NY AG, 19 others file 2 lawsuits against Trump admin, alleging federal money tied to immigration enforcement
New York Attorney General Letitia James filed two lawsuits against President Donald Trump’s administration Tuesday. James, a longtime legal opponent of Trump, joined 19 other attorneys general in filing the lawsuits, the first of which claims DHS Secretary Kristi Noem has threatened to cut off “emergency preparedness” funding if states do not cooperate with federal immigration enforcement. The second lawsuit targets the Department of Transportation on similar grounds, arguing it is unconstitutional to withhold funds to coerce immigration compliance. “DHS is holding states hostage by forcing them to choose between disaster preparedness and enabling the administration’s illegal and chaotic immigration agenda,” James said in a statement. “This funding is vital to keeping New Yorkers safe during hurricanes, floods, and other catastrophes. “The federal government cannot weaponize disaster relief to coerce states into abandoning public safety and community trust. My office will fight to ensure all New Yorkers are protected — both from tragic disasters and from cruel and unnecessary immigration policies.” TOM HOMAN: MIGRANTS DEPORTED TO EL SALVADOR WERE ‘SIGNIFICANT PUBLIC SAFETY THREATS’ The lawsuit claims the Trump administration has presented states “with an impossible choice.” “Either they forego millions of dollars in federal funds that Congress has appropriated — and which their emergency preparedness and response efforts rely on — or they undermine their law enforcement efforts by diverting their resources to enforce federal immigration law,” James’ office wrote. READ THE LAWSUIT AGAINST FEMA – APP USERS, CLICK HERE: CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE The DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. In the DOT lawsuit, the attorneys general argue the department’s conditions for receiving funding “put billions in federal funding necessary for vital public safety and reliable transportation projects at risk, including those that prevent injuries and deaths from traffic accidents, protect riders from train collisions, and help improve airport safety measures.” The DOT also did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The lawsuits come during a massive immigration crackdown by the Trump administration, which has deported over 130,000 illegal immigrants since Trump’s inauguration. Apprehensions at the U.S.-Mexico border have plummeted 93% under the new administration, according to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection released Monday. The CBP says it averaged 279 apprehensions per day at the southern border in April, compared to 4,297 apprehensions in April 2024. The total apprehensions for April this year landed at 8,383, compared to last year’s 129,000. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP CBP officials also noted that just five illegal aliens were temporarily released into the U.S. during April, compared to 68,000 during the same month last year. READ THE LAWSUIT AGAINST THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION – APP USERS, CLICK HERE: “For the first time in years, more agents are back in the field patrolling territories that CBP didn’t have the bandwidth or manpower to oversee just six months ago,” said Pete Flores, acting commissioner of CBP. “But thanks to this administration’s dramatic shift in security posture at our border, we are now seeing operational control becoming a reality, and it’s only just beginning.”
FLASHBACK: Dem critical of Trump’s Qatari jet gift rode camel in expenses-paid 2021 trip to Gulf emirate
As Democrats attack President Donald Trump for accepting the Qatari royal family’s gift of a $400 million jet to be refurbished to serve as Air Force One, photos have resurfaced of some Democratic lawmakers three years earlier enjoying an expenses-paid trip to the Gulf emirate. The trip, paid for by the U.S.-Qatar Business Council, involved four House Democrats and one Republican who went to Qatar in 2021. During the trip, at least two of the Democrats participated in a sightseeing excursion via camelback for them and their family members. While the trade group that footed the bill for the Democrat excursion is not directly tied to the Qatari royal family, it describes its work as “dedicated exclusively to enhancing the bilateral business relationship between the U.S. and Qatar.” HOUSE DEMOCRAT CALLS FOR ‘IMMEDIATE’ ETHICS PROBE OF QATARI PLANE GIFT TO TRUMP “This you frolicking in the sand on a camel as part of your $84,621.59 trip paid for by the US-Qatar Business Council to the Four Seasons in Doha in 2021?” Republican strategist Steve Guest asked in response to criticism about Trump’s jet from now-Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz. The senator accused Trump of engaging in a “pay-to-play” scheme and “selling out U.S. policy.” Gallego, at the time of the trip, was a congressman representing Arizona’s 7th District. “This is pay-to-play, plain and simple,” Gallego said in a post on X. “Trump isn’t making decisions based on what’s best for you – he’s selling out U.S. policy to whoever gives him the biggest jet.” “Gallego’s feaux [sic] outrage would hit hard, except, here he is, shirtless and riding camels in Qatar – all paid for by a special interest group,” conservative writer John Hasson said in response to Gallego’s post. Both Hasson and Guest’s posts included a now-infamous image of Gallego, alongside Democratic California Rep. Eric Swalwell, sitting on camels – shirtless and smiling – as they participated in an excursion through the desert with their wives during their 2021 trip to Qatar funded by the U.S.-Qatar Business Council. At the time, Swalwell was a prominent member of the House Intelligence Committee, which he was later removed from after it was discovered he allegedly had a romantic tryst with a Chinese Communist Party spy, among other concerns related to his judgment on national security. TRUMP DUBS DEMS ‘OUT OF CONTROL,’ SUGGESTS GOP CONSIDER KICKING THEM OUT OF CONGRESS FOR ‘REAL CRIMES’ Following backlash over their trip to Qatar in 2021, the U.S.-Qatar Business Council told the New York Post that it did not pay for the camel excursion, only “costs directly associated with travel and the working agenda of the trip.” The trip cost roughly $85,000, according to congressional database Legistorm, which noted that the total cost amounted to more than half of the entire congressional travel expenses accounted for in 2021. In addition to Swalwell and Gallego, Reps. Lou Correa, D-Calif., Sara Jacobs, D-Calif., and Lisa McClain, R-Mich., were part of the American delegation on the trip. In response to the criticism from Republicans over his alleged hypocrisy, a spokesperson for Gallego shot back at the notion that the 2021 trip was anywhere near the same as Trump’s acceptance of the roughly $400 million plane from the Qatari royal family. “If you think traveling on a bipartisan congressional delegation and visiting U.S. troops is the same as corruptly accepting a $400 million plane, then I have beachfront property in Arizona to sell you,” Gallego communications director Jacques Petit told Fox News Digital. Fox News Digital reached out to Swalwell’s office for comment as well, but did not hear back. BYRON DONALDS LEADS BIPARTISAN EFFORT TO PUNISH FEDERAL WORKERS FOR FAILURE TO REPORT FOREIGN GIFTS Trump shot back at criticisms over his planned acceptance of the Qatari gift, which the administration was given to use in place of Air Force One. Trump has been pushing to upgrade Air Force One, but the process that was initiated in 2018 has repeatedly been delayed. “The fact that the Defense Department is getting a GIFT, FREE OF CHARGE, of a 747 aircraft to replace the 40 year old Air Force One, temporarily, in a very public and transparent transaction, so bothers the Crooked Democrats that they insist we pay, TOP DOLLAR, for the plane,” Trump said in a Truth Social post published Sunday. “Anybody can do that! The Dems are World Class Losers!!! MAGA”
House Democrat moves to force Trump impeachment vote
A lone House Democrat is moving to force a chamber-wide vote on his impeachment resolution against President Donald Trump. Rep. Shri Thanedar, D-Mich., introduced his impeachment resolution as privileged on Tuesday afternoon, meaning leaders have two days of the House in session to take up the legislation. House GOP leaders could move to table the motion, a procedural vote aimed to scuttle a piece of legislation without having lawmakers vote on the legislation itself. ANTI-ABORTION PROVIDER MEASURE IN TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ COULD SPARK HOUSE GOP REBELLION But an impeachment vote would likely put vulnerable House Democrats in a tough spot. Democrats have struggled to unite behind a potent message since the 2024 election, and such a vote could be politically perilous for their most vulnerable members as they work to win back the House majority in 2026. No Republicans are likely to support impeaching Trump, however, meaning Thanedar’s measure will likely fail. “Donald Trump has unlawfully conducted himself, bringing shame to the presidency and the people of the United States,” Thanedar said when deeming his resolution privileged. BROWN UNIVERSITY IN GOP CROSSHAIRS AFTER STUDENT’S DOGE-LIKE EMAIL KICKS OFF FRENZY Thanedar also took a swing at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), calling it a “flagrantly unconstitutional creation.” The India-born Michigan Democrat first introduced seven articles of impeachment against Trump in late April. They include charges of obstruction of justice, tyranny, bribery and corruption, and abuse of trade powers, among others. But Politico reported that his resolution got off to a bumpy start. Four Democratic co-sponsors who were originally listed on the legislation implied they were mistakenly added and then removed themselves, the outlet reported. Thanedar told Politico at the time he respected their decisions. Thanedar’s filing comes after Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, similarly threatened to file impeachment articles against Trump. Green was later thrown out of Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress for repeatedly protesting the speech. Fox News Digital reached out to Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and the White House for comment on Thanedar’s move but did not immediately hear back.
Gabbard fires ‘deep state’ heads of National Intelligence Council to root out ‘politicization of intel’
EXCLUSIVE: Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has fired the top officials leading the National Intelligence Council – whom whistleblowers describe as “radically opposed to Trump” — and has moved the agency to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, or ODNI, to ensure she can block any “politicization of intelligence,” Fox News Digital has learned. Gabbard fired Mike Collins, who was serving as the acting chair of the National Intelligence Council, and his deputy, Maria Langan-Riekhof, Tuesday, senior intelligence officials told Fox News Digital. DNI GABBARD REFERS INTEL OFFICIALS TO DOJ FOR PROSECUTION OVER ALLEGED LEAKS OF CLASSIFIED INFORMATION Fox News Digital reached out Langan-Riekhof for comment and did not immediately hear back, and couldn’t immediately find contact information for Collins. Collins also has whistleblower complaints against him for political bias and “deliberately undermining the incoming Trump administration,” officials said. They added that Collins was closely associated with Michael Morrell, the former deputy director of the CIA who worked to write a public letter in 2020 claiming that Hunter Biden’s laptop had “all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation,” and to get signatures from top ex-intelligence officials. As for Langan-Reikhof, officials said she has been a “key advocate” for diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and is someone who whistleblowers allege is “radically opposed to Trump.” Meanwhile, Gabbard is moving the National Intelligence Council from the CIA to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to “directly hold accountable any improper action and politicization of intelligence,” Fox News Digital has learned. Many intel community leakers are “career bureaucrats that are entrenched in Washington politics,” officials said. “It takes time to weed them out and fire them,” one official told Fox News Digital, adding that “plans to eliminate non-essential offices within ODNI that we know are housing deep state leakers are underway.” A CIA official told Fox News Digital Tuesday that the National Intelligence Council “has always been a DNI component. It makes sense for them to be physically located at DNI.” GABBARD ESTABLISHES NEW INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY TASK FORCE TO RESTORE TRANSPARENCY The moves come as Gabbard has taken steps to root out leakers and alleged “deep state holdovers” who officials say are politicizing intelligence analysis and “trying to sabotage President Trump’s agenda.” FLASHBACK: BIDEN CAMPAIGN, BLINKEN ORCHESTRATED INTEL LETTER TO DISCREDIT HUNTER BIDEN LAPTOP STORY, EX-CIA OFFICIAL SAYS So far, Gabbard has referred three intelligence community professionals to the Department of Justice for criminal prosecution over alleged leaks of classified information. Fox News Digital first reported on those criminal referrals in April. An ODNI official at that time told Fox News Digital that the intelligence community professionals allegedly leaked classified information to the Washington Post and The New York Times. “Politicization of our intelligence and leaking classified information puts our nation’s security at risk and must end,” Gabbard told Fox News Digital in April. “Those who leak classified information will be found and held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.” A senior intelligence official told Fox News Digital Tuesday that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence is investigating 12 other intelligence officials over alleged leaks of classified information. For example, officials told Fox News Digital that ODNI fired two bureaucrats in early May who they say leaked information from an assessment about the violent Tren de Aragua gang to the Times. Officials said those bureaucrats were “CIA detailees” who were fired for “not following proper procedures.” In April, Gabbard established a task force to restore transparency and accountability in the intelligence community. Fox News Digital first reported on the Director’s Initiative Group (DIG), which started by investigating weaponization within the intelligence community. Officials said the group will also work to root out politicization and expose unauthorized disclosures of classified intelligence. In addition, it will work to declassify information “that serves a public interest.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Gabbard also has held to account employees who participated in sexually explicit National Security Agency chatrooms, and is pursuing action against those who have made unauthorized leaks of classified information within the intelligence community. All the while, officials have complained about the hold up in confirming intelligence nominees, which they say are “essential” to enacting the Trump agenda. Currently, ODNI is without its nominees for principal deputy director of national intelligence; National Counterterrorism Center; National Counterintelligence and Security Center; intelligence inspector general; and general counsel; among others.
Biden made Harris campaign a ‘nightmare,’ destroyed her chances by staying in 2024 race too long, aides charge
Former President Joe Biden‘s second campaign ruined former Vice President Kamala Harris’ chances of defeating President Donald Trump in the 2024 election, according to a top Democratic consultant. David Plouffe, former President Barack Obama’s campaign manager in 2008 and a senior advisor on Harris’ 2024 campaign, detailed how dire Biden’s run was for the Democrats in a new book, “Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again.” “And it’s all Biden,” Plouffe said in the book, authored by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’ Alex Thompson, about Biden’s choice to stay in the race so long and how the White House assured him Biden was capable of winning another election. “He totally f—ed us.” As a result, Plouffe said that Harris’ brief campaign against Trump turned into “a f—ing nightmare,” pointing the blame on Biden. CRITICS PILE ON BIDEN FOLLOWING ABC INTERVIEW, BLAST HIS REFUSAL TO COMMIT TO COGNITIVE TEST: ‘DISQUALIFYING’ Plouffe is far from the only one who believes that Biden undercut his own party running again in 2024 as his faculties began to decline. A senior White House aide described in the book that “we attempted to shield him from his own staff so many people didn’t realize the extent of the decline beginning in 2023.” The aide, who ultimately departed the White House because they did not believe Biden should run in 2024, described Biden’s decision to run for a second term as a “disservice” to the country and Democrats. “I love Joe Biden. When it comes to decency, there are few in politics like him,” the aide said in the book, which is slated for release Tuesday. “Still, it was a disservice to the country and to the party for his family and advisers to allow him to run again.” Spokespeople for Biden and Harris did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. “Original Sin” details the 2024 election cycle and how Biden’s team orchestrated a cover-up to hide just how severely his mental faculties had suffered. The book is one of several that detail Biden’s decision to run in 2024 and assert the dramatic decline of his cognitive function. BIDEN AIDES ‘SCRIPTED’ EVERYTHING, ALLOWED HIS FACULTIES TO ‘ATROPHY,’ NEW BOOK CLAIMS For example, the book, “Uncharted: How Trump Beat Biden, Harris, and the Odds in the Wildest Campaign in History,” also detailed how the White House kept Biden from socializing even with those he regarded as friends and allies. However, that book, authored by Chris Whipple, a former producer for CBS’ “60 Minutes,” said that one White House aide suggested “walling Biden off from the world was a grave mistake.” “‘They were afraid he might say the wrong thing or might feed the mental acuity narrative,’ he told me. ‘And so he started seeing fewer and fewer people. They allowed his faculties to atrophy. But I think, like knives, they have to be sharpened. They get sharpened by rubbing them up against steel. And they don’t get sharpened by sitting in a drawer,’” Whipple wrote.
SCOOP: Democrats who ‘stormed’ Newark ICE facility could be stripped of committees in new House bill
FIRST ON FOX: A Republican lawmaker is moving to have three of his Democratic colleagues removed from their House committees after they were accused of “storming” a federal detention facility in defense of illegal immigrants in New Jersey. Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., introduced a resolution on Tuesday to strip Reps. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J., and LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., of their committee assignments. The New Jersey Democrats were part of a group of protesters who rushed into Delaney Hall Detention Center after the gates opened for a bus carrying a group of detainees into the facility. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) accused them of breaking in and risking the safety of both law enforcement and detainees for what it called a political stunt. BROWN UNIVERSITY IN GOP CROSSHAIRS AFTER STUDENT’S DOGE-LIKE EMAIL KICKS OFF FRENZY The lawmakers and their supporters, however, maintained they were exercising their constitutional duty and accused ICE agents of assaulting McIver and Watson Coleman. “The radical left has lost their minds – they would rather raid an ICE facility to defend criminal illegal immigrants than represent their own constituents,” Carter told Fox News Digital of his legislation. “This behavior constitutes an assault on our brave ICE agents and undermines the rule of law. The three members involved in this stunt do not deserve to sit on committees alongside serious lawmakers.” His legislation would remove Watson Coleman from the House Appropriations Committee, remove Menendez from the House Energy & Commerce Committee and remove McIver from the House committees on Small Business and Homeland Security. Carter’s office is reaching out to other House Republicans to gauge support for the resolution. Fox News Digital reached out to the three Democrats for comment but did not immediately hear back. DHS said in a statement after the incident Friday, “These members of Congress storming into a detention facility goes beyond bizarre political stunt and puts the safety of our law enforcement agents and the detainees at risk.” “Members of Congress are not above the law and cannot illegally break into detention facilities. Had these members requested a tour, we would have facilitated a tour of the facility,” DHS said. The Democrats, meanwhile, have pushed back on the Republican categorization of the event. “The idea we ‘stormed’ a heavily guarded federal detention center is absurd – just more lies from the most dishonest administration in history,” Watson Coleman wrote on X. ANTI-ABORTION PROVIDER MEASURE IN TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ COULD SPARK HOUSE GOP REBELLION McIver wrote on the social platform Friday, “This is laid out clearly on ICE’s own website. What happened today, from the manhandling of me and my colleagues to the arrest of [Newark Mayor Ras Baraka], should never have occurred.” Democratic leaders like House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., also defended the trio. “The concerns of elected officials about this unsanctioned facility will not be silenced by the Trump administration’s attempt to intimidate the public. We will never bend the knee,’ Jeffries said. “The masked agents who physically accosted two Congresswomen must be identified immediately and any trumped-up charges against Mayor Baraka dropped.”
Trump’s ‘wrong-headed’ effort to lower drug costs amounts to price control: expert
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Monday instructing drug companies to reduce prices of prescription drugs or face consequences from the federal government. But the effort amounts to price control since it’s not limited to just government programs — and similar policy initiatives in other sectors have prompted shortages, according to Michael Cannon, director of health policy studies at the Washington-based libertarian-leaning Cato Institute think tank. “We have seen government price controls in housing,” Cannon told Fox News Digital Monday. “We call it rent control, and it creates shortages. We have seen it when it comes to food. We call them price caps there too, and it produces shortages.” “We see price caps after natural disasters,” he continued. “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.” Price control occurs when the government steps in to impose limits on how much one can charge for various goods or services in the free market. While price controls may lower costs for some consumers, they have largely been ineffective in American history. For example, former President Richard Nixon implemented price controls in the 1970s in an attempt to fix wages and other prices — which backfired and resulted in the gas crisis and other shortages across the country. PRESIDENT TRUMP TAKES ON ‘BIG PHARMA’ BY SIGNING EXECUTIVE ORDER TO LOWER DRUG PRICES For example, there was a series of initiatives that states unveiled in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 to address price-gouging, although they were difficult to enforce. In Michigan, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed an executive order in March 2020 that barred individuals or businesses from selling any products in the state “at a price that is more than 20 percent higher than what the business or individual offered or charged,” according to a 2020 news release. Trump announced Monday that the executive order directs the Department of Health and Human Services to establish price targets for pharmaceutical manufacturers. But Cannon noted that the order isn’t just for prices for the government — it also applies to the free market and private sector. Failure to comply will prompt the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission to “undertake enforcement action against any anti-competitive practices,” along with other consequences. Additionally, Trump introduced plans to launch “most favored nations drug pricing.” “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 Monday. “Some prescription drug and pharmaceutical prices will be reduced almost immediately by 50 to 80 to 90%.” “We’re going to equalize,” Trump said. “We’re all going to pay the same. We’re going to pay what Europe pays.” The White House pushed back against comments that the move equated price control. “If Americans had a truly free and fair market, they would not be paying several times more for the same exact prescription drugs as Europeans do,” White House spokesperson Kush Desai said in a Tuesday statement to Fox News Digital. “President Trump’s historic executive order is fixing the anti-competitive behavior that’s forcing everyday Americans to subsidize the health care of other developed nations.” Drug prices have dramatically climbed in recent years. From January 2022 and January 2023, prescription drug prices increased more than 15%, reaching an average of $590 per drug product, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. Of the 4,200 prescription drugs included on that list, 46% of the price increases exceeded the rate of inflation. The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America trade group argued the executive order would harm American patients. “Importing foreign prices from socialist countries would be a bad deal for American patients and workers,” Stephen J. Ubl, the president and CEO of PhRMA, said in a Monday statement. “It would mean less treatments and cures and would jeopardize the hundreds of billions our member companies are planning to invest in America.” MAHA CAUCUS MEMBER PLEDGES HEARINGS INTO ‘CORRUPTION’ OF A PUBLIC HEALTH SECTOR ‘CAPTURED BY BIG PHARMA’ In April, Trump signed another executive order that aimed to tackle Medicare drug prices. Specifically, that order required HHS to standardize Medicare payments for prescription drugs, including those used for cancer patients, regardless of where a patient receives treatment. Patients could face a drop in prices by as much as 60%, according to a White House fact sheet. The order also called to match the Medicare payment for certain prescription drugs to the price that hospitals pay for those drugs, up to 35% lower than what the government pays to acquire those medications, per the White House. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Schumer moves to block Trump DOJ nominees as he seeks answers on Qatari jet to Defense Department
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Tuesday a “hold on all DOJ political nominees,” as he is demanding answers from the Trump administration over a jumbo jet gift from Qatar’s royal family, which the Democrat is calling a “grave national security threat.” “News of the Qatari government gifting Donald Trump a $400 million private jet to use as Air Force One is so corrupt that even Putin would give a double take. This is not just naked corruption, it is also a grave national security threat,” Schumer said on the Senate floor. “So, in light of the deeply troubling news of a possible Qatari-funded Air Force One, and the reports that the Attorney General personally signed off on this clearly unethical deal, I am announcing a hold on all DOJ political nominees, until we get more answers,” he added. A White House spokesperson told Fox News Digital in response that “Senator Schumer and his anti-law-and-order party are prioritizing politics over critical DOJ appointments, obstructing President Trump’s Make Safe Again agenda,” and that “Cryin’ Chuck must end the antics, stop Senate stonewalling, and prioritize the safety and civil rights of Americans.” ALLIES TURN ON PRESIDENT TRUMP FOR ACCEPTING LUXURY JET FROM QATAR Trump has defended the U.S. preparing to accept a jumbo jet gift from Qatar’s royal family to serve as a temporary Air Force One as Boeing failed to roll out a new Air Force One fleet in a timely manner. “We’re very disappointed that it’s taking Boeing so long to build a new Air Force One,” Trump said Monday morning. “You know, we have an Air Force One that’s 40 years old. And if you take a look at that, compared to the new plane of the equivalent, you know, stature at the time, it’s not even the same ballgame.” Reports spread Sunday morning that the Trump administration was expected to accept a $400 million Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet from Qatar’s royal family. ABC News reported that Trump would use the jet until the end of his term, when it would be given to his presidential library. TRUMP DEFENDS QATAR JUMBO JET OFFER AS TROUBLED BOEING FAILS TO DELIVER NEW AIR FORCE ONE FLEET In his speech Tuesday, Schumer said he is calling on the Justice Department’s Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) Unit to disclose all actions by those working as Qatari foreign agents in the U.S. “that could benefit President Trump or the Trump Organization.” “Since Attorney General Bondi took charge, the Department of Justice has not been doing its job when it comes to FARA. The FARA Unit needs to enforce the law, and inform the public about all activities not just on this luxury plane deal, but all deals involving foreign countries in the Middle East and President Trump, his family, and the Trump organization,” he said. “Second, with regards to this half-a-billion-dollar private jet deal, the American people deserve to know the facts. President Trump has told the American people that this is a ‘free jet.’ Does that mean the Qataris are delivering a ready-on-day-one plane with all the security measures already built in?” Schumer continued. “If so, who installed those security measures, and how do we know they were properly installed? Why would we take the risk of trusting any foreign country to do this sensitive work? If not, what security modifications would be needed to ensure a foreign-sourced Air Force One is safe to use? If this is, as President Trump promised, a ‘free jet’, will the Qataris pay for those highly sensitive installations or will American taxpayers have to cover those costs?” Schumer wondered aloud on the Senate floor. “The Attorney General must testify before both the House and Senate to explain why gifting Donald Trump a private jet does not violate the emoluments clause – which requires congressional approval – or any other ethics laws,” Schumer declared. “Until the Attorney General explains her blatantly inept decision and we get complete and comprehensive answers to these and other questions, I will place a hold on all political nominees to the Department Of Justice.” Fox News’ Emma Colton contributed to this report.
Blue state ICE facility ramps up security with new barricades amid clashes with protesters
NEWARK, N.J. – Large yellow barricades were at the front of Delaney Hall on Tuesday morning following protests at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility on Monday and last week. An ICE officer told Fox News Digital that the barricades were placed following Monday’s protests, as they went all the way up to the gate itself. In addition to the barricades, signs are up saying “private property, no trespassing, violators will be prosecuted.” The facility is operated by the GEO Group, a private contractor, but law enforcement is also heavily present outside the building. WHO IS THE DEMOCRATIC GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE ARRESTED FOR TRESPASSING AT AN ICE DETENTION CENTER? Two people were arrested at the protest on Monday, as a demonstration of clergy members were in attendance and said they would have “volunteered” to be taken into custody. They linked arms outside the main gate of Delaney Hall as they chanted and sang songs. This protest came after Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, a Democratic candidate for governor, was arrested for trespassing last week. Baraka’s arrest occurred during a protest at the facility attended by three members of Congress, who said they were in attendance to perform their congressionally-mandated oversight duties related to federal detention facilities. The three lawmakers were outside the facility with a group of protesters when the gates opened to allow an ICE bus in. The lawmakers then rushed through the gates and past security, according to officials from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The lawmakers, including Rep. LaMonica McIver, said “ICE created chaos” that led to the incident, according to an X post. “We’re not asking for anything that’s incorrect. We ask them to obey our laws,” Baraka said after the incident. “To obey the policies and rules here in the city and the state of New Jersey, not to run roughshod over the Constitution of the United States, the Bill of Rights, the Fourth, the Fifth, the Fourteenth Amendment and everybody on this soil who deserves due process.” NEWARK MAYOR SPEAKS AFTER BEING RELEASED FROM HSI FACILITY The arrest came as activists had been calling for access to the facility for days, which is a privately run facility that was revamped as an immigration detention facility this year. ICE also used the building in the heavily industrial area of the city from 2011 to 2017 for migrant detentions, according to the Washington Post. DHS said that many of the detainees currently at the facility are facing criminal charges or are already convicted of crimes. “Who do they want released from Delaney Hall? The child rapists, murderers, drug traffickers, MS-13 gang members or known terrorists?” Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin asked after Monday’s demonstration. “This was a cheap political stunt by the Democrats and by these protesters,” she said. “We’re not having it. They put law enforcement officers at risk. They put our staff in the facility at risk and put the detainees at risk. You saw that they didn’t even let an ambulance through. This is not something that this administration is going to put up with. And that’s part of the reason that this mayor was arrested. You can’t just storm a detention facility and assault law enforcement officers with impunity.” ALINA HABBA SWEARS TO PROTECT ‘AMERICAN SAFETY’ FROM THOSE ‘VIOLATING FEDERAL LAW’ Meanwhile, United States Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba said she is further looking into what happened on Friday involving the officials. “My office is undertaking a thorough investigation in coordination with our Federal Agency partners of what transpired on Friday at Delaney Hall. As is true of every investigation this office handles, all available evidence will be thoroughly reviewed prior to making a determination on how to proceed. I do not take these matters lightly,” Habba posted. Fox News’ Alec Schemmel, Anders Hagstrom, Alexis McAdams and Greg Wehner contributed to this report.
Trump says he’ll drop sanctions on Syria in move to normalize relations
President Donald Trump will drop sanctions against Syria and meet with the nation’s new president Ahmed al-Shaara on Wednesday. “I will be ordering the cessation of sanctions against Syria in order to give them a chance at greatness,” Trump said in a speech in Saudi Arabia. “In Syria, which has seen so much misery and death, there is a new government that we must all hope will succeed in stabilizing the country and keeping peace,” he went on. “So I say good luck, Syria.” Trump is expected to meet briefly with al-Shaara in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday. TRUMP CONDEMNS ‘INTERVENTIONALISTS,’ PITCHES ‘MORE HOPEFUL FUTURE’ IN MIDEAST SPEECH The nation was cut off from the global financial system under ousted President Bashar al-Assad’s government, amid 14 years of civil war. Trump called the sanctions “brutal and crippling” but “important” at the time. “In Syria, they’ve had their share of travesty, war, killing many years. That’s why my administration has already taken the first steps toward restoring normal relations between the United States and Syria for the first time in more than a decade.” TRUMP’S MIDDLE EAST TOUR BEGINS WITH SYRIA LOOMING AS STRATEGIC OPPORTUNITY Al-Shaara, who previously had a $10 million terrorist bounty on his head by the U.S., had been campaigning hard for a relationship with the U.S. and sanctions relief: he offered to build a Trump Tower in Damascus, détente with Israel and U.S. access to Syria’s oil and gas. His group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), led Assad’s ouster last year. Originally founded as an offshoot of al-Qaeda, it has since worked to soften its image and lobbied to be delisted as a terrorist group. The announcement came on the sidelines of a whirlwind Middle East tour where Trump is traveling to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, whose government leaders were widely expected to press Trump to release the sanctions to help Syria’s economy. Trump said that both Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Recep Erdoğan had encouraged him to lift the sanctions. “Oh, what I do for the crown prince,” Trump quipped. U.S. sanctions had slapped financial penalties on any foreign individual or company that provided material support to the Syrian government and prohibited anyone in the U.S. from dealing in any Syrian entity, including oil and gas, and Syrian banks were effectively cut off from global financial systems. The new Syrian government has cooperated with U.S. intelligence agencies and foiled several ISIS plots to attack Damascus. Syrian intelligence services arrested ISIS commander Abu al-Harith al-Iraqi in February. But still, some are skeptical. “Right now, Sharaa is not restricting political and civil liberties, but he’s an authoritarian by nature.” former U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford told Fox News Digital. Ford, who led the effort to put al-Sharaa on the terrorist list in 2012, said although al-Shaara is pragmatic, he is leading an extremely weak government. “He doesn’t control all of Syria yet. The government in Damascus that he leads is not very strong, and it will take time to reassert all of its authority over Syria,” Ford said. Fox News’ Chris Massaro contributed to this report.