GOP congressman ‘remains concerned’ over ICE operations in deep blue state
Rep. David Valadao, R-Calif., said he has concerns about the ongoing Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in the Golden State. “I remain concerned about ongoing ICE operations throughout CA and will continue my conversations with the administration—urging them to prioritize the removal of known criminals over the hardworking people who have lived peacefully in the Valley for years,” the congressman said in a post to X on Tuesday morning. In the same thread, the Republican condemned the anti-ICE riots in Los Angeles. CALIFORNIA LT. GOVERNOR SAYS LOS ANGELES RIOTS ARE ‘GENERATED BY DONALD TRUMP’ “I support the First Amendment right to peacefully protest, but the violence and vandalism happening in Los Angeles is unacceptable and I stand with our law enforcement officers working to protect people and regain control over the situation,” he wrote. The congressman represents a highly competitive district in central California. Cook Political Report currently ranks the 2026 race as “Lean Republican” in his district. CalMatters reported in March that ICE may have been conducting operations in the Central Valley. Tens of thousands of arrests have occurred since Trump took office, as the administration is seeking to execute mass deportations. Meanwhile, southern border crossings have taken a nosedive. RIOTERS SMASH WINDOWS AT LAPD HEADQUARTERS AS ANTI-ICE AGITATORS CLASH WITH AUTHORITIES Immigration and Customs Enforcement is currently facing a goal of 3,000 daily arrests of illegal immigrants, which includes those facing criminal charges and convictions. As for the unrest itself, President Donald Trump deployed National Guard troops to the area, which has set up a major dispute between him and California leaders. Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a Tuesday post to X, “Trump doesn’t care about protecting Californians. He’s militarizing our state & provoking chaos.” CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE “Illegal aliens invaded America. The government of California aided and abetted that invasion. Violent mobs, incited by California leaders, attacked ICE officers to keep them from removing the invaders,” White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller posted to X on Monday. “California officials refused to send the police to rescue the ice officers, hoping the rioters would succeed in shutting down ICE raids. This is an organized insurrection against the laws and sovereignty of the United States.” CHUCK DEVORE: TRUMP MOVES FAST TO SAVE LA FROM A 1992 REPEAT Valadao and other members of the California Republican delegation signed onto a resolution in the House, led by Rep. Young Kim, R-Calif., slamming the riots in Los Angeles. “Peaceful protests are a constitutional right, but vandalism, looting, violence, and other crimes are not. Protecting public safety shouldn’t be controversial, which is why I am leading the California Republican delegation in a resolution to support law and order as we continue to see unrest,” Kim said in a statement on Tuesday. “I hope Governor Newsom can come together with President Trump to stop the riots, lower the temperature, and keep our communities safe.” “Let’s be clear: the riots escalated before the National Guard was sent in and were enabled by California’s soft-on-crime policies – peddled for years by Governor Newsom, Sacramento, and local prosecutors – that have allowed for lawlessness and endangered public safety of hardworking Californians,” the Republican congresswoman continued. Fox News Digital reached out to the Department of Homeland Security, ICE and the White House.
Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ cracks down on Biden’s student loan ‘scheme,’ top Republican says
The chairman of a key Senate panel is claiming victory against former President Joe Biden’s student loan plans as part of President Donald Trump‘s “one big, beautiful bill.” “The Biden administration was attempting to forgive student loans for people who willingly took on the loan and required the taxpayer, including people who never went to college and would never make what the person who took the loan would ever have the hope to make,” Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairman Bill Cassidy, R-La., told Fox News Digital. “So we end that transfer of that student loan on the taxpayers, and that’s probably our biggest savings.” Cassidy’s committee released its portion of the Trump agenda bill late on Tuesday. NEW STUDY REVEALS BLUE STATE’S FAST-FOOD MINIMUM WAGE HIKE JEOPARDIZED THOUSANDS OF JOBS A press release for the legislation said it “ends Biden’s student loan schemes that transfer debt onto the 87 percent of Americans who chose to not go to college or already paid off their loans” and “also prevents future Democrat administrations from implementing schemes.” The bill specifically takes aim at Biden’s expansion of Borrower Defense to Repayment regulations and Closed School Discharge regulations, which Republicans have held up as costly policies that shift federal student loan borrowers’ burdens onto other taxpayers. Various versions of Biden’s plans had previously been struck down in court. The bill would also eliminate federal Grad PLUS loans, a program used by graduate-level and professional students to pay for their studies, which can be used for graduate students’ entire cost of attendance. It would instead keep in place a $20,500 annual limit for Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans on graduate degrees, capped at $100,000 total, excluding undergraduate loans. For professional degrees, it keeps a $50,000 annual unsubsidized loan limit and a $200,000 total cap. The legislation is also aimed at cracking down on taxpayer funding subsidizing degrees from lower-performing universities. Colleges that see people with undergraduate degrees earn less than the typical high school graduate in their state, or graduate programs where attendees then earn less than the normal bachelor’s recipient, would be blocked from federal student loan programs. “What we’ve got was a situation where people can borrow more money than they can effectively pay back, and that destroys their life, leaving them with a debt burden which keeps them unable to do other things in life. And there’s at least some sense that universities offering these programs know that’s the case. And so we attempt to fix that,” Cassidy said. “So we have provisions that would say that if the degree being acquired does not end up paying more, the person receiving that degree doesn’t get more on average than a person who did not get that degree, then the federal government is not going to lend them money.” To encourage more people to pursue non-collegiate degrees, the bill would also establish a Workforce Pell Grant. Pell Grants are currently aimed at low-income students pursuing bachelor’s degrees and are generally not repaid. “For example, a student gets a commercial driver’s license. They’re going to go out and make $100,000 a year after a couple of years of driving, I am told. And so we want to enable those people to accomplish that,” Cassidy said. Foreign income would be taken into account when evaluating Pell Grants, while farm and small business assets would not, under the GOP bill. Those and several other measures in the legislation would add up to roughly $300 billion in taxpayer savings, Cassidy said. Senate Republicans are currently working through their version of Trump’s massive agenda bill, which passed the House late last month. NEW STUDY REVEALS BLUE STATE’S FAST-FOOD MINIMUM WAGE HIKE JEOPARDIZED THOUSANDS OF JOBS Republicans are using the budget reconciliation process to pass a sweeping bill advancing Trump’s agenda on taxes, immigration, energy, defense and the national debt. They are also working to use it to bring down the national debt – nearing $37 trillion – with the aim of cutting $1.5 trillion in federal spending. Reconciliation allows the party in power to completely skirt the minority, in this case Democrats, by lowering the Senate’s threshold to advance from 60 votes to 51. The legislation must adhere to a specific set of rules, however, including measures that deal with the budget, taxation, or the national debt. Both the House and Senate must agree to identical versions of the bill before it gets to Trump’s desk for a signature. The House’s version passed 215 to 214, and leaders there have implored the upper chamber to change as little as possible. Cassidy acknowledged there were some changes made but was optimistic about how they’ll be met in the House. “There’s several things, but one thing I think that they’re going to like is that we do fully fund the Pell Grant program. You know, we address the shortfall there. And so I think they’re going to like it,” he said. “It’s going to give low-income students access to career education. We need those kind of career type jobs to make sure that all this manufacturing and construction has a workforce to address it. And so we think it helps the needs of society. We think it helps the needs of the student.” House and Senate GOP leaders had previously set a goal of having a bill on Trump’s desk by the Fourth of July. Cassidy declined to comment on whether that was a feasible benchmark but argued that lawmakers should be ready to extend that timeline – and possibly shrink their summer recess – to get the final product. “As far as I’m concerned, the most important thing is to get it right. So if there is a delay, the president said it today – if there is a delay, that’s not that big of a deal. The most important thing is we get it right,” he said.
Federal judge refuses to block Trump’s LA National Guard deployment on Newsom’s timeframe
A federal judge on Tuesday night declined California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s request for an immediate temporary restraining order to restrict President Donald Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops and U.S. Marines to quell ongoing anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) riots in Los Angeles. U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer, an appointee of former President Bill Clinton, declined to intervene by 1 p.m. PDT on Tuesday and instead set a hearing to consider California’s motion for a temporary restraining order on Thursday. The judge, who is the brother of retired liberal U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, said the federal government could submit its arguments by 11 a.m. PDT Wednesday. He gave California until 9 a.m. Thursday to submit a response to the court. Breyer, a former Watergate prosecutor, is presiding over the lawsuit filed by Newsom and California Attorney General Rob Bonta, challenging Trump’s federalization of 4,000 National Guard troops and deployment of 700 Marines to Los Angeles. RODNEY KING RIOTS OFFICER SAYS LA MAYOR ACTED ‘TOO LATE’ AS ANTI-ICE VIOLENCE ENGULFS CITY Newsom has traded public wars of words with Trump administration officials, accusing the president of having “commandeered” 2,000 of the state’s National Guard members “illegally, for no reason” without consulting with California’s law enforcement leaders. The Trump administration, meanwhile, said its ICE operations are aiming to get “criminal illegal immigrant killers, rapists, gangbangers, drug dealers, human traffickers, and domestic abusers off the streets.” “The INCOMPETENT Governor of California was unable to provide protection in a timely manner when our Ice Officers, GREAT Patriots they are, were attacked by an out of control mob of agitators, troublemakers, and/or insurrectionists,” Trump wrote on TRUTH Social on Wednesday morning. “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” “If our troops didn’t go into Los Angeles, it would be burning to the ground right now, just like so much of their housing burned to the ground. The great people of Los Angeles are very lucky that I made the decision to go in and help!!!” Demonstrations against the ICE raids in Los Angeles have escalated into violent rioting and looting, and buildings have been tagged with anti-American messaging. “Instead of focusing on undocumented immigrants with serious criminal records and people with final deportation orders, a strategy that both parties have long supported, this administration is pushing mass deportations, indiscriminately targeting hardworking immigrant families regardless of their roots or risk,” Newsom said in one of a series of video statements. The governor said he’s sought an emergency court order against the use of “the American military to engage in law enforcement activities across Los Angeles.” NEWSOM SAYS LOS ANGELES RIOTERS WILL BE PROSECUTED, SLAMS TRUMP FOR ‘TRAUMATIZING OUR COMMUNITIES’ “If some of us can be snatched off the streets without a warrant, based only on suspicion or skin color, then none of us are safe,” Newsom said. Newsom argued Trump’s intervention escalated the Los Angeles rioting, but Vice President JD Vance pushed back on Tuesday. The Democratic governor claimed that California “didn’t have a problem until Trump got involved,” but Vance asserted it was Newsom’s policies that “allowed Los Angeles to turn into a war zone.” “Newsom and his stooge Karen Bass fomented and encouraged the riots, because their entire political movement exists for one purpose: to promote mass migration into our country,” Vance wrote on X, blaming the governor and the mayor of Los Angeles. “It is their reason for being. Democratic leadership has no solution for the economy, for prosperity, or for security. They use their power when they’re in the majority to import millions of illegal immigrants and when they’re in opposition they do everything possible to prevent deportations.” The vice president said Medicaid was extended to all illegal immigrants in 2024 under Newsom’s leadership, meaning that “he elected to take healthcare from impoverished and disabled Californians and give it to illegal aliens.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “And now, everything is President Trump’s fault? Give me a break,” Vance said. “If you want to know why illegal aliens flocked to your state, stop accusing Donald Trump. Look in the mirror. If you want to know why border patrol fear for their lives over enforcing the law, look in the mirror. It was your policies that encouraged mass migration into California. Your policies that protected those migrants from common sense law enforcement.” “You sure as hell had a problem before President Trump came along. The problem is YOU,” Vance said.
DOJ argues Trump may cancel Biden-era national monuments
The Justice Department says President Donald Trump has the right to abolish national monuments established by former President Joe Biden at the request of Native American tribes. In the final days of his presidency, Biden established the Chuckwalla National Monument and the Sáttítla Highlands National Monument to protect hundreds of thousands of acres of land in California. According to Reuters, the Chuckwalla National Monument protects over 624,000 acres, while the Sáttítla Highlands National Monument protects 224,000 acres. TRUMP DOJ INVESTIGATING BIDEN-ERA PARDONS AMID CONCERNS OVER STATE OF MIND The monuments could lose their status after a Trump DOJ legal opinion reversed a 1938 determination that presidents did not have the power to abolish monuments designated by previous presidents under the Antiquities Act of 1906. Deputy Assistant Attorney General Lanora Pettit argued in the opinion that “for the Antiquities Act, the power to declare carries with it the power to revoke.” In his first term, Trump reduced the size of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante National Monuments in Utah, according to the Associated Press. The outlet noted that Trump claimed the monuments were a “massive land grab.” However, Biden later restored them during his term in office. BIDEN SAYS HE’S BEEN CARRYING OUT ‘MOST AGGRESSIVE CLIMATE AGENDA’ IN HISTORY AS HE DESIGNATES CA MONUMENTS The DOJ’s opinion, which was released on Tuesday, has already drawn backlash as Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., slammed the Trump administration. “At Donald Trump’s order, his Justice Department is attempting to clear a path to erase national monuments,” said Heinrich, who serves as the ranking member of the Senate Natural Resources Committee. “Here’s what they don’t understand: Our national monuments are about who we are. They tell the story of our ancestors, support jobs and our rural economies, and connect Americans to our history and the land itself. No president can erase that.” Heinrich also vowed to oppose Republican efforts “to rip away our national monuments.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP In the legal opinion, Pettit wrote that Biden’s designation of the new monuments was part of a larger effort to create an environmental legacy for himself. She also appeared to discredit Biden’s reasons for designating the sites as national monuments, including the creation of more places for outdoor recreational activities, like biking, hiking, hunting and camping. “Such activities are entirely expected in a park, but they are wholly unrelated to (if not outright incompatible with) the protection of scientific or historical monuments,” Pettit wrote. There is no clear indication if or when Trump would revoke the status of the two sites established by Biden—or the status of any other monuments. However, according to Reuters, White House spokesperson Harrison Fields spoke about the need to “liberate our federal lands and waters to oil, gas, coal, geothermal, and mineral leasing” when asked about the opinion.
Trump deployment of troops to quell LA rioters latest page in president’s political playbook
President Donald Trump is defending his muscular and controversial moves to tame unrest in the nation’s second most populous city. “If I didn’t “SEND IN THE TROOPS” to Los Angeles the last three nights, that once beautiful and great City would be burning to the ground right now,” the president argued Tuesday in a social media post. Aiming to extinguish escalating protests in Los Angeles sparked by immigration raids carried out by ICE at his administration’s direction, Trump sent in National Guard troops and even mobilized Marines. Trump broke six decades of precedent by federalizing California’s National Guard without the consent of Gov. Gavin Newsom. CLICK HERE FOR FOX NEWS LIVE UPDATES ON THE ANTI-ICE PROTESTS IN LOS ANGELES Regardless of the legality of his moves, Trump’s actions put immigration and law and order – key issues that helped him win back the White House in last year’s election – firmly back in the national spotlight, offering the president obvious political opportunities. A source in the president’s political orbit told Fox News that it is “a winning script,” by putting Democrats on defense once again regarding immigration. Additionally, the source said that Trump has a clear mandate from American voters for his mass deportation effort to clear the country of undocumented immigrants. MARINES BEING DEPLOYED TO LOS ANGELES AMID RIOTS AS CALIFORNIA MOVES TO SUE TRUMP OVER RESPONSE The optics – clashes with police and tear gas in the streets, masked protesters throwing rocks at police, setting cars on fire and waving Mexican flags – may likely boost support among a large swath of Americans, bolstering Trump’s political playbook. While Trump’s overall approval ratings remain underwater in most national polling, thanks to negative numbers on the economy, the visuals from Los Angeles shine a spotlight on the issues on which the president performs best – immigration and border security, and law and order. “Images splashed across the media of Mexican flag-wielding rioters burning cars and assaulting police officers validate President Trump’s call for greater immigration enforcement and border control. It also puts Democrats on the defensive by highlighting their inability to maintain law and order in blue states,” veteran Republican strategist and communicator Ryan Williams told Fox News. Additionally, Nicole Schlinger, a longtime conservative consultant, highlighted that “this is exactly what Donald Trump campaigned on, and the swing-state voters who backed him expect action before these riots reach their cities. He’s delivering on their votes, with action, not apology.” FIRST ON FOX: GOP SEN. TOM COTTON PUSHES NEW IDEAS TO QUELL ANTI-ICE PROTESTS The violence in Los Angeles also offers up a familiar foil to the president – Newsom, a Democrat, who is considered a potential contender for the 2028 Democratic presidential nomination. Newsom, whom Trump suggested should be arrested, has repeatedly accused the president and his administration of manufacturing the crisis and illegally militarizing Los Angeles. Newsom, who is suing the president to reverse the order, charged in a social media post that “this is an unmistakable step toward authoritarianism that threatens the foundation of our republic. We cannot let it stand.” While Newsom has condemned the violence in the streets, Schlinger claimed that “this is the visual that plays right into Trump’s hand. Liberal Gavin Newsom, who tried to wave a moderate flag on conservative podcasts, is now defending illegal immigrants flying the Mexican flag while standing on burning cars. There’s no middle ground with burning cars on it.” Williams argued that “Newsom’s record of failed leadership, rank incompetence, and botched responses to multiple high-profile crises make him an excellent political foil for President Trump.” Another fringe benefit for Trump – the rioting in Los Angeles bumped an uncomfortable headline for the administration – the nasty feud with Elon Musk is far from the spotlight. FETTERMAN CALLS OUT HIS OWN PARTY OVER UNREST IN LOS ANGELES Republican officials and committees are using the violence in Los Angeles as a cudgel to bash Democrats. “If you look at what’s going on in L.A., it shows exactly what [former President] Biden and the Democrats did by opening their borders the way they did and allowing millions and millions and millions of people coming here unvetted. They’ve caused all this,” Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida claimed on Tuesday. “I think President Trump is doing what he said he was going to do on the campaign trail. He’s going to keep the country safe.” The National Republican Congressional Committee, which is the campaign arm of the House GOP, charged that “While LA is burning and law enforcement is being attacked, radical House Democrats are ‘scoffing’ at any thought of condemning the violent riots. The party has completely lost their minds.” Even first-term Sen. John Fetterman of California, who has increasingly bucked and criticized fellow Democrats, chastised his own party. “I unapologetically stand for free speech, peaceful demonstrations, and immigration—but this is not that. This is anarchy and true chaos. My party loses the moral high ground when we refuse to condemn setting cars on fire, destroying buildings, and assaulting law enforcement,” Fetterman argued in a social media post. However, the political clash in California is likely to enrage and further energize most Democrats. “The actions of the Trump administration are dangerous and overaggressive. The reality is that Trump has provoked these protests, and now he is trying to escalate them,” longtime Democratic strategist Joe Caiazzo told Fox News, as he echoed a sentiment coming from many in his party. Additionally, Democrats see plenty of hypocrisy in Trump’s move to send in the troops, given what happened during the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol. Trump did not call out the National Guard during the rioting at the Capitol. One of his first acts in January, when he returned to power in the White House, was to pardon those convicted in the storming of the Capitol. “Donald Trump pretends to respect the rule of law, and we should not forget that he sat idly by as violent protesters stormed the
House rep eyes border ‘safety net’ fund as DHS urges Congress for more money
FIRST ON FOX: A new House GOP bill would create a “safety net” of federal funds for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to help in emergency situations. Rep. Michael Rulli, R-Ohio, told Fox News Digital he’s introducing a bill to create a Border Enforcement Trust Fund using federal revenues from excise taxes on gambling. The legislation would reroute roughly $300 million per year that’s currently going into the U.S. Treasury’s general fund through taxes on gambling operations. MUSK DOES IMMEDIATE 180 ON TRUMP AS SOON AS LA RIOTS RAGE He said it would be of use to the Trump administration in situations like it has faced this week, with federal authorities facing off against anti-immigration enforcement rioters in Los Angeles. “In the last 48 hours, we’ve seen this summer of hate, which we saw several years ago, happening again in Los Angeles, where you have complete anarchy and the burning down of the city itself,” Rulli told Fox News Digital in an interview. He argued it could also meet emergency needs for immigration authorities while Congress weighs President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” which includes billions for ICE that the Department of Homeland Security said are sorely needed. “It’d be a shame to take all that money and put it in the general fund, and it would just be lost when we could use it just for our border [needs], which we all saw in this last election is the No. 1 issue in the country,” Rulli said. The bill would have long odds of succeeding in the Senate, where at least several Democrats would be needed to reach the upper chamber’s 60-vote threshold. It’s not likely that Democrats would want to give Trump that kind of power over emergency funding. DOZENS OF ANTI-ICE RIOTERS ARRESTED IN LA AS TRUMP SENDS IN NATIONAL GUARD TO QUELL VIOLENCE CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Rulli said he has not encountered any significant opposition among his House colleagues, however. The bill is one of several introduced by House Republicans this week after the riots in Los Angeles and wider anti-ICE protests around the country.
Republican senator teams up with Democrat to push $15 per hour minimum wage plus annual inflation increases
Sens. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Peter Welch, D-Vt., are pushing legislation that would hike the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour and provide for annual increases to account for inflation. The proposal would implement a dramatic increase from the current $7.25 per hour federal minimum wage, which has been in place for more than 15 years. “For decades, working Americans have seen their wages flatline. One major culprit of this is the failure of the federal minimum wage to keep up with the economic reality facing hardworking Americans every day. This bipartisan legislation would ensure that workers across America benefit from higher wages,” Hawley said, according to press releases from both lawmakers. NEW STUDY REVEALS BLUE STATE’S FAST-FOOD MINIMUM WAGE HIKE JEOPARDIZED THOUSANDS OF JOBS The purchasing power of the U.S. dollar has eroded significantly over the years due to inflation. Under the proposed legislation, the yearly increases to the initial $15 per hour federal minimum wage would be based on “the percentage increase, if any, in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (or a successor index), as published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics” and would be “rounded to the nearest multiple of $0.05, if the amount … is not a multiple of $0.05.” CUOMO SAYS HE’LL RAISE NYC’S MINIMUM WAGE TO $20 AN HOUR IF ELECTED MAYOR “We’re in the midst of a severe affordability crisis, with families in red and blue states alike struggling to afford necessities like housing and groceries. A stagnant federal minimum wage only adds fuel to the fire. Every hardworking American deserves a living wage that helps put a roof over their head and food on the table–$7.25 an hour doesn’t even come close,” Welch said, according to the releases. “Times have changed, and working families deserve a wage that reflects today’s financial reality. I’m proud to lead this bipartisan effort to raise the minimum wage nationwide to help more folks make ends meet,” the senator added. In post on X, conservative commentator Dana Loesch decried the idea of raising the federal minimum wage, pushing back against Hawley’s advocacy for the policy. SENS. BERNIE SANDERS AND JOSH HAWLEY: CAP CREDIT CARD INTEREST RATES AT 10% “This is a horrible, progressive idea,” Loesch asserted in the tweet.
Musk says he regrets social media posts targeting Trump: ‘They went too far’
Tech executive Elon Musk said Wednesday that he regrets making some of his recent social media posts attacking President Donald Trump, admitting they went “too far.” “I regret some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week. They went too far,” Musk wrote on X. This comes after a recent public spat between the two as Musk began criticizing Trump for his “big beautiful” spending bill after the billionaire tech executive spent months working to cut wasteful spending as part of the Department of Government Efficiency, which Musk has since departed. At one point, Musk claimed Trump was in the Justice Department’s files on its investigation into accused pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, saying that was why the president’s administration has not made them public. MUSK SIGNALS POTENTIAL SOFTENING OF FEUD WITH SIMPLE ONE EMOJI RESPONSE TO CLIP OF TRUMP WISHING HIM WELL “Time to drop the really big bomb: @realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files,” Musk wrote. “That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!” Musk later deleted the post. Other posts from Musk included a claim that Trump would not have won the election without his help while accusing Trump of “ingratitude.” In another post, Musk suggested that Trump should be impeached and replaced by Vice President Vance. Trump said last week he is not interested in talking to Musk, telling Fox News that “Elon’s totally lost it.” The president also said while speaking with reporters in the Oval Office last week that he was “very disappointed” in Musk’s vocal criticisms of his spending bill. Trump claimed Musk knew what was in the bill and “had no problem” with it until electric vehicle incentives were cut, an assessment Musk slammed as “false.” TIMELINE: INSIDE THE EVOLVING RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TRUMP AND MUSK FROM FIRST TERM TO THIS WEEK’S FALLOUT Trump also criticized Musk on social media, saying in one post: “Elon was ‘wearing thin,’ I asked him to leave, I took away his EV Mandate that forced everyone to buy Electric Cars that nobody else wanted (that he knew for months I was going to do!), and he just went CRAZY!” But this week, Musk and Trump have appeared to soften their stances against one another. “We had a great relationship and I wish him well — very well, actually,” Trump said on Monday. Musk, who had also been Trump’s senior advisor before his recent exit from the federal government, responded to the clip with a heart emoji. The public spat between the two billionaires appeared to be losing steam after Musk seemingly issued support for Trump’s response to the anti-ICE demonstrations in Los Angeles. “Governor Gavin Newscum and ‘Mayor’ Bass should apologize to the people of Los Angeles for the absolutely horrible job that they’ve done, and this now includes the ongoing L.A. riots. These are not protesters, they are troublemakers and insurrectionists,” Trump said late Sunday in a post Musk shared. Musk also reacted to a post by Vance, who shared a screenshot of a post from Trump about how his administration would address the demonstrations in Los Angeles. “This moment calls for decisive leadership,” Vance said along with the screenshot. “The president will not tolerate rioting and violence.” Musk responded to the post with a pair of American flag emojis. Fox News’ Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.
Trump administration prevails as appeals court pauses lower court decision blocking contested tariffs
President Trump’s tariffs will remain in effect for now after a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday to pause a lower court decision that had blocked them. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit granted the stay and scheduled an expedited review of the case, which centers on whether Trump exceeded his authority under federal law. The case involves challenges from five small businesses and a coalition of states who argue that President Trump’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose tariffs was unlawful. TARIFF FIGHT ESCALATES AS TRUMP APPEALS SECOND COURT LOSS The U.S. Court of International Trade sided with the plaintiffs earlier this year, issuing an order to block the tariffs. That decision is now on hold pending further review. The Federal Circuit found that both sides raised substantial arguments and that a stay was appropriate under the legal standards used to evaluate such motions. The court’s brief order noted that the stay was necessary to preserve the status quo while the appeal proceeds. The case will now be heard by the full bench of active judges in an en banc session, a rare move reserved for matters of exceptional legal significance. Oral arguments are scheduled for July 31 at 10:00 a.m. in Courtroom 201 at the Federal Circuit courthouse in Washington, D.C. TRUMP TARIFF PLAN FACES UNCERTAIN FUTURE AS COURT BATTLES INTENSIFY The Liberty Justice Center, which represents the five businesses, criticized the court’s decision to allow the tariffs to remain temporarily but welcomed the accelerated review. “We’re disappointed the federal circuit allowed the unlawful tariffs to remain in place temporarily,” said Jeffrey Schwab, Senior Counsel and Director of Litigation at the Liberty Justice Center. “It’s important to note that every court to rule on the merits so far has found these tariffs unlawful, and we have faith that this court will likewise see what is plain as day: that IEEPA does not allow the president to impose whatever tax he wants whenever he wants. We are glad the federal circuit recognized the importance of this case, and agreed to hear it before the full court on an expedited schedule.” The full opinion can be read here. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP White House spokesman Kush Desai defended the Trump administration’s executive powers in a statement to Fox News Digital, saying it welcomed the US Circuit Court of Appeals’ stay order. “The Trump administration is legally using the powers granted to the executive branch by the Constitution and Congress to address our country’s national emergencies of persistent goods trade deficits and drug trafficking. The US Circuit Court of Appeals’ stay order is a welcome development, and we look forward to ultimately prevailing in court,” Desai said.
Trump dances with soldiers at Fort Bragg as crowd erupts in patriotic ‘USA’ chants
President Donald Trump thrilled soldiers at Fort Bragg in North Carolina on Tuesday when he broke out his iconic dance moves. Trump gave a speech to attending soldiers commemorating the Army’s 250th anniversary. After the speech, Trump began to acknowledge and thank the soldiers. Accompanying him walking out was his anthem, “Y.M.C.A.” by Village People. TRUMP WARNS ANY POTENTIAL PROTESTERS AT HIS MILITARY PARADE WILL BE ‘MET WITH VERY BIG FORCE’ As Trump began to walk the stage, the crowd cheered him on. Trump began to do his viral dance, getting even louder cheers from the crowd. He turned to head off the stage and acknowledged the soldiers who were sitting behind the stage. PRESIDENT TRUMP SUPPORTERS SING ‘GOD BLESS THE USA’ ON FLIGHT LEAVING INAUGURATION IN DC Trump then made a hugging motion with his arms and a gesture after to thank them. The crowd once again erupted, but this time, “USA” chants followed. The chants became more infectious as Trump continued to walk towards the exit of the stage. He stopped once more for the troops in front of the stage, pointing and raising his fist and saying, “thank you very much, thank you.” As Trump continued walking, two soldiers in the crowd were doing his viral dance, which appeared to catch the president’s attention. Trump turned and immediately began doing his dance as well. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Trump continued on after clapping, pointing and thanking the soldiers as the cheers continued to roar.