President Donald Trump defended the U.S. preparing to accept a jumbo jet gift from Qatar’s royal family to serve as a temporary Air Force One as Boeing fails to roll out a new Air Force One fleet in a timely manner. 

“We’re very disappointed that it’s taking Boeing so long to build a new Air Force One,” Trump said from a press conference on drug prices Monday morning. “You know, we have an Air Force One that’s 40 years old. And if you take a look at that, compared to the new plane of the equivalent, you know, stature at the time, it’s not even the same ballgame.” 

“When I first came in, I signed an order to get (the new Air Force One fleet) built,” he continued. “I took it over from the Obama administration, they had originally agreed. I got the price down much lower. And then, when the election didn’t exactly work out the way that it should have, a lot of work was not done on the plane because a lot of people didn’t know they made change orders. That was so stupid, so ridiculous. And it ended up being a total mess, a real mess.” 

Reports spread Sunday morning that the Trump administration was expected to accept a $400 million Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet from Qatar’s royal family. ABC News reported that Trump would use the jet until the end of his term, when it would be given to his presidential library. 

QATAR OFFERS TRUMP JUMBO JET TO SERVE AS AIR FORCE ONE

Trump confirmed Sunday evening on Truth Social that the Department of Defense would receive the 747 as a gift, while railing against Democrats as “world class losers” for criticizing the gift.  

“So the fact that the Defense Department is getting a GIFT, FREE OF CHARGE, of a 747 aircraft to replace the 40 year old Air Force One, temporarily, in a very public and transparent transaction, so bothers the Crooked Democrats that they insist we pay, TOP DOLLAR, for the plane,” Trump wrote. “Anybody can do that! The Dems are World Class Losers!!! MAGA.”

He continued in the press conference Monday that when he returned to office this year, his administration informed him construction on two new Air Force Ones was “way behind” on the schedule for completion. 

TRUMP TEASES ‘VERY, VERY BIG ANNOUNCEMENT’ AHEAD OF MIDDLE EAST TRIP, CARNEY SAYS HE’S ‘ON EDGE OF MY SEAT’

“If we can get a 747 as a contribution to our Defense Department to use during a couple of years while they’re building the other ones. I think that was a very nice gesture. Now, I could be a stupid person to say, ‘Oh, no, we don’t want a free plane.’ We give free things, we’ll take one, two, and it helps us out. Because again, we’re talking about we have a 40-year-old aircraft. The money we spend, the maintenance we spend on those planes to keep them tippy-top is astronomical,” he added, calling the gift a “great gesture from Qatar.” 

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also brushed off concern over the Qatari royal family donating a Boeing jumbo jet to the U.S. Department of Defense, arguing Monday there will be no quid pro quo arrangement and that the donation is under legal review to ensure full compliance with the law. 

“The Qatari Government has graciously offered to donate a plane to the Department of Defense,” Leavitt said on “Fox & Friends” Monday morning. “The legal details of that are still being worked out. But of course, any donation to this government is always done in full compliance with the law, and we commit ourselves to the utmost transparency, and we will continue to do that.”

TRUMP STAFFERS LOAD BOXES OF ITEMS SEIZED BY FBI IN 2022 MAR-A-LAGO RAID ONTO AIR FORCE ONE

When asked if the administration was worried that accepting the gift could lead to a quid pro quo situation where Qatar expects something in return, Leavitt shot down such a narrative. 

“Absolutely not because they know President Trump, and they know he only works with the interests of the American public in mind,” Leavitt responded. 

Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., wrote to the Government Accountability Office on Sunday calling for an ethics investigation into the gift, claiming it would be the single most expensive gift ever received by a U.S. president. 

“I am writing to express alarm over reports that President Donald Trump is poised to accept a luxury aircraft — a Boeing 747-8 — from the government of Qatar,” Torres wrote. “The plane, so opulent it has been described as a ‘palace in the sky,’ is set to be made available to President Trump for official use as Air Force One and then for private use once he leaves office.” 

“This ‘flying grift’ is merely the latest chapter in a tawdry tale of presidential profiteering unprecedented in American history,” Torres added.

Presidents have for decades circumvented the Emoluments Clause — which prohibits federal elected officials from accepting gifts from foreign governments or monarchs — by classifying gifts they receive while in office as gifts to the office of the president. Those gifts are then cataloged and stored as part of their presidential libraries after leaving office. 

While presidents maintain some level of access to the items in their libraries, they do not own them directly and must purchase them from the federal government in order to secure private ownership.

Leavitt said in comment to Fox Digital Monday morning that all gifts received by a foreign government would be above board and in compliance with the law. 

HOUSE DEMOCRAT CALLS FOR ‘IMMEDIATE’ ETHICS PROBE OF QATARI PLANE GIFT TO TRUMP

“Any gift given by a foreign government is always accepted in full compliance with all applicable laws,” Leavitt said. “President Trump’s Administration is committed to full transparency.” 

Trump is headed to the Middle East and is expected to meet with leaders in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. A Trump administration official confirmed to Fox News Digital that the plane will not be presented to the president nor accepted by Trump during his trip abroad. 

The current Air Force One fleet includes two aging planes, both of which are more than 30 years old and have been eyed for replacement since at least the Obama administration. 

Trump railed against a government deal with Boeing to build a new fleet of Air Force Ones ahead of his first administration, posting to social media in December 2016 that the “costs are out of control, more than $4 billion” to build the two aircraft.

Trump in 2018 awarded Boeing a $3.9 billion fixed-price agreement to manufacture two new jets. The construction of the jets, however, is not expected to be completed until 2029. 

“Boeing is proud to build the next generation of Air Force One, providing American Presidents with a flying White House at outstanding value to taxpayers. President Trump negotiated a good deal on behalf of the American people,” Boeing said in 2018 after ironing out a deal with Trump for the creation of the new fleet. 

“The possible transfer of an aircraft for temporary use as Air Force One is currently under consideration between Qatar’s Ministry of Defense and the U.S. Department of Defense, but the matter remains under review by the respective legal departments, and no decision has been made,” Qatari embassy official Ali Al-Ansari told ABC News Sunday. 

When not in office as president, Trump has traveled in his private Boeing 757 jet, dubbed Trump Force One. That jet is famously emblazoned with Trump’s last name and was frequently seen in the backdrop of campaign rallies.

FIRST ON FOX – Apprehensions at the U.S.-Mexico border have plummeted 93% under President Donald Trump’s administration, according to new data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection released Monday.

The CBP says it averaged 279 apprehensions per day at the southern border in April, compared to 4,297 apprehensions in April 2024. The total apprehensions for April this year landed at 8,383, compared to last year’s 129,000.

CBP officials also noted that just five illegal aliens were temporarily released into the U.S. during April, compared to 68,000 during the same month last year.

“For the first time in years, more agents are back in the field – patrolling territories that CBP didn’t have the bandwidth or manpower to oversee just six months ago,” said Pete Flores, acting commissioner of CBP. “But thanks to this administration’s dramatic shift in security posture at our border, we are now seeing operational control becoming a reality – and it’s only just beginning.”

TOM HOMAN: MIGRANTS DEPORTED TO EL SALVADOR WERE ‘SIGNIFICANT PUBLIC SAFETY THREATS’

The CBP also noted that drug seizures rose 15% from March to April. Officials say they seized some 758 pounds of fentanyl crossing the border last month.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE

The report shows the Trump administration’s continued progress on controlling the border since March. The CBP recorded the lowest southwest border crossings in history in March, with fewer apprehensions in the entire month than there were in the first two days of the month in 2024 under the Biden administration.

Border Patrol apprehended a total of 7,181 illegal aliens attempting to cross the southern border between ports of entry in March. This constitutes a 14% decrease from February, when Border Patrol apprehended 8,346 aliens, and more dramatically, a 95% decrease from the 137,473 aliens apprehended under the Biden administration in the same period in 2024.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“Aliens are receiving the Trump administration’s message: if you cross the border illegally, you will be deported,” CBP said in its latest report.

Fox News’ Peter Pinedo contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump declared Monday that the U.S. “will no longer tolerate profiteering and price gouging from Big Pharma” as he signed an executive order implementing what his administration is calling “most favored nations drug pricing.” 

“The principle is simple – whatever the lowest price paid for a drug in other developed countries, that is the price that Americans will pay,” Trump said at the White House. “Some prescription drug and pharmaceutical prices will be reduced almost immediately by 50 to 80 to 90%.” 

Trump said that “starting today, the United States will no longer subsidize the healthcare of foreign countries, which is what we were doing. We’re subsidizing others’ healthcare, the countries where they paid a small fraction of what for the same drug that what we pay many, many times more for and will no longer tolerate profiteering and price gouging from Big Pharma.” 

“Even though the United States is home to only 4% of the world’s population, pharmaceutical companies make more than two thirds of their profits in America. So think of that with 4% of the population, the pharmaceutical companies make most of their money. Most of their profits from America. That’s not a good thing,” Trump continued.  

TRUMP SAYS HE WILL SLASH DRUG PRICES WITH EXECUTIVE ORDER

“I think, by the way, pharmaceutical – I have great respect for these companies and for the people that run them. I really do, and I think they did one of the greatest jobs in history for their company, convincing people for many years that this was a fair system. Nobody really understood why, but I figured it out. For years, pharmaceutical and drug companies have said that research and development costs were what they are, and for no reason whatsoever, they had to be borne by America alone,” Trump said. “Not anymore, they don’t.” 

The White House said the executive order “directs the U.S. Trade Representative and Secretary of Commerce to take action to ensure foreign countries are not engaged in practices that purposefully and unfairly undercut market prices and drive price hikes in the United States.

“The Order instructs the Administration to communicate price targets to pharmaceutical manufacturers to establish that America, the largest purchaser and funder of prescription drugs in the world, gets the best deal,” the White House said.

“The Secretary of Health and Human Services will establish a mechanism through which American patients can buy their drugs directly from manufacturers who sell to Americans at a ‘Most-Favored-Nation’ price, bypassing middlemen,” the White House added. “If drug manufacturers fail to offer most-favored-nation pricing, the Order directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to: (1) propose rules that impose most-favored-nation pricing; and (2) take other aggressive measures to significantly reduce the cost of prescription drugs to the American consumer and end anticompetitive practices.”

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, said alongside Trump, “I never thought that this would happen in my lifetime.”

“I have a couple of kids who are Democrats, are big Bernie Sanders fans. And when I told them that this was going to happen, they had tears in their eyes. Because they thought, this is never going to happen,” he said. “And we finally have a president who is willing to stand up for the American people.” 

MAHA CAUCUS MEMBER PLEDGES HEARINGS INTO ‘CORRUPTION’ OF A PUBLIC HEALTH SECTOR ‘CAPTURED BY BIG PHARMA’

Trump said earlier this morning that drug prices would be “cut by 59%.” 

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) trade group opposes the order, saying, “This Foreign First Pricing scheme is a bad deal for American patients.” 

“Importing foreign prices will cut billions of dollars from Medicare with no guarantee that it helps patients or improves their access to medicines,” the group’s president, Stephen Ubl, said in a statement provided to Fox News Digital. “It will jeopardize the hundreds of billions our member companies are planning to invest in America, making us more reliant on China for innovative medicines.” 

“To lower costs for Americans, we need to address the real reasons U.S. patients are paying more for their medicines. We are the only country in the world that lets PBMs, insurers and hospitals take 50% of every dollar spent on medicines,” Ubl also said. “In fact, hospital markups in 340B and the rebates and fees paid to middlemen in the U.S. often exceed the total cost of medicines oversees. Giving more of this money to patients will lower their medicine costs and reduce the gap with European prices.” 

Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner contributed to this report.  

FIRST ON FOX: Ohio freshman GOP Sen. Bernie Moreno has introduced legislation that would increase the criminal penalties for harming a police officer after a sheriff’s deputy was killed in the line of duty in Cincinnati, Ohio, earlier this month.

Moreno’s Larry Henderson Act, being introduced this week, would update existing law stating that anyone who forcibly assaults, resists, opposes, impedes, intimidates, or interferes with any law enforcement officer engaged in official duties be required to face one to eight years in prison, depending on the severity.

Moreno’s bill would up that mandatory minimum to 20 years. 

The bill also “establishes federal jurisdiction over these crimes as exclusive and preemptive, superseding state or local prosecution for federal officers.”

COP KILLER DIES AFTER ‘BOTCHED’ FIRING SQUAD EXECUTION; WITNESS IN THE ROOM REVEALS HOW IT HAPPENED

“Enough is enough,” Moreno told Fox News Digital in a statement.

“Anyone who assaults one of our men or women in blue needs to face severe consequences, period. Deputy Larry Henderson should be alive today, and that’s why I’m introducing legislation – in his honor – to protect our law enforcement officers.”

POLICE GROUP SLAMS GOFUNDME FOR OHIO FATHER ACCUSED OF KILLING DEPUTY LARRY HENDERSON

The bill is named after Hamilton County, Ohio, Sheriff’s Deputy Larry Henderson, who was killed when he was struck by a car while directing traffic near the University of Cincinnati during a graduation ceremony.

Authorities have charged Rodney Hinton with attempted murder and say he intentionally struck Henderson shortly after Hinton’s 18-year-old son was shot and killed by officers after allegedly fleeing in a stolen car while armed, according to prosecutors.

Ohio Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) President Jay McDonald said in a statement that Ryan’s father, Rodney Hinton Jr., “intentionally murdered a retired deputy who was working special duty at a graduation just because he was a police officer.”

Henderson was a 33-year officer with the HCSO and had served in multiple specialized units since 1991, including the dive team, HCPA SWAT, FBI Task Force Officer and the HCSO Bomb Unit.

“In Deputy Henderson’s early tenure as a Sheriff’s Deputy, I recognized his talent for teaching and presentation,” Hamilton County Sheriff Charmaine McGuffey said in a statement after Henderson’s death.

“Larry began his journey as a Sheriff’s Office trainer early in his career. He developed an expertise and became an excellent trainer. Subsequently, he trained divisions of the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office that included hundreds of deputy sheriffs. His ability to relate to and touch officers’ lives was extraordinary. We will continue to honor Larry’s life of service.”

Fox News Digital’s Audrey Conklin contributed to this report

China has agreed to “open itself up to American business” following trade negotiations between Washington and Beijing Saturday, according to President Donald Trump.

The arrangement arguably was the most significant development stemming from the trade negotiations, Trump told reporters Monday at the White House. 

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent launched trade negotiations with China in Geneva Saturday, resulting in a deal that would temporarily ease up on tariffs for 90 days.  

This is a breaking news story and will be updated. 

As the Alien Enemies Act continues to be a focal point of the immigration debate in the early days of President Donald Trump’s second term, Republican attorney Mehek Cooke told Fox News Digital about why the White House is making use of the 1798 law.

Some federal judges have disagreed with the Trump administration’s decision to use the act to send suspected MS-13 and Tren De Aragua gang members outside the United States, including to El Salvador’s CECOT prison. Trump designated those two groups as foreign terrorist organizations shortly after taking office.

“Under this act, it allows us to detain, apprehend, and deport alien enemies,” Cooke said.

BOASBERG GRILLS DOJ OVER REMARKS FROM TRUMP AND NOEM, FLOATS MOVING MIGRANTS TO GITMO IN ACTION-PACKED HEARING

“This immediately allowed under the Alien Enemies Act for President Trump and his administration to accelerate deportations of individuals from Venezuela and gang members,” she later added.

Earlier last week, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg asked the Justice Department about public comments Trump and other Cabinet officials made about deportation proceedings under the Alien Enemies Act and floated the idea of moving some migrants to Guantánamo Bay.

During the hearing, Boasberg specifically pressed Justice Department lawyers about statements made by Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem about CECOT, the maximum-security prison in El Salvador where the U.S. has deported hundreds of migrants, and the White House’s ability to secure someone’s release.

KILMAR ABREGO GARCIA’S LAWYERS ASK FOR MORE TRUMP ADMIN OFFICIALS TO TESTIFY, POSSIBLY FROM WHITE HOUSE

Cooke noted that the debate over due process has to do with the perspective of who gets those rights in the U.S.

“I think today, when we talk about due process, people have to understand there’s American citizens that deserve due process under our Constitution,” she said.

“There’s illegal aliens that are in our country that we have given a sliding scale of due process. And then there are terrorists that deserve very little process, as we’re expediting their removal. Our immigration judges and our courts don’t have enough time to stand there with every single individual that’s a Tren de Aragua member and bicker back and forth,” Cooke continued.

DEPORTATION FLIGHTS TO LIBYA WOULD VIOLATE COURT ORDER WITHOUT PRIOR NOTICE, FEDERAL JUDGE SAYS

The Republican attorney said that from her perspective, many federal judges are questioning the president’s ability to actually decide what is considered an alien enemy.

“What’s happening today is courts through judicial activism are actually challenging that. So what they’re saying is that the president can’t designate somebody an alien enemy. They can’t designate Tren de Aragua an alien enemy. And more importantly, courts are pushing and saying that these individuals that are illegal terrorists in our country deserve due process,” Cooke explained.

Fox News’ Breanne Deppisch and Jake Gibson contributed to this report.

A proposal to give illegal immigrants $1,000 to self-deport is drawing a somewhat mixed reaction from Republicans in the House of Representatives.

No GOP lawmakers opposed the idea, but some had questions about its feasibility. Others, however, emphatically backed the proposal as a cost-effective and humane way to achieve the Trump administration’s deportation goals.

“It’s a smart, compassionate, and cost-effective way to tackle immigration issues,” Rep. Michael Rulli, R-Ohio, told Fox News Digital. “Instead of costly detentions and deportations, this plan offers financial help and safe travel for people to return home. It’s a win-win, fair to those involved and saves American taxpayers millions.”

Meanwhile, Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., conceded it “will help get the [deportation] numbers up” but argued it would likely largely affect people who wanted to leave the country anyway.

SCOOP: REPUBLICANS DISCUSS DEFUNDING ‘BIG ABORTION’ LIKE PLANNED PARENTHOOD IN TRUMP AGENDA BILL

“We’re not gonna lose any gangbangers like that or any criminals, I think people that are trying to figure out a way to get back,” Burchett said. 

He added as another point, “Where will the money come from? Again, any money we spend now we’re just borrowing, so that’s a concern.” 

President Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said earlier this week that it would soon begin giving $1,000 stipends and travel aid to illegal immigrants who self-deport.

DHS said it was far cheaper than the cost of arresting someone and detaining them while their deportations are processed – an average cost of $17,000 according to the department.

“I think it is pathetic that we’re in a position where we have to pay for people and pay for their flights and remove them and then give them money,” Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital.

“But at the end of the day, everything is a calculation, at this point, on how you remove people and get sanity in our system. So I’m going to give the administration a lot of deference on that.”

Roy summarized his sentiments: “I don’t love it, but I also don’t love the situation we’re in.”

Reps. Mike Flood, R-Neb., and Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., both noted the argument of cost-effectiveness.

“I mean, the message it sends to me is he’s looking at every option to reduce and deport, to deport people that are here illegally, and my sense is they feel this can work, and it may be a lot cheaper in the long run if we can make it happen,” Flood said.

Clyde told Fox News Digital, “If it costs less to send them home that way, I think that’s a very creative option for the president.”

BROWN UNIVERSITY IN GOP CROSSHAIRS AFTER STUDENT’S DOGE-LIKE EMAIL KICKS OFF FRENZY

“I think what we’ll probably find is it costs us a whole lot more than $1,000 to go arrest them, put them in detention, and then physically deport them,” Clyde said.

But others, like Rep. David Schweikert, R-Ariz., just wanted to know that studies were being done on the plan’s potency.

“Do we have any studies on the efficiency?” he posed. “Also, how do you stop any type of scamming of the system – come across, go back, come across? It should be done by the math.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and DHS for comment.

Global stock markets are soaring in the wake of the trade truce between the U.S. and China.

The agreement, announced early Monday, implements a 90-day cooling-off period between the world’s two largest economic superpowers, bringing a temporary end to their tariff war that last month triggered a massive financial market sell-off. 

U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports, which were jacked to 145% last month as President Donald Trump hiked tariffs on countries around the world, will be scaled down to 30%, with Beijing lowering its tariffs from a retaliatory 125% to just 10%.

“We both have an interest in balanced trade, the U.S. will continue moving towards that,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said after talks with Chinese officials in Switzerland.

WHAT’S IN THE TRADE TRUCE WITH CHINA

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, in an appearance on “Fox and Friends,” said the agreement was “an extraordinary step in the right direction,” and a White House press release described it as “a historic trade win for the United States.”

While the initial agreement brought instant relief to the stock markets, for a president aiming to pass a sweeping agenda through Congress and hold onto his congressional majorities in next year’s midterm elections, it is the potential political payoff that may be of upmost importance.

The truce with China follows days after an initial trade deal with the United Kingdom – which is the first since Trump implemented tariffs last month. The president touted that the agreement with London would be “the first of many.”

“It’s a positive first step,” veteran Republican strategist and communicator Ryan Williams told Fox News.

COMMERCE SECRETARY SAYS MORE DEALS TO COME FOLLOWING US-UK TRADE AGREEMENT: ‘GOING TO DRIVE OUR ECONOMY’

Trump’s approval ratings have been sliding since he returned to power in the White House nearly four months ago and are now underwater in most national polling.

Most, but not all, of the most recent national public opinion surveys indicate Trump’s approval ratings in negative territory, which is a deterioration from the president’s poll position when he started his second tour of duty in the White House in late January.

Fueling the drop in Trump’s poll numbers are increased concerns by Americans over the economy and inflation, which were pressing issues that kept former President Joe Biden‘s approval ratings well below water for most of his presidency.  

Trump stood at 44% approval and 55% disapproval in the most recent Fox News national poll, which was conducted April 18-21.

Additionally, getting past the top lines, the president’s approval registered at 38% on the economy and just 33% on inflation and tariffs.

Front and center is Trump’s blockbuster tariff announcement in early April, which sparked a trade war with some of the nation’s top trading partners and triggered a massive sell-off in the financial markets and increased concerns about a recession.

POLL POSITION: WHERE TRUMP STANDS 15 WEEKS INTO HIS SECOND PRESIDENCY

In discussing his tariffs soon after he announced them on what he called “Liberation Day,” the president touted that “these countries are calling us up, kissing my a–.”

“They are dying to make a deal. ‘Please, please, sir, make a deal. I’ll do anything. I’ll do anything, sir!’” Trump claimed.

A month later, Trump finally has a chance to show tangible results.

The president touted, “NO INFLATION!!! LOVE, DJT” in a social media post Monday morning.

“President Trump has argued that his agenda requires time for an adjustment and deal making. He’ll be given a period of time to execute deals to prove that his plans are working and the first major trade deal with a nation like the UK is at least a sign that some of the work has been going on behind the scenes thus and is starting to bear fruit,” Williams said last week, following the announcement of the deal with the United Kingdom.

Williams added that the president will “have to back it up with more, but it is a positive first step for him in securing other deals.”

Two Senate Republicans are calling for immediate corrective action at the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), accusing agency officials of substantial misconduct, mismanagement, abuse of power and potential criminal misconduct after supervisory staff allegedly disregarded federal directives and standards in order to inflate their salaries. 

What’s more, instead of being disciplined, the supervisory agents who allegedly turned a blind eye to the misconduct – and in some cases allegedly retaliated against whistleblowers trying to expose it – were promoted under the Biden administration, the senators say.

“As a result of ATF’s illegal conduct, ATF staff assigned to these positions performed administrative work but unlawfully received enhanced law enforcement pay and benefits to which they were not entitled, wasting millions of taxpayer dollars,” Iowa’s Republican senators, Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, wrote in a letter transmitted Friday to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and ATF acting Director Daniel Driscoll. 

ARMY SECRETARY DAN DRISCOLL TO LEAD ATF, REPLACING FBI DIRECTOR KASH PATEL

In their letter, the senators cited two internal investigations from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), which concluded in 2020 and ultimately suspended the ATF’s classification authority, and the ATF Internal Affairs Division (IAD), which was completed in early 2024. Despite the suspension from OPM in 2020, which was lifted in 2023, ATF officials disregarded OPM directives and continued to re-classify agency employees improperly, according to the senators.

In their letter, Grassley and Ernst singled out two supervisory agents, Lisa Boykin and Ralph Bittelari, who they say the IAD audit shows not only allowed the continuance of this misclassification scheme – despite knowing it violated OPM directives and standards – but also retaliated against whistleblowers trying to expose it. 

Furthermore, the senators claim, Boykin and Bittelari were promoted before President Joe Biden left office and continue to work at the ATF under President Donald Trump.

In one instance, according to the senators, Bittelari and Boykin decided to move forward with the relocation of an ATF law enforcement officer in Phoenix to an administrative position at ATF headquarters in Washington, D.C., despite OPM identifying the position as misclassified. The IAD report allegedly shows Bittelari initially agreed to rescind the job offer, but following a subsequent conversation with Boykin decided to move forward with the unauthorized relocation anyway.

SENATOR WARNS OF ‘UNCONSTITUTIONAL’ JUDICIAL OVERREACH AHEAD OF SCOTUS SHOWDOWN

Furthermore, the senators alleged in their letter that the IAD report shows Bittelari attempted to hide the “unlawful assignment” by submitting the promotion directly to payroll for processing.

During another instance when Bittelari sought to improperly classify a position description for the chief of ATF’s Workforce Wellness and Services Division (WWSD) as law enforcement, the senators said a human resources classification specialist was threatened with insubordination after recusing herself from the matter and sending an email notifying staff it was a violation of OPM directives and standards. 

The senator’s letter also highlighted Boykin’s “troubling lack of candor” regarding the installation of the chief of WWSD. According to the senators, Boykin told IAD investigators she was unsure if the chief of WWSD had been installed prior to the position description ever being adequately approved. However, the senators said, Boykin’s emails showed the individual attended meetings and functions with Boykin as WWSD chief prior to receiving approval, and a draft position description was created jointly by the pair weeks before the official WWSD chief position description was approved.   

“The findings in the IAD report present clear evidence that corrective action must be taken for, at minimum, Ms. Boykin’s and Mr. Bittelari’s gross misconduct,” the senators wrote. “Yet, the Biden ATF and DOJ leadership not only failed to hold Boykin or Bittelari accountable for their gross misconduct, but legally protected whistleblower disclosures provided to our offices show these career DOJ bureaucrats were promoted after the conclusion of the IAD investigation that harshly criticized their actions.”

The senators point out in their letter that Boykin was promoted to chief diversity officer under Biden, but in January 2025 her title was switched to “Senior Executive.” Meanwhile, the senators also pointed out Bittelari was promoted to senior advisor at the Justice Department’s Justice Management Division (JMD), and later acting deputy director of human resources within JMD.

ATF ACCUSED OF ‘CIRCUMVENTING’ TRUMP ORDER TO PLACE DEI STAFF ON PAID LEAVE

“In closing, the findings in the IAD and OPM audit reports further substantiate the claims whistleblowers made to our offices that senior ATF bureaucrats, Ms. Boykin and Mr. Bittelari, engaged in gross and substantial waste, fraud, abuse, and misconduct at the expense of taxpayers in furtherance of ATF’s illegal misclassification scheme, retaliated against whistleblowers for exposing it, and then were promoted for it,” stated Grassley and Ernst’s letter to Bondi and Driscoll. 

“Their complete disregard for the law despite being ‘fully aware of the potential consequences’ show Boykin and Bittelari should not have leadership positions at the Justice Department or its components.”

In addition to calling for corrective action, Grassley and Ernst requested that no later than May 23 the Justice Department submit a response on how it plans to address the issues laid out in the IAD report and their letter. 

The Justice Department declined to comment for this article, while the ATF did not respond to Fox News Digital’s inquiries.

House Republicans released a sweeping plan late on Sunday to curb who gets Medicaid coverage and roll back former President Joe Biden’s electric vehicle (EV) mandate, among other measures.

The Energy & Commerce Committee, which has broad jurisdiction, including over federal health programs, telecommunications and energy, was tasked with finding at least $880 billion in spending cuts to pay for other priorities in President Donald Trump‘s “big, beautiful bill.”

Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., told House Republicans on a lawmaker-only call on Sunday night that the panel had found “north of $900 billion” in savings, however – a significant victory for House GOP leaders who weathered attacks from Democrats about significant cuts to welfare programs like Medicaid.

However, Republicans largely avoided the deep cuts to Medicaid that were sought by some fiscal hawks in the House GOP Conference, a win for moderate Republicans who were more politically vulnerable to Democratic attacks over the issue.

ANTI-ABORTION PROVIDER MEASURE IN TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ COULD SPARK HOUSE GOP REBELLION

The legislation would put a new 80-hour-per-week work requirement on certain able-bodied adults receiving Medicaid, aged 19 through 64.

It would also put guardrails on states spending funds on their expanded Medicaid populations. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) allowed states to expand Medicaid coverage to adults who make up to 138% of the poverty level.

More specifically, states that provide Medicaid coverage to illegal immigrants could see their federal Medicaid reimbursement dollars diminished, putting more of that cost on the state itself.

The bill would also require states with expanded Medicaid populations to perform eligibility checks every six months to ensure the system is not being abused.

HOUSE REPUBLICANS RELEASE TAX PLAN FOR TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’

Guthrie told House Republicans on a Sunday night call that the legislation was “ending” the former Biden administration’s EV mandate. He said $105 billion in savings could be found in ending the mandate to have EVs account for two-thirds of all new car sales by 2032.

Other savings are found in rescinding unspent funds in a variety of Biden green energy tax programs established via the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

It is not a full repeal of the IRA, however, as some conservatives had been pushing Republicans to do.

That had been another point of contention ahead of the bill’s release, with GOP lawmakers who have businesses in their districts that have benefited from the green energy subsidies pushing back on significant cuts.

On the other end of the energy divide, the bill would also boost Trump’s non-green energy goals by establishing a fast-tracked natural gas permitting route. The permit applicant would be required to pay $10 million or 1% of the project’s cost to be on the expedited track.

There is also a victory for social conservatives in a measure that would make certain large abortion providers ineligible for Medicaid funding. That measure was pushed by House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., himself, and was backed by anti-abortion groups like Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. 

However, it could run into opposition from moderate Republicans – Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., called the provision “problematic” and warned colleagues they were “running into a hornet’s nest” on the matter in the Sunday night call.

The legislation does provide exceptions for places that provide abortions in cases of rape, incest, or when the life of the mother is at stake. It’s not necessarily clear, however, if providing voluntary abortions would disqualify those locations.

The Energy & Commerce Committee’s legislation accounts for the bulk of Republicans’ $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion spending cuts they are hoping to find in the budget reconciliation process.

House Republicans currently have a razor-thin three-vote margin, meaning they can afford to have little dissent and still pass anything without Democratic support. They are hoping to do just that, with virtually no Democrats currently on board with Trump’s massive Republican policy overhaul.

The budget-reconciliation process lowers the Senate’s passage threshold from 60 votes to 51, lining up the House’s own simple majority threshold.

Reconciliation allows the party in power to effectively skirt the minority and pass broad pieces of legislation – provided they address taxes, spending or the national debt.

Trump wants Republicans to use the maneuver to tackle his priorities on the border, immigration, taxes, defense, energy and raising the debt ceiling.

To do that, several committees of jurisdiction are working on their specific portions of the bill, which will then be put together in a massive vehicle to pass the House and Senate.

GOP leaders hope to have that final bill on Trump’s desk by Fourth of July.

President Donald Trump‘s 17th week back in the Oval Office will see him focus on his visit to the Middle East, which will mark the first major overseas trip of his second term. 

“President Trump will return to [the Middle East to] re-emphasize his continued vision for a proud, prosperous and successful Middle East where the United States and Middle Eastern nations are in cooperative relationships and where extremism is defeated in place of commerce and cultural exchanges,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Friday. 

“This trip ultimately highlights how we stand on the brink of the golden age for both America and the Middle East, united by a shared vision of stability, opportunity and mutual respect, the president greatly looks forward to visiting with our brave men and women in uniform at our U.S. air base in Qatar throughout this trip.”

Trump is slated to depart Washington, D.C., on Monday for visits to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The president disclosed last week, when Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney visited the White House, that he would be making “a very, very big announcement” ahead of his departure for the Middle East, but has not shared additional details. 

TRUMP AND CHINA CLOSE IN ON TRADE DEAL AFTER PRODUCTIVE TALKS, BESSENT SAYS

“We’re going to have a very, very big announcement to make, like as big as it gets,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday. “And I won’t tell you on what… and it’s very positive.”

“It is really, really positive. And that announcement will be made either Thursday or Friday or Monday before we leave,” Trump added. “But it’ll be one of the most important announcements that have been made in many years about a certain subject, very important subject. So you’ll all be here.” 

ISRAEL SAYS TRUMP’S MIDDLE EAST VISIT IS THE ‘WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY’ FOR HOSTAGE DEAL

Trump’s four-day trip abroad comes amid continuing war between Israel and Hamas, ongoing U.S.-Iran negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program, and reported plans to broaden his first administration’s Abraham Accords, which normalized diplomatic relations between Israel and Arab League nations such as the United Arab Emirates. 

“Eight years ago, President Trump’s first trip was to this same region of the world, where he introduced his bold peace-through-strength foreign policy strategy. On that trip, the president laid out his goal of eradicating terrorism and extremism in the region, which he successfully accomplished over the course of his administration with the total defeat of ISIS and the historic signing of the Abraham Accords,” Leavitt told the media on Friday.

TRUMP TEASES ‘VERY, VERY BIG ANNOUNCEMENT’ AHEAD OF MIDDLE EAST TRIP, CARNEY SAYS HE’S ‘ON EDGE OF MY SEAT’

Under his first administration, Trump made his maiden voyage as president in 2017 to Saudi Arabia and Israel, before also traveling to Europe. The trip to the Middle East this week is billed as Trump’s first major overseas travel as president, though Trump also visited Rome late last month for Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican. 

As Trump prepares to depart for the Middle East, administration officials spent the weekend in Geneva negotiating with Chinese counterparts to iron out a potential trade agreement. 

Early Monday morning, the U.S. and China released a joint statement revealing that “the United States and China will each lower tariffs by 115% while retaining an additional 10% tariff,” according to the White House. 

The U.S. imposed tariffs as high as 145% on Chinese goods earlier this year as the president looks to bring parity to the nation’s chronic trade deficit with foreign countries.

The tariffs on China followed Trump’s April 2 “Liberation Day” trade announcement, when he unveiled his reciprocal tariff plan on dozens of nations, including China. He paused all the reciprocal tariffs except on China later that month as countries requested to make trade deals. China, meanwhile, imposed their own tariffs on the U.S., including a 125% duty tax on U.S. goods. 

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer met with Chinese trade officials in Switzerland this weekend, where Trump said “great progress” was made between the two countries. 

“Many things discussed, much agreed to. A total reset negotiated in a friendly, but constructive, manner. We want to see, for the good of both China and the U.S., an opening up of China to American business. GREAT PROGRESS MADE!!!” he posted on Truth Social on Saturday.

TRUMP SAYS 80% TARIFF ON CHINA ‘SEEMS RIGHT’ AHEAD OF WEEKEND TALKS WITH BEIJING

Bessent added on Sunday that the leaders from both countries held “productive” talks, before revealing early Monday that tariffs imposed on both countries would be reduced for a 90-day period. 

PIVOTAL TRADE TALKS WITH BEIJING LOOM AS TRUMP SWEARS IN NEW US AMBASSADOR TO CHINA: ‘WHAT TIMING’ 

The Trump administration is slated to begin welcoming White Afrikaners from South Africa to the U.S. this week as they face “unjust racial discrimination” in their home country, according to the administration. 

“What’s happening in South Africa fits the textbook definition of why the refugee program was created,” White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller told reporters Friday. “This is persecution based on a protected characteristic – in this case, race. This is race-based persecution.”

Trump signed an executive order in February that cut U.S. funds to the South African government as well as an offer to Afrikaners allowing them to move to the U.S. under refugee status. 

TRUMP TO BRING WHITE AFRIKANERS TO US AS REFUGEES FROM SOUTH AFRICA, IN WAKE OF EXPROPRIATION LEGISLATION

Trump signed the EO targeting South Africa after the country enacted a law allowing the government “to seize ethnic minority Afrikaners’ agricultural property without compensation” and the country taking “aggressive positions toward the United States and its allies, including accusing Israel.”

“The Secretary of State and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall take appropriate steps, consistent with law, to prioritize humanitarian relief, including admission and resettlement through the United States Refugee Admissions Program, for Afrikaners in South Africa who are victims of unjust racial discrimination,” Trump’s order said. 

“Such plan shall be submitted to the President through the Assistant to the President and Homeland Security Advisor,” he said.

Trump is expected to return from his trip to the Middle East on Friday, May 16. 

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As of Sunday, Trump has signed 147 executive orders since his inauguration in January, including a whopping 143 within his first 100 days as president, dwarfing the number of EOs signed by his predecessors stretching back to at least President Franklin D. Roosevelt. 

Fox News Digital’s Diana Stancy and Brie Stimson contributed to this report.  

A Democratic congressman is calling for an ethics investigation over President Donald Trump’s plans to accept a $400 million jet from Qatar that would temporarily serve as Air Force One before being allotted to Trump’s presidential library after he leaves office.

Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., wrote to the Government Accountability Office on Sunday, noting that the plane would be the single most expensive gift ever received by a U.S. president. Torres derided the deal as a “flying grift,” arguing it violates the Emoluments Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which “explicitly prohibits any person holding public office from accepting ‘any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.'”

“I am writing to express alarm over reports that President Donald Trump is poised to accept a luxury aircraft — a Boeing 747-8 — from the government of Qatar. The plane, so opulent it has been described as a ‘palace in the sky,’ is set to be made available to President Trump for official use as Air Force One and then for private use once he leaves office,” Torres wrote.

“This ‘flying grift’ is merely the latest chapter in a tawdry tale of presidential profiteering unprecedented in American history,” Torres added.

TRUMP TEASES ‘VERY, VERY BIG ANNOUNCEMENT’ AHEAD OF MIDDLE EAST TRIP, CARNEY SAYS HE’S ‘ON EDGE OF MY SEAT’

Trump described the deal in his own words on social media in a post Sunday night.

“So the fact that the Defense Department is getting a GIFT, FREE OF CHARGE, of a 747 aircraft to replace the 40-year-old Air Force One, temporarily, in a very public and transparent transaction, so bothers the Crooked Democrats that they insist we pay, TOP DOLLAR, for the plane,” he wrote.

“Anybody can do that! The Dems are World Class Losers!!!” he added.

TRUMP STAFFERS LOAD BOXES OF ITEMS SEIZED BY FBI IN 2022 MAR-A-LAGO RAID ONTO AIR FORCE ONE

ABC News reported that Trump toured the plane in West Palm Beach earlier this year. While the deal is set to be announced during Trump’s trip to the Middle East this week, the actual transaction is not expected to be made until later. Qatari officials say they expect to donate the plane through the Pentagon.

“The possible transfer of an aircraft for temporary use as Air Force One is currently under consideration between Qatar’s Ministry of Defense and the U.S. Department of Defense, but the matter remains under review by the respective legal departments, and no decision has been made,” Qatari embassy official Ali Al-Ansari told ABC News.

Presidents have for decades circumvented the Emoluments Clause by classifying gifts they receive while in office as gifts to the office of the president. Those gifts are then cataloged and stored as part of their presidential libraries after leaving office. While presidents maintain some level of access to the items in their libraries, they do not own them directly and must purchase them from the federal government in order to secure private ownership.

TRUMP STAFFERS LOAD BOXES OF ITEMS SEIZED BY FBI IN 2022 MAR-A-LAGO RAID ONTO AIR FORCE ONE

If the jet were to enter Trump’s presidential library, it is unclear how costs would be apportioned for maintenance and usage costs.

When not in office as president, Trump has traveled in his private Boeing 757 jet, dubbed Trump Force One. That jet is famously emblazoned with Trump’s last name and was frequently seen in the backdrop of campaign rallies.

EXCLUSIVE: A division of the Congressional Budget Office, the agency charged with providing budget and economic information to lawmakers, is stacked with liberal Democrats, putting into question its long-standing reputation of being nonpartisan. 

The American Accountability Foundation, a conservative government research nonprofit, found that much of the CBO’s Health Analysis Division is made up of Democrats or Democratic donors.

Of the 32 staff members in the division, 26 of them, or 84%, have “clearly” verified liberal partisan biases, being either a Democrat donor, a registered Democrat, or a Democratic primary voter, the group said in a memo outlining its findings, which come ahead of potential scrutiny of President Donald Trump’s budget request. 

NPR, PBS CHIEFS SET TO CLASH WITH GOP LAWMAKERS DURING DOGE SUBCOMMITTEE HEARING

“The CBO likes to call itself ‘nonpartisan’ in an attempt to disguise its role as an undercover leftist think tank,” AAF President Tom Jones said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “In fact, the CBO is institutionally progressive, with 84% of its professional healthcare staff members being registered Democrats. These same staff members, who are on record donating to radicals like Elizabeth Warren and Hillary Clinton, ‘score’ legislation and present it to the American people like it’s sacrosanct.”

Jones accused the CBO staffers of not just voting left, but using their influence to promote progressive policy changes. 

DOGE SUBCOMMITTEE INVITES NPR, PBS CHIEFS TO TESTIFY ON THEIR FEDERAL FUNDING, ‘SYSTEMICALLY BIASED CONTENT’

“The Health Analysis Division has been overtaken by liberal group think,” the memo states. “As policymakers consider pronouncements and scores from CBO over the coming weeks, they should regard those from the Health Care Analysis Division with deep suspicion and should likely disregard them as the product of a politically biased policy shop, much as they would analysis from an institution like the Center for American Progress.”

The HAD is tasked with analyzing federal programs and policies that include Medicare, Medicaid and subsidies provided through health insurance exchanges. Its staffers produce reports on policy issues and play a key role in certain estimates of proposed changes in health care programs, the CBO website states.

The report noted that the CBO works to “cultivate” a reputation as a “non-partisan scorekeeper, just balls and strikes.” That reputation is so entrenched, the AAF said, that 1,358 different news media stories in the last year alone have appended the word “nonpartisan” to the beginning of the office’s name, reporting on the “nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.”

“While the CBO has spun a narrative through the mainstream media that it’s a neutral scorekeeper, it’s one big gaslighting campaign to distract from the office’s fundamentally progressive roots.” Jones said. “They know the next few months with reconciliation are crucial and will do everything they can to slam and stall the Trump administration’s policies.”

CBO employees are barred from engaging in political activity if it would “identify, or appear to identify, CBO with a political campaign, candidate, officeholder, or cause,” its website states. 

“The specific positions taken are irrelevant; rather, the potential harm to CBO’s reputation for objectivity comes from association with political activity or public advocacy,” it adds. 

The agency doesn’t hire employment candidates based on their political affiliation, it said. 

Research conducted by the group found that Health Analysis Director Chapin White is a Democratic donor, having given money to former Secretary of State John Kerry. White made a $300 donation to Kerry’s failed presidential bid in 2004, according to Federal Election Commission data. 

White referred Fox News Digital to the CBO, which declined to comment.

TRUMP FCC CHAIR TARGETS NPR, PBS FOR INVESTIGATION AHEAD OF CONGRESSIONAL THREATS TO DEFUND

One analyst has donated to several Democratic elected officials, including former President Joe Biden and various members of Congress, according to the FEC. Many others are registered Democrats or have donated to Democratic pollical candidates, the think tank said. 

Much of the data gathered by the AAF was obtained through public campaign finance reporting agencies or from voter registration offices, noting that many CBO employees live in Virginia, which doesn’t have partisan registration, the nonprofit said. 

Virginia also restricts access to voter history records via the state’s Freedom of Information Act, making it challenging to ascertain whether voters cast ballots in Democratic or Republican primaries, it said. 

However, the AAF said it obtained Virginia voting history information from a trusted third-party source. 

“There were four staff members for whom AAF was unable to secure voting history or registration information,” it said. “AAF strongly suspects if the staffers listed as ‘Data on Definitive Partisan Bias Unavailable’ were asked whether they vote in Democrat or Republican primaries (or if they had voted for Kamala Harris or Donald Trump) very few, if any, will respond that they are Republicans.”

Legislators in Suffolk County, New York, strengthened an animal cruelty law by making it a crime for convicted animal abusers to own pets.

The county legislature voted last week to establish a Class A misdemeanor for people on the county’s convicted animal abuser registry found to be owning pets, according to the New York Post. The new addition to the law carries penalties of up to a year in jail or a $1,000 fine.

This expands on a law the legislature enacted in 2010 that created an animal abuse registry, which requires convicted animal abusers to add their name and contact information. The 2010 law was among the first of its kind in the U.S.

AI TECHNOLOGY HELPS REUNITE LOST DOGS WITH THEIR OWNERS

County Executive Ed Romaine signed the expanded legislation on Wednesday after telling reporters last week that it will “protect animals,” according to the NYP.

“Do not abuse animals,” he said. “We will go after you, and we will prosecute you, and we will protect our animals.”

The Suffolk County Police Department and district attorney’s office maintain the registry, which currently lists 30 convicted animal abusers. Offenders remain on the registry for 10 years unless they are convicted of animal abuse again, at which point the 10-year timer starts over.

While anyone convicted of animal abuse in the county was already prohibited from owning a pet, there were no penalties for violating the rule.

YOUNG KANGAROO HOPS AROUND FLORIDA TOWN AFTER BRAZEN ESCAPE, OWNER CHARGED

“We are finally able to close this loophole and further protect our animals,” said Suffolk Legislator Stephanie Bontempi, who sponsored the legislation. “In Suffolk County, we will not tolerate the abuse or neglect of animals. By closing this loophole, we will ensure that those offenders who disregard the law will face consequences.”

“It’s something that shouldn’t even be an issue, but I’m glad we were able to get this legislation on the books,” she added.

The expanded law was signed just days after dozens of dead cats were found inside a Long Island home, including in a freezer and a box spring. Other felines were found alive on the poorly maintained property, which had urine and feces on the floors and walls, among other things.

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Roy Gross, chief of Suffolk County’s Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, welcomed the new law after years of fighting for stronger penalties.

“For the first time, we actually have the power to take action against repeat offenders — before, our hands were tied,” he told Newsday.

Foreign Affairs

The Illusion of American Generosity

Despite the mythology of the good superpower, the American empire has been enormously destructive.

Because of our strong Christian heritage, most Americans innately believe in being generous to their neighbors. Good neighborliness was central to our country’s founding ethos. Locally and nationally, there are a myriad of groups and organizations that provide support and assistance to people in need. This tradition is an important component of our culture. Consequently, much of our populace believes the United States government is a force for good around the world and an important contributor to world stability. This is a myth.

For decades, this traditional national embrace of generosity towards others has been used by our political and cultural elites to gull the American population into supporting many activities that are anything but generous, and often turn out to be extremely destructive. Over the years, there has been a continuous chorus from the leading elites supporting the false narrative that the United States is doing good around the world—the myth of the “indispensable nation”.

Since the Second World War, American ruling elites have called for numerous military interventions to “save democracy,” protecting some nation from communists, terrorists, fascists, or various reincarnations of Hitler. (Or worse.) The accusations are usually accompanied by shrill calls for the great and indispensable nation to act, to hold the line, or mete out harsh justice to the latest designated evildoer. This nonsense is cheered on by mainstream media outlets. Until recently, average Americans have not had access to any information which would expose the lies and hidden malfeasance behind these claims. Fortunately, thanks to alternative media, that ignorance is rapidly receding.

Americans are now beginning to grasp the fact that most of what we have been told about American foreign policy is materially not true, and that this policy is not benevolent. Contrary to popular imagination, the U.S. has spent decades directly supporting jihadi groups or condoning the support of terrorist groups by our “friends.” The Global War on Terror serves as a convenient excuse for interventions. It has been particularly useful in the Middle East to destroy obstacles to an expansionist Israel.

If we truly wanted to stop terrorism, one of our first priorities should have been to stop funding and arming such groups and inducing our “friends” to stop funding and arming them.

The recent collapse of Syria was a result of the support of the United States, Israel, and fellow NATO member, Turkey, for anti-government jihadi groups. The new leadership of Syria is drawn from the ranks of Al Qaeda. How is that benevolent or “acting as the world’s policeman”? We have been told for decades that Al Qaeda is bad and must be eliminated, and now in Syria we have direct proof of Al Qaeda and related groups being employed as proxies for U.S. “interests.” How is creating another failed state in the Middle East good or in U.S. interests?

It is time to stop allowing ourselves to be duped by deceptive claims of generosity and good intentions, and start to acknowledge and learn from the many disasters our country’s leadership has authored. Jesus told us “you will know them by their fruits.” The list of tragic disasters is quite long, but the following is a sample of the most egregious examples.

During the fighting portion of the  Korean War from 1950 to 1953, we killed millions of civilians, and after seven decades, have not officially ended the war. We still have thousands of troops in Korea hindering normal relations between the North and the South. Our troops enforce the blockade which contributes to the starvation of North Korean civilians.

The CIA’s role in the 1953 overthrow of Iran’s duly elected President Mohammad Mosaddegh was the initial cause of strife with Iran before Israel’s Likud government and its cheerleaders decided to start an ever-intensifying campaign vilifying 3000-year old society. (That same campaign has been successful in the destruction of the Palestinians, Iraqis, Afghans, Libyans, Syrians, and other disobedient peoples.)

In the Pacific, the Vietnam War from 1955 to 1975 killed millions in Vietnam and neighboring Cambodia. Cambodia was so destabilized by U.S. bombing that the Khmer Rouge managed to seize control of the ravaged country and killed over one third of their population, on top of the people killed by the U.S. military. Most of what we were told about that war was untrue from the beginning.

Our bad behavior has not been exclusive to the Eastern Hemisphere. Closer to home, numerous American-backed coups and interventions in Central and South America caused instability that continues to trouble those regions today.

In April 1961 the CIA engineered and supported the Bay of Pigs Invasion of Cuba. It was a complete catastrophe and cemented the Castros’ control, ensuring they ruled until their deaths six decades later. The inexplicable U.S. blockade still causes suffering for the Cuban people.

The Somalian Civil War has been ebbing and flowing since the 1980s, thanks to U.S. money and weapons.

The First Persian Gulf War (1990–1992) was followed by crushing sanctions which caused many deaths and destruction in Iraq, and turned out to be a prelude for the 2003 Iraq invasion.

U.S. intervention in the Kosovo War (1998–1999) killed many civilians. What the military leaders promoting that cruel bombing campaign claimed would last a week at most turned out to be 16 months of death and destruction. It is hard to tell what was accomplished except proving to the Russians that NATO was not a defensive organization, as promised by the George H. W. Bush and Clinton administrations. This is one of the early provocations that eventually led to the present Russo–Ukrainian War.

The 2001 Afghanistan War was the result of America’s decision in 1979 to support Sunni Jihadists’ entry into Afghanistan as a means of destabilizing the Afghan government. Zbigniew Brzezinski, Carter’s national security advisor, wrote that year, “We now have the opportunity of giving to the USSR its Vietnam War.” The plan was designed to force Soviet intervention to protect their southern flank. To the applause of the neocons, the Reagan administration decided to arm and finance the same organizations to fight the Soviets. When the Soviets departed, the freedom fighters—the Taliban—took over. So of course, after September 11, 2001, the U.S. couldn’t resist the allure of another intervention and fought them for 20 years. After years of dishonest claims of success, the U.S. retreated in defeat, leaving death and destruction for the unfortunate Afghans who aided us during the occupation. Sadly, as Scott Horton has pointed out in Fool’s Errand, beginning in 2001 and 2002, the Taliban offered many times to surrender but was continuously rebuffed by Washington.

The Iraq War of 2003 started with the standard-issue vilification campaign. After much death and destruction, there was no evidence of weapons of mass destruction or of support for Al Qaeda terrorists. The many neocon assertions made to justify the war turned out to be false. Nearly a quarter of a century later, we still have troops in Iraq, and the region has yet to recover.

After the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003, Libya signed a cooperation treaty with the George W. Bush administration agreeing to give up their nascent nuclear program and vowed to stop their support for terrorists. The neocons gave victory whoops. Just a few years later the same crowd cranked up the familiar demonization campaign and bombed the Libyan government into oblivion. The remains of the country are now fiercely disputed by rival warlords. The Libyan double-cross is a big reason that Iran will not give up its missiles. Most of the American public is not aware of this betrayal, but the rest of the world is—especially the Iranians.

The Syrian Civil War that started in 2011 was fueled by covert American support. The U.S. claimed to support “moderate freedom fighters” who turned out to include Al Qaeda–allied jihadists. That war appears to have ended, due to the recent collapse of the Syria government; the country is now ruled by former terrorists—but there will be more war coming from this sad example of U.S. cruelty. The American War Party will not let a good tragedy go to waste. 

The Russo–Ukrainian War is a continuation of the conflict that arose from the 2014 U.S.-backed coup in Ukraine and is the result of decades of American provocation. These provocations have been carefully documented by Scott Horton in his book Provoked, which shows how decades of policy choices in Washington led to the war in Ukraine; the former CIA analyst Larry Johnson has listed the more recent provocations. After failed treaties and ceasefire agreements, in 2022 Russia invaded. Millions have been killed, wounded, and driven from their homes. The country is being wrecked. To this day, the U.S. is still sending weapons, money, and other assistance to encourage the continuation of that war.

In Yemen, the U.S. is still bombing Houthis after all these years. In 2015, we aided the Saudi bombing campaign. Now the Houthis’ crime is to protest the starvation and killing of the Gazans. The U.S. has spent billions on this project killing civilians. The past year of the failed U.S. military bombing campaign is proof that attacks on much larger Iran would be a complete disaster.

Finally, the Israeli genocide in Gaza escalated intensely in 2023. To this day the U.S. is sending weapons and money to Israel which add to the starvation, destruction, and death. This is in no way generous and benevolent.

How is this generosity? Where is the benevolence? The beneficiaries are special interest groups and military contractors. Certainly not the suffering citizens of the debilitated countries, nor the average Americans saddled with trillions of dollars of ever-increasing war debt. None of these countries are functioning democracies as promised. None of the interventions turned out as promised. As usual, the result is death and destruction.

Our leaders talk about credibility and honor. The rest of the world sees a heartless bully that breaks its agreements and spreads devastation and suffering. We as a nation have allowed ourselves to be fooled.

The truth is many of our leaders are completely indifferent to the suffering they have caused. For example, United States Secretary of State Madeleine Albright thought that the deaths of perhaps as many as 500,000 Iraqi children—starved by a U.S. blockade—was “worth it.” Our leaders are also indifferent to the starvation and death we support in Gaza. Lindsey Graham believes the deaths in Ukraine are a “great deal for America.” Almost none of America’s political leaders will make a genuine effort to stop enabling this daily slaughter.

This is not what our country should be. It is not what our founders intended. It is not what we should support.

The post The Illusion of American Generosity appeared first on The American Conservative.

Politics

Where Are the Left’s Tears Over Gitmo?

The Abrego Garcia case reveals Democratic hypocrisy in spades.

Credit: A_Kiphayet/Shutterstock

There are no tears for Ammar al-Baluchi, aka Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, as there are for Kilmar Abrego Garcia. They both languish in prisons abroad, but only for one does the left weep.

Garcia, the Maryland father (as “his” senator insists on calling him), is an illegal alien who lived illegally in the United States for over a decade. He is a Salvadoran citizen who has been deported from America back to his home country. While in the U.S., Garcia was charged with domestic abuse. He threatened and repeatedly abused his wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, according to a protective order she filed in August 2020. The document includes claims that Garcia dragged her out of a vehicle by her hair and left her on the street, smashed her son’s tablet, broke down doors in their house, and pushed her against a wall while breaking TVs and phones.

Garcia also appears to have worked as a human trafficker, driving other illegals from Texas to the Northeast. The left’s immigration martyr either used a fraudulent Social Security number or paid no taxes while illegally in the U.S. He received his due process in 2019, when an immigration judge concluded he was probably a member of the MS-13 gang (based in part on his tattoos and information from a confidential informant) and ordered him deported to anywhere but El Salvador, where he was supposedly under threat from a rival gang. This is the root of his current situation.

The deportation was not effected until 2025, under the Trump administration, which in error sent him back to his home country. There, he was quickly moved from a maximum security facility to a work-based prison with better living circumstances. He has since been visited by a succession of Democratic lawmakers seeking his release back to the U.S. Even his most adamant supporters do not claim he has been tortured or abused in custody. He looked good, dressed in civilian clothes, on national TV.

Protests continue around the U.S. seeking his release, and the Trump administration is under a mild court admonition to get Garcia back. Because of the Garcia case and others like him, many Americans think Donald Trump is a dangerous dictator. They worry pointlessly he will not stop with aliens, and soon will ship American citizens off to offshore gulags. Garcia and others are routinely referred to as “disappeared,” even though a large number of Americans, due to incessant media coverage, know his name and recognize his face.

But no one knows the name Ali Abdul Aziz Ali or can picture his face. Ali has been held in Guantanamo for over 20 years for allegedly aiding in the 9/11 attacks (sending money and providing other support to some of the hijackers.) He has not been found guilty of any crime. In the latest attempt to convict him of something after two decades of confinement, the military judge deciding the case instead ruled that none of Ali’s confessions could be admitted as evidence. One reason was the prisoner’s statements were obtained through the CIA’s use of torture, including beatings and sleep deprivation. “However,” he added, “the three and a half years of uncharged, incommunicado detention and essentially solitary confinement—all while being continually questioned and conditioned—is just as egregious” as the physical torture.

Judges in two capital cases at Guantanamo rejected confessions taken from prisoners after they were in CIA detention, illustrating the “enduring stain” of a Bush administration decision to hide suspected members of Al Qaeda in black sites rather than use the court-monitored system in the U.S. From his capture in Pakistan in 2003 to his transfer to Guantanamo in 2006, Ali was kept out of the reach of lawyers, the courts, the media, and the International Red Cross. He was afforded no due process. His confinement began under George W. Bush’s presidency and continued through the presidencies of Obama, Trump, Biden, and now Trump again. Throughout that time, despite the overt torture and utter lack of due process, no Democratic lawmaker sought to visit Ali, and the only minimal, generic protests over Gitmo took place years ago. (Gitmo has garnered some attention recently when President Trump proposed its use to house deported illegal aliens from the U.S., however.)

Ali was deprived of sleep for 82 hours. He was shackled at the ankles and the wrists and forced to stand, naked, and hooded. He was made to fear he would be drowned via waterboarding. He was shuttled between five overseas prisons, including in Eastern Europe. Food and clothing were given only as rewards for his cooperation with the CIA. He was interrogated over 1,000 times.

“The goal of the program was to condition him through torture and other inhumane and coercive methods to become compliant during any government questioning,” the judge wrote. “The program worked.”

Why is one man, allegedly deprived of full due process and held abroad, the subject of the left’s anguish, while they remain silent over the same situation, a lack of due process and being held abroad—never mind the torture—for another? Why is one a constitutional crisis driven by an authoritarian, a dictator, and the other an embarrassing bit of forgotten history?

It shows the hypocrisy and emptiness of the left and Democrats. They chose one criminal to glorify and ignored another, the victim of much more heinous treatment. They weep for Garcia because he was sent away by Donald Trump, and ignore Ali. They screech about the rule of law, but then show how easily they will abandon it when it fits with the short-term political needs of hatred for anything Trump does.

None of this is to excuse or downplay the horror of Ali’s alleged crimes. But neither is it to downplay the fact that Garcia also committed crimes against the United States. To say the severity of a crime justifies ignoring torture in one case is simply to say there is no rule of law, and that the rules of a moral society apply only flexibly as partisan politics demand.

Oh wait, that is what the left is saying—efforts to release Garcia have reached the Supreme Court, but Ali’s only hope is for an early death to end the nightmares.

The post Where Are the Left’s Tears Over Gitmo? appeared first on The American Conservative.

Foreign Affairs

My Visits to Countries Nobody Has Ever Heard of

On Embassy Day, the world performs for the American empire’s attention.  

Credit:
Media Whale Stock/Shutterstock

A few months ago, President Donald Trump made passing reference in a long address before Congress to Lesotho—“a country nobody has ever heard of.” His remark stuck in my mind, not just because I have heard of Lesotho, but because I have been there.

Well, sort of. I have never actually traveled to the landlocked country completely encircled by South Africa and recognized as a sovereign state by the United States since 1966. But I have visited its embassy on Massachusetts Avenue. In fact, over the last few years I have visited a whole slew of embassies representing countries nobody has ever heard of—Azerbaijan, Gabon, Kosovo, Togo—and many other well-known ones besides. If you live in the D.C. area, you can too, every year on Embassy Day, an annual two-week festival in May designed to remind Washingtonians that a world beyond our borders exists—and desperately wants our attention.

And oh how that world performs! Habitués of the festival know the iron law of Embassy Day: The more autocratic the country, the more lavish the display. Saudi Arabia, one of our empire’s wealthiest client states, understands quite well that, for its general comfort, whenever an American considers the kingdom, his thoughts must be rosy and essentially ignorant. Hence the annual song and dance: free lunch, a tourism expo, sword dances, and a petting zoo for the kids (or at the very least, a camel tied to a telephone pole). Last year, the special attraction was balloons emblazoned with the Shahada. They made for quite a sight in the days following—there is no no god but Allah, and Mohammed is his prophet deflating in every street.   

This year, the big attraction was China, a country which in recent years has become to the American mind less a rival and more an enemy. Perhaps for that reason, the Chinese laid it on thick, emphasizing in many of their displays the “partnerships” the two countries have pursued in medicine, manufacturing, and technology since Deng Xiaoping opened the country to the world. The embassy also hired a troupe of performers dressed as giant pandas to roam its marble halls, much to the delight of the children—and, I’m afraid, to some adults, too. And just in case visitors didn’t get the message: At the very end of the embassy tour were portraits of every panda ever to have been loaned to the Smithsonian National Zoo, a reminder that what China produces, the United States greedily consumes.

Some nations pursue a different strategy. The big dogs need to maintain cordial (even if cordially hateful) relationships with the United States. Others, usually smaller countries, would prefer Uncle Sam forget all about them. Azerbaijan was for years a mainstay of Embassy Day—Baku, oasis on the Caspian! the ads proclaimed—but after the Muslim-majority country effectively cleansed an autonomous region within its borders of its Armenian Christian majority, Azerbaijan disappeared. I don’t expect to see it again anytime soon. Of course, some states simply spurn the whole affair: Russia has never participated for as long as I can remember.  

I haven’t even got started on the European Union, which distinguishes itself from le tiers-monde—which in effect includes the United Kingdom—by holding an Embassy Day separate from that of the rest of the world. Europe is in a strange position with regard to the United States. Many Americans reflexively admire the continent (the food, the churches, etc.) while holding its people in contempt. There is no overcoming this hurdle, alas, so the Europeans don’t even try. Instead, they compete among themselves. France and Germany, for example, every year hold a joint event, and it may as well be the Franco–Prussian War all over again. The show is amusing for a disinterested spectator, but it leaves you with the sense that, were it not for the 35,000 American troops stationed in Germany, all of Europe would be in chaos.  

All of this is to say that it is not without a tinge of regret that I have received the current administration’s curtailing of American overseas commitments. Even now, much of the world contorts itself in strange shapes for the pleasure of the United States. There is little honor in the act, either for the performer or the audience. And yet, sometimes it is hard to resist the glitter of the show.

The post My Visits to Countries Nobody Has Ever Heard of appeared first on The American Conservative.

FIRST ON FOX: A measure in President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” aimed at cracking down on federal payments for abortion providers could run into a buzzsaw of opposition from moderate House Republicans.

House Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., held a conference call with GOP lawmakers on Sunday night unveiling his panel’s portion of the Republican reconciliation bill.

During the question and answer portion of the call, Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., asked for clarity on several aspects, including a provision to make “large groups who provide abortion services” ineligible for federal Medicaid dollars, Fox News Digital was told.

“You are running into a hornet’s nest,” Lawler warned his colleagues.

BROWN UNIVERSITY IN GOP CROSSHAIRS AFTER STUDENT’S DOGE-LIKE EMAIL KICKS OFF FRENZY

The New York Republican, one of only three GOP lawmakers representing districts that Trump lost in 2024, questioned how those groups were being defined and said the language needed to be “looked over,” Fox News Digital was also told.

Guthrie assured him that certain considerations were being taken in the language.

Lawler also pointed out that the Hyde Amendment already prevents federal dollars from going towards abortion services, Fox News Digital was told.

His concerns were echoed by another person familiar with House GOP discussions on the matter, who was granted anonymity to speak freely.

That person told Fox News Digital that several New York Republican lawmakers indicated they could oppose the final bill if that provision was included.

“We’re not fighting a new fight on abortion when that’s kind of calmed down,” the person recalled of their argument.

Fox News Digital first learned of discussions about the potential measure last week. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., alluded to Republicans’ plans in a speech at the Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America’s gala last month.

Johnson said the Republicans’ bill would redirect funds from “big abortion” to “federally qualified health centers.”

It’s one of several efforts to rein in spending to pay for Trump’s other priorities via the budget reconciliation process.

House Republicans currently have a razor-thin three-vote margin, meaning they can afford to have little dissent and still pass anything without Democratic support. They’re hoping to do just that, with virtually no Democrats currently on board with Trump’s massive Republican policy overhaul.

The budget-reconciliation process lowers the Senate’s passage threshold from 60 votes to 51, lining up the House’s own simple majority threshold.

Reconciliation allows the party in power to effectively skirt the minority and pass broad pieces of legislation – provided they address taxes, spending or the national debt.

Trump wants Republicans to use the maneuver to tackle his priorities on the border, immigration, taxes, defense, energy, and raising the debt ceiling.

To do that, several committees of jurisdiction are working on their specific portions of the bill, which will then be put together in a massive vehicle to pass the House and Senate.

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The Energy & Commerce Committee – which has a broad jurisdiction including Medicare, Medicaid, telecommunications, and energy production – was tasked with finding at least $880 billion in spending cuts out of a total $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion.

Guthrie said the bill released late on Sunday evening includes “north of” $900 billion in spending cuts.

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In addition to the measure ending Medicaid funds for large abortion providers, the legislation also finds savings in instilling work requirements for certain able-bodied beneficiaries of Medicaid expansion. 

Some Medicaid dollars going toward states that provide taxpayer-funded healthcare to illegal immigrants are also targeted.

It would also repeal certain Biden administration green energy subsidies, including the former White House’s electric vehicle mandate.

Fox News Digital reached out to the committee and Lawler’s office for comment on the specific measure.