Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed DOGE arrived at the Pentagon and announced plans to trim spending. (Credit: X / @SecDef)
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth released a video Thursday detailing oncoming Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) cuts and restructuring that will take place within the Pentagon.
On the date of filming, Hegseth said he met with DOGE and they are beginning their review.
“They’re here, and we’re welcoming them,” Hegseth said. “They’re going to have broad access, obviously, with all the safeguards on classification.”
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth posted a video on Thursday explaining Department of Defense budget and personnel changes.(@SecDef/X)
He added that many DOGE workers are veterans, and it is a “good thing” that they will find deficiencies.
“They care just like we do, to find the redundancies and identify the last vestiges of Biden priorities — the DEI, the woke, the climate change B.S., that’s not core to our mission, and we’re going to get rid of it all,” Hegseth said.
DOGE’s stop at the Department of Defense comes after reviews of the Treasury, Labor, Education and Health departments, as well as at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Office of Personnel Management and Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
The Defense Department has already slashed 8%, or $50 billion, from former President Joe Biden’s budget.(Omar Marques/Getty Images)
The temporary organization has faced an enormous amount of scrutiny over the last few weeks, with some accusing President Donald Trump of giving department head Elon Musk too much power.
Numerous lawsuits have also been filed in an attempt to block DOGE’s access to sensitive information.
$1,300 COFFEE CUPS, 8,000% OVERPAY FOR SOAP DISPENSERS SHOW WASTE AS DOGE LOCKS IN ON PENTAGON
The Defense Department has already slashed 8%, or $50 billion, from former President Joe Biden’s budget.
“It’s not a cut,” Hegseth said. “It’s refocusing and reinvesting existing funds into building a force that protects you, the American people.”
The budget will be “refocused” on Trump’s priorities, and key programs will not be eliminated, he added.
President Donald Trump arrives at an election night watch party at the Palm Beach Convention Center, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla.(Evan Vucci/AP)
The department is also reevaluating its probationary workforce, a government-wide action ordered by the president.
“Bottom line, it is simply not in the public interest to retain individuals whose contributions are not mission-critical,” Hegseth said. “We start with poor performers amongst our probationary employees, because that is common sense, and you want the best and brightest.”
DOGE fired 3,600 probationary Health and Human Services employees, and 7,000 are expected to be slashed from the IRS amid tax season.
It is unclear how many defense employees will lose their jobs.
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There will also be a hiring freeze as the defense department reviews its needs.
“Ever since I’ve taken this position, the only thing I care about is doing right by the war fighters, by the troops,” Hegseth said. “In short, we want the biggest, most bad a– military on the planet, on God’s green Earth.”
Alexandra Koch is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital. Prior to joining Fox News, Alexandra covered breaking news, crime, religion, and the military in the southeast.
A key Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee is reportedly on the fence about one of President Donald Trump’s Defense nominees over his stance on a nuclear Iran – a potential roadblock to his confirmation given the GOP’s slim Senate majority.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., is reportedly hesitant about the nomination of former Defense official Elbridge Colby to serve as the under secretary of defense for policy, a key Defense post that remains unmanned amid the ongoing confirmation process.
“Senator Cotton is focused on ensuring all defense nominees commit to supporting President Trump’s position that Iran must not have a nuclear weapon, and Cotton will be addressing this in meetings and hearings with the nominees,” a source familiar with the matter told Fox News Digital.
Colby has previously suggested that the U.S. living with a nuclear Iran is more plausible than countering the country’s nuclear assets, a position that reportedly is causing concern from the key Senator whose support could determine his confirmation.
MCCONNELL’S MENTAL ACUITY TARGETED BY TRUMP AFTER EX-SENATE LEADER JOINS DEMS AGAINST CABINET NOMINEES
Sen. Tom Cotton serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee.(Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc)
Cotton’s potential opposition to the Trump nominee sparked debate among prominent MAGA figures on social media.
RUMP’S KEY TO CABINET CONFIRMATIONS: SENATE-TURNED-VP VANCE’S GIFT OF GAB
“Why the opposition to Bridge? What does he think Bridge will do?” Elon Musk wrote in a post on X of reports that Cotton was not on board with the nomination.
“The effort to undermine President Trump continues in the US Senate @SenTomCotton is working behind the scenes to stop Trump’s pick, Elbridge Colby, from getting confirmed at DOD,” Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, said on X. “Colby is one of the most important pieces to stop the Bush/Cheney cabal at DOD. Why is Tom Cotton doing this?”
“Is Tom Cotton’s resistance to Bridge Colby more about IRI than anything else? As in maybe Cotton’s blocking Colby ain’t that principled. . .” American Majority CEO Ned Ryun posted on X.
Elbridge Colby speaks at the National Conservative Conference in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, July 9, 2024.(Dominic Gwinn)
“Cotton has other problems that he doesn’t want exposed. He’ll support Colby,” former Trump National Security Advisor Michael Flynn claimed on X.
Vice President JD Vance expressed support for the Trump nominee, writing that “Bridge has consistently been correct about the big foreign policy debates of the last 20 years.”
“He was critical of the Iraq War, which made him unemployable in the 2000s era conservative movement. He built a relationship with CNAS when it was one of the few institutions that would even hire a foreign policy realist,” Vance said.
Vice President JD Vance delivers a speech during the plenary session of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Action Summit at the Grand Palais in Paris on Feb. 11, 2025.(Reuters)
Colby, who worked in the Pentagon during Trump’s first term, has also received endorsements from other members of the Senate.
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“.@ElbridgeColby is a fighter who will execute President Trump’s mandate to end decades of DC foreign policy failures and stop forever wars abroad—The reason the establishment fears him is because he’s 100% aligned with Trump’s agenda,” Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, wrote on X. “Senate Republicans should confirm him ASAP!”
Colby’s Senate confirmation hearing remains unscheduled as the chamber works to confirm more of Trump’s cabinet nominees.
Fox News Digital reached out to Colby for comment.
A key Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee is reportedly on the fence about one of President Donald Trump’s Defense nominees over his stance on a nuclear Iran – a potential roadblock to his confirmation given the GOP’s slim Senate majority.
Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., is reportedly hesitant about the nomination of former Defense official Elbridge Colby to serve as the under secretary of defense for policy, a key Defense post that remains unmanned amid the ongoing confirmation process.
“Senator Cotton is focused on ensuring all defense nominees commit to supporting President Trump’s position that Iran must not have a nuclear weapon, and Cotton will be addressing this in meetings and hearings with the nominees,” a source familiar with the matter told Fox News Digital.
Colby has previously suggested that the U.S. living with a nuclear Iran is more plausible than countering the country’s nuclear assets, a position that reportedly is causing concern from the key Senator whose support could determine his confirmation.
MCCONNELL’S MENTAL ACUITY TARGETED BY TRUMP AFTER EX-SENATE LEADER JOINS DEMS AGAINST CABINET NOMINEES
Sen. Tom Cotton serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee.(Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc)
Cotton’s potential opposition to the Trump nominee sparked debate among prominent MAGA figures on social media.
RUMP’S KEY TO CABINET CONFIRMATIONS: SENATE-TURNED-VP VANCE’S GIFT OF GAB
“Why the opposition to Bridge? What does he think Bridge will do?” Elon Musk wrote in a post on X of reports that Cotton was not on board with the nomination.
“The effort to undermine President Trump continues in the US Senate @SenTomCotton is working behind the scenes to stop Trump’s pick, Elbridge Colby, from getting confirmed at DOD,” Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, said on X. “Colby is one of the most important pieces to stop the Bush/Cheney cabal at DOD. Why is Tom Cotton doing this?”
“Is Tom Cotton’s resistance to Bridge Colby more about IRI than anything else? As in maybe Cotton’s blocking Colby ain’t that principled. . .” American Majority CEO Ned Ryun posted on X.
Elbridge Colby speaks at the National Conservative Conference in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, July 9, 2024.(Dominic Gwinn)
“Cotton has other problems that he doesn’t want exposed. He’ll support Colby,” former Trump National Security Advisor Michael Flynn claimed on X.
Vice President JD Vance expressed support for the Trump nominee, writing that “Bridge has consistently been correct about the big foreign policy debates of the last 20 years.”
“He was critical of the Iraq War, which made him unemployable in the 2000s era conservative movement. He built a relationship with CNAS when it was one of the few institutions that would even hire a foreign policy realist,” Vance said.
Vice President JD Vance delivers a speech during the plenary session of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Action Summit at the Grand Palais in Paris on Feb. 11, 2025.(Reuters)
Colby, who worked in the Pentagon during Trump’s first term, has also received endorsements from other members of the Senate.
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“.@ElbridgeColby is a fighter who will execute President Trump’s mandate to end decades of DC foreign policy failures and stop forever wars abroad—The reason the establishment fears him is because he’s 100% aligned with Trump’s agenda,” Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, wrote on X. “Senate Republicans should confirm him ASAP!”
Colby’s Senate confirmation hearing remains unscheduled as the chamber works to confirm more of Trump’s cabinet nominees.
Fox News Digital reached out to Colby for comment.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said that as the U.S. aims to “revive the warrior ethos,” European members of NATO also should follow suit and bolster defense efforts.
“NATO should pursue these goals as well,” Hegseth told NATO members in Brussels on Thursday. “NATO is a great alliance, the most successful defense alliance in history, but to endure for the future, our partners must do far more for Europe’s defense.”
“We must make NATO great again,” he said.
As of 2023, the U.S. spent 3.3% of its GDP on defense spending — totaling $880 billion, according to the nonpartisan Washington, D.C.-based Peterson Institute for International Economics. More than 50% of NATO funding comes from the U.S., while other allies, like the United Kingdom, France and Germany, have contributed between 4% and 8% to NATO funding in recent years.
Hegseth urged European allies to bolster defense spending from 2% to 5% of gross domestic product, as President Donald Trump has long advocated.
NATO comprises more than 30 countries and was originally formed in 1949 to halt the spread of the Soviet Union.
Hegseth pointed to former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who advocated for a strong relationship with European allies. But he noted that eventually Eisenhower felt that the U.S. was bearing the burden of deploying U.S. troops to Europe in 1959, according to the State Department’s Office of the Historian. Eisenhower reportedly told two of his generals that the Europeans were “making a sucker out of Uncle Sam.”
Hegseth said that he and Trump share sentiments similar to Eisenhower’s.
PUTIN VIEWED AS ‘GREAT COMPETITOR’ BUT STILL A US ‘ADVERSARY’ AS UKRAINE NEGOTIATIONS LOOM, LEAVITT SAYS
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said that as the U.S. aims to “revive the warrior ethos,” European members of NATO should follow suit and bolster defense efforts. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
“This administration believes in alliances, deeply believes in alliances, but make no mistake, President Trump will not allow anyone to turn Uncle Sam into Uncle Sucker,” Hegseth said.
“We can talk all we want about values,” Hegseth said. “Values are important, but you can’t shoot values, you can’t shoot flags, and you can’t shoot strong speeches. There is no replacement for hard power. As much as we may not want to like the world we live in, in some cases, there’s nothing like hard power.”
Hegseth’s comments come as the Trump administration navigates negotiations with Russia and Ukraine to end the conflict between the two countries. On Wednesday, Trump called both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent traveled to Kyiv.
OBAMA OFFICIALS, TRUMP CRITICS TARGET HEGSETH’S ‘CONCESSIONS’ AS ‘BIGGEST GIFT’ TO RUSSIA
On February 12, 2025, President Donald Trump called both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, pictured here. (Bonnie Cash/Getty Images)
Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are slated to meet with Zelenskyy Friday at the Munich Security Conference.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has come under scrutiny for the negotiations, fielding criticism that Ukraine is being pressured to give in to concessions after Hegseth said on Wednesday that it isn’t realistic for Ukraine to regain its pre-war borders with Russia.
“Putin is gonna pocket this and ask for more,” Brett Bruen, director of global engagement under former President Barack Obama, told Fox News Digital.
Michael McFaul, ambassador to Russia under the Obama administration, also shared concerns in a social media post on X on Wednesday, claiming that Trump was delivering Russia a “gift.”
But Hegseth said he rejected similar accusations.
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“Any suggestion that President Trump is doing anything other than negotiating from a position of strength is, on its face, ahistorical and false,” Hegseth said Thursday.
Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, and Trump vowed on the campaign trail in 2024 that he would work to end the conflict if elected again.
Fox News’ Emma Colton and Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.
Diana Stancy is a politics reporter with Fox News Digital covering the White House.
Pope Francis on Tuesday issued a major rebuke of the Trump administration’s plans for the mass deportations of migrants, stressing that the forceful removal of people simply for their immigration status deprives them of their inherent dignity and “will end badly.”
Francis wrote a letter to U.S. bishops in which he appeared to criticize Vice President JD Vance’s religious argument in defense of the deportation policies.
U.S. border czar Tom Homan responded to the pope, saying that the Vatican is a city-state surrounded by walls and that Francis should leave immigration enforcement to him. Homan, a Catholic, also said Francis should focus on fixing the Catholic Church rather than U.S. immigration policies.
“He wants to attack us for securing our border. He’s got a wall around the Vatican, does he not?” Homan told reporters. “So he’s got a wall around that protects his people and himself, but we can’t have a wall around the United States.”
DOZENS OF RELIGIOUS GROUPS SUE TO STOP TRUMP ADMIN FROM ARRESTING MIGRANTS IN PLACES OF WORSHIP
Pope Francis presides over a mass for the jubilee of the armed forces in St. Peter’s Square at The Vatican, Sunday Feb. 9, 2025.(AP)
As the first Latin American pope, Francis has long held the position of caring for migrants, pointing to the biblical command to “welcome the stranger” in calling on countries to welcome, protect, promote and integrate people fleeing conflicts, poverty and climate disasters.
Francis and President Donald Trump have long butted heads over the issue of immigration, including prior to Trump’s first term, when Francis said in 2016 that anyone who builds a wall to keep migrants out was “not a Christian.”
In his letter, Francis acknowledged that governments have the right to defend their countries and keep their communities safe from criminals, but said the deportation of people who fled their countries due to various difficult circumstances damages their dignity.
“That said, the act of deporting people who in many cases have left their own land for reasons of extreme poverty, insecurity, exploitation, persecution or serious deterioration of the environment, damages the dignity of many men and women, and of entire families, and places them in a state of particular vulnerability and defenselessness,” he wrote.
Pointing to the Book of Exodus in the Bible and Jesus Christ’s experience, Francis emphasized the right of people to seek shelter and safety in other lands and said the Trump administration’s deportation plan was a “major crisis.”
Anyone educated in Christianity, he said, “cannot fail to make a critical judgment and express its disagreement with any measure that tacitly or explicitly identifies the illegal status of some migrants with criminality.”
“What is built on the basis of force, and not on the truth about the equal dignity of every human being, begins badly and will end badly,” he continued.
POPE FRANCIS CALLS TRUMP’S DEPORTATION PLAN A ‘DISGRACE’
Pope Francis at his weekly audience in the Vatican on Feb. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
The president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Archbishop Timothy Broglio, thanked the pope for his letter.
“With you, we pray that the U.S. government keep its prior commitments to help those in desperate need,” Broglio wrote. “Boldly I ask for your continued prayers so that we may find the courage as a nation to build a more humane system of immigration, one that protects our communities while safeguarding the dignity of all.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said last week that more than 8,000 people had been arrested since Trump took office Jan. 20 as part of the president’s plan to detain and deport immigrants in the country illegally, although hundreds of those arrested have since been released back into the U.S. Others have been deported, are being held in federal prisons or are being held at the Guantánamo Bay Cuba, detention camp.
Vance, a Catholic convert, has defended the administration’s deportation plans by citing a concept from medieval Catholic theology known in Latin as “ordo amoris,” which he has said describes a hierarchy of care: prioritizing the family first, then the neighbor, community, fellow citizens and lastly those from other regions.
But Francis sought to fact-check Vance’s understanding of the concept.
“Christian love is not a concentric expansion of interests that little by little extend to other persons and groups,” Francis wrote in his letter. “The true ordo amoris that must be promoted is that which we discover by meditating constantly on the parable of the ‘Good Samaritan,’ that is, by meditating on the love that builds a fraternity open to all, without exception.”
J.D. Vance walks into the Senate Chamber on Capitol Hill on April 23, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
As Homan referenced, the Vatican is a walled-in, 108-acre city-state inside Rome, and it recently increased sanctions for anyone who enters illegally. The law, approved in December, calls for people to face up to four years in prison and a fine of up to 25,000 euros, or $25,873, if they enter with “violence, threat or deception,” including by evading security checkpoints.
The U.S. bishops conference had already released a statement condemning Trump’s immigration policies after his first executive orders.
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Anyone “focused on the treatment of immigrants and refugees, foreign aid, expansion of the death penalty, and the environment, are deeply troubling and will have negative consequences, many of which will harm the most vulnerable among us,” the statement said.
Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago praised Francis’ letter, telling Vatican Media that it showed the pope viewed “the protection and advocacy for the dignity of migrants as the preeminent urgency at this moment.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is “welcome at the Pentagon,” telling reporters in Stuttgart, Germany, during his first overseas trip at the helm that the Department of Defense (DoD) will also be reviewing U.S. military posture globally to account for different “strategic assumptions” between President Donald Trump and former President Joe Biden.
Upon arriving at the headquarters of U.S. European Command and Africa Command, Hegseth did push-ups, dead-lifts and other PT exercises with the 1st Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) – a gesture the secretary, a combat veteran himself, said was meant to interact with the troops directly and hear about their missions, rather than solely communicating through four-star generals.
Taking questions from reporters afterward, Hegseth, who has vowed to restore the “warrior ethos” at the Pentagon, addressed how Trump has called on NATO members to spend 5% of their GDPs on defense. Asked if the U.S. should also spend that amount, Hegseth said he and Trump share the view that U.S. defense spending should not go below 3% GDP, adding that the current administration ought to spend more than the Biden administration.
HEGSETH SAYS FORT BRAGG IS COMING BACK, BUT WITH A TWIST
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth talks to the media during his visit to the headquarters of U.S. European Command and Africa Command at the Africa Command at Kelly Barracks in Stuttgart Germany, on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
Hegseth accused the Biden administration of having “historically underinvested in the capabilities of our military,” adding that Trump is committed to “rebuilding America’s military by investing.”
Asked if he expects Elon Musk to start unilaterally slashing defense programs, Hegseth described the DOGE leader as a “great patriot interested in advancing the America First agenda” who knows “Trumpgot 77 million votes in a mandate from the American people, and part of that is bringing actual businesslike efficiency to government.” Hegseth spoke of a “partnership” with DOGE to reduce Pentagon waste, agreeing with Musk’s assessment that it could be to the tune of “billions” of dollars.
But the secretary stressed that spending at the Pentagon did not equate to the “globalist agendas” pursued by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).
“As I said on social media, we welcome Doge to the Pentagon,” Hegseth said. “And I hope to welcome Elon to the Pentagon very soon. And his team working in collaboration with us.”
Hegseth said, “There are waste redundancies and headcounts in headquarters that need to be addressed. There’s just no doubt. Look at a lot of the climate programs that have been pursued at the Defense Department. The Defense Department is not in the business of climate change, solving the global thermostat. We’re in the business of deterring and winning wars. So things like that.”
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth participates in PT with the 1st Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), a U.S. Army Special Forces battalion based in Stuttgart, Germany. (DefSec Hegseth on X)
NOEM, HEGSETH, BONDI PLEAD WITH CONGRESS FOR MORE BORDER FUNDING AMID LARGE-SCALE DEPORTATIONS
“There’s plenty of places where we want the keen eye of DOGE, but we’ll do it in coordination,” he added, pointing to potential changes in weapons procurement programs as well. “We’re not going to do things that are to the detriment of American operational or tactical capabilities… President Trump is committed to delivering the best possible military.”
“The Defense Department is not USAID,” Hegseth said. “USAID has got a lot of problems that I talked about with the troops – pursuing globalist agendas that don’t have a connection to America First. That’s not the Defense Department. But we’re also not perfect either. So where we can find billions of dollars, and he’s right to say billions inside the Defense Department, every dollar we save, there is a dollar that goes to warfighters. And that’s good for the American people.”
Hegseth was also asked if there were plans to shift U.S. forces from Europe to the Indo-Pacific to focus on the Chinese threat.
“There are no plans right now in the making to cut anything,” Hegseth said. “There is an understanding that we’re going to review force posture across the world.”
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“President Trump’s planning assumptions are different in many ways, or at least strategic assumptions, than Joe Biden’s,” he said. “We certainly don’t want a plan on the back of the withdrawal from Afghanistan. And what happened on October 7th and the war that was unleashed in Ukraine. You have to manage and mitigate those things by coming alongside your friends in Israel and sharing their defense, and peacefully resolving the conflict in Ukraine. But those shouldn’t define how we orient.”
On his decision to reverse Biden’s 2023 renaming of Fort Liberty back to Fort Bragg, Hegseth said, “It means Bragg is back. It means the legacy of an institution that generations of Americans have mobilized through and served at is back.”
“I never called it Fort Liberty because it wasn’t Fort Liberty. It’s Fort Bragg. And so I was honored to be able to put my signature on that,” Hegseth said. The North Carolina base’s original namesake was Gen. Braxton Bragg, a Confederate general, but Hegseth said it would now be named after Pfc. Roland L. Bragg, a World War II hero who earned the Silver Star and the Purple Heart for his courage during the Battle of the Bulge.
Danielle Wallace is a breaking news and politics reporter at Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to [email protected] and on X: @danimwallace.
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Taylor Swift heard Philadelphia Eagles fans loud and clear on Sunday during Super Bowl LIX.
A chorus of boos was directed toward the pop star at the Caesars Superdome as the Eagles took on, and eventually defeated, the Kansas City Chiefs. Swift appeared to be stunned by the boos birds, according to multiple social media videos.
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Serena Williams dances off stage during halftime of Super Bowl LIX, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025, in New Orleans.(AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Swift did find a defender during the game – in Serena Williams. The tennis legend directed a post toward Swift.
“I love you @taylorswift13 dont listen to those booo!!” she wrote.
Unfortunately for Swift, she sat and watched the Chiefs get their doors blown off in a 40-22 rout from the Eagles. Her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, had four catches for 39 yards. It was far from enough to stymie the intense Eagles defense that plagued Kansas City all night long.
CHIEFS’ TRAVIS KELCE WALKS OFF FIELD DOWNCAST AFTER SUPER BOWL LIX LOSS IN POSSIBLE FINAL GAME
Taylor Swift watches Super Bowl LIX between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025, in New Orleans.(AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Williams, at least, was able to make a guest appearance in Kendrick Lamar’s halftime show.
Swift faced more ridicule after the loss from President Donald Trump, who attended the game, becoming the first sitting president to do so.
“The only one that had a tougher night than the Kansas City Chiefs was Taylor Swift. She got BOOED out of the Stadium. MAGA is very unforgiving!” Trump wrote.
A person wearing a Taylor Swift shirt walks in the French Quarter before Super Bowl LIX, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025, in New Orleans.(AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
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The Chiefs will have to regroup in the offseason to make another Super Bowl run.
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Ryan Gaydos is a senior editor for Fox News Digital.
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Defense Minister Israel Katz said Thursday he welcomes President Donald Trump’s proposal for large numbers of Palestinians to leave the Gaza Strip as he instructed the IDF to prepare a plan in line with the controversial plan.
Katz said Trump’s “bold plan” could “create extensive opportunities for those in Gaza who wish to leave.”
Trump’s plan initially stated that Gaza’s population would be “permanently” relocated while the United States rebuilds the territory, but U.S. officials later walked back those comments, saying the relocation would only be temporary.
TRUMP’S PROPOSED US TAKEOVER OF GAZA STRIP ELICITS POSITIVE RESPONSE ACROSS ADMINISTRATION
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz looks on, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, in Jerusalem, November 7, 2024. (REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun)
“The U.S. will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it, too,” Trump said Tuesday evening in a joint press conference with Netanyahu. “We’ll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous, unexplored bombs and other weapons on the site.”
“Level the site and get rid of the destroyed buildings, level it out, create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area,” he said. “Do a real job. Do something different. Just can’t go back. If you go back, it’s going to end up the same way it has for 100 years.”
ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER LAUDS TRUMP’S LEADERSHIP WHEN ASKED IF BIDEN SHOULD TAKE CREDIT FOR CEASEFIRE
Israelis protestors set a fire as they block a road in Tel Aviv on November 5, 2024, after the dismissal of the defense minister, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the militant Hamas group. (JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)
Katz said he believes that the plan should include multiple exit options for any country willing to receive them.
“The plan will include exit options via land crossings, as well as special arrangements for departure by sea and air. Countries such as Spain, Ireland, Norway, and others, which have falsely accused Israel over its actions in Gaza, are legally obligated to allow Gazans to enter their territory. Their hypocrisy will be exposed if they refuse,” said Katz.
Displaced Palestinians return to their homes in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday.(AP/Abdel Kareem Hana)
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As of now, the plan has been rejected by the Palestinians as well as many in the international community who believe it is forcible displacement and violates international law. Rights groups said it would amount to forcible displacement in violation of international law.
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FIRST ON FOX: Expansionist rhetoric has been a major concern in NATO for several years amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but according to Greece’s top defense official, the security alliance should take seriously similar threats from within its own coalition, in particular from Turkey.
A decades-old feud over the island nation of Cyprus between Greece and Turkey, both of which have been members of NATO since 1952, has plagued the alliance for over half a century and spill-over conflicts pushed the two countries nearly to the brink of war in the 1990s.
Though relations between Greece and Turkey have become less outwardly hostile in recent years, Erdoğan’s pursuit of regional natural resources coupled with his controversial geopolitical actions in the Middle East and Aegean Sea have long drawn criticism that he is looking to “recreate” the Ottoman Empire.
Nikos Dendias, minister of national defense of Greece, delivers a speech for Greece’s Independence Day in Athens March 25, 2024. (Giorgos Arapekos/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
TURKEY AND GREECE LEADERS TO MEET, PUT FRIENDSHIP INITIATIVE TO THE TEST AMID GAZA AND UKRAINE WARS
“There’s some people in Turkey that go back to the Ottoman times and believe that they could recreate the Ottoman Empire, including parts of Greece, parts of Syria, parts of Iraq, parts of Iran, half of the Caucasus, etc.,” Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias said during an interview with Fox News Digital.
“I hope that this is daydream, but it creates a lot of problems in the relations with Greece, a lot of problems within NATO.”
Erdoğan, who has been president of Turkey since 2014, has long been criticized for his aggressive approach in dealing with regional nations like Iraq, Yemen, Libya and Israel, but also his oppressive practices at home that have targeted non-Sunni communities, including Shiites and Christians, journalists, women and Kurds. It’s an issue that has not only blocked Turkey from joining the European Union, but has increasingly held geopolitical ramifications for the U.S.
The U.S.’s chief ally in the fight against ISIS in Syria, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), has found itself in Ankara’s crosshairs as it views the Kurdish-affiliated force as being akin to the terrorist network, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
Turkey has routinely targeted the group and prompted international concern over how the SDF will be able to continue to effectively fight ISIS should the Trump administration withdraw U.S. troops from Syria.
U.S. forces provide military training to members of the YPG/SDF, which Turkey considers an extension of PKK in Syria, in the Qamisli district in the Al-Hasakah province of Syria Aug. 18, 2023.(Hedil Amir/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
“ISIS, let us be frank and honest, is down but not out,” Dendias said. “The ideology behind ISIS, the ideology behind the Muslim Brotherhood is there, is alive and kicking.
“And I have to say, the worst thing that you can do in life is forget your allies, forget the people who fought by your side in your hour of need, and turn against them or forget about them,” the defense minister continued. “I’m speaking about the Kurds fighting against ISIS for years. They should not be forgotten by the West.”
TRUMP SAYS TURKEY ‘DID AN UNFRIENDLY TAKEOVER’ IN SYRIA AS US-BROKERED CEASE-FIRE APPEARS TO FAIL
The fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime has renewed concerns over regional stability, and the close dynamic between Trump and Erdoğan has raised more questions about how the Turkish president will pursue his regional ambitions.
Dendias argued that the close relationship allegedly shared between the two world leaders will not necessarily embolden Erdoğan and could uniquely position Trump to “whisper” in the ear of the Turkish leader and remind him that “international law, international [rules] of the sea, is a way of life in this modern world.”
“I assume that it will not be good at all for NATO and would not be good at all for the United States of America to encourage Turkey to create a huge problem in the eastern front of NATO, taking also into account what’s happening in the Middle East and what’s happening between Russia and Ukraine,” the defense minster added.
The Blue Homeland-2025 Exercise, organized by the Turkish Naval Forces Command in the Black Sea, Aegean Sea, and Eastern Mediterranean, commenced Jan. 8, 2025, in Mugla, Turkey.(Sabri Kesen/Anadolu via Getty Images)
TURKISH LEADER CLAIMS US BASES IN GREECE POSE DIRECT ‘THREAT’ AMID SPAT WITH ATHENS OVER NATO EXPANSION
Earlier this month, Turkey relaunched military exercises in the Black, Mediterranean and Aegean Seas known as “Blue Homeland,” which Greece has long viewed as a show of force and prompted long-held maritime disputes to resurface.
“This [is a] new Turkish neo-imperialist, neo-Ottoman approach,” Dendias said. “It started appearing somewhere in the first decade of the 21st century … which, in essence, claims that half of the Greek islands in the Aegean belong to Turkey.
President Donald Trump, during his first presidency talks with Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as they arrive together for a family photo at a summit of heads of state and government at NATO headquarters in Brussels. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)
“And sometimes they even go further. They claim that Crete, a huge island with very important NATO presence and an American base in Souda – again, should belong to Turkey.”
The defense minster said Greece’s tense relations with Turkey have made its defensive posture in NATO unique because it has forced Athens to be on top of its defense spending, an issue that has once again become a top matter of discussion in the NATO alliance due to Trump’s push to have all nations meet a 5% GDP spending limit, up from 2%.
The latest NATO spending figures released in June 2024 show Greece was the fifth-highest spender on defense in the alliance, spending more than 3% of its GPD, while Turkey came in 18th and spent just over 2% of its GDP on defense.
ANKARA, TURKEY- MAY 13: Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (L) of Greece shakes hands with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey during a press conference after their meeting on May 13, 2024 in Ankara, Turkey. (Yavuz Ozden/ dia images via Getty Images)
Dendias said European nations need to collectively agree on how they view security threat levels and the importance of defense spending.
“Regardless of President Trump’s position on 5%, it’s an internal issue and needs to be resolved,” Dendias added.
“The biggest threat is countries that do not abide by international law and do not abide by international law of the sea. Countries that believe that borders [are] something that you can disregard, that treaties and international treaties should work only if it’s to your advantage,” Dendias said. “That is the biggest threat to the whole world, not just Greece.”
Additional questions to Dendias about President Trump’s recent comments on his refusal to rule out military intervention in acquiring Greenland and the Panama Canal were not answered.
The Turkish embassy in Washington, D.C. did not respond to Fox News Digital’s questions but instead pointed to a statement issued by the Turkish Minister of National Defense, Yaşar Güler, who ahead of the “Blue Homeland” exercises said, “Our country, located at the very heart of a region surrounded by conflicts and disputes, consistently emphasizes its commitment to international law and peace in preventing tensions and resolving crises.
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“We approach the development of our relations with our neighbor Greece within this framework and take significant steps toward resolving problems,” he added. “The efforts to portray Turkey’s determination to protect its rights and interests in the ‘Blue Homeland’ as ‘historical expansionism and aggression’ are nothing more than a futile attempt to disregard the rights granted to Turkey by international law.
“However, while striving for a peaceful solution, we strongly emphasize that we will never compromise our national rights and interests,” Güler said earlier this month.
The Department of Defense (DoD) is the latest agency that is disbanding all diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs following President Donald Trump’s executive order terminating all federal DEI programs.
“The President’s guidance (lawful orders) is clear: No more DEI at Dept. of Defense,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote in a post on X.
In a handwritten note shared along with the post on X, Hegseth wrote: “The Pentagon will comply, immediately. No exceptions, name-changes, or delays.”
Hegseth added that “those who do not comply will no longer work here.”
WHITE HOUSE OPM ORDERS ALL DEI OFFICES TO BEGIN CLOSING BY END OF DAY WEDNESDAY
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., echoed Hegseth, writing: “The best way to stop discriminating against people on the basis of race or gender is to stop discriminating against people on the basis of race or gender,” Kennedy wrote in a post on X. “Let DEI die.”
Hegseth, 44, was sworn in on Saturday morning after he secured his confirmation to lead the Pentagon on Friday after weeks of intense political drama surrounding his nomination and public scrutiny into his personal life.
“All praise and glory to God. His will be done and we’re grateful to be here,” Hegseth said after taking the oath of office, surrounded by his wife and children.
Hegseth is a former Minnesota National Guard officer who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and a former Fox News host.
Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, announced he is ending all DEI programs and policies at the Pentagon.(AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Trump’s newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), headed up by Elon Musk, reported that approximately $420 million in current/impending contracts, mainly focused on DEI initiatives, had also been canceled.
On Inauguration Day, Trump signed an executive order that forced all DEI offices to close and placed all government workers in those offices on paid leave.
TRUMP’S FEDERAL DEI PURGE PUTS HUNDREDS ON LEAVE, NIXES $420M IN CONTRACTS
Pete Hegseth is surrounded by his wife and his seven children as he is sworn in as the new Secretary of Defense by Vice President JD Vance at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building at the White House in Washington, DC, on Jan. 25, 2025.(Roberto Schmidt/AFP)
Acting Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Charles Ezell sent a memo to heads and acting heads of departments and agencies directing them that by the end of business on Jan. 22, they were to inform all agency employees of the DEI shutdown. In addition, they were instructed to tell workers directly involved in DEI to take down all DEI-related websites and social media accounts, cancel any related contracts or training, and ask employees to report any efforts to disguise DEI programs by using coded or imprecise language.
The memo also directed the heads of agencies and departments that by noon on Jan. 23, they were to provide OPM with lists of all DEI offices, employees, and related contracts in effect as of Nov. 5, 2024.
By Friday, Jan. 24, at 5 p.m., agency heads were required to submit to OPM a written plan for executing a reduction-in-force action regarding DEI employees and a list of all contract descriptions or personnel position descriptions that were changed since Nov. 5, 2024, to obscure their connection to DEI programs.
The president also signed an order making it “the official policy of the U.S. government to only recognize two genders: male and female.”
3 IN 10 VOTERS THINK ENDING DEI PROGRAMS IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT, POLL SHOWS, AS FEDERAL DEADLINE LOOMS
President Trump targeted gender identity and diversity in executive orders.(Getty Images/AP)
Trump issued two other executive actions targeting DEI — an executive order to end discrimination in the workplace and higher education through race- and sex-based preferences under the guise of DEI and a memo to eliminate a Biden administration policy that prioritized DEI hiring at the Federal Aviation Administration.
In his executive order, Trump wrote that he sought to protect Americans from discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin. He said these civil-rights protections “serve as a bedrock supporting equality of opportunity for all Americans” and that he “has a solemn duty to ensure that these laws are enforced for the benefit of all Americans.”
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“Yet today, roughly 60 years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, critical and influential institutions of American society, including the Federal Government, major corporations, financial institutions, the medical industry, large commercial airlines, law enforcement agencies, and institutions of higher education have adopted and actively use dangerous, demeaning, and immoral race- and sex-based preferences under the guise of so-called ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ (DEI) or ‘diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility’ (DEIA) that can violate the civil-rights laws of this Nation,” the order reads.
It adds that these “illegal DEI and DEIA policies also threaten the safety of American men, women, and children across the Nation by diminishing the importance of individual merit, aptitude, hard work, and determination when selecting people for jobs and services in key sectors of American society, including all levels of government, and the medical, aviation, and law-enforcement communities.
Prior to Trump’s order, the FBI closed its DEI office in December.
Fox News’ Brooke Singman, Brie Stimson, Michael Dorgan and Landon Mion contributed to this report.
Stepheny Price is writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. Story tips and ideas can be sent to [email protected]
