Inside the White House’s effort to pull India, Pakistan back from the brink of war
As officials in the White House became increasingly concerned about the escalation in the conflict between Pakistan and India, it was decided Friday morning that Vice President JD Vance would call Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Twenty-four hours before President Donald Trump announced on social media Saturday morning that a ceasefire had been reached, the scramble in the White House began. Senior officials began to fear that the situation could spiral out of control with neither side seriously considering options for de-escalation after Pakistan hit back at Indian military sites on Friday following an Indian missile attack on Pakistan. The strikes mark the latest escalation between the nuclear-armed rivals, a move triggered by a mass shooting for which India blames Pakistan. PAKISTAN SAYS IT HAS STRUCK MILITARY TARGETS INSIDE INDIA IN SERIES OF NEW ATTACKS In his noon phone call with Modi, Vance made it clear that the U.S. believed that there was a high probability of dramatic escalation as the conflict went into the weekend. The vice president encouraged Modi to consider de-escalation options, including a potential off-ramp that U.S. officials knew the Pakistanis would be amenable to. Modi listened to the vice president’s message, although he didn’t explicitly indicate openness to any of the options put forth. Vance’s call to Modi came less than a month after he met with the Indian leader in New Delhi to discuss trade talks. From that point, key U.S. officials continued to work the phones with their counterparts in India and Pakistan into the night to help re-establish communications between the two sides, allowing them to work out terms for a ceasefire in the next 12 to 18 hours. PAKISTAN, INDIA SUGGEST POSSIBLE DE-ESCALATION AMID BOTH COUNTRIES’ MISSILE STRIKES “After a long night of talks mediated by the United States, I am pleased to announce that India and Pakistan have agreed to a FULL AND IMMEDIATE CEASEFIRE,” President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social just before 8 a.m. on Saturday. Congratulations to both Countries on using Common Sense and Great Intelligence. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” House Republican Conference Chair Rep. Lisa McClain, R-Mich., reacted to the president’s announcement by referring to him in a post on X as “The Peace President.” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio noted in a statement that he and Vance had engaged with officials from the two foreign countries. “Over the past 48 hours, Vice President Vance and I have engaged with senior Indian and Pakistani officials, including Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Shehbaz Sharif, External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Chief of Army Staff Asim Munir, and National Security Advisors Ajit Doval and Asim Malik,” Rubio said in the statement. “I am pleased to announce the Governments of India and Pakistan have agreed to an immediate ceasefire and to start talks on a broad set of issues at a neutral site,” he continued. “We commend Prime Ministers Modi and Sharif on their wisdom, prudence, and statesmanship in choosing the path of peace.” Vance wrote in a post on X, “Great work from the President’s team, especially Secretary Rubio. And my gratitude to the leaders of India and Pakistan for their hard work and willingness to engage in this ceasefire.”
Sculpture depicting iconic Trump assassination attempt photo displayed in Oval Office
A bronze sculpture depicting the attempted assassination attempt on President Donald Trump in Butler, PA, last year was seen displayed in the Oval Office on Friday. The commanding piece of symbolic art, which appeared to be at least two feet tall, was seen next to Trump’s Resolute Desk as he signed a series of executive orders in front of the press. It depicts the now-iconic image of then-candidate Trump being hauled off stage by three Secret Service members – including the current director of the agency, Sean Curran – after would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks fired off several bullets from a nearby rooftop at Butler Farm Show Grounds on July 13. LIFE-SIZE SCULPTURE OF ‘FIGHTING’ TRUMP MADE FROM NAILS UNVEILED AT ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT SITE Trump ducked to the ground as the bullets rang out, and he was then lifted to his feet by the Secret Service agents. As they tried to move him off stage, Trump stopped and turned to the crowd, holding his clenched in the air and famously shouting, “Fight! Fight! Fight!” as blood dripped from his ear after it was grazed by a bullet. The image soon went viral and became a defining moment of the 2024 presidential election, portraying powerful symbolism of Trump’s resilience, bravery and fearlessness. The event galvanized Trump’s base and influenced others to get behind his campaign. PHOTOGRAPHER WINS PULITZER FOR ICONIC PHOTO OF BULLET SPEEDING BY TRUMP’S HEAD DURING ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT The sculpture itself is rendered in dark bronze tones with a muted Old Glory flag draped vertically behind. The White House did not say why the statue was there on the day or whether it had been presented to the president. The work appears to be a maquette of a proposed statue in the works by artist Stan Watts of the Trump Statue Project, who are planning on creating a nine-foot replica to honor the president. “This powerful image, embodying ‘Confidence, Strength, and Hope,’ will be immortalized in this nine-foot-tall statue,” the group’s website reads. “It symbolizes the divine intervention as well as the man and his message of unity and resilience for which America stands.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Watts has also created notable statues of founding fathers John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson as well as monuments to Martin Luther King Jr., and 9/11 firefighters raising the American flag at the World Trade Center. Last year, Butler artist Bill Secunda revealed he had created a life-sized sculpture of Trump made out of nails to mark the failed assassination attempt.
Trump inks trade deal with UK, previews China trade negotiations during 16th week in office
President Donald Trump and his administration inked a major trade deal with the U.K. Thursday, and closed the week gearing up for trade talks with China over the weekend. Details of the specific trade plan with the U.K. are sparse, but the deal keeps the existing 10% tariffs in place against U.K. goods while removing some import taxes on items like steel and cars. “With this deal, the U.K. joins the United States in affirming that reciprocity and fairness is an essential and vital principle of international trade,” Trump said Thursday. “The deal includes billions of dollars of increased market access for American exports, especially in agriculture, dramatically increasing access for American beef, ethanol and virtually all of the products produced by our great farmers.” TRUMP SIGNALS CHINA ‘VERY MUCH’ INTERESTED IN SECURING TRADE DEAL AHEAD OF SWITZERLAND NEGOTIATIONS The deal is the first historic trade negotiation signed following Liberation Day, when Trump announced widespread tariffs for multiple countries April 2 at a range of rates. The administration later adjusted its initial proposal and announced April 9 it would immediately impose a 145% tariff on Chinese goods, while reducing reciprocal tariffs on other countries for 90 days to a baseline of 10%. China responded by raising tariffs on U.S. goods to 125%. Trump also shed some insight into trade negotiations with China, given that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is scheduled to kick off trade negotiations with China in Switzerland Saturday. “Scott’s going to be going to Switzerland, meeting with China,” Trump told reporters Thursday at the White House. “And you know, they very much want to make a deal. We can all play games. Who made the first call, who didn’t make them? It doesn’t matter. Only matters what happens in that room. But I will tell you that China very much wants to make a deal. We’ll see how that works out.” Here’s what also happened this week: Trump also doubled down on his interest in expanding the U.S. during a Tuesday visit with Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney. Trump regularly has said he wants Canada to become a U.S. state, and has discussed acquiring Greenland and the Panama Canal for security purposes. However, the matter of Canada isn’t open to negotiation, Carney said. “Having met with the owners of Canada over the course of the campaign the last several months, it’s not for sale,” Carney said at the White House Tuesday. “Won’t be for sale ever, but the opportunity is in the partnership and what we can build together. We have done that in the past, and part of that, as the president just said, is with respect to our security, and my government is committed for a step change in our investment in Canadian security and our partnership.” CARNEY SAYS CANADA IS NOT FOR SALE, TRUMP REPLIES ‘NEVER SAY NEVER’ While Trump acknowledged that Canada was stepping up its investment in military security, he said, “Never say never” in response to Canada becoming another state. “I’ve had many, many things that were not doable, and they ended up being doable,” Trump said. TRUMP PULLS HIS NOMINATION FOR DC US ATTORNEY, SAYS HE’LL REVEAL NEW PICK SOON Trump also met with Russian-American ballet dancer, Ksenia Karelina, at the White House Monday. Karelina faced a sentence of 12 years in a Russian penal colony for treason in 2024, but the Trump administration negotiated her return to the U.S. during a U.S.-Russian prisoner swap in April. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “Mr. Trump, I’m so, so grateful for you to bring me home and for (the) American government. And I never felt more blessed to be American, and I’m so, so happy to get home,” Karelina said in a video posted by Trump deputy assistant Sebastian Gorka on April 11 upon her return to the U.S. Karelina, a resident of Los Angeles who was born in Russia, was arrested in 2024 during a trip to visit family in Yekaterinburg, Russia. Russia Federal Security Service arrested her after inspecting her phone and finding a donation to a U.S.-based charity that supports Ukraine. Fox News’ Emma Colton contributed to this report.
House Republicans release tax plan for Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’
House Republicans released a portion of President Donald Trump’s tax agenda late on Friday evening, bringing them one step closer to completing the commander-in-chief’s “big, beautiful bill.” The legislation includes an increased child tax credit (CTC), a higher threshold for estate tax liability – what Republicans have referred to as the “death tax” – and several other measures. It also lays the groundwork for making Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) permanent. Republican leaders had warned that failing to do so would lead to a tax increase of over 20% for millions of Americans, if TCJA were allowed to expire at the end of this year. There is no information in the bill so far about state and local tax (SALT) deduction caps, which have been a significant point of contention between blue state Republicans critical to keeping the House majority, and GOP lawmakers from deeper red, lower-tax states. SCOOP: REPUBLICANS DISCUSS DEFUNDING ‘BIG ABORTION’ LIKE PLANNED PARENTHOOD IN TRUMP AGENDA BILL Another notable exclusion is a new millionaires’ tax bracket. Trump had floated the idea of a small tax increase on the ultra-wealthy, and a source familiar with his thinking told Fox News Digital earlier this week that Trump was considering allowing a pre-TCJA 2.6% tax hike on people making $2.5 million per year or more. Those measures and others are not necessarily excluded from the final bill, however. The legislation is also expected to include new Trump tax pledges like eliminating taxes on tips, overtime wages and Social Security checks for retirees. More elements are expected to be added in the coming days via amendments. The full legislation is expected to advance through the Ways & Means Committee, the House’s tax-writing panel, on Tuesday afternoon. Release of the legislation is a major sign of progress for House GOP leaders, who had been forced to punt their initial planned deadline of having a bill on Trump’s desk by sometime between Memorial Day and the Fourth of July. But SALT deduction caps and a millionaire’s tax hike are two of the most volatile discussion points. House Republicans currently have a razor-thin three-vote margin, meaning they can afford to have little dissent and still pass anything without Democratic support. They’re hoping to do just that, with virtually no Democrats currently on board with Trump’s massive Republican policy overhaul. Republican lawmakers are working to pass their legislation via the budget-reconciliation process, which lowers the Senate’s passage threshold from 60 votes to 51, lining up the House’s own simple majority threshold. Reconciliation allows the party in power to effectively skirt the minority and pass broad pieces of legislation – provided they address taxes, spending or the national debt. Trump wants Republicans to use the maneuver to tackle his priorities on the border, immigration, taxes, defense, energy, and raising the debt ceiling. BROWN UNIVERSITY IN GOP CROSSHAIRS AFTER STUDENT’S DOGE-LIKE EMAIL KICKS OFF FRENZY Both the House and Senate passed frameworks setting the stage for the bill earlier this year. Now, the relevant committees of jurisdiction on either side must craft policy in line with that framework, before all the parts are fitted into a final bill that must again pass both houses of Congress before being signed into law by Trump. The most recent portion released by the House Ways & Means Committee would increase the current maximum CTC from $2,000 to $2,500. 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. On the estate tax, which is levied on assets after person’s death, it raises the exemption level to $15 million from the current level of roughly $13.9 million. Republicans have long criticized the estate tax as a needless financial burden on grieving families, particularly hitting small family-owned businesses. Supporters of the federal estate tax point out that it affects a relatively small number of estates. “Seven years ago, the Trump tax cuts sparked an economic boom and provided needed relief to working families. Pro-family, pro-worker tax provisions are the heart of President Trump’s economic agenda that puts working families ahead of Washington and will create jobs, grow wages and investment and help usher in a new golden age of prosperity,” House Ways & Means Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., said in a statement on Friday night. “Ways and Means Republicans have spent two years preparing for this moment, and we will deliver for the American people.”
Ted Cruz mocks ‘crazy town’ Dems, as Maryland senator gets defensive about advocacy for alleged MS-13 member
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, mocked “crazy town” Democrats for defending illegal immigrants like alleged MS-13 gang member and Salvadoran national Kilmar Abrego Garcia over U.S. citizens, saying that many seem to have an incurable case of Trump derangement syndrome. Cruz’s comments came after several Democratic lawmakers, including Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, traveled to El Salvador to advocate for Abrego Garcia’s return to the U.S. after he was deported to his home country. The remarks also came just before Newark, N.J., Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested Friday after joining several members of Congress in storming an ICE detention facility. “It is a very bizarre political decision that the Democrats have made,” Cruz said. “They have decided that they are the party of illegal immigrants and the party of gang members.” “The vast majority of Americans,” he went on, “don’t want more gang members and violent criminals in this country, and it really is a shame the Democrats have gotten so extreme in their hatred of Donald Trump that the one thing they can stand for is more illegals and more gang members.” DEM IMMIGRATION TALKING POINTS FIZZLE AS DARK PICTURE OF ABREGO GARCIA EMERGES Bringing up Van Hollen’s and other Democrats’ trips to El Salvador on behalf of Abrego Garcia, Cruz said: “We’re seeing Democrat senators, Democrat house members flying down to El Salvador and putting all their political capital behind the position that we need more illegal immigrants in America, we need more criminals in America, and we need more MS-13 gang members in America.” “I think Trump derangement syndrome is a real mental illness,” he went on. “I think they hate Donald Trump so much that it has driven them to crazy town. . . . Why is it that Democrats care so much about supporting violent criminal illegal aliens, they care so much about supporting MS-13 gang members?” Though many Democrats claim that Abrego Garcia is an innocent man who was wrongly deported, the administration has pointed to considerable evidence that he is a member of the MS-13 gang. According to police and court records shared with Fox News Digital, Abrego Garcia was arrested in Hyattsville, Maryland, in October 2019, at which point he was identified by the Prince George’s County Police Gang Unit as an MS-13 gang member. WHO IS THE DEMOCRATIC GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE ARRESTED FOR TRESPASSING AT AN ICE DETENTION CENTER? A federal immigration court in Baltimore further determined that Abrego Garcia was not eligible for release, because he had “failed to meet his burden of demonstrating that his release from custody would not pose a danger to others, as the evidence shows that he is a verified member of MS-13.” Several DHS sources have confirmed to Fox News Digital records indicating that Abrego Garcia also had been pulled over by a Tennessee highway patrol trooper while driving an SUV belonging to Jose Ramon Hernandez Reyes, another illegal alien who in 2020 confessed to human smuggling across the U.S.-Mexico border. CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE Fox News Digital has also reviewed court documents filed by Abrego Garcia’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, alleging that he had seriously beaten and verbally abused her multiple times and mentally abused her children. In April, the Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s decision ordering the Trump administration to arrange Abrego Garcia’s return. MS-13, TREN DE ARAGUA TARGETED FOR DEATH BLOW IN NEW GOP BILL AIMED AT MIGRANT CRIME The court required the “government to ‘facilitate’ Abrego Garcia’s release from custody in El Salvador and to ensure that his case is handled as it would have been had he not been improperly sent to El Salvador.” The Trump administration agreed to clear any administrative obstacles keeping Abrego Garcia from returning to the U.S., but Attorney General Pam Bondi has said that returning him is “up to El Salvador if they want to return him. That’s not up to us.” After Fox News Digital asked Van Hollen whether he was aware of the domestic violence allegations against Abrego Garcia before he went to visit him in El Salvador, the senator became defensive, saying: “What I said here was these issues need to be litigated in the courts, okay?” “What Donald Trump needs to do is put up or shut up in the courts, and he’s just not done that,” he went on. “My response is, always stick to the Constitution, stick to the due process rights of people who live in America, and if we all do that, then we’ll be doing the right thing for our country.”
Catholic bishops vow to resist blue state law intruding on ‘sacred’ trust: ‘Obey God rather than men’
The Catholic bishops of Washington state are resisting a new law signed by Democratic Governor Bob Ferguson that they say would violate the seal of confession, which would result in excommunication for any priest who complies. Spokane, Washington, Bishop Thomas Daly released a statement in response to the law in which he said that he and his priests “are committed to keeping the seal of confession – even to the point of going to jail.” The new law, signed last week by Democratic Gov. Bob Ferguson, who is Catholic, added “members of the clergy” to a list of professionals who are required to report information that relates to child abuse or neglect to law enforcement, and the measure does not provide an exception for information offered at a confessional. The law is set to go into effect on July 26. A central tenet of the Catholic sacrament of confession is that priests are bound by an absolute seal of confidentiality, an obligation that requires them to keep anything learned in confession a secret. Violating this tenet results in what is called “excommunication,” which cuts a person off from the church and eternal life, according to Catholic teaching. DOJ INVESTIGATING ‘ANTI-CATHOLIC’ WASHINGTON STATE LAW REQUIRING CLERGY TO REPORT CHILD ABUSE While Daly said that his diocese has a zero-tolerance policy regarding child sexual abuse and that the church would “do everything within our power to keep your children safe,” he said the “Sacrament of Penance is sacred and will remain that way in the Diocese of Spokane.” Seattle Archbishop Paul Etienne framed the issue as a question of whether the clergy is “answerable to God or state.” He quoted a scripture passage that reads, “We must obey God rather than men.” “This is our stance now in the face of this new law. Catholic clergy may not violate the seal of confession – or they will be excommunicated from the Church,” said Etienne, adding: “All Catholics must know and be assured that their confessions remain sacred, secure, confidential and protected by the law of the Church.” CHOOSING AN AMERICAN POPE ‘CANNOT BE AN ACCIDENT,’ SAYS PAUL MAURO Etienne said that the law cuts to the heart of the First Amendment’s ban on the state either establishing or prohibiting the free exercise of a religion. “Once the state asserts the right to dictate religious practices and coerce information obtained within this sacrament – privileged communication – where is the line drawn between Church and state? What else may the state now demand the right to know? Which other religious practices will it try to legislate?” asked the archbishop. On Monday, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division opened an investigation into the law for possible violations of the First Amendment’s religious protections. A statement by the division said that the new law “singles out ‘members of the clergy’ as the only ‘supervisors’ who may not rely on applicable legal privileges, including religious confessions, as a defense to mandatory reporting.” BROOKLYN BISHOP BRENNAN ON WHAT POPE LEO XIV MEANS FOR THE CHURCH “The law appears to single out clergy as not entitled to assert applicable privileges, as compared to other reporting professionals,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “We take this matter very seriously and look forward to Washington State’s cooperation with our investigation,” said Dhillon. Bishop Joseph Tyson of Yakima, Washington, posted on Facebook that he was grateful for the Justice Department’s investigation, saying that the bishops’ attempts to meet with the governor about the law had gone unanswered. “I realize that many may disagree but in a way that parallels attorney client privilege, the seal of confession allows the penitent to come to grips with moral accountability and culpability,” said Tyson. “We want to hope and pray that the heart of an offender would be so moved by the mercy of God and the guidance of the skilled clergy that it would necessarily lead to an encounter beyond the sacramental seal with law enforcement.” Ferguson did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Florida state lawmaker who recently ditched Democratic label announces gubernatorial bid
Florida state Sen. Jason Pizzo, who announced last month that he was switching from Democrat to no party affiliation, has revealed that he plans a Sunshine State gubernatorial bid. “Yes I am,” Pizzo said after CBS News Miami’s Jim Defede asked the state senator whether he plans to run for governor. In a written statement to Fox News Digital, Pizzo declared, “Florida is ready for someone to put people before party, and get back to basics in public service. The state is facing significant fiscal and resiliency challenges, and I’m [the] best one to guide us through.” SUNSHINE STATE DEM ANNOUNCES SWITCH TO NO AFFILIATION: ‘DEMOCRATIC PARTY IN FLORIDA IS DEAD’ Current Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican who is currently serving his second term, is not eligible to run for governor again in 2026. The state constitution stipulates, “No person who has, or but for resignation would have, served as governor or acting governor for more than six years in two consecutive terms shall be elected governor for the succeeding term.” FLORIDA STATE SENATOR WHO QUIT DEMOCRATIC PARTY SLAMS IT AS ‘RUDDERLESS’ AND ‘WITHOUT DIRECTION’ U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla. announced a bid for the job in February after President Donald Trump publicly urged him to do so. DESANTIS SIGNS BILL BANNING FLUORIDE ADDITIVES IN FLORIDA PUBLIC WATER: ‘HYDRATE, NOT MEDICATE’ “Byron Donalds would be a truly Great and Powerful Governor for Florida and, should he decide to run, will have my Complete and Total Endorsement. RUN, BYRON, RUN!” Trump declared in a February Truth Social post.
Trump signs EO offering illegal migrants ‘exit bonus’ in first-ever self-deportation program
President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order establishing the first ever self-deportation program which incentivizes illegal migrants to voluntarily leave the country in a free flight and with a cash bonus. The new program, titled “Project Homecoming,” authorizes government-funded flights and offers money to illegal migrants willing to self-deport. Trump announced the signing of the order in a video post on Truth Social and said that the program will end up saving taxpayers “billions and billions” of dollars. DHS UNLEASHES POSSIBLE MONEY-SAVING MEASURE FOR ILLEGAL ALIENS TO SELF-DEPORT: ‘SAFEST OPTION’ “We are making it as easy as possible for illegal aliens to leave America. Any illegal alien can simply show up at an airport and receive a free flight out of our country,” Trump said. “Illegals can book a free flight to any foreign country as long as it’s not here. You can go anywhere you want.” Trump added that illegal migrants will be offered a “very important exit bonus” to leave. Homeland Security said earlier this week that migrants would be offered a $1,000 stipend each to leave. The department said this will be 70% cheaper for American taxpayers, as it currently costs DHS, on average, over $17,000 to arrest, detain, and deport someone. “This deportation bonus will save American taxpayers billions and billions of dollars,” Trump said. ICE FILES DETAINERS AGAINST 2 ILLEGAL ALIENS, INCLUDING 1 FACING ATTEMPTED MURDER CHARGES FOR SHOOTING SPREE He advised illegal migrants to use the Homeland Security CBP One app to arrange their deportations. The Biden-era app was previously used to expedite migrants to schedule appointments at official ports of entry before they were paroled into the U.S. That function was ended on the first day of Trump’s second term and the app is now being used to encourage migrants to self-deport and notify some migrants that their legal status has been revoked. Trump said that there would be stiff consequences for those who do not comply with his order, but added that migrants who have behaved in the U.S. may get a chance to come back in – as long as they follow the rules of the new plan. “Illegal aliens who stay in America face punishments, including significant jail time, enormous financial penalties, confiscation of all property, garnishment of all wages, imprisonment and incarceration and sudden deportation, in a place, and manner solely of our discretion,” Trump said. “So to all illegal aliens who book your free flight right now, we want you out of America. But if you’re really good, we’re going to try and help you get back in.” The White House said the financial incentives will benefit Americans in the long-term, given it estimates that illegal migrants will cost taxpayers $150 billion in FY 2023 alone. “Over the last 4 years, the United States has endured a full-scale invasion of aliens entering and remaining in the country illegally, causing a relentless onslaught of crime, vagrancy, violence, and death in countless American communities,” the White House said in a statement. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “This lawless invasion has also limited the capacity of American schools and hospitals to provide for American citizens and has diverted billions of dollars in Federal, State, and local social services from Americans in need.” Trump also took a shot at former President Biden, whose administration oversaw record numbers of border crossers. “What Biden did to this country can never be explained. Will never, ever be accepted. Eventually, when the illegals are gone, it will save us trillions of dollars,” Trump said.
Why longtime Trump ally and former Republican Gov. Paul LePage is aiming for a political comeback
LEWISTON, MAINE – EXCLUSIVE – Former two-term Gov. Paul LePage of Maine says President Donald Trump is a major reason why he’s coming out of political retirement at age 76 – and he’s eyeing a campaign comeback. “I never, ever had any aspirations to go to Washington until now,” LePage said this week in his first national interview after launching his bid for the House in Maine’s Second Congressional District, which is a top swing seat the GOP aims to flip in the 2026 midterm elections. The contest will likely be one of the most closely watched House races in the country next year as the Republicans aim to hold their fragile majority in the chamber. “Donald Trump, I think, is doing what is necessary in addressing the debt this country is facing. And I think that’s a big, big thing for me,” LePage said as he was interviewed in the Maine city where he was born and raised. HOUSE REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN CHAIR SPELLS OUT HIS PLAYBOOK TO HOLD THE CONGRESSIONAL MAJORITY LePage highlighted, “I have a friend in the White House right now. I know President Trump. I think I can have an audience of President Trump. I know several of his secretaries very well. And so I think this is a good time. It’s a good time for me to go help.” LePage – the brash and blunt politician who won over blue-collar workers struggling with economic woes, which helped the Republican businessman win election and re-election in the blue-leaning state – was one of the first major GOP elected officials to endorse Trump when the president first ran for the White House nearly a decade ago. “I was Donald Trump before Donald Trump became popular,” LePage joked at the time, in a line that’s since become famous. The conservative governor, who grabbed national attention with controversial comments made during his tenure, briefly moved with his wife, Ann, to Florida after finishing his second term in 2019. “I am done with politics. I have done my eight years. It’s time for somebody else,” he said at the time. CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS TARGETING THESE HOUSE REPUBLICANS IN 2026 MIDTERM BATTLE But LePage re-established residency in Maine five years ago and challenged his successor as governor, Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, in the 2022 election. LePage ended up losing his bid for a third term by 13 points to Mills, but he did carry the 2nd Congressional District in that race. Moderate Democratic Rep. Jared Golden, a U.S. Marine veteran who deployed to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and who often bucks his own party in Congress, has held the seat since first winning it in 2018. But Golden won re-election by a razor-thin margin last year in the district, which is the second-most rural in the U.S. and the largest east of the Mississippi River. And Trump, who carried the district in the 2016, 2020 and 2024 presidential elections by nine, seven and 10 points, earned an electoral vote each time, as Maine and Nebraska, are the only two states in the union to allocate their electoral votes partially by congressional district. MAINE’S GOLDEN TAKES AIM AT FELLOW DEMOCRATS OVER POLICY Golden, in a statement after LePage announced his candidacy, said, “I thought Paul was doing his best work in retirement.” But the 42-year-old Golden has yet to announce whether he’ll seek re-election next year or instead run for either the state’s Senate seat or the open governor’s office. In his Fox News interview, LePage reiterated that the nation’s debt is a top motivation for him to return to politics. As of May 8, the national debt was $36,212,886,111,158.26, according to Fox News’ National Debt Tracker. “It’s the spending and the debt that this country has, and I’m worried about my grandchildren, great-grandchildren. And I think we have a president now that’s really willing to tackle it, and I’m willing to help,” he said. But LePage added that “the other thing that is really big is what’s happening in our country with the woke environment. I think I want to be there to help clean that up if we can. Having boys play in girls’ sports is really sad.” He also highlighted his Tuesday meeting—part of a three-day swing through the congressional district—with Maine student Cassidy Carlisle, whom he described as “the courageous young woman fighting unfair male competition in girls’ sports.” Maine’s 2nd Congressional District shares a long border with Canada. When asked if he’ll be spotlighting border security and immigration as major issues in his campaign, Lepage said, “Big time.” But the controversial tariffs the president placed on nations across the globe last month has strained relations with Canada. “I’m all for the tariffs,” LePage said. “The tariffs will fix our international trade and lower taxes.” LePage acknowledged: “Is it going to hurt in the short term? Yeah, it’s going to hurt a little bit in the short term, but I think it’s necessary.” And he predicted that “the tariffs are going to be a short-term problem. I think they’re going to settle out.” LePage spoke with Fox News at Lewiston’s Franco Center, a performing arts center and historic site of Franco-American culture located in a former Gothic church built in 1907 for French Canadian immigrants in Maine, which is located alongside the city’s historical mills and canals. The former governor, who survived a troubling and often brutal upbringing, gave Fox News a tour of the many dwellings within blocks of the Franco Center, where he spent his childhood. The eldest son of 18 children, LePage grew up speaking French in an impoverished home with an alcoholic and abusive father who was a mill worker. At age 11, he ran away from home after his father beat him and broke his nose. He lived on the streets of Lewiston and often crashed on friends’ couches for a couple of years before earning a living shining shoes, washing dishes at a restaurant, and haling boxes for a local truck
States support parents in legal case over school’s secret gender transition of child
Nearly two dozen states have banded together, filing an amicus brief to defend the constitutional rights of a Florida family, whose public middle school is accused of secretly “socially transitioning” their 13-year-old daughter without their consent. The brief, filed on April 30, involves January and Jeffrey Littlejohn, parents in Leon County, Florida, who allege school officials met privately with their child about using a new name and pronouns, and did not inform or involve them as parents. School staff allegedly asked the Littlejohns’ daughter which bathroom and locker rooms she wanted to use, which gender she wanted to room with during overnight trips, and if she wanted her parents to be notified. A three-judge panel from the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta sided 2-1 with the school district in a ruling on March 12, finding school officials “did not act with intent to injure” or “force the child to attend a student support plan meeting,” thus not meeting the “shock the conscience” standard. The Littlejohns appealed, requesting the court hear the case in full. EXCLUSIVE: MOM’S FIGHT WITH SCHOOL OVER TEEN DAUGHTER’S GENDER TRANSITION GETS BOOST FROM PARENTS GROUP The “shock the conscience” standard is often used in due process cases and refers to “egregious and unjust actions” that violate principles of fairness and decency, according to the Liberty Justice Center, which, in addition to the brief filed by the states’ attorneys general, joined the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty and Dr. Erica Anderson, Ph.D., in filing a brief in support of the parents’ position. “The issue of parental notification policy, or, in this case, the lack of notification policies, is something we’re seeing around the country,” Emily Rae, senior counsel at the Liberty Justice Center, told Fox News Digital. “There are dozens of cases at the state level and federal level juggling this issue, trying to determine what parents’ rights are in this situation.” States’ attorneys general called the court’s decision “disastrous for parents everywhere,” according to the brief that includes Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, South Carolina, South Dakota, Virginia, West Virginia and Arizona. TRUMP GUEST WHOSE DAUGHTER WAS TRANSITIONED BEHIND HER BACK SPEAKS OUT “Purposefully withholding from a parent critical information about supposed medical treatment that a school is providing a student not only violates that right, but does so to a disturbing and constitutionally intolerable degree,” the states’ attorneys general added. “Parents – not the government – know what’s best for their children,” Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr wrote in a statement. “We will always stand for parental rights and Georgia families.” The Liberty Justice Center, in conjunction with the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty and Anderson, wrote that school officials are not experts and should not aid in students’ transition. “To summarize, no professional association recommends that teachers and school officials, who have no expertise whatsoever in these issues, should facilitate a social transition while at school, treating minors as if they are really the opposite sex, in secret from their parents,” the Liberty Justice Center wrote. “Usurping the parents in this way is conscience-shocking.” PARENTS TELL SCOTUS: LGBTQ STORYBOOKS IN CLASSROOMS CLASH WITH OUR FAITH In an interview earlier this year, January Littlejohn, who was one of President Donald Trump’s guests at his address to a joint session of Congress, said the school’s actions had a “destructive” effect on her entire family. Ultimately, she said her daughter worked through the gender confusion, but the issue created a family rift that “took many years to repair.” The Leon County School District and Carr did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.