250K Dreamers would be protected from deportation under big-name bipartisan effort
The number-two Democrat in the Senate joined with a high-profile member of the Republican caucus, among others, to launch a bill protecting more than a quarter of a million people who arrived in the U.S. as children of visa-holding foreign nationals. Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin, D-Ill., who co-authored the original, ultimately unsuccessful DREAM Act with the late Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, announced Monday that he and several lawmakers would lead the America’s CHILDREN Act to protect so-called Dreamers from deportation by the Trump administration. The acronym formally stands for “America’s Cultivation of Hope and Inclusion for Long-term Dependents Raised and Educated Natively Act.” Durbin was joined by Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., in the upper chamber, to support the newest iteration of legislation offering a “pathway to citizenship” for long-term U.S. residents who were dependents of migrant parents. TRUMP’S IMMIGRATION CRACKDOWN SPARKS BIPARTISAN CALL FOR ASYLUM FIXES, PROTECTION FOR LONGTIME MIGRANTS “Dreamers are some of the hardest working people I’ve met, and as American as all of us,” Durbin said in a statement. “Their patriotism and dedication to our country inspires me, fuels our economy, and makes our nation stronger. Documented Dreamers are young people brought to the United States lawfully, but they face the risk of losing their status due to backlogs in our outdated immigration system.” The Illinois Democrat, whose state has clashed with President Donald Trump over his mass deportation agenda, said the administration has made legal immigration “all but impossible” and that the bipartisan nature of the bill shows the American people demand solutions. APPEALS COURT DEALS BLOW TO OBAMA-ERA AMNESTY FOR DREAMERS Dreamers can remain a dependent of a migrant worker until they are 21, according to Rep. Deborah Ross, D-N.C., who described the intended beneficiaries of the American CHILDREN Act in a previous attempt to pass similar legislation. “Sadly, due to decades-long backlogs and problems with the Child Status Protection Act, many of these young adults turn 21 before a visa number for a green card finally becomes available,” said Ross, who also co-sponsored the current bill. Padilla, who was detained by federal agents when he disrupted a briefing by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem in California earlier this year, said the people described in the bill are “Americans in every way except one – their parents’ green card is tied up in red tape.” Paul, along with Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Illinois — the two most prominent Republican co-sponsors — said Dreamers are contributing members of their communities and the U.S. economy. “They shouldn’t be penalized by the government’s failures in addressing green card backlogs. The America’s Children Act provides targeted relief for these children of merit-based immigrants who are at risk of ‘aging out’ of their lawful immigration status, and I’m pleased to join Sen. Padilla in introducing this bill,” Paul said in a statement. A handful of other Republicans signed onto the bill, including Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska – a frequent Trump critic – along with Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, John Rutherford of Florida; Sens. John Curtis of Utah, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine.
Waltz promises US will defend ‘every inch’ of NATO territory after Russian jets flew into Estonia
New U.N. Ambassador Mike Waltz warned Monday the U.S. and its allies will defend “every inch” of NATO territory after Russian fighter jets violated Estonian airspace. “The United States stands by our NATO allies in the face of these airspace violations, and I want to take this first opportunity to repeat and to emphasize the United States and our allies will defend every inch of NATO territory,” Waltz said during opening remarks of the United Nations General Assembly high-level week. “Russia must urgently stop dangerous behavior.” The warning marked one of Waltz’s first public statements since winning Senate confirmation Friday. It came days after three Russian MiG-31 jets flew deep into Estonian airspace — the closest such incursion to the Baltic nation’s Parliament building in years — raising fears Moscow is testing NATO’s resolve. Estonia’s Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna revealed Monday morning that the jets were armed. The jets were in Estonian airspace for 12 minutes. RUSSIA SHIFTS FROM TALK TO ACTION, TARGETING NATO HOMELAND AMID FEARS OF GLOBAL WAR Tsahkna noted that Russia remains a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council even as it continues its war on Ukraine and now pushes into NATO territory. Article 5 of the NATO treaty states that an armed attack against one or more NATO members in Europe or North America is considered an attack against them all. In practice, this means that if any member nation is attacked, the others are committed to take action. Waltz, a former House member from Florida, served as President Donald Trump’s national security advisor until May. His confirmation to the U.N. was held up in the Senate until last week, when a 47-43 vote confirmed him as U.S. permanent representative to the U.N. Security Council. A separate vote to confirm him as U.S. representative to the General Assembly did not come up — it’s unclear whether that will have any effect on his participation at UNGA. The Estonia incursion followed an incident where at least 19 Russian drones entered Poland’s airspace just one week after Polish President Karol Nawrocki met with President Donald Trump at the White House. Last week, Romania reported a Shahed drone of Russian origin was found in its territory. Russia called reports of the incursions “groundless accusations.” “There is no proof except the Russophobic hysteria coming from Tallinn,” said Dmitry Polyansky, Russia’s First Deputy Permanent Representative to the U.N., referring to Estonia’s capital. RUSSIAN JETS VIOLATE ESTONIAN AIRSPACE, FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS “There was a time when Europe was associated with the renaissance, enlightenment cutting edge of philosophy, culture and science. Yet today unfortunately all of that is gone and it’s gone for good,” the representative went on. Polyansky claimed the “only ideology” of European states is “primitive hatred” for Russia. “Any events are immediately interpreted through an anti-Russian prism,” he said. “The idea that war with Russia is unavoidable is being frantically pounded into the heads of the European populace.” On Monday, the U.N. Security Council held an emergency meeting on the jet incursions into Estonia at Tallinn’s request. “Russia’s reckless actions represent not only a breach of international law, but also a destabilizing escalation that brings the entire region closer to conflict than at any time in recent years,” Tsahkna said. “Such a provocation is profoundly disrespectful towards the collective and tireless efforts of the international community to bring an end to the Russia-Ukraine war and to restore peace and stability in accordance with international law.”
SCOTUS allows Trump to fire Biden-appointed FTC commissioner
The Supreme Court on Monday backed President Donald Trump’s decision to fire a commissioner on the Federal Trade Commission, sending yet another signal that the high court intends to revisit a 90-year-old court precedent about executive firing power. The temporary decision to maintain Biden-appointed commissioner Rebecca Slaughter’s termination was issued 6-3 along ideological lines. The Supreme Court set oral arguments in the case for December. Trump’s decision to fire Slaughter and another Democrat-appointed commissioner, Alvaro Bedoya, faced legal challenges because it stood in tension with the FTC Act, which says commissioners should only be fired from their seven-year tenures for cause, such as malfeasance. FTC FIRINGS TAKE SPOTLIGHT IN TRUMP’S FIGHT TO ERASE INDEPENDENCE OF AGENCIES Trump fired Slaughter and Bedoya shortly after he took office without citing a cause other than the president’s broad constitutional authority over the executive branch. Bedoya resigned, but Slaughter vowed to fight her firing in court and see the case through to its conclusion. A lower court initially sided with Slaughter and reinstated her, but she has since been fired and re-hired several times as her case made its way to the Supreme Court. The decision on Monday came after the Trump administration asked the high court on an emergency basis to temporarily pause the lower court’s decision to reinstate Slaughter ahead of deciding on the merits of the case. The Supreme Court’s decision to keep Slaughter’s firing intact means she will remain sidelined from the FTC until after the high court hears arguments about the case in December. Slaughter had argued to the Supreme Court that siding with Trump, even on an interim basis, disturbed the precedent set in Humphrey’s Executor vs. the United States, which deemed President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s firing of an FTC commissioner unlawful. Legal experts have speculated that the current conservative-leaning Supreme Court is interested in narrowing or reversing Humphrey’s Executor, which could carry broad implications about a president’s ability to fire members of independent agencies. TRUMP ADMIN URGES SUPREME COURT TO ALLOW PRESIDENT TO FIRE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION MEMBER The three liberal justices dissented and would have denied Trump’s stay request. Writing for the dissent, Justice Elena Kagan speculated that the court’s majority may be “raring” to reverse Humphrey’s Executor but that it should not make hasty decisions that contravene that precedent until such a reversal happens. “Our emergency docket should never be used, as it has been this year, to permit what our own precedent bars,” Kagan wrote. “Still more, it should not be used, as it also has been, to transfer government authority from Congress to the President, and thus to reshape the Nation’s separation of powers.” Fox News Digital reached out to a representative for Slaughter for comment. This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
NYC mayor hopeful boycotts ABC affiliate town hall over Jimmy Kimmel suspension
New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani announced on Monday that he is withdrawing from an upcoming WABC town hall to protest Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension. The town hall, hosted by ABC News’ New York affiliate, was scheduled for Thursday, one week after a Disney spokesperson told Fox News Digital, “Jimmy Kimmel Live will be preempted indefinitely.” “It is not the government’s job to bully talk show hosts off of the air,” Mamdani told reporters on New York City’s Roosevelt Island on Monday. “It is not the government’s job to tell us what we can and cannot talk about.” The White House fired back against Mamdani’s “authoritarian” accusations on Monday. “It’s not surprising that the Little Communist is too scared to defend his absurd policy positions on live TV,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Fox News Digital. TRUMP REVEALS NEW NICKNAME FOR MAMDANI WEEKS BEFORE ELECTION DAY The socialist candidate, who could become New York City’s first Muslim and first millennial mayor if elected this November, joins a chorus of late-night talk show hosts, celebrities and lawmakers who have criticized Kimmel’s indefinite suspension. ZOHRAN MAMDANI LAUNCHES ANTI-TRUMP TOUR ACROSS FIVE BOROUGHS IN NEW YORK CITY “We cannot understand this moment of authoritarianism as solely coming from the White House, when it is also characterized by the cowardice of those in response to it,” Mamdani said Monday. Mamdani delivered his remarks at Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms State Park on Roosevelt Island, where he invoked the former president’s 1941 State of the Union address, when the United States was on the brink of joining World War II. “A moment similar to now, when tyranny was spreading across the globe,” Mamdani said. “And he articulated a thesis of democracy built around four freedoms: freedom of speech and expression, freedom of worship, freedom from want, freedom from fear. And all of our freedoms are currently under attack from this federal administration.” Mamdani said Trump’s “authoritarian” administration has “showcased, once again, an attack on the First Amendment.” “ABC pulled Jimmy Kimmel off the air after the FCC sought to pressure them. And the parent companies, Nexstar and Sinclair, put the decision of their merger, the factors that they are considering as part of that, in front of those very freedoms and that very First Amendment right,” Mamdani said. The 33-year-old mayoral hopeful said his withdrawal from the WABC town hall is not an “indictment of the local affiliate or the hard-working journalists there, but rather, in response to the corporate leaders who have put their bottom line ahead of their responsibility in upholding the freedom of the press.” In the next several weeks ahead of the November election, Mamdani vowed to participate in another town hall featuring questions from the public. “We are living in a moment where Donald Trump’s actions are the ones which determine whether or not we can enjoy that which we have taken for granted for so many years,” Mamdani said. ABC did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Thune slams Democrats’ ‘cold-blooded partisan’ tactics as funding deadline nears
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., wants to jam Senate Democrats with the GOP’s short-term funding extension, but so far they aren’t ready to play ball. Republicans and Democrats in the upper chamber blocked dueling continuing resolutions (CRs) from both parties last week and have now left Washington, D.C., until Sept. 29, effectively giving lawmakers in the upper chamber only two working days before the midnight deadline on Sept. 30. Both sides are at an impasse. Senate Republicans argue that the “clean” extension, which would last until Nov. 21 and lacks any partisan policy riders, is everything Democrats dreamed of when they controlled the upper chamber. TRUMP-APPROVED PLAN TO AVERT GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN SCUTTLED BY SENATE Senate Democrats led by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., however, argue that they want a seat at the negotiating table and are adamant that expiring Obamacare premium subsidies must be dealt with now, rather than at the end of the year. “They’re trying to use what they think is leverage to get a bunch of stuff done,” Thune said. “It’s never going to happen. I mean, can you imagine anything in that bill that they sent that we voted down today, passing in the Republican House of Representatives? Absolutely not. It’s just not serious.” Democrats’ proposal included a permanent extension to the expiring Obamacare subsidies, clawbacks of canceled funding for NPR and PBS, and it would have repealed the healthcare provisions in President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” — policy that would reverse the nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts while also getting rid of the $50 billion rural hospital fund. “They’re not being serious,” Thune said. “This is just a cold-blooded partisan political attempt to try and score political points with a left-wing base.” Though he has not taken the option off the table, it’s unlikely that Thune would cut this recess short. Instead, he wants to use the impending deadline to back Senate Democrats into a corner. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., played into that strategy, too, when he announced that the House would not return until after the funding deadline. Thune is ready to bring the same CR passed by House Republicans last week to the floor. SENATE REPUBLICANS BLOCK DEMOCRATS’ ‘FILTHY’ COUNTEROFFER AS SHUTDOWN DEADLINE LOOMS Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., railed against the likelihood that lawmakers wouldn’t return to Capitol Hill until the deadline was directly on them. “The Republicans want to shut down,” he said. “A) they refuse to negotiate, and B) they’re sending us home for the week before the government shuts down. So you know this, this seems like a planned shutdown. As far as I can tell, there’s zero effort, zero effort by Republicans to try to solve this problem.” Schumer and Democrats have pinned the blame on Trump and argue that his insistence that Thune only needs Republican votes was a sign that Democrats should be cut out of the process. Thune will need Democratic votes to advance through the 60-vote filibuster threshold in the Senate. The top Senate Democrat hoped Thune and Republicans would “now see that the only way to avoid a shutdown is negotiate with Democrats.” “We’re saying clearly, let’s sit down. Let’s figure this out,” Schumer said. “But Republicans have now left town with no sign they want to avoid a shutdown in a week. They left town. Donald Trump is the shutdown president and Senate Republicans are following him over the cliff.” THUNE PANS DEMOCRATS’ SHUTDOWN STANCE AS ‘BORDERLINE PATHOLOGICAL,’ ‘LIKE A DISEASE’ Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., also sent a letter on Saturday to Trump demanding a meeting, where the pair charged that “Republicans would bear the responsibility” of a partial shutdown. “As a result, it is now your obligation to meet with us directly to reach an agreement to keep the government open and address the Republican healthcare crisis,” they wrote. Trump said on Saturday that he would “love to meet with them, but I don’t think it’s going to have any impact.” A day before, he didn’t appear optimistic that a shutdown could be averted. “I think we could very well end up with a closed country for a period of time,” Trump said. Thune may have defections within his own ranks to contend with, too. Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, voted against the GOP’s bill. Only Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., crossed the aisle to support it. Paul’s vote against the bill wasn’t a surprise. However, Murkowski, who is an appropriator, contended that she wanted a better bill on the floor than the one presented by Republicans and charged that the back-to-back failures of both bills was a “messaging exercise.” “I want to project a message of something that can actually get us through this impasse,” she said. “And so my message is a short-term CR that also addresses three past appropriations bills that we’ve already done. We should include those. We should include a short-term fix of the premium tax credits.”
Newsom on courtroom collision course with Trump over ICE mask ban
California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s attempt to block authorities from wearing masks during immigration enforcement operations is facing legal scrutiny as critics push back on the governor’s effort to assert power over federal officers. Newsom, a Democrat, signed a bill over the weekend that bans state and federal law enforcement from wearing masks on the job, a move that Trump administration officials decried as illegal and vowed to ignore. The bill is set to take effect in January. “We don’t need to abide by this garbage,” a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said on social media. NEWSOM BANS LAW ENFORCEMENT FROM WEARING MASKS, TAUNTS ICE AGENTS: ‘WHAT ARE YOU AFRAID OF?’ Acting U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli of the Central District of California said on “Fox & Friends” on Monday he did not think Newsom’s bill was enforceable. Essayli, who has been in lockstep with the Trump administration on its aggressive immigration enforcement tactics in California, predicted Newsom would sue. “I think what the governor might do is he might file a lawsuit,” Essayli said. “He might run to a judge to try to get some sort of order, but we’re very confident. The State of California does not and cannot have jurisdiction.” Newsom’s measure was part of a string of bills the governor signed to counteract the Trump administration, which has, since the summer, been carrying out controversial immigration raids across California. The Supreme Court recently temporarily cleared the way for ICE authorities to continue conducting immigration stops at farms, car washes and other places where they suspect illegal immigrants might be. But the high court did not weigh in on the authorities’ garb, which at times has included identity-concealing masks and neck gaiters, according to videos. “Unmarked cars, people in masks, people quite literally disappearing, no due process, no rights,” Newsom said, adding, “I’ll be signing a bill, the first in the nation, saying, ‘Enough, ICE, unmask, what are you afraid of?’” LOS ANGELES COUNTY PUSHES TO PROHIBIT LAW ENFORCEMENT FROM HIDING THEIR IDENTITIES WHILE ON THE JOB California-based attorney Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor, told Fox News Digital that if courts end up weighing in on Newsom’s bill, they will likely raise the separation of powers and the supremacy clause, the part of the Constitution that says federal law trumps state law. Rahmani said that while states can impose “reasonable restrictions” on federal law enforcement, such as traffic violations, dictating what the officers wear is different. “You have the state imposing restrictions on the federal government, and those restrictions can really unduly interfere with their law enforcement functions, right?” Rahmani said. “The state is saying that unmasking these federal officials is necessary to restore public trust, but really it’s a safety issue, right? They can be doxed. Their families can be put at risk, so I can easily see this specific regulation being struck down by the courts.” Essayli accused the governor of using what he described as a “silly” bill to try to “inflame the public.” “You have this narrative that people are out there being kidnapped. It’s not true,” Essayli said. “They’re federal agents. They’re acting under federal law, and if he doesn’t like it he should change the law.”
Elon Musk wades into Virginia transgender bathroom clash, says Dem gov candidate wrongly ‘blaming’ Trump
Elon Musk amplified a post from Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger, weighing in as transgender bathroom policies again take center stage in the state’s off-year election. Musk alleged Spanberger “tr[ied] to weasel out” of a question from ABC Washington reporter Nick Minock about whether the former congresswoman supports biological males using women’s locker rooms as the Department of Education scrutinizes five major school districts. “Spanberger obviously does shamefully support boys in girl’s sports and is trying to weasel out of the question by blaming the president,” Musk said, retweeting Spanberger’s response to Minock – who encountered her after she visited an early-voting poll. Minock mentioned the Trump administration is investigating potential Title IX violations in allowing students to use their desired restroom or changing facility, for which Fairfax, Loudoun, Arlington, Alexandria and Prince William County schools under scrutiny. VIRGINIA LEADERS REBUKE RACIST SIGN TARGETING GOP GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE WINSOME EARLE-SEARS: ‘REPULSIVE’ Spanberger replied that court cases brought on the matter of transgender students’ restroom use have already played out, including the case of Gavin Grimm, a transgender student who challenged the local school’s bathroom policy in Grim v. Gloucester County School Board, arguing it violated equal protection and Title IX. In that case, the Richmond-based Fourth Circuit upheld a lower court’s judgment against the school district and ruled its biologically-based restroom policy led to discrimination against Grimm. “In fact, the argument is the assessment is there needs to be much clearer guidance in terms of what is an executive order’s binding assessment of Title IX versus what has been a decision of a court,” Spanberger said. “But ultimately, the real impact here is, once again, it is the Trump administration taking dollars away from Virginia. Threatening education dollars to our public schools is an attack on Virginia’s kids. It’s an attack on our economy. It’s an attack on Virginians.” POTENTIAL YOUNGKIN SUCCESSOR FOCUSED ON MESSAGE IN TOUGH RACE TO KEEP SWING STATE RED Spanberger said her priority is making Virginia schools the best in the country and painted President Donald Trump as an official who is “coming after Virginia.” When Minock asked again whether Spanberger specifically supported such policies, she did not respond. However, in comments to Fox News Digital, a Spanberger spokesperson rebuffed Musk, saying the Democratic nominee is a mother of three Virginia public schoolchildren and a former federal law enforcement officer who investigated child predators. “Nothing is more important to her than the safety of all of Virginia’s kids,” the spokesperson said. “Ultimately, Abigail believes that these are decisions between parents and local schools — and she believes that politicians need to stop politicizing Virginia’s public schools.” Fox News Digital also reached out to Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears – the Republican nominee for governor – for comment. In 2021, the issue of transgender bathroom policy in schools loomed large in the gubernatorial election. Current Gov. Glenn Youngkin was credited with pulling off an upset win against former Gov. Terry McAuliffe by making the overarching issue of “parental rights” front-and-center in the campaign. Many of the individual cases affected schools in heavily-Democratic areas like Loudoun County, where McAuliffe still won, but Youngkin mildly increased expected margins. A case in Loudoun involving a transgender student allegedly assaulting another student also made headlines during the campaign. At present-day, the issue – as well as Washington, D.C.-metro school systems like those mentioned are again front-and-center. Earle-Sears has called for requiring students to use the restroom assigned to their biological sex as “common sense,” and recently appeared alongside demonstrators outside a Loudoun school board meeting in Ashburn earlier this month. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Appearing at an Arlington school board meeting, where a protester held up a sign telling Earle-Sears – who is Black – she should not share her water fountain if people can’t share bathrooms, the Republican said the continuing trend is “dangerous, insane and has to stop.” “Here’s the truth. There are two sexes: boys and girls.” Musk’s former DOGE counterpart, Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, headlined a rally on Friday to endorse Earle-Sears, lieutenant governor candidate John Reid and Attorney General Jason Miyares. Reid, who approached and embraced Spanberger at her recent appearance in Henrico, highlighted Musk’s comments and said both sides of the aisle “can and should be polite to each other – but also must clearly highlight the differences between the candidates…” “Abigail Spanberger is dodging the trans in the girls locker room issues because she’s smart enough to know it’s a big loser for her,” Reid said. “No boys in girls’ sports. No boys in girls’ locker rooms and vice versa. No medical engagement with minors without parental consultation and consent. No underage surgical or hormonal procedures on anyone,” Reid said. “We should do our best to let adults make their own decisions as long as they fully own the costs and consequences.”
Macron stakes anti-Trump global role with Gaza initiative at UN summit
French President Emmanuel Macron opened his week at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) with a dramatic announcement that France will formally recognize a Palestinian state, seeking to reset the diplomatic agenda on Gaza and signal France’s role on the world stage. As world leaders gather in New York for UNGA, Macron is seizing on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to stake out global leadership — and, critics argue, to position himself as a counterweight to President Donald Trump. Renewing his call for recognition of a Palestinian state, Macron has also put forward a proposal for a multinational force to take over from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) “the day after” the Gaza war, according to The Times of Israel. For Macron, the United Nations General Assembly is a stage to project France as an alternative power. “Macron’s policy on the Israel-Palestine conflict reflects his broader ambitions on France’s foreign policy, that is, the idea that the country, as a middle European power, can offer an alternative to the U.S.-China competition,” Jean-Loup Samaan, a senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore’s Middle East Institute, told Fox News Digital. “In this specific case, Macron believes that his push for a Palestinian state will increase French credibility in the Arab world and the so-called ‘Global South.’” MACRON STRUTS ON WORLD STAGE AS REVOLT OVER FRANCE’S SOARING DEBT PUTS HIS PM ON THE BRINK “We have to recognize the legitimate right of Palestinian people to have a state,” Macron said in an interview broadcast Thursday on Israel’s Channel 12. “If you don’t give a political perspective, in fact, you just put them in the hands of those who are just proposing a security approach, an aggressive approach.” He went further, denouncing Israel’s ground offensive in Gaza City as “absolutely unacceptable” and “a huge mistake.” The comments infuriated both Israel and the United States, which argue that recognition emboldens extremists and rewards Hamas, the group responsible for the Oct. 7, 2023 massacre. Macron, however, insists recognition is the only way forward, reviving the long-stalled two-state solution. More than 145 countries already recognize Palestine, and European allies, including the U.K., Canada, Australia, Portugal, Malta, Belgium, and Luxembourg, are expected to follow France’s lead in the coming days. Yet analysts warn Macron’s track record suggests otherwise. “If you want to know how UN-sponsored peacekeepers do with terrorist groups in the region, we have a 20-year case study in UNIFIL, which enabled rather than denied Hezbollah the ability to grow into a massive military threat,” Richard Goldberg, senior advisor at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital. “Macron is certainly driven by his beleaguered domestic political situation and the large French Muslim population, but in his own mind he’s also been down this road in Lebanon, where France has historic equities. The record is pretty clear: Macron has never delivered on anything; security improvements have only come through U.S. pressure and Israeli military might,” Goldberg said. Just days before Macron’s push, Trump met with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Jared Kushner to discuss Gaza’s future — and is set to hold a meeting tomorrow with Arab leaders on “the day after,” sources confirm to Fox News Digital. The overlap has fueled speculation that Macron is maneuvering to outshine Trump and claim the mantle of statesman-in-chief. TRUMP WHISPERS ‘CRAZY’ PUTIN DEAL THEORY TO MACRON IN HOT MIC MOMENT Goldberg added bluntly: “He may perceive himself that way, but I don’t think many in Washington spend a lot of time thinking about him.” Anne Bayefsky, director of the Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust, called Macron’s maneuvering “a blatant power-grab.” She told Fox News Digital: “The fact is that would-be Emperor Macron has no clothes. The promise he is waving around of Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas’ ‘promise’ to soon hold elections and abandon dictatorship and terror screams ‘scam.’” “At home, foreign policy topics are not driving the current political troubles, which are primarily focused on France’s need to reduce its fiscal deficit,” Samaan noted. “I think Macron’s initiative on Palestine has more to do with his personal aspirations in terms of legacy. He’ll leave office in 2027.” The proposed Gaza force, modeled on UNIFIL in Lebanon where France has long played a role, would demand French resources and likely face opposition in parliament from both the far left and far right, and without U.S. endorsement, Israeli buy-in, or domestic consensus in France, the initiative could stall before it begins.
From Kirk to Kimmel: Fiery NJ debate spotlights political violence and free speech
Republican Jack Ciattarelli said it was “wrong” for Democrat Rep. Mikie Sherrill to criticize Charlie Kirk after voting “yes” on a U.S. House resolution condemning his assassination — a clash that escalated when Sherrill invoked Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension over remarks about Kirk during their first debate Sunday. During their first debate of the general election in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, on Sunday, moderators asked the candidates if they would support legislation designating political violence as a hate crime in the state of New Jersey. “My opponent on Friday went down to Washington, voted yes on a resolution to celebrate Charlie Kirk’s life, but then within minutes sent out a statement that basically condemned him. I think that was wrong,” Jack Ciattarelli said, while affirming his support for the New Jersey bill. When pressed about her disagreement with Kirk, Sherrill said, “I think it’s fair to have free speech, but I think it should go to everyone, to Jimmy Kimmel and to myself as well.” WATCH: LAWMAKERS WRESTLE WITH HOW TO APPROACH HATEFUL POLITICAL RHETORIC IN WAKE OF KIRK ASSASSINATION ABC on Thursday suspended the “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” host indefinitely following controversial comments he made about Kirk’s assassination. 58 HOUSE DEMS VOTE AGAINST RESOLUTION HONORING ‘LIFE AND LEGACY’ OF CHARLIE KIRK Questions about political violence seeped onto the New Jersey gubernatorial debate stage on Sunday night as mourners gathered more than 2,000 miles away to honor Kirk’s life and legacy. After voting “yes” on the resolution condemning Kirk’s assassination, Sherrill released a statement criticizing Kirk’s character. “Charlie Kirk was advocating for a Christian nationalist government and to roll back the rights of women and Black people — this flies in the face of every value I hold dear and that I fight for. But the Constitution protects free speech, even for those I vehemently oppose,” she said. While ripping his opponent for her comments about Kirk, Ciattarelli also criticized Sherrill for not answering the moderator’s question about the state legislation. “My direct answer is I voted to protect free speech. I voted to end political violence. I also think it’s fair, Jack, to speak up when you disagree with something,” Sherrill said. “In this nation, we should be able to have free speech,” Sherrill said. “I vow to defend and fight for free speech my entire life, but it should never devolve into political violence.” Kirk’s assassination less than two weeks ago on Utah Valley University’s campus reignited a fierce debate about the rise of political violence in the United States. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “I think it is the responsibility of any public official and candidate for office to engage in rhetoric that doesn’t divide us,” Ciattarelli said Sunday. “My campaign has been about uniting us, not dividing us. I do think we need to take down the temperature a whole lot.”
Trump to reveal medical finding he calls ‘answer to autism’ in major announcement
President Donald Trump is poised to unveil a “significant” medical and scientific finding for U.S. children Monday — and said Sunday he believes there may be an “answer” to autism now. The Trump administration said in April it would kick off a massive research initiative to understand the cause of autism by September. “Tomorrow we’re going to have one of the biggest announcement(s) … medically, I think, in the history of our country. I think you’re going to find it to be amazing,” Trump said Sunday at the memorial service for conservative activist Charlie Kirk. “I think we found an answer to autism.” RFK JR ATTRIBUTES RISE IN AUTISM TO ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS, WHILE CDC POINTS TO IMPROVED DIAGNOSTIC PRACTICES No additional details were immediately provided, and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday that the announcement was related to the “childhood autism epidemic.” “This will be a powerful display of how the entire Trump administration is committed to addressing root causes of chronic conditions and diseases, embracing full transparency in government and championing gold standard science,” Leavitt said. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is expected to announce that it will caution pregnant women against using Tylenol during pregnancy except if they have a fever, the Washington Post reports, as the administration studies if use of the drug might be tied to autism. Tylenol maker Kenvue did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. However, Kenvue recently said in a statement that acetaminophen, the generic name for Tylenol, is the safest pain reliever for pregnant women. “Acetaminophen is the safest pain reliever option for pregnant women as needed throughout their entire pregnancy,” Kenvue said in a statement Sunday. “Without it, women face dangerous choices: suffer through conditions like fever that are potentially harmful to both mom and baby or use riskier alternatives.” MEDICAL GROUP GOES AGAINST CDC, RECOMMENDS COVID SHOTS FOR YOUNG KIDS The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a survey in April that found that autism prevalence is on the rise and said the increase “might be due to differences in availability of services for early detection and evaluation and diagnostic practices.” Specifically, the survey found that one in 31 8-year-old children were diagnosed with autism in 2022 — up from one in 36 in 2000. TRUMP DEMANDS DEFINITIVE ANSWER AMID ONGOING DEBATE OVER COVID-19 VACCINES Meanwhile, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has pointed to environmental factors as the root cause of autism. “This is coming from an environmental toxin, and somebody made a profit by putting that environmental toxin into our air, our water, our medicines, our food,” Kennedy said in April at an event related to the CDC’s report. “And it’s to their benefit to say ‘Oh, to normalize it, to say all this is all normal, it’s always been here.’ That’s not good for our country.”