Trump condemns ‘interventionalists,’ pitches ‘more hopeful future’ in Middle East speech
President Donald Trump hailed progress toward peace across the Middle East in an address in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, urging the region to pursue economic development rather than Iran’s “self-destructive” path. Trump made the comments during a speech in Riyadh shortly after meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Trump vowed to continue America’s strong partnership with the Saudi government and also condemned Western “interventionalist” policies that have brought disaster in the Middle East. “If the responsible nations of this region seize this moment, put aside your differences and focus on the interests that unite you, then all humanity will soon be amazed at what we will see here in the geographic center of the world, and the spiritual heart of its greatest faiths,” Trump said. “Before our eyes, a new generation of leaders is transcending the ancient conflicts and tired divisions of the past, and forging a future where the Middle East is defined by commerce, not chaos; where it exports technology, not terrorism; and where people of different nations, religions, and creeds are building cities together, not bombing each other,” he added. “It is crucial for the wider world to note, this great transformation has not come from Western interventionalists flying in with lectures on how to live or how to govern your own affairs. The gleaming marvels of Riyadh and Abu Dhabi were not created by the so-called nation-builders, neo-cons, or liberal non-profits like those who spent trillions failing to develop Kabul and Baghdad,” he continued. Trump’s speech came after he and Salman signed several economic agreements totaling $600 billion in trade deals. The agreements could help create up to 2 million U.S. jobs, Trump said. TRUMP TARGETS MASSIVE INVESTMENTS IN FIRST MIDDLE EAST TRIP Several of the agreements tracked with previously stated ambitions by both Washington, D.C., and Riyadh, particularly when it comes to defensive deals. While the extent of the details of the agreements remain unclear, there were deals included that had not been previously flagged ahead of the president’s visit to the Middle East, like the “cooperation agreement” between Saudi Arabia and the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Asian Arts, as well as an agreement established with the Smithsonian Institute National Zoo and Conservation Biology. AMERICAN CEOS ELON MUSK, SAM ALTMAN, LARRY FINK JOIN TRUMP AT SAUDI ROYAL COURT In a statement immediately following the signing ceremony in Riyadh, the White House said, “Saudi Arabia’s $600-billion commitment to invest in the United States, building economic ties that will endure for generations to come.” The largest investments detailed in the agreement included a $20 billion investment by Saudi Arabia’s DataVolt in AI data centers and energy infrastructure in the United States, an $80 billion investment in “cutting-edge transformative technologies in both countries” by Google, DataVolt, Oracle, Salesforce, AMD and Uber, as well as a massive $142 billion defensive package. According to the White House, “The United States and Saudi Arabia signed the largest defense sales agreement in history – nearly $142 billion, providing Saudi Arabia with state-of-the-art warfighting equipment and services from over a dozen U.S. defense firms.” The defense sale will reportedly be completed in the fall and will include air force advancement and space capabilities, air and missile defense, maritime and coastal security, border security and land forces modernization, and information and communication systems upgrades. Fox News’ Caitlin McFall contributed to this report.
Trump’s $400M Qatar jet gift follows long history of unusual presidential presents
The White House may be courting controversy with President Donald Trump’s plans to accept a luxury jumbo jet from the Qatari government, worth $400 million, as the potential new Air Force One — but his administration wouldn’t be the first to welcome lavish gifts from foreign leaders. The practice goes all the way back to the founding of the country in 1776, with U.S. leaders receiving all manner of exotic and expensive gifts from royalty and heads of government around the world. Abraham Lincoln politely declined a gift of a herd of elephants from the King of Siam, modern-day Thailand, in 1862. But he kept “a sword of costly materials and exquisite workmanship,” a photo of the monarch’s family and two elephant tusks, according to a letter Lincoln sent to King Mongkut. QATAR OFFERS TRUMP JUMBO JET TO SERVE AS AIR FORCE ONE In 1880, Queen Victoria sent an intricately carved, 1,300-pound wooden desk to President Rutherford Hayes that was constructed from the oak timbers of the HMS Resolute, an Arctic exploration vessel. The desk was still in use in the Oval Office under the Biden administration but was temporarily removed in February for refinishing, according to reports. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill presented Franklin D. Roosevelt with a painting he did of Marrakech’s Koutoubia Mosque in 1943. Hollywood actor Brad Pitt bought the work in New Orleans for $2.95 million as a gift for his then-wife Angelina Jolie, who sold it a decade later for $11.5 million. Richard Nixon accepted a gift of two giant pandas from China in 1972 following the U.S. president’s visit to the Communist country. Female panda Ling-Ling and her male mate Hsing-Hsing were given to the National Zoo in Washington D.C. In 1997, President Clinton and wife Hillary received the gift of a handmade rug with their pictures woven into the tapestry as a gift from Azerbaijan’s leader, Heydar Aliyev. The six-by-five-foot rug was completed in a single day by a team of 12 women, according to reports. President George W. Bush received 300 pounds of raw lamb in 2003 as a goodwill gesture from Argentina’s then-president, Nestor Kirchner. Bush also received a puppy from Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov. At the end of his presidency, Bush and his wife Laura then bought the two-month-old Bulgarian Goran shepherd, named Balkan of Gorannadraganov, from the government and gave it to friends in Maryland. His father, George H.W. Bush, was gifted a Komodo dragon by the President of Indonesia in 1990. FREE RIDE: ALLIES, EVEN LAURA LOOMER, TURN ON PRESIDENT TRUMP FOR ACCEPTING LUXURY JET FROM QATAR One of the most lavish and controversial gifts was a gold and diamond snuff box given to Benjamin Franklin after his nine-year diplomatic tour of duty in France. In 1785, King Louis XVI gave the Founding Father the elaborate parting gift, which featured a miniature image of the monarch encrusted with 408 diamonds “of a beautiful water.” It raised questions about corruption and foreign influence on officials in the newly formed American government, wrote Fordham Law professor Zephyr Teachout in her 2014 book, “Corruption in America: From Benjamin Franklin’s Snuff Box to Citizens United.” Despite the hand-wringing over whether the gift entailed undue foreign influence, Franklin insisted upon keeping the box. The incident later contributed to the passage of the Emoluments Clause in the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits federal government officials from accepting any gift from the representative of a foreign state without the consent of Congress. Franklin’s daughter Sarah, who inherited the snuff box, gradually removed the diamonds to sell or give to family members. Hundreds of years later, only one diamond remained. The box is now at the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia. Federal law requires executive branch officials to disclose any gift from a foreign government valued at $480 or more. Presidents are allowed to keep gifts to display at a presidential library, but cannot keep them for personal use unless they pay the fair market price. Trump has said that the $400 million new Air Force One plane would be donated to his presidential center or library after his term. Despite his administration’s insistence that the jet is a gesture of goodwill to the U.S. government, ethics watchdogs have raised concerns about transparency and foreign influence, particularly given Qatar’s efforts to bolster its profile in Washington over the past decade. More recently, Trump received a sword, dagger and three robes lined with white tiger and cheetah fur from Saudi Arabia’s royal family on his first trip abroad as president in 2017. The president held onto the items until he left office and did not disclose them as gifts but gave them to the General Services Administration. The pieces were later seized by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which found that the fur was fake, according to reports.
David Hogg slams ‘fast-track’ effort to oust him as DNC vice chair
Democratic National Committee (DNC) Vice Chair David Hogg on Monday slammed the Credentials Committee’s decision to elevate a procedural challenge to his leadership position as the “first steps to remove me from my position,” amid an ongoing intraparty dispute. “While this vote was based on how the DNC conducted its officers’ elections, which I had nothing to do with, it is also impossible to ignore the broader context of my work to reform the party which loomed large over this vote,” Hogg said, as he described a country “in crisis” and a Democratic Party “asleep at the wheel.” “I ran to be DNC Vice Chair to help make the Democratic Party better, not to defend an indefensible status quo that has caused voters in almost every demographic group to move away from us. The DNC has pledged to remove me, and this vote has provided an avenue to fast-track that effort,” Hogg said after the DNC Credentials Committee voted on Monday to elevate a vote challenging the vice chairs’ leadership positions. Kalyn Free, a longtime Democratic Party activist, submitted a complaint following the DNC’s Feb. 1 officer elections, in which Hogg and Malcolm Kenyatta were elected vice chairs. Free alleged in her complaint that the DNC’s tabulation method violated the charter’s provision and parliamentary procedure and “discriminated against three women of color candidates.” DAVID HOGG FACES CHALLENGE TO DNC ROLE AS PARTY TENSIONS ESCALATE “I am disappointed to learn that before I became Chair, there was a procedural error in the February Vice Chair elections. The Credentials Committee has issued their recommendation, and I trust that the DNC Members will carefully review the Committee’s resolution and resolve this matter fairly,” DNC Chairman Ken Martin said in a statement following the credentials vote. DEMOCRATS’ VICE CHAIR GETS ULTIMATUM: STAY NEUTRAL IN PRIMARIES OR STEP DOWN FROM PARTY LEADERSHIP The Credentials Committee on Monday found the Feb. 1 election violated parliamentary procedure and voted to recommend the DNC conduct a new election for the two vice-chair positions currently held by Kenyatta and Hogg. The full DNC will now have an opportunity to vote, and if approved, will conduct a re-election. One vice-chair position may be filled by a male and one may be a candidate of any gender, according to the DNC. If the DNC goes through with a re-vote, only the candidates who were eligible for the third ballot during the Feb. 1 election will qualify, which includes Kenyatta, Hogg, Free, Jeanna Repass and Shasti Conrad. While Free’s complaint was filed before Hogg stirred up DNC division for his brutal plan to primary incumbent Democrats in deep blue districts, the fallout is the latest blow to the young Democratic leader. Hogg pledged to donate $20 million through his political action committee, Leaders We Deserve, to primary challenge some older Democrats in blue districts. Soon after, Martin affirmed that the DNC would stay neutral in intraparty primaries, giving Hogg the ultimatum to either rescind his vice-chair position or forego his political influence via his PAC. Now, Hogg is framing the DNC’s vote as an expedited plan to remove him as vice chair. But DNC officials, past and present, said the procedural vote has nothing to do with Hogg personally. “This is not about David Hogg, despite what he’s saying. It is gender balance…. It’s in the rules that the officers need to be balanced between men and women. The full DNC now gets to vote again. If they like what Hogg is doing then that’s great, and he’ll be re-elected. It was disingenuous to not reveal his intentions the first time before they voted. While it has nothing to do with him, it’s an elected position so now we’ll find out if the party supports it or not, which they very well may,” a former DNC official told Fox News Digital. An additional former DNC official added in a statement to Fox News Digital that “either Hogg is wrong and misled members or they think he’s doing the right thing. Either way, it’ll be settled. And he can’t complain. A re-vote is not forcing him out, there are other ways to do that if they chose to.” Kenyatta, in a series of social media posts, said “any reporter covering this as party retribution against David is full of s—. It is unfortunate as I believe we both won fairly & there is no charge that we acted improperly.” “However, any story about this that neatly places this into a narrative about David Hogg is wrong. I worked my a– off to get this role and have done the job every day since I’ve held it. This story is complex, and I’m frustrated – but it’s not about @davidhogg111. Even though he clearly wants it to be,” Kenyatta said in a jab to his fellow vice chair facing potential re-election. In a statement to Fox News Digital, Free said the Credentials Committee lived up to the DNC’s reputation as “the party of free and fair elections” on Monday, and proved that “protecting democracy is more important than saving face.” “This was never about Malcolm Kenyatta or David Hogg,” Free said. “For me, this was about ensuring that the Democratic Party lives up to our ideals as the only political party to believe in and stand up for election integrity and a free and fair democracy.”
GOP, Dems to square off over Trump’s sweeping tax plan in high-stakes meeting today
The House committee tasked with writing the U.S. tax code is meeting on Tuesday afternoon to advance one of the most significant portions of President Donald Trump‘s “big, beautiful bill.” A sweeping piece of legislation unveiled by the House Ways & Means Committee on Monday would follow through on Trump’s campaign promises to eliminate taxes on tips and overtime pay, as well as permanently extending the president’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), among other provisions. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has said he wants House Republicans to pass their version of Trump’s bill by Memorial Day or “shortly thereafter,” as he told Fox News Digital in an interview late last month. House and Senate Republicans are working on Trump’s agenda via the budget reconciliation process, which allows the party in power to sideline the minority by lowering the Senate’s threshold for passage to a simple majority, provided the legislation at hand deals with spending, taxes or the national debt. ANTI-ABORTION PROVIDER MEASURE IN TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ COULD SPARK HOUSE GOP REBELLION Ways & Means Committee lawmakers are expected to meet for at least several hours on Tuesday to mark up debate on the bill. It could go even longer, however. A Ways & Means Committee markup meeting in 2021, when Democrats were trying to pass Build Back Better, lasted over 35 hours over four days due to Republicans dragging the process out in opposition to then-President Joe Biden’s progressive tax policies. Democrats are expected to put up an aggressive fight on Tuesday as well, having already accused Trump of trying to cut taxes for the wealthy while gutting critical programs for low-income Americans. Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., a member of the committee, posted on X on Monday, “Going over line-by line last minute 389-page amendment to the Republican tax bill in our committee today. They have provisions that touch everyone: the richest people get huge tax cuts, working people lose their healthcare and future generations get the bill because it adds $5 trillion to the national debt!” However, Republicans have insisted their tax bill champions the working and middle classes, pointing to Trump’s elimination of tips on tax and overtime pay as evidence points. A portion released by the House Ways & Means Committee over the weekend would increase the current maximum Child Tax Credit from $2,000 to $2,500. Trump’s TCJA had doubled the maximum from $1,000 to $2,000 in 2017. It would also boost the maximum deduction for qualified business income, a tax provision known as 199A, from 20% to 22%. That would largely affect small business owners whose entities are taxed under individual income tax rates. Trump’s promise to eliminate taxes on Social Security for retirees is tackled via giving seniors a higher standard deduction. “It puts the interests of low-income, working families ahead of the wealthy by expanding tax relief to those who need it the most – including the President’s priorities of no tax on tips and overtime pay and additional relief for America’s seniors,” House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., said in a statement. The legislation also cracks down on big colleges and universities, including Ivy Leagues like Harvard University, which are locked in a battle over free speech with the White House. It is targeting those larger schools with higher excise taxes, which are federal duties paid on net earnings of the schools’ investments. That rate is currently 1.4%, but the legislation would bring it to as high as 21% for the largest schools, like Harvard and Yale University. HOUSE REPUBLICANS RELEASE TAX PLAN FOR TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ The nearly 400-page legislation must pass the Ways & Means Committee on Tuesday before being added back to a larger legislative framework, which will include similar bills from 10 other House committees dealing with policies under their jurisdiction. The House Energy & Commerce Committee, for instance, is also meeting on Tuesday afternoon to advance its portion of the bill. The broad-ranging committee has jurisdiction over Medicaid, Medicare, energy production and telecommunications. The House Agriculture Committee, which oversees federal food programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, is meeting Tuesday evening to advance its portion. The full House and Senate must pass identical versions of the final bill before it gets to Trump’s desk for a signature. Fox News’ Tyler Olson contributed to this report.
‘Small nodule’ found in Biden’s prostate during routine exam, spokesperson says
A small nodule was found in the prostate of former President Joe Biden during a recent physical exam, according to media reports. The discovery “necessitated further evaluation,” the Associated Press reported Tuesday, citing a spokesperson. A spokesperson for Biden did not immediately respond Tuesday to multiple requests for comment from Fox News Digital. During his presidency, Biden had a “cancerous” skin lesion removed from his chest, according to the White House. BIDEN AIDES ALLEGEDLY FRETTED THEN-PRESIDENT WOULD NEED WHEELCHAIR IF RE-ELECTED, NEW BOOK REVEALS Former White House physician Kevin O’Connor said in February 2023 that skin tissue was removed during a health assessment Biden received and was sent for a biopsy, which revealed it was cancerous. JOE AND JILL BIDEN FIRE BACK ON ‘THE VIEW’ AGAINST ACCUSATIONS OF HEALTH COVER-UP, CALL STORIES ‘WRONG’ “As expected, the biopsy confirmed that the small lesion was basal cell carcinoma. All cancerous tissue was successfully removed. The area around the biopsy site was treated presumptively with electrodessication and curettage at the time of biopsy. No further treatment is required,” Biden’s doctor wrote in a memo. “The site of the biopsy has healed nicely and the President will continue dermatologic surveillance as part of his ongoing comprehensive healthcare,” O’Connor also wrote. Fox News Digital’s Adam Sabes and Brandon Gillespie contributed to this report.
Billionaires boomed in Biden era as Fed became ‘engine of income inequality’ powered by COVID policies: expert
The nation’s wealthiest residents saw their billions grow even larger in the years following the COVID-19 pandemic due to policies from the Federal Reserve that have deepened the chasm of income inequality, economic experts report. “If you look at the amount of federal regulation, the amount of federal taxes, if anything… the economy has gotten less friendly toward big business, and toward rich people,” economist Peter St. Onge told Fox News Digital in a May phone interview. “What’s actually been happening is that the Fed has been driving income inequality. And, I think for a long time, Republicans were sort of in denial – not just Republicans, but sort of free market types were in denial – and they didn’t want to talk about income equality.” “I think they should absolutely talk about it, because what’s causing it is not free markets,” he said. “It’s something that I think everybody should oppose, which is government manipulation of the monetary system.” St. Onge was reacting to data showing that billionaires’ share of the GDP increased from 14.1% in 2020 to 21.1% in 2025, as reported by Johns Hopkins University economic professor Steve Hanke. JPMorgan Chase’s private bank estimated that the number of billionaires in the U.S. increased from 1,400 in 2021 to nearly 2,000 as of 2024, the Wall Street Journal reported in April. DOGE SHOULD ‘DEFINITELY’ LOOK AT FEDERAL RESERVE COSTS, ELON MUSK SAYS The Federal Reserve is America’s central bank, which sets monetary policies and oversees banks. It acts independently, meaning it does not require approval from the president or Congress when enacting policies. St. Onge explained to Fox News Digital that “debt is a rich man’s game” and that billionaires have benefited financially since the pandemic as the Fed worked to “manipulate interest rates” down below market value, which subsidized loans. “During COVID, you could get a mortgage for, you know, three, three and a half percent, when inflation was running higher than that,” he explained. “You were literally being paid to borrow money, which is not a free market outcome.… So it makes loans cheap and the rich overwhelmingly borrow money.” ELON MUSK WARNS FEDERAL RESERVE MAY FACE DOGE AUDIT The average debt for the top 5% of Americans sits at about $600,000, he said, while the average debt for the vast majority of Americans is roughly $74,000. “That’s about a nine times difference,” he said of the data. “So if you make loans too cheap, you are giving nine times more money to rich people.… If you make loans cheap, you’re functionally giving $9 to rich people for every $1 to give everybody else.” Assets are even more skewed, he explained, with the top 5% of Americans holding $7.8 million in assets compared to the average American’s $62,000 – notching 130 times the difference between the two demographics, he said. “The value of a stock or even a house are based on the future stream of income, and those are all discounted by the interest rate,” he said. “And so pretty close to mechanically, if you cut interest rates in half – long-term interest rates – you are doubling the value of stocks.” St. Onge pointed to the American economy in the 1970s and the early 2000s, outlining that growth “took a big step down” in the 2000s while asset values, such as housing prices and the stock market, skyrocketed. “The reason is because, since the 1970s, the Fed has very aggressively held rates low, and so this has caused all those assets to go up. So stocks have gone up, housing has gone up. And again, those are rich men’s games. Overwhelmingly, people who own stocks are rich. Housing is even more skewed.” “So if you’ve got a nine times difference on loans between the bottom 50% and the top 5%, and then you’ve got 130 times on assets, then the Fed manipulating rates down – they’re not doing it to make rich people rich, hopefully – but that’s sort of the consequence of doing that,” he said. “Holding long-term interest rates low is to shower money on rich people and to shower it in proportion to which they’re rich, right? So the most extreme version of that is going to be billionaires.” FEDERAL RESERVE HOLDS KEY INTEREST RATE STEADY AMID ECONOMIC UNCERTAINTY Economist Steve Hanke discussed how the Federal Reserve has fanned the flame of income inequality through its policies at a conference earlier in 2025 at the Mises Institute, an economics-focused think tank based out of Alabama. “In 2020, billionaires’ share of GDP was 14.1%. Now, it’s 21.1%. The Fed increased the money supply, asset prices went up, & guess who owns the assets? Billionaires. By ignoring the money supply, the Fed is an ENGINE OF INCOME INEQUALITY,” he posted to X in April of his findings. “Take the Federal Reserve’s excessive money printing during the pandemic,” Hanke said in an interview published by the think tank in April. “The transmission mechanism of monetary policy roughly dictates that changes in the money supply are followed by changes in asset prices in 1–9 months’ time, changes in real economic activity in 6–18 months’ time, and finally changes in the price level in 12–24 months’ time.” “Thanks to the Fed’s helicopter money drops beginning with COVID, the annual growth rate of the US broad money supply peaked at 18.1% per year in May 2021,” he added. “Lo and behold, the transmission mechanism followed – the S&P 500 reached a local maximum in December 2021 (6 months later), and inflation peaked at 9.1% per year in July 2022 (14 months later).” US JOB GROWTH COOLED IN APRIL AMID ECONOMIC UNCERTAINTY The result, he said, was skyrocketing wealth inequality to the tune of billionaires increasing their share of the GDP by 7.6 percentage points in just four years. St. Onge said the Fed’s policies have been political in nature, while remarking he would welcome “naive” Democrats who bang the proverbial campaign drum of income
Less than 4 months into Trump’s 2nd term, Dems are already eyeing the 2028 race
President Donald Trump has not even hit the four-month mark yet in his second tour of duty in the White House, but that is not stopping Democrats from already looking ahead to the 2028 presidential campaign. The very early moves in the next White House race by potential presidential contenders are clearly underway. The latest comes from 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, who later served as Transportation secretary in former President Joe Biden’s administration. He is headlining a town hall with veterans on Tuesday in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Iowa’s caucuses for half a century kicked off both major political parties’ presidential nominating calendars until the Democratic National Committee (DNC) demoted the Hawkeye State on their 2024 schedule. TRUMP’S APPROVAL RATINGS SLIDE, BUT DEMOCRATIC PARTY’S POLLS HIT ALL-TIME LOWS Another potential contender, two-term Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, late last month, gave the keynote address at a major state party fundraising gala in New Hampshire, the state that for a century has held the first primary in the race for the White House. Even though he says he is not laying the groundwork for a 2028 presidential run, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore later this month will headline a major state party fundraising dinner in South Carolina, which the DNC anointed last cycle as their lead-off contest on the primary calendar. Also making noise is two-term Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, who said recently he would consider running for president if he felt he could successfully unite the country. WHAT BERNIE SANDERS SAID IN A FOX NEWS DIGITAL INTERVIEW Additionally, progressive firebrand Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York grabbed plenty of attention the past couple of months, co-headlining a slew of large rallies across the country with longtime progressive champion Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, which sparked plenty of 2028 speculation. The Democratic Party has been in the political wilderness since last November’s election setbacks, when Republicans won back control of the White House and the Senate and defended their fragile House majority. Republicans additionally made gains among Black and Hispanic voters as well as younger voters, all traditional members of the Democratic Party’s base. Since Trump’s return to power, an increasingly angry and energized base of Democrats has been pushing for party leaders to take a stronger stand in pushing back against the president’s sweeping and controversial agenda during the opening months of his second administration. Democrats are not only looking ahead to next year’s midterms, when they hope to make ballot box gains, but also to the next presidential race. “There was a sense of hopelessness earlier this year among Democrats, as Trump came in with his wrecking ball, and it seemed like there was nothing but futile opposition to him,” longtime Democratic strategist and communication Chris Moyer told Fox News. “So thinking about a presidential race with potential candidates is a way to get some hope back and look towards a future that doesn’t include Trump.” Moyer, a veteran of a handful of Democratic presidential campaigns, said the race is “wide open, and it won’t be long before we see clear maneuvering from a litany of candidates.” The results of the 2026 midterm elections will have a major impact on the shape of the next White House race, too. For now, however, here is an early look at Democrats considered to be potential 2028 presidential contenders. After lying low as the Biden administration came to a close, former Vice President Kamala Harris has picked up the political pace of late, including headlining a major DNC fundraiser last week in New York City. Among her campaign options that she is weighing is a 2026 run for the open governor’s seat in her home state of California and another bid in 2028 for the White House. A source in the former vice president’s political orbit confirmed to Fox News Digital two months ago that Harris had told allies she would decide by the end of summer on whether to launch a 2026 gubernatorial campaign. Harris served as San Francisco district attorney, California attorney general and represented the Golden State in the U.S. Senate before joining Biden’s 2020 ticket and winning election as vice president. Additionally, Harris would be considered the clear frontrunner for governor in heavily blue California in the race to succeed term-limited Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom. However, early polling in the 2028 Democratic nomination race indicates that Harris would be the frontrunner, thanks in part to her name recognition within her party. While there are plenty of voices within the party who would like to move on from the Biden/Harris era following Trump’s sweeping victory, and there is little history of Democrats yearning for past defeated presidential nominees, Trump has re-written the rules when it comes to defeated White House contenders making another run. Potential buyers’ remorse of a second Trump administration could boost the 60-year-old Harris in the years to come. The progressive “rock star” and best-known lawmaker among the so-called “Squad” of diverse House Democrats in October turned 35, the minimum age to run for president. Some Democrats argue that a riveting messenger with star power is needed as the party’s next nominee, and Ocasio-Cortez is guaranteed to grab plenty of attention if she ultimately decides to run. There is also speculation the four-term federal lawmaker from New York City may primary challenge Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York when he is up for re-election in 2028. California Gov. Gavin Newsom was a top surrogate for Biden during the president’s re-election bid. With the blessing of the White House, the two-term California governor debated then-Republican presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis last year on Fox News. Newsom’s travels on behalf of Biden brought him to New Hampshire and South Carolina, two crucial early voting states on the Democratic Party’s nominating calendar. After Harris, his friend and fellow Californian, replaced Biden atop the Democrats’ 2024 ticket, the governor continued — after a pause — his efforts to keep Trump from returning to the White
Biden aides allegedly fretted then-president would need wheelchair if re-elected, new book reveals
Former President Joe Biden‘s aides privately discussed the possibility of the president needing to use a wheelchair if he were re-elected in the 2024 race, as his physical deterioration spiraled in 2023 and 2024, a new book claims. “Biden’s physical deterioration — most apparent in his halting walk — had become so severe that there were internal discussions about putting the president in a wheelchair, but they couldn’t do so until after the election,” an upcoming book called “Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again” states. CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios reporter Alex Thompson authored the upcoming book, which is set to be released Tuesday and is just the latest in a series of recent political books detailing the unprecedented 2024 presidential election, where calls mounted for Biden’s exit due to concerns over his mental acuity and age. “Given Biden’s age, (his physician Kevin O’Connor) also privately said that if he had another bad fall, a wheelchair might be necessary for what could be a difficult recovery,” the authors wrote. BIDEN’S TEAM HID THE TRUTH ABOUT HIS HEALTH ALL ALONG: WH PRESS SEC Concerns over Biden’s physical agility worsened in June 2023, when the president tripped over a sandbag at the Air Force Academy’s graduation ceremony, Axios reported. BIDEN’S FALL AT AIR FORCE COMMENCEMENT DRAWS CONCERN, MOCKERY: ‘THIS ISN’T FAIR TO ANYONE’ “He’s fine. There was a sandbag on stage while he was shaking hands,” a White House official posted to X at the time, while critics of the president denounced the fall as “sad” and an example of “elder abuse” of the president. Biden’s aides worked to create shorter walking paths for the president — and insisted that he use handrails while walking on staircases and wear sneakers — and took more care in guiding him while in public as the 2024 campaign cycle heated up, Axios reported of the book. Biden’s mental acuity had been under conservatives’ microscope since before the 2020 election, with concerns heightening in February 2024 when special counsel Robert Hur, who was investigating Biden’s alleged mishandling of classified documents as vice president, announced he would not recommend criminal charges against Biden for possessing classified materials after his vice presidency, calling Biden “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.” BIDEN AIDES ‘SCRIPTED’ EVERYTHING, ALLOWED HIS FACULTIES TO ‘ATROPHY,’ NEW BOOK CLAIMS Concern over his mental acuity hit a fever pitch in June 2024, when Biden took the debate stage to face off against then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. Biden’s debate performance was seen as a failure, with traditional allies soon joining conservatives in their concern over the president’s health in the context of encouraging Biden to pass the mantle to a younger generation of U.S. leaders. Biden dropped out at the end of July 2024, giving his successor for the nomination, former Vice President Kamala Harris, just over 100 days to rally support. Trump and Vice President JD Vance secured the election win after locking down support in the top seven battleground states. EX-BIDEN AIDE SAYS FORMER PRESIDENT WAS ‘FATIGUED, BEFUDDLED, AND DISENGAGED’ PRIOR TO JUNE DEBATE: BOOK A Biden spokesperson told Axios when asked about the claims in the upcoming book that, “Yes, there were physical changes as he got older, but evidence of aging is not evidence of mental incapacity.” The spokesperson defended that Biden’s “stiffened gait” seen while he was in office was due “in part, by wear and tear to his spine — but that no special treatment was necessary and that it had not worsened.” “We are still waiting for someone, anyone, to point out where Joe Biden had to make a presidential decision or make a presidential address where he was unable to do his job because of mental decline. In fact, the evidence points to the opposite — he was a very effective president,” the unidentified spokesperson told Fox Digital. Fox News Digital reached out to Biden’s office Tuesday morning for additional comment on the matter but did not immediately receive a reply.
Ted Cruz wants Uncle Sam to give each American baby $1,000
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Tx., has introduced a proposal for the federal government to provide $1,000 in an account for every American child. The “Invest America Act” would create “a private tax-advantaged account with a $1,000 seed investment from the federal government for every American child at birth,” according to a press release. People would also be able to add funds to the account. CHINA WINNING AI RACE WOULD BE ‘CATASTROPHIC,’ SAYS TED CRUZ AFTER SAM ALTMAN HEARING “Each Invest America account will be open to contributions from individuals, family members, friends, and businesses up to $5,000 annually,” the release states. “The account investments can be placed in a broad, low-cost fund that tracks the S&P 500, growing tax-deferred until the individual reaches age 18. Distributions after age 18 would be taxed at the capital gains rate.” Cruz’s proposal comes as the U.S. national debt is more than $36.2 trillion, and is likely to keep climbing. TED CRUZ MOCKS ‘CRAZY TOWN’ DEMS, AS MARYLAND SENATOR GETS DEFENSIVE ABOUT ADVOCACY FOR ALLEGED MS-13 MEMBER “Every child in America will have private investment accounts that will compound over their lives, enhancing the prosperity and economic participation of the vast majority of Americans. When people years from now talk about the changes created by Republican efforts this Congress, this is one of the landmark achievements they will talk about,” Cruz said, according to the press release. The House Ways and Means Committee is slated to markup “The One, Big, Beautiful Bill” on Tuesday. The legislation under consideration includes a pilot program for providing $1,000 in “MAGA accounts” for children born during a certain period of time. NO MILLIONAIRE TAX HIKE IN TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ “What is powerful is enabling every child in America to have an investment account and a stake in the American free enterprise system,” Cruz noted, according to Semafor.
Republican group lays out plan to gain ground in 2 key Dem-leaning states in 2025 elections
FIRST ON FOX: The first election cycle of President Donald Trump’s second term poses an opportunity for the GOP to make electoral inroads in two Democrat-leaning states, a Republican campaign group said in a memo being released Tuesday. The Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC) announced Tuesday that Republicans will take an offensive posture in the lead-up to the November elections in the Democrat-leaning states of Virginia and New Jersey. The group hopes to take the lessons learned from Democrat gains seen following Trump’s first electoral victory in 2016 to create a more winning strategy for the first election cycle of Trump’s second term. “While the 2025 races in Virginia and New Jersey will be challenging, we have the opportunity – and strategy – to avoid a 2017 relapse,” RSLC President Edith Jorge-Tuñón wrote in a memo released Tuesday outlining the group’s strategy for the states. “We have learned from our past experiences and are ready to fight smarter. With the right resources, we can break through Democrat strongholds, make strides in key districts, and disrupt the Left’s plan to gain unchecked momentum heading into 2026.” THESE ARE THE 2025 ELECTIONS TO WATCH AS TRUMP RETURNS TO WHITE HOUSE New Jersey and Virginia will be seeing several important statewide elections later this year, including elections for governor and several races for various key House seats that could prove pivotal for the balance of power in these states. Both states will also see local races this year for major school districts, such as Virginia’s Loudoun County, as well as some races for municipal government employees, such as Jersey City mayor and Richmond City commonwealth attorney. GOP LAWMAKERS DEMAND LOUDOUN COUNTY SCHOOLS INVESTIGATE ALLEGED ‘ATTACKS’ AGAINST PARENTS The RSLC strategy says that in both Virginia and New Jersey, Republicans plan to focus on Democrats’ legislative shortcomings on issues such as taxes, crime and education through digital ad campaigns, as opposed to focusing on defending the Trump administration’s actions. “Riding the momentum of the 2016 presidential win, Republicans in 2017 were caught off guard as Democrats successfully nationalized local races, linking GOP candidates to federal dysfunction,” the group’s strategy memo stated. “With President Trump returning to the White House, Democrats are licking their chops and not being shy about it. They are confident that his comeback will bolster their efforts to change the power dynamics, positioning 2025 as a pivotal moment for a significant political realignment. It’s up to us to prove them wrong.” The RSLC said it also intends to continue to push robust absentee ballot and early voting initiatives in Virginia and New Jersey as part of its strategy for 2025 in these states. The RSLC said it plans on reaching out to “low-propensity Republican voters,” noting this strategy helped Republicans in Virginia prevent Democrats from increasing their legislative majorities in 2023. LIBERAL WINS FIRST MAJOR 2025 STATEWIDE BATTLEGROUND ELECTION IN RACE TURNED INTO TRUMP-MUSK REFERENDUM A nearly $1 million absentee and mail-in ballot initiative was launched by the RSLC in New Jersey last year, which the group said helped boost GOP engagement in a state that political experts have said is inching its way toward becoming a swing state. This effort, along with other initiatives in New Jersey, like targeted digital advertising, has helped Republicans establish “a strong foundation for competitive performance” in key battleground areas in the state, the RSLC said. The group said it is hoping to build on this in 2025, particularly in New Jersey House Districts 3, 8, 11 and 30. “The RSLC enters the 2025 election cycle with a clear understanding of the challenges ahead. Gaining ground in Virginia and New Jersey will be difficult, but Republicans are far better positioned than we were in 2017,” the RSLC strategy memo said in its concluding remarks. “Republican State Leadership Committee and its affiliated PACs are making substantial investments in both states—not just to maintain our positions but to prevent Democrats from gaining the momentum they will need to pose a serious challenge in 2026. Every seat we contest and every message we communicate this year is significant. The effort to avoid a repeat of 2017-2018 has already begun—with a smarter, more prepared Republican Party ready to succeed in 2025 and beyond.”