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Tag: military

First openly gay DC federal judge rakes Trump admin over military trans ban

The first openly gay federal judge in D.C. spent hours Tuesday grilling the Trump administration over its attempt to codify terms of service for transgender service members in the U.S. military, seeking to determine the extent of potential harm to transgender military personnel.

At issue is a Jan. 27 executive order signed by President Donald Trump requiring the Defense Department to update its guidance regarding “trans-identifying medical standards for military service,” and to “rescind guidance inconsistent with military readiness.”

U.S. District Judge Ana Reyers harshly questioned the Trump administration at length over the order, demanding to know whether it was a “transgender ban” and if the government’s position is that being transgender is an “ideology.”

Civil rights groups sued earlier this month to block the order on behalf of six transgender U.S. service members, arguing that the order is both discriminatory and unconstitutional, and alleging it threatens U.S. national security, as well as years of training and financial investments made by the Department of Defense.

JUDGE DENIES DEMOCRAT-LED EFFORT TO BLOCK DOGE ACCESS, CITING LACK OF PROVEN HARM

E. Barrett Prettyman Courthouse is seen after former President Donald Trump’s arraignment on August 3, 2023, in Washington, D.C. ((Photo by Sha Hanting/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images))

Tuesday’s court hearing focused largely on how, or to what extent, the order might cause harm to transgender service members. While Trump has instructed that “radical gender ideology” be banned from all military branches, the executive order stopped short of detailing how the Pentagon should do this, prompting a flurry of questions and concerns from plaintiffs and the judge.

Reyes, a Biden appointee and first openly gay member of the D.C. federal bench, spent much of the hearing Tuesday asking how the order would be implemented and whether the transgender service members named in the lawsuit would be removed from their roles or separated from their units.

LAWSUIT TRACKER: NEW RESISTANCE BATTLING TRUMP’S SECOND TERM THROUGH ONSLAUGHT OF LAWSUITS TAKING AIM AT EOS

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth delivers remarks during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Pentagon on Feb. 5 in Arlington, Va. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

“Can we agree that the greatest fighting force that world history has ever seen is not going to be impacted in any way by less than 1% of soldiers using a different pronoun than others might want to call them,” she asked Lynch.

At another point in the hearing, she challenged lawyers for the Justice Department to find her a declarant or any commissioned officer who would get on the stand and tell the court that they’ve been harmed by the pronoun use of transgender military members.

“I’ll get you a box of cigars,” Reyes told Lynch.

“If you can find someone who will tell me we’re less prepared because we have to use pronouns for a few thousand people… have at it.”

DOGE SCORES BIG COURT WIN, ALLOWED ACCESS DATA ON 3 FEDERAL AGENCIES

Aerial view of the Pentagon in Washington, DC, on March 31, 2024. Home to the US Defense Department, the Pentagon is one of the world’s largest office buildings. (DANIEL SLIM/AFP via Getty Images)

Lych noted in response that the administration is still awaiting further guidance on the terms of the transgender executive order, which will determine its impact on personnel, including the six transgender plaintiffs named in the case.

That answer did little to assuage concerns of Judge Reyes, who told Lynch the government must inform the court by Wednesday whether they can ensure that the named service members would not be removed from their roles in the military or face discrimination as a direct result of the executive order.

Should they fail to do that, the judge said, the court will reconvene Friday to consider plaintiffs’ request for a temporary restraining order.

Beyond the facts of the case, Reyes did little to disguise her displeasure with the order itself.

At one point during the hearing, she posed a hypothetical to the Justice Department’s attorney, asking: “If you were in a foxhole” with another service member, “you wouldn’t care about their gender ideology, right?”

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She went on to suggest Lynch would be happy to be next to someone with their commendations and bravery.

Lynch agreed he doubted that gender identity would be on his mind in that situation.

Breanne Deppisch is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital covering the Trump administration, with a focus on the Justice Department, FBI, and other national news.

February 18, 2025
Trump congratulates US military after airstrike that killed official of Al-Qaeda affiliate: ‘Dealt Justice’

President Donald Trump congratulated U.S. forces following an airstrike over the weekend that targeted an official of Hurras al-Din, an Al-Qaeda affiliate, in Syria.

“US forces conducted a precision airstrike against a member of al-Qaeda in Syria this weekend,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “The terrorist leader was working with al-Qaeda across the region.”

“Congratulations to CENTCOM Commander Gen. Michael Kurilla, and the US warfighters who dealt Justice to another Jihadi threatening America and our allies and partners,” he continued.

AUSTRIA STABBING SUSPECT IS SYRIAN MIGRANT WHO PLEDGED ALLEGIANCE TO ISLAMIC STATE, OFFICIALS SAY

U.S. President Donald Trump signs a series of executive orders in the Oval Office at the White House on February 10, 2025, in Washington, D.C. ((Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images))

On Saturday, U.S. forces “conducted a precision airstrike in Northwest Syria targeting and killing a senior finance and logistics official in the terrorist organization Hurras al-Din (HaD), an Al-Qaeda affiliate,” U.S. Central Command said in a press release.

CENTCOM said the airstrike was part of its “ongoing commitment, along with partners in the region, to disrupt and degrade efforts by terrorists to plan, organize, and conduct attacks against civilians and military personnel from the U.S., our allies, and our partners throughout the region and beyond.”

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters in the Oval Office of the White House on February 3, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Getty Images)

“We will continue to relentlessly pursue terrorists in order to defend our homeland, and U.S., allied, and partner personnel in the region,” Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla said in a statement.

Hurras al-Din was formed in 2018 after the Nusrah Front terror group broke off from Al-Qaeda. The group operates primarily in Syria’s Idlib Province and could have as many as 2,500 members, according to the National Counterterrorism Center.

TOP RUSSIAN, US OFFICIALS MEET IN SAUDI ARABIA TO BEGIN TALKS ON UKRAINE WAR WITHOUT OFFICIALS FROM KYIV

Gen. Michael Kurilla, commanding general of U.S. Central Command, addresses the attendees during Army Day at Camp Buehring, Kuwait, May 19, 2023. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Latasha Price)

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The center said Hurras al-Din “advocates attacks against the West and Israel to expel foreign influence from Muslim lands, and it seeks to set the conditions necessary to form a new caliphate across the Levant and the broader Middle East.”

“Hurras al-Din maintains access to several longtime al-Qa‘ida members who could enable the group to pose a threat to US and other Western interests outside of Syria, despite its weakened state following successive personnel losses since 2019 that have removed many of the group’s veteran leaders,” the center said.

February 18, 2025
Israeli military experts weigh in on Trump’s ‘all hell’ threat to Hamas and what it could look like

TEL AVIV, Israel — As the first phase of the fragile Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement nears completion, Israel is mulling its next steps against the backdrop of President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to unleash “hell” unless all the hostages are released.

Fox News Digital spoke to Israeli military experts to see how they viewed what would be in store for Hamas if the ceasefire deal collapses.

“The only alternative is the resumption of the war in Gaza with all the forces that can be allocated,” Maj. Gen. Yaakov Amidror (res.), a former Israeli National Security Council chief and currently a fellow at the Washington-based JINSA think tank, told Fox News Digital.

“Because we have a ceasefire in Lebanon, we can use huge forces inside Gaza to end Hamas. This is one of the reasons why Hamas didn’t break the truce until now, they understand the alternative is a full-blown war for which they are not ready,” he added.

RUBIO, NETANYAHU AFFIRM ‘COMMON STRATEGY’ FOR GAZA, SET SIGHTS ON IRAN IN JOINT STATEMENT

IDF forces are seen operating in Rafah, a city in the Gaza Strip. (IDF Spokesman’s Office)

On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Jerusalem and insisted that the two countries were working in lockstep.

“We have a shared strategy, which cannot always be detailed to the public, including when the gates of hell will open. And they will open if all our hostages are not returned, every last one of them,” Netanyahu said.

Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus (ret.), a former IDF international spokesperson and now a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, says Hamas’s refusal to return all the hostages, coupled with the prevailing political realities in the Middle East and Trump’s willingness to reshuffle the deck, will necessitate the IDF’s resumption of fighting in Gaza “at a higher intensity and with less restrictions and limitations.”

“The aim will be to defeat Hamas and to take control over the Gaza Strip. I believe that Hamas’s center of gravity is the distribution of humanitarian aid and in the next round of fighting Israel will seek to take ownership of that,” he added.

President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu answer questions during a joint press conference in the East Room at the White House on Feb. 4, 2025. (REUTERS/Leah Millis)

Former IDF military intelligence chief Amos Yadlin similarly told Fox News Digital that “never in history have two entities been at war and one is helping the other survive with food, fuel and everything else.”

He also noted that the Biden administration had “basically embargoed heavy bombs, [but] Trump has already lifted this and will not limit Israel in using them.”

Israel received a U.S. shipment of 2,000-pound MK-84 munitions overnight Saturday, with Defense Minister Israel Katz saying the development “serves as further evidence of the strong alliance between Israel and the United States.”

ISRAEL’S UN AMBASSADOR SLAMS PALESTINIAN PLAN FOR GAZA, DEMANDS PA FIRST ‘CONDEMN HAMAS’

Hamas terrorists take up positions ahead of a hostage release in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, on Feb. 8, 2025. (AP)

Trump’s words and deeds have given the impression that he will fully back Israel’s goal to defeat the Palestinian terror group militarily, Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Giora Eiland, a former head of the Israeli National Security Council, told Fox News Digital.

“But this misses the point, as we have already been fighting there for 16 months. The only significant leverage left, which was prevented by the Biden administration, is to interrupt all flow of equipment, fuel, food, water and other essential matters into the enclave,” Eiland said.

“This is the only thing that can cause real concern in Gaza and which might persuade the leadership to agree to release the hostages.”

Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces has increased troop reinforcements and mobilized reservists in the Southern Command to prepare for “any scenario.” When asked to share with Fox News Digital information regarding Hamas’s remaining weapons stockpile, the IDF declined to comment.

Hamas initially possessed an estimated 17,000 mid- and long-range missiles, with the former able to hit targets between seven and 14 kilometers away and the latter beyond 15 kilometers, according to Maj. Gen. Tamir Hayman (res.), executive director of the Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Security Studies and another former head of the IDF’s Military Intelligence Directorate.

TRUMP’S GAZA RELOCATION PROPOSAL SPARKS HEATED DEBATE AMONG PALESTINIANS: ‘NO LIFE LEFT HERE’

Israeli combat engineers have worked to destroy terrorist targets and locate terrorist tunnels in the “Philadelphia Corridor” along a small strip of land at the border between Egypt and Gaza. (TPS-IL/File)

“In terms of Hamas’s long-range missiles, the current capabilities are minor, if at all. Mid-range was probably reduced to approximately less than 100 total, and for short-range capabilities such as mortars and drones, it’s hard to estimate,” he told Fox News Digital.

Hayman agrees that “all hell” might entail President Donald Trump giving carte blanche to Israel to use 2,000-pound bombs or greater leeway to demolish swaths of territory using bulldozers and other heavy machinery to prevent Hamas from regenerating.

Israel might also change its fighting strategy to ensure Hamas is no longer able to regroup by retaking territory evacuated by troops in Gaza, according to Brig. Gen. Yossi Kuperwasser (res.), a former head of research in the IDF’s Military Intelligence Directorate.

“Israel could mount an attack in a different way than we saw till now. Instead of taking control of areas and then leaving them, we would keep control, minimizing Hamas’s ability to rule over the population in Gaza and thus its ability to survive,” he told Fox News Digital.

Palestinians return to their homes in Gaza City, Feb. 2, 2025, after a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas. (Ali Jadallah/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The long-term presence of Israeli boots on the ground would likely be a precondition for actualizing Trump’s vow to “take over” and transform Gaza into the “Riviera of the Middle East,” an assertion Trump made alongside Netanyahu at the White House on Feb. 4.

Meir Ben Shabbat, head of the Misgav Institute for National Security & Zionist Strategy and former head of the Israeli National Security Council, told Fox News Digital that Israel must push for “the collapse of Hamas rule, the demilitarization of Gaza and the creation of conditions to prevent this area from posing a threat to the security of Israeli citizens.”

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He said these conditions are “essential to ensure that this round of fighting will be the last,” he added. “To achieve this, Israel will have to resume fighting at a time that suits it.”

On Sunday, Netanyahu informed special envoy Steve Witkoff during a meeting that he would convene the Security Cabinet on Monday to discuss phase 2 of the agreement.

Amelie Botbol is a freelance journalist based in Tel Aviv. Her articles have appeared in the New York Post, Canada’s National Post, and the Washington Times. Amelie can be followed on X @DatReporter

February 17, 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
Trump says he ordered firing of military academies’ Board of Visitors

President Donald Trump says he is dismissing members of the Board of Visitors for each of the U.S. military service academies on Monday.

Trump made the announcement on social media, saying the dismissals would impact the Boards of Visitors for the U.S. Army Academy, or West Point, the Naval Academy, the Air Force Academy and the Coast Guard Academy. Each academy’s Board of Visitors is tasked with influencing and maintaining the curriculum and culture at the schools.

The boards consist of appointees from various sources, with six members being chosen by the president, four from the speaker of the House, three from the vice president, and one each from the House and Senate Armed Services committees.

The White House did not immediately clarify whether Trump’s Monday order dismisses all members of the boards or only those who are presidential appointees.

HOUSE DEMOCRAT DITCHES DOGE CAUCUS, SAYS MUSK IS ‘BLOWING THINGS UP’

President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. (Getty Images / Fox News Digital)

“Our Service Academies have been infiltrated by Woke Leftist Ideologues over the last four years. I have ordered the immediate dismissal of the Board of Visitors for the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Coast Guard. We will have the strongest Military in History, and that begins by appointing new individuals to these Boards. We must make the Military Academies GREAT AGAIN!” Trump wrote Monday.

TRUMP DOD CREATES TASK FORCE TO ABOLISH DEI OFFICES THAT ‘PROMOTE SYSTEMIC RACISM’

Each of the academies declined to comment and deferred to the White House when contacted by Fox News Digital.

The move is the latest effort by Trump’s administration to combat “woke” influences across the federal government. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has vowed to dismantle DEI within the Pentagon and across America’s armed forces.

Trump’s administration has vowed to dismantle DEI initiatives in the Defense Department. (DANIEL SLIM/AFP via Getty Images)

Hegseth said this weekend that he is also welcoming Elon Musk’s DOGE into the agency to streamline processes and “cut tail to put it to tooth,” he said Sunday on the Fox News Channel.

“We know in a world where America’s $37 trillion in debt, resources will not be unlimited, so every dollar we can find that isn’t being spent wisely is one we can put toward a warfighter, so we welcome DOGE at DOD,” he told “Sunday Morning Futures” anchor Maria Bartiromo.

“We will partner with them, and it’s long overdue. The Defense Department’s got a huge budget, but it needs to be responsible.”

Billionaire Elon Musk is leading the charge to gut spending across the federal government. ( Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

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The former “Fox & Friends Weekend” host took the helm at the DOD last month after a deadlocked Senate confirmation vote ended with Vice President JD Vance’s tiebreaker.

Since then, he has overseen overhauls of Biden-era policies, including DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) initiatives within the agency.

Anders Hagstrom is a reporter with Fox News Digital covering national politics and major breaking news events. Send tips to [email protected], or on Twitter: @Hagstrom_Anders.

February 10, 2025
Zelenskyy ready ‘to do a deal’ with Trump on raw earth minerals and military assistance

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is preparing to meet with Vice President JD Vance at the Munich Security Conference later this week after confirming on Friday he is ready to “do a deal” with President Donald Trump.

According to an interview with Reuters, Zelenskyy said he was ready to supply the U.S. with rare-earth minerals in exchange for Washington’s continued backing of its war effort.

“If we are talking about a deal, then let’s do a deal, we are only for it,” Zelenskyy said.

ZELENSKYY WANTS NUKES OR NATO; TRUMP SPECIAL ENVOY KELLOGG SAYS ‘SLIM AND NONE’ CHANCE

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he is ready to “do a deal” with President Trump about Ukraine’s rare-earth minerals in exchange for continued financial support. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)

The Ukrainian president has made clear he is also open to engaging in peace talks with Russia to end the three-year-long war, though possible terms for securing a peace deal remain varied and unknown.

Though Zelenskyy has said he is looking for “guarantees” when it comes to future security assurances for the war-torn country.

These security assurances will likely need to be more than a formal handshake paired with a signed document, as Russia has twice violated its last agreement with Ukraine, known as the 1994 Budapest Memorandum.

The deal saw Kyiv hand over its nuclear arsenal to Moscow for dismantlement in exchange for sovereignty and independence guarantees from Russia, the U.S. and the U.K. However, the agreement did not stop Russia from invading Ukraine twice under Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Zelenskyy apparently first floated the idea of trading Ukraine’s mineral resources – roughly 20% of which are located in now Russian controlled territory, including half of the rare-earth variety – under his “victory plan” first presented to Western allies last fall, reported Reuters.

Rare-earth materials are used in the production of consumer electronics and electric engines. Zelenskyy has warned that Russia could give these resources to its allies like North Korea and Iran – the latter of which the U.S. just last week began to even more heavily sanction.

TRUMP’S FOURTH WEEK IN OFFICE COULD INCLUDE MEETING WITH ZELENSKYY, IRONING OUT STEEL DEAL

Former President Donald Trump meets with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Trump Tower, Sept. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

“We need to stop Putin and protect what we have – a very rich Dnipro region, central Ukraine,” Zelenskyy reportedly said.

While Trump will not attend the Munich Security Conference, Zelenskyy will lead the Ukrainian delegation there and is reportedly expected to meet with Vance and special envoy to Ukraine and Russia, retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg.

Trump told reporters last week that Zelenskyy may travel to D.C. in the week following the security conference, which runs Feb. 14-16, at which time both presidents will once again meet to discuss the war.

“I’d like to see that war end,” Trump told reporters last week. “We’re looking to do a deal with Ukraine where they’re going to secure what we’re giving them with their rare earth and other things.”

Russia’s war effort in eastern Ukraine continues to rage, and Moscow on Friday claimed it had captured the mining town of Toretsk in the Donetsk region despite Ukraine’s months-long attempts to stop Russian advances.

TRUMP PLANS TO MEET WITH ZELENSKYY AS HE LOOKS TO END UKRAINE WAR

The ruins of the city of Toretsk are in the Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, on Dec. 19, 2024. Russia, on Feb. 7, 2025, claimed to have finally seized the mining city. (Ukrinform/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

As Moscow continues to see incremental gains in eastern Ukraine, Kyiv is also pushing forward with its own attempts to seize Russian territory, which security experts have told Fox News Digital could be an attempt to give it better bargaining leverage come the time for ceasefire talks with Moscow.

Zelenskyy also said on Friday that Ukraine had opened a new offensive in Russia’s Kursk region, where Kyiv first began its incursion in August 2024.

“In the areas of the Kursk operation, new assaults have taken place,” Zelenskyy said during his nightly address. “Russia has once again deployed North Korean soldiers alongside its troops.”

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Ukrainian forces fight in the Kursk region in Malaya Loknya, Russia, in this screen grab obtained from a handout video released on Aug. 20, 2024. (Air Assault Brigade/Handout via Reuters)

It is unclear if North Korea has sent more troops to Russia after its initial deployment of as many as 12,000 men last October, though South Korean intelligence has warned Pyongyang is planning to do so.

Zelenskyy Sunday night said Ukrainian troops in Kursk “demonstrate highly effective enemy destruction,” though he did not detail any casualty rates among Russian or North Korean troops.

“We must hold all our positions firmly,” he said. “The stronger we stand on the front lines, the stronger our diplomacy – our work with partners – will be.”

Caitlin McFall is a Reporter at Fox News Digital covering Politics, U.S. and World news.

February 10, 2025
Trump sanctions on ICC protects US military and government officials, former NSC official says

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JERUSALEM – President Donald Trump’s executive order sanctioning the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) will prevent a slippery slope of U.S. military and government officials facing prosecution from a nebulous judicial bureaucracy in the Netherlands, argue critics of the global criminal body.

Richard Goldberg, a former Trump official who served on his first National Security Council, told Fox News Digital, “This is a critical first step in defending American soldiers and officials from further lawfare illegitimately waged by radical anti-Americans at what’s become an international kangaroo court. Israel may be in the news today, but tomorrow it will be the Americans who are still being wrongfully investigated by the court for supposed war crimes in Afghanistan.”

Goldberg, a senior adviser at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, added, “These ICC officials have crossed a line, they have entered the battlefield against the United States and Israel by perverting international law and using it as a tool of warfare. The president has preserved an escalation ladder here, too. These sanctions only apply to officials and service providers, not to the court itself. We could absolutely go the next step and shut down the court if this lawfare isn’t terminated.”

TRUMP-NETANYAHU MEETING: RADICAL PROTESTS WAVE APPARENT HAMAS FLAG OUTSIDE WHITE HOUSE

A general view of the International Criminal Court building in The Hague, Netherlands, on April 30, 2024. (Selman Aksunger/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The ICC fired back in a statement and said it “condemns the issuance by the U.S. of an Executive Order seeking to impose sanctions on its officials and harm its independent and impartial judicial work. The Court stands firmly by its personnel and pledges to continue providing justice and hope to millions of innocent victims of atrocities across the world, in all Situations before it. We call on our 125 States Parties, civil society and all nations of the world to stand united for justice and fundamental human rights.”

Trump signed the executive order punishing the ICC on Thursday in response to its May 2024 arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel’s former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Netanyahu praised the order in a statement. “Thank you, President Trump for your bold ICC Executive Order. It will defend America and Israel from the anti-American and antisemetic corrupt court that has no jurisdiction or basis to engage in lawfare against us. The ICC waged a ruthless campaign against Israel as a trial run for action against America. President Trump’s Executive Order protects the sovereignty of both countries and its brave soldiers.”

The ICC is reportedly still investigating U.S. citizens for war crimes committed in Afghanistan. (AP)

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Friday that Trump’s sanctions on the ICC are “absolutely understandable.” He added the ICC has become “a biased political tool” and that the central European country was evaluating its cooperation with the ICC.

Goldberg said, “The president wasn’t going to wait around on Schumer’s games to act. The minute Senate Democrats blocked the bill it was a guarantee you would see an executive order follow. But if Schumer now says he supports the order, Senate Republicans should move quickly to codify it and force Schumer back to a vote.”

‘LEVEL IT’: TRUMP SAYS US WILL ‘TAKE OVER’ GAZA STRIP, REBUILD IT TO STABILIZE MIDDLE EAST

President Donald Trump, right, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu answer questions during a joint press conference in the East Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 4, 2025. ( REUTERS/Leah Millis)

Dozens of countries expressed their “unwavering support” for the ICC on Friday, a day after Trump authorized potentially far-reaching economic and travel sanctions against the court’s staff.

“We reaffirm our continued and unwavering support for the independence, impartiality and integrity of the ICC,” a group of almost 80 countries said in a joint statement. “The court serves as a vital pillar of the international justice system by ensuring accountability for the most serious international crimes, and justice for victims.”

The signatories came from all parts of the world but make up only about two-thirds of the 125 member states of the permanent court for the prosecution of war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and crimes of aggression.

Among the countries who agreed to the statement were France, Germany and Britain. Among those absent were Australia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Italy.

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Goldberg said that “The president wasn’t going to wait around on Schumer’s games to act. The minute Senate Democrats blocked the bill it was a guarantee you would see an executive order follow. But if Schumer now says he supports the order, Senate Republicans should move quickly to codify it and force Schumer back to a vote.”

Senate Minority Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer,D-NY., torpedoed a GOP-led bill to sanction the ICC in January.

Reuters and Fox News’ Diana Stancy contributed to this article

February 7, 2025
US military surveillance flight crashes in Philippines, killing 4

A U.S. military service member and three defense contractors died Thursday in the Philippines after their surveillance flight crashed, officials say.

U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said the aircraft contracted by the Department of Defense went down in the southern province of Maguindanao del Sur and “was providing intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance support at the request of our Philippine allies.”

“The incident occurred during a routine mission in support of U.S.-Philippine security cooperation activities,” U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement to Fox News.

“We can confirm no survivors of the crash. There were four personnel on board, including one U.S. military service member and three defense contractors,” it added.

The wreckage of the plane in Maguindanao del Sur province, Philippines, following the crash on Thursday, Feb. 6. (Sam Mala/UGC via AP)

The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

The names of those involved are being withheld pending next of kin notification.

Windy Beaty, a provincial disaster-mitigation officer, told the Associated Press that she received reports that residents saw smoke coming from the plane and heard an explosion before the aircraft plummeted to the ground about half a mile from a cluster of farmhouses.

A water buffalo on the ground was also killed as a result of the plane crash, local officials said.

U.S. forces have been deployed in a Philippine military camp in the country’s south for decades to help provide advice and training to Filipino forces battling Muslim militants, the AP reported.

The region is the homeland of minority Muslims in the largely Roman Catholic nation.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Greg Norman is a reporter at Fox News Digital.

February 6, 2025
US military plane deporting up to 205 Indian migrants land in India: report

A U.S. military plane carrying a group of Indian migrants landed in India early Wednesday morning as part of President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda, a U.S. Transportation Command official confirmed to Fox News Digital.

The outlet also reported that India is the farthest destination a military aircraft has ever flown to for deportations under Trump’s administration.

According to the official, the C-17 aircraft flew from Miramar, near San Diego, yesterday and landed in Amritsar, in northern India, around 3:30 ET. The plane carried between 104 and 205 nationals and marked the first time Washington authorized a military aircraft for deportations to India, according to Reuters.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump, have been largely discussing immigration issues since Trump took office. The White House confirmed that Trump has invited Modi to come visit next week.

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

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

According to the Pew Research center, there are about 725,000 Indians who have been illegally residing in the U.S. since 2022, marking India as the third top source of illegal U.S. immigration after Mexico and El Salvador.

An Indian immigrant deported from the U.S. sits in a police vehicle as they leave the airport in Amritsar, India, on Feb. 5, 2025. (Adnan Abidi)

TRUMP SAYS HE’S NOT CHANGED HIS MIND ON H-1B VISAS AS DEBATE RAGES WITHIN MAGA COALITION

Indian nationals often arrive in the U.S. through H-1B visas, a foreign worker visa that allows American employers to hire foreign workers. This legal pathway of entry has been hotly contested by some Trump supporters.

The president, however, dismissed immigration concerns after having a “productive call” last month that focused on “expanding and deepening cooperation.”

People spot a U.S. military plane arriving in Amritsar, India, on Feb. 5, 2025. (Adnan Abidi)

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“We have a very good relationship with India,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One after his call with Modi.

The president continued to express confidence that India will “do what is right.”

Fox News’ Kyra Colah and Reuters contributed to this report.

Ronn Blitzer is an editor for Fox News Digital covering politics and breaking news.

February 5, 2025
George Kittle recipient of NFL’s Salute to Service Award amid $250K in donations to military nonprofits

San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle has been named the recipient of the NFL’s Salute to Service Award.

The award was first given out in 2012 as part of the NFL’s and USAA’s commitment to recognize and honor the military and veteran community.

Kittle hosts military members for every Niners home game, donating over 400 tickets over the last six seasons. He and his family created an app to offer free mental health services for veterans.

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George Kittle, #85 of the San Francisco 49ers, reacts during the second quarter against the Kansas City Chiefs during Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium on Feb. 11, 2024 in Las Vegas. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Kittle has also donated over $250,000 to military nonprofits and further highlighted military organizations through My Cause My Cleats.

“I am incredibly thankful and honored to be this year’s Salute to Service Award recipient. This is my fourth time being nominated by the 49ers, which is an absolute honor because it’s important to me to show gratitude and support to the military,” Kittle said in a statement. “My appreciation for the military stems from watching my Uncle Pat serve multiple tours with the National Guard and seeing firsthand how much it impacted him and his family while he was overseas.

“Without my family and their unwavering support, I would not be able to create these genuine and authentic relationships with the real heroes and the ones who should be receiving this award, the active-duty members, Veterans, TAPS and families that have lost loved ones in the line of fire. The support you see for the military around the league is so important and the fact that guys on every team do it, not just the nominees, is awesome. We are allowed to live the lives we live here because of the sacrifices they make, so we’re just trying to honor them, show our support, and share as much love as we can.”

George Kittle sits in the audience at WrestleMania 39 at SoFi Stadium on April 1, 2023 in Inglewood, California. (Unique Nicole/Getty Images)

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Kittle was one of the three finalists, besting Minnesota Vikings running back Aaron Jones and Los Angeles Chargers defensive end Morgan Fox.

Jones grew up in a military household; his father, Alvin, served 29 years in the Army, while his mother, Vurgess, served for 27. Jones’ older brother, Xavier, serves in the Air Force. Jones and his twin brother Alvin Jr., founded the A&A All the Way Foundation in 2020 to support the youth of military families.

Fox also grew up in a military community and donated 100 tickets to veterans. He has hosted members of the Wounded Warrior Project at Chargers practices.

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Super Bowl LIX will be streamed on Tubi. (Tubi)

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Kittle will be recognized at the NFL Honors on Thursday, where the MVP, Offensive and Defensive Players and Rookies, and Coach of the Year will also be crowned.

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February 5, 2025