Happy New Year 2025

Category: Politics

Russ Vought, tapped as CFPB’s acting director, directs bureau to issue no new rules, stop all investigations

Office of Management and Budget director Russell Vought is now also the acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, where he has directed staff to not issue any new rules, to suspend effective dates of all final rules and to stop any new investigations.

Vought, also a Project 2025 author, was named acting director of the CFPB on Friday.

“I am honored that President Trump designated me as Acting Director of the Bureau on February 7, 2025,” Vought said in an email to CFPB colleagues obtained by RealClearPolitics. “As Acting Director, I am committed to implementing the President’s policies, consistent with the law, and acting as a faithful steward of the Bureau’s resources.”

He issued several directives that, effective immediately, must be followed by all employees, contractors and other CFPB personnel “unless expressly approved by the Acting Director or required by law,” according to RealClearPolitics.

RUSSELL VOUGHT CONFIRMED TO HEAD GOVERNMENT’S LEADING BUDGET OFFICE AFTER DEMS HOLD 30-HOUR PROTEST

Russell Vought speaks during a Senate Budget Committee hearing on his nomination, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)

The directives include not approving or issuing any proposed or final rules or formal or informal guidance and for the bureau to suspend the effective dates of all final rules that have been issued or published but have not gone into effect.

Vought also ordered the bureau not to “commence, take investigative activities related to, or settle enforcement actions.” CFPB must not open any new investigation in any manner and must cease any pending probes, he said.

The acting director said the CFPB shall not issue public communications of any type, including research papers.

Russell Vought is sworn in during the Senate Banking Committee nomination hearing in the Dirksen Senate Building on January 22, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)

Additionally, the CFPB must not approve or execute any material agreements, including those related to employee matters or contractors, and must not make or approve filings or appearances by the bureau in any litigation except to ask for a pause in proceedings.

The bureau was also told to cease all supervision and examination activity and to cease all stakeholder engagement.

Vought also sent a letter to the Federal Reserve requesting no money for the CFPB’s third quarter of fiscal year 2025.

SENATE DEMOCRATS SPEAK ALL NIGHT AGAINST TRUMP OMB NOMINEE, DELAYING CONFIRMATION VOTE

Russell Vought testifies during the Senate Banking Committee nomination hearing in the Dirksen Senate Building on January 22, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)

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“Pursuant to the Consumer Financial Protection Act, I have notified the Federal Reserve that CFPB will not be taking its next draw of unappropriated funding because it is not ‘reasonably necessary’ to carry out its duties,” Vought wrote on X. “The Bureau’s current balance of $711.6 billion is in fact excessive in the current fiscal environment. This spigot, long contributing to CFPB’s unaccountability, is now being turned off.”

This comes after Vought was confirmed by the Senate on Thursday to lead the Office of Management and Budget.

Fox News Digital has reached out to CFPB for further comment.

February 9, 2025
Trump directs Secret Service to give him ‘every bit of information’ on his attempted assassins

President Donald Trump said he has directed the Secret Service to give him “every bit of information” known about his two attempted assassins last summer during the presidential campaign, according to a report.

“I want to find out about the two assassins,” the president told the New York Post Friday. “Why did the one guy have six cellphones, and why did the other guy have [foreign] apps?”

Trump told the Post the Secret Service had been holding back information because of President Biden.

IF IRAN ATTEMPTS ASSASSINATION, ‘THEY GET OBLITERATED’: PRESIDENT TRUMP

President Trump raised his fist and yelled “fight” to the crowd after surviving an assassination attempt in July in Butler, Pa. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

“I’m entitled to know. And they held it back long enough,” he added. “No more excuses.”

Trump was shot in the ear July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania, while speaking at an outdoor campaign rally by 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, who was killed by the Secret Service after shooting at Trump, killing a rally attendee and injuring two others.

Two months later, Ryan Routh, 59, allegedly waited for over 12 hours in brush with a rifle on the perimeter of the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach as Trump was golfing Sept. 15.

FLORIDA MAN ARRESTED FOR ALLEGEDLY CALLING FOR TRUMP ASSASSINATION ON FACEBOOK; SECRET SERVICE INVESTIGATING

Thomas Matthew Crooks casually walks through a crowd in Butler, Pa., nearly two hours before he opened fire on former President Trump and attendees at a campaign rally. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images; Iron Clad USA, inset.)

A Secret Service agent saw Routh allegedly pointing a rifle through a fence and fired at him. Routh fled and was arrested that day.

He has pleaded not guilty to several counts, including attempted assassination of a presidential candidate and assault on a federal officer, and remains in federal custody. His trial is scheduled for Sept. 8, 2025.

Six cellphones were reportedly found in Routh’s car after his arrest.

Trump assassination suspect Ryan Routh was arrested for the alleged attempted assassination in Palm Beach County, Fla., Sept. 15, 2024. (Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office)

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Crooks had encrypted messaging accounts on multiple platforms based in Belgium, New Zealand and Germany, according to Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., who was appointed to a congressional task force investigating the assassination attempt.

The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Fox News’ Stephen Sorace contributed to this report.

February 9, 2025
Trump removes Antony Blinken, Letitia James, Alvin Bragg’s security clearances among others

President Donald Trump has decided to remove security clearances for several Democrats, including former Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, and New York Attorney General Letitia James, both of whom are vocal Trump critics.

Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Biden’s Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, and attorneys Andrew Weissmann, Mark Zaid and Norm Eisen.

The move comes a day after Trump stripped his predecessor, former President Joe Biden, of his security clearance and his access to presidential daily briefs, which ex-presidents generally

Security clearances have been revoked for Antony Blinken, Letitia James and Alvin Bragg. (Getty)

“There is no need for Joe Biden to continue receiving access to classified information,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social Friday night.

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He added the precedent was set by Biden himself.

“He set this precedent in 2021, when he instructed the Intelligence Community (IC) to stop the 45th President of the United States (ME!) from accessing details on National Security, a courtesy provided to former Presidents,” Trump wrote.

February 8, 2025
Who is Norm Eisen? Meet the anti-Trump attorney repping FBI agents suing the DOJ

One of the attorneys representing anonymous FBI agents suing the Department of Justice to block the public identification of agents who investigated Jan. 6 is a longtime anti-Trump lawyer who worked with House Democrats on President Donald Trump’s first impeachment.

Norm Eisen is an attorney, CNN legal analyst and expert at the Brookings Institution public policy think tank who previously served as the U.S.’ ambassador to the Czech Republic and special counsel for ethics and government reform under the Obama administration, when he earned the nicknames “Dr. No” and “The Fun Sponge” for reportedly ensuring the administration abide by ethics rules.

Eisen appeared in court on Thursday for a hearing before U.S. District Judge Jia M. Cobb involving a pair of lawsuits filed by two groups of FBI agents who investigated the Jan. 6 breach of the Capitol Building as well as former special counsel Jack Smith’s investigations and cases against Trump.

Eisen serves as executive chair of State Democracy Defenders Fund, which filed a lawsuit Tuesday on behalf of the FBI agents who investigated Trump-related cases. State Democracy Defenders Fund is a nonprofit that bills itself as focused on defeating “election sabotage” and “autocracy in 2025 — and beyond.”

FBI AGENTS SUE TRUMP DOJ TO BLOCK ANY PUBLIC IDENTIFICATION OF EMPLOYEES WHO WORKED ON JAN. 6 INVESTIGATIONS

Norm Eisen is an attorney, CNN legal analyst and expert at the Brookings Institution public policy think tank who previously served as the U.S.’ ambassador to the Czech Republic. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

“Credible reports indicate the FBI has been directed to systematically terminate all Bureau employees who had any involvement in investigations related to President Trump, and that Trump’s allies in the DOJ are planning to publicly disseminate the names of those employees they plan to terminate,” State Democracy Defenders Fund wrote in its press release of the emergency order to block the public release of FBI personnel names involved in the Jan. 6 investigation.

Fox News Digital took a look back on Eisen’s rhetoric and actions across the past few years and found that he has repeatedly been at the forefront of the legal cases against Trump, notably serving as co-counsel for the House Judiciary Committee during the first impeachment of Trump beginning in 2019.

FBI AGENTS GROUP TELLS CONGRESS TO TAKE URGENT ACTION TO PROTECT AGAINST POLITICIZATION

House Democrats tapped Eisen — who early in his career specialized in financial fraud litigation and investigations — to help lead the first impeachment against the 45th president, which accused Trump of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress related to allegedly seeking foreign interference from Ukraine to boost his re-election efforts in 2020. The House adopted two articles of impeachment against Trump, but the Senate ultimately voted to acquit him.

Norm Eisen served as special counsel for ethics and government reform under the administration of former President Barack Obama. (Melina Mara/Getty Images)

Eisen revealed following the impeachment effort that he initially drafted 10 articles of impeachment against Trump, not just two, which would have included issues such as “hush money” payments to former porn star Stormy Daniels. Although the payments were not included in the impeachment articles, they were a focal point of the Manhattan v. Trump trial that found Trump guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in May 2024.

FBI AGENTS DETAIL J6 ROLE IN EXHAUSTIVE QUESTIONNAIRE EMPLOYEES ‘WERE INSTRUCTED TO FILL OUT’

“This was only the third impeachment trial of a president in American history, so it’s remarkable that we even got those two,” Eisen said in an NPR interview in 2020. “I will tell you that those two articles are a microcosm of all 10 of the impeachment articles that we drafted. They have features of all 10.”

Eisen told Fox News Digital, when asked about his history of anti-Trump cases, that he was initially open to working with the first Trump administration, but that the president, “turned against the Constitution.”

“I was initially open to Trump and even advised his first presidential transition,” Eisen told Fox Digital in an emailed comment on Friday. “But he turned against the Constitution and laws.”

“In his first administration and now, he was and is using the presidency to break the law and to help himself and his cronies like Elon Musk — not the American people,” he continued. “To ensure the integrity of our democracy, I am pushing back through the bipartisan institutions I work with such as State Democracy Defenders Fund, which has strong conservative representation on our board.”

Fox News Digital took a look back on Norm Eisen’s rhetoric and actions across the past few years and found that he has repeatedly been at the forefront of the legal cases against President Donald Trump, pictured here. (Getty Images)

Eisen is the co-founder of the nonprofit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which made waves in 2023 and 2024 when it helped to initiate a Colorado court case to remove Trump from the primary ballot in the state, The New York Times reported.

The lawsuit, which ultimately landed in the Supreme Court, argued that Trump should be deemed ineligible from holding political office under a Civil War-era insurrection clause and that his name should thus be barred from appearing on the 2024 ballot. The group said that Trump’s actions on Jan. 6, 2021, when supporters breached the U.S. Capitol, violated a clause in the 14th Amendment that prevents officers of the United States, members of Congress or state legislatures who “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the Constitution from holding political office.

Other states made similar legal claims to remove Trump, but each of the nine Supreme Court justices ruled in Trump’s favor in a decision released last March, ending the Colorado case and all others that were similar.

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

The State Democracy Defenders Action, co-founded by Norm Eisen, center, has been involved with other Trump-involved court cases, including in the Manhattan v. Trump case. (Getty Images)

The State Democracy Defenders Action, which Eisen co-founded, has also been involved with other Trump-involved court cases, including in the Manhattan v. Trump case. The group helped file an amicus brief in February, advocating that presiding Judge Juan Merchan sentence Trump just days ahead of his inauguration. Trump was ultimately sentenced to unconditional discharge, meaning he faces no fines or jail time.

Trump was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in the Manhattan case in May 2024. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office worked to prove that Trump had falsified business records to conceal a $130,000 payment to former porn star, Stormy Daniels, ahead of the 2016 election to quiet her claims of an alleged affair with Trump in 2006.

Eisen also founded another group, the States United Democracy Center, which filed an amicus brief in 2024 in Fulton County, Georgia, court, advocating that District Attorney Fani Willis’ racketeering case against Trump not be dismissed.

ANTI-TRUMP FBI AGENT RESPONSIBLE FOR OPENING JACK SMITH ELECTOR CASE AGAINST PRESIDENT: WHISTLEBLOWER

The Georgia Court of Appeals ruled in December 2024 that Willis and her office are barred from prosecuting the case. The case worked to prove that Trump had led a “criminal racketeering enterprise” to change the outcome of the 2020 election in Georgia. Trump has maintained his innocence in that case, as well as the other federal and state charges brought against him between the 2020 and 2024 election, slamming them as Democrat lawfare.

Eisen, in his capacity as executive chair and founder of State Democracy Defenders Fund, also sent a letter to Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and ranking Committee Member Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill. on Monday to speak out against Kash Patel’s nomination as director of the FBI under the second Trump administration. Eisen said he had ethics concerns surrounding Patel’s previous work in Qatar.

President Donald Trump was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in the Manhattan case in May 2024. (Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

MAJOR FBI CHANGES KASH PATEL COULD MAKE ON DAY 1 IF CONFIRMED AS DIRECTOR

The FBI lawsuits followed acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove sending a memo to acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll in late January, directing him to fire eight FBI employees who worked on the Jan. 6 investigation, as well as a terror case related to Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack against Israel. The memo also informed the acting director to identify all current and former FBI personnel who took part in the case.

Democratic counsel Norm Eisen speaks with Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y. (Getty Images)

The memo’s directive to identify those involved in the case sparked the two FBI lawsuits filed Tuesday, which seek to stop the collection of names and their public release.

“The individuals being targeted have served in law enforcement for decades, often putting their lives on the line for the citizens of this country,” Eisen said in a statement provided in State Democracy Defenders Fund’s press release announcing it filed an emergency order on behalf of the FBI agents. “Their rights and privacy must be preserved.”

The judge temporarily barred the Trump DOJ on Thursday from disclosing information on the agents until she hears arguments and determines whether to issue a temporary restraining order.

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Fox News Digital’s Breanne Deppisch and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.

February 8, 2025
Pritzker trolls Trump by ‘renaming’ Lake Michigan as ‘Lake Illinois,’ joking he’d annex Green Bay

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has taken a satirical jab at President Donald Trump’s effort to rename the Gulf of Mexico and annex Greenland.

A straight-faced Pritzker released a choreographed video on Friday, with fake camera shutter clicks going off in the background, where he asserts that he is renaming Lake Michigan to “Lake Illinois,” poking fun at Trump’s recent executive order where he changed the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America.

Pritzker trolls Trump by sarcastically renaming Lake Michigan as “Lake Illinois,” jokes about annexing Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Vincent Alban/Getty Images, left, Stephen Maturen/Getty Images, right.)

PRITZKER BASHES TRUMP ORDER ON BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP: ‘WE WILL NOT FOLLOW AN UNCONSTITUTIONAL ORDER’

“The world’s finest geographers, experts who study the Earth’s natural environment, have concluded a decades-long council and determined that a great lake deserves to be named after a great state,” Pritzker said.

“So today, I’m issuing a proclamation declaring that hereinafter, Lake Michigan shall be known as Lake Illinois. The proclamation has been forwarded to Google to ensure the world’s maps reflect this momentous change.”

Trump signed Executive Order 14172 on his first day back in office which changed the name of the ocean basin. The order also renamed the highest peak in North America to “Mount McKinley,” reversing the 2015 decision to call it by its centuries-old name Denali.

Google has said it will make Trump’s changes once the Department of the Interior updates the Geographic Names Information System. As of today, Google Maps still refers to it as the Gulf of Mexico.

In the video, Pritzker then switches his attention to Green Bay, a Wisconsin city near Lake Michigan. And just like how Trump vowed to take over Greenland from Denmark, Pritzker pledged to snap up Green Bay from The Badger State.

“In addition, the recent announcement that to protect the homeland, the United States will be purchasing Greenland… Illinois will now be annexing Green Bay to protect itself against enemies, foreign and domestic,” Pritzker said.

In the video, Pritzker jokingly pledged to annex Green Bay from Wisconsin. (@JBPritzker)

TRUDEAU SAYS TRUMP IS SERIOUS ABOUT CANADA BECOMING 51ST STATE: REPORTS

“I’ve also instructed my team to work diligently to prepare for an important announcement next week regarding the Mississippi River.”

“God bless America and bear down,” Pritzker said, a nod to Wisconsin’s Green Bay Packers, one of Chicago Bears’ biggest rivals.

The video comes on the heels of a Justice Department lawsuit filed against the state of Illinois and the city of Chicago for allegedly interfering with federal immigration enforcement with its sanctuary polices.

The lawsuit claims that several state and local laws are designed to interfere with the federal government’s enforcement of federal immigration law in violation of the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution.

Trump signed Executive Order 14172 on his first day back in office, which changed the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. (REUTERS/Carlos Barria)

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Pritzker and Trump have also clashed over Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship, with Pritzker declaring the move unconstitutional.

Trump’s order, “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship,” asserts that the 14th Amendment of the Constitution does not automatically confer American citizenship to individuals who are born within the United States.

They also feuded during Trump’s first term in office when Pritzker claimed the state only recovered a quarter of its requested personal protective equipment from the federal government.

Michael Dorgan is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business.

You can send tips to [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @M_Dorgan.

February 8, 2025
The Super Bowl team Trump may not be rooting for on Sunday

President Donald Trump, taking to social media ahead of the Super Bowl, praised both teams facing off in professional football’s biggest game.

“Two great Quarterbacks in this game. Also, an unbelievable running back, and the absolute best tight end in football (Ever!). Incredible coaching!” the president wrote Friday in a post on his Truth Social platform. “IT WILL BE A GREAT GAME!!!”

Trump is expected to make history this weekend as the first sitting president to attend a Super Bowl in person, when the Kansas City Chiefs face off against the Philadelphia Eagles in New Orleans, Louisiana.

FIRST FAN: TRUMP TAKES AIM AT THIS NEW NFL RULE

President Donald Trump attends a game between the National Football League’s Pittsburgh Steelers and the New York Jets in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 20, 2024. (Evan Vucci-Pool/Getty Images)

The Chiefs are aiming to make history as the first National Football League team to win three straight Lombardi trophies as Super Bowl champions.

The Eagles, playing in their third Super Bowl in seven seasons, seek to avenge their 38-35 loss to the Chiefs in the championship game two years ago.

SIGN UP FOR TUBI AND STREAM SUPER BOWL LIX FOR FREE

Trump earlier this week appeared to indicate which team he may be rooting for in the big game.

When asked by reporters in the Oval Office which team he wanted to win the Super Bowl, the president responded, “I don’t wanna say.”

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he signs documents in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 4, 2025. (REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz)

“But there’s a certain quarterback that seems to be a pretty good winner,” he added as he apparently pointed towards Chiefs’ star quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

The president the next day gave a shoutout to Mahomes and his wife Brittany, who hinted at support for Trump in last year’s presidential election.

HOW TO WATCH SUPER BOWL LIX BETWEEN CHIEFS, EAGLES STREAMED ON TUBI

“Congratulations to the Chiefs GREAT Quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, and his very beautiful and BRILLIANT wife, Brittany, on the birth of their new baby daughter, Golden Raye. This is what I call a baby with great genes, both mother and father. It’s happy times in the wonderful Mahomes family. See you all on Sunday!” he wrote.

President Donald Trump looks on during the first quarter of the game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Georgia Bulldogs at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Sept. 28, 2024, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

While Trump theoretically is staying neutral in Sunday’s game, he does appear to have an acrimonious history with the Eagles which dates back to his first White House administration.

During his first year in office, Trump repeatedly criticized NFL players who refused to stand for the national anthem as they symbolically protested racism. After the Eagles won the Super Bowl that season, most of the players on the team said they would boycott the traditional White House appearance by the championship team.

FOX NEWS’ BRET BAIER TO INTERVIEW TRUMP AT SUPER BOWL

Trump, responding, disinvited the team.

“The Philadelphia Eagles are unable to come to the White House with their full team to be celebrated tomorrow,” Trump said at the time. “They disagree with their president because he insists that they proudly stand for the national anthem, hand on heart, in honor of the great men and women of our military and the people of our country.”

The Eagles are also the team long cheered on by former President Joe Biden, a Pennsylvania native who for nearly his entire life has called neighboring Delaware home.

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As he addressed the Democratic National Committee, which met in Philadelphia amid a blistering cold weekend in early 2023 for their annual winter meeting, the then-president said “Fly, Eagles, fly!”

And former First Lady Jill Biden, a devout Eagles fan who often wears the team’s garb, will be attending Sunday’s Super Bowl.

Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter based in New Hampshire.

February 8, 2025
Rubio scores key wins for Trump immigration agenda with blitz through Latin America

Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrapped up his first overseas trip across Latin America with several wins on immigration, a top priority for President Donald Trump.

America’s new top diplomat returns home with a binder full of agreements from foreign governments on day-one priorities to interdict human and drug trafficking – a testament to how the Trump administration wields America’s economic might.

“I think the fact that his first trip was to Latin America, I think was a huge statement in itself,” said Joseph Humire, executive director of the Center for a Secure Free Society (SFS).

Next, Rubio will head to the Middle East, with plans to visit Israel, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia in mid-February after attending the Munich Security Conference. A broad swath of even more challenging circumstances await him there, including concerns from foreign officials over Trump’s newfangled idea to “take over” the Gaza Strip, with neighboring Arab states staunchly opposed to U.S. insistence that they take in Palestinians.

RUBIO TO VISIT MIDDLE EAST FOR SECOND TRIP AS SECRETARY OF STATE AFTER TRUMP SUGGESTS US TAKEOVER OF GAZA

Panama agreed not to renew its Belt and Road Initiative with China after Rubio’s meeting, pictured above with the Panamanian foreign minister. (AP/Mark Schiefelbein)

Before the secretary took off for Latin America, the Trump administration had already scored several victories. Colombia did a lightning fast about-face on accepting deportation flights carrying illegal immigrants headed home from the United States. President Gustavo Petro had initially denied two flights carrying Colombian nationals, saying he would not accept the return of migrants who were not treated with “dignity and respect” and who had arrived shackled or on military planes.

But Trump immediately threatened 25% tariffs on Colombian goods, and Petro acquiesced to all U.S. conditions, according to the White House, including accepting migrants on military planes.

Rubio then began his regional tour in Panama last Saturday, a nation that nervously awaited to see what his visit would hold after Trump repeatedly called for a U.S. takeover of the Panama Canal.

Trump had claimed the canal was essentially under the control of China – Hong Kong-based firms control the ports of entry – and charging America unfair rates after the U.S. built the canal and gave it back to Panama in a 1977 treaty signed by President Jimmy Carter.

After Rubio’s visit, Panama said it would not be renewing its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) with China, an investment project the CCP uses to secure influence in developing nations across the world.

“The BRI thing was huge news,” said Humire.

“There are 22 countries in Latin America that signed a BRI agreement. If we really push hard on this, a lot of countries, especially the ones that are allied with us, are going to rethink” their agreements with China, he added.

RUBIO HEADS TO PANAMA, LATIN AMERICA TO PURSUE TRUMP’S ‘GOLDEN AGE’ AGENDA

Rubio had warned Panama that if its government did not move to reduce or eliminate the CCP’s grip on the canal, the U.S. would move to do so.

Under the canal treaties, the U.S. retains the duty to defend the canal if it comes under threat.

Rubio, pictured above in the Dominican Republic, Rubio had warned Panama that if its government did not move to reduce or eliminate the CCP’s grip on the canal, the U.S. would move to do so. ( Mark Schiefelbein/Pool via Reuters)

But Rubio hit a snag over a claim that the State Department made that Panama had offered free passage through the canal for U.S naval vessels.

Panama President José Raúl Mulino then accused the US of spreading “lies and falsehoods” about his nation offering the U.S. free passage.

The secretary then rowed back the claim, while calling the charges “absurd.”

“It seems absurd that we would have to pay fees to transit a zone that we are obligated to protect in a time of conflict,” Rubio said. “Panama has a process of laws and procedures that they need to follow as it relates to the Panamanian port.”

In Costa Rica, Rubio offered U.S. help to combat a wave of drug trafficking crime and push back on Chinese influence by limiting CCP development of 5G technology in the country.

Then, in El Salvador, Rubio cinched an offer from Trump-friendly President Nayib Bukele to accept deportees of any nationality, including American criminals.

EL SALVADOR AGREES TO ACCEPT US DEPORTEES OF ANY NATIONALITY FOLLOWING MEETING WITH RUBIO

At the same time, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum agreed to send 10,000 Mexican forces to the U.S. border after Trump agreed to delay a threatened 25% tariff on her nation’s exports to the U.S.

Meanwhile, in Guatemala, President Bernardo Arévalo pledged to accept 40% more deportation flights and to accept people of other nationalities.

“I think a lot of the wins are because of his prior relationships with the region, his team and, frankly, his experience and his knowledge,” said Humire. “He’s somebody that can engage them in their language and in their kind of mannerisms.”

And, he added, Latin America saw “how serious” Trump was about deportations, watching the threats the president made to Canada, Mexico and Colombia.

Amid a stint in El Salvador, Rubio cinched an offer from Trump-friendly President Nayib Bukele to accept deportees of any nationality, including American criminals. (Mark Schiefelbein/Pool via REUTERS)

“I think we could have gotten more clarity from Panama on the canal,” said Humire. “But I think we met little resistance [overall].”

Rubio wasn’t the only Trump official to secure Latin America wins. Special envoy Ric Grenell sat down with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro this week and returned home with six American hostages. The price paid, according to Grenell, was giving the Venezuelan dictator a photo opportunity with an American diplomat for propaganda purposes.

The Trump administration now expects deportation flights to Venezuela to resume “within 30 days,” border czar Tom Homan told the New York Times, after Maduro previously refused to accept Venezuelan nationals back from the U.S.

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“He’s on a good-behavior policy,” said Humire. “[Maduro] thinks – they call it agenda zero – they think that they can renew, kind of restart relations with the U.S. by basically being on good behavior, starting to steer us towards their interests.”

“Grennell has to be able to get the things that we need without giving a whole lot. And I think he accomplished that,” Humire continued. “The photo op, they’re going to spin it, use it for disinformation. But that’s a small concession for bringing hostages home.”

February 8, 2025
Trudeau says Trump is serious about Canada becoming 51st state: reports

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President Donald Trump has for weeks suggested that Canada become the United States’ 51st state, and while opinion has been divided about whether Trump is serious or merely trolling its neighbor, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has reportedly said that it’s the former, according to reports.

In a closed-door meeting with Canadian business and labor leaders, Trudeau reportedly affirmed that Trump’s ambitious aims of annexation are “a real thing.”

“Mr. Trump has it in mind that the easiest way to do it is absorbing our country and it is a real thing. In my conversations with him on …” Trudeau said before the microphone cut out, according to CBC.

President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minster Justin Trudeau. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images, left, CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images, right.)

TRUMP IMPOSES TARIFFS ON IMPORTS FROM CANADA, MEXICO AND CHINA: ‘NATIONAL EMERGENCY’

The news media had been asked to leave the room before Trudeau delivered his comments, but CBC and The Toronto Star were able to hear them and record them.

“I suggest that not only does the Trump administration know how many critical minerals we have, but that may be even why they keep talking about absorbing us and making us the 51st state,” Trudeau added according to people in the room who listened to his comments. “They’re very aware of our resources, of what we have, and they very much want to be able to benefit from those.”

Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labor, confirmed what Trudeau said in a post on social platform X.

“Yes, I can confirm that Trudeau said his assessment is that what Trump really wants is not action on fentanyl or immigration or even the trade deficit, what he really wants is to either dominate Canada or take it outright,” McGowan wrote. “Tariffs are a tactic towards that end.”

Trump first pitched the idea during a dinner at Mar-a-Lago with Trudeau in late November. Trump has also suggested annexing Greenland.

Canada is home to more than 40 million people and is a founding NATO partner. It is a natural resource-rich nation that provides the U.S. with commodities such as oil.

Trump has long said Canada – as well as Mexico – has failed to do enough to prevent the flow of illegal migrants and drugs, particularly fentanyl into the U.S. In addition, Trump claims the U.S. has subsidized Canada to the tune of $200 billion annually.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has reportedly said that President Donald Trump is serious about Canada becoming the United States’ 51st state. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press via AP)

CANADA WILL NOT BE ’51ST STATE,’ AMBASSADOR PROTESTS AMID TRUMP TARIFF THREAT

Last weekend, Trump again repeated his suggestion of absorbing Canada, noting that it would not be subjected to his incoming tariffs should the country join the U.S.

“We pay hundreds of Billions of Dollars to SUBSIDIZE Canada. Why? There is no reason,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “We don’t need anything they have. We have unlimited Energy, should make our own Cars, and have more Lumber than we can ever use. Without this massive subsidy, Canada ceases to exist as a viable Country. Harsh but true!”

“Therefore, Canada should become our Cherished 51st State,” Trump added. “Much lower taxes, and far better military protection for the people of Canada – AND NO TARIFFS!”

But Trump agreed to pause the tariffs for 30 days on Monday after a call with Trudeau, who made some concessions to temporarily stave off the levies.

Trudeau said Canada will implement a $1.3 billion border plan and appoint a fentanyl czar. In addition, Canada will reinforce its border with new helicopters, technology, personnel and enhanced coordination with American authorities. He added that nearly 10,000 personnel are and will be working on border protection.

“We will list cartels as terrorists, ensure 24/7 eyes on the border, launch a Canada-U.S. Joint Strike Force to combat organized crime, fentanyl and money laundering,” Trudeau wrote on X. “I have also signed a new intelligence directive on organized crime and fentanyl and we will be backing it with $200 million.”

President Donald Trump has been touting a plan to make Canada the 51st state since November. (ROBERTO SCHMIDT/AFP via Getty Images)

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The U.S. imports approximately 60% of its crude oil from Canada, with Alberta alone supplying 4.3 million barrels per day. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the U.S. consumes about 20 million barrels a day, while domestically producing about 13.2 million barrels a day. This means about a quarter of the oil the U.S. consumes every day is from Canada.

Canada is the top export destination for 36 U.S. states. Nearly $2.7 billion worth of goods and services cross the border each day.

Meanwhile, Canada is home to dozens of minerals considered critical for use in various industries, including for electric car batteries, solar panels, and semiconductors, according to the New York Times. Some commonly recognized examples of critical minerals include lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite and zinc.

Fox News’ Danielle Wallace and Louis Casiano, as well as The Associated Press, contributed to this report.

February 8, 2025
Trump’s cuts to foreign aid could benefit US position in Iran negotiations

President Donald Trump’s decision to cut foreign aid funding could strengthen the president’s bargaining position as he looks to contain Iran.

“I look at the USAID cutoff and the praise that the Iranians have given as part of President Trump’s negotiating skills,” EJ Kimball, director of Policy & Strategic Operations at the U.S. Israel Education Association, told Fox News Digital.

The comments come after Trump’s controversial decision to halt funding for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and send most of the employees of USAID packing, part of the administration’s plan to weed out what it considers wasteful government spending.

Despite the controversy, the decision has received praise from the Iranian regime, who have traditionally viewed U.S. aid to Iran as a threat to the country’s government.

IRAN’S WEAKENED POSITION COULD LEAD IT TO PURSUE NUCLEAR WEAPON, BIDEN NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER WARNS

Iran’s Supreme ruler Ali Khamenei, left, and President Donald Trump. (AP)

According to a report from The Associated Press on Wednesday, Trump’s move has been “lauded” in Iranian state media, who view the cuts to foreign aid as a blow to pro-democracy activists Iran believes have benefited from U.S. foreign aid.

The favorable perception of Trump’s move by Iran comes at a critical time, with Trump recently renewing the U.S.’s “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran and reaffirming the U.S. position that Iran can never be allowed to possess nuclear weapons.

While Trump has used harsh rhetoric on Iran in recent days, including a vow to “obliterate” the country if it successfully carries out an alleged plot to assassinate him, the president has also urged the regime to begin negotiating for a “nuclear peace agreement” with the United States.

“I want Iran to be a great and successful Country, but one that cannot have a Nuclear Weapon. Reports that the United States, working in conjunction with Israel, is going to blow Iran into smithereens ARE GREATLY EXAGGERATED,” Trump wrote in a post on social media Wednesday.

President Donald Trump arrives at an election night watch party at the Palm Beach Convention Center on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024 in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Evan Vucci/AP)

TRUMP’S LATEST HIRES AND FIRES RANKLE IRAN HAWKS AS NEW PRESIDENT SUGGESTS NUCLEAR DEAL

Kimball believes Trump can use the cuts to foreign aid as a bargaining chip in those potential negotiations, noting the president could change his mind and resume the funding if the Iranians fail to reach an acceptable deal.

“I would say that he’s teasing the Iranians at the moment, knowing that really at any moment’s notice, he could immediately turn back on the spigot of funding to the opposition groups if he doesn’t feel like they’re acquiescing to his demands or negotiation,” Kimball said.

“It seems to me that he’s got a carrot-and-stick approach with the Iranian regime, and pausing funding for regime critics, teasing a deal, but also threatening sanctions, and talking to Israel about a military strike and how Iran will not get nuclear weapons is part of his master negotiating skills to keep his opponents off balance,” Kimball added.

A big banner depicting Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is placed next to a ballistic missile in Baharestan Square in Tehran, Iran, on Sept. 26, 2024. (Photo by Hossein Beris / Middle East Images / Middle East Images via AFP)

In the end, Kimball believes Trump’s ultimate goal is to cut a deal that would eliminate Iran’s nuclear program without putting U.S. service members in harm’s way in another overseas conflict.

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“It’s been very clear he does not want to send U.S. troops to war, but he’s also not going to be soft about it and allow the taking of a bad deal to avoid war,” Kimball said. “The end goal for President Trump is a deal that removes the threat that Iran poses to the United States, to Israel, to the region, and really to the entire world, not just in their nuclear program, but in their ballistic missile development and delivery systems to ensure that Iran can be great again.”

Michael Lee is a writer for Fox News. Prior to joining Fox News, Michael worked for the Washington Examiner, Bongino.com, and Unbiased America. He has covered politics for more than eight years.

February 8, 2025
Judge blocks Trump from placing 2,200 USAID workers on leave

A federal judge on Friday ordered a temporary block on plans by the Trump administration to put 2,200 employees of the U.S. Agency for International Development on leave.

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, a Trump appointee, also agreed to block an order that would have given just 30 days for the thousands of overseas USAID workers the administration wanted to place on abrupt administrative leave to move their families back to the U.S. at the government’s expense.

Both actions by the administration would have exposed the workers and their families to unnecessary risk and expense, according to the judge.

This comes as President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, who leads the Department of Government Efficiency, seek to dismantle the agency.

TOP DEM STRATEGISTS WARN USAID FUNDING FIGHT IS A ‘TRAP’ FOR THE PARTY

Demonstrators and lawmakers rally against President Donald Trump and his ally Elon Musk as they disrupt the federal government, including dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Nichols noted that staffers living overseas have said the administration had cut some workers off from government emails and other communication systems required to reach the U.S. government in case of a health or safety emergency.

USAID contractors in various regions, including the Middle East, even reported that “panic button” apps had been removed from their phones or disabled when the administration abruptly placed them on leave.

“Administrative leave in Syria is not the same as administrative leave in Bethesda,” the judge said.

An employee of U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) who wished to remain anonymous protests outside the USAID headquarters on February 3, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Getty Images)

The judge also pointed to workers stating difficulties that would arise from the 30-day timeline to return to the U.S., including that they had no home to return to in the U.S. after decades overseas and that they would be forced to pull children with special needs out of school in the middle of the school year.

Nichols ordered 500 USAID staffers who had already been placed on leave by the administration to be reinstated.

But the judge declined a request from two federal employee associations to grant a temporary block on an administration-imposed funding freeze that has shut down the agency and its work, pending more hearings on the workers’ lawsuit.

USAID STAFFERS STUNNED, ANGERED BY TRUMP ADMIN’S DOGE SHUTDOWN OF $40B AGENCY

The American flag flying alone beside an empty flagpole that previously had the flag of USAID is pictured in the reflection of a window that previously had the sign and the seal of USAID, Friday, Feb. 7, 2025. (AP)

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Nichols emphasized in the hearing earlier Friday that his order to pause the administration’s actions was not a decision on the employees’ request to block the administration’s efforts to quickly destroy the agency.

“CLOSE IT DOWN,” Trump said on Truth Social, referring to USAID, ahead of the judge’s ruling.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

February 8, 2025