Senate hopeful with deep Dem ties has paid family over $350K from his campaign coffers
FIRST ON FOX: Dan Osborn, a Nebraska “independent” Senate hopeful with deep ties to Democrats, has faced criticism for funneling a significant amount of campaign funds to his family members, including almost $250,000 to his wife and her political consulting firm. Across both his failed bid in 2024 and his current bid in the 2026 cycle, Osborn, his wife, daughter and sister-in-law have raked in north of $370,000, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings reviewed by Fox News Digital. The money originates from Osborn’s campaign and his affiliated political action committee, the Working Class Heroes Fund. In July, Osborn, who is trying to oust incumbent Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., faced heat over his FEC filings that showed his campaign made six payments to his wife, Megan, amounting to roughly $19,000 between April and June. “If you’re James Carville, and you’re running, and you hire your wife Mary Matalin, that’s one thing,” Perre Neilan, a longtime Nebraska political strategist and former executive director of the Nebraska Republican Party, said after the payments came to light. “But this one, I think – this one stinks.” SANDERS-ENDORSED SENATE CANDIDATE KNOCKED FOR ALLEGED FLIP-FLOP TO ‘HAVE IT BOTH WAYS’ ON KEY ISSUE Several months later, it was revealed that Osborn also funneled over $100,000 to a shadowy political consulting firm co-owned by his wife last year. The FEC made it easier for candidates to pay themselves in 2023, a move meant to give less wealthy folks an easier shot at running. Osborn, who has been endorsed by leaders of the Nebraska Democratic Party and has received campaign cash from multiple Democratic campaigns, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., has not been the only candidate to take advantage of this. However, while the payments are not illegal, critics have taken issue with the lack of political experience from Osborn’s wife, a former restaurant manager. Across both Osborn’s 2024 and 2026 campaigns, his wife, who previously managed an Omaha sports pub, according to the Lincoln Journal Star, has raked in at least $246,000 directly from the campaign and from the Working Class Heroes Fund, FEC filings reviewed by Fox News Digital show. The money is going both to Megan directly and her Wyoming-based political consulting firm, which has faced transparency concerns. Her affiliation was only uncovered after Osborn filed an amended financial disclosure after the press started asking questions. When reached for comment, an Osborn campaign spokesperson referred Fox News Digital to comments Osborn made last year to the Lincoln Journal Star. Megan “has been instrumental in recruiting, preparing and supporting multiple working-class candidates across Nebraska and the country who share Dan’s vision to fix our broken politics,” an Osborn campaign spokesperson told the Lincoln Journal Star in November. “I work 40, 50 and even 90 hours per week on the campaign trail,” Osborn added last year when he was facing heat over the matter. “Megan does too. Most Senators have millions, even billions. But we’ve learned that it’s almost impossible to run for Senate as a regular person who needs to pay the bills and put food on the table. That’s why the Senate has become a country club full of millionaires, and it’s why less than 2 percent of our politicians come from the working class.” TRUMP CALLS FOR INVESTIGATION INTO ILHAN OMAR’S WEALTH, SAYS IT SHOULD START ‘NOW’ Osborn, a former steamfitter and industrial mechanic, has raked in a salary from his campaign of around $120,000, financial filings reviewed by Fox News Digital also show. Meanwhile, Georgia, Osborn’s daughter, and Jodi, his sister-in-law, have raked in thousands from Osborn’s campaign and political action committee. Georgia, a part-time dancer who Osborn says still needs help paying her bills, was given $4,200 after Osborn’s first campaign and before launching his 2026 bid for “assistant services” from the then-dormant campaign. Osborn’s sister-in-law, Jodi, received $1,400 for “treasurer services” at the end of 2025, according to campaign disclosures which also show that she is listed as the Working Class Heroes Fund’s Treasurer. In addition to questions about how Osborn is paying his loved ones, critics of the candidate have also balked at his decision to run as an Independent. Osborn has indicated he has no plans to caucus with either major party if elected and says on his website that, as an Independent, he is “uniquely positioned” to get things done in Congress. However, Osborn’s decision to cash in on national Democratic Party support, including utilizing the party’s main fundraising platform, ActBlue, have led to questions about how independent he really will be. In December, Osborn was slammed for hiring an anti-cop staffer seen at an anti-police event featuring severed pig heads, and the agency creating Osborn’s ads, Fight Agency, was also behind ads for the Zohran Mamdani, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas, and other Democrats. One of the firm’s leaders said they were struck by Osborn’s “over performance” in 2024, leading him to surmise “that Democrats need to run a lot of different kinds of campaigns.” The consulting firm co-owned by Osborn’s wife, Independent Campaigns, has also worked with Democrat candidates. FEC filings show Nathan Sage, a Democrat running for Senate in Iowa, has paid thousands to Osborn’s wife’s consulting firm.
Trump says Iran has 15 days to reach a deal or face ‘unfortunate’ outcome
Iran has a short window to agree to a deal with the U.S., President Donald Trump said Thursday, before warning that the situation could soon shift if negotiations fail. The talks focus largely on curbing Tehran’s advancing nuclear program, which U.S. officials say has moved closer to weapons-grade enrichment. The U.S. and Israel also want Iran to give up its long-range ballistic missiles, stop supporting groups around the Middle East and stop using force against protesters inside Iran. “We’re going to make a deal, or we’re going to get a deal one way or the other,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One, signaling determination to secure an agreement. VANCE WARNS IRAN THAT ‘ANOTHER OPTION ON THE TABLE’ IF NUCLEAR DEAL NOT REACHED While declining to specify whether the ultimate goal is the complete dismantling of Iran’s nuclear program, Trump made clear there would be consequences if diplomacy falls short. “We’re either going to get a deal, or it’s going to be unfortunate for them,” he said. Trump suggested the window for a breakthrough is narrowing, indicating Iran has no more than “10, 15 days, pretty much maximum” to reach an agreement. Trump spoke as negotiation efforts with Tehran remain ongoing. MORNING GLORY: WHAT WILL PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP DECIDE TO DO WITH IRAN? Although Trump has repeatedly expressed hope for a deal, indirect talks in Geneva have yielded mixed feedback. Trump said “good talks are being had,” and a senior U.S. official said Iran would make a written proposal on how to address U.S. concerns, Reuters reported. “I believe we made good progress,” said Abbas Araghchi, the head of the Iranian delegation in Geneva. “The path toward an agreement has started, but we will not reach it quickly.” Vice President JD Vance, however, said in an interview with Fox News that “red lines” were set. IRAN SIGNALS NUCLEAR PROGRESS IN GENEVA AS TRUMP CALLS FOR FULL DISMANTLEMENT “In some ways, it went well. They agreed to meet afterward,” Vance said. “But in other ways, it was very clear that the president has set some red lines that the Iranians are not yet willing to actually acknowledge and work through. So, we’re going to keep on working it.” According to The Associated Press, Iran has resisted broader U.S. and Israeli demands to curb its missile program and cut ties with armed regional groups. Trump’s comments also coincided with Iran’s annual military drills with Russia on Thursday as a second U.S. aircraft carrier moved closer to the Middle East. Similarly, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned of military action despite ongoing talks.
UK blocks Trump from using RAF air bases for potential Iran attack: report
The United Kingdom is blocking the Trump administration from using its military air bases for a possible attack on Iran over concerns that a strike could violate international law. A report by The Times said the U.S. was drawing up a report to use Royal Air Force base Fairford in England, which is home to America’s fleet of heavy bombers in Europe. President Donald Trump reportedly spoke with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Tuesday about the plans. U.K. officials were reportedly worried that giving the United States permission to use the RAF bases for a military attack could breach international law, according to The Times. MORNING GLORY: WHAT WILL PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP DECIDE TO DO WITH IRAN? “Should Iran decide not to make a Deal, it may be necessary for the United States to use Diego Garcia, and the Airfield located in Fairford, in order to eradicate a potential attack by a highly unstable and dangerous Regime,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Wednesday. “An attack that would potentially be made on the United Kingdom, as well as other friendly countries. We will always be ready, willing, and able to fight for the U.K., but they have to remain strong in the face of Wokeism, and other problems put before them.” Trump has pressed for Tehran to make a deal with the U.S. over its nuclear program. “President Trump’s first instinct is always diplomacy, and he has been clear that the Iranian regime should make a deal,” a White House official told Fox News Digital. “Of course, the President ultimately has all options at his disposal, and he demonstrated with Operation Midnight Hammer and Operation Absolute Resolve that he means what he says.” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said the use of British military bases against Iran is a “necessity for an attack — it would be beyond surprising.” “The bottom line is the largest state sponsor of terrorism on the planet is the weakest it’s been because the people of Iran have risen up by the millions to end their oppression and the United States and Israel have delivered crushing blows to the regime’s military infrastructure,” Graham wrote on X. “To my friends in Britain, sitting this one out puts you on the wrong side of history and is yet another example of how much our alliances throughout Europe have degraded.” KHANNA AND MASSIE THREATEN TO FORCE A VOTE ON IRAN AS PROSPECT OF US ATTACK LOOMS On Thursday, Trump told reporters Iran has a maximum of 15 days to make a deal or “it’s going to be unfortunate for them.” Washington and Britain have been in a rift over the use of Britain’s air bases. Under the terms of long-standing agreements with Washington, the bases can only be used for military operations against third countries that have been agreed in advance with the government, according to The Times. On Wednesday, Trump withdrew his support for Starmer’s deal to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. However, a deal would allow the U.K. to keep control of Diego Garcia and its strategically important air base. “Our relationship with the United Kingdom is a strong and powerful one, and it has been for many years, but Prime Minister Starmer is losing control of this important island by claims of entities never known of before. In our opinion, they are fictitious in nature,” Trump wrote Wednesday. “Prime Minister Starmer should not lose control, for any reason, of Diego Garcia, by entering a tenuous, at best, 100-year lease,” he added. “This land should not be taken away from the UK and, if it is allowed to be, it will be a blight on our great ally.” The U.S. uses Diego Garcia for bombers operating in the Middle East and Asia.
Trump directs release of government alien and UFO files to multiple federal agencies nationwide
President Donald Trump said he will direct the release of government files related to alien and extraterrestrial life and unidentified aerial phenomena, saying there is “tremendous interest” in the issue following remarks by former President Barack Obama. Trump said he would instruct War Secretary Pete Hegseth and other relevant departments and agencies to begin identifying and declassifying records tied to unidentified aerial phenomena, UFOs and potential extraterrestrial life, framing the move as a response to heightened public curiosity. “Based on the tremendous interest shown, I will be directing the Secretary of War, and other relevant Departments and Agencies, to begin the process of identifying and releasing Government files related to alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs), and any and all other information connected to these highly complex, but extremely interesting and important, matters,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “GOD BLESS AMERICA!” Trump said aboard Air Force One that Obama revealed classified information by suggesting aliens are real, calling the remarks a “big mistake” and accusing Obama of disclosing secrets about possible non-human visitors to Earth. JD VANCE SAYS UFOS, ALIENS COULD BE ‘SPIRITUAL FORCES’ AS VP VOWS TO ‘GET TO THE BOTTOM’ OF MYSTERY IN SKIES Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy asked Trump about Obama’s claim during a gaggle aboard Air Force One, pressing the current sitting president on whether he has seen evidence of non-human visitors on Earth. “He gave classified information. He’s not supposed to be doing that,” Trump said. “I don’t know if they’re real or not. I can tell you, he gave classified information. He’s not supposed to be doing that – he made a big mistake. He took it out of classified information.” Former President Barack Obama appeared on Brian Tyler Cohen’s podcast Saturday, where he was asked point-blank whether aliens are real. “They’re real, but I haven’t seen them,” Obama said. The 44th president also dismissed the idea that extraterrestrials are being held at Nevada’s Area 51, saying there is no secret underground facility “unless there’s this enormous conspiracy and they hid it from the president of the United States.” After his comments sparked buzz online, Obama sought to clarify his remarks on Instagram. TULSI GABBARD TELLS PODCASTER ALIENS MAY BE REAL: ‘WE’RE CONTINUING TO LOOK FOR THE TRUTH’ “I was trying to stick with the spirit of the speed round, but since it’s gotten attention, let me clarify,” he wrote. “Statistically, the universe is so vast that the odds are good there’s life out there. But the distances between solar systems are so great that the chances we’ve been visited by aliens are low, and I saw no evidence during my presidency that extraterrestrials have made contact with us. Really!” Cohen also asked what Obama’s first question was after taking office, prompting another alien reference. “Uh, where are the aliens?” Obama joked. PILOT REPORTS UFO HOVERING BESIDE JET, LEAVING AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL STUNNED: ‘GOOD LUCK WITH THE ALIENS’ Saturday’s appearance was not the first time Obama addressed the topic. During a 2021 interview on “The Late Late Show with James Corden,” he said that after entering office, he looked into whether aliens were being studied in a secret lab and was told they were not. Still, Obama noted that officials are investigating aircraft exhibiting unusual flight patterns. “There is footage and records of objects in the skies that we don’t know exactly what they are,” he said. “We can’t explain how they moved, their trajectory. They did not have an easily explainable pattern. I think people still take seriously trying to investigate and figure out what that is.” UFO DOCUMENTARY PULLS BACK CURTAIN ON ‘PSYCHOLOGICAL OPERATION’ AFTER DECADES OF GOVERNMENT COVER-UP: EXPERT Doocy later asked President Joe Biden about Obama’s remarks, referencing unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAPs. “What do you think that it is?” Doocy asked. “I would ask (Obama) again,” Biden responded. Interest in UAPs has intensified in recent years, drawing attention from federal lawmakers and defense officials. Congress passed the Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena Disclosure Act in 2023, and the Department of Defense established the All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office to further examine such incidents. Fox News Digital’s Mike Sinkewicz contributed to this report.
Cornyn warns Paxton would be ‘kiss of death’ for GOP as bloody primary race ramps up
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, had a stark warning for Texans as he fights to keep his job in the Senate, saying a vote for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton could mean a Democrat wins the Lone Star State seat for the first time in three decades. “Ken Paxton will be the kiss of death for Republicans on the ticket in November of 2026,” Cornyn said. Cornyn made his comments as he crisscrossed the state in a mad dash to shore up support as early voting began in Texas earlier this week. He’s deadlocked in a battle for political survival in a grueling three-way primary with Paxton and Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Texas. TRUMP WITHHOLDS ENDORSEMENT IN FIERY GOP SENATE PRIMARY AS EARLY VOTING BEGINS IN TEXAS Nick Maddux, an advisor for Paxton, fired back in a statement to Fox News Digital that the current Texas attorney general won his election by double digits in 2022, “and the same thing is going to happen in 2026, because Republican voters are fired up to go to the polls and support him.” Maddux charged that Cornyn “is the worst possible choice” for turning out “low-propensity, Trump-supporting America First voters.” “There’s a reason that he’s stuck in the mid-20s even after $70-plus million’s been lit on fire to help him instead of going to races in NC, MI, ME and GA,” Maddux contended. “Texas voters don’t like him, don’t trust him, and won’t show up to vote for him in November.” CORNYN TORCHES DEMOCRATIC FIELD AS HE SEEKS RE-ELECTION IN TEXAS With the March 3 primary election less than two weeks away, Cornyn wanted to remind voters that their decision could have direct consequences on the GOP’s grip in Texas. The last time a Democratic candidate won a statewide election in Texas, Cornyn noted, was in 1994. And on the opposite side of the playing field, Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, and Texas state Rep. James Talarico are salivating at the chance to snatch the seat. “I think the attorney general, if he’s the nominee, could very well lose the seat,” Cornyn said. “But if he doesn’t lose the seat, he’s not going to win except by the hair of his chin. And, unfortunately, that will not help the down-ballot races.” EARLY VOTING UNDERWAY IN TEXAS PRIMARY Congressional Republicans hold a trifecta in Washington, D.C., which has been instrumental in advancing President Donald Trump’s agenda, particularly his marquee tax bill, the “big, beautiful bill.” But midterm elections often serve as a referendum against the sitting president, and though Republicans in the state redistricted last year to give GOP candidates a better chance come November, Cornyn believes a Paxton win in their three-way primary battle would have a negative trickle-down effect. Trump, however, has not yet endorsed a candidate in the contest, telling reporters earlier this week that he “liked all three of them.” “I know President Trump feels very strongly not only about Texas but also about the congressional races,” Cornyn said. “We’ve got five new congressional seats in Texas, and I know the president wants to carry the majority for the House into the midterms and beyond, because, as he said himself, if Democrats win the majority in the House of Representatives, they will impeach him for the third time.”
Virginia Republicans charge ‘power grab’ as Democrat who backed redistricting runs for Congress
Virginia Republicans are taking aim at a Democratic state lawmaker who played a key role in pushing through congressional redistricting in the state and is now running for newly drawn U.S. House seat. After Virginia Delegate Dan Helmer launched a congressional campaign, some Republican leaders took aim at him for what they call a “power grab.” “I think it does look bad,” House Minority Leader Terry Kilgore told Fox News Digital, as he pointed to Helmer’s plan to run for Congress. “The whole process looks terrible, because all it is a power grab. We feel the optics are bad.” And the Virginia GOP, in a social media post, argued, “Democrats are so corrupt that they’re anointing nominees from the very people who drew the maps.” THE REDISTRICTING BATTLE FOR THE HOUSE RUNS THROUGH THIS STATE A 44-year-old U.S. Army veteran who served in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Helmer on Wednesday launched a campaign for the Democratic nomination in Virginia’s newly drawn 7th Congressional District — one of four new left-leaning seats that would favor the Democrats if voters pass an April referendum to approve a constitutional amendment greenlighting mid-decade redistricting. VIRGINIA DEMOCRAT GIVES PROFANITY-LACED RESPONSE TO CRUZ’S CRITICISM OF THE STATE’S REDISTRICTING PUSH Helmer, who has served in Virginia’s House of Delegates since 2020 and is the House Democratic Caucus campaign chair, was one of the architects behind the push last autumn in the state legislature to draw the new map. Virginia is the latest battleground in the ongoing crucial battle between President Donald Trump and Republicans versus Democrats to alter congressional maps ahead of November’s elections. Republicans are defending their razor-thin House majority in the midterms, and Democrats need a net gain of just three seats to win back control of the chamber. That means the redistricting efforts in Virginia and other states may very well decide which party controls the House next year. Virginia Republicans had challenged the validity of the upcoming referendum, arguing that Democrats had erred procedurally when the legislature approved amendments to the state Constitution. And last month, a lower court ruled in the GOP’s favor. But a ruling late last week by the state Supreme Court OK’d the holding of the ballot measure, which asks voters to give the legislature, rather than Virginia’s current non-partisan commission, redistricting power through the 2030 election. Early voting on the referendum is scheduled to start on March 6. But last week’s ruling on the referendum doesn’t mean the legal challenges are over. Democrats are still defending their ability to redraw the maps, and the state Supreme Court may schedule arguments in that case. And separately, this week, the Republican National Committee led a new lawsuit to try and block the April referendum. Helmer, in a campaign launch video, touted his “successful efforts to take on and win against Donald Trump.” And he dismisses criticism from Republicans that his congressional bid is bad optics, noting that after redistricting passed through the legislature, he then recused himself from the process of redrawing the maps. But the Virginia GOP, pointing to Helmer’s two previous unsuccessful bids for Congress, argued the state lawmaker “is a career loser who had to rig the game to have any hope of winning a congressional seat after he lost TWO primaries in 2018 and 2024.” And Virginia Senate Minority Leader Ryan McDougle told Fox News Digital that the optics of “trying to gerrymander Virginia” are “not good.”
Trump says US contributing $10B to Board of Peace, Iran must reach nuclear deal or ‘bad things happen’
The U.S. is putting its money where its mouth is when it comes to the Board of Peace. President Donald Trump announced during the inaugural meeting of the board, that the U.S. was committing to contribute $10 billion to the board. “The Board of Peace is showing how a better future can be built, starting right here in this room,” Trump said on Thursday. “I want to let you know that the United States is going to make a contribution of $10 billion to the Board of Peace… and we’ve had great support for that number.” The president said that the contribution “sounds like a lot, but it’s a very small number” when compared to the cost of war. Trump estimated that the $10 billion commitment was equivalent to the cost of two weeks of fighting. “Together, we can achieve the dream of bringing lasting harmony to a region tortured by centuries of war, suffering and carnage,” Trump added, saying that he hoped it could serve as inspiration for other nations entangled in conflicts that seem unending. IRAN’S PRESIDENT STRIKES SOFTER TONE ON NUCLEAR TALKS AFTER TRUMP’S WARNING THAT ‘BAD THINGS WOULD HAPPEN’ The Board of Peace was set up as part of the Trump administration’s plans to end the Israel-Hamas war and to rebuild Gaza. Several countries have committed to joining the board, including Argentina, Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Belarus, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Egypt, El Salvador, Hungary, Indonesia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kuwait, Morocco, Mongolia, Pakistan, Paraguay, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. While touting the significance of the board, Trump also encouraged more nations to join not just the initiative, but in a greater effort towards peace, singling out Iran in particular. “And now is the time for Iran to join us on a path that will complete what we’re doing. And if they join us, that’ll be great. If they don’t join us, that’ll be great too, but it will be a very different path,” Trump said. “They cannot continue to threaten the stability of the entire region, and they must make a deal.” TRUMP MEETS NETANYAHU, SAYS HE WANTS IRAN DEAL BUT REMINDS TEHRAN OF ‘MIDNIGHT HAMMER’ OPERATION The president warned that “bad things” would happen if Iran did not make a deal. “Iran is a hot spot right now. And they’re meeting and they have a good relationship with the representatives of Iran,” Trump said. “And, you know, good talks are being had. It’s proven to be over the years, not easy to make a meaningful deal with them. And we have to make a meaningful deal. Otherwise, bad things happen. But we have to make a meaningful deal.” Representatives of the U.S. and Iran recently participated in indirect nuclear talks in Oman, with both sides meeting with Omani foreign minister Badr al-Busaidi. Following the indirect talks, which he said were “very good,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that Iran wanted to make “a deal very badly.” “They know the consequences if they don’t make a deal. The consequences are very steep,” Trump told reporters earlier this month. Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi also expressed optimism after the indirect talks, which he said were “a good start.” “After a long period without dialogue, our viewpoints were conveyed, and our concerns were expressed. Our interests, the rights of the Iranian people, and all matters that needed to be stated were presented in a very positive atmosphere, and the other side’s views were also heard,” Araghchi said at the time. “It was a good start, but its continuation depends on consultations in our respective capitals and deciding on how to proceed,” he added. A top Iranian official was spotted in Oman just days after the indirect talks, though it was not immediately clear if he was there to discuss next steps in the negotiations. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Trump White House ballroom proposal gets approval by Commission of Fine Arts
The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts has officially fast-tracked the estimated $400 million proposal to build President Donald Trump‘s new White House East Wing ballroom Thursday. While Thursday’s session was originally intended only for design discussion, Chairman Rodney Mims Cook Jr. moved for an immediate final approval. “Our sitting president has actually designed a very beautiful structure,” Cook said before the vote. “The United States just should not be entertaining the world in tents.” Trump celebrated the vote in a Truth Social post later in the day. TRUMP UNVEILS NEW RENDERING OF SPRAWLING WHITE HOUSE BALLROOM PROJECT “The Commission of Fine Arts just approved, unanimously, 6 to 0, with one recusal because he had a conflict in that he worked professionally on the job, the White House Ballroom,” Trump said. “Great accolades were paid to the building’s beauty and scale. Thank you to the members of the Commission!” The project involves building the ballroom on the site where the East Wing once stood, following its October demolition. Six of the seven commissioners voted in favor. Commissioner James McCrery abstained, having served as the project’s architect. “This is an important thing to the president. It’s an important thing to the nation,” Fine Arts chairman Rodney Mims Cook Jr. said in the panel’s first public hearing on Trump’s proposal earlier this month. Administrations long before Trump’s complained about having to host State Dinners and major events in temporary structures. The old East Wing dining room had just a 200-seat capacity, according to the White House, making this expansion more than triple the seats and nearly double the square footage of the main White House structure. TRUMP SAYS IT ‘IS TOO LATE’ TO STOP THE WHITE HOUSE BALLROOM CONSTRUCTION AMID LAWSUIT The estimated $400 million project has faced criticism from Democrats, but Trump has vowed the funding to be private and the benefits to be immense. The National Trust for Historic Preservation had filed a federal lawsuit to halt construction. “We’re donating a $400 million ballroom, and we got sued not to build it – for 150 years they’ve wanted a ballroom,” Trump said in December. “And we’re giving them, myself and donors are giving them free of charge for nothing. We’re donating a building that’s approximately $400 million. “I think I’ll do it for less, but it’s 400. I should do it for less. I will do it for less, but just in case they say 400; otherwise, if I go $3 over, the press will say it costs more.” Despite Thursday’s approval, the project faces further review March 5 by the National Capital Planning Commission, led by a top White House aide. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Critics warned Trump’s deportations would spark bloodshed — progressive group reports police killings fell
One year after critics warned President Donald Trump’s mass deportation push would spark bloodshed in America’s largest sanctuary cities, new data from a leading progressive police-reform group shows police-involved killings actually declined — the first drop in five years. Lawmakers and activists from Los Angeles to New York predicted that Trump’s surge into largely sanctuary-city communities would lead to more violence against innocent residents, which recently reached a fever pitch with the shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis. However, data from progressive advocacy project Mapping Police Violence, a subsidiary of the Harlem-based Campaign Zero police reform group, found that police-involved killings actually went down in that timespan. In its police violence report for 2025, the 1,314 police-involved killings marked a decline for the first time in five years. NOEM DIGS AT AGITATORS, SANCTUARY POLITICIANS IN TOUTING ICE MISSION CONTINUES 1 YEAR INTO TRUMP’S SECOND TERM In 2024, that figure was 1,382, reportedly a record high, and in 2023, 1,362 people died at the hands of police, whether justified or otherwise. “If they are so violent, why did police kill 68 fewer people in 2025 than 2024? Certainly, that’s not what I expected to happen,” wrote columnist David Mastio in the Kansas City Star. “These facts complicate the political narrative that Trump has unleashed ‘violent and sometimes deadly tactics … by federal immigration officers in communities across the country’.” Mastio also pointed out that recent complaints from the left about an uptick in police-involved violence since George Floyd’s death in the Twin Cities left out the detail that any increase would have occurred under a Democratic administration in Washington. During the immigration enforcement surge in Los Angeles, Sen. Alex Padilla told PBS that the situation is a “crisis of Trump’s own making” and voiced concern over the repercussions of any violence. Padilla, D-Calif., famously appeared to try to accost Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem when he barged into a press conference during the surge — a claim the senator denied after he was briefly detained by security. FEDERAL IMMIGRATION OFFICIALS PRIVATELY FUME OVER DHS CLAIMS AFTER DEADLY MINNESOTA SHOOTING Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said in a statement during the height of the Minneapolis surge that people were being “racially profiled, harassed, terrorized, and assaulted. Schools have gone into lockdown.” “Minneapolis didn’t ask for this operation, but we’re paying the price,” claimed Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey. St. Paul Mayor Kaohly Her expressed concerns that violence indeed would increase against innocent people as DHS honed in on his metro region. “Our residents are scared, and as local officials, we have a responsibility to act. Today we’re standing side by side with Minneapolis and the attorney general to fight back,” Her said. In his column, Mastio noted that the latest figures come from an “unimpeachable ‘defund-the-police’ source” that would not “gift” credible data to its ideological opponents. Meanwhile, DHS has routinely highlighted data showing that it is violence against law enforcement that is up. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin recently told Fox News Digital of a four-figure percentage increase in threats against ICE and federal immigration officers. “Our ICE law enforcement officers are now facing an 8,000% increase in death threats against them and a more than 1,300% increase in assaults against them while they risk their lives every single day to remove murderers, pedophiles, rapists, terrorists, and gang members from American neighborhoods,” McLaughlin said. “Make no mistake, threatening rhetoric and this unprecedented violence against our law enforcement is incited by sanctuary politicians through their repeated vilification and demonization of law enforcement.”
GOP rips FISA court for tapping ex-Biden ‘disinformation’ lawyer to advise on surveillance
Republican lawmakers called it “insane” that the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court appointed to a key advisory panel a lawyer with past ties to the Biden administration’s controversial Disinformation Governance Board. Judges on the FISC appointed Jennifer Daskal this month to serve as an amicus curiae, meaning Daskal is now among a small group of lawyers designated to advise the court, which approves warrants for federal authorities to surveil targets for foreign intelligence purposes. The GOP lawmakers said Daskal’s history with the disinformation board raises worries about her ability to discern whether warrants are appropriate. “The same person who helped to build a board to censor American speech now advises judges on how to protect American liberties,” House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, told Fox News Digital in a statement. “That’s ridiculous — and exactly why Congress must continue our oversight.” HOUSE PASSES FISA RENEWAL WITHOUT ADDED WARRANT MANDATE FOR US DATA Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., echoed Jordan’s concerns, saying Daskal’s appointment was “insane” and calling for reforms to the FISC. Schmitt shared a video of himself on X questioning Daskal during a hearing about what he called the Biden administration’s “censorship enterprise,” referencing Daskal’s role in aiming to dispel what the Biden administration viewed as inaccurate information about COVID-19 masks and vaccines and information about election security. FISC proceedings are classified and “ex parte,” meaning a judge reviews the federal government’s warrant application and the target of the warrant has no awareness of the proceedings. A judge reviewing the application can, however, turn to an amicus curiae to present counterpoints to the government’s application, meaning Daskal is among a handful of lawyers who could be tapped to argue for or against allowing the government to wiretap a person’s phones or otherwise surveil them. Under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the government has access to these powerful spy tools for foreign intelligence purposes, but it has sometimes, whether inadvertently or intentionally, improperly targeted U.S. citizens. Building more guardrails into the legislation has long been a point of contention for privacy hawks. Republicans, in particular, became highly critical of the FISC after finding that the court approved the FBI’s warrant applications, which contained flimsy and inaccurate evidence, to surveil Trump campaign aide Carter Page beginning in 2016. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, told the Washington Free Beacon, which first reported on Daskal’s appointment, that the “American people need to have confidence in the people tasked to serve as amici” before the FISC. Grassley pointed to a bill he introduced, the FISA Accountability Act, which would allow Congress to have a say in who is chosen as an amicus curiae. Jordan and Grassley have been some of the most vocal proponents of reining in the federal government’s use of FISA after identifying instances in recent years of intelligence officials allegedly abusing their authority and infringing on U.S. citizens’ Fourth Amendment right to privacy. In the case of Page, DOJ inspector general Michael Horowitz released a report in 2019 that identified more than a dozen “significant errors or omissions” across the FBI’s four warrant applications used to surveil the former Trump aide. Daskal, in her new role, could offer confidential, weighty legal arguments to a FISC judge that support or oppose intelligence officials’ requests to surveil someone. Daskal served as a top lawyer in the Department of Homeland Security when she helped launch the Disinformation Governance Board. Conservatives heavily criticized it, describing the board as a “Ministry of Truth” that sought to censor their viewpoints in violation of the First Amendment. Daskal chartered the board, while Nina Jankowicz was named its executive director, an appointment that fueled Republicans’ fury over it after finding Jankowicz’ past social media posts that they said revealed she was too partisan. Jankowicz, for instance, cast doubt on the New York Post’s bombshell story in 2020 about Hunter Biden’s laptop, which she said fit a pattern of Russian “information laundering.” Biden administration officials vehemently objected to the claims in the New York Post’s story about Joe Biden’s handling of Ukrainian foreign policy, though the authenticity of the laptop itself has been verified through court proceedings. Republicans put so much pressure on DHS about the board — calling it an “abuse of taxpayer dollars” and raising alarm that it painted policy disagreements over COVID-19, election security and immigration as mis- or dis- information — that it disbanded just a few months after its launch. In Daskal’s hearing exchange with Schmitt, Daskal said “it’s not appropriate for the government to censor any points of view.” Daskal did not respond to a request for comment for this story.