White House trolls Democrats over ballroom meltdown — adds cocaine, Clinton, Obama scandals to timeline
FIRST ON FOX: The Trump administration is trolling Democrats over their objection to President Donald Trump‘s White House ballroom construction, launching an official timeline of the White House’s history that includes top scandals that plagued former Democratic presidents’ administrations. The White House website as of Thursday includes a “major events timeline” of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., stretching back to 1791, when plans for the iconic building were first mapped out. The timeline includes a series of benchmarks such as the addition of the north portico from 1829 to 1830, and the addition of the Oval Office in 1909 under the Taft administration and the “total reconstruction” of the White House interior under the Truman administration. The timeline also includes a handful of high-profile scandals that rocked previous Democratic administrations. “2023: Cocaine Discovered,” one slide on the White House’s website reads. “During Biden’s administration, a U.S. Secret Service agent discovered a small, zippered plastic bag containing cocaine in the West Wing entrance lobby.” HILLARY CLINTON MOCKED FOR 2001 FURNITURE SCANDAL AMID TRUMP BALLROOM MELTDOWN: ‘AT LEAST HE DIDN’T STEAL’ “Speculation has pointed to Hunter Biden, an admitted drug user,” the slide continues. “Additional evidence includes a laptop, seized in 2019, which contains photos of frequent drug use alongside emails about foreign business dealings (Ukraine, China) involving his father, Joe, while he was Vice President.” Former President Bill Clinton’s 1998 sex scandal with intern Monica Lewinsky and former President Barack Obama inviting a delegation of the Muslim Brotherhood to the White House in 2012 also were included on the official timeline. “1998: Bill Clinton Scandal,” one slide reads. “President Bill Clinton’s affair with intern Monica Lewinsky was exposed, leading to White House perjury investigations. The Oval Office trysts fueled impeachment for obstruction.” “2012: Muslim Brotherhood Visit,” another slide reads. Obama hosts “member of the Muslim Brotherhood, a group that promotes Islamist extremism and has ties to Hamas. The Muslim Brotherhood is a designated terrorist organization by nearly a dozen nations.” Another slide takes issue with former President Joe Biden’s administration recognizing International Transgender Day of Visibility on the same day as Easter in 2023. International Transgender Day of Visibility was created by activists more than 10 years ago and is celebrated each year on March 31, with the Biden administration acknowledging both holidays in 2024. “2023-2024: The Biden/Harris administration hosts transexuals at the White House in 2023, and goes on to establish the ‘The Transgender Day of Visibility’ on the same day as Easter Sunday in 2024,” the slide reads. The White House’s historical timeline was launched as Democrats, from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, criticized Trump for constructing a ballroom at the White House. The 90,000-square-foot project is privately funded and will accommodate an estimated 650 seated guests, according to the White House. “It’s not his house,” Clinton wrote on X Tuesday morning. “It’s your house. And he’s destroying it.” TRUMP CELEBRATES WHITE HOUSE DEMOLITION AS NEW BALLROOM RISES: ‘MUSIC TO MY EARS’ “Oh you’re trying to say the cost of living is skyrocketing? Donald Trump can’t hear you over the sound of bulldozers demolishing a wing of the White House to build a new grand ballroom,” Warren added in her own criticism. “I wanted to share this photo of my family standing by a historic part of the White House that was just torn down today by Trump,” New Jersey Sen. Andy Kim posted to X Monday. “We didn’t need a billionaire-funded ballroom to celebrate America. Disgusting what Trump is doing.” TRUMP BREAKS GROUND ON MASSIVE WHITE HOUSE BALLROOM PROJECT WITH PRIVATE FUNDING FROM ‘PATRIOTS’ The Trump administration has, meanwhile, celebrated that the new addition of the White House does not cost taxpayers, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt adding that presidents have long complained that the historic residence lacks a space to entertain large groups. “Nearly every single president who’s lived in this beautiful White House behind me has made modernizations and renovations of their own,” Leavitt said on Fox News’ “Jesse Watters Primetime” Tuesday. “In fact, presidents for decades — in modern times — have joked about how they wished they had a larger event space here at the White House, something that could hold hundreds more people than the current East Room and State Dining Room.” “President Obama even complained that, during his tenure, he had to hold a state dinner on the South Lawn and rent a very expensive tent.” Fox News Digital reached out to the respective offices of Clinton, Obama and Biden Thursday morning regarding the past controversies.
New poll in key showdown for Virginia governor indicates single-digit race
With just a dozen days to go until Election Day, a new poll in one of the only two states in the nation holding showdowns for governor this year indicates Democrats with a single-digit lead at the top of the ticket, but tight margins in the races for lieutenant governor and attorney general. Democratic gubernatorial nominee and former Rep. Abigail Spanberger leads Republican rival Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears 52%-43% among likely voters in Virginia, according to a Suffolk University poll released Thursday in the race to succeed term-limited GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin. EARLE-SEARS COMES OUT SWINGING IN HEATED DEBATE AS SPANBERGER DODGES JAY JONES QUESTIONS, But the survey indicates Republican Lt. Gov. nominee John Reid and Democratic rival Ghazala Hasmi deadlocked at 45%, and GOP Attorney General Jason Miyares topping Democratic challenger Jay Jones 46%-42%. Virginia and New Jersey are the only states that hold gubernatorial contests in the year after a presidential election. And the elections, which traditionally grab outsized national attention, are viewed this year as early verdicts on President Donald Trump‘s unprecedented and relentless second-term agenda, as well as key barometers ahead of next year’s midterm showdowns for the U.S. House and Senate. HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING ON THE 2025 ELECTIONS While Spanberger has held the lead over Earle-Sears in a slew of surveys since the start of the year, polls tightened recently after explosive revelations in Virginia’s attorney general race rocked the campaign trail. NATION’S ONLY TWO 2025 RACES FOR GOVERNOR ROCKED WITH THREE WEEKS UNTIL ELECTION DAY Jones has been in crisis mode since controversial three-year-old texts — where he compared then-Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert to mass murderers Adolf Hitler and Pol Pot. He said that if he was given two bullets, he would use both against the GOP lawmaker to shoot him in the head. The news was first reported a couple of weeks ago by the National Review. Jones acknowledged and apologized for the texts, but has been facing calls from Republicans to drop out of the race. And the GOP is aiming to leverage the controversy up and down the ballot, forcing Spanberger on defense. While the poll indicated that more respondents see the nation on the wrong track, more also view Virginia on the right track under Youngkin, which would typically buoy the party in power in Richmond. However, President Donald Trump’s approval has fallen below 40%, suggesting a tug-of-war that could break for Democrats in the end. However, Trump also received the most credit from Virginians asked about the Israel-Hamas peace process – with former President Joe Biden only receiving credit from 4% of respondents. More respondents also blamed Democrats than Republicans for the ongoing government shutdown – by 38-28%, while Trump, by name, was blamed by 21% of additional respondents. “Spanberger is trying to carry the whole Democratic ticket over the finish line,” said David Paleologos, Director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center. “However, the Democratic nominees for lieutenant governor and attorney general are struggling in their respective contests, and they can’t seem to replicate Spanberger’s popularity, early voting ground game, or dominance over their opponents.” According to the new poll, which was conducted Oct. 19–21, Spanberger led Earle-Sears among women 57%-38%, while only trailing among men by a single point, 49%-48%. Among Black voters, Spanberger led Earle-Sears 87%-9%, while trailing among white voters 52%-46%. And the survey indicated Spanberger topping Earle-Sears by 15 points among those voters who identify as independents, and by 19 points among those who have already cast a ballot. Early voting in Virginia kicked off on September 19 and the poll suggests that nearly a quarter of all votes for governor in the November election have already been cast. Five-hundred likely voters in Virginia were questioned in the poll. The survey’s margin of error is plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.
After waffling between Russia and Ukraine, Trump slaps Kremlin with oil sanctions
After months of wavering between confrontation and conciliation toward Moscow, President Donald Trump has imposed new sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies and canceled a planned summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin — signaling a renewed attempt to pressure the Kremlin without committing to deeper U.S. involvement in Ukraine’s war. The measures, announced Wednesday, target Rosneft and Lukoil, key pillars of Russia’s energy sector, and mark the administration’s most significant sanctions package since Trump returned to office. But they also come after years of similar Western actions that have failed to slow Moscow’s military campaign. “We canceled the meeting with President Putin. It just, it didn’t feel right to meet. It didn’t feel like we were going to get to the place we have to get,” Trump said Wednesday. “So I canceled it, but we’ll do it in the future.” “Every time I speak to Vladimir, I have good conversations and then they don’t go anywhere. They just don’t go anywhere,” Trump added. Asked why he had chosen to impose sanctions on oil majors Lukoil and Rosneft now, he said, “I just felt it was time, we’ve waited a long time.” WITKOFF SCRAMBLES FOR PEACE DEAL WITH RUSSIA AS SANCTIONS LOOM TARGETING INDIA, CHINA The Treasury Department announced the designations under Executive Order 14024 for operating in the energy sector of the Russian Federation economy. The sanctions freeze all U.S.-linked assets belonging to Rosneft and Lukoil and prohibit American entities from doing business with them. Dozens of subsidiaries are also affected, effectively extending the restrictions across much of Russia’s global oil and gas network. “Given President Putin’s refusal to end this senseless war, Treasury is sanctioning Russia’s two largest oil companies that fund the Kremlin’s war machine,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. “Treasury is prepared to take further action if necessary to support President Trump’s effort to end yet another war.” China’s state oil giants have already begun suspending purchases of seaborne Russian crude following the U.S. sanctions. According to multiple trade sources cited by Reuters, PetroChina, Sinopec, CNOOC and Zhenhua Oil have halted short-term deals with Rosneft and Lukoil, citing compliance concerns. The pullback — along with reports that Indian refiners are sharply cutting imports from Moscow — is expected to strain Russia’s oil revenues and tighten global supply, driving up prices for non-sanctioned crude from the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. TRUMP AND PUTIN’S RELATIONSHIP TURNS SOUR AS PRESIDENT PUSHES FOR RESOLUTION WITH UKRAINE The sanctions were announced just days after Trump abruptly canceled plans for a trilateral summit in Hungary with Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy — a meeting that had been billed as a potential breakthrough in efforts to end the conflict. The reversal continues a pattern that has defined Trump’s approach to Russia since returning to office: alternating bursts of engagement and confrontation that make it difficult for allies and adversaries to predict his next move. Last week, Zelenskyy visited Washington hoping to secure a deal for Tomahawk long-range missiles. But Putin preempted the meeting with a two-and-a-half-hour call with Trump the day before — and the missile deal evaporated. “Now is the time to stop the killing and for an immediate ceasefire,” Bessent said in announcing the sanctions. “A permanent peace depends entirely on Russia’s willingness to negotiate in good faith.” Analysts say the sanctions are aimed at regaining leverage and forcing both Moscow and Kyiv back to the negotiating table after months of stalemate. Trump would often meet with one side or the other and come out more sympathetic to the viewpoint of whoever he’d just met with. An unnamed diplomat told Fox News Digital, “It’s fundamentally making both sides think they can manipulate him. Which doesn’t make either side want to negotiate, because both believe they can still rally Trump to their side.” Now, Trump says he doesn’t want to “waste time.” TRUMP DEMANDS NATO ALLIES HALT RUSSIAN OIL PURCHASES BEFORE NEW US SANCTIONS Andrew D’Anieri, associate director of the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center, said the sanctions are a welcome step but only part of a broader effort required to curb Russia’s war financing. “The Trump administration’s decision to sanction Russian oil majors Rosneft and Lukoil is a welcome move to make it more difficult for Russia to continue its war on Ukraine,” he said. “It’s significant that these designations come just a week after the U.K. sanctioned the same entities; sanctions have a greater effect when Western countries work in concert.” He cautioned, however, that implementation will determine the outcome. “Enforcement of these sanctions will be the key to cutting into Moscow’s oil revenues,” D’Anieri said. “Those who do purchase Russian oil will demand a steep discount for evading U.S. sanctions, which itself will hurt Russian revenues.” “If Trump truly wants to end the war, he should continue to ratchet up the pressure on Moscow, including the threat of secondary sanctions and further military aid to Ukraine,” he added. “This one move alone won’t be enough to get Putin to negotiate in good faith, but it’s a step in the right direction.” Former National Security Council official Jason Israel described the difference between the Biden and Trump approaches as one of philosophy, not objective. “Both want to help Ukraine negotiate from strength and avoid direct NATO involvement,” he said. “But Biden worked through European partners to uphold the rules-based order. Trump has taken a more transactional approach — selling weapons to Ukraine funded by European partners — with the goal of speeding negotiations and shifting more of the cost to allies.” Trump has long emphasized that he wants to end the war and avoid indefinite U.S. involvement. “Let it be cut the way it is,” he said earlier this month, referring to Ukraine’s divided territory. “It’s cut up right now… They can negotiate something later on down the line. But for now, both sides of the conflict should stop at the battle line — go home, stop fighting, stop killing people.” The sanctions, coupled with the canceled
NYC Mayor Adams to endorse Cuomo in race against Mamdani
New York City Mayor Eric Adams will endorse former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the city’s mayoral race as he faces off against Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani. “As spokesman for Mayor Eric Adams, I can confirm that the Mayor will endorse former Governor Andrew M. Cuomo for mayor and intends to campaign alongside him,” Adams’ spokesman, Todd Shapiro, said in a statement to Fox News. “The time and locations for their joint appearances are currently being finalized.” Adams declined to answer questions about Cuomo at an unrelated press conference Thursday morning. “On topic,” Adams told reporters at an event centered on the affordability of child care. “I’ll be with Andrew later today, but right now we’re talking about this,” the mayor added. “And if we mix the two, you won’t cover this because it’s good. So if you don’t have an on topic, I’m going to bounce.” The upcoming endorsement was first reported by The New York Times. Adams ended his re-election campaign last month. Despite past spats on the campaign trail, Adams and Cuomo seem to have put aside their differences as they push to stop Mamdani’s rise. “I think that it is imperative to really wake up the Black and brown communities that have suffered from gentrification on how important this race is,” Adams said in an interview with the Times. “They have watched their rents increase in terms of gentrification, and they have been disregarded in those neighborhoods, and I’m going to go to those neighborhoods and speak one on one with organizers and groups, and I’m going to walk with the governor in those neighborhoods and get them engaged,” he reportedly added. The two former rivals even sat together courtside at the New York Knicks’ season opener on Wednesday. Cuomo, fresh from the debate, said on social media that he made it in time for the second half and posted a photo of himself with Adams. Cuomo, Mamdani and Republican mayoral nominee Curtis Sliwa had their last chance to make their pitches to voters on Wednesday night as they sparred on the debate stage. The debate came as Sliwa and Mamdani faced outside pressure. Billionaires have recently called on Sliwa to drop out over concerns that he would split the anti-Mamdani vote with Cuomo, leading the Democratic socialist to victory. Meanwhile, Mamdani faced condemnations from more than 650 rabbis nationwide, including those from the largest New York City synagogues, signed an open letter condemning Mamdani for what they said was anti-Israel rhetoric. Fox News Digital also reached out to Cuomo and Mamdani’s teams for comment. This is a developing story. Please check back for updates. Fox News Digital’s Deirdre Heavey contributed to this report.
Top Trump officials subpoenaed in Abrego Garcia hearing for ‘vindictive’ prosecution
Lawyers for Salvadorian migrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia subpoenaed Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche to testify over the government’s decision to investigate and pursue a criminal case against him this year while he was detained in El Salvador. The move portends what is certain to be a high-stakes court clash in Nashville next month, as Abrego Garcia seeks dismissal of his criminal case on the grounds of vindictive and selective prosecution. Blanche is one of at least five government officials Abrego Garcia’s lawyers have subpoenaed to appear in the two-day evidentiary hearing, according to a court filing submitted Wednesday. Others include two of Blanche’s deputies and two officials from the Department of Homeland Security. US JUDGE VOWS TO RULE ‘SOON’ ON ABREGO GARCIA’S FATE AFTER MARATHON HEARING DOJ lawyers said that they plan to ask the judge to quash the subpoenas to prevent the officials from testifying. U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw ruled earlier this month that Abrego Garcia’s legal team had established a “realistic likelihood” of vindictiveness in his criminal case, which was initiated by the Justice Department while he was detained in El Salvador. Crenshaw ordered new discovery and a two-day evidentiary hearing, scheduled for the first week in November. Crenshaw’s ruling named Blanche directly on several occasions, which could present a bigger hurdle for the Trump administration in their efforts to quash the subpoena. The judge cited Blanche’s remarks directly, including from an interview in June, in which the deputy attorney general said that Abrego Garcia was brought back to the U.S. not because of orders from a federal judge in Maryland, but because of the Tennessee arrest warrant. “This could be direct evidence of vindictiveness,” Crenshaw said in his ruling. ABREGO GARCIA REMAINS IN US FOR NOW AS JUDGE TAKES CASE UNDER ADVISEMENT It is notoriously difficult to have a case dismissed on the grounds of selective or vindictive prosecution, and few attempts have even made it even to the discovery phase. Still, the outcome is anything but clear. Existing precedent requires a defendant to prove both that prosecutors acted with genuine animus in bringing the case, and that prosecutors singled them out because of that animus. Selective prosecution requires the defense to prove that “similarly situated” persons have not been prosecuted. Still, the case has been at the center of an eight-month legal maelstrom — one that critics say has given the Trump administration a chance to test its approach to immigration enforcement and to delay or sidestep compliance with federal court orders. Trump officials, for their part, have railed against the “activist” judges whom they argue are blocking their agenda and impinging on the president’s executive branch authorities. ABREGO GARCIA LAWYERS FILE MOTION TO DISMISS CRIMINAL CHARGES FROM TRUMP DOJ A spokesperson for the Justice Department declined to comment on the subpoenas, citing the judge’s earlier order for both parties to limit their public remarks about Abrego Garcia’s case. “We cannot comment due to a gag order in this case,” the spokesperson told Fox News Digital. Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador in March in violation of a 2019 court order, and in what Trump administration officials later acknowledged was an “administrative error.” He entered the country illegally more than a decade ago and had been living in Maryland with his wife and child when authorities deported him to a maximum security prison in El Salvador in March. Trump officials have repeatedly alleged that Abrego Garcia is a vicious MS-13 gang member, a notion that Crenshaw dismissed as “fanciful” in ordering Abrego Garcia’s release from criminal custody pending trial. Others have also objected to the administration’s characterization of the smuggling charges brought against him, noting that in 2024, they carried an average prison sentence of 15 months.
Inside Trump’s ultimatum that forced Netanyahu to the table: ‘You can’t fight the world’
President Donald Trump issued Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a stern warning Oct. 4, according to a new report. At that point, representatives from the Trump administration had hashed out an agreement with other mediators from countries including Qatar, Egypt and Turkey — just days before the two-year anniversary of the start of the war between Israel and Hamas. Trump didn’t mince his words during a call with Netanyahu: the deal would be announced and Netanyahu had no other choice but to get on board, Time magazine reported Thursday. COULD TRUMP’S GAZA CEASEFIRE PLAN OFFER A BLUEPRINT FOR PEACE IN UKRAINE? “Bibi, you can’t fight the world,” Trump said he told Netanyahu, as he detailed their conversation in an interview with Time. “You can fight individual battles, but the world’s against you.” Although Netanyahu resisted, Trump’s patience had expired. Trump “launched into a profanity-laced monologue cataloging all he’d done for Israel as President: moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, recognizing its sovereignty over the Golan Heights, brokering the Abraham Accords that normalized relations between Israel and several Arab states, even joining Israel’s strikes on Iran in June,” according to Time. As a result, Trump indicated that he would no longer back Netanyahu if the prime minister didn’t agree to the peace deal, Time reported. “It was a very blunt and straightforward statement to Bibi…that he has no tolerance for anything other than this,” Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, told the outlet. Netanyahu ultimately agreed to the deal, which includes a provision requiring Israeli forces to pull its troops, and a complete disarmament of Hamas. The deal also required Hamas to return the hostages that were still in captivity within 72 hours of signing the agreement. Hamas has yet to turn over some of the remains of deceased Israeli hostages. TRUMP WRITES MESSAGE TO ISRAELIS AFTER ALL LIVING HOSTAGES RELEASED BY HAMAS Netanyahu’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. Israel began to face increased pressure and frustration from the Trump administration after it conducted strikes against Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, in September. Qatar is a U.S. ally, and the attack violated the country’s sovereignty — prompting Trump to say at the time that he was “very unhappy about every aspect” of the situation. But Trump used the attack as leverage to convince regional leaders to band together and negotiate an end to the conflict. “This was one of the things that brought us all together,” Trump told Time. “It was so out of joint that it sort of got everybody to do what they have to do. If you took that away, we might not be talking about this subject right now.” Trump has hailed the peace agreement as a victory, and visited with Israeli lawmakers in the Knesset and other officials in Egypt to recognize the finalization of the first phase of the deal. WORLD LEADERS PRAISE ‘LANDMARK’ ISRAEL-HAMAS PEACE DEAL MEDIATED BY US: ‘NEW HORIZON OF HOPE’ “At long last, we have peace in the Middle East, and it’s a very simple expression, peace in the Middle East,” Trump told reporters in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. “We’ve heard it for many years, but nobody thought it could ever get there,” Trump said. “And now we’re there.” Now, Trump has indicated that he is setting his sights on ending the war between Russia and Ukraine, and signaled his administration will build off the momentum from the Middle East peace agreement to end the conflict in Europe. Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Friday, and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte Wednesday, to discuss the conflict.
Vance rebukes Israel on ‘very stupid’ vote to annex West Bank
Vice President JD Vance said Thursday that a vote by Israeli lawmakers to annex the West Bank was a “very stupid political stunt.” A bill applying Israeli law to the occupied West Bank, which effectively would annex the territory for Israel, passed a vote Wednesday in Israel’s parliament as Vance was visiting the country, according to Reuters. It was the first of four votes needed for the proposal to become law. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s Likud Party did not back the legislation, which was pushed by lawmakers outside his ruling coalition, the news agency added. “That was weird. I was sort of confused by that,” Vance told reporters on Thursday when asked about the vote. “Now I actually asked somebody about it, and they told me that it was a symbolic vote, some symbolic vote to recognize or a symbolic vote to annex the West Bank. I mean, what I would say to that is when I asked about it, somebody told me it was a political stunt, that it had no practical significance, it was purely symbolic.” “I mean look, if it was a political stunt, it was a very stupid political stunt, and I personally take some insult to it. The West Bank is not going to be annexed by Israel,” Vance added. “The policy of the Trump administration is that the West Bank will not be annexed by Israel. That will continue to be our policy. And if people want to take symbolic votes, they can do that, but we certainly weren’t happy about it.” JD VANCE SAYS PSAKI’S REMARK ABOUT HIS WIFE WAS ‘DISGRACEFUL’ Following Vance’s comments, a top member of Netanyahu’s Likud Party announced Thursday that the Israeli prime minister told him not to advance proposals regarding the annexation of the West Bank, according to Israeli media. “The Knesset vote on annexation was a deliberate political provocation by the opposition to sow discord during Vice President JD Vance’s visit to Israel. The two bills were sponsored by opposition members of the Knesset,” Netanyahu’s office wrote on X. “The Likud party and the religious parties (the principal coalition members) did not vote for these bills, except for one disgruntled Likud member who was recently fired from the chairmanship of a Knesset committee. Without Likud support, these bills are unlikely to go anywhere,” it added. VANCE HAILS ‘DAYS OF DESTINY’ AS VP SEEKS TO BUILD ON CEASEFIRE AGREEMENT Possible annexation of the West Bank has been floated in Israel in response to a string of countries moving to recognize a Palestinian state, according to The Associated Press. Israel captured the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians want all three territories to form their future state. They, and much of the international community, say annexation would all but end any remaining possibility of a two-state solution, the AP reported. More than half a million Jewish settlers now live in the West Bank in some 130 settlements. “I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank,” President Donald Trump said in late September in the Oval Office. “I will not allow it. It’s not going to happen.” The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Sparks fly as Cuomo, Mamdani tear into each other during fiery debate: ‘Toxic energy’
Front-runners for New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani and Andrew Cuomo, wasted little time attacking each other on alleged personal scandals they have been involved in during a Wednesday night debate between the pair and GOP candidate Curtis Sliwa. Mamdani and Sliwa took the opportunity during Wednesday’s debate to drill down on past sexual harassment allegations against Cuomo, the former governor of New York, ahead of an impeachment inquiry that preceded Cuomo’s 2021 resignation. Cuomo was also hit by Mamdani over accusations he has – while in public office – failed to meet with Muslim constituents and only began doing so amid pressure from his mayoral campaign, and over his alleged poor handling of the COVID-19 virus in New York after Cuomo was party to issuing guidance forcing nursing homes and long-term care facilities to admit COVID-19 positive patients. Meanwhile, Cuomo did not hold back on targeting Mamdani over alleged controversies that have embattled his campaign. Cuomo blasted the self-proclaimed socialist over his lack of experience, ties to radical politics, and past radical comments about law enforcement, Israel and the situation in Gaza. FBI AGENTS FROM ’93 WTC ATTACK BLAST MAMDANI FOR EMBRACING RADICAL IMAM “My main opponent has no new ideas. He has no new plan. … He’s never run anything, managed anything. He’s never had a real job,” Cuomo said of Mamdani during the debate. Cuomo also branded Mamdani as someone who has proven to be “a divisive force in New York,” pointing to past incidents that have garnered Mamdani heat from critics. One of those incidents included a picture he took with a hard-lined Ugandan lawmaker who has pushed policies of imprisoning people for being gay, which Mamdani took while taking a break from the campaign trail to visit his home country of Uganda for a wedding. Cuomo also hit the controversy over whether Mamdani supports Jewish New Yorkers, as his critics have claimed he is anti-Israel pointing to statements he has made, like “globalize the intifada.” Cuomo also accused Mamdani of disrespecting Italian-Americans after a video of him surfaced giving the middle finger to a statue of Christopher Columbus, while also pointing to criticism the self-proclaimed socialist candidate has garnered from 9/11 first-responders after posting a photo with a Muslim cleric who served as a character witness for the mastermind behind the September 11, 2001 attacks. TOP 5 MOMENTS FROM FIERY NYC MAYORAL DEBATE: ‘HE LITERALLY HAS NEVER HAD A JOB’ “You have been a divisive force in New York, and I believe that’s toxic energy for New York. It’s with the Jewish community. It’s with the Italian-American community – when you give the Columbus statue the finger. It’s with the Sunni Muslims when you say decriminalize prostitution, which is Haram. It’s the Hindus,” Cuomo continued. “Then, you take a picture with Rebecca Kadaga, deputy Prime Minister of Uganda. … She’s known as Rebecca ‘Gay Killer.’ … You’re a citizen of Uganda. You took the picture. You said you didn’t know who she was. It turns out you did. How do you not renounce your citizenship or demand BDS against Uganda for imprisoning people who are gay just by their sexual orientation? Isn’t that a basic violation of human rights?” Mamdani shot back that his politics have remained “consistent” and that they are built on a belief in human rights for all people, including LGBTQ+ folks. Had he known Kadga’s role in drafting legislation to imprison gay folks, Mamdani said, he never would have taken the picture. “This constant attempt to smear and slander me is an attempt to also distract from the fact that, unlike myself, you do not actually have a platform or a set of policies,” Mamdani shot back at Cuomo before introducing his own claims about the former governor regarding past accusations of sexual harassment. MAMDANI RIPPED BY RIVALS FOR UNPOPULAR STANCE DURING FIERY NYC DEBATE: ‘YOU WON’T SUPPORT ISRAEL’ “Mr. Cuomo. In 2021, 13 different women who worked in your administration credibly accused you of sexual harassment. Since then, you have spent more than $20 million in taxpayer funds to defend yourself, all while describing these allegations as entirely political,” Mamdani said while attacking Cuomo Wednesday night. “You have even gone so far as to legally go after these women. One of those women, Charlotte Bennett, is here in the audience this evening. You sought to access her private gynecological records. She cannot speak up for herself because you lodged a defamation case against her. I, however, can speak. What do you say to the 13 women that you sexually harassed?” Cuomo, in 2021, was accused of multiple incidents of sexual harassment that preceded his resignation as governor that year. A subsequent report from New York Attorney General Letitia James confirmed Cuomo “sexually harassed multiple women from 2013 through 2020,” while in January 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it had reached a nearly $500,000 settlement with Cuomo’s executive office over one of the claims. However, no criminal charges were ever filed against Cuomo, with some district attorneys citing insufficient evidence. Cuomo defended himself against Mamdani’s accusations, noting the cases were eventually dropped, before returning to questions about Mamdani’s alleged past. Meanwhile, Sliwa didn’t skip an opportunity to slam Cuomo over the sexual assault allegations either, saying early in the debate during a discussion about homelessness that Cuomo “fled” the governor’s office amid an impeachment inquiry that was investigating him. “Andrew, you didn’t ‘leave.’ You fled from being impeached by the Democrats in the state legislature,” Sliwa began before getting into the homelessness issue, earning him a round-of-applause from the audience. “‘Leave?’ You fled!” Sliwa continued to applause. “But let’s get back on topic.”
Trading barbs from light-hearted to vicious, mayoral candidates make final appeal to New Yorkers
New York City mayoral contenders relentlessly criticized their opponents as they made their final pitch to voters Wednesday night in the last debate before early voting starts Saturday. Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, Independent candidate and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa once again traded barbs on the debate stage, meeting for the second time in less than a week. Wednesday’s debate at LaGuardia Community College in Long Island City came as billionaires called for Sliwa to drop out of the mayoral race this week to consolidate support for Cuomo against Mamdani and as more than 650 rabbis nationwide, including those from the largest New York City synagogues, signed an open letter condemning Mamdani for what they said was anti-Israel rhetoric. ‘TIME FOR A CHANGE’: OUTSIDE 30 ROCK, NEW YORKERS TRADE CHANTS AND ARGUMENTS DURING TENSE MAYORAL SHOWDOWN Both issues were on full display Wednesday night as Mamdani fielded questions about his support for Israel. When asked if Mamdani has any regrets about his “longstanding” anti-Israel views, the democratic socialist affirmed his commitment to protecting Jewish New Yorkers. TOP 5 MOMENTS FROM FIERY NYC MAYORAL DEBATE: ‘HE LITERALLY HAS NEVER HAD A JOB’ “You won’t denounce ‘globalize the intifada,’ which means, ‘Kill Jews.’ There’s unprecedented fear in New York. It was not several rabbis. It was 650 rabbis who signed the letter, not several,” Cuomo said. While Mamdani refused to condemn the phrase “globalize the intifada” during the primary, he has since said he would “discourage” others from using the slogan. “I’ve heard from Jewish New Yorkers about their fears about antisemitism in this city, and what they deserve is a leader who takes it seriously, who roots it out of these five boroughs, not one who weaponizes it as a means by which to score political points on a debate stage,” Mamdani fired back in a fiery moment. Sliwa also chimed in, telling Mamdani that Jewish New Yorkers are “frightened” and “scared.” “They view you as the arsonist who fanned the flames of antisemitism,” Sliwa charged, accusing him of being in support of a “global jihad.” New York Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand issued an apology earlier this year for “mischaracterizing Mamdani’s record” when she made the same suggestion. “I have never, not once, spoken in support of global jihad,” Mamdani said. “That is not something that I have said and that continues to be ascribed to me. And, frankly, I think much of it has to do with the fact that I am the first Muslim candidate to be on the precipice of winning this election.” Moderators for the final New York City mayoral debate were Spectrum News NY1 Political Anchor Errol Louis, WNYC’s Brian Lehrer and The City’s Katie Honan. The first question posed to candidates during Wednesday’s debate focused on the federal raid in New York City’s Chinatown neighborhood on Tuesday that led to the arrest of nine migrants from West Africa who were in the United States illegally, according to the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. All three candidates agreed that the Trump administration was beyond its jurisdiction on Tuesday. Cuomo called the raid “dangerous.” “You don’t send ICE in without coordinating with our police,” Cuomo said, arguing he would have personally called President Donald Trump if he was mayor to tell him the administration was “way out of bounds.” Sliwa agreed that the matter should have been left up to the NYPD. Mamdani took the criticism a step further, calling ICE a “reckless entity that cares little for the law and even less for the people that they’re supposed to serve,” urging an “end to the chapter of collaboration between City Hall and the federal government, which we’ve seen under” Mayor Eric Adams. Adams is no longer seeking re-election after he built a reputation for his willingness to collaborate with the Trump administration on immigration reform. At one point, candidates were allowed to ask their opponents a question, sparking a tense moment between Cuomo and Mamdani. Cuomo asked how Mamdani could pose for a photo with an anti-LGBTQ advocate. Mamdani said had he known, he wouldn’t have agreed to take the picture. Mamdani clapped back, asking Cuomo, “What do you say to the 13 women that you sexually harassed?” Cuomo has continued to deny the allegations and said the cases were dropped. The latest Fox News survey, conducted Oct. 10-14, ahead of the first general election debate last week, revealed that Mamdani has gained a substantial lead in the race because voters see him as the best candidate to tackle the city’s top problems. According to the poll, Mamdani has a 21-point lead among New York City registered voters with 49% of voters backing Mamdani, while 28% go for Cuomo and 13% favor Sliwa. Mamdani also rose above the 50% threshold among likely voters, garnering 52% support, while Cuomo picked up 28%, and Sliwa received just 14%. But as Mamdani, ever the social media-savvy candidate, warned his followers on Wednesday, it was Cuomo who was the favorite to win the nomination just weeks before the Democratic primary. By consolidating support with New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, cross-endorsing each other to topple Cuomo through ranked-choice voting, Mamdani pulled the political upset that has since landed him on the national stage. Since winning the primary, Trump has labeled Mamdani a “100% Communist Lunatic” and “my little Communist.” Mamdani has rejected that moniker, affirming he is a democratic socialist. Nevertheless, the odd-year election has captivated a national audience at a time when Democrats are still grappling with devastating losses last year. And with Trump back in the White House, Democrats nationwide are seeking to capitalize on growing discontent over his sweeping, second-term agenda. Less than two hours before candidates took the stage Wednesday, The New York Times reported that Mamdani intends to keep New York City Police Department (NYPD) Commissioner Jessica Tisch on as his police commissioner if elected in November, citing two senior campaign aides and two more
Trump reveals how US military is going to crack down on drug smugglers on land
Speaking from the Oval Office on Wednesday evening, President Donald Trump said the U.S. will “hit” drug smugglers attempting to enter the U.S. by land after a series of lethal strikes on cartel boats at sea. The president was questioned about his use of military force to crack down on drug smugglers in the Caribbean and Pacific following the eighth such strike in recent weeks. Trump acknowledged “it is violent” but said that “every one of those boats that gets knocked out is saving 25,000 American lives.” “We have the greatest military in the world. We have the greatest weapons in the world. And you see a little bit of it there, one shot, every one dead center. And the only way you can’t feel bad about it is you realize … that every time you see that happen, you’re saving 25,000 American lives. TRUMP’S WAR ON CARTELS ENTERS NEW PHASE AS EXPERTS PREDICT WHAT’S NEXT “Whenever I see that, I say to myself, I just saved 25,000 lives.” Trump said, after these strikes, “there are very few boats traveling on the water, so now they’ll come in by land to a lesser extent. “And they will be hit on land also.” Pressed on whether he has legal authority to unleash strikes on drug smugglers on U.S. territory, Trump answered confidently, “Yes, we do.” TRUMP ADMIN ON PACE TO SHATTER DEPORTATION RECORD BY END OF FIRST YEAR: ‘JUST THE BEGINNING’ “We have legal authority. We’re allowed to do that,” he said, noting that “if we do it by land, we may go back to Congress. “We’ll probably go back to Congress and explain exactly what we’re doing when we come to the land. We don’t have to do that. “This is a national security problem,” Trump added. “They killed 300,000 Americans last year, and that gives you legal authority. “We will hit them very hard when they come in by land. They haven’t experienced that yet, but now we’re totally prepared to do that. TRUMP REFUSES TO RULE OUT STRIKING VENEZUELA. WHAT’S NEXT FOR TRUMP’S WAR ON DRUGS? “Something very serious is going to happen. The equivalent of what’s happening by sea. And we’re going to Congress just to tell them what we’re doing, just to keep them informed. But we have to do it for national security. We have to do it to save lives.” Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced Wednesday that, at Trump’s direction, the military carried out its first kinetic strike on “narco-terrorists” in the Eastern Pacific. This was the eighth such strike in recent weeks.