Trump says he’s considering pulling US out of NATO over Iran war stance
President Donald Trump said he is strongly considering pulling the United States out of NATO over the alliance’s refusal to join his administration’s efforts in the Iran conflict, according to a report. “I was never swayed by NATO,” Trump told The Daily Telegraph in an interview published Wednesday. The president, long a critic of the military alliance, which has been pivotal in maintaining global order since World War II, said reconsidering the matter was “beyond consideration.” “I always knew they were a paper tiger, and Putin knows that too, by the way,” Trump told the British outlet. MORE KEY US ALLIES BLOCK MILITARY FLIGHTS AS IRAN WAR RIFT WIDENS WITH TRUMP The comments come after European nations reportedly rejected Trump’s request that allies send warships to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly 20% of the world’s oil supply travels. Iran has threatened or moved to restrict access to the strait in reaction to the U.S. offensive against Iranian targets, raising concerns about global energy markets and economic stability. “Beyond not being there, it was actually hard to believe. And I didn’t do a big sale. I just said, ‘Hey,’ you know, I didn’t insist too much. I just think it should be automatic,” Trump said. “We’ve been there automatically, including Ukraine. Ukraine wasn’t our problem. It was a test, and we were there for them, and we would always have been there for them. They weren’t there for us.” TRUMP WARNS NATO OF ‘VERY BAD’ FUTURE IF ALLIES DON’T HELP SECURE STRAIT OF HORMUZ The president also criticized the United Kingdom and Prime Minister Keir Starmer for not participating in the conflict. “You don’t even have a navy. You’re too old and had aircraft carriers that didn’t work,” Trump said. Responding to the president’s comments, Starmer said Britain is “fully committed to NATO,” calling it “the single most effective military alliance the world has ever seen.” Starmer told reporters that “whatever the pressure on me and others, whatever the noise, I am going to act in the British national interest in all the decisions I make.”
White House marks Holy Week, Easter with days of prayer centered on religious liberty
FIRST ON FOX: The White House is marking Holy Week with days of prayer and worship, including President Donald Trump participating in a number of events to honor Easter and celebrate the “right to religious liberty.” “President Trump will never waver in safeguarding the right to religious liberty, upholding the dignity of life and protecting faith in our public square,” White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers told Fox News Digital of the White House’s Holy Week events. “Millions of Christians across the country will celebrate Jesus Christ conquering death, freeing us from sin, and unlocking the gates of Heaven for all of humanity, and the President is proud to join Americans during this blessed holiday.” A White House official told Fox News Digital that the president on Wednesday will attend the White House Easter Lunch in the East Room. TRUMP GATHERS CEOS FOR UNPRECEDENTED FAITH, ECONOMY MEETING TO RENEW US ‘SPIRITUALLY AND FINANCIALLY’ The event will feature worship and prayer, and choral performances from the Free Chapel Choir, led by Pastor Jentezen Franklin on the saxophone. The event will also include prayers from Reverend Franklin Graham, Bishop Robert Barron, Pastor Paula White and others. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner, Small Business Administrator Kelly Loeffler, Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought, and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt will attend the White House Easter lunch. Erika Kirk is also expected to attend the White House Easter lunch, a White House official told Fox News Digital. Next, on Wednesday evening, at 5:00 p.m., White House staff are invited to attend a Catholic Mass in the Indian Treaty Room. The mass will be celebrated by Father Frank Mann. FLASHBACK: WHITE HOUSE PLANS ‘EXTRAORDINARY’ HOLY WEEK AS TRUMP HONORS EASTER WITH ‘THE OBSERVANCE IT DESERVES’ On Thursday, Holy Thursday, a White House official told Fox News Digital that all White House staff are invited to attend a worship service in the same room. That service will feature Rev. Franklin Graham, Pastor Jentzen Franklin, Pastor Paula White and White House Faith Office Director Jenny Korn. A White House official also told Fox News Digital that President Trump is expected to issue a presidential proclamation honoring Holy Week. “President Trump wishes Christians across America and around the world a very happy Easter. He is risen, indeed!” Rogers added in a comment to Fox News Digital. The president is also expected to post video messages on his Truth Social account to celebrate Easter and Passover. A White House official told Fox News Digital that Passover events will take place next week. Passover begins at sundown on Wednesday, April 1 and ends at sundown on Thursday, April 9. The White House Passover event will take place April 6 in the Indian Treaty Room. Edan Alexander, who was held hostage by Hamas in Gaza for more than 500 days following the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks, and his family will be in attendance. Alexander was the last living American hostage released last year. Faith has been a focal point of Trump’s second term, including signing an executive order in February 2025 establishing a White House Faith Office. The office empowers faith-based entities, community organizations and houses of worship “to better serve families and communities,” according to the White House. The office is housed under the Domestic Policy Council and consults with experts in the faith community on policy changes to “better align with American values.”
Trump to attend Supreme Court as justices weigh birthright citizenship order in high-stakes test
The Supreme Court on Wednesday will weigh the legality of President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship in the U.S. — a landmark court fight that could profoundly impact the lives of millions of Americans and lawful U.S. residents. Trump himself will also be attending the Supreme Court oral arguments in a sign of his interest in the case. His attendance marks the first time in U.S. history that a sitting president has attended oral arguments. At issue in the case, Trump v. Barbara, is an executive order Trump signed on his first day back in office. The order in question seeks to end automatic citizenship — or “birthright citizenship” — for nearly all persons born in the U.S. to undocumented parents, or to parents with temporary non-immigrant visas in the U.S. The stakes in the case are high, putting on a collision course more than a century of executive branch action, Supreme Court precedent, and the text of the Constitution itself — or, more specifically, the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment. Trump administration officials view the order, and the high court’s consideration of the case, as a key component of his hard-line immigration agenda — an issue that has become a defining feature of his second White House term. FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS TRUMP’S BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP BAN FOR ALL INFANTS, TESTING LOWER COURT POWERS Opponents argue the effort is unconstitutional and unprecedented, and could impact an estimated 150,000 children born in the U.S. annually to noncitizens. A ruling in Trump’s favor would represent a seismic shift for immigration policy in the U.S., and would upend long-held notions of citizenship that Trump and his allies argue are misguided. It would also yield immediate, operational consequences for infants born in the U.S., putting the impetus on Congress and the Trump administration to immediately act to clarify their status. Here’s what to expect ahead of today’s oral arguments: Justices will weigh Trump’s executive order 14160, or “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship.” The order directs all U.S. government agencies to refuse to issue citizenship documents to children born in the U.S. to illegal immigrants, or children born to parents who are in the U.S. legally but with temporary, non-immigrant visas. The order would apply retroactively to all newborns born in the U.S. after Feb. 19, 2025. Trump’s executive order prompted a flurry of lawsuits in the days after its signing. Critics argued that, among other things, the order violated the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment, which grants citizenship to “all persons born … in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.” Lawyers for the Trump administration, meanwhile, centered their case on the “subject to jurisdiction thereof” phrase, which they argue was intended at the time of its passage to narrowly “grant citizenship to newly freed slaves and their children” after the Civil War, and has been misinterpreted in the many years since. U.S. Solicitor General D. Sauer urged the high court to take up the case last October, arguing that a pair of lower court rulings were overly broad and relied on the “mistaken view” that “birth on U.S. territory confers citizenship on anyone subject to the regulatory reach of U.S. law became pervasive, with destructive consequences.” “Those decisions confer, without lawful justification, the privilege of American citizenship on hundreds of thousands of unqualified people,” he said. TRUMP TO BEGIN ENFORCING BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP ORDER AS EARLY AS THIS MONTH, DOJ SAYS He also argued that the lower court rulings overstepped, and “invalidated a policy of prime importance to the president and his administration in a manner that undermines our border security.” Justices on the high court will have no shortage of strings to pull on in considering the executive order or questioning lawyers during oral arguments. The Supreme Court will use Wednesday’s arguments to weigh — to varying degrees — the text of the 14th Amendment, legal precedent, and text of the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act, among other issues cited by Sauer, the ACLU, and authors of the dozens of amicus briefs filed to the court since it agreed to review the case last fall. Legal experts told Fox News Digital that they expect Sauer could be in for an uphill battle in convincing a five-justice majority to unwind more than 125 years of precedent and text at issue in the case. Despite their consensus, however, the court’s conservative bloc will still face thorny issues in reconciling more than a century of court precedent with the narrower reading of the 14th Amendment embraced by the Trump administration. Justices are likely to focus closely on precedent in the Supreme Court case, United States v. Wong Kim Ark — a 1898 ruling in which the Supreme Court ruled that the son of two Chinese immigrants born in the U.S. was indeed a U.S. citizen. The case is widely considered to be the modern precedent for birthright citizenship, including related cases heard by the high court in the decades since. Others cited the text of the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act statute passed by Congress, which essentially mirrors the text of the 14th Amendment in conferring legal status to persons born in the U.S., as yet another argument that could tip the scales in the migrants’ favor. “I can think of at least five reasons off the top of my head why the Supreme Court should say that the citizenship clause means today what it has always meant,” Amanda Frost, a professor at the University of Virginia School of Law who specializes in immigration and citizenship issues, told Fox News Digital. SUPREME COURT SIGNALS IT MAY LIMIT KEY VOTING RIGHTS ACT RULE “There is text. There is original public understanding, which certainly includes Wong Kim Ark, but also five or six Supreme Court cases after that,” Frost said. “There is executive branch practice for the last century,” she added, “which is relevant as well when you’re interpreting the Constitution, and
EXCLUSIVE: Unearthed videos expose how Trump-endorsed candidate championed DEI in university hiring process
FIRST ON FOX: Rep. Julia Letlow, R-La., a Trump-endorsed Senate candidate in Louisiana, is saying that she will ensure diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies will be rooted out of schools in her state if she wins. However, Letlow’s past remarks and actions as a university faculty member, such as promises to open a DEI office if hired as a university president, and her past praise for DEI nationwide, have thrown these promises into question. In a 2020 video from Letlow’s hiring process, when interviewing to be the president of the University of Louisiana Monroe, Letlow called the school’s record on faculty gender diversity “shameful,” praised DEI efforts around the country, said she wanted to open the school’s first DEI division and suggested that, if hired, she would want “a person around the table that is cognizant and fighting for diversity, equity and inclusion before any decision is made for the university.” In January, The Daily Caller first reported that, prior to serving Louisiana’s 5th Congressional District, Letlow was in a communications position at UL Monroe, where she helped push DEI initiatives aimed at “diversifying marketing and comms teams” and “establish[ing] diverse content.” She also signed a statement embracing diversity as one of UL Monroe’s “core values” shortly after the death of George Floyd. GOP BILLIONAIRE TRYING TO WOO TRUMP’S SUPPORT IN KEY GEORGIA RACE BANKROLLED HIS 2024 PRESIDENTIAL RIVALS “I was able to go to eight different universities and see some amazing work that other universities have already started – and you don’t even have to keep it to Louisiana, you can go nationwide to see the amazing effort people have been doing for years to address these issues,” Letlow told a panel interviewing her for the UL—Monroe presidency in 2020, in response to a question concerning the percentage of tenured female faculty. “So, one of the first things I would do – I believe we need a division on this campus, a division of diversity, equity and inclusion, with leadership that goes all the way to the top with a full staff because our issues are so great.” During Letlow’s hiring process to potentially be the next president of UL—Monroe, she also spoke in a video meant to introduce herself to students, during which Letlow called herself a “strong and progressive leader” as the result of many years in higher ed. The GOP primary race in Louisiana for the state’s open U.S. Senate seat, between Letlow and incumbent Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., has become a battle over who is more pro-Trump – and DEI has been a major proving point. “While Liberal Letlow was pushing DEI policies at ULM, calling herself a ‘strong and progressive leader,’ Senator Cassidy was working with President Trump and others to secure billions of dollars for the state and bring conservative policies to Louisiana,” said a spokesperson for Cassidy’s campaign. “From no boys in girls sports, to co-sponsoring the Save America Act, the HALT Fentanyl Act, and the Working Families Tax Cuts.” Cassidy himself has been accused of being anti-Trump, and when reached for comment on the matter, Letlow’s team argued that “any honest account of DEI in this race has to include Cassidy’s record vs Julia’s record.” MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE SAYS TRUMP, GOP ‘GOVERNED AMERICA LAST,’ PREDICTS MIDTERM LOSSES Letlow holds both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from UL Monroe. According to her LinkedIn profile, she also held multiple positions at the university, first from 2007 to 2011 and then again from 2014 to 2021. These positions include the director of marketing and communications from 2015 to 2018, executive director of external affairs and strategic communications from 2018 to 2019, and executive assistant to the president for external affairs and community outreach from 2019 to 2021 for the university. In 2020, Letlow wanted to become UL Monroe’s president, during which she was subject to numerous interviews. One included questioning from a panel of UL Monroe officials, which was posted publicly on YouTube. “Study after study has shown that the more diverse an organization is in its leadership, the more successful it is, and in businesses that converts to actual financial success,” one questioner from the panel began when probing Letlow. “In academia, you know, it’s in the way — all the ways, the metrics that it’s supposed to succeed in a community, and yet we see a lot of slowness in change … so my question is, how would you go about supporting diversity and equity in the faculty ranks?” In response to the question, which focused specifically on the percentage of tenured female faculty at a university with a majority female student body, Letlow lamented that “we have an issue on this campus,” and promised to create a new DEI division to assist. “There would need to be a strategic plan put in place on how to address those concerns that you just raised, and those metrics and those numbers, because they are shameful, truly, and I believe that having that strong [DEI] division, having that leadership, if you have a person around the table that is cognizant and fighting for diversity, equity and inclusion before any decision is made for the university, then that’s how you change. That’s how you recruit more faculty,” Letlow responded. “There are a lot of people on this campus who have never heard of unconscious bias. They don’t know that it exists,” she continued. BIG BUSINESS PULLS BACK FROM LGBTQ CORPORATE RANKINGS IN DRAMATIC ONE-YEAR SLIDE “I was looking at the numbers – we have 8% African-American faculty women on this campus. That’s not enough,” Letlow added later. “That does not reflect our student population, and so that would be number one for me. I’m glad you asked that question.” Letlow’s remarks, which have been publicly available on Youtube but have only 218 views as of Tuesday, add fodder for critics like Cassidy who say she is not sufficiently an opponent of DEI. However, Letlow recently told local media that Cassidy’s claims that she
President Trump says US could finish Iran operation within two to three weeks
President Donald Trump indicated on Tuesday that the U.S. will finish attacking Iran within two to three weeks. The president indicated that he thinks within that time frame, “We’ll leave.” “I had one goal: They will have no nuclear weapon. And that goal has been attained. They will not have nuclear weapons,” the president said. “But we’re finishing the job. And I think within maybe two weeks, maybe a couple a days longer, to do the job,” he said. “Now it’s possible that we’ll make a deal before that.” TRUMP SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDER OVERHAULING MAIL-IN VOTING IN MAJOR ELECTION INTEGRITY PUSH “We’ve set them back. It’ll take 15 to 20 years for them to rebuild what we’ve done to ‘em. They have no navy. They have no military. They have no air force. They have no telecommunications. They have no anti-aircraft systems. They have no leaders. You know their leaders are all gone. That’s why we have regime change. We have nice new leaders,” he said. The president mounted the U.S. war against Iran more than four weeks ago in conjunction with Israel. US ATTACKS ISFAHAN IN IRAN AS GAS PRICE AVERAGE TOPS $4 Americans have since faced a significant surge in fuel prices, with the AAA national average for regular gas spiking to $4.064 as of April 1. Trump is slated to deliver an address to the nation on Wednesday night. MARCO RUBIO WARNS IRAN WANTED TO BE THE ‘NEXT NORTH KOREA’ AS HE SEES ‘FINISH LINE’ IN CONFLICT In a Tuesday post on X, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that “Tomorrow night at 9PM ET, President Trump will give an Address to the Nation to provide an important update on Iran.”
April showdowns: 4 key races to watch this month that will test Trump, GOP grip on power
After kicking off in March, the 2026 primary calendar takes a break this month before returning with a vengeance in May. But that doesn’t mean there’s a dearth of consequential elections in April. Special U.S. House contests in Georgia and New Jersey, a state Supreme Court election in battleground Wisconsin, and a Virginia referendum that is the latest face-off between President Donald Trump and Republicans and Democrats in the high-stakes congressional redistricting wars — with the House majority on the line — will all draw national attention this month. Here’s a closer look at the four ballot box showdowns. TRUMP-BACKED FULLER ADVANCES IN RACE TO FILL MTG’S CONGRESSIONAL SEAT Trump-backed Republican House candidate Clay Fuller faces off with Democratic candidate Shawn Harris to fill a vacant congressional district in solidly red northwest Georgia that was once held by MAGA firebrand Marjorie Taylor Greene. Harris, a retired brigadier general and cattle farmer, and Fuller, a local prosecutor and Air National Guard member, were the top two finishers in a field of 17 candidates, including 12 Republicans, in the early March special election. With no candidate topping 50%, Harris and Fuller advanced to a runoff. SPECIAL ELECTION TO FILL MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE’S OLD SEAT IN CONGRESS HEADS INTO OVERTIME The special election comes as Republicans cling to a razor-thin 218–214 majority in the House. That means the GOP cannot afford any surprises or allow Democrats to pull an upset in a district that extends from Atlanta’s northwest exurbs to Georgia’s northwestern border with Alabama and northern border with Tennessee, which Trump carried by 37 points in his 2024 presidential victory. Fuller, who is expected to consolidate the Republican vote that was divided in the first round, is considered the clear frontrunner in the race. But if Harris holds Fuller’s margin to the mid-teens or less, national Democrats will argue the election is the latest in the 14 months since Trump returned to the White House in which they’ve overperformed. The congressional seat was left vacant when Greene stepped down at the beginning of January. Greene quit Congress with a year left in her term, after a very public falling out with Trump mostly over her push to release the Jeffrey Epstein files. While officially a non-partisan contest, state Supreme Court elections in the Midwestern battleground have become extremely partisan in recent years. HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING FROM THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL With the court’s majority on the line in last year’s contests, outside money poured in and out-of-state door knockers blanketed Wisconsin. One of the biggest spenders was Trump ally Elon Musk, who headlined a rally days before the election and donned a cheesehead hat worn by fans of the Green Bay Packers. Democrats won that election by a larger-than-expected margin and currently hold a 4-3 majority on Wisconsin’s highest court. With a conservative justice retiring, the majority isn’t at stake in this year’s election, although liberals with a win could expand their majority to 5-2. But if the conservative candidate wins, or keeps it close, the GOP may claim a moral victory. Republican Joe Hathaway, a local mayor, is hoping to pull off an upset in the special election to fill the congressional seat left vacant after now-Gov. Mikie Sherrill stepped down after winning last November’s gubernatorial election. Hathaway, who was unopposed in February’s primary, faces off in the election against Democrat Analilia Mejia, a progressive organizer backed by left-wing champions Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Mejia pulled off an upset, narrowly edging out front-runner former Rep. Tom Malinowski in a field of 11 candidates. The face-off was one of the latest between progressives and more mainstream Democrats. The 11th Congressional District in northern New Jersey‘s New York City suburbs was once the kind of seat where Republicans excelled at the ballot box. Hathaway, who has pointed out his differences with Trump, is the type of Republican who could attract crossover voters. Add in that Mejia may be too far to the left for some voters in the district, and there’s a chance for some intrigue on Election Day. Voters in Virginia are casting ballots on a Democrat-pushed referendum that would give the competitive state up to four more left-leaning U.S. House districts in time for this year’s midterm elections. That could result in a 10-1 advantage for Democrats in the state’s U.S. House delegation, up from their current 6-5 edge. With three weeks until Election Day, early voting is surging, according to officials, with turnout outpacing early voting from last autumn’s general election. Despite being vastly outraised by Democrats, Republicans see positive signs in early turnout. Republicans call the Democrats’ redistricting effort an “unconstitutional power grab.” Democrats counter that it’s a necessary step to balance out partisan gerrymandering already implemented in other states by the GOP. Virginia is the latest redistricting battleground, with Florida on deck, to alter congressional maps ahead of November’s elections. Republicans are defending their razor-thin House majority in the midterms, and Democrats need a net gain of just three seats to win back control of the chamber. That means the redistricting efforts in Virginia and other states may very well decide which party controls the House next year.
Trump admin unlawfully terminated legal status of migrants who used Biden-era app, judge rules
A federal judge ruled on Tuesday that the Trump administration unlawfully terminated the legal status of thousands of migrants who had been allowed to temporarily live in the U.S. after using an app expanded by the Biden administration to schedule appointments with immigration officials. U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs in Boston ordered the administration to reverse its move last year to revoke the legal status of migrants who used the CBP One app. The app was used under former President Joe Biden starting in 2023 to address the crisis at the border by allowing some migrants to make appointments to seek asylum, with many paroled into the country for up to two years, but President Donald Trump moved to shut down the app when he returned to the White House last year. Burroughs found that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security acted unlawfully in April of last year when it sent mass emails to many of the roughly 900,000 people who entered the country using the app, informing them that it was “time for you to leave the United States.” VENEZUELAN MIGRANTS, PROGRESSIVE GROUP SUE TRUMP AFTER NOEM NIXES BIDEN-ERA ‘PROTECTED STATUS’ “The regulations do not give the agency unfettered discretion to terminate parole,” Burroughs wrote. “When Defendants terminated the impacted noncitizens’ parole without observing the process mandated by statute and by their own regulations, they took action that was ‘not in accordance with law,’” the judge added. The Venezuelan Association of Massachusetts, one of the plaintiffs in the case, celebrated the ruling, saying it “brings long-awaited relief after months of fear and uncertainty.” Democracy Forward, another group that helped bring the legal challenge, also praised the judge’s decision. FEDERAL JUDGE UPHOLDS TEMPORARY PROTECTED STATUS FOR HAITIAN IMMIGRANTS “Today’s ruling is a clear rejection of an administration that has tried to erase lawful status for hundreds of thousands of people with the click of a button,” the group’s president, Skye Perryman, said in a statement. “Our clients followed the law: they waited, registered, were inspected, and were granted parole under the law. The Trump-Vance administration’s effort to tear that status away overnight was unlawful and cruel — and today, the court rejected that harmful and destabilizing policy,” the statement added. A DHS spokesperson said the ruling was an example of “blatant judicial activism” that interfered with Trump’s authority to determine who remains in the country. “Canceling these paroles is a promise kept to the American people to secure our borders and protect our national security,” the spokesperson said in a statement. The ruling came after a class-action lawsuit filed in August by three individuals from Venezuela, Cuba and Haiti who argued the Trump administration’s effort to remove them from the country represented an abrupt, unlawful move to pull parole status and work authorization from migrants. The Trump administration had argued that Biden overstepped parole authority by broadly awarding the status instead of granting it on a case-by-case basis. Burroughs said when DHS sent out termination notices to migrants, it failed to comply with requirements to provide a record showing an official had determined that the purposes of parole had been served. “Accordingly, the parole terminations exceeded the agency’s statutory authority and contradicted the procedures set forth in its own regulations,” the judge wrote. Reuters contributed to this report.
Alabama Gov Kay Ivey hospitalized following minor procedure, says she is determined to make speedy recovery
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, a Republican, was hospitalized on Tuesday after undergoing a minor procedure to remove fluid that was pressing against her lung, according to her office. Ivey, 81, will be monitored at Baptist Medical Center South in Montgomery in the coming days out of an abundance of caution, a spokesperson for the governor said in a statement. The fluid was discovered on Tuesday when the governor went to her doctor because she was feeling discomfort in her left side and recently experienced some shortness of breath. “For the last three weeks, Governor Kay Ivey has experienced some discomfort in her left side,” the statement said. “After monitoring the pain and recently feeling slightly short-of-breath, she made the decision to be seen again by her primary care physician earlier today.” MCCONNELL RELEASED FROM HOSPITAL AFTER HEALTH SCARE, TO WORK FROM HOME AS KEY DHS VOTE LOOMS While Ivey’s medical issue wasn’t urgent, she wanted it taken care of quickly so she could recover before the legislative session ends. “While it was not emergent, Governor Ivey wanted to get the procedure done as soon as possible so she can quickly get back to 100% to wrap up the 2026 Regular Session,” the statement said. Ivey’s office did not specify how long she would be in the hospital. “We are in touch with Governor Ivey, and she says she is determined to make a very speedy and full recovery,” her spokesperson said. WH CHIEF OF STAFF SUSIE WILES DIAGNOSED WITH EARLY STAGE BREAST CANCER, PROGNOSIS ‘EXCELLENT,’ TRUMP SAYS Officials in Alabama and other states offered support for Ivey as she recovers from the procedure. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, a Republican, said he was thankful Ivey was “receiving excellent care from some of the finest medical professionals. She is in good hands, and I join so many Alabamians in praying for her swift and full recovery.” Georgia GOP Gov. Brian Kemp said he and his family were praying for Ivey and wished her a speedy recovery. “She has always been a fighter and we know she’ll fight through this too,” Kemp wrote. The Alabama governor announced in 2019 that she was undergoing radiation for lung cancer, describing it as a small localized spot. Her office said the following year that scans indicated the treatment was successful, and she was free of disease. Ivey is term-limited and cannot run for re-election this year. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Trump signs executive order overhauling mail-in voting in major election integrity push
President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed a sweeping executive order targeting mail-in voting and voter eligibility, calling the move a major step toward restoring confidence in U.S. elections. Speaking from the Oval Office, Trump said the order is focused on “voter integrity and Mail-In ballots” and on “stopping the massive cheating that’s gone on.” “We’re going to be signing an executive order,” Trump said. “It’s, I believe it’s foolproof… I think it’s very obvious what’s said.” The order directs federal agencies to work with states to compile lists of eligible voters using federal citizenship and identity data, while also instructing the U.S. Postal Service to develop new safeguards for mail-in ballots, including barcode tracking and verification measures. TRUMP REVEALS TOP ISSUES GOP SHOULD FOCUS ON TO SECURE MIDTERMS VICTORY: ‘I’VE NEVER BEEN MORE CONFIDENT’ Under the order, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) working with the Social Security Administration and other federal databases, will create and share “State Citizenship Lists” with state election officials. The lists are intended to identify individuals confirmed to be U.S. citizens who will be at least 18 years old by the time of a federal election and who reside in that state. Those lists are to be updated and transmitted to states ahead of federal elections, according to the order. The order also directs the attorney general to prioritize investigations and potential prosecutions involving officials or others who issue ballots to individuals not eligible to vote in federal elections, as well as those involved in the “printing, production, shipment, or distribution of ballots” to ineligible voters. SCOTUS CONSERVATIVES SIGNAL READINESS TO CURB LATE-ARRIVING MAIL BALLOTS On mail ballots, the executive order calls on the postmaster general to initiate a rule-making process within 60 days. Proposed changes include requiring ballots to be clearly marked as official election mail, including a unique Intelligent Mail barcode or similar tracking technology, and undergoing Postal Service design review. The order also outlines a system under which states would notify USPS if they plan to use mail-in or absentee ballots and provide lists of eligible voters, allowing the Postal Service to maintain participation records tied to ballot distribution. Trump framed the changes as a direct response to what he described as longstanding vulnerabilities in voting by mail. NOEM BACKS SAVE AMERICA ACT, SLAMS ‘RADICAL LEFT’ OPPOSITION TO VOTER IDS AND PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP “The cheating on mail-in voting is legendary,” he said. “It’s horrible what’s going on.” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the administration is pushing for a system that ties each ballot to a trackable envelope. “If you voted by mail, you will have it on the envelope,” Lutnick said. “There’ll be a million envelopes… and you’ll be able to know exactly correctly, that citizens voted.” Trump said additional election-related measures, including voter ID and proof of citizenship requirements, are also under consideration. “We’d like to have voter ID, we’d like to have proof of citizenship… we’re working on that,” he said. He also argued that opposition to such measures is politically motivated. “The only people that don’t want to do voter ID are people that cheat,” Trump said. Trump acknowledged the order could face legal challenges but said he believes it will withstand them. “I don’t know how it can be challenged,” Trump said after signing the order. “You may find a rogue judge… but that’s the only way that could be changed.” The executive order states that voting in federal elections is reserved “exclusively for citizens of the United States” and argues that additional safeguards are necessary to “maintain public confidence in election outcomes.” It also says that ballot identifiers such as barcodes can help ensure that only eligible voters receive and cast ballots. Within minutes of Trump signing the order, top elections officials in Oregon and Arizona pledged to sue, arguing the president was illegally encroaching on states’ authority to run elections, according to The Associated Press. Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes said the state’s vote-by-mail system, originally designed by Republicans, is now used by about 80% of voters. Arizona does not need the federal government to determine voter eligibility, and federal data is not always reliable, Fontes said. Trump cast the issue in much broader terms. “If you don’t have honest voting,” he said, “you can’t have really a nation.”
Trump says he will attend Supreme Court oral arguments on birthright citizenship challenge
President Donald Trump said Tuesday he plans to attend Wednesday’s case before the U.S. Supreme Court about who is entitled to birthright citizenship. The justices will hear arguments in Trump v. Barbara, which is challenging his 2025 executive order ending the birthright citizenship practice. Trump issued the order upon taking office, saying birthright citizenship, a product of the 14th Amendment that has been widely interpreted to guarantee citizenship to anyone born in the U.S., has been widely abused by foreigners, specifically illegal immigrants. NEARLY ALL REPUBLICAN AGS ADD FIREPOWER TO TRUMP’S BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP PUSH The case has come before the high court after multiple judges blocked the order from taking effect. The Trump administration has argued the 14th Amendment was originally intended to grant citizenship to former slaves, not to children of illegal immigrants or temporary visitors. “This is not about Chinese billionaires or billionaires from other countries who, all of a sudden, have 75 children or 59 children in one case or 10 children becoming American citizens,” Trump told Fox News senior White House correspondent Peter Doocy in the Oval Office on Tuesday. “This was about slaves. And if you take a look, slaves. We’re talking about slaves from the Civil War.” HOW THE SUPREME COURT’S INJUNCTION RULING ADVANCES TRUMP’S BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP FIGHT The 14th Amendment was ratified in 1898 after the Supreme Court held that children born on U.S. soil are automatically granted citizenship with very few exceptions, such as children of diplomats. Trump noted that people and companies, many from China, have profited off the birth tourism industry by bringing people into the U.S. with the intent of giving birth so their children could be granted American citizenship and, therefore,reap its benefits. “People are making a living, a big living, getting hundreds of thousands and even millions of dollars from bringing people in and saying, ‘Congratulations, your whole family is going to be a citizen of the United States of America,’” he said. “That’s not what it was for. It wasn’t for billionaires bringing people in or family, and it was for the children of slaves.” Critics warn that if birthright citizenship ended, it could create a new class of people born in the U.S. who are not recognized as citizens, while supporters say it would be an incentive for illegal immigration and exploitation. “It is the craziest thing I’ve ever seen,” said Trump. “It’s been so badly handled by legal people over the years. If you look at the original birthright citizenship papers, they all happened right after the Civil War. The reason was it had to do with the babies of slaves. … Our country is being scammed. We’re getting all of these people.”