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.”

Military members stationed in and around portions of the southern border have been given the authority to temporarily detain and search illegal migrants. 

Service members with the Joint Task Force-Southern Border (JTF-SB) are now authorized to conduct several security measures in the New Mexico National Defense Area (NMNDA), U.S. Northern Command said Monday. The NMNDA is part of the U.S. Army’s Fort Huachuca military installation.

The move allows the U.S. military to serve in a more active law enforcement role than in years past. Military personnel have typically been prevented from participating in civilian law enforcement activities such as search, seizure, or arrest.

NAVY DEPLOYS ANOTHER HOUTHI-FIGHTING WARSHIP TO NEW US SOUTHERN BORDER MISSION 

As part of their new duties, the service members can search and temporarily detain trespassers on the NMNDA, as well as provide medical care and implement crowd control measures, until appropriate law enforcement can take them into custody.

Task force members can also assist with the installation of temporary barriers, signage, and fencing upon request. 

“Through these enhanced authorities, U.S. Northern Command will ensure those who illegally trespass in the New Mexico National Defense Area are handed over to Customs and Border Protection or our other law enforcement partners,” said USNORTHCOM Gen. Gregory Guillot. “Joint Task Force-Southern Border will conduct enhanced detection and monitoring, which will include vehicle and foot patrols, rotary wing, and fixed surveillance site operations.”

USNORTHCOM was named as the Defense Department‘s operational lead for the employment of U.S. military forces to carry out President Donald Trump’s southern border executive orders. 

TRUMP ORDERS MILITARY TO TAKE CONTROL OF FEDERAL LAND AT SOUTHERN BORDER

Last week, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum visited New Mexico to announce that the Army will take control of nearly 110,000 acres of federal land along the U.S.-Mexico border as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to curb illegal immigration and trafficking.

The 109,651 acres of federal land will be transferred to the Army for three years, subject to valid existing rights.

The switch in jurisdiction will allow the government to protect sensitive natural and cultural resources in the region, while helping the Army support U.S. Border Patrol operations in securing the border and preventing illegal immigration, according to the Department of the Interior.

In March, the Defense Department authorized the military to patrol the southern border to provide “enhanced detection and monitoring” to support U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“Any law enforcement actions to apprehend individuals suspected of illegal entry must be conducted only by non-DoD law enforcement personnel and National Guard personnel in a non-federalized status accompanying these patrols,” the DOD said at the time. 

Fox News Digital’s Alexandra Koch contributed to this report. 

Military members stationed in and around portions of the southern border have been given the authority to temporarily detain and search illegal migrants. 

Service members with the Joint Task Force-Southern Border (JTF-SB) are now authorized to conduct several security measures in the New Mexico National Defense Area (NMNDA), U.S. Northern Command said Monday. The NMNDA is part of the U.S. Army’s Fort Huachuca military installation.

The move allows the U.S. military to serve in a more active law enforcement role than in years past. Military personnel have typically been prevented from participating in civilian law enforcement activities such as search, seizure, or arrest.

NAVY DEPLOYS ANOTHER HOUTHI-FIGHTING WARSHIP TO NEW US SOUTHERN BORDER MISSION 

As part of their new duties, the service members can search and temporarily detain trespassers on the NMNDA, as well as provide medical care and implement crowd control measures, until appropriate law enforcement can take them into custody.

Task force members can also assist with the installation of temporary barriers, signage, and fencing upon request. 

“Through these enhanced authorities, U.S. Northern Command will ensure those who illegally trespass in the New Mexico National Defense Area are handed over to Customs and Border Protection or our other law enforcement partners,” said USNORTHCOM Gen. Gregory Guillot. “Joint Task Force-Southern Border will conduct enhanced detection and monitoring, which will include vehicle and foot patrols, rotary wing, and fixed surveillance site operations.”

USNORTHCOM was named as the Defense Department‘s operational lead for the employment of U.S. military forces to carry out President Donald Trump’s southern border executive orders. 

TRUMP ORDERS MILITARY TO TAKE CONTROL OF FEDERAL LAND AT SOUTHERN BORDER

Last week, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum visited New Mexico to announce that the Army will take control of nearly 110,000 acres of federal land along the U.S.-Mexico border as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to curb illegal immigration and trafficking.

The 109,651 acres of federal land will be transferred to the Army for three years, subject to valid existing rights.

The switch in jurisdiction will allow the government to protect sensitive natural and cultural resources in the region, while helping the Army support U.S. Border Patrol operations in securing the border and preventing illegal immigration, according to the Department of the Interior.

In March, the Defense Department authorized the military to patrol the southern border to provide “enhanced detection and monitoring” to support U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). 

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“Any law enforcement actions to apprehend individuals suspected of illegal entry must be conducted only by non-DoD law enforcement personnel and National Guard personnel in a non-federalized status accompanying these patrols,” the DOD said at the time. 

Fox News Digital’s Alexandra Koch contributed to this report. 

With President Donald Trump’s former reality TV show “The Apprentice,” streaming on Amazon Prime as of last month, politically astute viewers across the political spectrum have zeroed in on an episode from when Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., now one of the president’s biggest political detractors, praised his fellow New Yorker as a business prodigy.

During Season 5, Episode 8, of “The Apprentice” in 2006, contestants were given a challenge — as was typical during each episode — and the winners of said challenge got the chance to fly to the nation’s capital and have breakfast with Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. During the breakfast, Schumer sought to draw parallels between his family and Trump’s, while also showering praise on the president, telling the contestants he always knew Trump, even as a young person, “was going to go places.”

“I was born in Brooklyn, the same place where Donald Trump’s family comes from,” Schumer reminisced with the contestants during breakfast at the famous Hay-Adams hotel in Washington, D.C. “His father, and my grandfather, were builders together in Brooklyn.”

“Wow!?” one contestant could be heard replying. “Really?” asked another.

“Yeah!,” Schumer responded to the room. 

FLASHBACK: ‘OPRAH WINFREY ONCE CALLED TRUMP A ’FOLK HERO,’ A CONTRAST TO COMMENTS MADE DURING THE DNC

The show then cut to Schumer lauding Trump as a business prodigy.

“Even when [Trump] was much younger, you knew that he was going to go places,” Schumer said, before a voice-over from one of the contestants present at the breakfast reiterated that “Sen. Schumer and Mr. Trump are good friends.”

Despite Schumer’s apparent friendly sentiment towards the president in 2006, as evidenced by his appearance on “The Apprentice,” the Democratic New York senator told Politico in 2016, ahead of Trump’s first term, that, “[Trump] was not my friend.” Rather, Schumer described his relationship with Trump as a “casual acquaintance.”

CHUCK SCHUMER FACING ‘UPHILL FIGHT’ AMID LEADERSHIP DOUBTS: ‘MATTER OF WHEN, NOT IF’

“Donald Trump is a lawless, angry man,” Schumer said of the president during an interview last month. “The fact that The Apprentice President Donald ‘You’re Fired’ Trump is refusing to hold people accountable just shows how weak he is,” Schumer added in a post on social media earlier this month.

Considering Schumer’s vehement animosity towards Trump today, Michigan State GOP Sen. Aric Nesbitt, the Michigan Senate’s minority leader, remarked “How things change…” in a post that highlighted the resurfaced clip of Schumer’s scene on “The Apprentice.”  

But it’s not just Republicans having fun at Schumer’s expense. 

“As Schumer sells out our Constitution and democracy, you just gotta watch this clip of him sucking up to Trump on an episode of the Apprentice,” remarked former Democratic Rhode Island legislator Aaron Regunberg. “What a world class slug of a man.”

Shortly before taking office during his first term, Trump was asked by MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski about whether he will be able to get along with Democratic leaders in Congress, such as Schumer. Trump struck a positive chord, saying at the time that he thought he would “be able to get along well with Chuck Schumer.”

ELON MUSK SCRAPS WITH CHUCK SCHUMER, SUGGESTING THE SENATOR PROFITS FROM GOVERNMENT FRAUD

“I was always very good with Schumer. I was close to Schumer in many ways,” Trump said at the time.

As time has progressed, however, Trump’s rhetoric towards Schumer has become increasingly critical of the senator, as the pair of political heavyweights continue to fight over whatever political issue is dominating Washington each week. 

Recently, Trump took a jab at Schumer’s alleged lack of support for the Jewish community amid the rise in antisemitism, particularly on college campuses, in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attacks against innocent Israelis. Schumer is Jewish. 

CHUCK SCHUMER WARNS ABOUT THE DANGERS OF ANTISEMITISM ON ‘THE VIEW’   

“Schumer is a Palestinian, as far as I’m concerned,” Trump told reporters from the Oval Office last month. “He’s become a Palestinian. He used to be Jewish. He’s not Jewish anymore.” 

Trump’s comments from earlier this month also mirror a similar sentiment he relayed about Schumer during his most recent campaign for the presidency, referring to him as a “proud member of Hamas.”

In addition to Schumer, other high-profile public figures have praised the now-president, only to become his political enemy years later. In a 1988 interview with Oprah Winfrey, the celebrity talk show host appeared to be amazed at Americans’ “fascination” with Donald Trump and even described him as a “folk hero” for being so popular. 

Meanwhile, celebrity music producer who co-founded Def Jam Records, Russell Simmons, similarly had nice things to say about Trump before he entered politics, calling him “very nice” and remarking how supportive Trump has been to his family, according to media reports. Nonetheless, following the tragic politically motivated violence in Charlottesville during Trump’s first term, Simmons reportedly criticized his “friend” for leading the legacy of a “great divider,” and a “destroyer of the environment and … everything we as Americans have fought so hard to call ours.”     

Fox News Digital reached out to Schumer’s office for comment but did not receive a reply in time for publication.

With President Donald Trump’s former reality TV show “The Apprentice,” streaming on Amazon Prime as of last month, politically astute viewers across the political spectrum have zeroed in on an episode from when Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., now one of the president’s biggest political detractors, praised his fellow New Yorker as a business prodigy.

During Season 5, Episode 8, of “The Apprentice” in 2006, contestants were given a challenge — as was typical during each episode — and the winners of said challenge got the chance to fly to the nation’s capital and have breakfast with Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. During the breakfast, Schumer sought to draw parallels between his family and Trump’s, while also showering praise on the president, telling the contestants he always knew Trump, even as a young person, “was going to go places.”

“I was born in Brooklyn, the same place where Donald Trump’s family comes from,” Schumer reminisced with the contestants during breakfast at the famous Hay-Adams hotel in Washington, D.C. “His father, and my grandfather, were builders together in Brooklyn.”

“Wow!?” one contestant could be heard replying. “Really?” asked another.

“Yeah!,” Schumer responded to the room. 

FLASHBACK: ‘OPRAH WINFREY ONCE CALLED TRUMP A ’FOLK HERO,’ A CONTRAST TO COMMENTS MADE DURING THE DNC

The show then cut to Schumer lauding Trump as a business prodigy.

“Even when [Trump] was much younger, you knew that he was going to go places,” Schumer said, before a voice-over from one of the contestants present at the breakfast reiterated that “Sen. Schumer and Mr. Trump are good friends.”

Despite Schumer’s apparent friendly sentiment towards the president in 2006, as evidenced by his appearance on “The Apprentice,” the Democratic New York senator told Politico in 2016, ahead of Trump’s first term, that, “[Trump] was not my friend.” Rather, Schumer described his relationship with Trump as a “casual acquaintance.”

CHUCK SCHUMER FACING ‘UPHILL FIGHT’ AMID LEADERSHIP DOUBTS: ‘MATTER OF WHEN, NOT IF’

“Donald Trump is a lawless, angry man,” Schumer said of the president during an interview last month. “The fact that The Apprentice President Donald ‘You’re Fired’ Trump is refusing to hold people accountable just shows how weak he is,” Schumer added in a post on social media earlier this month.

Considering Schumer’s vehement animosity towards Trump today, Michigan State GOP Sen. Aric Nesbitt, the Michigan Senate’s minority leader, remarked “How things change…” in a post that highlighted the resurfaced clip of Schumer’s scene on “The Apprentice.”  

But it’s not just Republicans having fun at Schumer’s expense. 

“As Schumer sells out our Constitution and democracy, you just gotta watch this clip of him sucking up to Trump on an episode of the Apprentice,” remarked former Democratic Rhode Island legislator Aaron Regunberg. “What a world class slug of a man.”

Shortly before taking office during his first term, Trump was asked by MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski about whether he will be able to get along with Democratic leaders in Congress, such as Schumer. Trump struck a positive chord, saying at the time that he thought he would “be able to get along well with Chuck Schumer.”

ELON MUSK SCRAPS WITH CHUCK SCHUMER, SUGGESTING THE SENATOR PROFITS FROM GOVERNMENT FRAUD

“I was always very good with Schumer. I was close to Schumer in many ways,” Trump said at the time.

As time has progressed, however, Trump’s rhetoric towards Schumer has become increasingly critical of the senator, as the pair of political heavyweights continue to fight over whatever political issue is dominating Washington each week. 

Recently, Trump took a jab at Schumer’s alleged lack of support for the Jewish community amid the rise in antisemitism, particularly on college campuses, in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attacks against innocent Israelis. Schumer is Jewish. 

CHUCK SCHUMER WARNS ABOUT THE DANGERS OF ANTISEMITISM ON ‘THE VIEW’   

“Schumer is a Palestinian, as far as I’m concerned,” Trump told reporters from the Oval Office last month. “He’s become a Palestinian. He used to be Jewish. He’s not Jewish anymore.” 

Trump’s comments from earlier this month also mirror a similar sentiment he relayed about Schumer during his most recent campaign for the presidency, referring to him as a “proud member of Hamas.”

In addition to Schumer, other high-profile public figures have praised the now-president, only to become his political enemy years later. In a 1988 interview with Oprah Winfrey, the celebrity talk show host appeared to be amazed at Americans’ “fascination” with Donald Trump and even described him as a “folk hero” for being so popular. 

Meanwhile, celebrity music producer who co-founded Def Jam Records, Russell Simmons, similarly had nice things to say about Trump before he entered politics, calling him “very nice” and remarking how supportive Trump has been to his family, according to media reports. Nonetheless, following the tragic politically motivated violence in Charlottesville during Trump’s first term, Simmons reportedly criticized his “friend” for leading the legacy of a “great divider,” and a “destroyer of the environment and … everything we as Americans have fought so hard to call ours.”     

Fox News Digital reached out to Schumer’s office for comment but did not receive a reply in time for publication.

Former President Joe Biden and his administration found themselves embroiled in a series of gaffes and controversies around the Easter holiday, including that time the Easter bunny abruptly whisked the 46th president away from a gaggle of reporters in 2022. 

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump joined families and children on the White House’s South Lawn on Monday morning for the 147th annual event, which dates back to Rutherford B. Hayes’ presidency in 1878. 

As the Easter Egg Roll tradition continues this year, Fox News Digital looked back on the handful of Easter controversies involving Biden and his administration throughout his term in office. 

During the 2022 Easter Egg Roll, a person dressed in a bunny suit was seen approaching Biden as he spoke candidly to members of the media about Afghanistan and Pakistan. The bunny stepped in front of Biden while he was speaking to the media and waved their hands with great animation before directing Biden away from the reporters. 

“Pakistan should not, and Afghanistan should be…” Biden was heard saying before the bunny approaches. 

“Oh, the Easter bunny!” someone can be heard saying off-camera, as Biden appeared visibly caught off guard by the interruption. 

‘EASTER BUNNY’ WHISKS BIDEN AWAY AS HE STARTS DISCUSSING AFGHANISTAN: VIDEO

Biden was then seen walking away from the reporters. 

The bunny incident unfolded ahead of the fierce scrutiny Biden faced from Democrats and conservatives over his mental acuity and age in the lead-up to the 2024 election. 

Footage of the Easter bunny directing Biden at a public event was rehashed as concern mounted last summer over whether the president had the mental and physical ability to continue running for re-election and potentially remain in the Oval Office. Biden ultimately dropped out and endorsed then-Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democrat Party’s nominee. Harris ultimately failed to rally enough support to defeat Trump at the polls. 

The Biden administration landed in hot water with the religious faithful and conservatives during the 2024 Easter season when honoring “Transgender Day of Visibility” on Easter Sunday. 

“On Transgender Day of Visibility, we honor the extraordinary courage and contributions of transgender Americans and reaffirm our Nation’s commitment to forming a more perfect Union — where all people are created equal and treated equally throughout their lives,” said a White House statement recognizing Transgender Day of Visibility on Easter Sunday, Fox Digital previously reported. 

“Today, we send a message to all transgender Americans: You are loved. You are heard. You are understood. You belong. You are America, and my entire Administration and I have your back,” it added. 

3 MONTHS AND 28 DAYS: LGBTQ EVENTS CLOG CALENDAR AS WHITE HOUSE FACES BACKLASH OVER EASTER ANNOUNCEMENT

International Transgender Day of Visibility was created by activists more than 10 years ago and is celebrated each year on March 31, while Easter — t​​he most holy holiday for Christians — moves its day of celebration each year, but is always observed on a Sunday. 

Conservatives, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., ripped the White House’s decision to recognize Transgender Day of Visibility on Easter, calling it an attack on Christianity.

“The Biden White House has betrayed the central tenet of Easter — which is the resurrection of Jesus Christ,” Johnson posted to X last March. “Banning sacred truth and tradition—while at the same time proclaiming Easter Sunday as “Transgender Day”—is outrageous and abhorrent. The American people are taking note.”

Former White House spokesman Andrew Bates defended at the time that Biden, as a Christian, was working to bring “people together” with the event.

“As a Christian who celebrates Easter with family, President Biden stands for bringing people together and upholding the dignity and freedoms of every American,” Bates told Fox Digital last year. 

Biden suffered another Easter gaffe last year at the White House’s Egg Roll when he apparently flubbed the pronunciation of “Easter” and appeared to say “oyster” instead while introducing a pair of Easter bunnies. 

CRITICISMS MOUNT THAT BIDEN IS A ‘SHADOW’ OF HIMSELF AFTER DISASTROUS DEBATE: ‘NOT THE SAME MAN’ FROM VP ERA

“God bless you all, enjoy the day, and I’m coming down to do that Easter Egg roll in just a minute,” Biden said while standing on the White House’s Truman Balcony overlooking the South Lawn. 

“Thanks everybody. And by the way, say ‘hello’ to oyster bunnies. Come on up, bunnies. Get up here so they can see you,” Biden appeared to say. 

The apparent gaffe drew mockery online as some users wished each a “Happy Oyster.” It stirred concern over the president’s mental acuity over the mispronunciation. 

Former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre delivered a flat April Fools’ joke in 2024 when the White House hosted the Easter Egg Roll. 

A person dressed as the Easter bunny was spotted in the press briefing room on April 1, 2024, before Jean-Pierre joined the media and delivered a joke that Biden was set to revoke the Hatch Act. 

The Hatch Act bans executive branch staffers, except the president and vice president, from engaging in certain forms of political activity. 

“Happy Easter Monday. So, I have something at the top for all of you and I think you’ll be really interested in this. So, President Biden is scheduled to announce he is revoking the Hatch Act,” Jean-Pierre said, grinning, while delivering the April Fools’ joke. “So as a gift to all of you, so now I can actually take all your questions about 2024.”

“No? I thought you would love that,” she responded as journalists demured. “All right. OK. April Fools’, April Fools’, April Fools’ — it is April 1st.”

DEMS LEFT WITH EGG ON THEIR FACE AS DNC APPEARS TO SNUB BIDEN ON EASTER

The administration’s Hatch Act joke followed repeated instances of administration officials citing the law while dodging questions about Biden’s 2024 campaign. 

This year, the Democratic National Committee shared an Easter message celebrating Democratic presidents across the year, but notably did not include a photo of Biden. Instead, the post featured former Presidents Jimmy Carter, John F. Kennedy, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. 

The Trump administration on Monday posted a side-by-side video of both Trump and Biden at their respective White House Easter Egg Rolls on Monday with the caption, “BREAKING: The White House is no longer a nursing home.“

Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., on Monday signaled he wouldn’t tolerate Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth allegedly once again sharing sensitive information about military operations in a Signal group chat. 

“If the reporting is true, this is unacceptable. I would never tell the White House what to do, but I wouldn’t tolerate it,” Bacon told Fox News Digital, reiterating his comments first reported by Politico. 

Bacon, a retired military officer and Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, said it would be “unacceptable” if Hegseth sent classified information in a Signal chat about a mission in Yemen targeting the Houthis. The New York Times reported on Sunday that Hegseth shared information about the March 15 strikes in Yemen in a private Signal group chat that included his wife, brother and personal lawyer, claiming they were essentially the same plans shared in the separate Signal chat that included an editor of The Atlantic. 

WHITE HOUSE RIPS ALLEGED PENTAGON LEAKERS’ ‘SHATTERED EGOS,’ BRUSHES OFF HEGSETH SECOND SIGNAL CHAT REPORT

Bacon told Politico he had reservations about Hegseth’s experience since his nomination, and while a spokesperson for Bacon’s office emphasized to Fox News Digital that he would not tell President Donald Trump to fire Hegseth, Bacon said he “wouldn’t tolerate” the latest Hegseth reporting if he was the commander in chief. 

EX-PENTAGON AIDE URGES TRUMP TO FIRE HEGSETH, CITING ‘FULL-BLOWN MELTDOWN’ AND ‘TOTAL CHAOS’

White House officials have joined Hegseth in denying the reporting. 

“No matter how many times the legacy media tries to resurrect the same nonstory, they can’t change the fact that no classified information was shared. Recently fired ‘leakers’ are continuing to misrepresent the truth to soothe their shattered egos and undermine the president’s agenda, but the administration will continue to hold them accountable,” White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told Fox News Digital.

Trump himself shut down the reporting, calling it “fake news” and touting recruitment rates and Hegseth’s leadership of the armed forces.

“The president stands strongly behind Secretary Hegseth, who is doing a phenomenal job leading the Pentagon,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Fox News on Monday. 

Hegseth lamented “disgruntled employees” and “anonymous smears” when pressed by reporters during the White House Easter Egg roll about the latest Signal controversy.

“This is why we’re fighting the fake news media. This group right here is full of hoaxsters,” Hegseth said.

The Trump administration has maintained that no classified material was transmitted in the Signal chat reported by The Atlantic. Signal is an encrypted messaging app with additional security measures that keep messages private to those included in the correspondence.

The commander of Fort McCoy was relieved of duty after the U.S. Army base failed to install photos of President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on a wall displaying their chain of command. 

Col.  Sheyla Baez Ramirez was suspended as garrison commander of Ft. McCoy in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. “This suspension is not related to any misconduct,” the U.S. Army Reserve Command said in a statement, “We have no further details to provide at this time while this matter is under review.”

Hegseth on Sunday reposted an X post claiming: “Commander of Fort McCoy, whose base chain-of-command board was missing photos of Trump, Vance and Hegseth, has been SUSPENDED.”

It came after the Defense Department (DOD) announced a probe into why a wall displaying the chain of command had empty frames on the wall where Trump, Vance and Hegseth’s images would typically be displayed. 

AXED PENTAGON AIDES CLAIM THEIR CHARACTER WAS ‘SLANDERED,’ LITTLE DETAILS WERE SHARED ABOUT LEAK INVESTIGATION

A new image they posted of the wall showed the frames had been filled. 

“Regarding the Ft. McCoy Chain of Command wall controversy…. WE FIXED IT! Also, an investigation has begun to figure out exactly what happened,” the department’s rapid response account posted on X. 

Ramirez assumed the garrison commander role in ​​July of last year. 

Previously, she had served as chief of the Reserve Program, United States Army Intelligence and Security Command at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, and in other roles throughout the Army and Army Reserves.

The move came after a series of leadership shake-ups across the U.S. military. Earlier this month, the Pentagon fired the base commander for Pituffik Space Force Base in Greenland after she “undermined” Vance. 

EX-PENTAGON AIDE URGES TRUMP TO FIRE HEGSETH, CITING ‘FULL-BLOWN MELTDOWN’ AND ‘TOTAL CHAOS’

After the vice president’s visit, Col. Susannah Meyers emailed base personnel on March 31, writing, “I do not presume to understand current politics, but what I do know is the concerns of the U.S. administration discussed by Vice President Vance on Friday are not reflective of Pituffik Space Base.”

She added that she had “spent the weekend thinking about Friday’s visit — the actions taken, the words spoken, and how it must have affected each of you.” 

The Space Force said in a public statement Meyers had been relieved of command “due to loss of confidence in her ability to lead.” 

“Commanders are expected to adhere to the highest standards of conduct, especially as it relates to remaining nonpartisan in the performance of their duties,” the statement read. 

And Hegseth fired four former aides after in-fighting and a leak investigation came to a head late last week. 

The secretary blamed “disgruntled employees” for leaking reports about a second Signal chat that discussed Houthi strikes, this one including his wife, brother and personal lawyer on the chain.

The Department of Education is poised to resume collections on defaulted federal student loans in May for the first time since 2020. 

While the first Trump administration paused referring federal student loans to collections in March 2020 at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the extended lapse has prompted Trump administration officials to worry that the federal student loan portfolio is “headed toward a fiscal cliff if we don’t start repayment in collections,” according to a senior department official. 

“The result has been that the federal government student loan portfolio has continued to grow, and we’ve got a record number of borrowers that are at risk of, or in delinquency and default,” the senior department official told reporters Monday. 

The official said that only 40% percent of borrowers are up to speed on their loan repayments, while the remaining 60% are behind. 

STAFFING REDUCTIONS AT EDUCATION DEPARTMENT HAVEN’T HIT FAFSA OFFICE AMID TRUMP CUTS, AGENCY SAYS

Altogether, the official said that there are four million borrowers who are in the late-stage delinquency stage on payments — meaning that they are between 91 days and 180 days late on payments. 

“The Trump administration, current administration, believes that American taxpayers can no longer serve as collateral for student loans,” the senior department official said. “Student loan debt must be paid back.”

Likewise, the official said the agency would roll out a communications plan to let borrowers know their status and encourage them to enroll in auto-debit to drive down the number of delinquent borrowers. 

The policy takes effect May 5, when the Education Department will partner with the Treasury Offset Program to start collecting overdue payments. 

The official also said the Department of Education is preparing to partner with lawmakers on efforts to reform higher education and the student loan repayment system in place. 

“Going forward, we totally believe that Congress has a role to play in fixing the higher education system that puts students in a position where they can afford their loan payments,” the senior department official said. “So we’re looking forward to working with Congress on their efforts to streamline loan repayment, as well as lowering college costs.”

Bipartisan legislation in the works includes the Employer Participation Repayment Act, which Sens. John Thune, R-S.D., and Mark Warner, D-Va., introduced in February that would make permanent a provision set to expire in 2026 authorizing employers to contribute up to $5,250 tax-free to their employees’ student loans. 

Reps. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., and Scott Peters, D-Calif., introduced the legislation in the House. 

TRUMP STILL NEEDS CONGRESS’ HELP WITH PLAN TO ABOLISH EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

Nearly 43 million student borrowers have federal student loan debt — amounting to an outstanding federal student loan balance of $1.6 trillion, according to data from the Department of Education. 

The Department of Education’s announcement comes after the Trump administration unveiled plans in March to overhaul the agency, aligning with campaign promises from the president to eliminate the federal government’s influence over education to “stop the abuse of your taxpayer dollars to indoctrinate America’s youth.”

Even so, President Donald Trump announced that functions of the department overseeing Pell Grants, student loans, and others that provide services for those with special needs would continue at other agencies. 

Pope Francis, who changed the face of the papacy, was broadly popular with the more than 60 million U.S. Catholics, according to recent public opinion polling.

Seventy-eight percent of American Catholics expressed a favorable opinion of the pope in a Pew Poll conducted in early February, shortly before Francis’ lengthy hospitalization for a case of double pneumonia. The 88-year-old pope died on Monday 

Francis’ popularity among American Catholics was constant throughout his dozen-year tenure as pope, with his favorability peaking at 90% in a February 2015 poll by Pew.

CLICK HERE FOR LIVE FOX NEWS UPDATES ON THE PASSING OF POPE FRANCIS

“Pope Francis enjoyed broad support among American Catholics – certainly exceeding the popularity of any elected officials in the U.S.,” veteran political scientist Wayne Lesperance, the president of New England College, told Fox News.

U.S. Catholics also generally viewed Francis more positively than his immediate predecessor in the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI. 

FIVE WAYS POPE FRANCIS IMPACTED THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

Benedict’s favorability ratings ranged between 67% and 83% in Pew polling during his eight years as pope.

While popular with many Catholics, Francis’ attempts to make the church more inclusive made him an enemy to some in the conservative wing of the church. And there was plenty of pushback against the pope’s moves to overhaul a very divided church.

Those divisions may have contributed to a partisan divide when it comes to U.S. Catholics’ views of Francis.

According to the February Pew Poll, 88% of U.S. Catholics who identified as Democrats or leaned toward the Democratic Party had a positive view of the pope. But favorable opinions of Francis dropped to 69% among U.S. Catholics who said they were Republicans or leaned toward the GOP.

“His reform agenda, emphasizing values that sought to lift up the poorest, most marginalized individuals in the world, played better with Catholic Democrats than Republicans,” Lesperance noted.

 “And despite being critical of the current administration’s position on building the wall, mass deportations, and migrants, the late pope enjoyed the support of nearly two-thirds of Catholic Republicans. His legacy will be one of reform and social justice for Catholics across the globe.”

The State Department is pushing back against criticism of its changes to the process of reporting human rights abuses. 

NPR reported last week that the Trump administration was scaling back annual reports meant to inform congressional decisions on allocating foreign aid to countries, claiming the State Department was “changing its mind on what it calls human rights.” 

Fox News Digital is told the 2024 Human Rights Report has been restructured to remove redundancy, increase readability, and return the focus to human rights abuses – instead of a “laundry list of politically biased demands and assertions.” 

RUBIO ANNOUNCES CLOSURE OF STATE DEPARTMENT EFFORT THAT ‘WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD ALREADY’

“NPR’s report that the State Department is scaling back the Human Rights Report is misleading and misguided,” a senior State Department official told Fox News Digital. “This year’s modifications are critical for removing report redundancy, increasing readability, maintaining consistency to U.S. statutes, and returning focus to human rights issues rather than political bias.”

Fox News Digital is told the restructuring of the reports “will be more responsive to legislative mandates that underpin the report” and “does not reflect a change in U.S. policy on promoting respect for human rights around the globe or in any particular country.” The State Department notably has attempted to streamline the reports to better align with statutory requirements under both Republican and Democratic administrations.

NPR and Politico reported on an internal memo that purportedly showed the 2024 Human Rights Report, which was finished in January but has been adjusted under the new administration, will no longer include references to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) or sections on discrimination or abuse against the LGBTQ+ community. 

STATE DEPARTMENT’S ‘GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT CENTER’ ACCUSED OF CENSORING AMERICANS SHUTS ITS DOORS

The annual reports – known as “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices” – normally come out in March or April. NPR said sections that called out countries for “forcibly returning a refugee or asylum-seeker to a home country” or the “serious harassment of human rights organizations” would be absent this year. NPR also stressed that prior reports had sections detailing countries’ “involuntary or coercive medical or psychological practices,” “arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy,” “serious restrictions to internet freedom,” “extensive gender-based violence,” and “violence or threats of violence targeting people with disabilities,” but the new report would not.

Paul O’Brien, executive director of Amnesty International, USA, criticized the changes under the Trump administration. He told NPR: “What this is, is a signal that the United States is no longer going to [pressure] other countries to uphold those rights that guarantee civic and political freedoms – the ability to speak, to express yourself, to gather, to protest, to organize.” 

During President Donald Trump’s first term, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo cited what he categorized as a “proliferation of human rights” on the global stage. 

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“We wanted to go back to first principles, back to our founding documents, our Declaration of Independence, our Bill of Rights to focus on those things that are central to the understanding of rights here in America,” he said in July 2020. 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is overseeing changes at the department during Trump’s second term. Last week, he announced the closure of the State Department’s Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (R/FIMI), formerly known as the Global Engagement Center (GEC), which he accused of costing taxpayers more than $50 million per year and spending “millions of dollars to actively silence and censor the voices of Americans they were supposed to be serving.” 

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.

THIS IS HOW WE’LL KNOW IF CALIFORNIA GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM’S EPIPHANY ON ‘LIBERAL GOVERNANCE’ IS REAL

“But after 15 years of one-party rule, this state is barely recognizable. And I honestly think that the 2026 election in California is a life-or-death moment because if we continue with this one-party rule by the Democrats, things are just gonna really start to deteriorate very rapidly,” he added.

Hilton was born in the U.K. and graduated from New College at Oxford. He served as a senior advisor to former British Prime Minister David Cameron, who was the leader of the Conservative Party. 

“[California] really reminds me of Britain in the 1970s. The UK was called the ‘sick man of Europe’, Hilton explained in a campaign announcement video obtained by Fox News Digital. “There’s no other way of looking at California today than the ‘sick man of America’.”

After moving to California in 2012, Hilton embraced the American entrepreneurial spirit and co-founded Crowdpac.com, a Silicon Valley tech start-up company.

Hilton’s contribution to the conservative media across various outlets throughout his time in the U.S. landed him his own show, ‘The Next Revolution’, on Fox News Channel. The Sunday night program aired weekly from 2017 to 2023.

Newsom is termed out, and candidates are lining up for a shot for his spot in Sacramento. On the Democratic side, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, former Health and Human Secretary Xavier Becerra, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and former Rep. Katie Porter are among the long list of names seeking the job. On the Republican side, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco has been on the campaign trail for the job. 

Although Democrats have a supermajority in the legislature, a recent poll of likely California voters indicated that 48% would consider backing a Republican for governor, according to the Sacramento Bee. 

“We have a combination of idiots and ideologues who’ve been running this state into the ground, ruining what I consider to be the greatest state and the greatest nation on earth, and it’s time for change,” Hilton said.

FOR KAMALA HARRIS, CHANCES OF A POLITICAL COMEBACK MAY BE BLEAK

Most notably, former Vice President Kamala Harris is weighing a run following her 2024 presidential loss. Harris would quickly be considered the Democratic front-runner if she were to decide to join in.

The Golden State is facing serious questions about its future in the wake of not only the fires that ripped through Los Angeles County, but as it navigates issues such as crime, homelessness, and fiscal management for programs like Medi-Cal. Hundreds of thousands of Californians have moved out of the state each year at an accelerated rate after the pandemic, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.

The cost of living for many Californians is higher than in the rest of the nation, including when it comes to taxation and gas prices.

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“We have the highest taxes in the country, but also the highest rate of poverty. You have one-third of Californians who can’t meet their basic needs. We have the highest housing costs. It’s the number one reason people are leaving the state,” Hilton said.

The Republican said that the Golden State was once known for “upward mobility” and being the land of opportunity, but it’s become much more difficult to survive.

“California represented the best of America. I think for many people, when they thought of the American dream, they thought of California and the California Dream,” he added.