Happy New Year 2025

Category: Politics

Drones over US bases were conducting surveillance: NORTHCOM General

A senior U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) official told members of the Senate that some of the 350 drones that flew over military installations and sensitive areas last year may have been conducting surveillance.

U.S. Air Force Gen. Gregory Guillot, who is commander of NORTHCOM and North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), was questioned about the drones during a Senate Armed Services Committee Budget hearing on Thursday.

Drones were spotted flying all over the country last year, though most notably in New Jersey. They were also flying over military installations, including Joint Base Langley, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base and Vandenberg Space Force Base.

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., asked Guillot about the threat the unmanned aircraft pose to military operations, facilities and personnel.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP SHARES UPDATE ON DRONES SEEN FLYING OVER NEW JERSEY

A drone reportedly flew into a crowd of Boston Celtics fans Tuesday night at an outdoor party. (Jens Büttner/picture alliance via Getty Images)

“Senator, the primary threat I see for them in the way they’ve been operating is detection and perhaps surveillance of sensitive capabilities on our installations,” Guillot said. “There were 350 detections reported last year on military installations, and that was 350 over a total of 100 different installations of all types and levels of security.”

He confirmed that base commanders at sensitive sites like nuclear bases have the authority to protect their airspace from drone incursions, adding that those particular military sites account for about half of what the U.S. operates.

Cotton was flabbergasted that only about half of the bases have the ability to protect themselves from drones.

TRUMP VOWS ANSWERS ON MYSTERY DRONE SIGHTINGS AS EXPERT MAKES EERIE PREDICTION

U.S. Air Force Gen. Gregory Guillot told a senate committee drones flying over military installations last year were conducting surveillance. (US Senate)

He said base commanders at every base in the U.S. have the ability to protect their ground if a terrorist drove a dump truck though the front gate of a military facility, which Guillot agreed.

Cotton also raised concerns that at the southern border last week, Mexican cartels were reportedly authorized to use drones equipped with explosives against U.S. Border Patrol agents.

He asked Guillot if the Department of Defense needed authorization to share information with the Department of Homeland Security and other border patrol agencies about drone incursions and was told that was the case.

ORLANDO DRONE SHOW CRASH CAUSED BY ‘COMBINED ERRORS’ THAT LED TO MISALIGNED FLIGHT PATH: NTSB REPORT

Photos taken in the Bay Shore section of Toms River of what appear to be large drones hovering in the area at high altitudes in New Jersey on Sunday, December 8, 2024. The drones seemed to be well above the 400 feet height FAA regulations allow. (Doug Hood/Asbury Park Press)

Guillot advocated for an expansion of military capabilities when it comes to drones, especially when it comes to protecting bases and being able to exchange data with other government agencies about drones, seamlessly.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters late last month that the drones seen flying over New Jersey in large numbers recently were “authorized by the FAA for research and various other reasons.”

In addition to those authorized by the FAA, other drones flown by hobbyists were sighted, and that number increased as curiosity about the phenomenon grew, the White House said.

FBI SEARCHING FOR OPERATOR OF PRIVATELY OWNED DRONE THAT PUNCHED HOLE IN CANADIAN FIREFIGHTING PLANE

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during a briefing at the White House, on Wednesday, Feb. 12. (AP/Evan Vucci)

“This was not the enemy,” Leavitt said.

The drone sightings in November and December originally raised public concerns and even attracted the attention of the FBI.

“The FBI Newark, NJ State Police, and NJ Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness are asking for the public to report any information related to the recent sightings of possible drones flying in several areas along the Raritan River,” a Dec. 3 FBI statement noted.

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The Federal Aviation Administration even issued temporary flight restrictions after the large number of sightings, prohibiting drone flights over parts of New Jersey.

Fox News Digital’s Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.

Greg Wehner is a breaking news reporter for Fox News Digital.

Story tips and ideas can be sent to [email protected] and on Twitter @GregWehner.

February 14, 2025
Top moments from Linda McMahon’s confirmation hearing

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Linda McMahon’s Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday was marked by disruptive protesters, debate over diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, discussion on the participation of biological men in women’s sports and scrutiny over spending cuts proposed by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) led by tech billionaire Elon Musk.

Several protesters disrupted and were removed from the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing, with one individual shouting, “Protect trans kids, protect immigrant students, protect our schools!”

Addressing the disruptions, Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., complained about the “outburst of some of the protesters in the room,” prompting a blue state Democrat to speak out in their defense.

TRUMP EDUCATION NOMINEE LINDA MCMAHON SAYS SHUTTING DOWN DOE WOULD ‘REQUIRE CONGRESSIONAL ACTION’

Linda McMahon’s confirmation hearing was interrupted a few times by protesters. (Getty Images)

“A number of them have told us that they’re … teachers. Can you imagine them teaching these people, teaching our kids in classrooms across America, and they come here and act like children with outbursts?” Banks said.

Newly elected Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, D-Md., hit back at the Republican senator, saying that the protesters are “exactly the kind of people who we want teaching our children.”

In January, Trump declared that legal protections under Title IX, the 1972 federal law prohibiting sex-based discrimination for recipients of federal education funding, would be based on the basis of biological sex, not gender identity, in K-12 schools and higher-learning institutions.

“[W]omen should feel safe in their locker rooms. They should feel safe in their spaces. They shouldn’t have to be exposed to men undressing in front of them.” — Linda McMahon

Regarding Trump’s reversal of the Biden administration’s regulations, McMahon said she is “happy” to see the law “back to what Title IX was originally established to do, and that was to protect social discrimination.”

DEMS SPAR OVER DOGE CUTS WITH TRUMP EDUCATION NOMINEE LINDA MCMAHON

Linda McMahon, nominee for secretary of education, testifies at her Senate committee confirmation hearing on Feb. 13, 2025. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

“And women should feel safe in their locker rooms. They should feel safe in their spaces. They shouldn’t have to be exposed to men undressing in front of them,” she said.

The Trump nominee also said that if confirmed, she will “make sure the law is enforced” on campuses that try to defy the law.

McMahon faced further questioning on the impact of DEI programs during her Senate confirmation hearing. She criticized the programs, claiming that though they were intended to promote diversity, they have instead contributed to further dividing America’s kids rather than being inclusive.

“DEI has been – I think has been, it’s a program that’s tough,” McMahon said. “It was put in place ostensibly for more diversity, for equity and inclusion. And I think what we’re seeing is it is having an opposite effect. We are getting back to more segregating of our schools instead of having more inclusion in our schools.”

INTO THE RING: TRUMP EDUCATION CHIEF PICK MCMAHON TO TESTIFY ON CUTTING ‘RED TAPE’ AMID DOGE SWEEPS

Trump hopes Linda McMahon will “put herself out of a job” if confirmed to lead the Department of Education, an agency he’s proposed abolishing. (Getty Images)

She pointed to instances where DEI programs led to separate graduation ceremonies for Black and Hispanic students, arguing that such measures went against the goal of inclusion: “When their DEI programs say that Black students need separate graduation ceremonies or Hispanics need separate ceremonies, we are not achieving what we wanted to achieve with inclusion,” she added.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., countered with an example of Department of Defense schools that had canceled programming for Black History Month.

He asked, “So if a school in Connecticut celebrates Martin Luther King Day and has a series of events and programming teaching about Black history, are they in violation of a policy that says schools should stop running DEI programs?”

McMahon disagreed, saying that events like Black History Month celebrations should be celebrated across all schools.

“In my view, that is clearly not the case,” she said. “That celebration of Martin Luther King Day in Black History Month should be celebrated throughout all of our schools. I believe that, you know, Martin Luther King was one of the strongest proponents of making sure that we look at all of our populations when he said that he would hope that his children wouldn’t be judged by the color of their skin, but the content of their character.”

Musk’s government spending cuts also sparked debate, with Democratic lawmakers pressing McMahon on whether she supports the dramatic cuts made by DOGE.

“I believe the American people spoke loudly in the election last November to say that they want to look at waste, fraud and abuse in our government,” said McMahon, the former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment.

FORMER TRUMP EDUCATION SECRETARY LAYS OUT ‘UNFINISHED BUSINESS’ FOR NEW ADMIN ON SCHOOL REFORMS

Elon Musk listens as President Donald Trump speaks with reporters in the Oval Office on Feb. 11, 2025. (AP/Alex Brandon)

Pressed by Democrats, including Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, if she would follow through with cuts suggested by the “DOGE brothers,” McMahon said she can be counted on to follow congressional statute “because that’s the law.”

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., also asked if McMahon believes DOGE should have access to “private student data,” suggesting that their probes “should frighten everyone.”

“It is my understanding that those employees have been onboarded as employees of the Department of Education, and therefore, they operate under the restraints of utilizing access of information,” McMahon said.

“That’s not my understanding,” Murray shot back.

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“That’s my understanding,” McMahon responded.

Murray said it was “deeply disturbing” that DOGE staffers aren’t “held accountable” and that it should “frighten everyone” if they have access to students’ private information.

McMahon’s confirmation vote in the Senate HELP Committee is scheduled for Feb. 20.

February 14, 2025
Senate Majority Leader Thune says this is the reason why he and Trump are working well together

EXCLUSIVE: Senate Majority Leader John Thune is getting a tough job done.

“Senate Republicans have been committed to getting President Trump’s nominees through,” Thune, who’s been on the job steering the Senate for six weeks, told Fox News in an exclusive national digital interview.

Thune was interviewed ahead of Brooke Rollins’s confirmation as secretary of agriculture, which brought to 16 the number of Trump nominees approved by the Senate.

Only 11 Cabinet nominees were approved by this date eight years ago during Trump’s first term in the White House.

SENATE CONFIRMS ANOTHER CONTROVERSIAL TRUMP CABINET NOMINEE

Senate Majority Leader Sen. John Thune of South Dakota speaks to reporters on Feb. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

And on this date four years ago, the Senate had confirmed only seven of then-President Biden’s Cabinet nominees.

Rollins’ confirmation followed the confirmations of two of Donald Trump’s most controversial nominees: former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of health and human services.

Gabbard and Kennedy were confirmed on near party-line votes in a chamber the GOP controls with a 53-47 majority.

“I think that the Senate Republicans have proven that we are united,” the South Dakota Republican said.

Thune, a two-decade Senate veteran who served in GOP leadership the past few years before succeeding longtime leader Sen. Mitch McConnell as the top Republican in the chamber, emphasized the team effort.

HEAD HERE FOR LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING ON PRESIDENT TRUMP’S FIRST 100 DAYS BACK IN THE WHITE HOUSE

“What you try and do is just try and make the people around you better,” Thune said. “We’ve got a lot of talent in the Senate, people who … we want to deploy and utilize and let them use their gifts and talents [to] get things done around here that need to be done.”

The senator pointed to his father, a former college athlete and coach, who he said would advise him to “make the extra pass if somebody’s got a better shot. So what we’ve been trying to do is look for an opportunity to make the extra pass. And I think that it does really utilize the great talent we have here in the Senate.”

Thune says he’s been meeting “fairly regularly” with the president, in person, on the phone and through text.

President Donald Trump talks to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., left, and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., after speaking at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington on Feb. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

“It’s a regular pipeline,” he said. “His team has been really good, too, about working with our team here. I think we’ve had a very constructive working relationship. And I tell people, our incentives are aligned. We all want to get to the same destination.”

Thune hasn’t always had a constructive relationship with the often unpredictable Trump.

Trump was critical of Thune in the years after his first term and briefly considered backing a primary challenge against the senator as he ran for re-election in 2022.

Thune said that “like a lot of people,” he’s had “differences with the president in the past.”

“But I think right now, we understand the things that we want to get done in the course of his term and the opportunity that we have, which is rare in politics, to have unified control of the government, House, Senate and White House. We need to maximize that, and in order to do that, we’ve got to have a very constructive relationship in which there’s regular communication,” Thune emphasized.

McConnell was the only Senate Republican to vote against confirming Kennedy and Gabbard. McConnell, who suffered from polio as a child and is a major proponent of vaccines, was critical of Kennedy’s history of high-profile vaccine skepticism.

Mitch McConnell (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

“I’m a survivor of childhood polio. In my lifetime, I’ve watched vaccines save millions of lives from devastating diseases across America and around the world. I will not condone the re-litigation of proven cures and neither will millions of Americans who credit their survival and quality of life to scientific miracles,” McConnell said after the Kennedy vote.

Trump, who’s long criticized McConnell, took aim again.

“I have no idea if he had polio. All I can tell you about him is he shouldn’t have been a leader. He knows that. He voted against Bobby. He votes against almost everything. He’s a very bitter guy,” Trump charged.

Thune, interviewed after Gabbard’s confirmation and ahead of the final vote on Kennedy, said the 82-year-old McConnell is “still active up here and still a strong voice on issues he’s passionate about, including national security.”

“So when it comes to those issues, he has outsized influence and a voice that we all pay attention to,” Thune said. “He’s got views on some of these nominees that maybe don’t track exactly with where I or other Republicans have come down, but we respect his positions on these, some of these noms, and I know that on a lot of big stuff ahead of us, he’s going to be with us. He’s a team player.”

Thune added, “I’ve had plenty of consultations with him through the years and in recent months and weeks, and we’ll continue to reach out to him when we think it makes sense to get a lay of the land that, based on his experience, he can help us navigate.”

Senate Majority Leader Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, right, speaks to reporters, Feb. 11, 2025, after a Senate policy luncheon on Capitol Hill. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

While he’s enjoyed a slew of confirmation victories this week, Thune is realistic.

“I feel good about how it’s gone so far, but we’ve got some really hard sledding ahead. We know that, and we just have to keep our heads down and do the work,” he cautioned.

While confirming Trump’s Cabinet is currently job No. 1, Thune is juggling numerous tasks.

“Obviously, most of our time has been occupied moving the president’s team and getting his nominees confirmed, and we’ll continue to do that. But as we go about that process, we’re looking for windows, too, to move important legislation,” he said.

He pointed to the Laken Riley Act, quickly passed by the Senate and the House and signed into law by Trump.

The controversial measure, which is named after a nursing student who was killed by an illegal immigrant while jogging on the University of Georgia’s campus, requires federal immigration authorities to detain illegal immigrants found guilty of theft-related crimes.

Thune pointed out that the legislation grabbed bipartisan support, but he added that it’s “a bill that was responsive to the election mandate, and it was a bill that divided Democrats and united Republicans.”

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He also chastised his predecessor as Senate majority leader, Democrat Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York.

Thune argued that during Schumer’s tenure “the floor would get bogged down. You know, votes would take forever. We’re just trying to make more efficient use of people’s time and get this place kind of operating on a schedule again. We’re going to continue to do that and getting back to regular order.”

Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter based in New Hampshire.

February 14, 2025
Vance warns US will use sanctions, military action if Putin doesn’t agree to Ukraine peace deal

Former Marine talks ending the war in Ukraine

U.S. Marine veteran Chad Robichaux joins ‘Fox News @ Night’ to discuss efforts to restore peace in Ukraine and Tulsi Gabbard’s confirmation as director of national intelligence.

Vice President JD Vance on Thursday reportedly warned that the U.S. wouldn’t rule out tough sanctions or even potential military action against Russia if President Vladimir Putin didn’t come to the negotiating table on a deal that would guarantee peace for Ukraine.

In speaking with The Wall Street Journal, which was the first to report on Vance’s comments, the vice president said sending U.S. troops to Ukraine was “on the table” if Russia failed to negotiate in good faith.

Vance said there are “economic tools of leverage [and] there are, of course, military tools of leverage” that the U.S. could use against Putin.

“I think there is a deal that is going to come out of this that’s going to shock a lot of people,” Vance told The Journal.

‘NO REASON’ FOR NEW NUKES: TRUMP FLOATS DISARMAMENT TALKS WITH CHINA, RUSSIA

U.S. Vice President JD Vance visits Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site in Dachau, Germany February 13, 2025. (REUTERS/Leah Millis)

Vance’s comments came a day before the vice president is expected to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Munich. The discussions will be closely watched by European leaders to gauge where President Trump stands on negotiating an end to the Russia-Ukraine war, which is nearing three years.

President Trump had what he described as a “lengthy” phone call with Putin on Wednesday, which included the Russian leader agreeing to “immediately” begin negotiations over the war in Ukraine.

RUSSIA CLAIMS TRUMP, PUTIN TALK BROUGHT WORLD FROM ‘BRINK OF APOCALYPSE,’ EU WARNS OF ‘DIRTY TRICKS’

Writing on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump said the two leaders “agreed to work together, very closely.”

“We have also agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately, and we will begin by calling President Zelenskyy, of Ukraine, to inform him of the conversation, something which I will be doing right now. I have asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of the CIA John Ratcliffe, National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, and Ambassador and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, to lead the negotiations which, I feel strongly, will be successful.”

President Donald Trump (center), Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy (left) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (right). (Alessandro Bremec/NurPhoto via Getty Images | Contributor/Getty Images | Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are scheduled to lead the U.S. delegation to the Munich Security Conference where the future of Ukraine will be the top item on the agenda.

Trump has been vague about his specific intentions — other than suggesting that a deal will likely result in Ukraine being forced to cede territory that Russia has seized since it annexed Crimea in 2014.

RUSSIA LAUNCHES FRESH DRONE ATTACK AGAINST UKRAINE SHORTLY AFTER TRUMP-PUTIN PHONE CALL

“The Ukraine war has to end,” Trump told reporters Thursday. “Young people are being killed at levels that nobody’s seen since World War II. And it’s a ridiculous war.”

Both Trump and U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth dashed Ukraine’s hopes this week of becoming part of NATO, which the alliance said less than a year ago was “irreversible,” or getting back its territory captured by Russia, which currently occupies close to 20%, including Crimea.

United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, left, walks with Britain’s Defense Secretary John Healey prior to a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of a NATO defense ministers meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels, on Wednesday, Feb. 12. (Johanna Geron/Pool Photo via AP)

“I don’t see any way that a country in Russia’s position could allow … them to join NATO,” Trump said Thursday. “I don’t see that happening.”

When asked what he thought Russia should give up to reach a deal, he noted that talks have not yet begun and that “maybe Russia will give up a lot, maybe they won’t.”

At NATO headquarters, Hegseth reiterated Thursday that “simply pointing out realism like the borders won’t be rolled back to what everybody would like them to be in 2014 is not a concession to Vladimir Putin.” He said it’s a recognition of realities on the ground.

He added, though, that neither Russia nor Ukraine will “get everything that they want” and stressed that “any negotiation that’s had will be had with both.”

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Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for a response to Vance’s comments.

Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Bradford Betz is a Fox News Digital breaking reporter covering crime, political issues, and much more.

February 14, 2025
Judge orders temporary reversal of Trump admin’s freeze on foreign aid

A federal judge late Thursday issued an order compelling the Trump administration to lift its three-week funding freeze on U.S. foreign aid.

Judge Amir Ali issued the order Thursday in U.S. district court in Washington in a lawsuit brought by two health organizations that receive U.S. funding for programs abroad.

In his order, Ali noted that the Trump administration argued it had to shut down funding for the thousands of U.S. Agency for International Development aid programs abroad to conduct a thorough review of each program and whether it should be eliminated.

TRUMP TEMPORARILY THWARTED IN DOGE MISSION TO END USAID

A bouquet of white flowers placed outside the headquarters of the United States Agency for International Development, or USAID, is pictured, Friday, Feb. 7, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

But the judge said that Trump officials failed to explain why a “blanket suspension” of foreign aid programs was necessary before the programs were more thoroughly reviewed.

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USAID was established in 1961 under the Kennedy administration, operating as an independent agency that works closely with the State Department to allocate civilian foreign aid. Under Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the agency could be abolished after its reorganization over the coming days, he said in a letter to bipartisan lawmakers on Feb. 3.

Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Bradford Betz is a Fox News Digital breaking reporter covering crime, political issues, and much more.

February 14, 2025
Trump’s Justice Department order to drop charges against NYC Mayor Eric Adams sparks mass resignations

Several senior Justice Department officials resigned in protest Thursday rather than comply with an order to drop a bribery case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

The acts of resistance came amid President Donald Trump’s effort to overhaul the agency, which he said has been weaponized against political opponents, Reuters reported.

The six resignations include Acting Manhattan U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon, Trump’s pick to temporarily lead the office prosecuting Adams, who resigned her post on Thursday, according to the memorandum by Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, a Trump appointee.

SENATE CONFIRMS PAM BONDI AS US ATTORNEY GENERAL

U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon, via Southern District of New York

“I remain baffled by the rushed and superficial process by which this decision was reached,” Sassoon wrote in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Adams, a Democrat who said he was targeted by the Biden administration, has been willing to work with the Trump administration crackdown to curb illegal immigration. Adams pleaded not guilty to charges that he accepted bribes from Turkish officials.

“Rather than be rewarded, Adams’s advocacy should be called out for what it is: an improper offer of immigration enforcement assistance in exchange for a dismissal of his case,” Sassoon wrote to Bondi.

Adams’ lawyer Alex Spiro said in an email to Reuters that the charges against his client are a “sham.”

“If SDNY had any proof whatsoever that the mayor destroyed evidence, they would have brought those charges—as they continually threatened to do, but didn’t, over months and months,” Spiro wrote. “This newest false claim is just the parting shot of a misguided prosecution exposed as a sham.”

In his Thursday memo, Bove wrote that Sassoon had refused to comply with what he called his office’s finding that the case against Adams amounted to weaponization of the justice system.

“Your resignation is accepted…you lost sight of the oath that you took when you started at the DOJ,” he wrote.

“Your office has no authority to contest the weaponization finding,” wrote Bove, Trump’s former personal criminal defense lawyer. “The Justice Department will not tolerate the insubordination.”

DOJ DIRECTS FBI TO FIRE 8 TOP OFFICIALS, IDENTIFY EMPLOYEES INVOLVED IN JAN. 6, HAMAS CASES FOR REVIEW

The seal for the Justice Department is photographed in Washington, Nov. 18, 2022. The Justice Department has announced three arrests in a complex stolen identity scheme that officials say generates enormous proceeds for the North Korean government, including for its weapons program. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

After Sassoon refused to dismiss the case, the Trump administration directed John Keller, the acting head of the Justice Department’s public corruption unit, to do so, according to people familiar with the matter.

Keller also resigned on Thursday, two people familiar with the matter said, as well as Kevin Driscoll, a senior official in the department’s criminal division.

Three other deputies in the Justice Department’s public corruption unit – Rob Heberle, Jenn Clarke, and Marco Palmieri – also resigned on Thursday over the Adams case, a person familiar with the matter said.

A Justice Department official confirmed Keller’s and Driscoll’s resignations, and did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the other three.

On Monday, president-elect Trump said he would consider a pardon for New York City Mayor Eric Adams. (Getty Images)

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Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House. Since taking office in January, Trump has fired more than a dozen federal prosecutors who pursued cases against him.

In a statement to Fox News, Bove said he concluded that the prosecution against Adams had to be dismissed in order to “prioritize national security and public safety over continuing with a case that has been tainted from the start by troubling tactics.”

“There is no room at the Justice Department for attorneys who refuse to execute on the priorities of the Executive Branch – priorities determined by the American people,” he said. “I look forward to working with new leadership at SDNY on the important priorities President Trump has laid out for us to make America safe again.”

Fox News’ David Spunt contributed to this report.

February 14, 2025
Plane carrying Sec. of State Rubio turns around after experiencing mechanical issue

A plane carrying Secretary of State Marco Rubio was diverted back to Joint Base Andrews on Thursday night due to a mechanical issue.

Rubio was on his way to Munich, Germany from Washington, D.C. on Thursday night when the plane experienced a mechanical issue, according to spokesperson Tammy Bruce.

RUBIO SAYS AMERICAN MARC FOGEL FREED FROM RUSSIA DUE TO ‘STRENGTH’ OF TRUMP

TOPSHOT – US Secretary of State Marco Rubio boards a plane en route to El Salvador at Panama Pacifico International Airport in Panama City on February 3, 2025. Rubio is in Panama on a two-day official visit. (MARK SCHIEFELBEIN/Pool AP/AFP via Getty Images)

The plane has since turned around and was returning to Joint Base Andrews.

Bruce said Rubio intends to continue his travel to Germany and the Middle East on a different aircraft.

This is a developing story.

Greg Wehner is a breaking news reporter for Fox News Digital.

Story tips and ideas can be sent to [email protected] and on Twitter @GregWehner.

February 14, 2025
Fox News Politics Newsletter: Trump Setting Records

Welcome to the Fox News Politics newsletter, with the latest updates on the Trump administration, exclusive interviews and more Fox News politics content.

Here’s what’s happening…

-Trump’s nominee for Commerce secretary passes key vote in the Senate

–USAID workers ask federal judge to uphold restraining order blocking Trump freeze

-Dems spar over DOGE cuts with Trump education nominee Linda McMahon

Record setting

President Donald Trump took to social media on Thursday morning to showcase his frenetic pace since reentering the White House on Jan. 20.

“THREE GREAT WEEKS, PERHAPS THE BEST EVER,” the president touted.

Trump has signed 64 executive orders since his inauguration, according to a count from Fox News, which far surpasses the rate of any presidential predecessors during their first weeks in office…Read more

President Donald Trump speaks as Tulsi Gabbard is sworn in as the Director of National Intelligence in the Oval Office of the White House, on Wednesday, Feb. 12. (AP/Alex Brandon)

White House

‘TOO MANY PEOPLE’: Roughly 75,000 federal employees agree to Trump’s buyout offer…Read more

SICK AND TIRED: Trump’s ‘Make America Healthy Again’ commission to target autism, chronic diseases…Read more

FROZEN FUNDS: Pennsylvania’s Shapiro latest Democrat suing ‘unconstitutional’ Trump admin…Read more

‘FLEXING HIS EXECUTIVE POWER’: Judicial pushback against Trump’s agenda will likely lead to one final face-off, experts say…Read more

Several of President Donald Trump’s executive orders are likely to end up before the U.S. Supreme Court. (Getty Images)

‘PARTISAN ACTIVIST’: Impeachment threat hits judge who blocked Trump federal funding freeze…Read more

BACK TO BACK: Trump Agriculture pick confirmed as president racks up Cabinet wins…Read more

World Stage

POISONED APPLE: Bipartisan intelligence letter warns Gabbard new UK order for backdoor Apple data could jeopardize Americans…Read more

‘SURRENDERING LEVERAGE’: Obama officials, Trump critics target Hegseth’s Ukraine ‘concessions’ as ‘biggest gift’ to Russia…Read more

UKRAINE DEAL: ‘No betrayal’ in Trump move toward Ukraine war negotiations, Hegseth says…Read more

United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks with the media as he arrives for a meeting of NATO defense ministers at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Harry Nakos) (AP Photo/Harry Nakos)

Capitol Hill

SENATE SEAT SHAKE-UP: Senate Democrats forced to defend another open seat in 2026 midterms…Raed more

DEATH TAX: Inheritance tax hits chopping block as more than 200 Republicans push for repeal…Read more

INTERNAL AFFAIRS: Ways and Means chair calls for de-weaponization, overhaul of IRS after ‘lawless’ behavior…Read more

CIVICS LESSON: Trump Education nominee Linda McMahon says shutting down DOE would ‘require congressional action’…Read more

‘DON’T WATCH THE NEWS’: GOP chairman responds after protesters are tossed from USAID spending hearing…Read more

FAST-TRACK: Comer, Lee roll out bicameral bill to fast-track Trump’s government reorganization plans through Congress…Read more

WON’T TOE THE LINE: Fetterman says there ‘isn’t a constitutional crisis’ with the Trump administration: report…Read more

CHANGE COMING: Kash Patel’s nomination to lead FBI faces first major Senate hurdle…Read more

Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s choice to be director of the FBI, arrives for his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 30, 2025. (AP/Ben Curtis)

MATH TEST: Trump budget bill hits the rocks with GOP rebels, tax hawks ahead of key vote…Read more

‘WAR ON WASTE’: DOGE subcommittee holds first hearing slamming $36T national debt, as House Republicans declare ‘war on waste’…Read more

Across America

STEPPING DOWN: NIH principal deputy director, who led agency during COVID, resigns abruptly…Read more

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February 14, 2025
India PM praises Trump, invokes MIGA, “make India great again,” after White House meeting

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a page from President Donald Trump’s playbook during a joint press conference Thursday, saying he wants to make India great again, or “MIGA.”

Modi met with Trump at the White House, where the world leaders discussed a range of issues, including trade, the economic relationship between India and the United States and military sales.

During a press conference, Modi said Indian people were focusing on their heritage and ways to ensure his nation is developed by 2047.

INDIA’S MODI SPEAKS WITH ‘DEAR FRIEND’ PRESIDENT TRUMP AMID HOPES OF FURTHERING TIES

President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi shake hands during a news conference in the East Room of the White House Thursday. (Photo/Alex Brandon)

“Borrowing an expression from America, our vision for a developed India is to make India great again, or MIGA,” he said through a translator. “When America and India work together, that is, when it’s MAGA plus MIGA, it becomes a mega partnership for prosperity.

“And it is this mega spirit that gives new scale and scope to our objectives.”

TRUMP’S TARIFF THREATS GO BEYOND ‘TRADE AGREEMENT’ TO ADVANCE AMERICAN INTERESTS: EXPERT

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi points to President Donald Trump during a news conference in the East Room of the White House Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025, in Washington. (Photo/Alex Brandon)

At the beginning of the press conference, Trump announced the United States would be providing India F-35 fighter jets and increasing military sales to the country by billions of dollars.

Trump also said his administration approved the extradition of Tahawwur Rana, a Canadian citizen of Pakistani origin, one of the plotters of a deadly 2008 terrorist attack that killed 160 people.

“I’m pleased to announce that my administration has approved the extradition of one of the plotters and one of the very evil people of the world having to do with the horrific 2008 Mumbai terrorist attack to face justice in India,” Trump said.

In addition, Modi said India would accept illegal Indian immigrants in the United States who are deported back home.

A U.S. military plane deporting illegal Indian immigrants lands in Amritsar, India, Feb. 5, 2025. (Adnan Abidi)

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“Anybody who enters another country illegally,” Modi said, “they have absolutely no right to be in that country.

“And as far as India and the U.S. is concerned, we have always been of the same opinion. And that is that any verified Indian who is in the U.S. illegally, we are fully prepared to take them back to India.”

February 14, 2025
Trump team digs in, finds millions of wasted dollars at EPA, HUD with DOGE help

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The new administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Lee Zeldin, said he has canceled a Biden-era $50 million environmental justice grant to an organization that believes “climate justice travels through a Free Palestine.”

Zeldin, who was sworn in as the EPA administrator at the end of January, was a guest on “The Story with Martha MacCallum” on Thursday, where he spoke about canceling the grant.

“Just earlier today, I canceled a $50 million grant to an organization called the Climate Justice Alliance,” he said. “They say that climate justice runs through a free Palestine. I think that the American taxpayer wouldn’t want $50 million going to this left-wing advocacy group. It’s canceled.”

Zeldin also noted that Congress has advocated against the grant.

EPA ADMINISTRATOR ZELDIN DEMANDS RETURN OF $20B IN TAXPAYER MONEY WASTED BY BIDEN ADMINISTRATION

EPA administrator Lee Zeldin said his team has uncovered billions of dollars that were wasted at the agency under the Biden administration. (Fox News)

The EPA also sent $160 million to a Canadian electric bus manufacturer under the Biden administration.

Zeldin said the Biden administration sent the full amount to the manufacturer, rather than making payments along the way as school buses were being produced.

Since receiving the money, he added, the company has declared bankruptcy.

“They still haven’t provided $95 million worth of school buses to the 55 school districts,” Zeldin said. “It’s the American taxpayer that gets screwed.”

TRUMP TAPS FORMER NEW YORK REP LEE ZELDIN TO LEAD EPA

Former Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., President Donald Trump’s pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency, appears before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Capitol Hill, Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

On Wednesday, Zeldin announced his team had located $20 billion in taxpayer funds that the Biden administration purposely wasted.

Two months ago, a video featuring a Biden EPA political appointee circulated, with that individual talking about how they were “tossing gold bars off the Titanic,” and rushing to get billions of tax dollars out the door before President Trump took office.

Zeldin spoke about the video on X, and said the gold bars were tax dollars, and “tossing them off the Titanic” meant the Biden administration knew they were wasting the money.

The new EPA administrator said his team has plans to recover the “gold bars” that were found “parked at an outside financial institution,” which he did not mention by name.

THROUGH THE EPA, WE CAN PURSUE ENERGY DOMINANCE, LEE ZELDIN SAYS | FOX NEWS VIDEO

WASHINGTON, DC – DECEMBER 05: Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Co-Chair of the newly announced Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), arrives on Capitol Hill on December 05, 2024, in Washington, DC. Musk and his Co-Chair, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy are meeting with lawmakers today about DOGE, a planned presidential advisory commission with the goal of cutting government spending and increasing efficiency in the federal workforce. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

As the EPA continues to find ways funds are being wasted, President Donald Trump’s newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is being led by billionaire Elon Musk, also continues to go agency to agency in search of blown tax dollars.

Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Scott Turner announced the creation of the DOGE Task Force at HUD on Thursday.

“We will identify and eliminate any waste, fraud and abuse,” Turner wrote on X. “Under President Trump’s leadership, business as usual is over.”

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He announced his team had identified $260 million in savings, just two days prior.

Fox News Digital’s Christina Shaw contributed to this report.

February 14, 2025