Minnesota remains front line in Vance’s ‘war on fraud’; Walz given 60 days ‘to clean up the systems’
Vice President JD Vance announced Wednesday that the Trump administration is temporarily halting Medicaid funding to the state of Minnesota, giving Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz 60 days to clean up how the state doles out funding. “We have decided to temporarily halt certain amounts of Medicaid funding that are going to the state of Minnesota in order to ensure that the state of Minnesota takes its obligations seriously to be good stewards of the American people’s tax money,” Vance said Wednesday at a press event attended by Mehmet Oz, administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The announcement was made after President Donald Trump railed against fraud in the Gopher State Tuesday evening in his State of the Union address. The administration and Congress have zeroed in on rampant abuse of federal taxpayers’ funds since December 2025, when details of Minnesota’s fraud relating to social and welfare programs stretching back to the COVID-19 pandemic first came under the national spotlight. Investigators have since estimated the Minnesota scheme could top $9 billion. JD VANCE SPEARHEADS ‘WAR ON FRAUD,’ PROMISES TO ROOT OUT TAXPAYER MONEY ‘STOLEN’ BY ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS Trump pointed to his vice president as leading the administration’s “war on fraud” during his State of the Union remarks. Vance explained Wednesday that “we are stopping the federal payments that will go to the state government until the state government takes its obligations seriously to stop the fraud that’s being perpetrated against the American taxpayer.” The vice president added that officials have verified that a program in Minnesota intended to provide after-school care to autistic children actually benefited fraudsters. “A lot of people are getting rich off the generosity of American taxpayers,” Vance said. “But more fundamentally, and more importantly than that, it means that there are kids in Minnesota who deserve these services, who need these services, and they’re not going to those kids. They’re going to fraudsters in Minneapolis. That is unacceptable. And that’s the sort of thing that we’re cutting off with this action today.” Oz added that the pause marks “the largest action against fraud that we’ve ever taken” at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, before launching into how the administration is deferring funds to the state. HEAVILY REDACTED AUDIT FINDS MINNESOTA MEDICAID HAD WIDESPREAD VULNERABILITIES “It’s going to be $259 million of deferred payments for Medicaid to Minnesota, which we’re announcing, as I speak, to Gov. Walz and his team,” Oz said. “That’s based on an audit of the last three months of 2025. Restated, a quarter billion dollars is not going to be paid this month to Minnesota for its Medicaid claims. “We have notified the state and said that we will give them the money, but we’re going to hold it and only release it after they propose and act on a comprehensive corrective action plan to solve the problem,” Oz said. “If Minnesota fails to clean up the systems, the state will rack up $1 billion of deferred payments this year.” Walz has 60 days to respond to a letter Oz and the administration sent to Walz on the matter, Oz said. Fox News Digital reached out to Walz’s office Wednesday afternoon for comment and has yet to receive a reply. Oz said he believes Walz will take the matter seriously and noted fraud is not exclusive to Minnesota. “These schemes disproportionately involve immigrant communities,” Oz continued. “They’re insulated, they’re able to … organize efforts, and sometimes they don’t understand what’s going on.” Vance added that the administration does not want to make this move, but it is needed due to Minnesota being “careless with federal tax dollars.” “All we need the governor and the administration of Minnesota to do is something quite simple, which is to show that before you give Medicaid funds to somebody, you’re taking seriously whether they provided the services that they say that they’re providing,” the vice president said, calling the alleged fraud a “disgrace.” MINNESOTA DEMOCRATS DEMAND REPARATIONS FROM ICE AFTER LOSING $18 BILLION TO SOMALI FRAUD Trump spotlighted the fraud in his State of the Union address Tuesday, underscoring that while Minnesota has taken the spotlight, schemes run deep in other states as well. “When it comes to the corruption that is plundering — it really, it’s plundering America — there’s been no more stunning example than Minnesota, where members of the Somali community have pillaged an estimated $19 billion from the American taxpayer,” Trump said. “Oh, we have all the information. “And, in actuality, the number is much higher than that, and California, Massachusetts, Maine and many other states are even worse. This is the kind of corruption that shreds the fabric of a nation, and we are working on it like you wouldn’t believe,” Trump added, before naming Vance the administration’s leader taking on fraud.
Biden’s FBI subpoenaed Kash Patel’s and Susie Wiles’ phone records during federal Trump investigation
The FBI subpoenaed Kash Patel and Susie Wiles’ phone records in 2022 and 2023, when both were private citizens, as part of a federal probe into then former President Donald Trump, Fox News has confirmed. Patel is the current FBI director, and Wiles is White House chief of staff. At least 10 FBI employees were also fired Wednesday, Fox News was told. Names were not given due to privacy reasons, with the FBI Agents Association (FBIAA) later criticizing the firings. “The FBIAA condemns today’s unlawful termination of FBI Special Agents, which—like other firings by Director Patel—violates the due process rights of those who risk their lives to protect our country,” the organization said in a statement. “These actions weaken the Bureau by stripping away critical expertise and destabilizing the workforce, undermining trust in leadership and jeopardizing the Bureau’s ability to meet its recruitment goals—ultimately putting the nation at greater risk.” GRASSLEY: BIDEN DOJ BYPASSED CONSTITUTIONAL SAFEGUARDS BY SUBPOENAING SENATOR PHONE RECORDS Reuters first disclosed the subpoenas, which were issued during the Biden administration, while special counsel Jack Smith was investigating Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his handling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. Smith ended up charging Trump in 2023 with multiple felony offenses related to alleged efforts to challenge the results of the 2020 election and Trump’s handling of the documents after he left office. A federal judge later dismissed the election interference case after Smith moved to drop it following Trump’s re-election, citing a Justice Department policy against prosecuting a sitting president. Smith also dropped the Justice Department’s appeal of a separate ruling that dismissed the classified documents case. Trump has denied any wrongdoing in both matters. TOP 5 MOMENTS FROM JACK SMITH’S TESTIMONY ON CAPITOL HILL In a statement to Fox News Wednesday, Patel called the move to seize the phone records “outrageous and deeply alarming.” “It is outrageous and deeply alarming that the previous FBI leadership secretly subpoenaed my own phone records — along with those of now White House chief of staff Susie Wiles — using flimsy pretexts and burying the entire process in prohibited case files designed to evade all oversight,” he said. The FBI had found the phone records in files labeled as “Prohibited,” Reuters reported. Patel also said he recently ended the FBI’s ability to categorize files as “Prohibited.” Fox News also learned from two FBI officials that in 2023, FBI agents recorded a phone call between Wiles and her attorney. FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS RELEASE OF JACK SMITH REPORT’S SECOND VOLUME According to those officials, Wiles’ attorney was aware the call was being recorded and consented, but Wiles was not informed. Smith testified last year that records of members’ calls helped investigators verify the timeline of events surrounding the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. He said prosecutors “followed all legal requirements in getting those records” and told a House panel the records obtained from lawmakers did not include the content of conversations, Reuters reported.
Voters react as Trump touts signature tariff plan at State of the Union
Republicans were pleased when President Donald Trump spoke during the State of the Union address Tuesday about his plan to continue imposing global tariffs after the Supreme Court dealt him a setback, according to live reactions from a panel of voters. The panel, assembled by polling group Maslansky & Partners and made up of 29 Democrats, 30 independents and 41 Republicans, gave real-time reactions as Trump spoke. The responses were displayed on a line graph, with higher values indicating positive reactions and lower values indicating negative reactions. Trump called the Supreme Court’s decision striking down the tariffs “unfortunate” as four justices sat stone-faced in the front row of the House chamber. TRUMP RIPS SUPREME COURT TARIFF RULING IN SOTU, VOWS NEW LEGAL FIGHT AFTER 6-3 BLOW It is customary for justices to be invited to the address, though not all typically attend. Chief Justice John Roberts and justices Elena Kagan, Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh attended Tuesday. Trump touted the tariffs, which he unilaterally imposed last year under an emergency law, as a key negotiating tool, saying they helped him broker peace deals between other countries and generated billions of dollars in revenue. The Supreme Court found that Trump illegally bypassed Congress by invoking the law, known as the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. But “just four days ago, an unfortunate ruling from the United States Supreme Court, it just came down, a very unfortunate ruling,” Trump said, as the dials on the line graph showed Republicans reacting approvingly and Democrats and independents responding negatively. SPEECHWRITERS FROM REAGAN TO BIDEN AGREE: TRUMP’S SOTU IS A CRITICAL TEST FOR HIS SECOND TERM “The good news is that almost all countries and corporations want to keep the deal that they already made … knowing that the legal power that I as president have to make a new deal could be far worse for them. And, therefore, they will continue to work along the same successful path that we had negotiated before the Supreme Court’s unfortunate involvement,” Trump said. Trump said he had “time-tested” alternatives to the IEEPA that he planned to use so he could again sidestep Congress’ role in authorizing tariffs, which the Supreme Court said functioned like a tax and therefore required congressional approval under the Constitution.
Democrats cool to Trump pushing SAVE Act election bill in voter dial
Democrats were not happy with President Donald Trump‘s State of the Union remarks implementing voter ID requirements and the SAVE America Act. A dial test administered by Lee Carter, the president of maslansky+partners, showed Democrats taking a serious dive when the president spoke about the issue. During his speech, Trump asked lawmakers to pass the SAVE America Act in order “to stop illegal aliens and others who are unpermitted persons from voting in our sacred American elections.” He decried allegedly “rampant” cheating in American elections. “It’s very simple. All voters must show voter ID. All voters must show proof of citizenship in order to vote. And no more crooked mail in ballots except for illness, disability, military or travel. None,” Trump said. “Why would anybody not want voter ID? One reason, because they want to cheat,” Trump added, referring to Democrats. “They make up all excuses. They say it’s racist. They come up with things. You almost say what imagination they have! They want to cheat, they have cheated, and their policy is so bad that the only way they can get elected is to cheat.” GOP WARNS DEMOCRATS USING DHS SHUTDOWN TO STALL SENATE VOTER ID PUSH While Democrats reacted negatively, Republicans had a positive response to Trump’s call for the passage of the SAVE America Act. While Independents did not react as positively as Republicans, their line in the dial test remained above the Democrats. The group monitored by Carter, which included 29 Democrats, 41 Republicans and 30 Independents, had mixed reactions to a number of moments in Trump’s speech. Carter found that the most polarizing issue of the night was gender policy. One of the president’s special guests was Sage Blair, a young woman whose family filed a 2023 lawsuit alleging that Appomattox County High School staff socially transitioned her and treated her as a boy without her parents’ knowledge. “But surely we can all agree no state can be allowed to rip children from their parents’ arms and transition them to a new gender against the parents’ will,” Trump said. “We must ban it, and we must ban it immediately.” INDEPENDENTS LOVED MOMENT TRUMP INTRODUCED TEAM USA MEN’S HOCKEY TEAM, VOTER DIAL SHOWS When the president saw that Democratic lawmakers in the chamber did not stand at that remark, he ripped them as “crazy.” Supporters in the focus group reacted mostly positively to the gender policy remarks, saying things like “Protect children. Crazy people there” and “If someone wants to change gender, they should do it as an adult. Period.” Meanwhile, critics in the group slammed the president, with one saying that it was “a bold-faced lie” and that Trump was taking “every opportunity to divide the country.” Despite the disparate reactions on the issues of voting and gender, there were some moments in which people of opposing views overlapped, both in favor and against the president. Many supporters and opponents expressed concerns about Trump’s tone during the speech, the dial test showed. Carter noted that some supporters were unhappy with the president’s jokes, remarks about the Supreme Court and mentions of former President Joe Biden. Meanwhile, the president’s critics said the tone was “embarrassing,” “divisive” and “selfish.” While there were many moments that caused disagreement among American across the political spectrum, there were points of unity in the speech. Republicans and Democrats had positive responses when Trump awarded the Purple Heart to Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe and deceased Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom. Wolfe and Beckstrom were shot by a gunman who ambushed them last year in Washington, D.C. Wolfe was critically injured in the attack, while Beckstrom was fatally shot. Beckstrom’s parents accepted the award in their daughter’s honor. Another unifying moment came when Trump brought out the U.S. men’s hockey team, which just scored a historic overtime victory against Canada in the Olympics. Carter noted that the president’s critics were pleased with the recognition of the Olympians, with one calling it a “nice moment.”
Trump says Iran pursues ‘sinister ambitions,’ hasn’t told US that Tehran ‘will never have a nuclear program’
President Donald Trump warned in his State of the Union address that Iran has “sinister ambitions” with its nuclear program and that the U.S. has not yet heard from Tehran that it will “never have a nuclear weapon.” The remarks come as the U.S. and Iran are gearing up for another round of negotiations on Thursday. “After Midnight Hammer, they were warned to make no future attempts to rebuild their weapons program and, in particular, nuclear weapons. Yet they continue starting it all over. We wiped it out, and they want to start all over again and are at this moment again pursuing their sinister ambitions,” Trump said Tuesday, referencing the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities last summer. “We are in negotiations with them. They want to make a deal, but we haven’t heard those secret words, ‘We will never have a nuclear weapon,’” Trump added. “My preference is to solve this problem through diplomacy. But one thing is certain, I will never allow the world’s number one sponsor of terror, which they are by far, to have a nuclear weapon. Can’t let that happen.” IRAN’S SHADOWY CHEMICAL WEAPONS PROGRAM DRAWS SCRUTINY AS REPORTS ALLEGE USE AGAINST PROTESTERS “For decades it had been the policy of the United States never to allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon. Many decades. Since they seized control of that proud nation 47 years ago, the regime and its murderous proxies have spread nothing but terrorism and death and hate,” Trump also said during his speech. “They’ve killed and maimed thousands of American service members and hundreds of thousands and even millions of people with what’s called roadside bombs. They were the kings of the roadside bomb. And we took out [Iranian Gen. Qassim] Soleimani. I did that during my first term. Had a huge impact. He was the father of the roadside bomb.” LEAVITT SAYS TRUMP CHOOSES DIPLOMACY FIRST FOR IRAN, BUT REMAINS ‘WILLING TO USE’ LETHAL FORCE IF NECESSARY “And just over the last couple of months with the protests, they’ve killed, at least, it looks like 32,000 protesters in their own country. They shot them and hung them. We stopped them from hanging a lot of them, with the threat of serious violence. But this is some terrible people. They’ve already developed missiles that can threaten Europe and our bases overseas, and they’re working to build missiles that will soon reach the United States of America,” Trump said. Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said following Trump’s address that, “No one should be fooled by these prominent untruths.” “Whatever they’re alleging in regards to Iran’s nuclear program, Iran’s ballistic missiles, and the number of casualties during January’s unrest is simply the repetition of ‘big lies,’” Baghaei claimed on X.
Thomas criticizes Supreme Court majority for ‘needlessly’ expanding precedent in unanimous decision
Justice Clarence Thomas criticized the majority opinion in a Tuesday Supreme Court ruling that he says “needlessly” expanded court precedent on trial issues. Thomas made the argument in a concurring opinion to a unanimous decision the court released regarding the extent to which a trial judge can restrict interaction between a defendant and his attorneys during a trial recess. The facts of the case, Villareal v. Texas, relate to the trial testimony for David Villarreal, who was defending himself against murder charges in Texas. During the trial, Villareal’s testimony was interrupted by a 24-hour overnight recess, and the judge in the case instructed Villareal’s attorneys not to “manage his testimony” during the recess. TRUMP’S TARIFF REVENUES HIT RECORD HIGHS AS SUPREME COURT DEALS MAJOR BLOW The judge clarified, however, that the order was not a blanket restriction on Villareal’s communication with his attorneys. He said they could discuss topics other than the defendant’s testimony, such as possible sentencing issues. SUPREME COURT RULES ON TRUMP TARIFFS IN MAJOR TEST OF EXECUTIVE BRANCH POWERS Villareal was ultimately convicted in the case, and his attorney’s appealed the decision by arguing the judge’s restrictions infringed on the defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to counsel. The case was ultimately appealed up to the Supreme Court, which ruled against the defendant’s argument. The court’s majority opinion, penned by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, stated that court precedent allowed judges to restrict attorneys and their clients from discussing testimony in the middle of a trial. What Thomas objected to, however, was that the majority opinion went on to clarify that defendants and attorneys can discuss testimony if it is “incidental to other topics,” such as plea advice or strategy. Thomas argued that clarification “needlessly expands our precedents” when existing law was more than adequate for guiding a ruling in the case. “The trial judge’s order here complied with our precedents,” Thomas wrote. “The trial judge instructed defense counsel not to ‘discuss what you couldn’t discuss with [Villarreal] if he was on the stand in front of the jury,’ and explained that ‘you couldn’t confer with him while he was on the stand about his testimony.’” “I am unable to join the majority opinion because it unnecessarily expands these precedents. It purports to ‘announce’ a ‘rule’ under which a defendant has a constitutional right to ‘discussion of testimony’ so long as that discussion is ‘incidental to other topics,’” Thomas concluded.
Senate Dem says he left the State of the Union address because he couldn’t endure ‘hours of Trump’s lies’
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., announced that he left President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address before it ended on Tuesday night, claiming the speech was riddled with lies. “Walked out of the State of the Union because I couldn’t sit through hours of Trump’s lies,” the senator wrote in a post on X. “Americans know the truth: he’s spiking prices and wrecking our economy. We’re a better country than this.” Warner posted about 17 minutes before the end of the president’s remarks. Trump concluded his State of the Union speech at approximately 10:59 p.m., breaking the record for the longest State of the Union address in recent history. TRUMP SHATTERS CLINTON’S 26-YEAR-OLD RECORD FOR LONGEST STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS Warner had already suggested before the speech that the president would lie while delivering the address. “Buckle up for hours of lies tonight from the President. Americans know the truth: he’s wrecking our economy, spending tens of billions on an out-of-control secret police, and lining his own pockets with grift after grift,” Warner declared in a post on X ahead of Trump’s speech on Tuesday. Then, during the president’s speech, Warner asserted in a post, “We’re hearing more of the same from Trump tonight… endless lies.” Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment on Wednesday. JASMINE CROCKETT TRASHES TRUMP, BOYCOTTS HIS SPEECH: ‘THE CURRENT STATE OF OUR UNION IS GRIM’ Rep. Bill Foster, D-Ill., also noted that he walked out of the president’s speech. “Like last year, I gave myself 5 bald-faced lies before I walked out of Trump’s joint address. Less than one hour into his speech, I’m out,” he noted in a Tuesday night post. Rep. Lauren Underwood, D-Ill., said in a video that she “had to leave” the address “early.” “After hearing him make light of the healthcare crisis that he created, and then to not even be serious about prescription drugs, acting like TrumpRx is some real solution, give me a break. It’s outrageous. And I couldn’t stay in there a moment longer,” she declared. ‘SQUAD’ MEMBER WEARS ‘F— ICE’ PIN ON HOUSE FLOOR DURING TRUMP ADDRESS CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Other lawmakers also walked out, reports indicate, while many opted to skip the event entirely. Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, who held a sign that read, “BLACK PEOPLE AREN’T APES!,” was ejected from the chamber.
Trump admin ramps up ‘maximum pressure’ Iran sanctions ahead of new round of nuclear talks
President Donald Trump‘s administration expanded sanctions against Iran ahead of another round of nuclear talks, ramping up the U.S. “maximum pressure” policy for Tehran. Representatives of the U.S. and Iran are slated to meet once again in Geneva this week as tensions in the Middle East continue to rise. The Treasury Department’s new sanctions target Iran’s shadow fleet as well as networks supplying ballistic missiles and other advanced weapons to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s regime. The sanctions specifically hit over 30 individuals, entities and vessels that are involved in Iran’s illicit behavior. That ranges from the transport of Iranian petroleum to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Iran’s Ministry of Defense’s supply lines for building advanced missiles and drones. “Iran exploits financial systems to sell illicit oil, launder the proceeds, procure components for its nuclear and conventional weapons programs, and support its terrorist proxies,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement. “Under President Trump’s strong leadership, Treasury will continue to put maximum pressure on Iran to target the regime’s weapons capabilities and support for terrorism, which it has prioritized over the lives of the Iranian people.” IRAN PRESIDENT VOWS DEFIANCE AS PROTESTS BUILD AGAINST REGIME AMID US MILITARY BUILD UP The sanctions hit at least 12 vessels allegedly involved in Iran’s shadow fleet, along with nine companies associated with the same. The new sanctions also name four individuals for “being owned or controlled by” to Qods Aviation Industries, a company the U.S. says “designs and manufactures light and ultra‑light UAVs” and supplies them to Iran and its allies, including Russia and Venezuela. The new sanctions come after Iran lashed out at the U.S. after Trump put the regime on notice in his State of the Union address Tuesday night, delivering a forceful warning about Tehran’s ambitions. Speaking amid the largest deployment of U.S. aircraft and warships to the Middle East since the 2003 Iraq War buildup, Trump said he wanted to resolve tensions with Iran through diplomacy while accusing Tehran of expanding its missile capabilities. TRUMP MEETS NETANYAHU, SAYS HE WANTS IRAN DEAL BUT REMINDS TEHRAN OF ‘MIDNIGHT HAMMER’ OPERATION “They’ve already developed missiles that can threaten Europe and our bases overseas,” he said. “And they’re working to build missiles that will soon reach the United States of America.” Trump argued that previous U.S. action, including the “Operation Midnight Hammer” strike in June, had severely degraded Iran’s capabilities but warned the threat had not disappeared. “We wiped it out and they want to start all over again and are at this moment again pursuing their sinister ambitions,” he said. Tehran sharply rejected Trump’s claims about its missile and nuclear programs. According to The Associated Press, Iranian officials characterized U.S. statements as propaganda while stopping short of closing the door on diplomacy ahead of the Geneva talks. The Times of India reported that Iranian officials warned any U.S. military strike, even a “limited” one, would be treated as aggression and met with a decisive response.
Trump gets high marks from Republicans when ticking off economic accomplishments
A panel of U.S. voters from all parties showed strong reactions when President Donald Trump began listing his administration’s economic policy achievements during his State of the Union address on Tuesday. The panel, assembled by polling group Maslansky & Partners, was composed of 29 Democrats, 30 Independents and 40 Republicans. Their live reactions to Trump’s comments were displayed as lines on a graph, with high values representing positive reactions and low values indicating negative reactions. Democrats’ reactions were represented in blue, Republicans in red and Independents in yellow. Trump started off strong with both Republicans and Independents as he touted a steep drop in inflation compared to when former President Joe Biden left office. 5 UNFORGETTABLE MOMENTS FROM TRUMP’S RECORD-BREAKING STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS “In 12 months, my administration has driven core inflation to the lowest level in more than five years, and in the last three months of 2025 it was down to 1.7%,” Trump said as lawmakers applauded. Even support among Democratic viewers hovered just below the 50% mark as Trump discussed falling inflation. Support among Republicans reached its maximum as Trump listed off a drop in gasoline prices, saying some regions of the U.S. were paying just $1.85 a gallon. TRUMP AWARDING PURPLE HEART TO NATIONAL GUARDSMAN DURING STATE OF THE UNION GETS POSITIVE MARKS FROM VOTERS Independent support remained high as he talked about gas, but it reached its highest point as the president was discussing mortgage rates. “Mortgage rates are the lowest in four years and falling fast,” Trump said. “And the annual cost of a typical new mortgage is down almost $5,000 just since I took office. In one year.” The general finding from the Maslansky poll found the speech largely reinforced existing beliefs for all voters, rather than persuading. “There was almost no evidence of movement. Instead, voters expressed strong affirmation or strong rejection,” the group said in a statement. “It did not soften opposition. It did not significantly broaden appeal. But in a turnout-driven environment, reinforcement may be the point,” the statement continued.
Voters react as Trump calls Dems ‘crazy’ for not applauding ban on secret teen gender transitions
President Donald Trump’s decision to rip Democrats as “crazy” during his State of the Union address on Tuesday — after they remained seated while he demanded a ban on socially transitioning minors without parental consent — drew sharply divided reactions from a live panel of voters. The panel, assembled by polling group Maslansky & Partners, included 29 Democrats, 30 Independents and 40 Republicans. Their real-time reactions were displayed as colored lines on a graph, with higher values representing positive reactions and lower values indicating negative ones. “But surely we can all agree no state can be allowed to rip children from their parents’ arms and transition them to a new gender against the parents’ will,” Trump said. “Who would believe that?… We must ban it, and we must ban it immediately.” As Trump delivered the remarks, the Republican line, shown in red, climbed sharply into positive territory. Independents, represented in yellow, also ticked upward, while Democrats, shown in blue, trended downward into negative territory. TRUMP TAKES DIRECT SOTU SWIPE AT DEMOCRATS OVER TAXES: ‘TO HURT THE PEOPLE’ The comments drew applause from Republicans in the chamber, but the president became incensed when he realized that Democrats refused to stand. “Look, nobody stands up,” Trump said. “These people are crazy. I’m telling you. They’re crazy,” Trump said, pointing his finger at Democratic senators and House members who remained seated. Republican reactions stayed elevated during the remarks, while Democratic responses remained negative and independent voters held relatively steady. Trump made the remarks as he called on Sage Blair, a Virginia teenager whose family filed a 2023 lawsuit alleging that Appomattox County High School staff socially transitioned her without parental knowledge. According to a lawsuit filed by her family, Blair began identifying as male at school, where staff used male names and pronouns and allowed her to use male facilities without informing her parents. WATCH: Trump highlights teen whose family says school hid her gender transition during State of the Union TRUMP TAKES DIRECT SOTU SWIPE AT DEMOCRATS OVER TAXES: ‘TO HURT THE PEOPLE’ The family alleges the situation escalated after Blair ran away from home and later became a victim of sex trafficking, with the lawsuit alleging she was kidnapped and raped in multiple states. Highlighting the case during his address, Trump said Blair was 14 when school officials sought to socially transition her “to a new gender,” treating her as a boy and hiding it from her parents. “But today, all of that is behind them because Sage is a proud and wonderful young woman with a full-ride scholarship to Liberty University. Sage and Michelle, please stand up,” Trump said as Republicans in the chamber cheered. “Thank you for your great bravery,” he added. The gender policy segment generated some of the strongest reactions of the night from the panel. Among supporters, several comments focused on protecting children and parental involvement, including: “Protect children,” and “Parents should be informed.” Opponents pushed back on the scope of the proposal, writing comments such as: “Every case is unique,” and “A total ban is not good.” The issue appeared to trigger deeply personal reactions on both sides.