Trump’s use of warship for border enforcement a ‘smart’ use of military force, expert says
President Donald Trump’s decision to send a Navy warship to assist with security at the southern border sends a strong message of deterrence to those who might be thinking of crossing into the U.S. by sea, one expert says. “It’s unusual, normally you see land forces, but it’s still smart,” Alfonso Aguilar, a former chief of the U.S. Office of Citizenship and the director of Hispanic engagement at the American Principles Project, told Fox News Digital. The comments come as the USS Gravely, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, is being deployed to assist in border security efforts under Trump’s executive order, the Navy said in a statement Saturday. “Gravely’s sea-going capacity improves our ability to protect the United States’ territorial integrity, sovereignty, and security,” said Gen. Gregory Guillot of U.S. Northern Command, which has been in charge of military operations at the border. PENTAGON DEPLOYS NAVY WARSHIP THAT FOUGHT HOUTHIS TO NEW US SOUTHERN BORDER MISSION IN LINE WITH TRUMP ORDER The primary mission of the USS Gravely, which has already departed Naval Weapons Station Yorktown, Virginia, for the border mission, will be to patrol the Gulf of America on the lookout for drug smugglers, military officials said. The USS Gravely deployment shows the Navy’s dedication to “combating maritime-related terrorism, weapons proliferation, transnational crime, piracy, environmental destruction, and illegal seaborne immigration,” Navy officials said, adding that the warship will enhance “maritime efforts” and “fill critical capabilities gaps” for Department of Homeland Security operations on the border. “It’s not only vital for the United States to have control of our border via land,” Pentagon chief spokesperson Sean Parnell told reporters Monday. “It’s equally important to control our territorial waters, and this deployment directly supports U.S. Northern Command’s mission to protect our sovereignty.” Aguilar noted that the military has already played a large role in helping secure the southern land border, making the Navy’s involvement at sea the next natural step. TRUMP PUTTING TROOPS ON BORDER WAS GAME CHANGER, SAN DIEGO SECTOR CHIEF SAYS: ‘FORCE MULTIPLIER’ “It’s what the military calls force projection,” Aguilar said. “It’s a great way to dissuade those who want to try to come to the U.S. through the sea … it’s a show of force.” Aguilar argued that the Navy’s deployment will help supplement operations already being carried out by the U.S. Coast Guard and will also enhance the Coast Guard’s capability, covering more sea and sending a strong message to those turning to the seas as an alternative to land crossings. “Like the forces on land that are providing a supportive balance role to the Border Patrol … the Navy will be doing the same thing, providing support to the Coast Guard in doing interdiction and enforcing … immigration activities on the high seas,” Aguilar said. Aguilar also noted the timing of the deployment, arguing that it fits with what land forces have already accomplished on the border under Trump. “The numbers have gone down, even the number of people trying [to cross the border] by sea, but it’s still a route,” Aguilar said. “What we have seen is that every time we close the door, they try to find another way to get in. So we have to close our land border, but we also have to close those sea entries to the U.S.” Fox News Digital’s Stephen Sorace contributed to this report.
Dems forecast ‘Trump recession,’ as Republicans say it’s time to double down
As Democrats on Capitol Hill slam President Donald Trump’s tariffs and forecast a coming “Trump recession,” Republicans say it is time to double down and deliver on the new administration’s agenda. Senator Ted Cruz, R-TX, describes the last four years under the Biden administration as a “war on American energy” whose effects continue to impact Americans daily. To undo the damage, he believes the Senate needs to work “hand in hand” with the Trump administration to implement President Donald Trump’s agenda. “The Biden administration did enormous damage to our economy. They waged war on American energy, and in particular on Texas oil and gas,” he told Fox News Digital. “That war on American energy ended on January 20th,” he added, referring to Trump’s return to the White House. TRUMP’S APPROVAL RATING MATCHES HIS ALL-TIME HIGH, NEW POLL FINDS “I think we have a mandate coming out of the election, a mandate to secure the border and mandate to unleash American energy, a mandate to extend the 2017 tax cuts and a mandate to fight for small businesses and jobs,” he said. “I believe we’re going to do all of that working hand-in-hand with President Trump,” he explained, adding, “It’s been an incredible first 50 days. We’ve got a lot more work to do.” Meanwhile, Democrats are pushing hard on the message that Trump’s tariffs – which include 25 percent tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico and a sweeping 25 percent tariff on aluminum and steel from around the world – are behind the high prices Americans are seeing in stores and gas stations. Senator Jeff Merkley, D-WA, believes that Trump is intentionally creating chaos to assert more control over the federal government and country. “The Trump recession is on its way,” Merkley predicted. TRUMP SAYS US ‘SUBSIDIZES’ ITS ’51ST STATE,’ CANADA “He’s firing people left and right with no thought about what works and doesn’t,” he told Fox News Digital. “It’s not about efficiency; it’s about tearing down and replacing professionals with lackeys.” “Trump is driving us into a recession,” he continued. “He is doing it deliberately, cultivating complete chaos in everything he does. These tariffs are on, these tariffs are off, stock market is diving, people don’t know where and how to invest.” Meanwhile, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-WA, suggested that; “Trump could stop being so irresponsible about the economy and make sure we’re driving costs down instead of up and stop the trade wars with indiscriminate sweeping tariffs.” Though Americans continue to face high prices, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has said the country is “in a period of transition” in which Trump is “implementing the formula that we know works.” “Look at President Trump’s results in his first term,” said Leavitt. “If people are looking for certainty, look at the record of this president, that’s why the American people re-elected him back to this office.” MR. WONDERFUL TALKS ‘EXCITEMENT’ AROUND CRYPTOCURRENCY UNDER TRUMP: AMERICA IS IN A ‘NEW PHASE’ Sen. Ed Markey, D-MA, however, said that Trump “has to avoid his indiscriminate ham-handed tariffs that are absolutely frightening the markets and frightening small businesses all across our country.” He also bashed the changes brought about by the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency. “He has to just stop with his indiscriminate cuts to programs, which actually provide the economic incentive for the creation of jobs in our society,” he said. Asked what can be done to avoid a recession, Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-WA, answered simply: “Don’t have tariffs.” GOP LAWMAKER SAYS HE DOESN’T THINK TRUMP TARIFFS WILL ‘PLUNGE’ US ECONOMY INTO RECESSION Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-CO, said that “we better get cracking” to reverse course. “I think we should do less tariffs. I think we need to recognize that government plays a role in the economy, but I certainly hope that we can make positive steps to make sure we don’t get a recession, the last thing anybody needs,” he said. Speaking with Fox News Digital at a healthcare protest just outside the Capitol building, “Squad” member Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-MI, refused to answer whether the U.S. was heading into a recession, instead insisting “we should talk about Medicaid.” “Medicaid is one of the most important things,” said Tlaib. “It’s actually very American. Most American thing you can ever like support because people don’t plan to get sick. We got to protect Medicaid.” On the other side of the aisle, Sen. John Husted, R-OH, told Fox News Digital that Trump’s “early aggressive approaches” will “cause a little disruption, but in the end, I’m hopeful we’ll get through those.” LARA TRUMP: SHIFTING THE STATUS QUO FOR THE ECONOMY TAKES A MULTI-FRONT EFFORT “The Biden administration did put us in a terrible box with their policies on immigration, the runaway government spending that led to inflation, their anti-energy policies that really made the cost of energy inputs in every product higher. The president’s trying to unravel that,” said Husted. “That will lead to some stability going forward, that will help create jobs and get the American economy moving forward.” Freshman Sen. Jim Justice, R-WV, meanwhile, said he does not think the U.S. is recession-bound. “I really don’t think we’re headed into a recession. I don’t think that at all,” he said. “[But] the Senate stands ready to work with President Trump in every way [and] I surely stand ready to work with him on everything.” Come what may, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-MO, said that the best way to avoid a recession is to “implement the president’s agenda” and help working families. “Under Joe Biden, their wages went down, the prices went up,” he said. “We need to pass tax relief for working families and get more of their hard-earned money, put it back into their pockets. It’s vital.” FORBES CHAIRMAN LAYS OUT TAX PLAN FOR ‘GOLD ON THE HORIZON’ “What can we do?” he continued. “Open up American energy production, we can get fair and equal trade deals, we’ve got to get wages up for our people,
Trump fires Democratic FTC commissioners
President Donald Trump fired two Democratic commissioners at the Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday, both of whom now say they plan to sue to get their jobs back. The firings hit Commissioners Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Slaughter, who represent the Democratic minority in the five-member commission. The White House did not immediately confirm Trump’s firing of the officials to Fox News Digital, but both Bedoya and Slaughter released public statements saying they intend to sue to return to their roles. “I’m a commissioner at the Federal Trade Commission. The president just illegally fired me,” Bedoya wrote on social media, arguing Trump wants the FTC to “be a lapdog for his golfing buddies.” Slaughter released a similar statement saying Trump “illegally fired” her, arguing the move was “violating the plain language of a statute and clear Supreme Court precedent.” RUBIO HEADS TO PANAMA, LATIN AMERICA TO PURSUE TRUMP’S ‘GOLDEN AGE’ AGENDA “We are still commissioners. We’re suing to make that clear for everyone,” Bedoya said in a follow-up statement. FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson, a Republican first appointed to the commission by President Biden and then made chairman by Trump, said he saw no issues with the firings on Tuesday. “President Donald J. Trump is the head of the executive branch and is vested with all of the executive power in our government,” Ferguson wrote. “I have no doubts about his constitutional authority to remove commissioners, which is necessary to ensure democratic accountability for our government.” “I wish Commissioners Slaughter and Bedoya well, and I thank them for their service,” he added. The FTC firings are only the latest battle over the limits of Trump’s executive authority. His administration is facing numerous lawsuits from disgruntled former employees across the federal government, and several federal judges have sought to hamper his administration’s efforts. TRUMP ASKS SUPREME COURT TO REVIEW BAN ON BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP Last week, U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg verbally issued a 14-day restraining order to immediately halt the Trump administration’s Tren de Aragua deportation plan. Trump was deporting the gang members under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, and the order could have forced two planes full of TdA gang members to return to U.S. soil. Trump’s efforts to trim the federal government with Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) have also led to a litany of legal challenges. Reuters contributed to this report.
‘Bad idea’: Conservatives warn red state data center bill will derail Trump’s vision of energy ‘golden age’
Conservatives on social media and in the public square are increasingly speaking out about a bill being mulled in the Texas legislature they say threatens President Donald Trump’s goal of ushering in a “golden age” of American energy and AI dominance. Some conservatives are rebelling over a proposal in the Texas Senate that will give the state broad authority to control new data centers in the state. SB6, or “the data center bill,” caused an online ruckus recently, with conservative opposition to the bill gaining momentum, arguing that the bill, should it pass, will impose a major roadblock to the Trump administration’s “Golden Age” of American energy production. Texas, long believed to be an ideal location for the AI fueling data centers, is a major location for President Trump’s multibillion-dollar Stargate plan and is considered a finalist for numerous other multibillion-dollar projects and investments over the next decade. Provisions in SB6, however, issue regulations giving the state broad authority to control both the data centers’ use and cost measures that could eat into data center producer margins, which critics say makes the state a far less appealing location for these investments and potentially gives China the upper hand in the race to dominate AI. SECURING THE AI FUTURE: HOW PRESIDENT TRUMP’S ACTION PLAN CAN POSITION AMERICA FOR SUCCESS “AI data centers use a LOT of power – and while huge AI firms will be able to brunt these costs, smaller firms will have a harder time building,” Florida Voice News assistant director Eric Daughtery posted on X. “Texas Republicans need to think this through. Conservatives should NOT favor disincentivizing competition.” “President Trump’s quest for AI dominance is about to be derailed by a bill being offered up in the Texas State Senate,” conservative commentator Grant Stinchfield posted on X. “SB6 could literally cost Texas the $500 billion Stargate project. I can’t believe I’m telling Texas how bad overregulation actually is!” “Texas Senate Bill 6 (SB6) is a bad idea. It threatens to challenge President Trump’s vision for AI dominance and the need for the US to invest in domestic data centers,” conservative commentator Ian Miles Cheong posted on X while tagging the state’s Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. “If you want China to win and stifle American innovation, this seems like the bill to do it.” AI ‘DIGITAL TWINS’ ARE WARPING POLITICAL REALITY, LEAVING DEEPFAKE VICTIMS WITH FEW OPTIONS FOR LEGAL ACTION “Every family + business that uses electricity will be impacted by SB6, which was voted out of committee today,” the Texas Consumer Association posted on X. “Read our full statement here. Big takeaway: as written, it’s anti-consumer–despite the glitter some are sprinkling around it. We’ll work to fix.” Vance Ginn, Ph.D., senior fellow at the Pelican Institute for Public Policy, told Fox News Digital that the bill “expands government control by imposing unnecessary regulations on large energy consumers using more than 75 megawatt hours of electricity, restricting competition and driving up costs.” “Instead of regulating electricity use and propping up energy sources through tax breaks and subsidies, Texas should focus on getting government out of the way to ensure true energy abundance and a thriving economy,” Ginn said. In a statement to Fox News Digital, Patrick said his agenda is in line with President Trump’s. “We have made clear we are in lockstep with the President on his goal to make America number one, and dominate China, on AI, data centers, and cryptocurrency,” Patrick said. “Just a few weeks ago we passed SB 21, the Texas Bitcoin Reserve, making us the largest red state in the country to create a Bitcoin reserve in line with the President. No other state can even come close to Texas on these important issues.” “Texas is the only state with its own power grid. SB 6 will strengthen, expand, and secure our grid to meet the significant growth needed to meet these goals. More data centers are under construction in Texas, including for the President’s Stargate plan, than any state in the country. At the same time, we are investing billions of dollars in our Texas grid to supply the power needed for the homes and businesses in the fastest growing state in the country.” Patrick, who listed SB6 as one of his top legislative priorities in 2025, previously told Fox News Digital that there is “no daylight” between himself and President Trump when it comes to energy and AI projects. “I totally support the president and his Stargate Plan. We are completely aligned in our desire to see Texas and America lead in AI, data centers and crypto,” Patrick said. “These industries understand they will have to supply their own power needs and are diligently working toward that goal so costs are not disproportionally shifted onto residential and small businesses customers.” Supporters of the bill make the case that changes to Texas’ power grid are necessary to protect it from vulnerabilities which have been a major concern after a winter storm brought the grid to its knees in 2021, resulting in the deaths of hundreds. Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment.
Successful legal challenges to Biden’s pardons over autopen signature ‘vanishingly low’: Turley
Concerns are mounting around former President Joe Biden’s use of an autopen to sign presidential pardons and other official documents across his four years in office, though the chances of successfully challenging in court the use of an autopen on presidential pardons are “vanishingly low,” constitutional scholar Jonathan Turley said. “Many are suggesting that the Biden pardons may now be challenged in light of the disclosures of Biden’s use of an autopen,” Turley, a Fox News contributor, wrote on X Tuesday. “The chances of such challenges succeeding are vanishingly low. Presidents are allowed to use the autopen and courts will not presume a dead-hand conspiracy.” “Many of these were high-profile pardons, including for his own son, that Biden acknowledged publicly,” he added. “There is also a problem with standing unless the issue comes up in a government effort to indict a recipient. That does not mean that the disclosures are not deeply troubling.” Autopen signatures are ones that are automatically produced by a machine, as opposed to an authentic, handwritten signature. TRUMPS TAKES JAB AT BIDEN OVER ‘AUTOPEN SIGNATURE’ FOLLOWING CONCERNING REPORT OVER WHO RAN THE WHITE HOUSE President Donald Trump has been sounding the alarm on Biden’s prevalent use of an autopen for official presidential documents, most notably for official presidential pardons before he left office in January. On Monday morning, Trump posted on Truth Social that Biden’s pardons for individuals connected to the Jan. 6 select committee investigation another are “void.” “The ‘Pardons’ that Sleepy Joe Biden gave to the Unselect Committee of Political Thugs, and many others, are hereby declared VOID, VACANT, AND OF NO FURTHER FORCE OR EFFECT, because of the fact that they were done by Autopen,” Trump wrote. “In other words, Joe Biden did not sign them but, more importantly, he did not know anything about them! The necessary Pardoning Documents were not explained to, or approved by, Biden. He knew nothing about them, and the people that did may have committed a crime. Therefore, those on the Unselect Committee, who destroyed and deleted ALL evidence obtained during their two year Witch Hunt of me, and many other innocent people, should fully understand that they are subject to investigation at the highest level,” he added. At the heart of the issue over the use of an autopen, which have been frequently used by presidential administrations across the decades, is concern over Biden’s mental acuity when he served in the White House. Trump said Sunday that though he uses the autopen for documents such as letters, he does not use an autopen for legally binding documents. BIDEN’S ‘AUTOPEN SIGNATURE’ APPEARS ON MOST OFFICIAL DOCS, RAISING CONCERNS OVER WHO CONTROLLED THE WH: REPORT Trump’s declaration that Biden’s pardons are now “void” sparked a wave of legal questions to swirl — with many legal experts reporting that this is uncharted legal territory. “This dog will not hunt,” Turley added on X. “It may be worthy of investigation by Congress, but the pardons are unlikely to be seriously questioned by the courts.” Michael O’Neill, the vice president of legal affairs at Landmark Legal Foundation — a conservative legal advocacy group that works to defend the Constitution — told Fox News Digital that, to his knowledge, “there hasn’t been a case where the limits of this power have been challenged.” “Biden’s pardons at the end of his term certainly test whether there are any limits to the presidential pardon power,” O’Neill said. “Can a president issue blanket pardons encompassing any crime an individual may be accused of over ten years? This is a legitimate question that has yet to be addressed by the courts because no president has abused this authority until Biden. Another question is whether the pardons are valid if executed without the president’s knowledge — i.e. via autopen.” “If an individual who has received a pardon is indicted, they would, most likely, assert pardon as an affirmative defense,” he added. “Lower courts would, most likely, uphold the dismissal, leaving it to SCOTUS to define the contours of the pardon power. How SCOTUS decides such a case is unknown.” LIES ABOUT BIDEN’S AGE, HEALTH DURING HIS PRESIDENCY IS A ‘SCANDAL OF EPIC PROPORTIONS,’ SCOTT JENNINGS SAYS The Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project first sounded the alarm on Biden’s use of an autopen earlier in March, reporting that an autopen signature was used on the vast majority of official documents researchers reviewed, except for the signature on Biden’s official announcement that he was dropping out of the presidential race in 2024. Heritage’s Project Oversight posted a memo on its ongoing investigation into the matter Monday, reporting that researchers are wading through copious amounts of “public documents discharging non-delegable Presidential powers containing former President Joseph R. Biden’s signature.” The memo determined that “individuals in the Biden Administration other than the President appear to have used a device called an autopen to affix the President’s signature onto some of the most controversial clemency warrants of his Presidency.” The Project Oversight memo offered a legal explanation that “if President Biden’s non-delegable official actions were not his own, then they are invalid.” “Start with the Constitution,” the memo reported. “Multiple Constitutional provisions, like the pardon power, vest those powers solely in the President. In those cases, the President affixing his signature is his execution of the acts as President.” “The Founding Fathers contemplated these issues when writing the Constitution. For example, Article I, Section 7, Clause 2 of the Constitution lays out the role of the President to sign or veto legislation. Early debates at the Constitutional Convention concerning this provision made it clear that regardless of the structure of the Executive Branch, the President would maintain a necessary affirmative approbation of legislation presented to him. The act of the President affixing his signature manually to a bill is his consent and is the very act that causes a bill to become law; it is in no way ministerial. Until he signs, there is no law,” the legal explanation continued. The Justice
El Salvador’s Bukele weighs in after Trump’s call to impeach judge: ‘The U.S. is facing a judicial coup’
After U.S. President Donald Trump called for the impeachment of a judge, President of El Salvador Nayib Bukele asserted in a post on X that “The U.S. is facing a judicial coup.” Elon Musk agreed with the foreign leader, sharing the tweet and commenting, “1000%.” In a post on Truth Social, Trump, apparently referring to Judge James E. Boasberg of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, called the judge a “Radical Left Lunatic of a Judge, a troublemaker and agitator,” noting that he had been nominated by President Barack Obama. TRUMP CALLS FOR JUDGE IN DEPORTATION LEGAL BATTLE TO BE IMPEACHED “This judge, like many of the Crooked Judges’ I am forced to appear before, should be IMPEACHED!!! WE DON’T WANT VICIOUS, VIOLENT, AND DEMENTED CRIMINALS, MANY OF THEM DERANGED MURDERERS, IN OUR COUNTRY,” Trump declared in the post. Trump recently issued a proclamation that pointed to the Alien Enemies Act as providing the authority to remove Venezuelan citizens 14 and older who belong to Tren de Aragua if they are not naturalized or lawful permanent residents of the U.S. In response to a legal challenge regarding Trump’s move, Judge Boasberg sought to temporarily block the removal of such individuals pursuant to the proclamation. SCOOP: IMPEACHMENT ARTICLES HIT JUDGE WHO ORDERED TRUMP TO STOP TREN DE ARAGUA DEPORTATION FLIGHTS But flights that had reportedly departed prior to the judge’s order did not reverse course. The administration recently transported 261 illegal aliens to El Salvador, of whom 137 were deported under the Alien Enemies Act, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt noted on Monday. Bukele announced on Sunday that “the first 238 members of the Venezuelan criminal organization, Tren de Aragua, arrived in our country,” adding that “the U.S. has also sent us 23 MS-13 members wanted by Salvadoran justice, including two ringleaders.” US PAID EL SALVADOR TO TAKE VENEZUELAN TREN DE ARAGUA MEMBERS: ‘PENNIES ON THE DOLLAR,’ WHITE HOUSE SAYS Trump raised the issue again in a post shortly after midnight. “If a President doesn’t have the right to throw murderers, and other criminals, out of our Country because a Radical Left Lunatic Judge wants to assume the role of President, then our Country is in very big trouble, and destined to fail!” he declared in the post shared just minutes into Wednesday.
Judge blocks Trump’s EPA from terminating $14 billion in ‘green bank’ grants after accusations of fraud
A federal judge on Tuesday blocked the Environmental Protection Agency from terminating $14 billion in grants awarded to three climate groups by the Biden administration. U.S. District Judge Tonya Chutkan ruled that the federal government’s “vague and unsubstantiated assertions of fraud are insufficient.” The order prevents the EPA from ending the grant program, which totaled $20 billion. The judge also blocked Citibank, which holds the money on behalf of EPA, from transferring it to the government or anyone else. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin claimed the grant recipients engaged in mismanagement, fraud and self-dealing in announcing that he froze and moved to terminate the grants, but the judge said Zeldin’s allegations were inadequate. “At this juncture, EPA Defendants have not sufficiently explained why unilaterally terminating Plaintiffs’ grant awards was a rational precursor to reviewing” the green bank program, Chutkan wrote. EPA TERMINATES BIDEN ADMIN’S GREEN GRANTS WORTH $20B, ZELDIN SAYS The grant recipients sued the EPA, Zeldin and Citibank, arguing that they had illegally denied the groups access to $14 billion awarded last year through the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, commonly referred to as a “green bank.” The program, which consisted of two initiatives worth $14 billion and $6 billion, respectively, was approved by Congress under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act to support clean energy and climate-friendly projects. Three groups — Climate United, the Coalition for Green Capital and Power Forward Communities — said the frozen grants prevented them from funding new projects and might force them to lay off staff. The groups said the allegations of mishandling funds were meritless. The groups also asked Chutkan to order Citibank to unfreeze the account, but the judge declined. The order only preserves the status quo as the case moves forward. STACEY ABRAMS SLAMMED AFTER DEFENDING $2 BILLION IN BIDEN-ERA EPA FUNDS TO BUY GREEN ENERGY APPLIANCES Climate United was awarded nearly $7 billion, the Coalition for Green Capital won $5 billion and Power Forward Communities — a group linked to Democrat Stacey Abrams — was awarded $2 billion. Beth Bafford. CEO of Climate United, said the judge’s ruling was “a step in the right direction.” “In the coming weeks, we will continue working towards a long-term solution that will allow us to invest in projects that deliver energy savings, create jobs, and boost American manufacturing in communities across the country,” Bafford said. Zeldin said Tuesday on X that the grants were awarded “in a manner that deliberately reduced the ability of EPA to conduct proper oversight,” adding that he “will not rest until these hard-earned taxpayer dollars are returned to the U.S. Treasury.” Zeldin has described the grants as a “gold bar” scheme involved in conflicts of interest and potential fraud. “Twenty billion of your tax dollars were parked at an outside financial institution, in a deliberate effort to limit government oversight — doling out your money through just eight pass-through, politically connected, unqualified and in some cases brand-new NGOs,” Zeldin previously said in a video posted on X. Climate United contended that the termination was unlawful, arguing the federal government had identified no evidence of waste, fraud or abuse.
First on Fox: Democrats launch billboards targeting House Republicans amid town hall showdowns
EXCLUSIVE: The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is putting up billboards in nine competitive House districts that call out Republican representatives whom the Democrats charge are refusing to hold town halls with their constituents. The launch of the billboards, shared first with Fox News on Wednesday, comes as the DNC teams up with the Association of State Democratic Committees and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to host what they are calling “People’s Town Halls.” The in-person public events are being held this week during the Congressional recess in House districts with Republican representatives the Democrats consider vulnerable in next year’s midterm elections, when Democrats aim to win back the majority in the chamber. The DNC says the billboards will appear in the districts of Republican Reps. Juan Ciscomani (AZ-06) of Arizona, Gabe Evans (CO-08) of Colorado, Anna Paulina Luna (FL-13) of Florida, Zach Nunn (IA-03) of Iowa, John James (MI-10) of Michigan, Ann Wagner (MO-02) of Missouri, Don Bacon (NE-02) of Nebraska, and Ryan MacKenzie (PA-07) and Rob Bresnahan (PA-08) of Pennsylvania. TOWN HALL HELD BY REPUBLICAN CONGRESSMAN TURNS HEATED The moves this month by the Democrats follow the outbreak last month of eruptions and protests at town halls held by some Republican lawmakers. The outbursts were in reaction to sweeping and controversial moves by President Donald Trump in the opening weeks of his second tour of duty in the White House, which included a massive upending and downsizing of the federal government’s workforce. HEATING UP: THE EARLY MOVES ARE UNDERWAY IN THE 2028 DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION RACE Trump and Republican leaders have blamed the protests on Democratic activists and voters who showed up at the town halls, in what the GOP claims is an attempt to amplify the unrest. The president charged the outbursts were the work of “paid troublemakers” and that “it’s all part of a game for the Democrats.” House Speaker Mike Johnson claimed the eruptions were ignited by “professional protesters.” In response, Johnson and the National Republican Congressional Committee, the House GOP’s campaign arm, urged GOP lawmakers to avoid in-person gatherings with voters when possible and instead hold virtual town halls. The DNC, in their release, claimed the GOP lawmakers “are hiding from voters” and that “it’s time for Republicans across the country to stand up” and “face the music” over what Democrats call an “unpopular agenda.” Recently-elected DNC Chair Ken Martin, in a statement to Fox News, argued that “Republicans are refusing to meet with their constituents after voting to take away health care and make it harder for families to put food on the table. This isn’t surprising, over the last few months, one word has come to describe Republicans: cowards.” “If Republicans won’t show up, then Democrats will,” Martin emphasized. “We are hosting events in Republican-held districts and we are pasting Republican representatives’ phone numbers on billboards across their district because working families deserve to be heard.”
Trump administration ends program to track kidnapped Ukrainian children in Russia, lawmakers say
The U.S. State Department has ended funding for tracking thousands of Ukrainian children abducted by Russia, and a U.S. database with information on the victims may have been deleted, according to a letter U.S. lawmakers plan to send to Trump administration officials on Wednesday. A group of Democratic U.S. lawmakers penned the letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, urging the administration to restore the program that helps track the abducted Ukrainian children. The administration has ended a government-funded initiative led by Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab that tracked the mass deportation of children from Ukraine, meaning researchers have lost access to a significant amount of information — including satellite imagery — on roughly 30,000 children kidnapped from Ukraine. “We have reason to believe that the data from the repository has been permanently deleted. If true, this would have devastating consequences,” the letter, led by Ohio Rep. Greg Landsman, said. PRESIDENT TRUMP TOUTS ‘GREAT’ PHONE CALL WITH RUSSIA’S VLADIMIR PUTIN News of the letter came on Tuesday, the same day U.S. President Donald Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who stopped short of agreeing to a 30-day truce in Moscow’s war against Ukraine. A person familiar with the tracking program said the canceled State Department contract led to the deletion of $26 million in war crimes evidence. “They took $26 million of U.S. taxpayers money used for war crimes data and threw it into the woodchipper, including the dossiers on all the children,” the person told Reuters. “If you wanted to protect President Putin from prosecution, you nuke that thing. And they did it. It’s the final court-admissible version with all the metadata,” the person added. The letter to administration officials also calls for sanctions to punish officials in Russia and its ally Belarus who are involved in abducting children. “These egregious, openly acknowledged violations of the rights of children afforded under international law demand consequences,” the letter said. Yale University’s Humanitarian Research Lab also no longer has access to the satellite imagery needed to track the abducted children, according to the lawmakers. “Our government is providing an essential service – one that does not require the transfer of weapons or cash to Ukraine – in pursuit of the noble goal of rescuing these children. We must, immediately, resume the work to help Ukraine bring these children home,” the letter said. RUSSIA WANTS ‘IRONCLAD’ GUARANTEE THAT UKRAINE WILL BE BARRED FROM NATO: OFFICIAL Ukraine has described the abductions of tens of thousands of its children taken to Russia or Russian-occupied territory without parental consent as a war crime that meets the U.N. treaty definition of genocide. Russia has claimed it has been evacuating people voluntarily to protect vulnerable children from being caught in the crossfire. In March 2023, the International Criminal Court issued warrants for the arrest of Lvova-Belova and Putin in connection with the abduction of Ukrainian children, a move Russia denounced as “outrageous and unacceptable.” Eurojust, Europe’s agency for criminal cooperation, said on Tuesday it learned the U.S. government was ending its support for the International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine, which was collecting evidence to prosecute Putin and others. The U.S. special prosecutor at Eurojust, Jessica Kim, would leave as part of the move. Reuters contributed to this report.
How Donald Trump dominates the news, both positively and negatively
The Associated Press, not exactly a White House favorite, has shot itself in the foot. The following retraction is nothing short of humiliating: “The Associated Press has withdrawn its story about U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard saying President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin ‘are very good friends.’ Gabbard was talking about Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The AP will publish a corrected version of the story.” TRUMP ACCUSES BIG MEDIA OF ‘ILLEGAL’ REPORTING, VIRTUALLY ABOLISHES VOICE OF AMERICA Whoa! How do you run that piece in the first place without having it nailed down? The wire service, you may recall, is suing the Trump administration for ousting its reporters from the White House pool over its refusal to refer to “Gulf of America.” So, this unforced error puts the White House in I-told-you-so mode. On Monday, when Trump was at the Kennedy Center, an NBC reporter tried to ask a question, Trump asked, “Who are you with?” After the journalist identified himself, the president said: “I don’t want to talk to NBC anymore. I think you’re so discredited.” The Trump team later posted the exchange with “mic drop” emojis. The point is that Trump dominates the news no matter what he does. And, as I’ve been saying for the 35 years I’ve known him, even a torrent of negative publicity helps him because his media detractors are playing on his turf. While Trump was visiting the Kennedy Center, he “floated” the idea of personally hosting the annual awards show. And who’s going to stop him, since he’s purged the Democratic board members? ELON MUSK, LIGHTNING ROD, WHO CALLS AN OPPONENT ‘TRAITOR,’ BECOMES A HIGH-PROFILE TARGET The ratings, he said, would skyrocket. And he’s right about that. As the New York Times notes, a younger Trump dreamed of becoming a Broadway producer. He now says the Kennedy Center will concentrate on producing “Broadway hits.” And by the way, Trump released 80,000 pages of JFK assassination files yesterday and has asked for no redactions. The president can make news on the slightest whim, just by posting on Truth Social. He just went after Judge James Boasberg, who ordered the deportations of mostly Venezuelan gang members to be stopped while planes were still in the air: “This judge, like many of the Crooked Judges’ I am forced to appear before, should be IMPEACHED!!!” WE DON’T WANT VICIOUS, VIOLENT, AND DEMENTED CRIMINALS, MANY OF THEM DERANGED MURDERERS, IN OUR COUNTRY.” The posting drew a rare rebuke from Chief Justice John Roberts: “For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision. The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.” DONALD TRUMP, FACING TERRIBLE COVERAGE, SOFTENS TONE AND TACTICS FOR ELON MUSK’S DOGE CRUSADE The president is also renewing his habit of going after journalists personally. Ashley Parker had a highly successful career at the New York Times and Washington Post–she’s also an MSNBC analyst–who recently joined the Atlantic. She asked Trump for an interview. After dismissing the liberal Atlantic as a “Third Rate Magazine,” Trump posted: “Ashley Parker is not capable of doing a fair and unbiased interview. She is a Radical Left Lunatic, and has been as terrible as is possible for as long as I have known her. To this date, she doesn’t even know that I won the Presidency THREE times. If you have some other reporter, let us know, but Ashley is not capable or competent enough to understand the intricacies of High Level politics.” Parker is restrained, not radical, and in bringing up the 2020 election, Trump is asking her to accept something that has never been proven in court or by his own attorney general. A magazine spokesperson said, “Atlantic reporters are diligent and fair and continue to pursue stories of importance to the public.” And then there is, you know, the actual job of the presidency. Trump reported yesterday on his 90-minute phone call with Vladimir Putin. They “stressed the need for improved bilateral relations between the United States and Russia” – no surprise there. “The leaders agreed that the movement to peace will begin with an energy and infrastructure ceasefire, as well as technical negotiations on implementation of a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, full ceasefire and permanent peace…. “They further discussed the need to stop proliferation of strategic weapons and will engage with others to ensure the broadest possible application. The two leaders shared the view that Iran should never be in a position to destroy Israel.” And: “The two leaders agreed that a future with an improved bilateral relationship between the United States and Russia has huge upside,” including “enormous economic deals and geopolitical stability.” It seems to me that Trump got next to nothing. A 30-day pause in attacks on energy plants and infrastructure, that’s about it. Everything else is subject to negotiations, which gives the Kremlin more time to keep attacking Ukraine and lock in further territorial gains. A real cease-fire seems a long way off. But whether Trump is on the attack or being attacked, he is driving the news every day, even inserting himself into culture and sports topics. Keep that in mind when the ratings-driven president hosts the Kennedy Center honors.