US ‘energy dominance’: Wright, Burgum visit Louisiana liquefied natural gas facility amid $18B expansion
FIRST ON FOX: Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum are traveling to a Louisiana-based liquefied natural gas exporter Thursday, as the company announces a massive $18 billion expansion of its existing facility — a move the Trump administration says sends a “signal to the rest of the world that American energy dominance is back.” Wright and Burgum will tour U.S. liquefied natural gas exporter Venture Global on Thursday as it announces its investment in expanding its Plaquemines Parish export facility. Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry will join the Cabinet secretaries. TRUMP PROMISES TO RAMP UP ENERGY PRODUCTION, LOWER COST OF EGGS DURING JOINT ADDRESS: ‘LIQUID GOLD’ The facility was approved by President Donald Trump in 2019 during his first term, along with the company’s first facility, Calcasieu Pass. Both facilities have started liquefied natural gas production in just five years. U.S. liquefied natural gas exports were able to replace a substantial amount of gas supply to Europe after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Trump lifted former President Joe Biden’s pause on new liquefied natural gas export permits. The National Association of Manufacturers conducted a study on the Biden ban that found nearly 1 million jobs would be threatened by the liquefied natural gas pause over the next two decades if the restriction remained in place. The Plaquemines, Louisiana, liquefied natural gas facility is expected to produce approximately 27 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of liquefied natural gas, but with the additional investment, it is expected to provide a total production capacity of more than 45 MTPA at Plaquemines. “President Trump’s vision to unleash our energy potential, drive down inflation, and sell energy to our allies is signaling to the world that America is back,” Burgum told Fox News Digital. “By investing in American Energy Dominance, the administration is empowering companies like Venture Global and their hardworking employees to Make America Great Again.” Burgum told Fox News Digital that the success of facilities like Plaquemines Parish’s liquefied natural gas export operation “is proof that America’s next ‘Golden Age’ is underway.” Additionally, Wright told Fox News Digital that on day one of Trump’s second term, he and the Department of Energy “ended the Biden-Harris administration’s failed ban” on liquefied natural gas export permits, “sending a signal to the rest of the world that American energy dominance is back.” “Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, companies are investing in America again,” Wright said. “Just 50 days in, the American people are already seeing the impacts of the energy dominance agenda — and this is just the beginning.” TRUMP LIFTS BIDEN’S LNG PAUSE, INCREASE OIL DRILLING DURING 1ST DAYS IN OFFICE The planned Plaquemines expansion is expected to consist of 24 trains and would represent an approximately $18 billion additional investment in Louisiana, bringing Venture Global’s total investment in U.S. projects to more than $75 billion. Venture Global CEO Mike Sabel told Fox News Digital that the expansion makes Plaquemines “the largest” liquefied natural gas “export facility built in North America,” and said supplying liquefied natural gas to U.S. allies will have a “substantial impact on the U.S. balance of trade.” “We believe this flexible incremental capacity will position us to respond rapidly to market growth signals,” Sabel said. “In a capital-intensive commodity industry, capital will always flow to the most competitive projects, and we believe that an expansion of Plaquemines is one of the most economically efficient opportunities available to meet growing” liquefied natural gas demands. Sabel also touted the Trump administration for creating “the best regulatory environment in decades.” The expansion is also expected to support hundreds of new, permanent Louisiana jobs and tens of thousands of indirect subcontractor, part-time and full-time jobs throughout the state, and more than 30 other states across the nation. “Today’s announcement is a result of President Trump’s dedication to strengthening our energy infrastructure,” Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry told Fox News Digital. “Under President Trump, Louisiana is now at the forefront of supplying LNG to our allies, and bringing America to energy independence once again.” The visit and the massive investment come just days after Trump’s first address of his second term to a joint session of Congress. The president vowed to “make America affordable again” by reducing the cost of energy. “A major focus of our fight to defeat inflation is rapidly reducing the cost of energy,” the president said during his speech. “We have more liquid gold under our feet than any nation on earth, and by far. … And now I fully authorize the most talented team ever assembled to go and get it.” He added, “It’s called drill, baby, drill.” Slashing energy prices was one of Trump’s many campaign promises before he was elected in November 2024. At a rally in State College, Pennsylvania, Trump vowed to lift the U.S. pause on U.S. liquefied natural gas export terminals.
Dems throw House into chaos after 10 moderates join GOP to punish Al Green
House lawmakers have voted to censure Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, after he was thrown out of President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night. Ten Democrats joined Republicans in voting for the measure. Green himself voted “present,” along with first-term Rep. Shomari Figures, D-Ala. “Al Green’s childish outburst exposed the chaos and dysfunction within the Democrat party since President Trump’s overwhelming win in November and his success in office thus far. It is not surprising 198 Democrats refused to support Green’s censure given their history of radical, inflammatory rhetoric fueled by Trump Derangement Syndrome,” House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., told Fox News Digital. Before the formal censure could be read out to Green, however, Democrats upended House floor proceedings by gathering with the Texas Democrat and singing “We shall overcome.” Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., was forced to call the House into a recess after failing multiple times to quell the protest. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP CONCLUDES REMARKS AFTER DECLARING ‘AMERICA’S MOMENTUM IS BACK’ Decorum eroded further afterwards, with several Democrats including “Squad” member Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., engaging in a heated exchange with Republicans including first-term Rep. Ryan MacKenzie, R-Pa. The 10 Democrats who voted to censure Green are Reps. Ami Bera, D-Calif.; Ed Case, D-Hawaii; Jim Costa, D-Calif.; Laura Gillen, D-N.Y.; Jim Himes, D-Conn.; Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa.; Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio; Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla.; Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash.; and Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y. Republicans raced to introduce competing resolutions to censure Green on Wednesday, with three separate texts being drafted within hours of each other. Fox News Digital was told that Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., whose resolution got a vote on the House floor Thursday morning, had reached out to Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., about working on a censure resolution immediately after Trump’s speech ended on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the House Freedom Caucus had aimed to make good on a threat to censure any Democrats who protested Trump’s speech, and Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, crafted his own censure resolution against Green that got more than 30 House GOP co-sponsors. But Newhouse took to the House floor on Wednesday afternoon to deem his resolution “privileged,” a maneuver forcing House leaders to take up a bill within two legislative days. Newhouse told Fox News Digital after the vote, “President Trump’s address to Congress was not a debate or a forum; he was invited by the Speaker to outline his agenda for the American people. The actions by my colleague from Texas broke the rules of decorum in the House, and he must be held accountable.” A bid by House Democrats to block the resolution from getting a vote failed on Wednesday. Green himself voted “present.” The 77-year-old Democrat was removed from Trump’s joint address to Congress on Tuesday night after repeatedly disrupting the beginning of the president’s speech. He shouted, “You have no mandate!,” at Trump as he touted Republican victories in the House, Senate and White House. Johnson had Green removed by the U.S. Sergeant-at-Arms. It was part of a larger issue with Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday night, with many engaging in both silent and vocal acts of protest against Trump. Democrats were also chided for not standing up to clap when Trump designated a 13-year-old boy an honorary Secret Service agent. The House speaker publicly challenged Democrats to vote with Republicans in favor of the censure on Thursday. “Despite my repeated warnings, he refused to cease his antics, and I was forced to remove him from the chamber,” Johnson posted on X. “He deliberately violated House rules, and an expeditious vote of censure is an appropriate remedy. Any Democrat who is concerned about regaining the trust and respect of the American people should join House Republicans in this effort.” TOP 5 MOMENTS FROM TRUMP’S ADDRESS TO JOINT SESSION OF CONGRESS Green, who shook Newhouse’s hand before speaking out during debate on his own censure, stood by his actions on Wednesday. “I heard the speaker when he said that I should cease. I did not, and I did not with intentionality. It was not done out of a burst of emotion,” Green said. “I think that on some questions, questions of conscience, you have to be willing to suffer the consequences. And I have said I will. I will suffer whatever the consequences are, because I don’t believe that in the richest country in the world, people should be without good healthcare.” Other recent lawmakers censured on the House floor have been Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., former Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., and now-Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.
It’s time to ban Chinese AI app DeepSeek from ‘government devices,’ state AGs urge Congress
State attorneys general have joined the growing calls from elected officials urging Congress to pass a law banning the Chinese-owned DeepSeek AI app on all government devices, saying “China is a clear and present danger” to the U.S. “DeepSeek appears to be another tool for Chinese spies to attack America’s national security,” the letter, signed by 21 attorneys general to House and Senate leaders, said. “Given the Chinese desire to steal America’s secrets and the ability of DeepSeek to carry out this theft, Congress should quickly pass legislation to ban DeepSeek on government devices,” the letter read. “Congress passed similar legislation two years ago to prevent TikTok from stealing information from our government.” MOST DOWNLOADED NEWS APP IN AMERICA WITH TIES TO CHINA HIGHLIGHTS DANGERS OF AI Montana AG Austin Knudsen, who drafted the letter, wrote that “China is trying to steal America’s secrets. America must fight back. Congress should shut down China’s latest Trojan horse by passing the No DeepSeek on Government Devices Act.” The letter comes as longstanding concerns about Beijing’s intellectual property theft of U.S. officials and Americans has been a point of public contention over the last several years. House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn., introduced legislation last month to outlaw the app. DeepSeek is an AI-powered search and data analysis platform based in Hangzhou, China, owned by quant hedge fund High-Flyer. The launch of DeepSeek’s new AI model, which is cheaper to operate than models from Meta and OpenAI, has raised concerns in U.S. markets. One of its chatbot functions is similar to ChatGPT, the California-based platform. HOW TO REMOVE YOUR PRIVATE DATA FROM THE INTERNET The AGs charge that DeepSeek could be used by Chinese spies to compromise U.S. national security through the app’s collection of user data, including chat history, keystrokes and IP addresses, and may secretly transmit this information to the Chinese Communist Party. Several countries, including Canada, Australia, South Korea, Taiwan and Italy, have already blocked DeepSeek due to these security risks. Several states, including Virginia, Texas and New York, have also banned the app from government devices. “Like it did with TikTok, Congress should protect America’s national security by banning DeepSeek on government devices,” the letter reads. “If it has not already taken action to administratively ban DeepSeek, we trust that the Trump Administration would swiftly implement this ban to protect our national security from America’s ‘potent and dangerous’ adversary.” TOP REPUBLICAN MOVES TO RESTRICT AI EXPORTS AMID CONCERNS OVER CHINESE TECH The letter was signed by AGs from Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Virginia. Fox News Digital has reached out to High-Flyer for comment.
House Dems suggest Trump is trying to bring back slavery in racially charged livestream: ‘Back to the fields’
FIRST ON FOX: Two House Democrats, including prominent President Donald Trump critic Jasmine Crockett, suggested during a live stream on Tuesday that the president’s policy agenda is aimed at driving Black people “back to the fields” to the time of slavery. “They have decided to go after immigrants and things like that and say, ‘oh they takin your black jobs, they taking your black jobs, not really,” Crockett told Rev. Franklin Haynes on Tuesday as part of the “State of the People” stream to counter to Trump’s address to Congress. “They are obviously jobs they want us to go back to, such as working the fields, those immigrants that come into our country work the fields, something that we ain’t done in a long time and clearly he is trying to make us go back to the fields.” Crockett’s suggestion that Trump’s goal is to send Black Americans “back to the fields” was echoed by Democratic Rep. Hank Johnson in the same video. HOUSE DEMS REINTRODUCE REPARATIONS LEGISLATION: ‘WE REFUSE TO BE SILENT’ “It’s a recipe to make education unavailable to Black people,” Johnson said about Trump’s plans for education policy. “It puts us back to when America was ‘great’ and we were picking cotton and doing the productivity that they’re putting my Latino brothers and sisters who migrate here to do that work because we are not suited intellectually to do it anymore.” “But they would have us back, confined to doing that kind of work. We gotta watch out for where we are headed. It’s the people that will save our democracy that will stop this movement toward the past that Trump has us hurtling towards.” ‘STRUCTURAL RACISM’: TOP TAXPAYER-FUNDED ACADEMY RIFE WITH DEI PROGRAMS, HEFTY EXECUTIVE SALARIES Fox News Digital reached out to the offices of Crockett and Johnson for comment. Crockett’s comment came shortly after she faced criticism from conservatives on social media after claiming that Trump is an “enemy to the United States” and a “dictator.” Crockett has become one of the most prominent faces of the Democrat pushback against Elon Musk’s DOGE efforts and recently said that if she could say anything to Musk it would be, “F— off.” The comments from Crockett and Johnson were made just a few months after Trump made historic strides with Black voters at the ballot box in November. A Fox News Voter Analysis showed Trump’s crossover appeal to Democratic constituencies was foundational to his success. He improved on his 2020 numbers among Hispanics (41%, +6 points), Black voters (15%, +7 points) and young voters (46%, +10 points). These rightward shifts were particularly notable among Hispanic men (+8 points), Black men (+12 points) and men under 30 (+14 points) from 2020. Trump’s strength with Black voters was felt in Anson County, North Carolina, where the Republican candidate won there for the first time since the 1970s and only the second time in more than 100 years. Trump received 50.9% of the vote compared to 48.2% for then-Vice President Kamala Harris. Black residents make up 47% of the population in Anson County. Fox News Digital’s Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.
Biden-nominated federal judge extends hold on Trump NIH research funding cuts
A federal judge has further blocked the National Institutes of Health from implementing a policy to crackdown on how much money it doles out for indirect costs associated with grants it awards. NIH announced a plan last month to set the rate at 15% across the board. “The United States should have the best medical research in the world. It is accordingly vital to ensure that as many funds as possible go towards direct scientific research costs rather than administrative overhead. NIH is accordingly imposing a standard indirect cost rate on all grants of 15% pursuant to its 45 C.F.R. 75.414(c) authority,” the NIH explained in a notice last month. SCIENTISTS EXPECT MAJOR ‘MEDICAL BREAKTHROUGHS’ DESPITE TRUMP’S CAP ON NIH RESEARCH FUNDING But the agency has been blocked from implementing the policy as challenges play out in court. U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley, who had issued a temporary restraining order last month, granted a preliminary injunction on Wednesday. “The imminent risk of halting life-saving clinical trials, disrupting the development of innovative medical research and treatment, and shuttering of research facilities, without regard for current patient care, warranted the issuance of a nationwide temporary restraining order to maintain the status quo, until the matter could be fully addressed before the Court,” the court document declared. ‘WHAT A RIPOFF!’: TRUMP SPARKS BACKLASH AFTER CUTTING BILLIONS IN OVERHEAD COSTS FROM NIH RESEARCH GRANTS “Following full briefing and oral argument by the parties, as well as review of accepted amicus briefs, the Court GRANTS a nationwide preliminary injunction,” the document states. After then-President Joe Biden nominated Kelley to serve on the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts in 2021, Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Susan Collins of Maine voted with Democrats to confirm the jurist to the role. TRUMP NIH APPOINTEE DEFENDS PRESIDENT’S RESEARCH FUNDING CUTS, LAYS OUT NEW VISION FOR FUTURE CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The judge’s decision comes as various states, universities and other entities challenge NIH’s attempt to adopt the across-the-board 15% rate.
Speaker Johnson slams Dem Rep. Green’s ‘egregious behavior’ during Trump’s address
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., scolded Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, for engaging in “shameful and egregious behavior” during President Donald Trump’s Tuesday night address to a joint session of Congress. The speaker, who booted Green from the House chamber, accused the lawmaker of violating House rules “deliberately.” The speaker’s post on X condemning Green’s behavior comes just hours after a resolution to censure the Texas Democrat survived an attempt by his party to table it. RESOLUTION PUNISHING AL GREEN CLEARS DEM BLOCKADE, ADVANCES TO HOUSE-WIDE VOTE AFTER TRUMP SPEECH Speaker Johnson wrote in a post on X that Green “disgraced the institution of Congress” with his protest during Trump’s address. He also urged Democrats to join in voting for the censure. Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., introduced the resolution punishing Green on Wednesday. Now that it has survived the Democrats’ push to table it, the resolution will likely be headed for a House-wide vote today. The resolution likely did not come as a surprise to Green, who, upon his expulsion from the speech, told the press he would be “willing to suffer whatever punishment” came about from the incident. In fact, Green tweeted on Thursday reminding his followers on X about the upcoming censure vote. While there were multiple resolutions to censure Green, Fox News Digital was told that Newhouse had been in contact with House GOP leadership about his resolution since Trump’s speech ended. DEMOCRATS TURN ON EACH OTHER OVER TRUMP ADDRESS STUNTS “I think [Green’s protest is] unprecedented. Certainly in the modern era. It wasn’t an excited utterance. It was a, you know, planned, prolonged protest,” Speaker Johnson told reporters on Wednesday. On Tuesday night, Green began shouting after President Trump called the 2024 election “a mandate like has not been seen in many decades,” and touting the GOP’s victories. Johnson issued Green a warning and asked him to take his seat. When Green refused and continued protesting, the speaker asked the Sergeant at Arms to remove the Texas Democrat from the room. “The president said he had a mandate, and I was making it clear to the president that he no mandate to cut Medicaid,” Green told press in the hallway outside of Trump’s address. He then called on President Trump to “save Medicaid,” something that was written on several paddles used in the Democrats’ silent protest of the speech. Rep. Green was the first and only Democrat to actively disrupt the president’s speech on Tuesday night. Other Democrats held up signs and many walked out of the speech early. The resolution to censure, if it passes, does not carry any consequences, rather it serves as a formal condemnation of Green by the House. Other lawmakers who have faced censure include former Rep. Adam Schiff, former Rep. Jamaal Bowman and Rep. Rashida Tlaib. Fox News’ Elizabeth Elkind and Aishah Hasnie contributed to this report.
Trump could sell Nancy Pelosi Federal Building ‘at fair market value’ under new GOP bill
FIRST ON FOX: A House GOP lawmaker wants to clear the path for President Donald Trump to sell off a federal building named after former Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The Stop Wasteful Allocations of Money for Pelosi (SWAMP) Act, led by Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., would direct the General Services Administration (GSA) to “dispose of the property” or sell it “at fair market value and for the highest and best use,” according to bill text obtained by Fox News Digital. It is the latest effort by House Republicans to enact Trump’s agenda through legislative means amid a flurry of bills seeking to codify the president’s executive orders. TRUDEAU SAYS CANADA WILL ISSUE 25% TARIFFS ON $155 BILLION OF AMERICAN GOODS “We are over $36 trillion in debt. Instead of maintaining expensive, underutilized vanity projects for liberal politicians, the federal government should be focused on efficiency and fiscal responsibility,” Carter told Fox News Digital. “Selling the Speaker Nancy Pelosi Federal Building is part of a broader effort to rein in federal overreaches, reduce our debt, and put American taxpayers first.” The Nancy Pelosi Federal Building is an 18-story structure in San Francisco that is home to several aspects of the U.S. government, including Pelosi’s own district office. It also houses offices for the Department of Labor, Department of Health and Human Services, and the Social Security Administration, among others. The San Francisco Chronicle reported last month that Trump was looking at selling the building named after his chief Democratic rival. However, the GSA denied it was politically motivated in a statement to Fox News Digital sent last week. “GSA is prioritizing the reduction of deferred liability costs across our real estate portfolio, including the potential sale of buildings in need of extensive repair. Any suggestion that our planning is driven by politics is absurd,” a GSA spokesperson said. “GSA is actively working with our tenant agencies to assess their space needs, and we’ll share more information on specific savings and facilities as soon as we’re able.” ‘GREEN’ FEDERAL BUILDING ONCE RIDICULED BY TRUMP BEING DEDICATED TO NANCY PELOSI The building was built with environmental impacts in mind. However, the area surrounding the facility has fallen prey to illicit activities. A 2020 executive order that Trump signed during his first term, aimed at revitalizing federal buildings, referred to the building as “one of the ugliest structures” in San Francisco. Fox News Digital reached out to a Pelosi spokesperson for comment but did not immediately hear back.
AI-Powered Agri-Supply Chains: A vision for India’s future food security
Despite feeding millions, India’s agricultural sector loses nearly 40% of its produce post-harvest, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
GOP lawmaker credits Trump’s business prowess for major investment in state: ‘Knows how to make deals’
The recent announcement by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) to pour another $100 billion into the United States will have a direct impact on Arizona, but the debate on the future of the semiconductor industry persists after President Donald Trump’s address on Tuesday night. Rep. Abe Hamadeh, R-Ariz., said that Trump’s influence played a critical role in the company building on their existing investment in the Grand Canyon State, as the announcement happened at the White House earlier this week. “He knows how to make deals and having foreign companies come in the United States. That’s the best of all worlds because they’re abandoning the policies over there to come to United States to benefit from our lower regulation, our less taxes,” the congressman, whose district houses the TSMC facility, said in an interview with Fox News Digital on Monday, prior to Trump’s speech. TRUMP CALLS FOR END TO CHIPS ACT IN ADDRESS TO CONGRESS “It’s gonna be great. And for my constituents, again, we’re pushing hard to make sure that they focus on hiring Americans and veterans,” he added. Hamadeh’s staff met with TSMC last month, according to a news release. The announcement comes as the president calls for the repeal of the CHIPS and Science Act, a bill that provided direct financial incentives to grow the semiconductor industry supply chain. “Your CHIPS Act is a horrible, horrible thing. We give hundreds of billions of dollars and it doesn’t mean a thing. They take our money and they don’t spend it,” Trump said on Tuesday night. TOP 5 MOMENTS FROM TRUMP’S ADDRESS TO JOINT SESSION OF CONGRESS The debate about the semiconductor industry’s success with the act largely centers around whether companies are coming to the U.S. because of a preferable business environment or because of grant and loan deals. The legislation, which passed with some bipartisan support in 2022, came under direct scrutiny last year as Intel had major layoffs despite being cleared for $8.5 billion in federal funding. “The CHIPS Act is what helped get TSMC to the US and Arizona. And it brought their $100 billion announcement that came earlier this week—at the White House. Getting rid of the CHIPS Act would hurt the entire American microchip industry, including suppliers, American companies, and more,” Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., posted to X on Tuesday night, as the repeal effort was mentioned in Trump’s Joint Address to Congress. “Plus, it unravels the years of bipartisan work it took to bring these investments to Arizona. We can’t let politics get in the way of that,” the senator added. When it comes to TSMC in particular, the effort to woo the large chip producer was well underway during the first Trump administration – before the act became law under former President Joe Biden, but the company did enter preliminary agreements for financial incentives under the program. CHIP GIANT TSMC TO INVEST $100B IN US MANUFACTURING “It was actually President Trump, Ric Grinnell, Wilbur Ross, that brought [TSMC] into the United States,” Hamadeh said. The freshman Republican lawmaker added that the president’s tariff policies, which include Mexico and Canada, will help boost American manufacturing. “I think tariffs is excellent, because you’re already seeing the results of it so quickly. These companies, they understand they could hire Americans, they could manufacture in America. Right now, there’s just an incentive for them not to,” he said. “And now what President Trump has removed that incentive by a lot, by imposing these tariffs. So clearly his policies are working.” The bulk of the semiconductor industry rests in Taiwan, which has raised national security concerns given the high tensions between China and the U.S. Chips play a critical role in operating everyday technology, including consumer electronics like phones and computers.
‘Star Trek shield’ technology gets $250M boost to knock drone swarms from the sky with high-powered microwave
A new high-powered microwave system that can knock swarms of drones out of the sky at once is going to “touch every aspect of warfare,” according to Epirus founder, Joe Lonsdale. “It’s kind of like a Star Trek shield,” Lonsdale, founder of Epirus and a co-founder of fast-rising defense technology company Palantir, explained of its Leonidas counter-drone system. “It’s able to turn them off from very far away.” “This is going to touch every aspect of warfare over the next decade,” said Lonsdale. “We can knock down some pretty advanced drones.” Defense tech startup Epirus secured another $250 million in a Series D funding round, which was announced Wednesday, bringing its total venture funding to over $550 million. VANCE VISITS CAPITOL HILL TO URGE SENATORS TO CONFIRM ELBRIDGE COLBY FOR PENTAGON NO. 3 POST Epirus’ Leonidas system is a ground-based, directed energy weapon that fires off an electromagnetic pulse to disable swarms of drones, or it can neutralize precision targets. The company aims to help the military shift away from a “1 to 1 mindset to a ‘1 to many’ way of thinking for short-range defense,” according to CEO Andy Lowery. Drone swarms have been a key frontline tactic in the Russia-Ukraine war because most defense systems are designed to take out one unmanned vehicle at a time. Additionally, in the Middle East, the U.S. has been using multimillion-dollar missiles to shoot down Houthi drones that are built for around $2,000 or less. “Swarms of drones is where war is going, and currently you have swarms of drones that are very expensive and very difficult to stop,” said Lonsdale. “It’s not just drones, they’re all sorts of different types of uses for this,” he added, predicting that one day the technology might be deployed to freeze up planes in the sky and protect satellites. The technology has already been successful in Defense Department tests on boat motors and other electronics, according to the company. “This is just it’s just going to touch every aspect of warfare in the next decade.” Rep. Rob Wittman, vice chair of the House Armed Services Committee, warned that the U.S. needs to “run to play catchup” with its adversaries in the counter-UAS space. “We are not doing what we need to do,” he told Fox News Digital on the sidelines of the National Security Innovation Base Summit in Washington, D.C. “We have failed miserably at counter-UAS. We do okay in CENTCOM [Central Command], but … in places like Langley Air Force Base, we are not where we need to be.” Dozens of drones hovered over Langley for over two weeks in 2023, and lawmakers say they still have not been provided with an explanation. COUNTER-DRUG SEA DRONES UTILIZED BY NAVY AS TRUMP RAMPS UP MILITARY RESOURCES AT THE BORDER Epirus won a $66 million contract in 2023 to supply its Leonidas to the U.S. Army, and the technology is believed to be in the testing phase by Central Command, which oversees the Middle East, according to comments that Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George made to Congress last year. The rapid rise of unmanned aerial vehicles in war has prompted a defensive race to develop systems to counter them, like high-energy lasers and high-power microwaves. “We have a lot of people who are, you know, coming into the [Defense Department]wanting to embrace new technologies,” said Lonsdale. “They’re really excited about this.” The defense entrepreneur suggested there is “tons of waste” in the Pentagon that could be repurposed for new technologies. “There’s a ton of cronyism. We’re seeing tens or even hundreds of billions of dollars you could pull out, depending [on] how aggressive you want to be. And these should be put into cutting-edge technologies that actually deter enemies.” Epirus was valued at $1.35 billion when it raised $200 million in Series C funding, but the company did not disclose its valuation for this round. The California-based company will use the new cash influx to expand into international and commercial markets and expand manufacturing in the U.S. The company is also planning to open a new simulation center in Oklahoma to train soldiers in counter-drone warfare.