‘Coming for us’: Expert sounds alarm on CCP’s mission to ‘kill Americans’ after FBI makes shocking arrests
Following news that two Chinese nationals were charged with allegedly smuggling a “dangerous biological pathogen” into the United States to study at a U.S. university, Fox News Digital spoke to an expert on China who said the arrests should be a wake-up call to the country. “I was entirely unsurprised, which is a sad commentary, but it speaks to the Chinese Communist Party, the CCP wants to kill Americans,” Michael Sobolik, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute focusing on U.S. and China relations, told Fox News Digital after FBI Director Kash Patel announced the arrests of the two Chinese nationals. “Look at what they’ve done with smuggling fentanyl precursors into our country to kill Americans, look at the effects of them failing to stop the spread of COVID-19,” Sobolik said. “Dead Americans. The fact that they want to target Americans here within the United States with pathogens and with bioweapons. This is the Chinese Communist Party. This is what they do. They’re in a cold war with the United States. They want to become the most powerful nation in the world and they wanna make the world safe for their tyranny and unsafe for freedom. And they’re coming for us here at home.” The couple are accused of smuggling a fungus called Fusarium graminearum, which scientific literature classifies as a “potential agroterrorism weapon,” according to the Justice Department. Federal prosecutors note that the noxious fungus causes “head blight,” a disease of wheat, barley, maize, and rice, and “is responsible for billions of dollars in economic losses worldwide each year.” TRUMP, CHINA’S XI INVITE EACH OTHER ON STATE VISITS AMID TRADE FIGHT, US PRESIDENT SAYS The Justice Department also says fusarium graminearum’s toxins cause vomiting, liver damage, and “reproductive defects in humans and livestock.” According to the criminal complaint, one of the accused allegedly received Chinese government funding for her work on the pathogen in China. The couple are accused of bringing the pathogen into the U.S. to study at a University of Michigan laboratory, which raises more concerns about Chinese nationals infiltrating American universities. Last month, a bombshell report out of Stanford University shed light on the influence of spies from the Chinese Communist Party that the student newspaper says have likely infiltrated the prestigious institution and other universities nationwide to gather intelligence. BLUE STATE GOVERNOR TOUTS MEETING WITH CCP OFFICIAL COZYING UP TO DEMS: ‘GRATEFUL FOR THE OPPORTUNITY’ “American higher education is addicted to the Chinese Communist Party,” Sobolik told Fox News Digital. “It’s addicted to easy money that has come from Beijing for decades. It’s addicted to international students that pay full tuition, many of which are then coerced and pressured by the Chinese embassy and consulates and other networks to spy for the party and report back.” “American universities need to finally open their eyes and stop being willfully blind to the threat of the CCP. They’re vectors for intelligence gathering. They are vectors for these threats that target Americans on our own soil. That’s unacceptable. If sovereignty means anything, we need to be able to protect Americans within the borders of the United States. And universities cannot continue to be willing accomplices of the Chinese Communist Party.” A Chinese embassy official said Wednesday he was unaware of the case involving two Chinese nationals charged with smuggling a “dangerous biological pathogen” into the U.S. for university research. “I don’t know the specific situation, but I would like to emphasize that the Chinese government has always required overseas Chinese citizens to abide by local laws and regulations and will also resolutely safeguard their legitimate rights and interests,” said Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Embassy in the U.S. Fox News Digital’s Danielle Wallace and Charles Creitz contributed to this report
Climate lawfare in blue-state courts could hurt US energy consumers, expert says: ‘Huge effect’
Climate change advocates are using “tiny jurisdictions” across the country to push their priorities through civil lawsuits, in an effort that could have significant national-level impacts on domestic oil production and even other industries, a conservative consumer advocate warns. President Donald Trump has taken steps to unleash a sweeping domestic energy agenda, including through preemptive lawsuits in at least four states aimed at preventing them from suing fossil fuel companies over climate change damages. However, a wave of other mainly Democratic jurisdictions across the country, such as in Oregon, Colorado and Washington, are still attempting to go after fossil fuel companies, something consumer advocate O.H. Skinner warns could have “a huge effect” on not only the domestic oil industry, but also on other key economic sectors like car manufacturing. “You really have to understand that these suits matter a ton,” said Skinner, who is a fossil fuel industry advocate and executive director at nonprofit Alliance for Consumers. “If a court in Oregon declares climate change to be a public nuisance, and orders the nine biggest energy companies in America to stop the nuisance, they’re going to unlock billions of dollars for their green initiatives, and going to be asking the court to prevent these energy companies from opening a new oil field, drilling, producing, refining, everywhere.” NJ LAWSUIT CLAIMING OIL COMPANIES CAUSE CLIMATE CHANGE DEALT MASSIVE BLOW IN COURT Skinner is referring to an ongoing case in Oregon – Multonomah County to be precise, which is seeking $52 billion in their suit against oil companies. He also pointed out that several other “public nuisance lawsuits” across the country “are asking for national fixes from courtrooms in little, tiny jurisdictions.” “One county gets 50 billion. Another county gets 50 billion. What’s their real goal? Bankrupting the energy industry across the whole country,” Skinner said. “If they were to get such a win, it would start to have a huge effect.” Trump signed an executive order in April targeting state and local lawsuits against domestic energy producers, which, in part, instructed Attorney General Pam Bondi to identify and take action against state laws and civil actions that burden domestic energy producers. So far, his administration has filed lawsuits against at least four states, New York, Vermont, Michigan and Hawaii, to block them from suing fossil fuel companies for damages. WHITE HOUSE RIPS BLUE STATE DEMS USING ‘LAWFARE’ TO PROTECT WIND INDUSTRY Skinner said that as a consumer advocate, he “gets really nervous” about these lawsuits because they don’t just end with fossil fuels. “They are trying to direct national policy through the courtroom, because they’ve lost in so many other important venues, like Congress or at the ballot box for president,” Skinner said. “First they want to stop oil production, then they want it, then they’re going to go and try to say that the car companies all have to switch to zero emission vehicles. And it goes on and on and on.” Our Children’s Trust, an Oregon-based nonprofit that is currently litigating several state and federal-level lawsuits on behalf of youth plaintiffs over climate change-related matters, including one against the Trump administration over the implementation of his numerous executive directives on unleashing fossil fuels. CLIMATE LAWFARE IS RUNNING INTO A POWERFUL FORCE LIBERALS DIDN’T EXPECT “No president can act in ways that harm our kids or tell states they have to power their electricity grid with fossil fuels when wind and solar are the cleaner, cheaper, and healthier option,” a spokesperson for the group said in a statement to Fox News Digital. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “What’s important for Americans to know is that wind and solar energy are not only the most abundant source of energy we have, but because of American ingenuity, they are also the cheapest form of energy today. It’s why clean energy was the fastest-growing energy sector in Texas last year,” the spokesperson continued. “For families who pay the electricity bill, they will spend less for every fossil fuel we substitute with wind and solar energy. Even more importantly, medical doctors say we can prevent asthma in children, and create healthier communities for our kids. We all share the value of protecting life, especially our children’s.”
ICE official puts politicians on blast, demanding they ‘stop putting my people in danger’
Acting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Todd Lyons demands that politicians “stop putting my people in danger.” In a video, Lyons called out Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., suggesting that they are fomenting “outrage” about ICE’s work, accusing them of “hurting” people with “ridiculous rhetoric and inflammatory comments.” During remarks last week, Wu said, “People are terrified for their lives, and for their neighbors, folks getting snatched off the street by secret police, who are wearing masks … who can offer no justification for why certain people are being taken and then … detained.” LARGEST EVER ICE OPERATION RESULTS IN NEARLY 1,500 ILLEGALS ARRESTED IN BLUE STATE U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts Leah Foley explained the mask issue in a video shared online this week. “Federal agents in marked jackets and vests are masking their faces because people like Mayor Wu have created false narratives about their mission. Federal agents and their children are being threatened, doxxed and assaulted — that it why they must hide their faces,” Foley declared. Wu has even earned a direct rebuke from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) X account. “I don’t know of any police department that routinely wears masks,” Wu said on Wednesday. “NSC-131 routinely wears masks.” When someone asked Wu whether she was comparing ICE to a neo-Nazi group, the mayor replied, “What I said is that Boston police, and no police department that I know of at the local level routinely wears masks.” DHS slammed Wu, declaring in a Thursday post, “Mayor Wu comparing ICE agents to neo-Nazis is SICKENING. When our heroic law enforcement officers conduct operations, they clearly identify themselves as law enforcement while wearing masks to protect themselves from being targeted by known and suspected gang members, murders, and rapists. Attacks and demonization of our brave law enforcement is WRONG. ICE officers are now facing a 413% increase in assaults.” CHILD PREDATORS, GANG MEMBERS, HUMAN TRAFFICKERS DEPORTED IN MAJOR TEXAS CITY ICE ROUNDUP Jeffries declared on Tuesday that all ICE agents who perpetrate “aggressive overreach” and attempt to conceal “their identities from the American people, will be unsuccessful in doing that.” They will all be identified “no matter what it takes, no matter how long it takes,” he asserted, saying that is what the law requires. The House minority leader made the comments when responding to a question about identifying authorities connected with two separate incidents related to Democratic lawmakers. Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., said in a post on X last month that “ICE shoved” her. However, U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Alina Habba later declared in a post that her office had “charged Congresswoman McIver with violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 111(a)(1) for assaulting, impeding and interfering with law enforcement.” DEM REP. MCIVER MAKES FIRST COURT APPEARANCE AFTER NEWARK INCIDENT Separately, DHS agents “forcefully entered” an office and handcuffed one of Rep. Jerry Nadler’s, D-N.Y., staffers, the lawmaker said in a statement. DHS addressed the incident, stating in a post on X that “Federal Protective Service (FPS) officers responded to information that protesters were present inside U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler’s District Office in Manhattan, New York.” DHS said that “officers were granted entry and encountered four individuals. Officers identified themselves and explained their intent to conduct a security check, however, one individual became verbally confrontational and physically blocked access to the office. The officers then detained the individual in the hallway for the purpose of completing the security check. All were released without further incident.” Fox News Digital reached out to the offices of Wu and Jeffries to request comments from the politicians on Thursday but did not receive responses by the time of publication.
Trump responds to Biden dismissal of autopen probe, says he didn’t know ‘what was going on’
President Donald Trump maintained his belief that former President Joe Biden didn’t have “much of an idea what was going on” when he served as president when asked Thursday to respond to Biden’s dismissal of an investigation into his administration’s use of an autopen. “He was never for open borders. He was never for transgender for everybody. He was never for men playing in women’s sports. I mean, he changed,” Trump said Thursday from the Oval Office during a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. “I mean, all of these things that that changed so radically. I don’t think he had any idea … I said it during the debate and I say it now, he didn’t have much of an idea what was going on.” “Essentially, whoever used the autopen was the president, and that is wrong,” he added. “It’s illegal. It’s so bad, and it’s so disrespectful to our country.” Trump sent a memo to the Department of Justice Wednesday directing Attorney General Pam Bondi’s department to investigate whether Biden administration aides conspired to deceive the public about his mental state, and simultaneously using an autopen to sign key presidential actions. BIDEN’S WOES CONVERGE: LAST-MINUTE PARDONS UNDER FIRE, CALLS FOR PROSECUTION MOUNT FOLLOWING HUR TAPE RELEASE “In recent months, it has become increasingly apparent that former President Biden’s aides abused the power of Presidential signatures through the use of an autopen to conceal Biden’s cognitive decline and assert Article II authority,” Trump wrote. “This conspiracy marks one of the most dangerous and concerning scandals in American history. The American public was purposefully shielded from discovering who wielded the executive power, all while Biden’s signature was deployed across thousands of documents to effect radical policy shifts.” Biden responded to the memo Wednesday evening, brushing it off as “ridiculous” and a “distraction” put forth by the GOP. “Let me be clear: I made the decisions during my presidency. I made the decisions about the pardons, executive orders, legislation and proclamations. Any suggestion that I didn’t is ridiculous and false,” Biden said. “This is nothing more than a distraction by Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans who are working to push disastrous legislation that would cut essential programs like Medicaid and raise costs on American families, all to pay for tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy and big corporations.” Trump continued in his Thursday comments that the Biden administration’s use of an autopen is one of the biggest political scandals in U.S. history, remarking that autopens are typically used to send mass amounts of letters — not for official presidential actions. CRITICISMS MOUNT THAT BIDEN IS A ‘SHADOW’ OF HIMSELF AFTER DISASTROUS DEBATE: ‘NOT THE SAME MAN’ FROM VP ERA “I sign important documents. Usually, when they put documents in front of you, they’re important. Even if you’re signing ambassadorships or — and I consider that important, I think it’s inappropriate,” Trump continued. “You have somebody that’s devoting four years of their life or more to being an ambassador. I think you really deserve that person deserves to get a real signature, not a not an autopen signature.” The president added that he can easily identify autopen signatures from genuine pen-to-paper signatures due to “two little pinholes from pulling the paper” that are found on documents. “I think it’s very disrespectful to people when they get an autopen signature,” Trump said. “Autopen to me are used when thousands of letters come in from young people all over the country, and you want to get them back and, you know, people use auto pens for that to send, a little signature at the bottom of a letter. We have thousands of them. We get thousands of letters a week, and it’s not possible to, you know, though I’d like to do it myself, but you can’t do it. That’s where autopens start and stop.” WHAT IS AN AUTOPEN? THE SIGNING DEVICE AT THE HEART OF TRUMP’S ATTACKS ON BIDEN PARDONS TRUMP CLAIMS BIDEN PARDONS ARE ‘VOID,’ ALLEGING THEY WERE SIGNED VIA AUTOPEN Autopen signatures are automatically produced by a machine, as opposed to an authentic, handwritten signature. The conservative Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project first investigated the Biden administration’s use of an autopen earlier in 2025 and found that the same signature was on a bevvy of executive orders and other official documents, while Biden’s signature on the document announcing his departure from the 2024 race varied from the apparent machine-produced signature. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The reports led to speculation that Biden aides had approved of executive orders and sweeping pardons, not the president.
DC restaurant groups blast Dems’ ‘baseless’ boycott threat reportedly backed by AOC, Sanders
“Dozens” of Democratic lawmakers are boycotting six high-dollar Washington, D.C., restaurants over labor disputes with two restaurant groups, according to Axios. One of those restaurant groups, STARR, told Fox News Digital the boycott push was “baseless.” “To the best of our knowledge, a majority of Le Diplomate employees have no interest in engaging in that process nor in being represented by a union,” a STARR representative said. “A boycott of any kind can result in lost hours, wages, and tips that our hardworking employees rely upon. It is unfortunate that an organization that claims to want to represent the employees of Le Diplomate would call for an action that would harm them.” DEMS FUME OVER ‘DUE PROCESS’ FOR ABREGO GARCIA DESPITE LONG HISTORY OF PARTY BUCKING THE LEGAL PRINCIPLE The owner of the second business, Knightsbridge Restaurant Group, took a shot at the lawmakers more directly. “How many of these congress members even know themselves that they’re signing?” he told Axios. STARR owns Osteria Mozza, The Occidental and Le Diplomate – the latter of which has been a mainstay among the Washington, D.C., elite for years, including former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden. Knightsbridge owns Rasika, Modena and Bombay Club. Knightsbridge did not respond to a request for comment by Fox News Digital. Obama was spotted at Osteria Mozza with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos earlier this year, CBS News reported. The boycott is being run by Local 25, a hospitality workers’ union. “Hundreds of workers at some of D.C.’s most prominent and lucrative restaurants – including Le Diplomate and Rasika – have been organizing to join UNITE HERE Local 25. These workers have endured months of union busting from their employers – STARR Restaurants and Knightsbridge Restaurant Group,” a flyer on the boycott obtained by Axios read. MIKE JOHNSON, DONALD TRUMP GET ‘BIG, ‘BEAUTIFUL’ WIN AS BUDGET PASSES HOUSE “D.C. Restaurant workers have been holding informational picket lines outside STARR and Knightsbridge Restaurants, including STARR’s Osteria Mozza, The Occidental and Le Diplomate, and Knightsbridge’s Rasika, Modena and Bombay Club. Now, workers are calling for D.C. customers to boycott these restaurants, asking the public not to eat, meet or drink at these locations.” Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., are reportedly among the signatories. Fox News Digital reached out for comment.
Musk says Trump would have lost 2024 election without him as ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ feud continues
Elon Musk and President Donald Trump’s feud about the “Big Beautiful Bill” continued on Thursday when the tech billionaire responded to the president’s criticism in a post on X. “Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate. Such ingratitude,” Musk wrote in a post responding to Trump’s remarks about him. This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Blue state Republicans threaten rebellion if Senate changes key provision in Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’
House Republicans in Democrat-controlled states are firing a warning shot at the Senate as it considers President Donald Trump’s “one big, beautiful bill.” GOP lawmakers in New York and California have been demanding that senators leave the House’s increased state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap in the bill, even as members of the upper chamber eye it as low-hanging fruit for saving taxpayer dollars. But those blue state Republicans have made raising the current $10,000 SALT deduction cap an existential issue, arguing it provides much-needed tax relief to people in high-cost-of-living areas. The SALT deduction allows people living in areas with high state and local taxes to deduct those penalties in their federal tax filings, up to a point. “When did taxing income that’s already been taxed become a Republican ideal? Our party has always stood for lower taxes and a fair, commonsense tax code. We worked in good faith with House leadership to secure a fair deal that provides our constituents with much-needed SALT relief,” SALT Caucus co-chairs Reps. Young Kim, R-Calif., and Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., said in a statement. MIKE JOHNSON, DONALD TRUMP GET ‘BIG, ‘BEAUTIFUL’ WIN AS BUDGET PASSES HOUSE “Hardworking families we represent are penalized by the SALT cap, and this deal keeps the President’s commitment to fix this issue and has the support of firefighters, police, small businesses and working Americans who keep our country moving.” House Republicans can afford little dissent with their razor-thin majority to still pass the bill again, if the Senate returned a modified version – something the SALT caucus pointed out. “The Senate would be remiss to forget that the path to 218 — and delivering for the American people — runs through the SALT Caucus,” the statement read. The House-passed budget reconciliation bill – aimed at advancing Trump’s priorities on tax, energy, defense, immigration, and the national debt – raises the SALT deduction cap to $40,000. Republicans are working on the bill as the national debt climbs past $36 trillion. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., a SALT Caucus member and one of the House’s GOP tax-writers, sent in a statement to Fox News Digital, “The State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction negotiated in the House should NOT be altered by the Senate. It’s a Republican principle to allow taxpayers to keep more of their hard-earned money and taxpayers in New York and other SALT states deserve not to be double taxed by their government, especially when we also supported significant savings by rooting out waste, fraud & abuse in our states.” Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., who also fought for the increased cap, signaled he would not support the bill if the Senate reinstated the lower number. SCOOP: HOUSE GOP MEMO HIGHLIGHTS REPUBLICAN WINS IN TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ “NY, NJ, and CA have and continue to subsidize many of the states represented in the Senate Republican conference. Furthermore, SALT has been used as a payfor for other provisions in the bill, including the doubling of the standard deduction, which is to the benefit of all Americans,” Lawler wrote on X. “Since the last tax bill, 29 states have blown past the 10k cap. This isn’t a red vs blue issue, it’s an issue of double taxation. Since when do Republicans advocate for taxing you on top of taxes already paid? No SALT. No Deal.” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., met with Trump to shore up support for the tax portion of the budget reconciliation bill, and said he recognized SALT was a key issue for blue-state Republicans in the House – but it was one that didn’t really move the needle for Republican senators. “We also start from a position that there really isn’t a single Republican senator who cares much about the SALT issue,” Thune said. “It’s just not an issue that plays. Most of our states, we’re states that are low-tax states, and we don’t think that low-tax states ought to be subsidizing high-tax states.” Indeed, no Senate Republican hails from a blue state, making the issue for many lawmakers in the upper chamber a moot point. And Thune’s position echoes that of many in the House GOP who were wary of increasing the SALT cap. Still, Thune and Senate Republican leadership acknowledge that whatever tweaks and changes to the budget bill that they make have to pass muster with their colleagues in the House. Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters Thursday morning that he is still keeping SALT lawmakers “calm.” The speaker added that he had been urging the Senate to keep the House’s bill intact. “Look, the Senate Republicans are from red states, right? They feel the same way that I do about SALT, but I’m being very deliberate in reminding them that we have, again, this very delicate balance to maintain over here, and you’ve got to address the issue so that our members can take something home,” Johnson said.
Cuomo attacked during debate by fellow Dems for allegedly lying to Congress about COVID nursing home scandal
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo was blasted by fellow Democrats running against him to be the next mayor of New York City for lying to Congress, an allegation pushed by Republicans that the Trump administration is currently investigating. Cuomo repeatedly dismissed questions throughout Wednesday night’s debate on whether he lied to Congress about his role in drafting a New York State Department of Health report that officials determined had undercounted the number of nursing home deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, Cuomo blasted the current investigation as a symptom of partisan politics and insisted the report in question “did not undercount the deaths.” “The people died and he still won’t answer your questions,” Cuomo’s opponent, Michael Blake, a former state assemblyman from the Bronx, said after Cuomo failed to provide a straight answer. DOJ INVESTIGATING ANDREW CUOMO FOR ALLEGEDLY LYING ABOUT COVID DECISIONS, SOURCE CONFIRMS Blake’s retort resulted in one of the debate moderators asking Cuomo once again to respond to the allegations that he lied to Congress about his role in drafting the report that undercounted the number of COVID-19 nursing home deaths. This time, he engaged. “No, I told Congress the truth,” Cuomo relented. “No, we did not undercount any deaths,” he added. “When they are all counted, we’re number 38 out of 50, which I think, shows that compared to what other states went through, we had it first and worst, and that only 12 states had a lower rate of death – we should really be thanking the women and men who worked on those things.” “It’s just a yes or no question,” the moderator shot back at Cuomo. “Were you involved in the producing of that report?” However, Cuomo still did not address the question directly, leading to laughter from his opponents. BILL MAHER SUGGESTS ANDREW CUOMO’S NURSING HOME SCANDAL MAY COST HIS NYC MAYORAL CAMPAIGN “It’s not only that Andrew Cuomo lied to Congress – which is perjury – he also lied to the grieving families whose loved ones he sent in to those nursing homes to protect his $5 million book deal,” said Brad Lander, New York City’s comptroller. “That’s corruption.” Last month, the Trump administration’s Department of Justice opened a criminal investigation to get to the bottom of whether Cuomo lied to Congress about the decisions he made during the COVID-19 pandemic while serving as governor. In March 2020, Cuomo issued a directive that initially barred nursing homes from refusing to accept patients who had tested positive for COVID-19. The directive was meant to free up beds for overwhelmed hospitals, but more than 9,000 recovering coronavirus patients were ultimately released from hospitals into nursing homes under the directive, which was later rescinded amid speculation that it had accelerated outbreaks. Subsequently, a report released in March 2022 by the New York state comptroller found Cuomo’s Health Department “was not transparent in its reporting of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes” and it “understated the number of deaths at nursing homes by as much as 50%” during some points of the pandemic. New York Attorney General Letitia James similarly released a report amid the pandemic showing New York state nursing home deaths had been undercounted.
Trump ‘disappointed’ with Musk criticism of ‘big, beautiful bill,’ saying it’s related to EV incentive cuts
President Donald Trump said he’s ‘very disappointed’ with SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, days after Musk’s official departure from spearheading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). In recent days, Musk has been very critical of Trump’s massive tax and spending package dubbed the “big, beautiful, bill,” labeling the measure a “disgusting abomination” due to the fact it ramps up the federal deficit. “I’ve always liked Elon … you saw the words he had for me, and he hasn’t said anything about me… I’d rather have him criticize me than the bill, because the bill is incredible,” Trump told reporters Thursday in the Oval Office with a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. “It’s the biggest cut in the history of our country.” MUSK CONFIDENT DOGE WILL SAVE $1 TRILLION AS GOVERNMENT COST CUTTING CONTINUES Trump said that Musk’s opposition to the bill stems from the fact it nixes an electric vehicle tax credit that benefits companies like Tesla. But Trump said that provision has always been part of the measure. “I’m very disappointed, because Elon knew the inner workings of this bill better than almost anybody sitting here better than you people,” Trump said in the Oval Office. “He knew everything about it. He had no problem with it. All of a sudden he had a problem, and he only developed the problem when he found out that we’re going to have to cut the EV mandate, because that’s billions and billions of dollars, and it really is unfair.” Meanwhile, Musk immediately responded on X to Trump’s statements, urging for the bill to remove the “disgusting pork” included in the measure. He also said it was “false” that he was ever shown the measure “even once.” DOGE STAFFING SHAKEUP AS ELON MUSK HANGS UP HIS HAT, WHITE HOUSE CONFIRMS “Whatever. Keep the EV/solar incentive cuts in the bill, even though no oil & gas subsidies are touched (very unfair!!), but ditch the MOUNTAIN of DISGUSTING PORK in the bill,” Musk said in a post on X. “In the entire history of civilization, there has never been legislation that both big and beautiful. Everyone knows this! Either you get a big and ugly bill or a slim and beautiful bill. Slim and beautiful is the way.” Musk has issued a slew of criticism against the measure, which was passed by the House in May, and has argued that it undercuts the work he has done with DOGE to eliminate government waste, fraud, and abuse. DOGE originally was tasked with cutting $2 trillion from the federal government’s budget through efforts to slash spending, government programs and the federal workforce. UNFINISHED BUSINESS: THE BUDGET CUTS MUSK COULDN’T COMPLETE AND WHAT’S NEXT FOR DOGE “This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination,” Musk said Tuesday in a post on X. “Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.” In response to Musk’s initial comments about the spending measure, the White House said that Trump was aware of Musk’s position, and said that it didn’t influence Trump at all. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “Look, the president already knows where Elon Musk stood on this bill,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Tuesday. “It doesn’t change the president’s opinion. This is one big, beautiful bill and he’s sticking to it,” she said.
Ricketts, Fetterman team up for crackdown on China’s attempts to purchase US farmland
FIRST ON FOX: Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts, Democrat Sen. John Fetterman and others are teaming up on legislation to codify oversight on foreign countries buying American farmland. The bipartisan Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure (AFIDA) Improvements Act seeks to implement recommendations published by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in January 2024, which found the AFIDA was ill-equipped to combat foreign ownership of American agricultural land. “American farmland should remain in the hands of American farmers and ranchers, not foreign adversaries,” Ricketts of Nebraska shared first with Fox News Digital. “The neighbors who feed us should benefit from land ownership, not Communist China. Food security is national security.” The bill, also co-sponsored by Sens. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, John Cornyn of Texas, Roger Wicker of Mississippi and Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska introduced legislation, requires AFIDA reporting for foreign persons holding more than one percent interest in American agricultural land. GOP GOVERNOR HOPEFUL PUSHES ANTI-CHINA POLICY AFTER YEARS OF CHINESE INVESTMENTS “Over the past several decades, China has been buying up American farmland in an attempt to infiltrate our agriculture supply chains. Food security is national security, and we cannot give the CCP a foothold,” Tuberville said in a statement to Fox News Digital. SENATE REPUBLICANS LAUNCH EFFORT TO BAN CHINESE NATIONALS FROM BUYING LAND IN US The AFIDA Improvements Act aims to increase information-sharing between the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). It also requires updates to the AFIDA’s handbook and establishes a deadline for USDA to set up an online AFIDA system. The bill’s House sponsor, Bacon, told Fox News Digital that “having actual processes in place will strengthen the security of our nation in the event nefarious foreign agents, such as the CCP, try to purchase agricultural lands within our nation.” Based on the GAO’s recommendations, the bill seeks to update the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act of 1978 to better equip the USDA to combat foreign adversaries’ ownership of American agricultural land. Under AFIDA, foreign entities must disclose to the USDA transactions of American agricultural land. Foreign investors own over 40 million acres of agricultural land in the United States, and between 2010 and 2021, Chinese ownership of American agricultural land increased from 13,720 acres to 383,935 acres, according to the USDA. The AFIDA Improvements Act is the latest attempt by Congressional Republicans to track foreign ownership of American farmland and strengthen national security. It was first introduced by Bacon and Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisc., in 2024. China owned around 350,000 acres of farmland across 27 states as of last year, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture The movement to ban China from buying U.S. farmland located near military bases has been gaining steam in the Senate this year. The PASS Act, led by Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., has the backing of Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and would prevent any entity from a “covered country,” which includes China, North Korea, Russia and Iran, from purchasing agricultural land near military bases or sensitive sites. Republican Sens. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Kevin Cramer of North Dakota and Katie Britt of Alabama, proposed The Not One More Inch or Acre Act, earlier this year to ban China from buying U.S. land entirely. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP On the presidential campaign trail in 2024, President Donald Trump indicated he would ban China from buying American farmland. The Senate passed an amendment with bipartisan support in 2023 that would ban China, Russia, North Korea and Iran from buying American farmland and agricultural businesses, but it did not become law. Fox News Digital’s Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.