Category: Fox News

Trump doubles down on voiding Biden autopen actions, including pardons and commutations

President Donald Trump announced in a Truth Social post on Tuesday that he would “fully and completely” terminate any documents signed by former President Joe Biden’s autopen, including pardons and commutations. “Any and all Documents, Proclamations, Executive Orders, Memorandums, or Contracts, signed by Order of the now infamous and unauthorized ‘AUTOPEN,’ within the Administration of Joseph R. Biden Jr., are hereby null, void, and of no further force or effect,” Trump wrote. “Anyone receiving ‘Pardons,’ ‘Commutations,’ or any other Legal Document so signed, please be advised that said Document has been fully and completely terminated, and is of no Legal effect. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” The post confirms Trump is doubling down on potential action after announcing last week he would void any executive orders signed using the autopen from former President Biden. TRUMP TO VOID ALL DOCUMENTS ALLEGEDLY SIGNED BY BIDEN VIA AUTOPEN, THREATENS PERJURY CHARGE “The Autopen is not allowed to be used if approval is not specifically given by the President of the United States,” Trump wrote last week. “The Radical Left Lunatics circling Biden around the beautiful Resolute Desk in the Oval Office took the Presidency away from him.” The president claimed in his post that former president Biden did not personally approve autopen signatures, which is a device which has been used since the Truman administration. In the same post, Trump said 92% of Biden’s documents were signed with the autopen device. Over 160 executive orders were signed during the Biden administration. BIDEN ONLY HAND-SIGNED ONE PARDON DURING FINAL SPREE, AND IT WAS HIS MOST CONTROVERSIAL ONE Fox News Digital confirmed that the list of possibly voided pardons does not include former President Biden’s son Hunter, as that was signed by hand. The alleged autopen pardon list includes Dr. Anthony Fauci and brother James Biden. Former President Biden signed a pardon last year for Hunter Biden’s offenses that he “has committed or may have committed” from Jan. 1, 2014, to Dec. 1, 2024.  Also on the list as part of a more than 1,500-person spree of pardons near the end of Biden’s term include Gen. Mark Milley and members and staff of the House committee investigating Jan. 6.  CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The White House referred Fox News Digital to President Trump’s Truth Social post. Fox News Digital’s Alexandra Koch and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

Top expert exposes how elites are encouraging immigrants to not assimilate into American culture

An expert warned that the U.S. immigration crisis in America will continue so long as the country’s elite reject the idea of the “Americanization” of immigrants. Mark Krikorian, who is the executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, told Fox News Digital during an interview that one of the core drivers of declining assimilation in America is not only mass immigration itself but an ongoing “identity problem” in which the country’s elite have made assimilation a “dirty word” by rejecting American identity and exceptionalism. “It’s not the immigrants’ doing, it’s a problem we have where our leadership classes, whether it’s government, business, education, religion, everything, aren’t really sure about whether it is even a good thing to be an American,” Krikorian, one of the country’s most notorious authorities on immigration policy, continued. “The idea basically here is that there is no meaning to nationhood or to peoplehood that living in the United States is kind of like living in Northern New Jersey as opposed to Southern New Jersey. You live in the United States, or you live in Mexico or you live in Swaziland, it doesn’t mean anything,” he explained. OVER 100 CALIFORNIA COLLEGES ACCUSED OF DISCRIMINATING AGAINST US-BORN STUDENTS IN NEW DOJ COMPLAINT “The left increasingly, even at the mainstream level, they see immigration law itself as a kind of Jim Crow, that it’s immoral to keep anyone from moving to the United States if they want to. And everything stems from that,” he continued. “Because if that’s your worldview, then obviously law enforcement coming to round up and remove people who have no right to be here, no legal right to be here, is immoral.”  “So, in that context, how could we expect immigrants to Americanize successfully?” Krikorian said, adding,”What’s different today from, say, 100 or 200 years ago, is we now have a leadership class that doesn’t even believe in assimilation. They think Americanization is a dirty word.” “My mother was a daughter of immigrants, went to public school in the 30s and 40s outside Boston, and she was taught to memorize the Gettysburg Address and George Washington was the father of our country and they sang Hail Columbia in school. You think they’re doing that in the L.A. Unified School District now, or in New York, or in the school district outside of Boston my mother went to? No!” he said. “They teach American kids to, at best, be ambivalent about America, depending on the school district, even hate America.” “Until that changes,” he went on, “admitting large numbers of people, even legally, is frankly a bad idea.” President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem have embarked on an intensive immigration enforcement agenda. With over 515,000 illegal aliens deported since Trump took office in January, the administration is on track to significantly exceed the record number of illegals deported out of the United States. However, Krikorian warned that deportations will not be a complete solution to the problem. “We now have the largest percentage of our population foreign-born ever recorded in American history. It’s close to 16% now. That’s more than it was during even the Ellis Island era … we’ve never been here before,” Krikorian said. TRUMP’S ‘BORDER CZAR’ WARNS DEM GOVS REJECTING TRUMP DEPORTATION PLAN: ‘GET THE HELL OUT OF THE WAY’ This is further coupled with the rise of technology, which Krikorian said makes it less important for immigrants to integrate into their new communities. “Newcomers don’t have to really cut off ties in the way that they had to do in the past,” he said. “In the old days, immigrating meant you had no choice but to reorient your emotional and psychological attachments to the new country … Nowadays, you can FaceTime home every day. You can hop on a plane and go to your cousin’s wedding in Bogota for a three-day weekend.” The solution, in Krikorian’s estimation, is U.S. leaders, from the president to schoolteachers, embracing American identity. With the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence coming in 2026, Krikorian said there is a “real opportunity” for “a whole year-long process of starting to change the narrative and have that narrative percolate down to local institutions, individual schools, individual congregations, individual businesses, and kind of reverse this idea that America stinks and you shouldn’t want to become part of it.” TRUMP FREEZES AFGHAN VISAS AFTER DC SHOOTING — AS HE QUIETLY EYES LAND STRIKES IN VENEZUELA “We have succeeded in Americanizing large numbers of people in the past from very different societies,” he said. “It’s harder to do now, but we can do it,” he went on. “We have a real serious challenge ahead of us, but they’re challenges that we can meet if we respond.”

Fox News Politics Newsletter: State Department yanks visas from Mexican executives

Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter, with the latest updates on the Trump administration, Capitol Hill and more Fox News politics content. Here’s what’s happening… -White House Press corps fixates on Trump’s ‘perfect’ MRI after years downplaying Biden health fears –Afghan evacuee arrested before DC shooting federally charged with threatening terror attack -A shortage of workers is making the housing affordability crisis even worse FIRST ON FOX: The State Department is yanking visas from Mexican executives it says helped move unlawful migrants toward the U.S. border, Fox News Digital has learned. The department revoked visas and imposed travel restrictions on six individuals who worked at an air travel company, along with their immediate family members. U.S. officials say the group collaborated with smuggling networks to coordinate transportation and provide fraudulent travel documents for migrants — including minors — from the Caribbean and other regions, routing them through Central America before many attempted to reach the United States. The department did not name the company involved…READ MORE. PAPERS PLEASE: How a green card can be revoked — and where Trump’s new review order fits into the process WALLET WARS: Trump torches Dems’ ‘fake affordability’ pitch – but GOP panic in deep red state hints voters aren’t buying it CHA CHING!: White House unveils ‘Trump accounts’ for children with $6.25B Dell investment WAR ON DEFENSE: Hegseth erupts over WaPo ‘fake stories’ smear, vows to stop ‘poisoning of the American people’ TERRORISTS ‘INVADED’: DHS’ Noem: Biden ‘used this department to invade the country with terrorists’ RECORDS FIRST: Taxpayers on the hook for lawn care, fixing hinges at presidential libraries. Trump-led reforms aim to stop it STATUS CHECK: Trump lays out where he stands with Elon Musk after Big Beautiful Bill blowup ‘AMAZING JOURNEY’: AI Melania: First Lady rolls out audiobook of first memoir in Spanish FAITH UNDER SIEGE: Experts challenge Nigerian government’s claims as Congress investigates attacks on Christians PRESSLEY SENATE PASS: Squad member Ayanna Pressley announces decision on challenging Ed Markey in primary RED WAVE RETREAT: Virginia GOP Chair steps down after crushing 2025 loss — vows to rally party against Democrats’ ‘power grab’ ELIGIBILITY UPROAR: Legal threat cracks open voter records for illegal school superintendent nabbed by ICE Get the latest updates on the Trump administration and Congress, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.

Trump rips Somali community as federal agents reportedly eye Minnesota enforcement sweep

President Donald Trump called a bloc of Somali migrants to Minnesota “garbage” who rely too heavily on the U.S. welfare state, as ICE reportedly eyes ramped-up immigration enforcement in the Twin Cities. Speaking at his ninth Cabinet meeting of 2025 on Tuesday, Trump said that Somalis have made a mess of Minneapolis-St. Paul, and characterized Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., as their political figurehead. His comments come as a New York Times report claimed ICE is prepared to launch an “intensive immigration enforcement operation” targeting the Twin Cities. The paper claimed it would target the Somali population, but a top DHS official told Fox News Digital the agency never prosecutes based on race – only immigration status. FALSE RUMORS OF MINNEAPOLIS ICE RAID SPARK PROTEST AS POLICE DECRY ‘IRRESPONSIBLE’ INFO FROM ELECTED OFFICIALS At the White House, Trump lambasted Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz over a burgeoning scandal in St. Paul over what the Times said were “several fraud schemes proliferated in parts of Minnesota’s Somali community.” According to the report, multiple individuals allegedly created companies that billed the state for millions in fraudulent payments. “Walz is a grossly incompetent man; there’s something wrong with him,” Trump said of the Box Butte, Nebraska native who was also Kamala Harris’ 2024 running mate. ICE CAPTURES ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT WANTED FOR ALLEGEDLY KILLING MOTHER IN DUI CRASH Walz defended himself to The New York Times, saying the programs under scrutiny “are set up to move money to people.” “The programs are set up to improve people’s lives, and in many cases, the criminals find the loopholes,” he said. Trump, meanwhile, said Somalia “is barely a country, where they run around killing each other.” ILHAN OMAR FIRES BACK AFTER TRUMP’S CONSTITUTION DIG: ‘UNLIKE YOU, I CAN READ’ “Ilhan Omar is garbage – her friends are garbage,” he said. “When they come from hell, and they complain and do nothing but bit** — we don’t want them in our country. Let ’em go back to where they came from and fix it,” he said. Trump also revisited allegations that Omar, who is from Mogadishu, allegedly “married her brother” to obtain U.S. citizenship. ICE DETAINS UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA INTERNATIONAL GRADUATE STUDENT NEAR TWIN CITIES CAMPUS After her 2016 Democratic State House primary upset that launched her political career, Omar told Minnesota Public Radio that she married Ahmed Hirsi – with whom she has three children – but is also separated from a second man who lives in England. A conservative blog at the time claimed Omar was simultaneously married to Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, and claimed the man could also be her brother – but the congresswoman called such claims “absurd and offensive.” In 2020, Omar married political consultant Tim Mynett, and wrote on Instagram that she had gone from “partners in politics to partners in life – so blessed. Alhamdulillah.” Of claims ICE is going to target Somalis in the Twin Cities, Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin dismissed such claims: “Every day, ICE enforces the laws of the nation across the country. What makes someone a target of ICE is not their race or ethnicity, but the fact that they are in the country illegally.” “We do not discuss future or potential operations,” she said. In response to Trump, Omar said the president’s “obsession with me is creepy.” “I hope he gets the help he desperately needs,” she said on X.

Trump lays out where he stands with Elon Musk after ‘big beautiful bill’ blowup

President Donald Trump said Tuesday he still likes “Elon a lot,” despite their high-profile split earlier this year over the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. At the end of the administration’s monthly Cabinet meeting, FOX Business’ Edward Lawrence asked Trump whether Musk was “back in [his] circle of friends” after their falling-out. Trump responded: “Well, I really don’t know. I mean, I like Elon a lot.” He praised Musk’s endorsement during the 2024 campaign before noting their disagreement over electric-vehicle policy. Musk was a fixture in the White House in the early days of the second Trump administration as he took on the role as the Department of Government Efficiency’s de facto leader. He served as a special government employee with the Trump administration to help lead DOGE, frequently attending Cabinet meetings and joining Trump during public events. Musk’s tenure with DOGE wrapped up at the end of May.  TRUMP TEASES MUSK AT FORUM AS ONCE-FROSTY DYNAMIC SEEMS TO TAKE A TURN Musk had also championed Trump during the 2024 election cycle, criss-crossing battleground states that ultimately all voted for the Republican candidate over former Vice President Kamala Harris.  Trump repeatedly celebrated Musk for his efforts at DOGE to remove potential federal overspending, fraud and mismanagement – an effort assailed by government employees and Democrats who protested both the Trump administration and Musk repeatedly earlier this year.  TRUMP RENOMINATES MUSK ALLY JARED ISAACMAN TO LEAD NASA AFTER EARLIER REVERSAL The cozy friendship fell to pieces in June, however, when Musk began publicly ridiculing the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which was a massive piece of legislation Trump signed into law in July that advances his agenda on taxes, immigration, energy, defense and the national debt.  Musk railed against the legislation, which Trump had been rallying Republican lawmakers to pass since the beginning of his second term, posting on X that it would be the “BIGGEST DEBT ceiling increase in HISTORY” and also claimed in a personal attack on Trump that “@RealDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files.”  Trump previously told the media that his relationship with Musk changed when he began discussing plans to eliminate the electric vehicle mandate, which would affect Musk’s signature electric company, Tesla. Trump signed a trio of congressional resolutions in June ending California’s restrictive rules for diesel engines and mandates on electric vehicle sales, with Trump celebrating that his signature “will kill the California mandates forever.” WHITE HOUSE TAUNTS LIBERALS WITH PROVOCATIVE MEME-FILLED DEBUT ON BLUESKY The pair abruptly parted ways in June, with Musk weeks later offering some support to Trump’s presidential actions on social media, such as praising a ceasefire deal between Israel and Gaza in July. Musk was seen physically back in Trump’s orbit in September during the memorial service for Charlie Kirk, Turning Point USA’s founder who was assassinated on Sept. 10. The pair was seen sitting next to each other and chatting during the ceremony.  CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Musk most recently attended a Trump event on Nov. 18 at the White House for a dinner with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, as well as dozens of high-profile business leaders.  Trump’s latest remarks on Musk unfolded during his Cabinet meeting, which marked his ninth such meeting since the start of his second administration and matched the total number of full Cabinet meetings former President Joe Biden held across his four-year tenure. 

Squad member Ayanna Pressley announces decision on challenging Ed Markey in primary

Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., a key member of the progressive “Squad,” announced Tuesday she will run for re-election in Massachusetts’s 7th Congressional District rather than challenge Sen. Ed Markey for his U.S. Senate seat. Her decision, shared in a statement, ends months of speculation that she might enter the Democratic primary. Pressley said in her statement that the encouragement she received from voters across the state was “deeply humbling.” “Hearing from so many people from throughout our Commonwealth encouraging me to run for the United States Senate was deeply humbling and a testament to the strength of our movement,” Pressley said. MAINE GOV. MILLS JOINS CROWDED DEM PRIMARY IN RACE TO CHALLENGE LONGTIME GOP SENATOR She also emphasized that the timing was not right for a statewide bid. With her daughter entering her final year at home before college, Pressley emphasized that she wanted to be present for key family moments, which would be complicated by a Senate bid. “It would be an honor to serve the whole Commonwealth, but with our daughter in her last year at home before college and a district that has been in the crosshairs of this White House, I am certain that the Massachusetts 7th is where I belong in this moment,” Pressley added. MAINE REP. LAUREL LIBBY WON’T SEEK RE-ELECTION, PARTNERS WITH SENTINEL ACTION FUND IN $4M BOOST FOR SEN COLLINS Pressley also told The Boston Globe she was not closing the door on a future Senate run. “I’m not closing the door to a Senate run down the line,” she told the outlet. Her decision not to enter the race this cycle avoids a potentially awkward matchup between the two progressives. Markey has long been aligned with the party’s left flank. AOC DISTANCES HERSELF FROM HAKEEM JEFFRIES PRIMARY CHALLENGER The race already features Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., who has sought to draw a generational contrast with the 79-year-old senator. A Suffolk University–Boston Globe poll released before Thanksgiving also showed Markey leading Moulton 45% to 22% among likely Democratic primary voters. But when Pressley was included in a hypothetical matchup, she narrowly edged Markey 35% to 34%, with Moulton falling to 16%. In her announcement Tuesday, Pressley highlighted accomplishments from her tenure in Congress, ranging from expanding mental health support to securing tens of millions in federal funds for her district. She also vowed to continue fighting for a more just and equitable Massachusetts. Pressley did not announce any endorsement in the Senate race.

GOP fractures over Hegseth’s ‘double-tap’ Caribbean strike as Congress probes legality

Senate Republicans are divided on their view of the deadly Sept. 2 strikes in the Caribbean as congressional inquiries into the matter mount, with some arguing that subduing suspected drug boats is the right move while others question the legality of the so-called double-tap attacks. The Senate and House Armed Services committees are gearing up for hearings into the strikes after reports that Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, later confirmed by the White House, authorized a second strike to eliminate survivors on a suspected drug boat in the Caribbean. But there is a growing tension among Republicans over what to do. Some support the desire of Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker, R-Miss., for stringent oversight of the incident, while others see the strikes as part of the Trump administration’s crackdown on drugs flowing into the country. JOHNSON POINTS TO OBAMA-ERA DRONE PRECEDENT AS CONGRESS PROBES DEADLY CARIBBEAN STRIKE Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, told Fox News Digital he was “very, very, very supportive of killing drug dealers. I think the more narco-terrorists that we kill, that we save American lives.” “I’m not concerned about killing people whose intent was to kill Americans at all,” Moreno said. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that Hegseth gave the green light for the second strike, but noted that it was Adm. Frank Bradley, the head of U.S. Special Operations Command, who ordered and directed it. That confirmation came after a report from The Washington Post claimed Hegseth had ordered to “kill them all,” which some on the Hill have disputed. HEGSETH BACKS SPECIAL OPS CHIEF’S ‘COMBAT DECISIONS’ IN DEADLY CARIBBEAN STRIKE AHEAD OF CLASSIFIED BRIEFING Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., said he read the article and charged that there “wasn’t an exact quote from Secretary Hegseth. There was an anonymous source paraphrased what the secretary allegedly said.” “So, here we’ve got a story in The Washington Post, which is known to hate Trump and Republicans, by a reporter who is citing an anonymous source that supposedly is saying that Hegseth said it before the strike even happened, but they don’t know exactly what he said,” Kennedy said. “That is a waste of your time and mine.” When pressed about Leavitt’s confirmation of the authorization, Kennedy said, “I don’t care what the White House press secretary said.” Still, some Republicans want answers to what exactly happened. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., reiterated that he believed that the Senate and House Armed Services committees’ impending probes into the matter was a “natural place” to look at what happened with the strikes, but he stopped short of weighing in on whether a second strike was right or wrong.  “Well, I don’t know the particulars yet, and that’s why we’re gonna have the — we’ll look,” Thune said.  BIPARTISAN SENATORS CALL ON HEGSETH TO RELEASE STRIKE ORDERS ON ALLEGED DRUG BOATS IN CARIBBEAN Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said that since the report came out, “We want to get to the facts.” “Obviously, if there was a direction to take a second shot and kill people, that’s a violation of an ethical, moral or legal code,” Tillis said. “We need to get to the bottom of it. But right now, it could be, I think, was it Oxford that the word of the year is ‘rage bait’? Could be rage bait too. So we want to get to the facts.” Senate Democrats are demanding a fulsome dive into the incident, and toeing the line of whether what transpired was a war crime. Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., the top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he expected to have a briefing with Bradley this week. When asked what questions he wanted to be answered, Reed said the top priority was to find out whether the strikes comported with “the law of war and [Uniform Code of Military Justice] and international law.” “I think one of the easiest ways to begin to dispel the question is to make public the video of the strikes,” Reed said. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., has, time and again this Congress, remained a staunch critic of action taken in Iran and in the Caribbean and moved to curtail the administration’s actions through resolutions that would stymie President Donald Trump’s war powers. He said lawmakers needed to get to the bottom of “whether a war crime has been committed.” Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., was cautious not to fully paint the incident as a war crime before getting more facts, adding that he hoped the reports of the strikes were “not accurate.” “I will say, though you know as somebody who has sunk two ships myself, that folks in the military need to understand, you know, the law of the sea, the Geneva Conventions, what the law says,” Kelly said. “And I’m concerned that if there were, in fact, as reported, you know, survivors clinging to a damaged vessel, that could be, you know, over a line. I hope it’s not the case.”

First lady Melania Trump rolls out AI audiobook of first memoir in Spanish: ‘Amazing journey’

EXCLUSIVE: First lady Melania Trump is launching a Spanish-language edition of the audiobook of her memoir using artificial intelligence (AI) audio technology to bring her story to millions of Spanish-speaking listeners, Fox News Digital has learned. The first lady released her first memoir, “Melania,” last year and released the English-language audiobook in May. On Tuesday, the first lady released her first foreign-language edition of the audiobook—powered by AI. Fox News Digital has learned that additional foreign-language AI audiobooks will be announced in the coming weeks. AI MELANIA: FIRST LADY EMBARKS ON ‘NEW FRONTIER’ IN PUBLISHING WITH AUDIOBOOK OF MEMOIR “Today, we launch the very first foreign-language version of my audiobook, beginning with Espanol, built with artificial intelligence,” the first lady told Fox News Digital. “This release is inspired directly by the Spanish-speaking community, whose enthusiasm and heartfelt requests encouraged me to make my story accessible to Spanish speakers everywhere.” The Spanish language edition features an AI-generated voice of Mrs. Trump—expertly created by ElevenLabs—to deliver the audiobook in a way that maintains the first lady’s “mannerism, purpose, and authenticity,” while bringing her story to millions of Spanish-speaking listeners. Meanwhile, billboards to promote the audiobook will be up in Times Square in New York City.  Upon the release of the English audiobook, the first lady told Fox News Digital she was “proud to be at the forefront of publishing’s new frontier – the intersection of artificial intelligence technology and audio.” MELANIA TRUMP TO RELEASE ‘COLLECTOR’S EDITION’ OF MEMOIR FEATURING IMAGES PHOTOGRAPHED BY FORMER FIRST LADY The first lady said ElevenLabs AI developed “an AI-generated replica of my voice under strict supervision, which will establish an unforgettable connection with my personal story, in multiple languages for listeners worldwide.” ElevenLabs AI CEO Mati Staniszewski told Fox News Digital earlier this year that they are “excited that Melania Trump trusted our technology to power this first-of-its-kind audiobook project.” The Spanish and English versions of the audiobook are available on MelaniaTrump.com. Upon the release of the memoir last year, the first lady told Fox News Digital that writing her story was “an amazing journey filled with emotional highs and lows.” “Each story shaped me into who I am today,” she said. “Although daunting at times, the process has been incredibly rewarding, reminding me of my strength, and the beauty of sharing my truth.”  “Melania” is the first lady’s first book. She released the original book along with a special collector’s edition that includes photos hand-selected by the first lady, many of which she photographed herself of her home and of various trips she has taken around the world.  Meanwhile, MELANIA, the film, will debut exclusively in theaters worldwide on January 30th, 2026. The first lady will be the subject of the upcoming documentary.

Hegseth erupts over WaPo ‘fake stories’ smear, vows to stop ‘poisoning of the American people’

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth chastised the press following media reports that he signed off on a second strike against an alleged drug boat after the first one left survivors.  The Trump administration has come under renewed scrutiny for its strikes in the Caribbean targeting alleged drug smugglers, after the Washington Post reported on Friday that Hegseth verbally ordered everyone onboard the alleged drug boat to be killed in a Sept. 2 operation. The Post reported that a second strike was conducted to take out the remaining survivors on the boat.  On Monday, the White House confirmed that a second strike had occurred, but disputed that Hegseth ever gave an initial order to ensure that everyone on board was killed, when asked specifically about Hegseth’s instructions. Hegseth said that he watched the first strike live, but did not see any survivors at that time amid the fire and the smoke — and blasted the press for their reporting. HEGSETH BACKS SPECIAL OPS CHIEF’S ‘COMBAT DECISIONS’ IN DEADLY CARIBBEAN STRIKE AHEAD OF CLASSIFIED BRIEFING  “This is called the fog of war. This is what you in the press don’t understand,” Hegseth told reporters at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. “You sit in your air-conditioned offices or up on Capitol Hill and you nit pick, and you plant fake stories in the Washington Post about ‘kill everybody’ phrases on anonymous sources not based in anything, not based in any truth at all. And then you want to throw out really irresponsible terms about American heroes, about the judgment that they made.”  Hegseth said that after watching the first strike, he left for a meeting and later learned of the second strike. The White House said Monday that Hegseth had authorized Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley to conduct the strikes, and that Bradley was the one who ordered and directed the second one.  At the time of the Sept. 2 strike, Bradley was serving as the commander of Joint Special Operations Command, which falls under U.S. Special Operations Command. He is now the head of U.S. Special Operations Command. TRUMP SAYS HE BELIEVES HEGSETH ‘100%’ ON VENEZUELAN DRUG BOAT STRIKE DENIAL AMID ALLEGATIONS  According to Hegseth, carrying out a subsequent strike on the alleged drug boat was the right call.  “Admiral Bradley made the correct decision to ultimately sink the boat and eliminate the threat,” Hegseth said Tuesday.  Meanwhile, reports of the second strike have attracted even more scrutiny from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle on Capitol Hill and calls for greater oversight, amid questions about the strikes’ legality.  “This committee is committed to providing rigorous oversight of the Department of Defense’s military operations in the Caribbean,” Reps. Mike Rogers, R-Ala., and Adam Smith, D-Wash., who lead the House Armed Services Committee, said in a statement on Saturday. “We take seriously the reports of follow-on strikes on boats alleged to be ferrying narcotics in the SOUTHCOM region and are taking bipartisan action to gather a full accounting of the operation in question.” Hegseth said Tuesday that although there has been a pause in strikes in the Caribbean because alleged drug boats are becoming harder to find, the Trump administration’s campaign against the influx of drugs will continue.  “We’ve only just begun striking narco-boats and putting narco-terrorists at the bottom of the ocean because they’ve been poisoning the American people,” Hegseth said.  The Trump administration has carried out more than 20 strikes against alleged drug boats in Latin American waters, and has bolstered its military presence in the Caribbean to align with Trump’s goal to crack down on the influx of drugs into the U.S.

Vance, Trump unleash on Democrats’ affordability ‘scam’: ‘Fixing what [they’ve] broken’

President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance hit Democrats during a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, saying that the current administration is working to fix the mess left by former President Joe Biden.  “The word ‘affordability’ is a Democrat scam. They say it, and then they go into the next subject and everyone thinks they had lower prices. No, they had the worst inflation in the history of our country,” Trump said during his opening remarks at the meeting. He also said affordability was a “con job by the Democrats.” The president boasted that since he took office, his administration has “stopped inflation in its tracks,” but said their work is not over. He said that while inflation is at “a very good level” now, he would like to see it drop even further without putting the country at risk of seeing deflation. DOUBLING DOWN: TOP HOUSE DEMOCRAT SAYS FOCUS ON HIGH PRICES ‘ABSOLUTELY GOING TO CONTINUE’ On Saturday, when boasting on Truth Social about lowering drug prices, Trump declared himself to be the “affordability president,” possibly signaling his administration’s focus on reclaiming the term. Vance, who spoke later in Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting, touted the administration‘s work on the economy and predicted that “2026 is going to be the year when this economy really takes off.” “I think for congressional Democrats in particular, if they want to talk about affordability, they ought to look in the mirror. We are fixing what [they’ve] broken,” Vance said. The vice president also pointed out that under the Biden administration, the American family lost over $3,000 of household income, while they gained over $1,000 of household income under Trump. TRUMP FLIPS DEMS’ ‘AFFORDABILITY’ SCRIPT, TURNING BUZZWORD INTO MAGA MATERIAL AS MAMDANI VISIT LOOMS Several leading Democrats, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., have increasingly centered their message on affordability in recent months, even pointing to the issue as a decisive factor in last month’s Democratic victories across the country. “Republicans have failed the American people on the economy. The cost of living in the United States of America is completely and totally out of control,” Jeffries said during a news conference last month. “Republicans promised to lower the high cost of living on day one. Costs have not gone down, they’ve gone up.” Jeffries’ remarks came one day after Schumer made similar comments about what Senate Democrats called the “Republican Affordability Crisis.” He said that affordability was “the most important issue keeping Americans up at night” and that Trump and Republicans made it worse. “Donald Trump may think affordability is some kind of Democratic ‘con job,’ as he recently called it, but the opposite is true. Americans are fed up with high costs, and they need a lifeline, while Donald Trump is tossing them an anchor,” Schumer said. NEWT GINGRICH: THE SIMPLEST WAY TO MAKE AMERICAN LIFE AFFORDABLE AGAIN In November, the Democrats saw a string of major victories, including New Jersey Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill, Virginia Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger and New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani. All three candidates focused on affordability in their campaigns. After Sherrill and Spanberger’s victories, the Democratic Governors Association (DGA) said that they “ran and won on the economy.” “With cost-of-living concerns top-of-mind for Americans nationwide, Sherrill and Spanberger were laser-focused on affordability, releasing their Affordability Agenda and Affordable Virginia Plan, respectively, as they ran on platforms centered around bringing down the costs of health care, housing, and energy costs,” the DGA statement read. Mamdani’s campaign was focused on affordability in the city.  After his meeting with Trump, Mamdani said he would work with the administration — not against it — to make life more affordable for New Yorkers, citing his and the president’s mutual love of the city.