Trump reinstates ‘maximum pressure’ campaign against Iran
President Donald Trump unveiled an executive order reinstating a “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran on Tuesday, coinciding with a visit from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House. Trump voiced that he was “torn” on signing the order and admitted he was “unhappy to do it,” noting that that the executive order was very tough on Iran. “Hopefully, we’re not going to have to use it very much,” Trump told reporters Tuesday. The order instructs the Treasury Department to execute “maximum economic pressure” upon Iran through a series of sanctions aimed at sinking Iran’s oil exports. His first administration also adopted a “maximum pressure” initiative against Tehran, issuing greater sanctions and harsher enforcement for violations. TRUMP’S LATEST HIRES AND FIRES RANKLE IRAN HAWKS AS NEW PRESIDENT SUGGESTS NUCLEAR DEAL Lawmakers are also interested in exerting more pressure on Iran. For example, Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and John Fetterman, D-Penn., along with lawmakers in the House, introduced a resolution on Thursday that affirms that all options should remain on the table in dealing with Iran’s nuclear threat. Graham said in a statement Thursday that should Iran obtain a nuclear weapon, it would prove “one of the most destabilizing and dangerous events in world history.” Additionally, Graham said ahead of Netanyahu’s visit that the moment is right to eliminate Iran’s nuclear threat now, and that the U.S. should back Israel if it chooses to “decimate” Iran’s nuclear program. IRAN’S WEAKENED POSITION COULD LEAD IT TO PURSUE NUCLEAR WEAPON, BIDEN NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER WARNS “Israel is strong. Iran is weak. Hezbollah, Hamas have been decimated,” Graham said in an interview with Fox News Sunday. “They’re not finished off, but they’ve been weakened. And there’s an opportunity to hit the Iran nuclear program in a fashion I haven’t seen in decades. And I think it would be in the world’s interest for us to decimate the Iranian nuclear threat while we can. If we don’t, we will regret it later.” Strict sanctions were reimposed upon Iran after Trump withdrew from the Iran deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, in May 2018. The 2015 agreement brokered under the Obama administration had lifted sanctions on Iran, in exchange for limits on Iran’s nuclear program. Meanwhile, Trump signaled in January some optimism about securing a nuclear deal with Iran, when asked if he backed Israel striking Iran’s nuclear facilities. TRUMP’S NEW UKRAINE ENVOY ISSUES WARNING TO IRAN, SAYS ‘MAXIMUM PRESSURE MUST BE REINSTATED’ “We’ll have to see. I’m going to be meeting with various people over the next couple of days,” Trump told reporters on Jan. 24. “We’ll see, but hopefully that could be worked out without having to worry about it.” “Iran hopefully will make a deal. I mean, they don’t make a deal, I guess that’s OK, too,” Trump said. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Other executive orders that Trump signed on Tuesday include pulling the U.S. out of the United Nations Human Rights Council and cutting funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). Fox News’ Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.
Fox News Politics Newsletter: Fed resignations spike on Trump’s offer
Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter, with the latest updates on the Trump administration, exclusive interviews and more Fox News politics content. Here’s what’s happening… -House delays key vote on Trump budget bill after conservative fury over spending cuts -Gabbard explains why she wouldn’t call Edward Snowden a traitor as she seeks to assuage concerned senators -Senate confirms Doug Collins to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs The White House is expecting a “spike” in federal resignations ahead of a Thursday deadline for a buyout offer, Fox News Digital has learned. Nearly all federal employees were offered a buyout as part of President Donald Trump’s plan for government employees to physically work out of their offices, following years of remote work stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. Government employees have until Thursday to take the offer, with the Trump administration expecting an influx of resignations in the next two days. “The number of deferred resignations is rapidly growing, and we’re expecting the largest spike 24 to 48 hours before the deadline,” a White House official told Fox News Digital on Tuesday morning…Read more ADVANTAGE TRUMP: Trump handed opportunity ‘to save Medicare’ after Biden admin’s final blow to seniors…Read more BORDER BATTLE: Trump White House makes crucial pledge as left-wing activists sue over border crackdown…Read more ‘UNLAWFUI’: FBI agents sue Trump DOJ to block any public identification of employees who worked on Jan. 6 investigations…Read more ‘PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH’: Trump and Netanyahu expected to discuss Iran, Hamas at White House meeting…Read more AI SUMMITT: JD Vance to attend AI summit in Paris, French official says…Read more GAZA REBUILD: Trump eyes Abraham Accords expansion, Gaza rebuild with Netanyahu meeting on deck…Read more GUAC FAUX PAS: Schumer mocked for Corona and guac clip warning Trump tariffs will hurt Super Bowl parties: ‘Not good at this’…Read more NATIONAL SECURITY: Tulsi Gabbard scores key committee Republican’s support ahead of pivotal vote…Read more TULSI’S TIGHTROPE: Tulsi Gabbard confirmation fate to be tested with key committee vote…Read more VYING FOR VOTES: RFK Jr. to get key committee vote as crucial senator remains tightlipped on stance…Read more ‘ONE SHOT’: Elon Musk dunks on Sen. Chuck Schumer, declaring ‘Hysterical reactions’ demonstrate DOGE’s importance…Read more TULSI’S TIGHTROPE: Tulsi Gabbard confirmation fate to be tested with key committee vote…Read more ‘LEARNED ABSOLUTELY NOTHING’: New DNC vice chair sets social media ablaze after ‘radical’ posts exposed: ‘Learned absolutely nothing’…Read more ‘BETRAYED OUR TRUST’: DC Councilmember Trayon White faces possible expulsion vote over federal bribery charge…Read more PROTECTING PILLS: New York Gov. Hochul signs law protecting abortion pill prescribers after doctor indicted in Louisiana…Read more ‘I HOPE HE RUNS’: Senators back Vivek Ramaswamy for Ohio governor ahead of expected gubernatorial bid…Read more ‘PROTECTING’ MUSK: Federal prosecutor vows to protect DOGE staffers from any ‘threats, confrontations’ targeting Musk team…Read more ‘EXCITING CHAPTER’: Interior Sec takes aim at Biden oil lease ban, ‘coercive’ climate policies in Day 1 orders…Read more DC POLITICIAN EXPELLED: DC Council expels Trayon White following federal bribery charge…Read more Get the latest updates on the Trump administration and Congress, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.
Dozens of illegals arrested in Trump’s home county in Florida
Amid President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested 32 criminal illegal immigrants in the president’s Florida home county. Crimes committed by those arrested include drug-related offenses, prostitution, robbery, fraud and driving under the influence. The agency announced on Monday that officials arrested 32 criminal illegal aliens through “targeted immigration enforcement operations” in Palm Beach County on Jan. 27 and 28. Trump’s permanent residence, Mar-a-Lago, is in Palm Beach County, which is a highly affluent county known for its pristine beaches and golf courses. ICE SCOOPS UP ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS WITH MURDER, ROBBERY CONVICTIONS IN WEEKEND CRACKDOWN According to the Monday announcement, ICE officers and agents based in Miami, in coordination with the U.S. Border Patrol, arrested criminal immigrants from Guatemala, Haiti, Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil, Cuba and Nicaragua. Though the ICE statement did not name any of the detainees, the agency said those arrested included a 30-year-old Venezuelan male convicted of drug possession, robbery and resisting an officer; a 44-year-old Haitian female convicted of battery, drug possession and prostitution; a 24-year-old Cuban male convicted of fraud through illegal use of a credit card and larceny; and a 25-year-old Guatemalan male convicted of cocaine possession and driving under the influence. Fox News Digital reached out to ICE to obtain information on the detained criminal migrants’ identities but had not heard back at the time of publication. TOM HOMAN CALLS DESIGNATING CARTELS AS TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS A ‘GAME CHANGER’ The ICE statement said that all those arrested will remain detained pending their removal from the U.S. or hearing before an immigration judge. This comes as ICE and federal authorities under the new Trump administration have unleashed a string of targeted operations, arresting several thousand illegal immigrants since Trump’s second term began on Jan. 20. ICE officers have been seen carrying out raids of homes, work sites and other establishments, while deportations have also ramped up, with the Trump administration beginning flights this week, transporting the most violent migrants to Guantánamo Bay. CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE According to a separate ICE statement, the agency has been conducting “enhanced enforcement operations” in Chicago and New York with routine daily operations taking place throughout the country. The agency said it is currently utilizing a “whole-of-government approach” to target criminal aliens with no legal basis for removal. In many cases, ICE is partnering with the FBI, DEA, ATF, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Marshals Service to carry out these arrests. Fox News Digital breaking news writer Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.
Tulsi Gabbard advances out of Intel Committee in boost to confirmation odds
Tulsi Gabbard passed a key committee hurdle on Tuesday, and her nomination will now head to the Senate floor where she’ll get a final confirmation vote. President Donald Trump tapped Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman, to be Director of National Intelligence (DNI) in his second term. “I’m pleased that the Senate Intelligence Committee voted to advance the nomination of Tulsi Gabbard to be the Director of National Intelligence. Once confirmed, I look forward to working with Ms. Gabbard to keep America safe and to bring badly needed reforms to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence,” Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said in a statement. ‘OVERDOSE EPIDEMIC’: BIPARTISAN SENATORS TARGET FENTANYL CLASSIFICATION AS LAPSE APPROACHES Gabbard was advanced out of the committee along party lines, 9-8. She received a last-minute endorsement from Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., a member of the committee, minutes after the vote was scheduled to get underway. “I will be voting today for [Gabbard] to serve as President Trump’s Director of National Intelligence. I’ve had the opportunity to work with Tulsi throughout the confirmation process, and I’m confident she will bring a fresh perspective to President Trump’s national security team and the intelligence community. Tulsi and President Trump have my support,” he wrote on X. Some issues the nominee has been pressed on during her confirmation process are her past meeting with former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, her previous FISA Section 702 stance and her past support for NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. She faced questions about each in her hearing last week. Gabbard managed to impress some Republicans on the Intel committee with her answers, as both Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Susan Collins, R-Maine, revealed afterward that they would vote to advance her. ELIZABETH WARREN GRILLED RFK JR ON DRUG COMPANY MONEY, BUT RECEIVED OVER $5M FROM HEALTH INDUSTRY Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., endorsed Trump’s DNI nominee last month after she announced her changed beliefs about section 702, a critical and controversial intelligence gathering tool. He reiterated this support after her hearing. However, there were remaining questions about certain senators up until the committee’s closed-door vote on Tuesday. Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., is one of the lawmakers that did not disclose how he would vote until hours before. In a statement to Fox News Digital on Tuesday, the senator said, “American intelligence officers around the globe deserve our respect and support. I appreciate Tulsi Gabbard’s engagement with me on a variety of issues to ensure that our intelligence professionals will be supported and policymakers will receive unbiased information under her leadership.” “I have done what the Framers envisioned for senators to do: use the consultative process to seek firm commitments, in this case commitments that will advance our national security, which is my top priority as a former Marine Corps intelligence officer. Having now secured these commitments, I will support Tulsi’s nomination and look forward to working with her to protect our national security,” he added. In a since-deleted post on X the weekend prior, Trump-aligned billionaire Elon Musk slammed Young as a “deep state puppet” in regard to his uncertainty about Gabbard. But the two seemed to patch things up on a phone call soon after. SEN. TILLIS OPENS UP ABOUT ROLE IN PETE HEGSETH’S CONFIRMATION AFTER HEGSETH’S EX-SISTER-IN-LAW’S ALLEGATIONS A spokesperson for Young told Fox News Digital in a statement, “Senator Young and Mr. Musk had a great conversation on a number of subjects and policy areas where they have a shared interest, like DOGE.” Musk also shared on X over the weekend, “Just had an excellent conversation with [Young]. I stand corrected. Senator Young will be a great ally in restoring power to the people from the vast, unelected bureaucracy.”
Abbott’s political muscle puts his agenda on fast track in Legislature
The governor’s list of priority items includes issues important to social conservatives and to business advocates.
Left-wing billionaires bankroll Dem super PAC plotting to win back working-class voters: ‘This is a priority’
The top super PAC supporting House Democrats has created a $50 million fund aimed at finding ways to win back working-class voters thanks to some of the richest Democrats in the country. “We’re laying a marker down now,” Mike Smith, president of the House Majority PAC, told the New York Times about his group’s “Win Them Back Fund,” which was created to appeal to working-class voters that shifted away from the party in the November election. “This is a priority.” The list of donors to the House Majority PAC over the last few years includes several Democratic billionaires such as businessman Michael Bloomberg, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, hedge fund manager Tom Steyer, and Linked In co-founder Reid Hoffman. FAREED ZAKARIA ARGUES THAT DEMOCRATS MAY WANT TO ‘STOP TRYING’ TO WIN OVER WORKING-CLASS VOTERS FEC records show that Bloomberg gave $13 million to the PAC between 2023 and 2024 to go along with $3 million from Pritzker and $2 million from Steyer. Hoffman gave over $1.5 million to the PAC, according to FEC records. Other high-profile donations to the House Majority PAC include $10 million from philanthropist Fred Eychaner, $3.5 million from investor Stephen Mandel Jr., and $2 million from software developer Chris Wanstrath. The PAC announced it will target roughly a dozen specific races, including GOP Reps. Nick Begich in Alaska; Eli Crane, in Arizona’s 2nd District; David Valadao, California’s 22nd District; Ken Calvert, California’s 41st District; Gabe Evans, Colorado’s 8th District; Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Iowa’s 1st District; John James, Michigan’s 10th District. JIMMY FAILLA: TRUMP HAD A SECRET WEAPON WITH WORKING CLASS VOTERS. AND LEGACY MEDIA WILL NEVER RECOVER “One of the major roadblocks we have faced as a party has been declining support among a multi-racial group of working class voters,” HMP said in a press release this week. “That’s why HMP is today launching a 2026 Win Them Back Fund focused on ensuring that we win back working class voters across the congressional battlefield. “ “While Democrats at the Presidential level have consistently lost ground with working class voters for over the last decade, House Democrats like Reps. Adam Gray, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, Don Davis, and Gabe Vasquez continue to overperform with this crucial bloc of voters. Their victories demonstrate that House Democrats can win back this coalition of voters with the support of strategic investments in recruitment, research, and programming.” In a statement to Fox News Digital regarding the billionaires’ support, House Majority PAC communications director CJ Warnke said, “The Trump administration is currently being run by Ghislaine Maxwell’s BFF Elon Musk and the richest, most elite, and out-of-touch men on the planet.” “Their plan is to steal benefits from hardworking Americans and enrich themselves even further, and House Democrats will put an end to their scams and schemes,” he continued. A long list of polls, pundits and politicians have publicly concluded since the November election that the Democratic Party shifted away from working-class voters during the presidential campaign, causing Republican victories in key House and Senate races along with President Donald Trump’s return to the White House. “It should come as no great surprise that a Democratic Party which has abandoned working class people would find that the working class has abandoned them,” Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., posted on X after the election. “While the Democratic leadership defends the status quo, the American people are angry and want change. And they’re right.”
US begins flying migrants to Guantanamo Bay
The Trump administration has begun flying detained illegal migrants from the U.S. to Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Tuesday. The move comes just days after President Donald Trump announced that he would instruct the Pentagon to prepare the facility to hold around 30,000 “criminal illegal aliens” at the U.S. military base. “I can also confirm that today the first flights from the United States to Guantanamo Bay with illegal migrants are underway,” Leavitt said. TRUMP-ERA SOUTHERN BORDER SEES MIGRANT ENCOUNTERS PLUMMET BY OVER 60% AS NEW POLICIES KICK IN “And so President Trump, Pete Hegseth and Kristi Noem are already delivering on this promise to utilize that capacity at Gitmo for illegal criminals who have broken our nation’s immigration laws and then have further committed heinous crimes against lawful American citizens here at home.” Leavitt said that El Salvador has agreed to the repatriation of its own citizens as well as also “illegal criminals from other nations” who will then be sent to their prisons. “Venezuela as well has agreed to repatriation flights and Colombia also agreed to cooperate with the repatriation of illegal Colombian nationals that we have found in the interior of our country.” The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that one flight from Fort Bliss to Guantanamo has roughly a dozen migrants on board, the publication reports, citing people familiar with the matter. An additional flight left the U.S. on Monday, the publication reports, citing one of those people. As of today, the facility is understood to have enough beds to cater to around 120 migrants. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told Fox News’ Will Cain on the “Will Cain Show” last week that Guantanamo Bay is already being used to house illegal immigrants, particularly the worst of the worst. TRUMP ADMIN DEPORTING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS CONVICTED OF A CRIME IS WILDLY POPULAR AMONG NEW YORK VOTERS: POLL Noem said her department will make sure resources are placed there to ensure there is enough space to get criminal illegal aliens out of the U.S. Trump last week signed a presidential memorandum last week to begin the process of making 30,000 beds available at Guantanamo to house migrants who pose a threat to the American public, adding that putting them there will ensure they do not come back. “Some of them are so bad, we don’t even trust their countries to hold them because we don’t want them coming back,” Trump said. “We’re going to send them to Guantanamo.” He added, “It’s a tough place to get out of.” The president said the move will bring the U.S. one step closer to “eradicating the scourge” of migrant crime in communities, once and for all. The migrant facility at the base is separate from the high-security U.S. prison for foreign terrorism suspects – which has been used occasionally for decades, including to hold Haitians and Cubans picked up at sea. The Trump administration has not said how much it would cost to expand Guantanamo, which was established in 2002 to detain foreign militants in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. He also called on Congress to provide full funding for the complete and total restoration of U.S. borders and financial support to remove record numbers of illegal aliens. Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel last week called Trump’s move to send 30,000 migrants to Guantanamo an “act of brutality.” “In an act of brutality, the new US government announces the imprisonment at the Guantanamo Naval Base, located in illegally occupied territory [Cuba], of thousands of migrants that it forcibly expels, and will place them next to the well-known prisons of torture and illegal detention,” he said in a translated post on X. Reuters contributed to this report.
FBI agents detail J6 role in exhaustive questionnaire employees ‘were instructed to fill out’
FIRST ON FOX: A questionnaire that employees with the Federal Bureau of Investigation say was sent to thousands of people in the agency’s ranks this month asked detailed questions about any role agents may have played in the investigation into the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riots — ranging from whether they testified in any criminal trials to when they last participated in investigation-related activity. The questionnaire was included in a lawsuit filed by nine current FBI agents and employees in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Tuesday. The White House and Justice Department did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. FBI AGENTS GROUP TELLS CONGRESS TO TAKE URGENT ACTION TO PROTECT AGAINST POLITICIZATION Questions ranged from agents’ participation in any grand jury subpoenas, whether the agents worked or responded to leads from another FBI field office, or if they worked as a case agent for investigations. Former Justice Department officials have cited concerns that the probe or any retaliatory measures carried out as a result could have a chilling effect on the work of the FBI, including its more than 52 separate field offices. But one retired FBI agent urged calm, noting to Fox News that the acting director and deputy director of the FBI still remain in place. This person also stressed that the Jan. 6 investigation and the FBI personnel involved in investigating each case “fully followed Bureau and DOJ guidelines,” and that violations of federal statutes were “proven beyond a reasonable doubt in federal courts of law.” President Donald Trump declined to answer questions on Monday over whether his administration would remove FBI employees involved in the investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot, telling reporters only that he believes the bureau is “corrupt” and that his nominee for FBI director, Kash Patel, will “straighten it out.”can To date, there are no known plans to conduct sweeping removals or take punitive action against the agents involved. This is a breaking news story. Check back soon for updates.
FBI agents sue Trump DOJ to block any public identification of employees who worked on Jan. 6 investigations
A group of nine FBI agents filed a lawsuit Tuesday seeking to block the public identification of any FBI employees who worked on the Jan. 6 investigations into the U.S. Capitol riots, in an attempt to head off what they described as potentially retaliatory efforts against personnel involved in the probe. The plaintiffs, who filed the lawsuit anonymously in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, said that any effort to review or discriminate against FBI employees involved in the Jan. 6 investigations would be “unlawful and retaliatory,” and a violation of civil service protections under federal law. The lawsuit cited the questionnaire employees were required to fill out detailing their specific role in the Jan. 6 investigation and Mar-a-Lago investigation led by former special counsel Jack Smith. FBI AGENTS GROUP TELLS CONGRESS TO TAKE URGENT ACTION TO PROTECT AGAINST POLITICIZATION “Some Plaintiffs were required to fill out the survey themselves, others were told that their supervisors would be filling out the form,” the lawsuit noted, adding that the employees “were informed that the aggregated information is going to be forwarded to upper management.” “Plaintiffs assert that the purpose for this list is to identify agents to be terminated or to suffer other adverse employment action. Plaintiffs reasonably fear that all or parts of this list might be published by allies of President Trump, thus placing themselves and their families in immediate danger of retribution by the now pardoned and at-large Jan. 6 convicted felons.” President Donald Trump declined to answer questions on Monday over whether his administration would remove FBI employees involved in the investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot, telling reporters only that he believes the bureau is “corrupt” and that his nominee for FBI director, Kash Patel, will “straighten it out.”
Senate confirms Doug Collins to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs
The Senate confirmed former Rep. Doug Collins to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs on Tuesday. Collins scored one of the widest bipartisan votes of any Trump Cabinet nominee so far: 77 to 23. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was confirmed 99-0. The Air Force Reserve chaplain served in Congress from 2013 to 2021, where he defended President Donald Trump during the 2019 impeachment inquiry. Collins also passed through the Veterans’ Affairs Committee on a wide bipartisan vote – only Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, voted against him. Collins will now head an agency marred by budget shortfalls, millions paid out to executives who weren’t eligible to receive them, and complaints from veterans about long wait times for care. It’ll be his first time leading an organization as sprawling as the VA, with its 400,000 employees and 1,300 health facilities. HAWAII’S HIRONO ONLY SENATOR TO VOTE NO ON COLLINS, CONTINUING PARTISAN STREAK AT HEARINGS “I do not come into this with rose-colored glasses. This is a large undertaking that I feel called to be at,” Collins said. “When a veteran has to call a congressman or senator’s office to get the care they have already earned, it’s a mark of failure.” In response to questions about Trump’s focus on budget cuts and a hiring freeze, Collins said he would work to ensure that did not come at the expense of veterans’ care. “I’m gonna take care of the veterans. That means that we’re not gonna balance budgets on the back of veterans benefits.” Collins said he aligned with Trump on allowing veterans choice for their healthcare. Trump during his first term pushed through the Mission Act, which allowed veterans to choose the VA or private care in their communities. “I believe you can have both. I believe you have a strong VA as it currently exists and have the community care aspect,” he said. Democrats repeatedly asked Collins to promise not to privatize the VA, so many times that Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., asked him to “pinky swear” not to do it. Collins held up his pinky to promise that would not happen.