a single field office, which as soon as I found out about it, I was aghast and ordered it withdrawn and removed from FBI systems,” Wray said. The Oversight Project alleges that statement was ultimately misleading or false. Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Wis., pressed Wray on the Richmond memo and so-called “Trump questionnaire,” which was circulated at the FBI and asked about allegiance to the president and whether agents had attended any protests or rallies associated with the Jan. 6 Capitol Breach. “We keep hearing about these ‘isolated examples’ whether it’s Richmond Catholics, this [questionnaire] — isn’t it a pattern?” Tiffany asked. The Oversight Project pointed to Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Charles Grassley’s opening remarks from a June hearing on Biden-era “cover-ups,” in which Grassley said the Richmond memo “used the shoddy research of the radical Southern Poverty Law Center to accuse traditional Catholics of being violent extremists.” “Based on records I released the other week, there wasn’t just one FBI document that used biased anti-Catholic sources, but over a dozen,” Grassley said. The referral also notes that this remark by Grassley belies Wray’s testimony suggesting a one-off incident. FBI LAUNCHES CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS OF JOHN BRENNAN, JAMES COMEY: DOJ SOURCES “And more FBI field offices were involved than we’d been led to believe,” Grassley, R-Iowa, said. A second Richmond memo similar to the first that went unreleased following the backlash was part of a partially redacted series of documents Grassley’s committee transmitted to FBI Director Kash Patel in June. It stated that the bureau “assesses RMVE (Racially Motivated Violent Extremism) interest in RTC (Radical Traditional Catholic) ideology is likely to increase … in the run-up to the [2024] general election cycle.” “Director Wray’s testimony was inaccurate not only because it failed to reveal the scope of the memo’s production and dissemination, but also because it failed to reveal the existence of a second, draft product on the same topic intended for external distribution to the whole FBI,” the Oversight Project said in a separate statement. “That draft product was intended for distribution as a Strategic Perspective Executive Analytic Report (“SPEAR”). It was clearly a separate product.” The Oversight Project specifically alleged violations of obstruction of proceedings before Congress, perjury and false statements. Fox News Digital reached out to Grassley, who also told Fox News’ Bill Hemmer in June that he had found 13 other documents similar to the Richmond memo. Grassley said the documents had gone out and that “at least 1,000 people had access to information that … was telling people that the Catholic Church needed to be watched because it could be considered a terrorist organization.” Fox News Digital reached out to a phone number connected to Wray but did not receive a response. FBI BLOCKED PROBE INTO ALLEGED CHINESE 2020 ELECTION MEDDLING TO PROTECT WRAY FROM FALLOUT, DOCUMENTS SHOW Patel cited the CCP influence case in a June statement, declaring that “former FBI leadership withheld the facts and misled the public on China’s 2020 election interference. And they did so for political gain. This FBI is exposing all of it and giving Americans the truth they deserve.” Patel claimed the FBI in 2020 “buried” evidence “for political convenience” and thanked Grassley for helping the current FBI brass bring the topic to light. During September 2020 testimony, Wray told Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., that the FBI had “not seen historically any kind of coordinated national voter fraud effort in a major election, whether by-mail or otherwise.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Wray added that the FBI had identified localized voter fraud and that his testimony was not intended to downplay the overarching threat. Howell’s group argues those statements were belied by documents Patel gave to Congress in June that reportedly showed concerns in August 2020 that China had mass-produced such fake IDs to help former President Joe Biden. The criminal referral against Wray also cites a related August 2020 seizure of 20,000 counterfeit licenses by Customs and Border Protection in Illinois. A Chicago port official told Fox News at the time that the proliferation “can lead to disastrous consequences.” It is unclear if any ballots were cast as part of the scheme. During a 2020 address to the Hudson Institute, Wray did warn of the CCP threat to the upcoming election and beyond: “China’s malign foreign influence campaign targets our policies, our positions, 24/7, 365 days-a-year. So it’s not an election‑specific threat. It’s really more of an all‑year, all‑the‑time threat. But certainly that has implications for elections, and they certainly have preferences that go along with that,” he said. The FBI and Department of Justice did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.