Trump endorsement streak gets unusual boost with South Carolina GOP governor nomination
COLUMBIA, S.C. – He wasn’t on the ballot, but President Donald Trump was a winner in South Carolina’s Republican gubernatorial runoff. The candidate Trump endorsed, state Attorney General Alan Wilson, defeated Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette to capture the GOP nomination in the race to succeed term-limited Republican Gov. Henry McMaster, the Associated Press reported Tuesday just 26 minutes after the polls closed. But there was no way Trump could lose in the South Carolina runoff, which was shaping up to be the latest test of Trump’s immense grip over the GOP and the power of his endorsements in Republican nominating contests. That’s because Trump endorsed both candidates. DOUBLE ENDORSEMENT DRAMA: TRUMP HEDGES HIS BET IN SOUTH CAROLINA Trump endorsed Evette late last month, a week and a half before the gubernatorial primary. Evette finished on top of a crowded field of contenders in the primary election, with Wilson second. The field also included Reps. Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman, and multimillionaire businessman Rom Reddy. Since no candidate won a majority of the vote, as the top two finishers, Evette and Wilson advanced to Tuesday’s runoff. Mace and Norman endorsed Wilson after failing to advance to the runoff. And Wilson was also backed a week ago by Sen. Ted Cruz, the conservative firebrand from Texas. Trump, meanwhile, made an 11th-hour endorsement on Friday, backing Wilson in addition to his earlier endorsement of Evette, in what appeared to be a move by the president to hedge his bet. Wilson , in his victory speech, gave a shout-out to the president. “I believe he recognized what we’ve been doing,” Wilson said of Trump. “I think he saw the fight in our campaign and the energy in our campaign. I think he likes a fight. I think that’s what won him over.” And Wilson, pointing to Trump, added, “I look forward to working with you as we move forward.” The runoff between Evette and Wilson became combustible, and in last week’s final debate, both candidates launched personal attacks and accused each other of lying and misrepresenting their records. Wilson worked to contrast his tenure as attorney general with what he argued is Evette’s largely ceremonial role as lieutenant governor. And he spotlighted his experience as a combat veteran, prosecutor, and the state’s top law enforcement official. Wilson, in his speech, also praised Evette and welcomed her supporters to join him. Evette, in a social media post, wrote, “I called Alan Wilson to congratulate him on his win and to tell him that he has my support as our party’s nominee. I ask you to join me in doing everything to ensure a win in November.” Evette, who was backed by McMaster in February, showcased herself as an outsider and a Trump-endorsed businesswoman, while casting Wilson as a career politician. “The president had a lot of confidence in me when it was a crowded field, and I won it for him on June 9. I’m going to win it for him again on June 23,” Evette told Fox News Digital on the eve of the runoff. “I have always been very loyal to the president. I’ve traveled wherever he’s asked me to help stump for him, fundraise for him.” DEMOCRACY ’26: STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE FOX NEWS ELECTION HUB Wilson, campaigning with Cruz on the eve of the runoff, pointed to Trump and said in a Fox News Digital interview, “I’ve been fighting and defending his agenda for the better part of a decade, and to have the president reflect that understanding in his endorsement a few days ago means so much to me.” Cruz, who endorsed Wilson a week ahead of Trump’s backing, told Fox News Digital, “I was very glad to see the president endorsing Alan Wilson… My philosophy, as you know, is that I support the strongest conservative who can win, and I think in the governor’s race that’s Alan Wilson.” It’s been 28 years since a Democrat won a gubernatorial election in South Carolina, and Wilson will now be considered the clear favorite in the general election against Democratic nominee Jermaine Johnson, a state representative. “Wilson is a combat veteran, a seasoned prosecutor, and a proud patriot. As Attorney General, he fought back against Biden’s radical federal overreach, dismantled dangerous cartel networks, and put child predators behind bars,” Republican Governors Association Chair Gov. Greg Gianforte of Montana said in a statement. “As governor, Wilson will continue defending the people of South Carolina and ensure families stay safe and free.” But Democratic Governors Association Executive Director Meghan Meehan-Draper, in a statement, emphasized, “In South Carolina, costs are too high, health care is too inaccessible, and schools are failing – and Alan Wilson would just make things worse. Wilson opposes Medicaid expansion, has repeatedly defended the state’s extreme abortion ban, and is part of the same group of insiders who have failed South Carolina.” The brute force of the president’s endorsement power has been on display in GOP primaries over the past two months, with his candidates ousting incumbents he targeted in showdowns in Indiana, Louisiana, Kentucky and Texas that grabbed plenty of national attention. But Trump’s endorsement streak in statewide and congressional Republican primaries was snapped three weeks ago when his last-minute endorsement of Republican Rep. Randy Feenstra of Iowa in the race to succeed retiring GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds wasn’t enough to propel the three-term congressman to victory. Feenstra was narrowly edged by Zach Lahn, a businessman, farmer and former political strategist who was backed by the political wings of MAHA — the acronym for the Make America Healthy Again movement aligned with Trump Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — and Turning Point USA, the powerful conservative organization co-founded by the late Charlie Kirk. Trump rebounded two weeks ago, as Evette finished first in the GOP gubernatorial primary and longtime Trump ally Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina won a majority of the vote in the Republican Senate primary, and avoided a runoff. Graham, who was endorsed
Trump scores major win as Congress passes housing crackdown on Wall Street investors
President Donald Trump scored a major legislative win after Congress cleared a sweeping housing bill aimed at expanding the nation’s supply of homes and lowering costs. House lawmakers voted 358-32 in an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote Tuesday to approve the Senate-passed measure with opposition coming solely from Republicans. Every Democrat present voted for the package. The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, one of the most significant housing bills approved by Congress in decades, largely incorporates Trump’s proposal to ban large institutional investors from purchasing single-family homes — a measure designed to help individual buyers compete with private equity firms. It would also streamline federal environmental reviews for housing, loosen regulations around the construction of factory-built homes, and incentivize local governments to reform their zoning laws to allow for more homebuilding, among its more than 45 provisions. ONE IN THREE ADULTS UNDER 35 LIVES WITH PARENTS AS HOUSING COSTS SOAR, DATA SHOWS Other sections would allocate federal grants to municipalities with a track record of constructing new homes and create a pilot program to help communities redevelop vacant properties. “The package focuses on a simple idea of building more homes, which means lower costs and more expanded opportunities for all Americans,” Rep. Mike Haridopolos, R-Fla., said Tuesday. The president is expected to promptly sign the measure into law as soon as Wednesday. Tuesday’s vote comes as home prices have surged in recent years, with the median nationwide price tag topping $400,000 and the median asking rent climbing above $1,760, representing an increase of 34.4% and 17.9%, respectively, since 2019, according to analysis from Realtor.com. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., brought the measure to the floor under a fast-track procedure known as suspension of the rules that required a two-thirds majority to secure passage. In the end, more Democrats supported the legislation than Republicans. I TRIED FOR YEARS TO BUY A HOME. WALL STREET ALWAYS BEAT ME — TRUMP MADE THE RIGHT CALL Some of the more than two dozen conservatives voted against the housing bill in protest of the SAVE America Act not being attached to the package. That legislation — mandating voter identification requirements, cracking down on mail-in voting and barring men from women’s sports, among other provisions — has failed to clear the Senate’s legislative filibuster and has not received a vote in the House. “The Senate cannot keep obstructing President Trump’s agenda while ignoring election integrity,” Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., wrote on social media. “I call on my fellow colleagues to stand firm and honor their pledge.” The group of conservatives has also advocated for the SAVE America Act to be paired with the reauthorization of a critical surveillance authority, known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, though that is unlikely to materialize amid intraparty disagreement. Some Republicans also opposed the Trump-backed measure, citing the inclusion of provisions offered by progressive Democrats. “The Housing bill is full of big government garbage & spending,” Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, wrote on social media. The housing bill’s package comes after the House and Senate exhausted months ironing out disagreements about how to implement restrictions on private equity investors and a temporary ban on central bank digital currencies (CBDC) — an unrelated proposal sought by GOP privacy hawks. Both chambers ultimately agreed to a provision that would restrict large investors owning more than 350 single-family homes from purchasing additional ones, while creating exceptions for the construction of rental properties. However, investors that exceed the new threshold would not be required to sell existing holdings. Critics have argued that large investors are not the source of supply constraints, with those firms owning less than 1% of the nation’s housing stock, according to Parcl Labs. Their ownership of single-family rental properties is slightly higher, ranging from 1% to 3%, with the presence of large investors highly concentrated in certain rental markets, including Jacksonville, Fla., (22%) and Phoenix (13%), according to a March Government Accountability Office report. The housing bill’s passage comes as Republicans are facing electoral headwinds from voters who are souring on the current state of the economy and cost of living. But the soon-to-be law could give Republicans a concrete example taken to address housing affordability — a key issue for voters heading into November’s midterm elections. Just 31% of voters approve of Trump’s handling of the economy, according to a Fox News poll released last week. That was a 2-point improvement after the measure hit an all-time low of 29% in May.
Biden judge overruled on key Trump immigration policy
The Trump administration scored a major immigration win Monday after a federal appeals court revived its nationwide expedited removal policy, clearing the way for the Department of Homeland Security to resume fast-track deportations of eligible illegal immigrants. The ruling allows federal immigration authorities to quickly remove certain migrants found anywhere in the country if they were not lawfully admitted or paroled into the U.S. and cannot show they have continuously lived in the country for at least two years. In a 2-1 ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit vacated a lower court order that had blocked the policy, concluding that challengers were unlikely to succeed on their claims that the expansion violates constitutional due process protections. “DHS thereby exercised its discretion to apply its expedited-removal authority to the maximum extent allowed by law,” Judge Justin Walker wrote for the court. TRUMP’S ICE LAUNCHES BOLD COURTHOUSE MIGRANT ARREST STRATEGY TO FAST-TRACK DEPORTATIONS BIDEN AVOIDED DHS praised the ruling. “For years, DHS has arbitrarily limited expedited removal to 14 days even though it applies to illegal aliens who entered the country illegally within the last two years,” DHS General Counsel James Percival said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Today, the D.C. Circuit vindicated our decision to apply the law as written. It’s not too late to take a $2,600 check and a free flight home!” The ruling reverses a nationwide stay issued by U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb, a Biden appointee, who found the policy created a significant risk that individuals could be wrongly deported before having a meaningful opportunity to prove they were exempt from expedited removal. The Trump administration first expanded expedited removal nationwide during Trump’s first term in 2019. The Biden administration later rescinded the policy before DHS reinstated it shortly after Trump returned to office in January 2025. The majority concluded that the Constitution requires the government to notify illegal immigrants when they are facing deportation and give them an opportunity to respond, but does not require immigration officials to explain every potential legal defense that could prevent their removal. APPEALS COURT GRANTS TRUMP SHORT-TERM WIN OVER BOASBERG IN IMMIGRATION RULING “The constitutional requirement is notice of the action the government is taking and the grounds for it, plus an opportunity to respond,” Walker wrote. “It is not a requirement that the government explain how the individual might prevail.” The court rejected arguments that DHS must proactively inform individuals they can avoid expedited removal by proving they have continuously lived in the United States for at least two years. “If due process requires the government to inform individuals of the two-year continuous-presence rule, it presumably also requires informing them of every other basis for contesting expedited removal,” Walker wrote. “Make the Road offers no limiting principle and identifies no authority for so expansive a requirement.” The majority also dismissed claims that examples of wrongful deportations demonstrated the policy itself was unconstitutional. “To be sure, the record contains evidence that some aliens have been erroneously subjected to expedited removal despite having been present for more than two years,” the opinion stated. “If so, that’s illegal. But the cause there would be individual officers’ failure to follow the law — not defects in the written directives under review.” Judge Robert Wilkins dissented, arguing that DHS’s procedures do not give migrants a meaningful chance to prove they have lived in the United States for at least two years and therefore may not qualify for expedited removal. “DHS is using procedures that do not allow a meaningful opportunity for noncitizens to demonstrate that they have been continuously present in the United States for two years,” Wilkins wrote.
Talarico says he ‘hates Christianity’ in unearthed interview with transgender ‘Latinx’ theologian
A prominent Democrat running for a critical U.S. Senate seat in Texas told a self-identified transgender, queer, “Latinx” podcast host that he “hates Christianity” in a 2021 interview. In a recently resurfaced episode of the “Activist Theology Podcast,” James Talarico, a Democratic state lawmaker now running for the Senate, confided that “I always think of myself as a Christian who hates Christianity.” He went on to say, “I always get drawn back into it because nowhere else, in no other political philosophy and no other economic theory do I find anything nearly as truly radical or revolutionary as the teachings of that barefoot Rabbi.” Moments later, he told the podcast hosts that he believed the teachings of Christ are similar to “the teachings of the Buddha and other mystical traditions.” Democrats are hopeful that Talarico will flip one of Texas’ Senate seats blue for the first time in decades, which would be devastating for the GOP’s odds of retaining its upper chamber majority. He is running against Republican Ken Paxton, who currently serves as Texas attorney general. ‘GOD IS NON-BINARY’: TEXAS DEM NOMINEE TALARICO’S PAST REMARKS ON ABORTION, RACE AND GENDER DRAW SCRUTINY Though Talarico has touted his ability to draw both Democrats and moderate Republicans, his history of controversial statements has cast doubt on his bipartisan appeal. While identifying as a Presbyterian seminarian, Talarico has caused consternation by claiming “God is nonbinary” and that there are six genders. He also raised eyebrows in a resurfaced clip in which he called reducing meat consumption “existential” to fighting climate change. The latest comments to resurface come from Talarico’s interview with Roberto Che Espinoza, a transgender-identifying author, and Rev. Anna Golladay, a progressive minister currently running for Congress in Tennessee as a Democrat. During the interview, Talarico said he has been inspired by Espinoza’s writings, saying, “I couldn’t contain my inner fanboy because I had read your book last year, and it continues to inspire me, and y’all’s work continues to inspire me.” Talarico explained that his upbringing was influenced by what he described as a “Christian anarchist tradition.” He described himself as a “boring, cis-white man” and quipped, “I added Presbyterian to spice it up.” CRUZ SAYS MAMDANI, AOC, PLATNER SHOW DEMOCRATS’ LEFTWARD SHIFT: ‘THAT’S WHERE THE ENERGY IS’ He added that “my imagination is also just limited by my own background and identity, my whiteness, my masculinity, all those things limit my imagination about what’s possible. So, I have to continually press against that to try to expand the limits of what I’m dreaming of for our community. And that’s where, you know, Dr. Robyn [Espinoza], your book helps me do that and podcasts like this help me do that.” He later accused his Republican colleagues who don’t support transgender bathrooms of “threatening the existence” of people he loves, referring to them as “monsters.” “I have to work with people who have passed these policies that threaten the existence of people that I love,” he said. “Now they don’t threaten my existence, for the most part, but they threaten the existence of my friends and my loved ones. When I got elected, I went searching for those monsters, right? I got elected to the state house, and I was like, ‘I’m ready to find the monstrous people who passed these, you know, the show me your papers legislation, the bathroom bill.” However, he said, “I didn’t find monsters,” instead, “I found people who loved their kids, who loved their partners, who loved their colleagues, their immediate neighbors. “That was, like, a big — something that I struggled with my first term — like, how they could, you know, vote this way on the floor and then turn around and be so personally decent.” TRUMP ROASTS DEM CANDIDATE AS UNELECTABLE FOR CARDINAL SIN IN TEXAS Commenting on the latest resurfaced statements, Zach Kraft, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee, told Fox News Digital, “You have to be either crazy or stupid to run for Senate in Texas openly hating Christianity and BBQ but ‘loving’ transgender kids.” “James Talarico is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, who has made it clear he intends to destroy Texans’ way of life and replace it with his woke socialist utopia where there are six genders, a Green New Deal, and a non-binary God,” he added. In response, JT Ennis, a spokesperson for Talarico’s campaign, told Fox News Digital that “the Christian seminarian who’s dedicated his life to the teachings of Jesus Christ obviously doesn’t hate Christianity.” “James is a devout Christian who fights religious and political corruption when he sees it — because there’s nothing Christ-like about powerful people twisting the teachings of Jesus to justify hate, violence, and greed,” added Ennis. “While billionaire-bought politicians like Ken Paxton attack James for his faith — he will continue encouraging Texans across the political spectrum to come together by loving their neighbors as themselves,” he said. Madison Cercy, a spokeswoman for Paxton’s campaign, responded by telling Fox News Digital, “Every time one of these comments resurfaces, James Talarico claims it’s being taken out of context or written off as another ‘cringey comment.’ But after years of saying the same things, Texans can see the pattern.” Cercy said that Talarico’s “record is a long history of fighting for the most progressive causes in the name of Christianity,” adding, “The truth is he uses it as a shield to justify his crazy ideas.”
White House accuses mainstream media of ‘parroting’ Iranian regime propaganda on nuclear deal terms
EXCLUSIVE: The White House slammed the “mainstream media” for citing Iranian state media reports that Tehran has no intention of honoring the nuclear inspection commitments that Vice President JD Vance says were agreed upon. Iran has agreed to “robust” inspections of its nuclear sites following the peace talks in Switzerland, according to a U.S. official. A White House official spoke to Fox News Digital on Tuesday, calling the sourcing for widespread reports from mainstream media outlets “propaganda from the Iranian regime.” “For the tireless scolding we hear from the mainstream media about their ‘journalistic ethics’ and ‘integrity of their reporting,’ you’d think they would view the misinformation flowing from Iranian state media with a high level of skepticism,” a White House official told Fox News Digital. “Instead, the American press has spent every waking hour of this negotiating process mindlessly parroting hardliner propaganda from the Iranian regime,” the official added. “The President and Vice President of the United States, along with the entire U.S. negotiating team, are working around the clock to secure a great deal for the American people, and the updates they’ve provided on this process have been the truth.” LEAVITT REBUKES MEDIA OUTLETS RUNNING WITH IRANIAN NARRATIVES ON 10 DEMANDS Critics cited Iranian state media’s reporting that nuclear inspections would not be honored, despite Vance and the White House saying that the terms of the deal included the provision. “Despite their protestations and false statements to the contrary, coupled with the drumbeat of the Fake News, which is doing everything possible to make the U.S. Victory as small and insignificant as possible, Iran has fully and completely agreed to highest level Nuclear inspections long into the future (Infinity!!!),” President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post. A source familiar with the talks expressed frustration to Fox News Digital over the irony of pundits speaking out against the deal for using talking points from Iranian public figures and state media, likening dialogue and reporting to an unwitting support for the Iranian regime. US OFFICIAL SAYS JD VANCE MADE ‘GREAT PROGRESS’ IN IRAN TALKS, CALLS SNUB REPORTS ‘FOREIGN PROPAGANDA’ A number of reports from mainstream outlets this week cited information surrounding Vance allegedly being snubbed by the Qataris after Qatar’s prime minister and chief negotiator, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, walked past Vance and warmly greeted Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif instead. In an interview on Monday with Qatar-funded media outlet, Al Jazeera, Al Thani denied snubbing Vance, saying he had just spent hours with Vance and hadn’t yet greeted Sharif. He blamed the media for misrepresenting the encounter. “And they just made the issue too big,” he said. A U.S. official told Fox News Digital the U.S. team had already been meeting with Qatari officials for hours, eliminating the need for a ceremonial greeting. The official added that the leaders’ joint remarks before the meeting were organized impromptu rather than as a staged public appearance. IRANIAN PRESIDENT CALLS FOR NEGOTIATION AND DIALOGUE AS NUCLEAR TALKS CONTINUE Some reports also said the Iranians walked away from the negotiating table while Vance and the White House delegation were still in Switzerland. The reports mainly cited Iranian state media as a source. Vance said that there were threats to walk out, but denied the reports and allegations that the Iranians walked away from the table when speaking to the press on Tuesday. “They didn’t walk out, and their technical team is still here in Bürgenstock, working with our technical team,” Vance said. “When they make threats that aren’t rooted in reality, they have to accept that the President of the United States is actually going to set the record straight. That’s all that happened. So, yes, there was a little bit of threatening, there was a little bit of whining, but at the end of the day, the talks continued, and we made great progress.” During a news conference on Tuesday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran will never negotiate its missile defense capabilities with any nation and stated that Iran believes “regional peace and stability can only be achieved through honest dialogue and intra-regional cooperation.” President Trump told reporters on Tuesday that he expects nuclear inspections to occur “at the appropriate time.”
Brooklyn coffee shop that targeted Jewish congressman faces DOJ probe after reported tax, health code issues
The owner of a Brooklyn coffee shop that publicly attacked Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., over his support for Israel is reportedly facing tax and health code issues and previously donated to Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner‘s campaign. The revelations come as Poetica Coffee faces a Justice Department civil rights probe after the shop publicly targeted Goldman, a Jewish lawmaker and outspoken supporter of Israel. Poetica Coffee is owned by Parviz Mukhamadkulov, an Uzbek immigrant, according to a report from the Washington Free Beacon. Federal Election Commission (FEC) records show that Mukhamadkulov contributed $35 to Platner’s campaign, which has been under fire for a variety of scandals, including a Nazi-linked tattoo on his chest. In a now-deleted social media post, Poetica Coffee raged at the Jewish congressman. “Hey @repdangoldman, we see that you stopped by our shop today for a coffee,” the post said. “Do you see how it doesn’t taste like genocide juice? Or are you still having a hard time telling the difference? See, here at Poetica, we don’t serve racists, fascists, homophobes, genocide enablers, or anyone in between.” NYC COFFEE SHOP BANS PRO-ISRAEL POLITICIAN IN HOSTILE SOCIAL POST: ‘WE DON’T SERVE… GENOCIDE ENABLERS’ After facing backlash, the coffee shop deleted its entire Instagram account. “Too bad we didn’t recognize you right away, or we would have turned you away,” the post continued. “We issued you a refund—we don’t need your money (it’s probably coming from AIPAC anyways). Enjoy your loss on Tuesday. Don’t ever come to Poetica.” The Department of Justice (DOJ) has opened a civil rights probe into the matter. SOCIAL MEDIA ERUPTS OVER MAMDANI’S SILENCE AFTER BROOKLYN COFFEE SHOP BANS JEWISH CONGRESSMAN Meanwhile, Poetica has a growing list of issues unrelated to their post and the DOJ investigation. The Washington Free Beacon reported that as of June 20, 2026, Poetica Coffee and Mukhamadkulov owed New York state hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid taxes. Fox News Digital has reached out to the New York Department of Taxation and Finance for comment and confirmation. Further, one of the company’s locations in Brooklyn has faced health code violations each year since 2023. CHRISTIAN COFFEE SHOP OWNER HELPING HOMELESS FACES PROTESTS IN FAR-LEFT CITY The latest violations, issued in June, describe “filth flies” inside the restaurant. “Filth flies or food/refuse/sewage associated with (FRSA) flies or other nuisance pests in establishment’s food and/or non-food areas. FRSA flies include house flies, blow flies, bottle flies, flesh flies, drain flies, Phorid flies and fruit flies,” the violation says. Another June violation said that the sewage disposal system in the shop was “not provided, improper, inadequate or unapproved,” and that personal cleanliness among staff was “inadequate.” PORTLAND PIZZA JOINT HITS SITE VISITORS WITH ‘F— ICE’ MESSAGE, DECLARES FOOD IS ‘POLITICAL’ The restaurant was hit with the same violations last December, plus a violation that said there was “evidence of rats or live rats in establishment’s food or non-food areas.” Poetica has also been cited for failing to store pesticides or other toxic chemicals properly. Mukhamadkulov, who shared far-left messages on his X account, deleted his account on Tuesday. Several posts were archived by the Free Beacon. UNEARTHED ANTISEMITIC, ANTI-ISRAEL POSTS FROM MAMDANI AIDE SPARK GOP OUTRAGE In a reply to a post by conservative actor James Woods, he boasted about supporting socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani. “Just went to vote for him. All for you babes. He will be NYC mayor and you and all your likes cant do s— about it. Racist piece of s—,” he posted in October 2025. In July 2025, he celebrated the death of an Israel Defense Forces combat engineer, saying, “One less baby killer.” He has also blamed Israel for 9/11, smeared the country as a “Nazi nation,” and accused Israel of “genocide.” Poetica did not return a request for comment. Fox News Digital left voicemails on two phone numbers associated with Mukhamadkulov. Goldman did not return a request for comment.
Republicans break with Trump to rebuke Iran war — but it won’t change policy
Senate Democrats scored another win in pushing back against President Donald Trump’s war in Iran on Tuesday, but the symbolic victory won’t actually curb his war powers in the region. Aided by absences from Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Dave McCormick, R-Pa., Democrats and a handful of Republicans passed a war powers resolution rebuking the conflict in Iran. It’s the same resolution that passed the House earlier this month in a rare display of House Republicans breaking with Trump. Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., Susan Collins, R-Maine, Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Bill Cassidy, R-La., joined nearly every Senate Democrat to adopt the resolution on a 50 to 48 vote. But unlike several previous attempts in the Senate to curb Trump’s authority, the House-passed measure does not carry any legally binding weight and won’t go to the president’s desk for his signature, where it would likely be vetoed. TRUMP SUFFERS RARE HOUSE DEFEAT AS BIPARTISAN VOTE MOVES TO WITHDRAW TROOPS FROM IRAN CONFLICT Still, after stumbling last week, Democrats notched another victory against the war. The vote comes as Congress reels over the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed between the U.S. and Iran that, for now, has allotted more time for officials to negotiate a longer-lasting peace deal. Many Republicans recoiled at the drip-feed of information coming out about the deal, with some comparing it to former President Barack Obama’s own Iran nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker, R-Miss., shredded the MOU in a statement Thursday in which he cautioned that the agreement “negotiates away the victories of Operation Epic Fury in ways that are completely out of step with the president’s goals.” TOP SENATE REPUBLICAN RIPS INTO TRUMP’S IRAN DEAL, SAYS $300 BILLION MAKES OBAMA DEAL LOOK LIKE ‘A PITTANCE’ Wicker took particular issue with the proposed $300 billion reconstruction fund, which he acknowledged wouldn’t be funded by taxpayers, but “would make Iran’s payoff under President Obama’s 2015 deal look like a pittance by comparison.” Other Republicans aren’t thrilled with sanctions on Iranian oil being lifted, even temporarily, after years of keeping their oil business in a vice grip. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said he wanted to “tie lifting sanctions or financial incentives to conditions on Iranian behavior,” and acknowledged that reopening the Strait of Hormuz was a component of that. IRAN WAR’S PRICE TAG HITS $80B — MORE THAN DOUBLE WHAT CONGRESS WAS TOLD But he also said that the “objective here is always going to be Iranian compliance” with ending their nuclear program in exchange for financial incentives. And if the final deal does include an agreement touching Iran’s nuclear program, lawmakers will get to vote on it. Congress is also gearing up to mull an $80 billion supplemental spending request from the Pentagon to cover the costs of the war, a figure that’s more than double what War Secretary Pete Hegseth and the Pentagon comptroller told lawmakers during a hearing earlier this year. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., argued that as the MOU takes hold, now is the “perfect time for Congress to step back and ask ourselves the question of what should the next chapter be, rather than allowing one man to make that decision.” “If you have to come to us for diplomacy, and you have to come to us for money, you shouldn’t be able to end-run us to initiate war on our own,” Kaine said.
Alaska’s blockbuster Senate race thrown into chaos as same-name challenger fights disqualification in court
A controversial candidate sharing the name and party affiliation of a vulnerable GOP incumbent is vowing not to go down without a fight after Alaska’s top election official blocked him from the state’s blockbuster Senate race. Dan J. Sullivan, the same-name challenger running against Sen. Dan S. Sullivan, R-Alaska, filed a lawsuit to remain on the August primary ballot after Director of Elections Carol Beecher disqualified his candidacy last week. Beecher determined that Dan J. Sullivan, a retired teacher who recently changed his party affiliation to the GOP, did not launch his campaign “in good faith,” and sought to “confuse or mislead” voters at the ballot box. But counsel affiliated with the same-name candidate argues that his removal runs afoul of state law. SAME-NAME CANDIDATE DISQUALIFIED FROM KEY SENATE RACE OVER ALLEGED DEM SCHEME TO CONFUSE VOTERS “Nothing in Alaska law regulates in any way the private motivations that draw individuals to declare or campaign for office,” a court filing from attorneys Jeffrey Robinson, Bryn Pallesen and Zoe Eisberg obtained by The Associated Press reads. The fate of his candidacy could prove decisive in the state’s hotly contested Senate race in which Sen. Dan S. Sullivan is seeking a third term in the Republican-leaning state. Democrats are hoping that former Rep. Mary Peltola, D-Alaska, whom Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., helped recruit into the race, will unseat Sullivan in November. Primary ballots are expected to be printed later this month. Under Alaska’s open primary system, the top four vote-getters will advance to the November general election. Republicans have argued that Dan J. Sullivan’s candidacy is a “sham” attempt orchestrated by Democratic operatives to potentially trip up voters and siphon off votes from the incumbent, but Democrats, including Peltola, have denied involvement. “Even by Chuck Schumer’s low standards, this was an outrageous attempt to trick Alaska voters and rig the election,” Senate Republican Conference Chairman Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said last week. GOP FIGHTS TO STOP MULTIPLE DAN SULLIVANS FROM APPEARING ON ALASKA BALLOT, CALLS CANDIDACY A ‘SHAM’ Dan J. Sullivan has dismissed Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, R-Alaska, highlighting “credible allegations” that suggested he filed to run with the intention of deceiving voters. “The Lieutenant Governor’s job is to oversee elections fairly and impartially,” Dan J. Sullivan wrote on Facebook last week. “Instead, her actions create the impression that the state government is being used to protect an incumbent senator at the ballot box.” “The people of Alaska are fully capable of deciding for themselves who should represent them in Washington,” he added. The political newcomer has come under scrutiny over ties to Democratic consultant Amber Lee, who was revealed as the author of his campaign launch announcement in metadata reviewed by Fox News Digital. Lee has notably supported Peltola’s prior runs for office and expressed optimism to The Hill in January that the Alaska Democrat would unseat the incumbent Sullivan. According to Beecher’s letter, Dan J. Sullivan requested to appear on the primary ballot under the name “Dan Sullivan” despite previously registering as “Daniel J. Sullivan, Jr.” Beecher also noted that his campaign materials are visually similar to the incumbent Republican’s campaign and that he had no affiliation with the GOP prior to jumping into the race shortly before the filing deadline. The nascent candidate notably sought to register with the incumbent’s “S” initial at one point, according to Beecher. “‘S’ is Senator Sullivan’s middle initial, not yours,” the election official noted. Amid mounting scrutiny, Dan J. Sullivan has largely brushed off concerns about his name. “My grandfather was Dan, and between my dad, uncle, and cousins, there were six more Dans in the family,” he wrote on Facebook recently. “Nicknames were a necessity, and mine will never be revealed. Fox News Digital reached out to the Dan J. Sullivan campaign for comment.
Reporter’s Notebook: Senate Republicans brace for tough lunch with Trump amid legislative clashes
Hope they have Maalox and Pepto-Bismol on hand when President Donald Trump visits Capitol Hill to meet with Senate Republicans over lunch. Senate GOP Steering Committee Chairman and Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., invited Trump for the luncheon Wednesday. Some Senate Republicans may wonder if they’re the ones on the menu. Both Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and John Cornyn, R-Texas, are out after the president refused to endorse them and they lost their primaries. Trump has also sparred with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., exasperated that he can’t execute his legislative agenda. Scott is a close ally of the president. He lost to Thune and Cornyn in the race to become majority leader in late 2024. In fact, Scott didn’t even request a blessing from the top Senate GOP leadership team to invite the president. Scott’s teamed up with Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, advocating that the Senate approve the SAVE America Act. It requires proof of citizenship to vote. This advocacy is driving Thune and other members of the GOP brass batty since the bill failed twice. Scott and Lee want the Senate to get onto the SAVE America Act and stay on it until the measure passes. But few understand how exhaustion somehow conjures a majority of senators to suddenly support the bill. GOP TRIGGERS MARATHON SENATE FIGHT TO EXPOSE DEMS’ OPPOSITION TO TRUMP-BACKED VOTER ID BILL Moreover, the president demands that they eliminate the filibuster. If the SAVE America Act doesn’t have the necessary votes to pass, there’s no way it commands 60 yeas to break a filibuster. Simple solution, right? Not really. Thune has said repeatedly that there aren’t the votes to alter the filibuster, either. It’s about the math. So expect some intense discussions Wednesday over what the president wants the Senate to do. Thune has tried to tell the president repeatedly what the Senate is capable of, based on the various parliamentary equations. And there’s fear among Republicans that the president may attempt to sow discord about the midterm election outcomes if Democrats flip the House and/or Senate — and Republicans never passed the SAVE America Act. Trump sports plenty of supporters in the Senate, but he’s frustrated Senate Republicans by repeatedly yanking the legislative rug out from under his own party for weeks now. The Senate was on the precipice of beginning a “vote-a-rama” to finally pass funding for ICE and Border Patrol in May. Then the administration announced its weaponization fund. A meeting between Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and GOP senators devolved into pointed conversations. Blanche continued to defend the fund. Some Republicans threatened their own amendments during the vote-a-rama to either block the fund or shield themselves from political fallout. Thune pulled the bill from the floor and sent everyone home for more than a week. SENATE GOP ERUPTS OVER TRUMP DOJ ‘ANTI-WEAPONIZATION’ FUND, PUNTS ICE, BORDER PATROL FUNDING Then there was a carefully crafted bipartisan agreement to renew FISA Section 702, the nation’s most effective program to track terrorists. Its authorization ran out after the president sidetracked the nomination of Jay Clayton, his own pick to become Director of National Intelligence (DNI). Republicans couldn’t pass the FISA authorization on their own, so they engineered a bipartisan compromise with Democrats. But Democrats withdrew their support for the bill once the president announced that housing czar Bill Pulte would take over as acting DNI for former Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who resigned. Democrats viewed Pulte as a partisan who had no experience in intelligence. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Tom Cotton, R-Ark., quickly scheduled a confirmation hearing for Jay Clayton once Trump tapped him as the nominee. It was believed that the Senate may be able to confirm Clayton within a matter of days after his confirmation hearing. That would limit time on the job by Pulte. So, once Clayton was in place, the Senate could prospectively return to the bipartisan FISA deal and pass it. But Trump detonated all of that last week. He insisted that Senate Republicans cancel Clayton’s confirmation hearing and not advance his nomination until it has confirmed Jamie McDonald as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. That’s the position Clayton held. The president made those demands at 3:59 a.m. ET Wednesday — all without consulting Thune. He then made his signature on the FISA renewal conditional on passage of the SAVE America Act. “That tells me he’s not very serious about FISA or intelligence,” said one senior congressional Republican about Trump. “And Pulte is a big middle finger to the intelligence community.” So Senate Republicans aren’t enamored with all of these demands. Some began to lose faith in the president once he ditched support for Cassidy and Cornyn. Now they believe he’s being unreasonable, jerking around Thune, moving the goalposts for critical national security legislation and expecting the impossible on the SAVE America Act and the filibuster. For his part, Scott believes he and the president can change minds. Trump has criticized Senate Republican leaders generally of late. But he’s tiptoed around potentially calling out Thune by name. Thune is well-liked by his GOP colleagues and, like most congressional leaders, has an impossible job. That is why former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., likened the job to that of “herding cats.” THUNE ‘ADAMANT’ ABOUT TRUMP SUPPORT, DRIVING MAGA AGENDA DESPITE TENSE PAST RELATIONSHIP It’s clear that the president has better relations right now with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., compared to Thune. But turning on Thune by name would truly infuriate many of the president’s best allies in the Senate. Trump routinely excoriated former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., for not ditching the filibuster. But it was McConnell who delivered Trump three of the most lasting legacies: Supreme Court Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. McConnell established a new Senate precedent for the method he used to confirm Gorsuch. Gorsuch would have faced an unprecedented filibuster for an associate justice on the High Court and never scored
Mitch McConnell will not vote in the Senate this week as recovery continues
Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is continuing to recover and will not vote this week, spokesman David Popp noted. “Senator McConnell is still working closely with staff on Senate business and Kentucky matters as he continues his recovery. However, he will not be voting this week,” he said in a statement. McConnell was hospitalized earlier this month, though the reason has not been disclosed. SEN MITCH MCCONNELL HOSPITALIZED, ‘RECEIVING EXCELLENT CARE,’ HIS OFFICE SAYS Fox News Digital reached out to request more information on Tuesday, but Popp did not provide any additional details regarding the senator’s situation. McConnell, the longest-serving Senate party leader in U.S. history, was previously hospitalized for eight days earlier this year after experiencing “flu-like symptoms.” The long-serving lawmaker has been in office since early 1985. FOUR SENATE REPUBLICANS AGAIN UNITE WITH DEMS TO BLOCK TRUMP’S SAVE AMERICA ACT McConnell is 84 years old. He announced last year that he would not run for an eighth Senate term. BLUEGRASS DEMOCRATS MAKE THEIR CHOICE TO REPLACE MCCONNELL, TAKE ON TRUMP-BACKED BARR U.S. Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky., is the Republican candidate running in the Kentucky U.S. Senate general election contest this year, and former Kentucky state Rep. Charles Booker is the Democratic candidate. McConnell has dealt with a series of health episodes in recent years. He fell and sprained his wrist while walking out of a GOP luncheon in December 2024. He was hospitalized with a concussion in March 2023 and missed several weeks of work after falling in a Washington hotel. After he returned, he twice froze up during news conferences that summer, staring vacantly ahead before colleagues and staff came to his assistance. McConnell had polio in his early childhood, and he has long acknowledged some difficulty as an adult walking and climbing stairs. In addition to his 2023 fall, he also tripped and fell in 2019 at his home in Kentucky. He had surgery for a fractured shoulder. Fox News’ Tyler Olson and Eric Mack contributed to this report