The tract of political land where Democrats reside is unique.

It’s not the same political street address where they took up shop in 1995 after losing the House and Senate to the “Republican Revolution” of 1994 – which flipped control of the House to the GOP for the first time in 40 years. They still held the presidency then with President Bill Clinton.

It’s not the same zip code after the legendary House blowout in 2010 where they dropped an historic 63 seats. President Barack Obama remained in the White House.

It’s even a different electoral co-op for Democrats compared to 2016, when President Donald Trump unexpectedly prevailed over Hillary Clinton, winning in the Electoral College. Democrats controlled neither the House nor Senate in 2017. But a lack of support for Trump in Congress and his inexperience at governance undercut sizable portions of his legislative agenda.

DEMOCRATS’ VICE CHAIR IGNITES CIVIL WAR, TARGETING ‘ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL’ INCUMBENTS IN PRIMARIES

Fast-forward to 2025.

President Trump is back in the White House – this time after winning the popular vote and Electoral College, scoring a decisive knockout over former Vice President Kamala Harris. Republicans clung to power in the House and flipped the Senate. And the political real estate Democrats now occupy is a very foreign locale. They’re out of power in Washington. But President Trump returned to power resoundingly and emboldened. And this time, congressional Republicans – MAGA Republicans – stand foursquare behind Mr. Trump.

So it’s natural there’s Democratic infighting about what went wrong, who deserves blame and, more importantly, what direction the party should take next.

Here’s the schism:

Younger, more progressive Democrats are trying to weed out senior lawmakers and power brokers who have been in office for years.

Let’s start with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. She’s the best known of younger, energetic, left-leaning Democrats. She’s also the most-experienced figure in the Democrats’ youth movement. Ocasio-Cortez arrived on the scene, upsetting former Rep. Joe Crowley, D-N.Y., in a 2018 primary.

“We got them on their back foot. We’ve got them scared,” said Ocasio-Cortez recently about MAGA-aligned Republicans.

They’re brash.

“Let’s go kick some a–! Let’s go win our young people back,” thundered 25-year-old Democratic National Committee (DNC) Vice Chairman David Hogg.

And they’re blunt about Democratic errors and missteps.

“What if we didn’t suck?” asked 26-year-old Kat Abughazaleh, the Democratic Illinois congressional candidate and TikTok influencer.

SEN. VAN HOLLEN POURS COLD WATER ON ‘MARGARITA-GATE’ PHOTO-OP AFTER EL SALVADOR TRIP: ‘NOBODY DRANK ANY’

Younger Democrats are trying to banish party veterans.

“We’ have to have a whole rebrand of the Democratic Party,” said Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif. “New leaders. Not the old guard.”

Hogg is now spending $20 million to coax younger Democrats to primary longtime congressional incumbents.

“What we’re trying to do here is not just focus on primaries where there’s potentially an older incumbent. But more than anything, an ineffective person in that position. And replace with a generational leader,” said Hogg on MSNBC.

Abughazaleh is primarying 80-year-old Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., who is progressive. But she first came to Congress in 1998. She’s been a member of the House of Representatives longer than Abughazaleh has been alive.

“You have to look to the exceptions for real leadership, as the majority work from an outdated playbook. We need a makeover,” said Abughazaleh.

But devouring your own is risky.

“Beating the other side is more important to many voters [rather] than who exactly is representing your own team,” said University of Mary Washington political scientist Stephen Farnsworth.

But Farnsworth concedes that unrest brews on the Democratic side of the aisle.

“What we’re talking about here is a pretty powerful, generational clash within the Democratic Party over how to aggressively challenge President Trump,” said Farnsworth. “The Democratic Party has to figure out where the sweet spot is. You have to be energized enough to motivate those voters who might stay at home.”

Some top political handicappers like Nate Silver now believe that Ocasio-Cortez could be the odds-on favorite to emerge as the Democrats’ 2028 presidential nominee.

Now 35 years old, the New York Democrat is old enough to become president. Ocasio-Cortez has kept busy during the congressional recess by barnstorming the country with Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., the 83-year-old former Democratic presidential candidate.

“We’re here together because of an extreme concentration of power, greed and corruption which is taking over this country like never before,” Ocasio-Cortez declared during a whistlestop in Missoula, Montana.

DEMOCRATIC PARTY’S FAVORABLE RATINGS DROP TO HISTORIC LOWS

So Democrats are searching for a toe-hold against the president. Younger voters favored Democrats for years. But a Fox News voter analysis found a staggering 11-point spike in voters under age 30 favoring Trump in 2024 compared with 2020.

“In the 2024 election, Democrats lost a lot of voters who had voted for Biden four years ago. Some of them went to Trump,” said Farnsworth. “It seems to me that a more aggressive messaging strategy is certainly one way of connecting with voters who didn’t feel as warmly toward the Democrats in 2024 as they did in 2020.”

Republicans found themselves at a loss in late 2012. They were perhaps overconfident that they were going to blow out President Obama. Republicans retreated to backrooms in Washington to conduct an “autopsy” about reaching out to minorities and retrenching the party. The party didn’t rely on the findings of that postmortem much. Republicans held the House and finally flipped the Senate after they tried to get control dating back to 2006.

FIRST ON FOX: REPUBLICAN PARTY SHOWCASES MASSIVE HAUL

Republicans also won the House in 2010 after Obama’s big 2008 victory. In 2009, many Republicans felt it was best if the GOP took a couple of cycles to retrench their bench and agenda during the echoes of the presidency of George W. Bush. But Republicans found themselves in control of the House following the 2010 midterms. The party was more than happy to be back in power in the House. They viewed their victory as a repudiation of Obama and the policies of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. But, nonetheless, this was a strange piece of political landholdings to acquire for the GOP in 2010. In politics, you sometimes “inherit” property.

We don’t know what the political real estate market will look like in 2026. But Democrats now occupy a remote, unfamiliar province. Democrats are trying to map and navigate this alien territory.

But the key with any piece of real estate is how you use it. Do you build on it? Do you rent it out? Do you grow crops?

Democrats are trying to determine if drifting further to the left helps them use this particular land tract. Does cultivating youth boost them at the polls? Democrats are surveying their turf. Taking measurements. Understanding the topography and geology.

We’ll know in November 2026 if Democrats successfully converted their property into something useful. Or a total wreck and undesirable.

Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter, with the latest updates on the Trump administration, Capitol Hill and more Fox News politics content.

Here’s what’s happening…

-Pandemic, price tags and privacy concerns: Why it took 20 years to implement REAL ID

-DHS chief’s purse stolen with thousands of dollars

-Ex-Pentagon aide urges Trump to fire Hegseth citing ‘full-blown meltdown’ and ‘total chaos’

EXCLUSIVE: The California 2026 gubernatorial race just got a major shakeup with Republican Steve Hilton entering the race to be Gov. Gavin Newsom’s successor. 

The former Fox News contributor and author of “Califailure” said he’s hoping to “Make California Golden Again,” especially for the “working people” of the state.

“A big decision that I’ve made, which I can now share with you, that I am, in fact, going to be running for governor of California for 2026. I love this state. It’s the best place in the world as far as I’m concerned,” Hilton told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview…Read more

BREAKING: Pope Francis has died at 88, Vatican camerlengo says

‘MAY GOD BLESS HIM’: Pope Francis and U.S. presidents: A look back at his legacy with the nation’s leaders

POPULAR PONTIFF: What American Catholics thought about Pope Francis

FINAL FAREWELL: JD Vance, one of Pope Francis’ last visitors, reacts to his death

CHOOSING THE NEXT POPE: What is the papal conclave: Inside the ancient process of choosing the next pope

‘I WAS SURPRISED’: Theologian on ‘Conclave’ accuracy, expectations for next secretive event after Pope Francis’ death

‘GOD REST HIS SOUL!’: Trump, world leaders react to the death of Pope Francis

BURIAL GROUNDS: Pope Francis revealed burial wishes just days after becoming pope in 2013

SCALED-DOWN MEMORIAL: Pope Francis’ funeral will be a simplified version of past papal funerals, per his change of papal funeral rites

MONEY CAN’T BUY EVERYTHING: Trump wants to revive the lagging US shipbuilding industry. Here are the hurdles he faces

‘SHATTERED EGOS’: White House rips alleged Pentagon leasers, brushes off Hegseth second Signal chat report

STRIKE TWO?: Hegseth shared details of Yemen strikes in second Signal chat: report

14TH WEEK BACK IN OVAL: Trump’s 14th week in office to kick off with famed Easter Egg Roll, ongoing trade negotiations

OVERBLOWN: Biden green energy project halted by Trump admin relied on rushed, bad science, study finds

KEEPING TABS: Anti-Chinese government group launches plan to track anti-CCP legislation in statehouses

IRAN REMAINS NUCLEAR: US confirms third round of nuclear talks with Iran after ‘very good progress’

‘WRONGFULLY DETAINED’: Four more Dems travel to El Salvador to push for Abrego Garcia’s return to US

COMMANDER NO MORE: Army suspends commander after Trump, Vance, Hegseth vanish from command board

‘MISLEADING AND MISGUIDED’: State Dept defends human rights abuse reporting changes, says streamlined process eliminates ‘political bias’

CHURCH AND STATE: Religious liberty or government overreach? Oklahoma AG fights own party in SCOTUS battle over Catholic school

‘BROKEN SYSTEM’: More than 500k immigrants missed their court hearings on Biden’s watch: analysis

‘PURGE THESE PEOPLE’: California mayor wants to give homeless people ‘all the fentanyl they want’

SKY WARS: Florida property owners pestered by spying drones could soon be allowed to fight back with ‘force’

Get the latest updates on the Trump administration and Congress, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s poll numbers in his home state of New York are taking a hit.

The top Senate Democrat and longtime lawmaker faced intense backlash from within his own party in March for supporting a Republican-crafted federal government funding bill that averted a government shutdown and was backed by President Donald Trump but opposed by most congressional Democrats.

That anger by Democrats appears to be reflected in a new poll of New Yorkers conducted by Siena College.

Schumer’s favorable rating stands at 39% favorable and 49% unfavorable among New York state voters questioned in the poll, which was conducted April 14-16 and released on Tuesday.

HEAD HERE TO CHECK OUT THE LATEST FOX NEWS POLLING

It’s the worst showing by Schumer in the 20 years Siena College has been conducting polls in New York state.

“A first in a Siena College poll: Schumer is 10 points underwater, with a plurality of voters viewing him unfavorably,” Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg said.

Fueling the deterioration of Schumer’s numbers is a plunge in favorability among Democrats.

PROGRESSIVE LEADER SAYS SCHUMER FACES ‘UPHILL CLIMB’ TO WIN BACK DEMOCRATS’ TRUST

“While he continues to be viewed unfavorably by more than two-thirds of Republicans and a majority of independents, Schumer saw his standing with Democrats, particularly liberals, fall dramatically,” Greenberg said. “Democrats view Schumer favorably 52-38%, down from 68-23%, and he’s still viewed favorably by a plurality of liberals, 47-41%, but that’s down from 68-21%.”

While the poll shows that Schumer’s favorable ratings are taking a hit, it also indicates that Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s numbers are soaring.

Ocasio-Cortez, the four-term Democrat from New York City and a progressive champion, stands at 47% favorable and 33% unfavorable among New York state voters. That’s a jump from 38%-39% the last time Siena asked about Ocasio-Cortez among a statewide sample of respondents, four years ago.

According to the poll, 64% of Democrats view Ocasio-Cortez in a favorable light, more than Schumer or Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul. Six in 10 Republicans questioned in the poll view Ocasio-Cortez in a negative way, with independents evenly divided.

BERNIE SANDERS, AOC, AND OTHER ANTI-TRUMP PROGRESSIVES HAUL IN BIG BUCKS

Schumer has repeatedly argued that voting to advance the GOP federal funding bill was the best of two bad options and a government shutdown would have given more power to Trump and billionaire Elon Musk, the president’s special White House advisor who’s aggressively chopping the federal workforce as he steers DOGE.

While facing calls by fellow Democrats to be more vocal in his opposition to Trump, Schumer to date has kept his control of the Senate Democratic Caucus.

While the Senate minority leader isn’t up for re-election until 2028, there are already suggestions that Ocasio-Cortez could wage a primary challenge against Schumer, with some early polling suggesting that she would top him.

Hochul, who is running next year for a second four-year term as New York governor, is enjoying a rise in her approval and favorable ratings, according to the poll.

The governor’s approval rating stands at 48%-45%, up from 46%-48% in Siena College’s March poll. 

And Hochul’s favorable ratings now stand at 44%-43%, up from 40%-50% last month.

While only 39% of voters are prepared to re-elect Hochul in 2026 – with 48% saying they would like to see “someone else” – her standing is an improvement from March, when only 34% wanted to see her re-elected and 56% preferred someone else.

Greenberg noted that when it comes to the governor’s approval and favorable ratings, “Hochul improved most among upstate and women voters.”

Republican Reps. Elise Stefanik and Mike Lawler, and Nassau County executive Bruce Blakeman, are all considering launching GOP campaigns for governor against Hochul.

Pointing to the latest poll results from Siena, Democratic Governors Association spokesperson Kevin Donohoe argued, “New Yorkers strongly support Governor Hochul’s leadership because she is fighting to get results on the priorities that matter to them – from public safety to lowering costs.”

A protester was captured on video yelling at Rep. Byron Donalds and being escorted away by security during a town hall hosted by the Florida Republican.

Tensions escalated inside the auditorium at Estero High School Monday night after a woman began shouting at Donalds – a staunch ally of President Donald Trump who is running to succeed term-limited Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis – over the war in Gaza. 

“The Palestinians have voted for Hamas and they have not done anything to remove Hamas. So you want to have a shouting match with me? Let’s have a shouting match on the facts,” Donalds said. “The truth is, is that Hamas held elections one time. One time. And they never held elections again. Because they would prefer to keep the Palestinian people under their boots.” 

“So if you’re going to ask who has blood on your hands, it is Hamas and it is the people that empower them…. That’s the truth. If you want to continue to have a shouting match with me at least come with the facts. Next question,” Donald told her, drawing applause from other members of the crowd. 

VIDEO: PROTESTER FORCIBLY ESCORTED OUT OF REPUBLICAN TOWN HALL HOSTED BY MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE 

However, the woman continued yelling at Donalds. 

“What you’re doing is yelling now and you’re being disrespectful. You, ma’am, you are being disrespectful. And I will respect you. And I will honor the fact that you are here trying to get answers,” Donald said. “But if you’re gonna hold this thing up and be disrespectful, then it’s time for you to be removed. You can leave.” 

The protester was then seen being escorted away by law enforcement. As she was being led out of the auditorium, she shouted, “Free, free Palestine!” 

Donalds also encountered a hostile reaction from his audience while responding to a question about oversight being imposed on Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). 

HOW DEMOCRATS INFILTRATED ‘THUNDEROUS’ GOP TOWN HALLS 

“First and foremost, when it comes to what Elon Musk is doing, he’s everything that he does right now is in the auspices of being a special employee under the presidency of Donald Trump. So how this works is the president’s allowed to have special employees. Every president basically had these special employees. They’re tasked with specific duties, specific responsibilities. Some of them have been tasked with going overseas, trying to negotiate climate policy. That was John Kerry when he was the climate czar under President Biden,” Donalds told the crowd. “And this instance, Elon Musk is essentially the head of the DOGE that Donald Trump has set up in his administration.” 

The crowd eventually started groaning and grew restless as Donalds spoke. 

“Are you going to allow me to answer the question? OK. So like I said, what he, what they doing is under the directions of the president of the United States. If you’re going to talk about what oversight is doing, we actually have to let the DOGE committee, the DOGE department actually finish its work,” Donalds continued. “What they are examining right now is inefficiency in a federal system.” 

“You can boo if you want to, but those are the facts. Because if you go back in time, back to 2009,” he added. “Then-President Obama famously said that he wanted to examine the efficiencies or lack thereof in the federal government. Elon Musk is doing the exact same thing.” 

FIRST ON FOX: An Indiana lawmaker is celebrating an American bicycle company opening a new manufacturing plant in her district after President Donald Trump launched his aggressive tariff campaign against China.

Rep. Erin Houchin, R-Ind., told Fox News Digital that Guardian Bikes is starting with a new $19 million investment in Seymour, Indiana to expand their operations there – which she said will create new local jobs.

“The number of job opportunities that are available, the investment right here in southern Indiana, that’s money that’s staying right here at home and not going outside the country. And certainly away from China,” Houchin said in her first interview on the topic.

TRUMP SHREDS BIDEN, ‘RADICAL LEFT LUNATICS’ IN EASTER MESSAGE

The Indiana Republican, now in her second term, said she first visited Guardian Bikes shortly after being elected to Congress. At the time, they had just 16 employees, she said.

“At the time, they talked to us about their desire to become a 100% made in the USA bicycle factory,” Houchin said. “Currently, over 97% of bicycles are made outside of the United States. Many are assembled in the United States, but their component parts mostly come from China.”

Guardian Bikes specifically relied on Chinese imports for 70% of its production, she said.

After Trump’s election in November 2024, however, she said “they have been slowly working toward being 100% made in the USA.”

“They just announced $19 million in financing with JPMorgan Chase to launch the first large-scale bicycle frame manufacturing operation in the United States,” Houchin said. “This has been made possible by President Trump’s trade policies…it’s just pretty incredible that we have a president right now that is focused so much…on creating a level playing field for American companies.”

Houchin said the company is aiming to increase its “mass market” bicycles manufactured in the U.S. from 100,000 to over 1 million.

“That’s just very, very exciting,” she said.

Guardian Bikes also currently has locations in California and Pennsylvania, with two more expected in Texas and Georgia this year, according to the company’s website.

The site also touts the company’s plans to manufacture its bike frames in Indiana, and vows to be “rapidly” moving toward being made entirely within the United States.

“We brought Guardian Bikes production to the U.S., because we believe the future of manufacturing is local, fast, and data-driven. Indiana, and specifically Seymour, offers the perfect combination of workforce, infrastructure, and proximity to our customer base,” Guardian Bikes CEO Brian Riley told Fox News Digital. “It’s not just about making bikes – it’s about building a new model for American manufacturing.”

WHAT THE FINANCIAL MARKETS ARE SCREAMING ABOUT TRUMP’S TARIFFS

It comes as critics of Trump’s sweeping tariff plans have accused him of upending the global economy.

Supporters of the plan, however, have hailed it as both a potent negotiating strategy and a long-needed solution to jobs moving overseas.

A cornerstone of Trump’s policy has been a 10% tariff on all imports to the U.S. Plans for additional reciprocal tariffs, which Trump announced earlier this month, were dropped against countries that have not retaliated against the U.S.

However, Trump has levied a massive 145% base tariff across all of Beijing’s exports in a bid to crack down on the U.S.’s growing reliance on Chinese manufacturing.

When reached for comment by Fox News Digital, White House spokesman Kush Desai told Fox News Digital, “Trillions in historic investment commitments from industry leaders – now including Guardian Bikes – since Election Day only reinforces what President Trump has been saying all along: if you make your product in America, you don’t have to worry about tariffs.”

A federal judge in Georgia has ordered the Trump administration to reinstate the legal statuses of 133 international students by 5 p.m. Tuesday after their F-1 student visas were suddenly terminated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Homeland Security (DHS).

The students, many of whom are in good academic standing and close to graduation, had their records terminated on Homeland Security’s SEVIS (Student and Exchange Visitor Information System) and they allege this was done without prior notice, proper explanation or an opportunity to respond. SEVIS is a database Homeland Security uses to monitor non-immigrant students.

U.S. District Court Judge Victoria Calvert, a Biden appointee, granted temporary restraining orders on behalf of the plaintiffs and ordered ICE and DHS to reinstate student statuses retroactively to March 31, 2025.

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS SUE OVER TRUMP ADMIN REVOKING VISAS

“Plaintiffs are likely to show that Defendants’ termination of the SEVIS registration exceeds the bounds of statutory and regulatory authority and is therefore unlawful,” Calvert wrote.

The lawsuit was filed by the ACLU and other groups in the Northern District of Georgia with Attorney General Pam Bondi, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and acting Director of ICE Todd Lyons listed as defendants in the case.

The Department of Justice responses to the lawsuit are currently sealed in the court docket.

The plaintiffs argue that the SERVIS terminations were used as a coercive tool rather than a lawful enforcement action and that many of the students have no criminal records and were given short notice to leave the U.S. despite maintaining valid student visas. 

Furthermore, several of the students are enrolled in STEM programs or work placements, suggesting they are high-achieving international students.

“DHS’s act of unlawfully terminating SEVIS records appears to be designed to coerce students, including each plaintiff, into abandoning their studies and ‘self-deporting’ despite not violating their status,” the plaintiffs wrote. 

TRUMP COLLEGE CRACKDOWN: LIST OF STUDENTS DETAINED AMID ANTISEMITISM ON CAMPUSES

The government argues that the revocations were valid under existing laws and regulations, particularly when students were flagged during criminal record checks or had their visas revoked. They cited grounds for deportability, even when there had been no arrest or conviction.

The judge also rejected the government’s claim that granting relief to these students would affect the executive’s “control over immigration.”

Calvert found that the terminations exceeded legal authority and likely violated the Administrative Procedure Act and the Fifth Amendment.

Furthermore, the judge found that the plaintiffs had demonstrated a substantial threat of irreparable harm, including loss of legal status, education, employment and mental distress, and that the balance of harms and public interest favored the students.

The decision was welcomed by Akiva Freidlin, the senior staff attorney at the ACLU-Georgia.

“The Constitution protects everyone on American soil, so the Trump administration cannot ignore due process to unjustifiably threaten students with the loss of immigration status, and arrest and deportation,” Friedlin said in a statement. 

READ THE ORDER BELOW. APP USERS, CLICK HERE.

“We believe this ruling shows the students are likely to prevail on their claims and we are pleased the court ordered the government to halt its unlawful actions while the lawsuit continues.”

The case will now be heard for a preliminary injunction, potentially offering longer-term relief, on Thursday, April 24.

Democrats are facing pushback as they continue to call for due process for illegal immigrant and suspected MS-13 member Kilmar Abrego Garcia after years of seemingly ignoring due process for their political rivals. 

During the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election and the first Trump term, many Democrats called for President Donald Trump to be put in jail despite only facing allegations of impropriety at the time.

“He needs to be imprisoned & placed in solitary confinement,” Democrat Rep. Maxine Waters said in October 2019.  “But for now, impeachment is the imperative.”

“I don’t want to see him impeached, I want to see him in prison,” then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reportedly told fellow Democrats in 2019, according to Politico.

VANCE SOUNDS OFF ON DEPORTATION, ‘RATIFICATION OF BIDEN’S ILLEGAL MIGRANT INVASION’ VIA ‘FAKE LEGAL PROCESS’

Democrats also assured the public that January 6 prisoners were receiving due process in terms of their treatment in jail despite Republican claims to the contrary and arguing that the defendants were being held for too long.

“They want to have a conversation about whether or not their iPads are working or if they have enough time on their iPads,” Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas said in 2023, according to the Dallas Observer. “This is what I’m hearing. As someone who’s been a public defender, let me tell you something: They know nothing about what bad conditions are.”

During a Jan. 7 press conference, Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said about the January 6th protesters, “No leniency. No leniency for these people. They have the cameras all over. They have their pictures. No matter what part of the country they came from, we ought to go after them right now.”

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., called for Kyle Rittenhouse to be thrown in jail as his trial was still developing. 

“Lock up Kyle Rittenhouse and throw away the key,” Jeffries posted on X, then known as Twitter, during the trial where Rittenhouse was facing a homicide charge for his actions during a George Floyd riot in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Rittenhouse was ultimately acquitted. 

APPEALS COURT DENIES DOJ BID TO BLOCK RETURN OF KILMAR ABREGO GARCIA FROM EL SALVADOR PRISON

Democrats fought vigorously against the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court and amplified allegations of sexual assault against him before any due process had been completed investigating those claims.

Speaking to CNN’s “State of the Union,” Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, called for an independent FBI investigation of claims against Kavanaugh, before explaining why the presumption of innocence and due process should not apply to his case.

“I put his denial in the context of everything that I know about him in terms of how he approaches his cases,” Hirono told host Jake Tapper, in response to a question about whether Kavanaugh was entitled to a presumption of innocence. “His credibility is already very questionable in my mind….  When I say that he’s very outcome-driven, he has an ideological agenda, and I can sit here and talk to you about some of the cases that exemplify his, in my view, inability to be fair.”

Over the past few weeks, Jeffries and other Democrats have been vocal proponents of due process when it comes to Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an illegal immigrant with alleged ties to a violent gang who was deported to El Salvador.

Many Democrats have railed against the Trump administration over issues like due process and questions about the kind of treatment Garcia could be receiving in the prison he is allegedly being housed in. 

“Mistakenly removing a U.S. resident that has protection from deportation legally granted to him by an immigration court and then making no effort to get him back not only places Mr. Abrego Garcia’s life in danger, but also violates the basic principles of due process and the rule of law,” Waters said in a recent letter to Trump. 

The face of the resistance to Garcia’s deportation has been Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., who traveled to El Salvador to meet with Garcia last week which drew strong criticism from the White House.

Van Hollen also opposed Kavanaugh’s confirmation using the unsubstantiated sexual assault allegations against him.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, White House spokesperson Kush Desai said, “If the hill that Democrats want to die on is demanding the return of a violent illegal alien, wifebeater, and foreign terrorist, we are happy to dig that grave for them.”

Some on social media have called out Democrats in recent days for alleged hypocrisy on the issue of due process, with many pointing out the millions of illegal immigrants who entered the country under President Joe Biden with little to no concern from his party. 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“I’m here to remind you that Democrats have never actually cared about due process,” Townhall columnist Dustin Grage posted on X while quoting the Jeffries post on Rittenhouse. “Hope this helps.”

“Democrats do not care about due process, not one bit,” Breitbart senior editor Joel Pollak posted on X. “That’s why we now have millions of illegal aliens in the country to begin with – and also why they trashed the civil liberties of hundreds of witnesses and defendants under Biden.”

“The entire purpose of flooding us with immigrants was to make due process impossible,” Twitchy’s Amy Curtis posted on X. “That some are okay with this, and don’t care about undoing the damage done by Democrats does not surprise me.”

“It’s important to remember that when it came to BLM mob demands and accusations of sexual assault against men (believe all women), the left/Democrats proudly dismissed Due Process,” conservative commentator Chad Felix Greene posted on X. “They only care about Constitutional rights when they believe it benefits them politically.”

Vice President JD Vance touted progress made toward a U.S.-India trade deal on Tuesday, saying a partnership between the Trump administration and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi would ensure a 21st century that’s “prosperous and peaceful.” 

Speaking in the northwestern Indian city of Jaipur, Vance also warned of “dire” consequences in the Indo-Pacific and a “dark time” for the world should the partnership between the U.S. and India fail. 

“Critics have attacked my president, President Trump, for starting a trade war in an effort to bring back the jobs of the past, but nothing could be further from the truth,” Vance said, referring to Trump’s aggressive tariff policies and commitment to revitalize U.S. manufacturing. “He seeks to rebalance global trade so that America, with friends like India, can build a future worth having for all of our people together.” 

President Donald Trump and Modi announced in February that the U.S. and India aim to double bilateral trade to $500 billion by the end of the decade. 

VANCE WAS ONE OF POPE FRANCIS’ LAST VISITORS

“Both of our governments are hard at work on a trade agreement built on shared priorities, like creating new jobs, building durable supply chains and achieving prosperity for our workers,” Vance said on Tuesday. “In our meeting yesterday, Prime Minister Modi and I made very good progress on all of those points, and we’re especially excited to formally announce that America and India have officially finalized the terms of reference for the trade negotiations. I think this is a vital step toward realizing President Trump and Prime Minister Modi’s vision because it sets a roadmap toward a final deal between our nations. I believe there is much America and India can accomplish together.” 

Vance noted that his trip to India was the first time he had visited the birthplace of the parents of his wife, Usha Vance. The vice president, the second lady and their three children visited Modi for dinner on Monday. 

In his speech Tuesday, Vance said his children have only built a rapport with two world leaders – Trump and Modi, who the second family first met in February at the AI Action Summit in Paris. 

“Our kids just like him,” Vance said, arguing that children are “brutally honest” and typically good judges of character. “I just like Prime Minister Modi too. And I think it’s a great foundation for the future of our relationship.” 

“President Trump and I know that Prime Minister Modi is a tough negotiator. He drives a hard bargain. It’s one of the reasons why we respect him. And we don’t blame Prime Minister Modi for fighting for India’s industry,” Vance said. “But we do blame American leaders of the past for failing to do the same for our workers. And we believe that we can fix that to the mutual benefit of both the United States and India.” 

JD VANCE GEARS UP TO TALK ECONOMIC PRIORITIES DURING TRIPS TO ITALY, INDIA

Vance appeared to reference China – though not directly – in addressing the high-stakes nature of trade negotiations between the U.S. and India. 

“This audience knows better than most: neither Americans nor Indians are alone and looking to scale up their manufacturing capacity,” Vance said. “The competition extends well beyond cheap consumer goods and into munitions, energy infrastructure and all sorts of other cutting-edge technologies. I believe that if our nations fail to keep pace, the consequences for the Indo-Pacific, but really the consequences for the entire world will be quite dire.” 

“We believe a stronger India means greater economic prosperity. But also greater stability across the Indo-Pacific, which is, of course, a shared goal for all of us in this room,” the vice president continued. “I believe that if India and the United States work together successfully, we are going to see a 21st century that is prosperous and peaceful. But I also believe that if we fail to work together successfully, the 21st century could be a very dark time for all of humanity.” 

In the past, Vance argued, Washington has approached Modi with an “attitude of preachiness or even one of condensation,” using India “as a source of low-cost labor” while criticizing the prime minister’s government. 

Vance said the Trump administration recognizes that “cheap, dependable energy is an essential part of making things and is an essential part of economic independence for both of our nations.” He said America is “blessed with vast natural resources and an unusual capacity to generate energy,” arguing that India would benefit from purchasing expanding U.S. energy exports by being able “to build more, make more, and grow more, but at much lower energy costs.”

“We also want to help India explore its own considerable natural resources, including its offshore natural gas reserves and critical mineral supplies,” he said. “We believe that American energy can help realize India’s nuclear power production goals, and this is very important as well as its AI ambitions, because as the United States knows well, and I know that India knows well there is no AI future without energy security and energy dominance.” 

“Americans want further access to Indian markets. This is a great place to do business, and we want to give our people more access to this country,” Vance said. “And Indians, we believe, will thrive from greater commerce in the United States. This is very much a win-win partnership. It certainly will be far into the future.” 

Rep. Haley Stevens, D-Mich., launched a bid to represent the Great Lakes State in the U.S. Senate with an ad slamming President Donald Trump. 

In a video announcing her candidacy, Stevens is flanked by vehicles as she criticizes the administration’s tariff policies and vows to protect Michigan’s auto industry.

“[Trump’s] chaos and reckless tariffs are putting tens of thousands of Michigan jobs at risk,” Stevens said in her campaign launch video. She also accused the Trump administration of bringing “chaos.”

“Haley will work to bring down costs for Michigan families, continue to boost Michigan’s manufacturing and auto industries, and stand up to the Trump-Musk chaos agenda,” a statement on Stevens’ campaign website reads.

REPUBLICAN LAUNCHES SECOND STRAIGHT BID TO FLIP DEMOCRAT-HELD SENATE SEAT IN KEY BATTLEGROUND

In the campaign launch ad, Stevens highlighted her work to improve America’s auto industry under the Obama administration – and even included a clip of former President Barack Obama giving her a shoutout.

Stevens is the third prominent Democrat to throw her hat in the ring since Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., announced that he would not seek a third term. The congresswoman is set to compete against state Sen. Mallory McMorrow and former gubernatorial candidate Abdul El-Sayed, who has been endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.

LONGTIME HOUSE REPUBLICAN WEIGHS RUN TO FLIP DEM-HELD SENATE SEAT IN KEY BATTLEGROUND

On the Republican side, former Rep. Mike Rogers, who lost to now-Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., in 2024, is also running in 2026. Additionally, earlier this month, longtime Michigan Republican Rep. Bill Huizenga told Fox News that his phone “hasn’t stopped ringing” since Peters’ announcement.

Michigan will be a major target for the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) to flip in 2026 as the party looks to expand its majority in the Senate. When she was elected in 2018, Stevens flipped a Republican-held U.S. House seat, which could make her a formidable candidate for Senate.

Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Tuesday in Mahmoud v. Taylor, a closely watched case that could reshape the role of parental rights and religious freedom in public education. 

At issue is whether a Maryland school district violated the First Amendment by requiring elementary school students to engage with LGBTQ+ storybooks that include topics about gender transitions and same-sex relationships, without allowing parents to opt out. 

The policy was implemented to disrupt “cisnormativity” and promote inclusivity, according to Supreme Court documents. Initially, the school allowed parents to opt their children out of these lessons, but later reversed this decision, eliminating the opt-out option and not notifying parents when such content was being taught.

SUPREME COURT CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS SWOOPS IN TO SAVE TRUMP FIRING DECISION

Parents, supported by religious freedom organizations, argue that this policy infringes upon their First Amendment rights by compelling their children to engage in instruction that contradicts their religious beliefs. The Fourth Circuit Court, a federal appeals court, ruled last year that there was no violation of religious exercise rights, stating that the policy did not force parents to change their religious beliefs or conduct and that parents could still teach their children outside of school.

Thomas More Society attorney Michael McHale told Fox News Digital in a previous interview that “while there is an opt-out statute in state law, the school initially abided by it.”

“The school decided to yank the opt-out exception, so to speak, and it really triggered the issue of whether the Constitution requires an opt-out in that circumstance,” McHale said. 

LAWSUIT TRACKER: NEW RESISTANCE BATTLING TRUMP’S SECOND TERM THROUGH ONSLAUGHT OF LAWSUITS TAKING AIM AT EOS

“For the Fourth Circuit to say there was no religious burden, it really seems radical, and given how pressing that issue of school curriculum on sexual orientation, gender identity is, I think it raises an issue worth the Supreme Court’s attention,” he said.

Earlier this year, President Donald Trump signed several executive orders related to gender policies in federal institutions. McHale said these actions could reduce legal conflicts involving religious rights, such as disputes over whether teachers must use students’ preferred pronouns in schools.

SCOTUS RULINGS THIS TERM COULD STRENGTHEN RELIGIOUS RIGHTS PROTECTIONS, EXPERT SAYS

Mahmoud v. Taylor is one of three major religious cases the Supreme Court has scheduled oral arguments for this year.  

Earlier this month, the high court heard a case brought by a Wisconsin-based Catholic charity group’s bid for tax relief, which could alter the current eligibility requirements for religious tax exemptions. 

At issue in that case is whether the Wisconsin branch of Catholic Charities, a social services organization affiliated with Catholic dioceses across the country, can successfully contest the state’s high court determination that it is ineligible for a religious tax exemption because it is not “operated primarily for religious purposes.”

The third case is about whether a Catholic online school can become the first religious charter school in the U.S. 

The Trump administration is feuding with elite educational institutions, announcing mid-April it would cut off more than $2.2 billion in funding to Harvard University, and this week threatening cuts to another $1 billion of its federal grants and funding. 

Harvard, in return, is now suing the administration over the funding freeze, which it calls “unlawful and beyond the government’s authority.” 

The White House responded that Harvard’s “gravy train of federal assistance” is coming to an end.

But Harvard isn’t the only school the Trump administration is fighting. Other institutions are facing similar circumstances – starting with New York City’s Columbia University. 

The Trump administration unveiled plans in March to freeze roughly $400 million in funding for Columbia, prompting the university to enact changes, including expelling and suspending several students involved in protests and demonstrations on campus in support of Palestinians. 

Additionally, Columbia complied with several other demands from the Trump administration to place additional oversight over the Middle Eastern studies department and ban masks that conceal an individual’s identity. 

TRUMP ADMIN SLASHES OVER $2.2B IN FUNDING TO HARVARD AFTER SCHOOL DEFIES DEMANDS

Still, acting president Claire Shipman issued a statement April 18, providing updates on the university’s work with the Trump administration’s Federal Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism, while also claiming that Columbia would push back against efforts that would “require us to relinquish our independence and autonomy as an educational institution.”

The Trump administration also announced earlier in April that it would halt more than $1 billion in funding for Cornell University and approximately $790 million for Northwestern University amid investigations into alleged civil rights violations. 

“These developments are deeply disturbing,” Northwestern University said in an April 10 statement. “They impact the critical research we perform every day, the lives of those who do it and those who benefit from it. They also cut to the core of what makes Northwestern one of the world’s greatest universities.”

“This situation is changing rapidly, but we are working quickly and deliberately to gather facts to help us understand and respond to this emerging crisis,” Northwestern said. 

Roughly $510 million in funds for Brown University could also be on the chopping block, a White House official told the Associated Press April 3, due to allegations of antisemitism at the school. 

The University of Pennsylvania also faced a freeze on approximately $175 million in federal funding, due to the school’s transgender student athlete Lia Thomas, a biological male who identifies as transgender and competes in women’s events. The funding pause stemmed from when the school “infamously permitted a male to compete on its women’s swimming team,” the Daily Pennsylvanian reported that the White House said. 

HARVARD WON’T COMPLY WITH TRUMP ADMIN’S DEMANDS AMID THREATS OF CUTTING FEDERAL FUNDING

After Harvard refused to comply with a series of requests from the Trump administration to reform various practices on campus, the administration revealed April 18 that it would freeze more than $2 billion in federal funding for the institution.

Harvard University President Alan M. Garber said in a statement that the Trump administration tacked on additional requests that go beyond addressing antisemitism on campus, and the institution would not comply because the demands were unconstitutional.

Specifically, Garber said the new requests “direct governmental regulation of the ‘intellectual conditions’ at Harvard,” including auditing viewpoints of student, faculty and staff members on campus, and eliminating all diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, offices and initiatives at Harvard. 

“It makes clear that the intention is not to work with us to address antisemitism in a cooperative and constructive manner,” Garber wrote. “We have informed the administration through our legal counsel that we will not accept their proposed agreement.”

The Trump administration stood up the Federal Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism in February, which aims to eradicate bias on campuses that have experienced incidents targeting Jewish students since October 2023.

“It is time for elite universities to take the problem seriously and commit to meaningful change if they wish to continue receiving taxpayer support,” the task force said in a statement. 

The Associated Press and Fox News’ Stepheny Price contributed to this report. 

House Democrats who traveled to El Salvador to seek the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia have written to Secretary of State Marco Rubio demanding “daily proof of life” after being denied a meeting with the Salvadoran national who was deported from Maryland. 

Reps. Robert Garcia of California, Maxwell Frost of Florida, Yassamin Ansari of Arizona and Maxine Dexter of Oregon flew to El Salvador Monday following a visit to the country by Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., last week.  

“We had a meeting this morning with the embassy here in El Salvador and from what we have heard there is no reason for me to believe that our administration, the Trump administration, is doing anything to facilitate his safe return home,” Ansari said. 

“Since we were not able to get the answers we need today from the embassy, we have written a letter, just as of 30 minutes ago, to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, demanding daily proof of life for Mr. Abrego Garcia, demanding he sees – he has access to counsel, and of course, finally, demanding his safe return home,” she added. “And we will not stop until this is complete.” 

REPUBLICAN SENATOR SAYS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION DEPORTING KILMAR ABREGO GARCIA WAS A ‘SCREW-UP’ 

Abrego Garcia, a 29-year-old immigrant who crossed the border illegally, settled in Maryland and obtained protected legal status, was deported to El Salvador last month. Officials acknowledged in court his deportation was an administrative error, although now some top Trump officials say he was correctly removed and contend he’s a member of the notorious MS-13 gang. 

Frost said Monday that the traveling Democrats “formally requested” to meet with Abrego Garcia but “we were told at our meeting that the government here has denied our request to see him because this is not an official trip.”

READ THE DEMOCRATIC LETTER – APP USERS, CLICK HERE:

“We are also worried about our own constituents; we represent people across the entire nation,” Frost told reporters in El Salvador. “We are getting hundreds and hundreds of calls – people saying ‘Go to El Salvador, do something, do something about the fact that president of the United States in the Oval Office is talking about sending U.S. citizens here to El Salvador to the prison here.'”

ABREGO GARCIA TRANSFERRED FROM NOTORIOUS EL SALVADORAN MEGA-PRISON 

“We don’t want to wait until things get worse. We are here to build off of the work of Sen. Van Hollen, who heroically came down here and showed his family and the world for the first time since he was taken down here, that he is alive, that he was alive and he was well at that time,” he added. “What we want to know is where is he at now? What is his condition now? His family deserves to know, the people deserve to know.” 

Abrego Garcia’s wife Jennifer Vasquez, a U.S. citizen, released a statement Monday saying “we’re deeply grateful to the members of Congress and advocates for justice now on the ground in El Salvador, building on the leadership of Senator Van Hollen.” 

“Their presence sends a powerful message: the fight to bring Kilmar home isn’t over,” she said. 

Fox News’ Greg Wehner and Tyler Olson contributed to this report. 

EXCLUSIVE: In honor of Earth Day, Energy Secretary Chris Wright released a video retelling his own experiences growing up in a much dirtier world in Denver, and watching wildlife and greenery return to the mountains as he grew older, and how the effects of smarter energy were at the forefront of that continuing change:

Wright was a young kid in Denver when the first Earth Day was celebrated on April 22, 1970, on Belmont Plateau in West Philadelphia.

But, while the green movement was getting its roots in industrial Pennsylvania, Colorado was dealing with similar air quality struggles in its capital city.

“We couldn’t see the mountains from my house one out of three, one out of four days, air quality, lung issues were quite common,” Wright says in the video, obtained exclusively by Fox News Digital.

ENERGY CHIEF ENVISIONS US NUCLEAR RENAISSANCE, RESTORING PIT PRODUCTION, LOCALIZING NUKE POWER

“Since then, Denver has exploded in population and economic activity, but the air’s gotten dramatically cleaner. That’s technology and wealth at work.”

Wright said the six explicitly-named pollutants in the Clean Air Act — carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, ground-level ozone and particulate matter — have all dropped by about three-quarters in the past 55 years.

In that time, he said, “economies have expanded, population has grown, travel and leisure have sprung up all around the world.”

“But yet, in wealthy societies, we’ve made cleaner air, cleaner water, and a return of large wildlife,” Wright added.

ENERGY CHIEF SLASHES RED TAPE THAT LED TO 60% COST INFLATION, BURDENED WORK IN CRITICAL LABS

As a natural outdoorsman growing up in the Rocky Mountain State, Wright rarely saw large wildlife while adventuring out as a kid.

But, when he returns home, it’s not uncommon for him to see moose, mountain lions or bears — a development he ascribes to the difference Earth Day and responsible energy development have had on the country.

“The return of wildlife, the cleaning up air, the cleaning of our water are truly something to celebrate, and they’ve been driven by wealth and by increasing energy available in societies,” he said.

“Are we done yet? Heck no.”

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He lamented that in much of the world, people are unable to enjoy clean and reliable energy or water, particularly in impoverished countries.

Wright said that while Westerners use stoves or grills, 2 billion people worldwide still rely on animal dung, wood or incinerated waste to cook — which in turn creates indoor air pollution that kills 2 million people per year, per the WHO.

“So of course we’ve got progress to be made,” Wright said.

“But let’s keep our eyes on the big picture: healthy humans, long opportunity-rich lives, clean air, clean water, and thriving ecosystems. Wealth and a handily energized society are the key to achieving those goals.”

President Donald Trump endorsed Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., calling the lawmaker “a Great Man, and TREMENDOUS Senator” in a post on Truth Social.

“I love Montana, won every one of my Races there by a landslide, and would only recommend the best to represent you in the Senate!” the president declared. 

“Senator Steve Daines, of the Great State of Montana, has my Complete and Total Endorsement — HE WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN!”

TRUMP CAN USE TARIFFS AS ‘IMPORTANT LEVERAGE,’ SAYS SEN. STEVE DAINES

Daines served as National Republican Senatorial Committee chair prior to current chair, Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C.

“As Chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), Steve worked tirelessly with me in the last Election to help elect smart, tough, and sincere America First Patriots. In the Senate, Steve is fighting hard to Grow the Economy, Cut Taxes, Secure the Border, Stop Migrant Crime, Support our Military/Vets, Unleash American Energy Dominance, Restore PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH, and Defend our always under siege Second Amendment,” Trump declared in his post.

NRSC CHAIR REVEALS HOW MANY GOP SENATE SEATS HE’S GUNNING FOR DURING 2026 MIDTERMS

Daines, who has served in the Senate since 2015, thanked Trump for the endorsement.

“I’m honored to have your support as we fight to protect Montana values, secure our border, cut taxes, and Make America Great Again! Together, we’ll deliver results for our state and nation,” Daines noted in a tweet. 

Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., also backed Daines for re-election.

US SENATOR BLASTS PRESIDENT OF MEXICO, SAYS TOXIC SEWAGE DUMP THREATENS ‘NATIONAL SECURITY’

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“Steve Daines is a champion for the America First agenda and hardworking Montanans. Working with President Trump, he helped deliver our Republican Senate majority and is fighting to cut taxes, secure the border, unleash American energy, and lower costs for families in The Treasure State,” Sheehy said in a post on X.

“I’m proud to join @realDonaldTrump in endorsing my friend @SteveDaines so he can keep fighting for Montana,” the senator noted.

The Vatican and White House have for decades kept a close relationship, with various popes and presidents meeting in the nation’s capital and in Vatican City across the years. 

Pope Francis died on Easter Monday at the age of 88, following years of health issues, including chronic lung disease. Francis was the head of the Roman Catholic Church from 2013 until his death, and had met with three U.S. presidents across his tenure. 

Francis’ last high-profile meeting with a U.S. leader was held just hours before his death, when Vice President JD Vance traveled to Italy for the Easter holiday and met with the pope on the most holy day for Christians. 

“I know you’ve not been feeling great, but it’s good see you in better health,” Vance told the pontiff Sunday. 

FAITH LEADERS REFLECT ON POPE FRANCIS’ DEATH, PAPACY AND LASTING LEGACY: ‘MADE HIS MARK’

“I pray for you every day,” Vance said. “God bless you.”

Following Francis’ death, Fox News Digital took a look back on high-profile meetings and friendships the Vatican and White House have forged across the years. 

Amid the Cold War in 1982 – just years before the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 – President Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II met at the Vatican.

PHOTO GALLERY: POPE FRANCIS THROUGH THE YEARS

The meeting marked the first time a president and pope met alone behind closed doors, a 1982 article detailing the visit reported, and came roughly a year after both had survived assassination attempts just weeks apart in 1981. The meeting marked the beginning of the pair’s close friendship as they worked to defeat the growing threat of communism on the world stage. 

Two years later, the pair met again in Fairbanks, Alaska, where they delivered messages of peace in a world on the edge as tensions between the communist Eastern Bloc and the capitalist Western Bloc flared. 

“In a violent world, Your Holiness, you have been a minister of peace and love. Your words, your prayers, your example have made you – for those who suffer oppression or the violence of war – a source of solace, inspiration, and hope,” Reagan said. “For this historic ministry the American people are grateful to you, and we wish you every encouragement in your journeys for peace and understanding in the world.”

The two world leaders’ friendship was rooted in their disgust of communism, socialism and atheism that had gripped the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. The pope and the Reagan administration worked closely to promote the Solidarity labor movement in Poland, John Paul II’s home country, which encouraged citizens to reject communism in the satellite state of the USSR, the Associated Press previously reported. 

The Vatican has denied a formal alliance with the U.S. during the promotion of the Solidarity labor movement, but has said in more recent years that Pope John Paul II and Reagan shared a common goal of fighting totalitarianism, the Associated Press reported in 2004. 

REAGAN, JOHN PAUL II UNITED IN PURPOSE

In 1989, Poland became the first country in the Eastern bloc to hold semi-free elections, which resulted in a resounding win for the Solidarity movement and led to the dissolution of the communist government in Poland. The win had a domino effect on other nations as 1989 became known as the year communism fell, including the destruction of the Berlin Wall later that year and the eventual end to the Soviet Union in 1991. 

“Pope John Paul II and President Reagan worked together to bring an end to atheistic Soviet communism,” former Republican Gov. Scott Walker wrote in a 2020 Washington Times op-ed of Reagan and Pope John Paul II. “The two had a divine plan to stop the Soviet empire that was engaged in a war on religion and individual liberties. The work of a pope and a president helped bring about the collapse of communism and yielded more freedom and opportunity for people all over the world.”

Democrat Woodrow Wilson in 1919 became the first U.S. president to meet with a pontiff, opening the doors to normalizing an open line of communication between Washington and Vatican City. 

Wilson was traveling in Europe following the end of World War I and “called upon his Holiness Pope Benedict XV,” according to an article published in America, a Catholic magazine, that year. 

VANCE WAS ONE OF POPE FRANCIS’ LAST VISITORS

“The President’s arrival was announced by the Master of the Chamber to the Pope, who awaited Mr. Wilson in the Throne Room,” the magazine reported at the time. “The President was admitted immediately to the presence of the Holy Father, who welcomed him most cordially. They spent about a half hour together. It is not, of course, officially known what were the subjects which they discussed.” 

The meeting, which came at a time of ongoing anti-Catholic sentiment stemming from the influx of Catholic immigrants at the turn of the century, set the standard for presidents forging relationships with the Vatican – though such meetings did not become normalized until decades later. 

Presidents meeting with the pope did not become common until 1959, when President Dwight Eisenhower visited Pope John XXIII while on a tour of various countries, including Italy, Office of the Historian documents show. 

The second meeting between a pope and president set a new tradition. 

Every president since Eisenhower has met with the current pope, totaling 32 meetings both in the U.S. and in Vatican City since 1959, Fox Digital found. 

It wasn’t until 1979, during President Jimmy Carter’s administration, that the pontiff traveled to Washington and joined the president for a meeting at the White House. 

Pope John Paul II was invited to the White House amid his first papal pilgrimage to the United States in 1979, when he was well-received by U.S. Catholics and nicknamed “John Paul, Superstar” by Time magazine due to the lage crowds he drew amid his visits to Boston, New York and Denver. 

POPE FRANCIS’ VIEWS ON BUSINESS, THE ECONOMY THROUGH THE YEARS

“Sharing the belief that respect for human rights and the dignity of the individual must be the cornerstone of the domestic and international policies of nations, the Pope and the President underlined their support for international covenants on human rights and for international organizations and entities which serve the cause of human rights,” the Carter administration said in a statement at the time of the visit. “They agreed that the international community must mobilize its concern and resources to deal with the problems of refugees, to protect human rights, and to prevent hunger and famine.”

A pope visiting the White House has been rarer than a president visiting the Vatican. Pope Benedict visited the White House in 2008 when he celebrated his 81st birthday with President George W. Bush, and Francis traveled to the White House in 2015 and met with President Barack Obama. Other popes have not met a president at the White House. 

President Donald Trump, who had clashed with Pope Francis on environmental and political policies, is slated to travel to Vatican City later this week to attend the pope’s funeral Mass. 

“Melania and I will be going to the funeral of Pope Francis, in Rome. We look forward to being there!” the president posted Monday to Truth Social. 

Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., hosted his latest in a series of roundtables with small businesses around the Green Mountain State, and the attendees said the Trump administration’s tariff actions will hurt their operations directly and damage the state’s key tourism industry.

“These tariffs are a self-inflicted wound,” Welch, who also co-sponsored a bipartisan bill to repeal them, told Fox News Digital on Monday.

“And they’re already raising prices for businesses, farmers and working families across rural America. Everyone will be affected by President Trump’s trade war, it doesn’t matter what your political point of view is or where you live.”

The latter appeared to be the tenor at Welch’s latest roundtable in Stowe, near the Quebec border.

OPINION: WHAT FINANCIAL MARKETS ARE SCREAMING ABOUT TRUMP’S TARIFFS

“I think I speak for all of us when I say we don’t know how they’re going to affect us,” said Jen Kimmich, who runs Alchemist Brewery.

“What we do know is that these tariffs are happening. We do know prices are going to go up, but we don’t know how much.”

Kimmich shared an example of how intertwined her brewery is with global manufacturing.

Her aluminum is produced in the U.S., but the manufacturer sources some recycled metal from Brazil, metal that then transits through Canada to be made into sheets before crossing back into Vermont.

Alchemist raised its prices by 5% and absorbed another 10% hit, Kimmich told Welch.

TRUMP’S TARIFF 2-STEP

Her brewery’s specialty malt, she said, is exempted for now because it is a food product from the United Kingdom.

The brewery, like the other businesses represented collectively, said the sudden decrease in visitors from across the northern border has hurt the tourism industry as well as stores where Canadians might regularly shop in Vermont.

“At every single level, these tariffs make no economic sense,” she said. “The tariffs are unfair, and they’re already creating enormous uncertainty. I’m working to help Vermont maintain the strength of its small businesses.”

Christa Bowdish, proprietor of the Old Stagecoach Inn, said in a statement that 95% of her business is via tourism and the rest from locals.

“Of that 95%, typically 15% are Canadian. We were all excited about having a banner ski season, and it was good, but it wasn’t amazing,” she said, adding that while January’s figures were up, skiing in February was down and the trend has continued.

At the same time, Bowdish said web traffic from Canada has been falling, which she suspects is tied to the tariff situation.

Bowdish also shared with Welch a letter from a Canadian tourist who canceled their trip because of American political rhetoric toward Canada.

“This is long-lasting damage to a relationship, and emotional damage takes time to heal. While people aren’t visiting Vermont, they’ll be finding new places to visit, making new memories, building new family traditions, and we will not recapture all of that,” the innkeeper told Welch.

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Power Play Sports owner Caleb Magoon added, “The big challenge for me is going to be supply chain issues. At my two stores, because we’re general sporting goods stores, I work with over 100 vendors who are making products literally across the globe, from Dubai to China to right down the road in Waterbury.”

Meanwhile, representatives of ski and snowsports businesses expressed uncertainty about how the tariffs would affect them, since many do not open their doors for the year until November.

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for a response to the senator’s and business owners’ concerns.

President Trump is fighting a war with many battlefields.

It’s a nine-front crusade, although I could easily double that number.

If there’s a common thread here, it’s the president taking on elite institutions that he has long resented or reviled.

That’s why his first three months seem stuck on hyperspeed – critics would say chaos – because he’s broken with the traditional model of tackling one or two issues at a time. Voters gave him a second term to shake things up. It’s the first Trump term on steroids.

EDUCATION DEPT. TO RESUME COLLECTIONS ON DEFAULTED FEDERAL STUDENT LOANS FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 2020

The president is surrounded by loyalists who encourage his flood-the-zone approach, unlike some of the more traditional figures (Rex Tillerson, Jim Mattis, Gary Cohn) who tried to restrain him the last time he lived in the White House.

One advantage is that he uses Truth Social as a weapon, unloading on those who displease him.

And yet he still finds time to abolish rules limiting shower pressure, call for the abolition of pennies, and come out against changing clocks (though his stance on daylight savings is unclear) – all matters that affect people’s daily lives.

Here, in no particular order, are Donald Trump’s nine battlegrounds: 

1. TOP PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES

Although Trump himself went to the Wharton School, he is constantly attacking Columbia and other top Ivy colleges. Harvard, where he has frozen more than $2 billion in federal funding and another $7 billion is at risk, is fighting back. Plus, the IRS is looking at revoking the university’s tax-exempt status.

The White House now admits that the letter a Trump official transmitted to Harvard was “unauthorized” and should not have been sent. Harvard officials were stunned because they thought they were in the process of negotiating a settlement with the administration. 

2. LAW FIRMS

One giant law firm after another, under pressure from Trump, has caved and reached settlements with the White House. This involves agreeing to provide up to $100 million or even $125 million in pro bono services on matters important to the administration. The alternative is an executive order pulling its members’ security clearances, making it impossible to serve their corporate clients without access to secret data. A few firms have fought back, and some attorneys have resigned in protest, but most are volunteering to settle.

3. MEDIA 

President Trump has sued CBS, NBC and Gannett. He won a $16-million lawsuit against ABC–approved by Disney–after George Stephanopoulos repeatedly called him a rapist when he was actually held liable for sexual abuse. Even if the suits go nowhere, journalists and news outlets have to hire lawyers and go through an ordeal.

MARK ZUCKERBERG ON THE STAND: ‘CRAZY,’ ‘SCARY’ IDEAS LED HIM TO BUY INSTAGRAM AND WHATSAPP

Trump has long used the press as a foil, but now he ridicules the likes of CNN’s Kaitlan Collins when she tries to ask questions. He refused to take a question from an NBC reporter, saying the network has no credibility. And yet Trump provides an absolutely stunning degree of access. He takes questions virtually every day and has taken over the press pool (with the AP still excluded). The coverage is overwhelmingly anti-Trump–sometimes that’s self-inflicted–but that also boosts clicks and ratings. It’s a love-hate relationship.

4. FEDERAL RESERVE

The markets nose-dived again yesterday as Trump stepped up his personal assault on Fed Chairman Jerome Powell in an obvious attempt to pressure him into resigning. Powell’s job is to worry about inflation, not to goose the economy because the president wants him to cut interest rates.

The entire tariff war has spooked Wall Street and alienated such allies as Canada (the 51st State???), Mexico and the European Union. He repeatedly promised a tariff war during the campaign, but no one expected tariffs of this magnitude, even against China, which has retaliated. Now Trump says he’ll even work out a deal with China. The 90-day pause briefly seemed to stabilize things, but whether the president can strike deals with 90 countries in 90 days remains to be seen.

5. COURTS

Donald Trump has a long history of attacking judges and prosecutors. Now he is going up to the line, and perhaps crossing it, when it comes to challenging court rulings, even with a 6-3 conservative majority on the Supreme Court.

The other day, the president deflected questions about the wrongful deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, telling reporters to speak to the lawyers. The next day, he unloaded at length on Abrego Garcia, saying he’s a violent man who deserves to be in prison and criticizing Chris Van Hollen’s trip to visit him in a carefully staged photo op.

Abrego Garcia may well be a gang member, but a previous court ruling had found he should not be sent to El Salvador. Politically, this is a winning issue for Trump. But when SCOTUS ruled 9-0 that he should “facilitate” Garcia’s return, Trump pretty much ignored it.

TRUMP SAYS HE’S ‘NOT HAPPY’ WITH FED CHIEF JEROME POWELL

In a separate case, the Supreme Court, 7-2, ordered Trump not to move a second wave of Venezuelan migrants from where they are being held. This time, the administration agreed to follow the ruling. 

6. FORMER AIDES

The president is going after two of his appointees from the first term.

He has ordered an investigation of his former cybersecurity chief, Chris Krebs, for “falsely and baselessly” denying that the 2020 election was rigged. He called Krebs a “significant bad-faith actor who weaponized and abused his government authority,” meaning Krebs found what every other probe, including one by Attorney General Bill Barr, found–no evidence of significant fraud.

Trump also ordered a probe of Miles Taylor, better known as “Anonymous,” for the New York Times op-ed he wrote ripping the president. 

Taylor, a former Homeland Security official, “wrote a book under the pseudonym ‘Anonymous,’ making outrageous claims both about your administration and about others in it,” the president was told in a memo. So he too is under investigation. Trump even accused Taylor of committing “treason.” 

7. HILL REPUBLICANS

The president has pressured members of his own party into going along with just about anything he wants. Other than the Matt Gaetz fiasco, that has meant approving all his nominees, despite doubts about the likes of Pete Hegseth and RFK Jr. 

He has openly warned that he will use Elon Musk’s money to launch primary opponents against those who defy him. Musk has been a heat shield for Trump, though he has broken with him on tariffs. Remember that Musk poured money into that Wisconsin Supreme Court battle and lost. The chainsaw looks very different now.

While the violent attacks against Tesla have been despicable, Musk has also had to admit, after vowing to cut $1 trillion, that he’ll only be able to save $150 billion. Musk also admitted firing and having to rehire bird flu experts and nuclear bomb specialists, but remains the world’s richest man.

Lisa Murkowski just came out and said it: They are all afraid to criticize Trump for fear of political retaliation. 

8. KENNEDY CENTER

It’s never been done, but the president fired all the Democratic board members and named himself chairman. He’s even suggested that he should host the annual awards given out for the glittering building on the Potomac named for JFK – not because he needs the attention, he says, but because it would be good for ratings.

The board has always been bipartisan, but that doesn’t bother Trump. 

Some performers, led by Lin-Manuel Miranda of “Hamilton” fame, have already pulled out. Will only conservative performers get the green light?

I’ve picked the Kennedy Center as an example of Trump’s culture wars, but he’s also taken aim at the Smithsonian Institution and the National Zoo. 

9. VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY

The president, with help from JD Vance, utterly humiliated the Ukrainian president during that meltdown meeting at the White House. Now Zelenskyy bears a good bit of responsibility for the clash – he should have kept his mouth shut and walked away with an agreement, but took the bait. 

Trump went a step further, kicking him out of the White House and sending him home.

Now Trump, through Marco Rubio, says he may give up on negotiating a cease-fire in Ukraine. That’s exactly what Vladimir Putin wants, so he can keep on seizing land from the brave Ukrainians. One thing that Trump said he would do, but hasn’t done, is pressure his pal Putin. He still blames Zelenskyy and Ukraine for having the temerity to be invaded by the Kremlin. 

That’s the list. Feel free to create your own. Sometimes it works for Donald Trump, sometimes it doesn’t. But it helps explain the dizzying pace of change and sends an unmistakable message that he is in charge.

A New York judge has ordered Mayor Eric Adams to temporarily halt a program to have immigration agents operate in the city’s infamous Rikers Island jail. 

Judge Mary Rosado has barred the city from “taking any steps toward negotiating, signing, or implementing any Memorandum of Understanding with the federal government” before an April 25 hearing in a lawsuit challenging the plan. 

NJ GOVERNOR ACCUSED OF HARBORING VIOLENT ILLEGAL CRIMINALS, DOJ LAUNCHES PROBE

The lawsuit against Adams came from the Democratic-controlled New York City Council, which seeks to bar Adams from cooperating with the Trump administration on combating illegal immigration. 

The suit focuses on Adams’ recent executive order that allows federal immigration authorities to operate an office on Rikers Island to help carry out criminal investigations into drug trafficking, organized violence and migrant gang activity plaguing the city.

In the suit, the city council accuses Adams of engaging in an illegal “quid pro quo” with the Trump administration by allowing ICE into the city prison in exchange for having the federal corruption charges against him dropped.

The suit claims that Adams, who is running for re-election as an independent, prioritized his own political goals over the city’s “prized sanctuary laws,” calling the executive order “the poisoned fruit of Mayor Adams’s deal with the Trump Administration.”

BORDER CROSSINGS HIT RECORD LOW IN MARCH THANKS TO ‘VIGILANT’ WORK OF AGENTS: REPORT

Fox News Digital has reached out to the mayor’s office. 

Adams previously announced he would deputize his first deputy mayor, Randy Mastro, to handle all decision-making on the return of ICE to Rikers Island in order to “ensure there was never even the appearance of any conflict.”

Mastro said last week that discussions with the federal government over the plan were ongoing.

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ICE previously had a presence at Rikers, but the agency was banned from the jail complex in 2014 under New York City’s sanctuary laws limiting cooperation with immigration enforcement.

Fox News Digital’s Peter Pinedo as well as The Associated Press contributed to this report. 
 

President Trump indicated Monday – following news of Pope Francis’s death – that he and first lady Melania Trump will be attending the Pope’s funeral at the Vatican, despite the president’s somewhat contentious history with the late leader of the Catholic Church.

Traditionally, papal funerals take place four to six days following their death, so Francis’s funeral is expected to take place before the end of the month. Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni told reporters that the General Congregation of Cardinals will occur Tuesday morning, during which an exact date for the funeral should be decided.

“Melania and I will be going to the funeral of Pope Francis, in Rome,” Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social on Monday afternoon. “We look forward to being there!”

POPE FRANCIS’ FUNERAL WILL BE SIMPLIFIED VERSION OF PAST PAPAL FUNERALS, PER HIS CHANGE OF PAPAL FUNERAL RITES

Trump’s announcement that he would be traveling to Rome for the ceremony followed a separate announcement he made earlier in the day indicating that he had ordered all American flags on government grounds, including military installments and embassies abroad, to fly at half-staff until sunset Monday.

Trump’s relationship with Pope Francis over the years was one marked by ideological differences and – at times – tension.

Amid Trump’s first run for office, Pope Francis criticized one of Trump’s signature campaign promises of building a wall along the southern border, calling the move “not Christian” in 2016.

POPE FRANCIS AND US PRESIDENTS: A LOOK BACK AT HIS LEGACY WITH THE NATION’S LEADERS 

“A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian,” Francis told reporters during a mid-flight interview on his way to Mexico in 2016, according to a translation from the Associated Press.

Trump, meanwhile, shot back at the pontiff’s remarks, arguing it was “disgraceful” for the Pope, or any religious leader for that matter, to question another person’s faith. 

“If and when the Vatican is attacked by ISIS, which as everyone knows is ISIS’s ultimate trophy, I can promise you that the Pope would have only wished and prayed that Donald Trump would have been President because this would not have happened,” Trump said in a statement released by his team following the Pope’s criticism. “ISIS would have been eradicated unlike what is happening now with our all talk, no action politicians.”

TRUMP, WORLD LEADERS REACT TO DEATH OF POPE FRANCIS

During Francis’s life he also took aim at increasing nationalistic sentiments around the world, criticism that implicitly targeted Trump’s “America First” agenda. 

Francis was also a believer in climate change posing a major problem for society, something Trump also differed with him on. In both Trump’s first and second terms, he has pulled the U.S. out of the international Paris Climate Accords, which is an international initiative aimed at mitigating global warming. 

Trump, who considers himself a Christian but is not a Catholic, only met with Francis once during his first term. By contrast, Joe Biden, who is a confirmed Catholic, met with Francis in-person on multiple occasions throughout his single-term presidency. 

Trump’s Vice President J.D. Vance, a Catholic himself, was notably one of the Pope’s last visitors, seeing him on Easter Sunday – one day before Francis passed.

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Fox News Digital reached out to the White House for comment but did not receive a response in time for publication.  

“Disgusting,” said Navy SEAL veteran Rob Sweetman in describing the smell and mist of Mexican sewage spewing into U.S. waters as he stood on a hill overlooking the Tijuana River estuary in California.

Sweetman, a Navy veteran who served on the SEALs for eight years, spoke to Fox News Digital to sound the alarm on a water crisis rocking the San Diego area, including where SEALs train, taking a camera with him to show viewers firsthand how the contaminated water flows into the U.S. 

Just one mile away from where Sweetman spoke, SEALs and candidates train in the same water, which has sickened more than 1,000 candidates in a five-year period, per a Department of Defense watchdog report released in February.

San Diego and the surrounding area are in a clean-water crisis that has raged for decades, but it is finding revived concern from the Trump administration as SEALs and local veterans warn of a “national security crisis” that they say is on par with the Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, water crisis.

Thousands of Marines and others were sickened  at North Carolina’s Camp Lejeune base between 1953 and 1987 as a result of water contaminated by industrial solvents used to drink, bathe and cook at the training facilities and on-base housing. 

EPA CHIEF TAKES ON MEXICAN ‘SEWAGE CRISIS’ FLOWING INTO US WATERS WHERE NAVY SEALS TRAIN

Kate Monroe, a Marine Corps veteran and CEO of VetComm — which advocates for disabled veterans and those navigating the VA’s complicated health system — told Fox Digital in an April Zoom interview, “San Diego County is as big as some states. It’s giant. Millions of people live here and are breathing the air of this water. It goes well beyond the military. It’s a crisis. It’s a FEMA-level travesty, and we have just been hiding it.” 

The Navy has deep roots in the San Diego area, with the United States Naval Special Warfare Command headquartered in America’s Finest City and where Navy SEAL candidates complete their arduous six-month Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) at the Naval Amphibious Base Coronado.

The sewage problem flowing from neighboring Mexico into the U.S. has percolated in San Diego for years. 

But the water crisis hit crisis level when it was reported in 2024 that 44 billion gallons of contaminated water imbued with raw sewage was released along the California coast in 2023, the most on record since at least 2000, the Los Angeles Times reported at the time. 

The issue of sewage water flowing into U.S. waters is largely attributed to outdated wastewater infrastructure across the southern border, local media outlets recently reported, with Mexico reportedly in the midst of addressing its infrastructure to curb the leaks of sewage water. 

The Tijuana River has for decades been plagued by sewage and waste that has affected its beaches and neighboring San Diego.

In February, the Department of Defense’s inspector general released a report finding that the Naval Special Warfare Center reported 1,168 cases of acute gastrointestinal illnesses among SEAL candidates between January 2019 and May 2023 alone. 

“Navy SEAL candidate exposure to contaminated water occurred because (Naval Special Warfare Command) did not follow San Diego County’s Beach and Bay Water Quality Program’s beach closure postings,” the inspector general report found. “As a result of Navy SEAL candidate exposure to contaminated water during training, candidates are presented with increased health risks and NAVSPECWARCOM’s training mission could be impacted.”

It was when Monroe, who is well-versed with veteran health through VetComm, was working with SEALs who were retiring that she realized the severity of the San Diego water pollution of the past few years.

She observed an increase in health claims related to intestinal issues and “weird cancers,” which was a departure from typical claims related to PTSD or orthopedic ailments.

US SENATOR BLASTS PRESIDENT OF MEXICO, SAYS TOXIC SEWAGE DUMP THREATENS ‘NATIONAL SECURITY’

“I started creating relationships with the SEAL teams, the people that were exiting the SEALs, you know, at 14 years, 20 years, nearing their retirement,” Monroe told Fox News Digital. “And the claims that we were making for these guys were surprising to me because a lot of them, they have combat PTSD, a lot of orthopedic issues. But we were having guys coming to us with, like, IBS, GERD, skin issues, weird cancers, and they were all attributing it to their time spent in San Diego training to be a SEAL in that water here that we have in San Diego.”

Swimming and spending time in water contaminated with feces can lead to a host of illnesses, including bacterial, viral and parasitic infections that leave people nauseous, vomiting and rushing to the bathroom. 

Navy SEAL vet Jeff Gum was only days from entering the SEAL’s aptly named Hell Week — the fourth week of basic conditioning for SEAL candidates — when nausea hit him. He was trapped in a cycle of drinking water and vomiting when he realized a serious illness had its grips on him. 

Gum is a retired SEAL who served from 2007 to 2017 and was exposed to the contaminated water in 2008 during BUD/S training off the San Diego coast. 

“I couldn’t stop,” Gum recounted of how he couldn’t keep water down without vomiting. “You never really want to go to medical because they can pull you out or make you get rolled to the next class, but I couldn’t even drink water without throwing up. It’s the only time in my whole life that this has happened.”

Gum’s nausea overcame him on a Friday in 2008, with Hell Week kicking off that Sunday night. Hell Week is a more than five-day training that puts candidates through rigorous training, including cold-water immersion, “surf torture,” buoy swims, mud runs, all while operating on minimal sleep. 

SAN DIEGO SUBURB FACES ‘SEWAGE CRISIS’ FROM LOCAL BEACH

“The sun goes down, and the instructors come out with big machine guns, that kicks it off,” Gum said of how Hell Week began. “We run out to the beach, right into the ocean. You spend the rest of the week soaking wet, covered in sand. And everywhere you go, you have a 200-pound boat on your head that you and your boat crew of six to seven guys will share the weight of, and you just run everywhere.”

“You’re just in the water. There’s no escaping it. It’s part of what makes BUD/S BUD/S. And it’s part of what makes the Navy SEALs America’s premier maritime special operators,” he said. “There’s not getting around how comfortable we have to be in the water. Cold, wet, miserable, doesn’t matter, we suck it up and we do it.” 

MEXICO IS POISONING SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA IN A BORDER CRISIS ALMOST NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT

Gum received IVs the weekend ahead of Hell Week and was able to keep food and water down by the time the intense training began, but he had been diagnosed with viral gastroenteritis, commonly known as the stomach flu and highly contagious, which then morphed into rhabdomyolysis due to exerting so much energy while dehydrated from viral gastroenteritis

Rhabdomyolysis is a serious illness that causes muscle to break down quickly and can lead to “muscle death” and the release of high levels of myoglobin in the blood that can injure a person’s kidneys.

Gum failed the first phase of BUD/S, but he was granted permission to return to training for a second time after senior leaders saw he had viral gastroenteritis. Gum again went through the first phase of BUD/S, but again he went to medical, where tests showed that his “blood came back toxic” from rhabdomyolysis.

The SEAL was put on medical leave and able to fully recover in his home state of Pennsylvania before he “crushed” the hellish training on his third try. He served on SEAL Team Five, deployed to Fallujah, Iraq, and taught combatives and prisoner handling to SEAL trainees in San Diego from 2013 until his retirement in 2017.

Sweetman told Fox Digital that “everyone who goes through training is going to get sick.”

“They’re going to get infections, and it’s terrible,” Sweetman told Fox Digital in an April Zoom interview. “And some might argue that this is Navy SEAL training. You have to go through the toughest conditions to be able to survive and make it. I would say that it’s gotten a little bit out of hand.” 

The SEAL vet, who lives in the San Diego area, said the issue has gotten worse in recent years as Tijuana’s population grows.

I TRAINED WITH THE NAVY SEALS FOR A DAY. THIS IS WHAT I LEARNED

“When I went through training, it was absolutely a thing that they’d shut down the Imperial Beach because the ocean water was so bad, because the waste coming from Tijuana had infected the water,” Sweetman said. “You could always smell it. And oftentimes, even in the bay, we’d need to wash our wet suit after being out on a swim.”

“Now, some of the training causes us to be deeply immersed in the water, and infections and all types of things can come up from being in the water. But I’ll say that it has gotten significantly worse as the population has doubled in Tijuana.”

Gum and Monroe both said that water issue is a crisis, with Gum identifying it as a national security crisis that could cull well-suited candidates from the SEALs due to acute illnesses as well as sicken active SEALs. 

“This is a huge national crisis,” he said. “Like half the SEAL teams are located in San Diego, the other half are in Virginia Beach. So when you’ve got half the SEAL teams who are getting exposed to this, then it’s a major issue.” 

Monroe called it the “next Camp Lejeune” crisis, which sickened Marines with contaminated drinking water at the North Carolina Marine Corps base camp for nearly three decades. The crisis has cost the U.S. billions of dollars, including legal costs and settlements to vets and their families. 

“This is going to be, in my opinion, the next Camp Lejeune water problem that cost our government $21 to $25 billion,” she said. “That’s just in the compensation directly, like the lawsuit portion of it. That doesn’t cover all the compensation you have to pay these veterans tax-free for the rest of their lives. I would say that this issue here in San Diego, if you look at it over the time that people have been training here, you’re looking at another $21 to $25 billion, plus all of the compensation that’s going to come. It would be cheaper for our country to fix this than it would to allow it to continue.” 

The three veterans who spoke to Fox Digital all responded with optimism that the Trump administration will tackle the crisis and end it. 

WILL CAIN, NAVY SEALS HONORS VETERANS AT 2024 NYC SEAL SWIM

Fox Digital exclusively reported earlier in April that EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin is heading to San Diego to meet with SEALs and see the crisis firsthand April 22, 2025.

“The raw sewage flowing from Mexico into the Tijuana River is creating serious, detrimental issues for communities with affected waterways,” Zeldin told Fox Digital ahead of the Tuesday trip.  

“Ensuring America’s waters are clean is part of EPA’s core mission, and I look forward to being on the ground in San Diego in a few days to assess the situation and hear directly from those affected,” he said. “It is top-of-mind knowing that as this issue persists, more and more Navy SEALs remain at risk of sickness because of the contaminated waterways they train in. I strongly believe the time has come to finalize and implement an urgent strategy to end decades of raw sewage entering the U.S.” 

A spokesperson for Naval Special Warfare added in a comment to Fox News Digital that SEALs and candidates’ health are a top priority and that officials are monitoring water quality in areas where they train.  

“The Navy takes the health and safety of our personnel very seriously,” the spokesperson said. “Water quality at Navy training locations on the beach waterfront is closely monitored in coordination with local authorities. We are fully committed to ensuring warfighters at U.S. Naval Special Warfare Command train in a safe environment.” 

Ahead of Zeldin’s visit, the water flowing from Mexico into the U.S. is as “nasty” as ever, according to Sweetman. 

“What I see here is a tremendous amount of green, nasty water,” Sweetman said while pointing at the murky water. “I mean, you can smell it. This is disgusting. As it pours through, it doesn’t clear up. There’s no clarity to it. It just turns into a foam. And the foam sits on top of the water where it’s murky and it just continues to flow towards Imperial Beach and the ocean down here.”

“It’s absolutely disgusting. I can’t comment strongly enough about how bad it is to be here. I’m here specifically because I want people to see just how bad it is,” he said. “The moment that I leave here, I’m going to go take a shower.”