Trump secures deals with 3 Middle Eastern nations in 1st major trip of 2nd term
President Donald Trump returned to Washington from the first major trip of his second term with significant agreements in place. The deals struck in the Middle East mark historic moments for both the U.S. and its partners in the region. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar have all committed to increasing their investments in the U.S., similar to deals Trump has pushed for with U.S. partners across the globe. TRUMP PRAISES SAUDI ARABIA IN FIRST STOP ON MIDDLE EAST TRIP Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Trump signed several agreements on energy, investments, defense, mining and more that totaled $600 billion. This included a commitment by Google, Uber, Salesforce, AMD and Saudi Arabia’s DataVolt to invest $80 billion toward the development of revolutionary technologies in both countries. American companies will also take on major projects in Saudi Arabia, including the King Salman International Airport, King Salman Park, The Vault and Qiddiya City, according to the White House. The administration predicts the projects will generate a total of $2 billion in U.S. service exports. Additionally, several U.S. government departments will begin coordinating with Saudi government ministries, including the U.S. Department of Energy and the Ministry of Energy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as well as NASA and the Saudi Space Agency. Trump was also able to secure an agreement that would allow the U.S. to carry cargo between Saudi Arabia and third-party countries without stopping in the U.S., which the White House said is “an important right for cargo hub operations.” TRUMP MAKES HISTORIC UAE VISIT AS FIRST US PRESIDENT IN NEARLY 30 YEARS Trump’s deals with Qatar were arguably the most controversial of his trip, after both Republicans and Democrats criticized a plan for Doha to provide a jumbo jet that is expected to be used as Air Force One. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., found themselves in a rare position — on the same side of an argument. However, they objected to the plan for different reasons. While Sanders questioned the constitutionality of the administration accepting the Qatari jet, Cruz cited “significant espionage and surveillance problems.” Additionally, Sens. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and John Kennedy, R-La., expressed their lack of trust in Doha. “Qatar is not, in my opinion, a great ally. I mean, they support Hamas. So, what I’m worried about is the safety of the president,” Scott told reporters on Tuesday. The deals Trump secured during his trip will see Doha and Washington participate in agreements worth $1.2 trillion, according to the White House. This is in addition to economic deals totaling $243.5 billion, which include the sale of American-made aircraft to Qatar Airways. The White House also touted a defense deal that will “lock in Qatar’s procurement of state-of-the-art military equipment from two leading U.S. defense companies.” The two countries also agreed to a multibillion-dollar agreement to strengthen their security partnership. STATE DEPARTMENT APPROVES SALE OF $1.4B WORTH OF HELICOPTERS, F-16 PARTS TO UAE AHEAD OF TRUMP’S VISIT Trump left the UAE with $200 billion in commercial deals, including a $14.5 billion commitment from Etihad Airways to invest in 28 American-manufactured aircraft. Additionally, Emirates Global Aluminum is set to invest $4 billion in an aluminum smelter project in Oklahoma, which will be one of the first new smelters built in the U.S. in 45 years, according to the White House. The UAE and the U.S. also reached energy agreements in which the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company will partner with ExxonMobil, Occidental Petroleum and EOG Resources to expand oil and natural gas production. The White House said in a statement that the deal is expected to “help lower energy costs and create hundreds of skilled jobs in both countries.” The deals made during Trump’s trip to Abu Dhabi are set to expedite a commitment the UAE made in March to a 10-year, $1.4 trillion investment framework in the U.S., which covered a range of industries, including energy and AI.
Trump calls Springsteen ‘highly overrated’ after rocker labels him ‘treasonous’ overseas
President Donald Trump slammed Bruce Springsteen as being “highly overrated” Friday after the rocker called his administration “corrupt, incompetent and treasonous.” “I see that Highly Overrated Bruce Springsteen goes to a Foreign Country to speak badly about the President of the United States. Never liked him, never liked his music, or his Radical Left Politics and, importantly, he’s not a talented guy — Just a pushy, obnoxious JERK, who fervently supported Crooked Joe Biden, a mentally incompetent FOOL, and our WORST EVER President, who came close to destroying our Country,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. Springsteen tore into Trump on Wednesday during the first of a series of concerts in Manchester, England. “The mighty E Street Band is here tonight to call upon the righteous power of art, of music, of rock and roll in dangerous times. In my home, the America I love, the America I’ve written about, that has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years, is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration,” Springsteen said, drawing applause from his audience. FLASHBACK: BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN ENDORSES KAMALA HARRIS “Tonight, we ask all who believe in democracy and the best of our American experiment to rise with us, raise your voices against authoritarianism and let freedom ring!” Springsteen added in a video posted on his YouTube page. Trump said in his Truth Social post that “Sleepy Joe didn’t have a clue as to what he was doing, but Springsteen is ‘dumb as a rock,’ and couldn’t see what was going on, or could he (which is even worse!)? This dried out ‘prune’ of a rocker (his skin is all atrophied!) ought to KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT until he gets back into the Country, that’s just ‘standard fare.’ Then we’ll all see how it goes for him!” HARRIS CAMPAIGN COSTS FOR STAR-STUDDED EVENTS ON ELECTION EVE BALLOONED TO OVER $10 MILLION: REPORT Springsteen declared last year that “I’ll be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz” in the presidential election. Harris ended up losing the race to Trump. The “Born in the USA” singer, in an Instagram video endorsing Harris, attacked Trump as “the most dangerous candidate for President in my lifetime” with a “disdain for the sanctity of our constitution, the sanctity of democracy, the sanctity of the rule of law, and the sanctity of the peaceful transfer of power.” The Harris campaign later announced a concert series with Springsteen in battleground states to mobilize voters in the weeks leading up to Election Day last year. Fox News Digital’s Lindsay Kornick and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
House GOP targets another Dem official accused of blocking ICE amid Delaney Hall fallout
FIRST ON FOX: Another Democrat is being brought under scrutiny over their handling of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations. Tennessee Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., wrote a letter this week urging two top House committees to investigate Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell, who the Trump administration accused of supporting “pro-illegal policies.” Ogles said O’Connell’s “recent actions raise serious questions about whether a municipal official is now obstructing federal law enforcement and possibly even actively aiding and abetting illegal aliens.” Ogle’s district includes part of Nashville. ANTI-ABORTION PROVIDER MEASURE IN TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ COULD SPARK HOUSE GOP REBELLION It comes amid continued fallout from three House Democrats accused of “storming” an ICE facility in Newark, New Jersey. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who was also among those who ran through the gates of the detention center following a bus full of detainees, was arrested. ICE agents working with the Tennessee Highway Patrol arrested nearly 200 people who the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said were illegal immigrants – many of them criminals with gang affiliations or other sordid pasts. The DHS news release targeted O’Connell by name over comments he made in early May. “What’s clear today is that people who do not share our values of safety and community have the authority to cause deep community harm.” ICE TOUTS RECORD-BREAKING IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT DURING TRUMP’S FIRST 100 DAYS After the arrests, O’Connell signed an executive order aimed at tracking peoples’ interactions with federal immigration authorities, according to WSMV4. He said of ICE’s work in his city, “It’s important for us to get this right, and it’s very frustrating to see a failure in the process.” “Rather than commend law enforcement for removing dangerous individuals from the streets, the mayor chose instead to signal that federal agents are to be surveilled and distrusted—not supported,” Ogles wrote in his letter. “This executive order is not a transparency initiative. It is already being operationalized as a political weapon.” The Trump administration has had several showdowns with Democratic city and state officials over the White House’s crackdown on illegal immigrants. His letter ended with a former request to House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and House Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn., to open a probe into O’Connell and other Nashville officials accused of blocking ICE. Jordan is already holding a hearing next week on threats to ICE operations. The incident in Newark earlier this month is expected to be featured heavily during the event. “Our immigration system depends on cooperation and trust across all levels of government,” Ogles wrote. “When elected officials weaponize their offices to score political points by undermining federal law enforcement, they compromise public safety and the rule of law.” Fox News Digital reached out to the Nashville mayor’s office as well as spokespeople for Jordan and Green for comment.
Trump embraces Dem policies traditionally rejected by GOP in bid to build ‘party of common sense’
President Donald Trump is in the midst of promoting what he says are commonsense policies that will usher in the “golden age” for America, with his platform bolstered by a handful of traditional Democratic platforms, Fox News Digital found. “In everything we do, we’re putting America first, because the Republican Party is now known as the party of common sense. It’s the party of common sense. Very important. I think it’s a very important phrase for you to use. It’s all about common sense. We’re conservative, and, you know, we’re a lot of things, but most important thing is we have to use common sense,” Trump said in February while addressing a conference of the nation’s Republican governors. As liberals and media talking heads bashed Trump on the campaign trail as a “threat to democracy” and compared him to Adolf Hitler, roughly four months into his administration, Trump has rolled out policies or made favorable remarks toward issues that Democrats have long rallied around during campaign events or in the chambers of Congress. Trump held a press conference flanked by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other health officials on Monday morning to sign an executive order to lower drug prices by up to 80%. The executive order specifically “directs the U.S. Trade Representative and Secretary of Commerce to take action to ensure foreign countries are not engaged in practices that purposefully and unfairly undercut market prices and drive price hikes in the United States.” TRUMP’S ‘WRONG-HEADED’ EFFORT TO LOWER DRUG COSTS AMOUNTS TO PRICE CONTROL: EXPERT “The principle is simple – whatever the lowest price paid for a drug in other developed countries, that is the price that Americans will pay,” Trump said at the White House during the executive order signing ceremony. “Some prescription drug and pharmaceutical prices will be reduced almost immediately by 50 to 80 to 90%.” “Starting today, the United States will no longer subsidize the healthcare of foreign countries, which is what we were doing. We’re subsidizing others’ healthcare, the countries where they paid a small fraction of what for the same drug that what we pay many, many times more for and will no longer tolerate profiteering and price-gouging from Big Pharma,” he added. Fox News Digital reported earlier this week that Trump’s executive order effectively amounts to price controls on pharmaceuticals. “We see price caps after natural disasters,” he argued. “We call them anti-gouging laws, and they produce shortages. And so that’s what we can expect price controls to produce when it comes to pharmaceuticals as well — that’s if you have a binding price ceiling, you’re going to get a shortage, and I think it’s totally a wrong-headed thing.” Lowering prescription drug prices through control measures and government intervention has been a cornerstone of Democratic platforms, including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders vowing during his 2020 presidential campaign to lower such prices by 50% if elected and then-Vice President Kamala Harris issuing a tie-breaking vote in the Senate in 2022 to pass the Inflation Reduction Act, which empowered the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to negotiate prices for certain pharmaceuticals covered by Medicare. ‘NEW GOLDEN AGE’: REPUBLICAN LAWMAKERS ECSTATIC AS TRUMP TAKES OFFICE WITH SLATE OF NEW ORDERS Trump celebrated during the executive order signing that he was taking on “price gouging” from “Big pharma,” which he argued is an industry that had been protected by Democrats until his administration. Kennedy, the son of Democratic Attorney General Robert Kennedy and nephew to former Democratic President John F. Kennedy, celebrated that the Trump administration came through on the promise of lowering drug prices after decades of Democrats vowing they would enact such a plan. “This is an extraordinary day,” he said from the White House. “… I grew up in the Democratic Party and every major Democratic leader for 20 years has been making this promise to the American people. This was the fulcrum of Bernie Sanders’ runs for the presidency, that he was going to eliminate this discrepancy between Europe and the United States. As it turns out, none of them were doing it. And it’s one of these promises that politicians make to their constituents, knowing that they’ll never have to do it. And the reason they’ll never do it is because they know that Congress is controlled in so many ways by the pharmaceutical industry.” Sanders issued a statement following Trump’s executive order, declaring, “I agree with President Trump” regarding how Americans pay “the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs,” before warning that the executive order would likely be thrown out by the courts and that Trump should support his upcoming legislation to tackle drug prices. When asked about Trump promoting policies typically touted by Democrats, the White House celebrated how Trump has transformed the GOP “to again become the party of the working class.” “President Trump oversaw a historic transformation of the GOP to again become the party of the working class. While Democrats spent decades talking about helping everyday Americans, President Trump is actually delivering – revealing Democrats’ incompetence and corruption in the process,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said. SPEAKER MIKE JOHNSON: EVERY AMERICAN SHOULD ROOT FOR PRESIDENT TRUMP’S SUCCESS House Republicans released a portion of Trump’s tax agenda late on Friday evening, as Trump continues rallying lawmakers to pass his “big, beautiful bill” that will fund his agenda. Included in the proposal is an expansion of the child tax credit – which has long been featured on Democrats’ policy platforms. While on the campaign trail, the Trump team said the president would consider a “significant expansion of the child tax credit that applies to American families,” FOX Business reported in August. While then-Ohio Sen. JD Vance said during the campaign that he would “love to see a child tax credit that’s $5,000 per child,” he added, “but you, of course, have to work with Congress to see how possible and viable that is.” A portion of the legislation released by the House Ways &
Trump wraps momentous Middle East trip with economic deals, Syria sanctions relief and warning to Iran
President Donald Trump on Friday wrapped up a momentous week in the Middle East and is headed home having finished the final leg of his three-nation trip to the UAE. While the trip, which first included stops in Saudi Arabia and then Qatar, was expected to be largely economically focused with massive investment deals secured with Riyadh, Doha and Abu Dhabi, the president also made geopolitical shockwaves by lifting decades-long sanctions on Syria, issuing another warning to Iran, and downplaying hard fought peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, which Moscow confirmed at the last moment would not be attended by Russian President Valdimir Putin. Here’s a look at what happened this week: TRUMP SIGNS ‘STRATEGIC ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP’ WITH SAUDI ARABIA Ahead of his trip to the Gulf, the president said he intended to return home with at least $1 trillion in trade and investment deals – though he far outstripped this apparent goal. While in Saudi Arabia, Trump signed a $600 billion “strategic economic partnership” agreement with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, which will see Riyadh invest in U.S. AI data centers and energy infrastructure, investment in “cutting-edge transformative technologies in both countries” and a whopping $142 billion defense package – which the White House claimed is the “largest defense sales agreement in history.” The president suggested the deal could near $1 trillion in the months to come and generate up to 2 million U.S. jobs. Trump also secured a big deal in Qatar with a $1.2 trillion “economic exchange” with Doha that included a purchase of 210 Boeing jets by state-owned Qatar Airways for $96 billion, as well as energy infrastructure agreements and an investment in state-of-the-art quantum technologies and workforce development.” The deal in Qatar was overshadowed by the controversial announcement that Qatar wanted to “gift” Trump a new Air Force One jet. The president also expanded on a $1.4 trillion deal brokered with the UAE in March and announced an additional $200 billion “in commercial deals” between Washington and Abu Dhabi. TRUMP OFFERS IRAN CHOICE: DROP NUCLEAR WEAPONS OR FACE ‘MAXIMUM PRESSURE’ Trump addressed one major geopolitical issue not only plaguing Washington’s politics but the Middle East as a whole – Iran and its pursuit of a nuclear weapon. While nations like Saudi Arabia have long stood in opposition to Iran and its support of state-sponsored terrorism, the UAE and Qatar have increasingly looked to normalize relations with Tehran in an effort to stabilize the region. But Trump used his visit to hone in on Washington’s determination to ensure Iran does not develop a nuclear weapon. “If Iran’s leadership rejects the olive branch and continues to attack their neighbors, then we will have no choice but to inflict massive maximum pressure,” Trump said during an address in Saudi Arabia. “The choice is theirs to make.” Trump harshly criticized Iran’s leadership and Iranian representatives did not respond to Fox News Digital’s questions over whether the president’s rhetoric could negatively impact the negotiations. “If only the Iranian regime had focused on building their nation up instead of tearing the region down,” Trump said. “Yet I’m here today not merely to condemn the past chaos of Iran’s leaders, but to offer them a new path and a much better path toward a far better and more hopeful future. “In the case of Iran, I have never believed in having permanent enemies,” he added. TRUMP ASKS SYRIA TO JOIN ABRAHAM ACCORDS, NORMALIZE TIES WITH ISRAEL IN RETURN FOR SANCTIONS RELIEF Trump took the international community by surprise, including some in his administration, according to reports, when he announced the U.S. would reverse a decades-old policy of sanctions on Syria. The U.S. first implemented sanctions on Damascus in 1979 when it designated it a State Sponsor of Terrorism. But following the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime and the takeover by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham – which is a U.S. and U.N.-designated terrorist organization – Trump argued on Wednesday the country should be given a chance to recover. “We are currently exploring normalizing relations with Syria’s new government,” Trump said. Trump met with Syria’s leader, President Ahmed Al-Sharaa, in Saudi Arabia and confirmed that Secretary of State Marco Rubio would also meet with the Syrian foreign minister in Turkey this week. “I am also ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria to give them a fresh start. It gives them a chance for greatness, as the sanctions were really crippling,” he added. “It’s not going to be easy,” Trump said in reference to rebuilding Syria and addressing the ongoing fighting that still persists in the country. “It gives them a good, strong chance. And it was my honor to do so.” TRUMP TO SKIP RUSSIA-UKRAINE PEACE TALKS, CALLS ZELENSKYY THE ‘GREATEST SALESMAN, MAYBE IN HISTORY’ Trump raised eyebrows earlier this week when he made the surprise announcement that he was considering traveling to Turkey from the UAE to participate in the Ukraine-Russia peace talks. But Russia refused to say whether Putin would in fact be traveling to Ankara, where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had intended to visit to start hashing out a solution to end Russia’s three-year-long invasion. On Thursday, the Kremlin confirmed Putin would not participate in peace negotiations, which renewed questions over his seriousness in ending the war. However, Trump downplayed Putin’s refusal to participate in the talks and suggested it was due to a schedule miscommunication. “Look, nothing’s going to happen until Putin and I get together. OK?” Trump said apparently annoyed over the question as to whether he was disappointed Putin would not participate in the talks. “He was going to go, but he thought I was going to go. He wasn’t going if I wasn’t there. “I don’t believe anything’s going to happen, whether you like it or not, until he and I get together” he added, suggesting the Thursday talks in Ankara are not expected to accomplish much. “But we’re going to have to get it solved because too many people are dying.” Despite Qatar being a leading player
Dem gubernatorial candidate blasted for meltdown over ‘shocking’ ICE arrest of 2 criminal illegal aliens
FIRST ON FOX: Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger is facing pushback from both her opponent and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) after condemning the “shocking” execution of an ICE raid at a Virginia courthouse earlier this month that netted two criminal illegal immigrants. “I think what we’ve seen most shocking, including here in Charlottesville, has been cases where people haven’t provided identification and have been in some cases masked and in plain clothes,” Spanberger, a former Democratic congresswoman and former intelligence officer, told the Daily Progress last month after an ICE raid at Albemarle County Courthouse led to the arrest of two illegal immigrants. “I’m a former federal agent, and I used to work narcotics cases and money laundering cases,” she said. “I have been on so many arrest warrants and search warrants at the crack of dawn and at all hours of the day, and identifying yourself, demonstrating who you are, making clear to a community member — even someone you are about to put handcuffs on, even when you enter a home, in a stack, lined up, guns drawn, yelling, ‘Police!’ — you show your badge, you show your credentials, you show your warrant.” The raid that Spanberger took issue with resulted in the arrest of two illegal immigrants who DHS told Fox News Digital had criminal records. FORMER CONGRESSWOMAN TURNED VA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE ABIGAIL SPANBERGER ACCUSED OF ETHICS VIOLATION Teodoro Dominguez-Rodriguez, a Honduran national, was described by DHS as a “violent illegal alien” with “multiple arrests for assault and battery as well as an outstanding order of protection against him.” Pablo Aparicio Marcelino, a Mexican national, was also described by DHS as a “criminal illegal alien” with “multiple arrests for failing to stop at the scene of an accident, driving without a license, and driving under the influence.” Spanberger’s questions about the process of arresting the two foreign nationals drew pushback from her opponent in the race for governor, Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears. “Abigail Spanberger’s outrage over criminal illegal immigrants being taken off our streets is everything Virginians need to know about what kind of governor she’d be — criminals first, victims last,” Earle-Sears press secretary Peyton Vogel told Fox News Digital. VIRGINIA’S YOUNGKIN ENDORSES WINSOME EARLE-SEARS FOR GOVERNOR “She created this mess when she voted in Washington to keep criminal migrants here, and now she wants to stand in the way of cleaning it up.” A Spanberger spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the Virginia Democrat supports arresting criminal illegal immigrants but believes the ICE agents acted improperly. “Abigail believes that violent criminals who are in the United States illegally should not be allowed to stay and that immigration enforcement should be focused on removing these individuals,” the spokesperson said. “As a former federal law enforcement officer who worked narcotics cases, Abigail executed warrants and arrested criminals. And as Abigail made clear to the Daily Progress, she made these arrests in uniform, displaying her badge and arrest warrant to those taken into custody.” In a statement to Fox News Digital, Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin defended raids at courthouses, saying it is “common sense.” “It conserves valuable law enforcement resources because they already know where a target will be. It is also safer for our officers and the community. These illegal aliens have gone through security and been screened to not have any weapons. Secretary Noem is empowering law enforcement to use common sense to remove criminal illegal aliens from American communities.” McLaughlin also pushed back on Spanberger’s suggestion that the ICE agents did not properly identify themselves. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “When our heroic law enforcement officers conduct operations, they clearly identify themselves as police while wearing masks to protect themselves from being targeted by known and suspected terrorist sympathizers,” McLaughlin said. “It is interesting that the media who are so concerned with our law enforcement officers wearing masks to protect themselves don’t say a word about the terrorist sympathizers on U.S. college campuses who cowardly wear masks as they do the bidding of terrorist organizations that relish the killing of Americans and Jews.” Earle-Sears, endorsed by the term-limited Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, will square off against Spanberger this November to determine the next governor of the commonwealth. Immigration has been a prominent topic in the race, including in the first ad that the lieutenant governor dropped, which criticized Spanberger over her past opposition to a border wall. A Spanberger spokesperson at the time called the ad a “distraction attempt,” adding that Spanberger “led bipartisan bills that were signed into law by both President Trump and President Biden to disrupt fentanyl trafficking at our ports of entry, combat Mexican cartels and secure our borders.”
Dem says it’s ‘obvious now to me’ that Biden ‘was not in a condition to run for reelection’
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., has noted that it is now “obvious” to him that then-President Joe Biden “was not in a condition to run for re-election.” “To rebuild trust, Democrats must be honest. In light of the facts that have come out, Joe Biden should not have run for reelection, and we should have had an open primary,” Khanna said in an X post when sharing the link to his appearance on Fox News Channel’s “The Story.” “In my limited public interactions with the President, he appeared coherent. It is obvious now to me, based on @jaketapper and others reporting, that he was not in a condition to run for reelection, and he should have made the decision not to. We must be honest with people about our party’s mistake,” Khanna added in another post. DEM SENATOR SAYS ‘NO DOUBT’ BIDEN DECLINED COGNITIVELY DURING PRESIDENCY During his appearance on “The Story,” Khanna said that the Democratic Party should admit to making a “mistake” and should have more strongly called for Biden not to seek re-election. Fox News Channel’s Martha MacCallum confronted Khanna with multiple clips of his own comments about Biden, such as when Khanna described him as “fully coherent” in 2024. After several clips of Khanna aired, MacCallum asked the congressman whether he was being truthful in his past comments about Biden. JAKE TAPPER’S PAST COVERAGE OF BIDEN’S COGNITIVE DECLINE UNDER SCRUTINY AHEAD OF HIS NEW BOOK “I was,” Khanna said, but he also admitted that he did not “have the full picture.” Fox News Digital reached out to the Office of Joe and Jill Biden but did not receive a response by the time of publication. JOE AND JILL BIDEN FIRE BACK ON ‘THE VIEW’ AGAINST ACCUSATIONS OF HEALTH COVER-UP, CALL STORIES ‘WRONG’ During an appearance on “The View” earlier this month, the former president pushed back against the notion that he suffered significant cognitive decline during his last year in office.
Trump says US has given Iran proposal for nuclear deal
President Donald Trump said Friday that the U.S. has given Iran a proposal for a nuclear deal. “Yeah they have a proposal, but more importantly, they know they have to move quickly or something bad, something bad is going to happen,” Trump said. Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned this week that the United States is facing a critical moment with Iran to curb its efforts to develop a nuclear weapon and limit its uranium enrichment. U.S. and Iranian officials have held four rounds of talks, primarily in Oman, since Trump took office to address Tehran’s nuclear program. The International Atomic Energy Agency, often referred to as the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, noted in a March report that Iran’s stockpile of 60% enriched uranium had alarmingly grown from 182 kg to 275 kg, approximately 401 pounds to 606 pounds, in early 2025. “Once you’re at 60, you’re 90% of the way there. You are, in essence, a threshold nuclear weapons state, which is what Iran basically has become,” Rubio said Thursday on “Hannity”. “They are at the threshold of a nuclear weapon. If they decided to do so, they could do so very quickly. If they stockpile enough of that 60 percent enriched, they could very quickly turn it into 90 and weaponize it. That’s the danger we face right now. That’s the urgency here,” he said. The president also said Thursday in the United Arab Emirates that the U.S. and Iran have “sort of” agreed to terms on a nuclear deal. “Iran has sort of agreed to the terms. They’re not going to make — I call it, in a friendly way — nuclear dust,” Trump told reporters. “We’re not going to be making any nuclear dust in Iran.” Fox News Digital’s Ashley Carnahan contributed to this report. This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Blue state congressman ditches Dem playbook, seeks to codify Trump’s latest executive order
EXCLUSIVE: While Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., has been a vocal opponent of President Donald Trump‘s tariff and deportation policies, the president’s latest executive order targeting prescription drug prices inspired the Silicon Valley congressman to trade political disses for diplomacy. Khanna proposed legislation on Wednesday to codify Trump’s executive order aimed at lowering drug prices, and the Democrat is urging his Republican colleagues to follow his lead, reaching across the aisle to deliver for everyday Americans. “President Trump’s executive order says that Americans should pay the least price. We should not pay any more than people are paying in countries overseas. Then, it gives the Cabinet secretaries the ability to go after Big Pharma companies that are price-gouging. Now, he tried something similar in his previous administration. Big Pharma sued him, it got tied up in courts, nothing happened. That’s why we need Congress to act. I have introduced something that codifies President Trump’s language, and I’m hoping we get a Republican co-sponsor,” Khanna told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview. As Democrats search for party unity after losing the White House, the Senate and failing to regain the House of Representatives last year, Democrats have gravitated toward an outright rejection of the Trump administration, as depicted through ongoing protests. Khanna, however, said he does not mind if Trump “gets a political win” if it benefits the American people. REP RO KHANNA TEES UP 2028 RIVALRY DURING POINTED SPEECH IN JD VANCE’S HOME STATE “If Donald Trump says that’s something that’s good for the American people, I’m not going to oppose it just for political points,” Khanna said. DEM RISING STAR EYES VANCE AS KEY LONG-TERM THREAT: ‘NEEDS TO BE DEFEATED’ Khanna is considered a potential 2028 presidential candidate and, like many ambitious Democrats, has crisscrossed the United States this year, bringing his vision for America to the national conversation. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, D-Mich., also expected to harbor 2028 ambitions, faced some flack within the party this year for engaging directly with Trump to deliver for Michiganders. “If Donald Trump has a good idea that’s going to help the American people, we should work with him. If we have a philosophical disagreement, we shouldn’t. But the barometer for me, the test case is, is this helping people? Is this something that I think is going to help this country? Where I have philosophical disagreements, I speak up. But when I think that it is good legislation, I am willing to support him. And I don’t care, like some people, if he gets a political win. So much of politics is, ‘Oh, we don’t want to give the other side a political win.’ For all I care, he can have a great political win if the American public gets lower drug prices,” Khanna told Fox News Digital. While Khanna said he has not communicated with Trump directly about codifying his executive order, he delivered a now-viral House floor speech Wednesday, urging his Republican colleagues to join the bipartisan effort to lower prescription drug prices. “Are you on the side of the people, or are you on the side of the $16 billion in Big Pharma lobbyist money that was spent last year? My legislation, there’s no trick to it. It is President Trump’s idea, President Trump’s executive order, President Trump’s language into law. Every Republican should support this, and every Democrat should,” Khanna added. Ahead of Trump’s executive order signing, Khanna affirmed his support for lowering drug prices, reminding Americans that he proposed similar legislation alongside Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., with the same goal in mind. “I just don’t understand why any Republican wouldn’t support this. It’s President Trump’s executive order, and every American agrees that prescription drug price costs are too much, that it’s so unfair that Americans are stuck with all these high bills when other countries are paying pennies on the dollar for their drugs. It’s time that Americans be treated fairly,” Khanna said. As Khanna, who was a surrogate for then-President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign in 2024, finds common ground with the current administration, he told Martha MacCallum on “The Story” Wednesday that Biden should not have run in 2024. “I do think it’s important that, given what has come out, that we take accountability,” Khanna said. “Obviously, he should not have run. We should be clear to say that. Obviously, there should have been an open primary. And, I don’t think that’s very difficult that Democrats should just be straight up that he should not have run, now that we have all the facts. There should have been an open primary. I think to move on and move forward, it’s important to take accountability and be straight-forward with the American people.” While Khanna said he did not have the full picture of Biden’s health and mental acuity when he defended him before the disastrous debate performance, Khanna admitted, “We should be honest as a party that we made a mistake.”
Senate candidate in hotly contested race slapped with ethics investigation
The Kentucky Executive Branch Ethics Commission decided to move forward Wednesday with an investigation into U.S. Senate candidate Daniel Cameron due to allegations dating back to July 2023 that the then-Kentucky attorney general and gubernatorial candidate solicited campaign donations from a company his office was investigating at the time. “What’s happening to me is exactly what they did to President Trump: a shameless weaponization of government to take out political opponents,” Daniel Cameron told Fox News Digital in an exclusive statement. “This is the first major case of Democrat lawfare in the 2026 cycle, and the timing is no coincidence. I’m leading the GOP field by more than 20 points. It’s clear who the left fears most.” KENTUCKY SENATE RACE FOR MCCONNELL’S SEAT HEATS UP The Associated Press reported in July 2023 that an attorney representing Edgewater Recovery Centers said the organization received a call from Cameron followed by a campaign representative to organize a fundraiser. Cameron’s Kentucky attorney general’s office was investigating Edgewater Recovery Centers at the time, and the AP reported that several Edgewater executives donated $7,600 to Cameron’s gubernatorial campaign. Fox News Digital spoke on Thursday to a source close to Edgewater at the time who said as soon as details about the transactions and phone calls were made public, there was quick dissipation of any plans for a fundraiser and any campaign funds were returned almost immediately. Cameron’s current U.S. Senate campaign confirmed to Fox that Cameron recused himself from the attorney general’s office investigation into Edgewater as soon as the matter came to his attention, canceled the events and refunded checks to the executives. LESS THAN 4 MONTHS INTO TRUMP’S 2ND TERM, DEMS ARE ALREADY EYEING THE 2028 RACE Sitting Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear called for the investigation back in 2023, and his administration is now moving forward with the probe two years later. Fox News Digital also reported earlier this week that Beshear’s name could be in the mix for a possible Democratic presidential candidate in 2028. Fox News Digital reached out to Beshear’s office, but did not receive a response. CHINA DOESN’T PLAY BY THE RULES, SAYS REP. ANDY BARR The news of the investigation comes as Cameron’s campaign for former Senate Leader Mitch McConnell’s soon-vacant U.S. Senate seat is in full swing. Republican Rep. Andy Barr is the only other declared GOP candidate in the race. Fox News Digital reached out to the Kentucky Executive Branch Ethics Commission but did not receive a response.