Musk not leaving yet, wrapping up work on schedule once ‘incredible work at DOGE is complete’: White House
Elon Musk will exit his role with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) on schedule later this spring, once “his incredible work at DOGE is complete,” the White House confirmed Wednesday. “This ‘scoop’ is garbage,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt posted to X Wednesday. “Elon Musk and President Trump have both *publicly* stated that Elon will depart from public service as a special government employee when his incredible work at DOGE is complete.” Leavitt was referring to a Wednesday Politico article reporting that “Trump has told his inner circle & members of his Cabinet that” Musk “will be stepping back in the coming weeks from his current role.” Musk, however, has long been anticipated to step back from DOGE when his 130 days as a “special government employee” run out in May. Musk has been the public face of DOGE since President Donald Trump signed an executive order establishing the office Jan. 20. Musk officially was hired as a “special government employee,” which is a role Congress created in 1962 that allows the executive or legislative branch to hire temporary employees for specific short-term initiatives. IVY LEAGUE STUDENT ACCUSED OF CAUSING ‘EMOTIONAL HARM’ TO NON-FACULTY STAFF FOR SENDING DOGE-LIKE EMAIL Special government employees are permitted to work for the federal government for “no more than 130 days in a 365- day period,” according to data from the Office of Government Ethics. Musk’s 130-day timeframe, beginning on Inauguration Day, runs dry May 30. “Politico has become a tabloid paper that would rather run fake news for clicks than real reporting,” White House spokesman Harrison Fields told Fox Digital Wednesday of Politico’s report. “This is exactly why President Trump and DOGE have terminated millions of dollars in wasteful, government contracts to so-called news organizations that have diminished their credibility with the American people.” DOGE SLASHES OVER $100M IN DEI FUNDING AT EDUCATION DEPARTMENT: ‘WIN FOR EVERY STUDENT’ DOGE is a temporary cross-departmental organization that was established to slim down and streamline the federal government. The group itself will be dissolved on July 4, 2026, according to Trump’s executive order. Musk and Trump have both previously previewed that Musk’s role was temporary and would come to end in the coming weeks. “You, technically, are a special government employee and you’re supposed to be 130 days,” Fox News’ Bret Baier asked Musk during an exclusive interview with the DOGE leader and members of his team Thursday. “Are you going to continue past that or do you think that’s what you’re going to do?” “I think we will have accomplished most of the work required to reduce the deficit by a trillion dollars within that time frame,” Musk responded. Trump hinted at Musk’s departure in comments to the media Monday when asked if he wants Musk to remain in a government role for longer than the predetermined 130 days. DOGE VOLUNTEER CREDITS TRUMP FOR UNPRECEDENTED EFFORT TO CURB ‘JAW-DROPPING’ SOCIAL SECURITY FRAUD “I think he’s amazing. But I also think he’s got a big company to run,” Trump responded. “And so at some point he’s going to be going back.” “I’d keep him as long as I can keep him. He’s a very talented guy. You know, I love very smart people. He’s very smart. And he’s done a good job,” the president added. “DOGE is, we’ve found numbers that nobody can even believe.”
DeSantis rebukes Republicans for backing bill for carbon sequestration task force: ‘Absolutely embarrassing’
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis described it as “embarrassing” after the Sunshine State’s GOP-dominated House Natural Resources and Disasters Subcommittee voted to advance a bill that proposes creating a carbon sequestration task force. The subcommittee favorably reported the measure in a 15-2 vote on Tuesday, April 1. Just two Republicans opposed it, while 10 Republicans and all five Democrats voted in favor of it. FORMER DESANTIS OFFICIAL DEFEATS DEM FOR MATT GAETZ’S HOUSE SEAT “Is this Sacramento or Tallahassee? Absolutely embarrassing,” DeSantis asked when commenting on the vote result. The task force would “provide recommendations for the development of a statewide carbon sequestration program,” according to the measure, which defines carbon sequestration as “the long-term storage of carbon in plants, soils, geologic formations, and the ocean through land and aquatic habitat management.” In a video posted on social media the day before the vote, DeSantis called carbon sequestration a “scam” that is a facet of “climate ideology.” SCOOP: TRUMP ALLY DONALDS SHOWCASES CAMPAIGN CASH SURGE SINCE ANNOUNCING FLORIDA GOVERNOR RUN “Don’t indulge the left with carbon sequestration,” he declared. The text of the governor’s tweet described the prospect of dumping carbon into the soil, aquifers, or the ocean floor as a “non-starter.” But Democratic Florida state Rep. Lindsay Cross pushed back, tweeting, “We aren’t pumping carbon anywhere.” DESANTIS PROPOSES SOLUTION AS TRUMP’S AGENDA IS STYMIED BY JUDGES CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “#CarbonSequestration is Science & happening all around us. Plants pull carbon from the air & store in their roots/soil. We aren’t pumping carbon anywhere. This bipartisan bill will make FL a leader; ready to leverage private investments to conserve & manage natural & ag areas,” she wrote in response to the governor.
EXCLUSIVE: Jubilant Mike Johnson claims victory as Florida helps House GOP grow majority
EXCLUSIVE: House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is celebrating the GOP’s victory in two Florida special elections, despite Democrats’ full-throated fundraising efforts. “Decisive and double-digit wins in Florida show yet again that Americans are fired up to continue electing House Republicans, despite being significantly outraised and underestimated by misleading narratives from the media,” Johnson told Fox News Digital. “Jimmy Patronis and Randy Fine will now be strong voices for Florida and our nation who will help us deliver on the mandate voters have given us in Congress,” he added. LIBERAL WINS FIRST MAJOR 2025 STATEWIDE BATTLEGROUND ELECTION IN RACE TURNED INTO TRUMP-MUSK REFERENDUM He is celebrating having “full” House GOP membership after kicking off the year – and Republicans’ government trifecta – with a razor-thin majority after two key departures amid Trump administration turnover. “Democrats are in disarray, and even after wasting tens of millions of dollars, they could not sell their extreme, radical, and rejected ideas to voters,” Johnson said. “With our full House Republican Conference now in place, we will continue our work to advance President Trump’s America First agenda and defend our majority in 2026.” Victories for Patronis, who served as Florida’s chief financial officer, and state Sen. Fine means Republicans will have a 220-213 majority in the House for the time being. Democrats have two vacancies of their own after the recent deaths of two lawmakers. However, until those are filled, Johnson will be able to afford up to three GOP defections on any party-line vote. Their votes will be critical for Johnson as he works to enact President Donald Trump’s agenda with little to no Democratic support – particularly with Republicans trying to pass sweeping legislation via the budget reconciliation process. FORMER DESANTIS OFFICIAL DEFEATS DEM FOR MATT GAETZ’S HOUSE SEAT Fine won his race against Democrat Josh Weil with nearly 57% of the vote in Florida’s 6th Congressional District. He ran to replace National Security Advisor Mike Waltz. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP In Florida’s 1st Congressional District, which former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., vacated during an unsuccessful bid to become attorney general, Patronis beat Democrat Gay Valimont by nearly the same margin. Both districts lean heavily Republican, despite Democrats’ significant fundraising efforts.
Vance says we can ‘reclaim’ society from totalitarian left if we ‘keep on fighting’
FIRST ON FOX: Vice President JD Vance said the message in a new docuseries echoed the direction of the Trump administration’s recent actions – and the rest of the world would be wise to take notice. He offered remarks Tuesday night at an exclusive screening of the film adaptation of author Rod Dreher’s “Live Not By Lies” – first-hand interviews with civilian figures throughout the postwar period who embraced Christian values to blunt totalitarian regimes and efforts from Great Britain to Czechoslovakia when it was part of the Soviet bloc Vance said he got to know Dreher after the writer asked to interview him about his book, “Hillbilly Elegy,” before the now-vice president was a fixture on the political scene. Before boarding a flight back to the U.S. from a vacation in the United Kingdom, Vance submitted written answers to Dreher and hoped for the best – his book was hovering around No. 1,000 on the Amazon list. By the time he landed in the U.S., Dreher’s write-up had propelled it to No. 16. “Hillbilly Elegy” later inspired a Ron Howard film, and helped launch Vance into the spotlight as a nationally recognized figure. He would go on to win a seat in the Senate and eventually become vice president. TRUMP TARIFFS LEAD CANADIAN BUSINESS TO OFFER ‘RAGE ROOM’ FOR TRUMP, MUSK, VANCE PORTRAITS Dreher’s book and film, which featured interviews with notable dissidents of communism and totalitarianism in the Soviet bloc and even in England today, is a lesson for people of Christian and democratic values not to lose hope and “never stop fighting,” Vance said. He said that, without the courage to act in the face of government-compelled groupthink, the traditionalist West cannot “reclaim our civilization… rebuild prosperity and opportunity [or] rebuild the kind of society where we teach children the important virtues and skills to thrive; as opposed to trying to tear our kids down, which is what I think our education system does all too often.” Without speaking up, people who seek liberty over tyranny cannot defeat the left-wing foreign policy groupthink that has become the “animating concept” in too many Western nations, the vice president added. “We’re not going to solve any of these problems unless we have the courage to speak the truth, unless we have the courage to live the truth.” One thing the traditionalist right struggles with is submitting to despair, Vance said. “This idea that because things were not going great in 2020, because things weren’t always going in our way electorally, we would give into this sense that the country that we love, the civilization that we love was always on a negative trajectory,” he said. “And I say that as not a criticism of Rod, because I, myself, have sometimes felt in the lowest moments of American politics that, maybe, this country is just not going in the right direction.” “But I think that what we’ve learned over the last few months is that the American people, and I think Western peoples, are a hell of a lot more resilient than our elites give them credit for.” Vance said “Live Not By Lies” – a phrase itself coined by Soviet exile Alexander Solzhenitsyn in one of his famous oratories – means to maintain the same optimism that is at the root of Judeo-Christian theology and therefore the root of American traditions. VANCE CALLS OUT LEFTIST HYPOCRISY AGAINST JILL STEIN, SAYING DEMS CONTRARILY WANT RFK JR OFF BALLOT “You have Western peoples calling out their governments pushing back on issues like migration and religious freedom in a way that we haven’t seen in 20 or 30 years – if we’ve ever seen it,” he said. “If we keep on fighting and we keep working and we keep on having faith and we keep on pursuing the values that we know are right, I really do believe that we are going to see great things happen… all across the West. I know the president knows this.” Vance said the message of “Live Not By Lies” has been proven in the first months of the fledgling Trump-Vance administration. “We’ve gone from a country where we would harass and threaten and investigate and even arrest pro-life protesters to one where we’re encouraging pro-life activists to do what they can to persuade their fellow Americans,” Vance said. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The film and book show British pro-life leader Isabel Vaughan-Spruce recounting being arrested essentially for praying outside an abortion clinic, and feature video of London police interrogating her on the street to find out what she was praying about. “A couple of months ago, we had social media censorship run amok. We were threatening people’s right of free expression for not saying the things that Silicon Valley technology companies told them to say,” Vance went on. “Now I believe that we have more free speech on the internet today than we’ve probably had in 10 or 15 years. So we’re making progress.”
Who’s winning the race for the Arctic’s resources?
Russia says it is open to economic cooperation with the West in the Arctic. Arctic ice is melting fast, giving way to new and shorter shipping routes. Underneath that ice, there are billions of dollars worth of oil, gas and critical minerals. The scramble to control those resources has begun and Russia is in a prime position to exploit the region. President Vladimir Putin has recently warned of intensifying geopolitical competition there. This, after US President Donald Trump stepped up his threats to annex Greenland. However, Putin says he’s ready to cooperate with the West in economic ventures there that will benefit all sides. Could Europe return to Russian energy? Plus, Trump’s tariffs on car imports. Adblock test (Why?)
Tariff uncertainties have companies in Mexico on their toes
On March 4, the US-Mexico border was at a standstill. The trucks that Thor Salayandia was planning to send across a checkpoint to the United States sat in the lot. The only thing moving was the confusion in the air. Salayandia owns and operates a factory in Juarez, Mexico that makes auto parts and ships truckloads of metal tubes to warehouses in the US state of Texas for assembly. For the past month, his business has been thrown into turbulent waters. “It’s becoming a political game … so for two days there was a considerable reduction in traffic. Even the US officials didn’t know whether to charge the trailers that were crossing,” he said, referring to the tariff threats and counterthreats between the US and Mexico. “There’s so much at play … It’s misinformation, confusion, and uncertainty. There are a lot of unknowns, about how the tariffs will be introduced, how they’ll fit, how they’ll be charged.” US President Donald Trump’s complicated tariff policies have left major industries that do business between Mexico and the US, from cars, to agriculture, to textiles, scrambling to comply with the changing rules and questioning their futures. Advertisement On March 26, Trump announced new 25 percent tariffs on cars and car parts manufactured abroad that will go into effect on April 3. The tariffs will force Salayandia to cut down his workforce, and he is beginning to think about alternate location options for his factory – including a move to Texas, where he would invest in automation and robots in the manufacturing process to avoid the high costs of labour. “Past politicians saw a globalised world in which things were manufactured in lower-cost countries … but now, with the arrival of Trump, who has an alternate economic vision of the world, manufacturers are starting to think about changing the way of producing things,” Salayandia said. On March 4, when his trucks were stuck at the border, a 25 percent tariff was set to go into effect on goods the US imported from Mexico. But as the Mexican business community waited with bated breath to see if President Claudia Sheinbaum could negotiate her way out of the order, Trump announced that goods counted under the USMCA (the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or T-MEC, as the trade pact is known in Spanish) would be exempt from the tariffs until April 2. This would leave over half of imports safe from tariffs for another month. The new rule was not a complete sigh of relief for business leaders in Mexico, who say the atmosphere of uncertainty is ongoing, as they hurry to comply with T-MEC, and worry about policies coming down the pipeline. Mexican politicians have been quick to point out that the Mexican peso has remained fairly stable, between 20 and 21 pesos to the dollar. Advertisement Mexico’s Economy Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said he would work with companies, especially the goliath automotive industry, to fit 90 percent of exports within the guidelines of the T-MEC agreement. But that could take many months to complete. Now, with the new auto-focused tariffs announced last week, all of those efforts may have been in vain. “What we are looking for is preferential treatment for Mexico, in a way that we can protect jobs and economic activity in our country,” Ebrard said in a news conference on March 27. “We have already had six meetings with the [US] commerce secretary… there is no other country that has this level of communication with the United States.” Alternative markets Around 40 percent of car parts used in vehicles sold in the US were manufactured across the border in Mexican cities whose economies rely on auto factories. The Mexican automotive industry generates over $100bn in annual revenue and exports over three million cars, predominantly to the US. Alberto Bustamante, director of Mexico’s National Agency of Automotive Industry Providers, said the tariffs are affecting the automotive industry in varying ways, depending on whether a company exports parts or whole assembled cars. It also involves more philosophical questions, like “What constitutes a car?”. “As the private sector, we don’t have options. If it depended on us, we would have already figured it out, but it doesn’t depend on us, it depends on the government,” Bustamante said. “In the US, five million jobs are at stake if these tariffs go into effect, and in Mexico, one million.” He said that specialty and luxury vehicles with uncommon parts will be those most affected by the current tariffs, as well as those made with steel or aluminium, because Trump has additionally placed a 25 percent tariff on goods made with those metals, which kicked in on March 12. Advertisement Because of how difficult and time-consuming it would be to fit within T-MEC guidelines, affected companies must decide whether paying the 25 percent tax is worth it, or whether they should just shut shop in Mexico and move their businesses elsewhere. Sheinbaum, instead of focusing on the current turbulence, has set her sights on reforming the T-MEC deal to ensure long-term stability for the Mexican economy. But she won’t get that opportunity until 2026, when the agreement is up for review. Should Trump implement the auto industry tariffs on April 3, Mexico will respond with counter-tariffs. In the meantime, Bustamante said that automakers are beginning to rethink their 10-year plans and are considering either abandoning Mexico as a manufacturing hub, or turning their gaze away from the US as their primary market. Cars aren’t the only products whose status sits in purgatory. Other goods, from washing machines to peanuts to medical instruments, also have varying degrees of compliance with the T-MEC trade deal. Avocados – a nearly $3bn industry, and the culinary pride of Mexico – do not always fit into T-MEC, depending on the harvesting and sanitation processes used by specific companies. Mexico sends more than two billion pounds of avocados every year to the US, and the tariffs could push prices up for the popular fruit as
Fawad Khan-starrer ‘Abir Gulal’ caught in controversy as Raj Thackeray-led MNS opposes its release: ‘Will not allow Pak actors…’
Pakistani actor Fawad Khan and Indian actress Vaani Kapoor-starrer upcoming film – Abir Gulal – found itself in the midst of a controversy after Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) opposed its release in India.
UN watchdog project calls on DOGE Caucus to ‘audit’ the International org
UNITED NATIONS – The DOGE Caucus just got a consulting offer from an initiative looking to remove waste in the United Nations. Dynamic Oversight for Global Efficiencies in the U.N. (DOGE-U.N.) is looking to help the caucus identify cost-cutting opportunities and hold the U.N. accountable. “Accountability should extend beyond domestic institutions to global organizations that America funds. And they all should operate with fiscal responsibility and proper oversight,” DOGE-U.N. wrote in a letter to Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, who founded the Senate DOGE Caucus. ‘UN80 INITIATIVE’ APPEARS TO SHOW WORLD BODY’S PANIC OVER POSSIBLE DOGE-LIKE CUTS Last month, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres announced the UN80 Initiative in honor of the 80th anniversary of the international organization. Despite speculation that the initiative was a response to Elon Musk’s work with DOGE, Guterres told reporters that it was completely unrelated. Guterres said the project is meant to handle the U.N.’s ongoing “liquidity crisis.” “For at least the past seven years, the United Nations has faced a liquidity crisis given the fact that not all member states pay in full, and many member states also do not pay on time,” secretary-general spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told Fox News Digital at the time. “This is about prudent spending planning to ensure that we can continue to fulfill our core functions and the mandates given to us by member states.” Hugh Dugan, the head of DOGE-U.N., told Fox News Digital that this is an opportunity to reform the U.N., which has not undergone any significant overhaul since 2000. Dugan also emphasized that the U.N. should be under this type of scrutiny more frequently and not just when the U.S. is “frustrated with” the organization. DOGE USAID BUDGET CUTS HIT UN IN ‘WORST LIQUIDITY CRISIS SINCE ITS ESTABLISHMENT’ Under Musk, DOGE first tackled waste at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which drew significant criticism. President Donald Trump listed several examples of the ways USAID allegedly wasted U.S. taxpayer dollars, including millions of dollars that went to diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in other countries. Dugan told Fox News Digital that a significant portion of USAID funding was “funneled” through U.N. entities. He believes the “money trail will definitely be taking us through many of those entities, whether it’s peacekeeping or a U.N. development program.” In its letter, DOGE-U.N. lists several recommendations for the DOGE Caucus, including decentralizing New York-based U.N. entities to lower-cost countries, which the organization said could save “at least 40% in salaries alone.” DOGE-U.N. also recommends an audit of the U.N.’s ongoing “liquidity crisis.” The U.S. is not the only country rethinking its contributions to the international body. Dugan told Fox News Digital that other countries are also reevaluating their spending, but the U.S. is “the most colorful and biggest” because of Musk. Dugan ultimately pointed the finger at Guterres and told Fox News Digital that there are “whispers and grumblings among ambassadors” who are allegedly dissatisfied with the secretary-general’s performance. Senior U.N. insiders allegedly told Dugan that they too are “very eager” to see things turn around “sooner rather than later.” Ernst’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Pence group lashes out at Trump tariffs ahead of ‘Liberation Day’ event: ‘Tax on American consumers’
Former Vice President Mike Pence’s policy advocacy organization came out against President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day,” arguing his tariff plans “are essentially a tax on American consumers and businesses.” In a post on X on Wednesday, along with a letter to Congress, the group Americans Advancing Freedom (AAF) stated the tariffs “are essentially a tax on American consumers and businesses.” This marks one of the rare occasions when the group, founded in 2021 based on the principles of Trump’s first term, has opposed his policies. “Congress has a constitutional responsibility to reclaim its authority over taxation,” AAF’s general counsel Marc Wheat wrote in the letter. TRUMP’S 11TH WEEK IN OFFICE SET TO FOCUS ON TARIFFS AS PRESIDENT TOUTS ‘LIBERATION DAY’ Wheat said Congress could achieve this by passing Sen. Mike Lee’s Article One Act, which was introduced in 2023 under the Biden administration. The bill would require Congress to approve national emergency declarations declared by the president within 30 days as well as place other barriers around such orders. “The Framers knew from experience the dangers of abuse of the taxing power,” Wheat wrote. Trump is expected to roll out his plan for reciprocal tariffs, which would impose higher taxes on countries that export goods to the U.S. on Wednesday afternoon, dubbing it “Liberation Day.” CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER MARK CARNEY SAYS ‘OLD RELATIONSHIP’ WITH US ‘IS OVER’ AMID TENSION OVER TRUMP TARIFFS “April 2, 2025, will go down as one of the most important days in modern American history,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during Tuesday’s White House press briefing. “Our country has been one of the most open economies in the world, and we have the consumer base, hands down – the best consumer base. But too many foreign countries have their markets closed to our exports. This is fundamentally unfair.” “The lack of reciprocity contributes to our large and persistent annual trade deficit that’s gutted our industries and hollowed out key workforces,” she continued. “But those days of America, beginning tomorrow, being ripped off, are over. American workers and businesses will be put first under President Trump, just as he promised on the campaign trail.” TRUMP PRESSES 4 GOP SENATORS AHEAD OF ANTI-CANADIAN TARIFF VOTE, ACCUSING THEM OF ‘TDS’ The White House has been discreet about Trump’s planned tariff announcement, only explaining reciprocal tariffs will restore fairness to U.S. trading after decades of disproportionate trade deals with other countries. “I think it’s going to be something that’s going to bring a lot of wealth back to our country, tremendous wealth back to our country, actually,” Trump told the media Monday. “And, other countries are understanding, because they’ve been ripping us for 50 years, longer.” Trump and his administration said the tariff plan will boost business in the U.S. by encouraging companies to establish operations on American soil to bypass the tariffs, thereby creating job opportunities for American workers. In February, Trump signed executive orders imposing 25% tariffs on most goods imported from Canada and Mexico – citing national security concerns related to drug trafficking and illegal immigration – with Canadian oil and energy exports facing a 10% tariff. Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report.
FBI flooded with record number of new agent applications in Kash Patel’s first month leading bureau
FIRST ON FOX: The FBI received a record number of new agent applications in Director Kash Patel’s first full month leading the bureau, with the flood of law enforcement job-seekers nearly doubling the monthly average since 2016. There were 5,577 new FBI agent applications submitted in March, Fox News Digital has learned. The last time the bureau saw a monthly figure even close to that number was April 2016, with 5,283 applications. By comparison, the monthly average in 2023 was 2,797 applications, with 3,383 applications per month in 2024, according to FBI data reviewed by Fox News Digital. KASH PATEL TAKES REINS AT SCANDAL-RIDDEN FBI WITH ‘AMERICA ALWAYS’ MINDSET: ‘LET GOOD COPS BE COPS’ “Director Patel and Deputy Director (Dan) Bongino have put a major emphasis on restoring confidence in federal law enforcement and boosting new agent recruiting,” FBI spokesman Ben Williamson told Fox News Digital Wednesday. “These record early returns certainly suggest the new FBI is heading in the right direction.” Since January, the FBI has seen more than 10,000 new agent applications, according to FBI data. In January, the first month of the Trump administration and the month of Patel’s nomination and confirmation hearing, the FBI saw 4,143 applications to join the bureau – the first time the bureau had seen a month of new agent applications in the 4,000s since August 2020. TOP FIVE TAKEDOWNS: KASH PATEL’S FBI HITS THE GROUND RUNNING WITH MAJOR EARLY VICTORIES “The record number of FBI job applications in March shows that people are inspired by Kash Patel’s commitment to restoring integrity and effectiveness at the bureau,” Patel advisor Erica Knight told Fox News Digital Wednesday. “Americans are putting their trust in his leadership to rebuild the FBI and keep our communities safe.” And, Knight told Fox News Digital, “this is just the beginning.” “Kash is dedicated to creating a stronger, more trusted FBI that serves the American people the way it was always meant to,” Knight said. During his Senate confirmation hearing in late January, Patel illustrated the “erosion of trust” at the bureau, pointing to polling revealing that “only 40% of Americans hold a favorable view of the FBI.” “This must change,” Patel testified. “Public cooperation is vital for the bureau to solve crimes, and its declining reputation is already affecting recruitment efforts.” FBI LAUNCHES TASK FORCE TO CRACK DOWN ON VIOLENT TESLA ATTACKS, MIGRANT THREATS The record number of new agent applications comes as Patel and Bongino put a heavy emphasis on new agent recruiting and restoring law enforcement morale by “letting good cops be cops.” In March, Patel released an FBI recruitment video, showing the director in the field with agents and highlighting footage from the hostage rescue team facility urging people to join the team. The video ends with a graphic showing the FBI seal, and the words: “A renewed mission. A stronger future.” “Apply today at FBIJobs.gov,” the video says. Patel and Bongino also have privately emphasized to their staff the importance of boosting local partner engagement. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Sources familiar told Fox News Digital that Patel has instructed his team to offer full and total support to the families of fallen officers, while Bongino has personally reached out and met with the uniformed officers on FBI ground to thank them for their work that “often goes unnoticed.” “Our team will continue to recruit the best law enforcement personnel in the country,” Williamson told Fox News Digital. “We hope to see even more brave men and women want to be a part of what we’re building.”