Happy New Year 2025

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President Donald Trump pumps up Rep. Byron Donalds in race to succeed Florida Gov. DeSantis

President Donald Trump is making it very clear whom he would support in the blockbuster 2026 gubernatorial race to succeed term-limited Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

“I am hearing that Highly Respected Congressman Byron Donalds is considering running for Governor of Florida, a State that I love, and WON BIG in 2016, 2020, and 2024,” Trump, a Florida resident, wrote in a social media post on Thursday.

And the president emphasized that Donalds, a longtime Trump friend, ally and supporter, “would be a truly Great and Powerful Governor for Florida.”

Trump added that Donalds, “should he decide to run, will have my Complete and Total Endorsement. RUN, BYRON, RUN!”

WHAT BYRON DONALDS SAID ON FOX NEWS SUNDAY

Byron Donalds speaks inside the Capital One arena at an event for President Donald Trump, on the inauguration day of Trump’s second presidential term, in Washington D.C., on January 20, 2025. REUTERS/Mike Segar (REUTERS/Mike Segar)

Donalds, a conservative former state lawmaker who has represented parts of southwest Florida’s 19th District in Congress for four years, has been eyeing a potential gubernatorial bid for nearly a year.

“I’ve thought about it. I don’t really rule anything out,” Donalds said in a Fox News Digital interview last spring when asked about a possible run for governor.

Sources confirmed to Fox News last month that Donalds had been telling potential donors and Florida political players that he intends to run for governor.

WHY TRUMP IS PRAISING ONE-TIME PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY RIVAL DESANTIS

Another signal also came last month, when Donalds hired prominent Republican pollster Tony Fabrizio’s research firm. Fabrizio was a top pollster in Trump’s 2016 and 2024 presidential campaigns.

Sources in Florida tell Fox News that Donalds, behind the scenes, continues to make moves towards launching a gubernatorial campaign.

Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida speaks during Day 1 of the Republican National Convention, at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 15, 2024. (REUTERS/Mike Segar)

And a source in Donalds’ political orbit told Fox News on Thursday that the congressman has been pushing hard for a Trump endorsement, in an effort to crowd out potential rivals for the GOP gubernatorial nomination.

Another prominent Florida Republican who’s seriously considering a run for governor is state Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson, the former president of the state Senate.

There’s also been some speculation that DeSantis’ wife, Florida First Lady Casey DeSantis, was potentially considering a run to succeed her husband in Tallahassee. A poll released earlier this week, which suggested Casey DeSantis would be favored in the race, grabbed plenty of attention.

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, who was Trump’s first choice for attorney general in his second administration before dropping out amid controversy, late last year made some noise about potentially running for governor. But there’s been little buzz in recent weeks about a possible Gaetz campaign.

Dan Eberhart, a Florida-based oil drilling chief executive officer and a prominent Republican donor who’s raised big bucks for Trump and DeSantis in recent years and who is also in Donalds’ political orbit, told Fox News that Donalds, if he runs, would “bring a fresh conservative vision for Florida’s future that will be hard to beat.”

The social media post by Trump was his second this week to pump up Donalds.

Trump on Monday showcased a screen grab of a poll conducted by a group aligned with Donalds that indicated the congressman leading in a hypothetical 2026 Florida gubernatorial match-up.

Trump has been talking up Donalds for over a year when it comes to a possible run for governor. At a closed-door fundraiser in New York City last spring, Trump suggested that if Donalds ran for Florida governor, he’d have “many friends in the race.”

Donalds, speaking with Fox News Digital soon after Trump made the comments, said “it’s really cool that people back home in Florida consider me to be able to be the state’s next governor. It’s really an honor. It’s honestly surreal thinking about it because I’m 45 and my journey through politics has been a really fruitful one.”

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With Florida, which was once a top general election battleground state, now firmly red, the slowly emerging GOP gubernatorial nomination fight will be greatly impacted by Trump’s endorsement in his adopted home state.

But not to be discounted is any possible endorsement by DeSantis in the race to succeed the governor.

Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter based in New Hampshire.

February 21, 2025
President Trump looks to bring manufacturing back to US with tariffs

FOX Business’ Lauren Simonetti reports on how one American business owner is capitalizing on President Donald Trump’s tariff plan.

President Donald Trump is looking to boost American manufacturing and its competitiveness with tariffs.

Last week, the nation’s 47th president moved to reinstate a 25% tariff on steel imports and lift the tariff on aluminum imports to 25%, using Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962.

The White House has argued those tariffs will help with “revitalizing the domestic steel and aluminum industries” and bring back manufacturing.

WHO GETS HIT HARDEST BY STEEL AND ALUMINUM TARIFFS?

President Donald Trump signs executive orders, imposing 25% tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, the latest salvo in his ongoing effort to overhaul the U.S. trading relationship with the rest of the world. (Jabin Botsford/Washington Post via Getty Images)

More recently, the Trump administration also unveiled a plan to develop reciprocal tariffs.

“It is fair to all, no other Country can complain and, in some cases, if a Country feels that the United States would be getting too high a Tariff, all they have to do is reduce or terminate their Tariff against us,” Trump said in a TruthSocial post about the plan. “There are no Tariffs if you manufacture or build your product in the United States.”

He also said it was time countries “treat us fairly – A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD FOR AMERICAN WORKERS.”

FOX Business’ Lauren Simonetti recently spoke to Mark Andol, the founder of Made in America Store, a business that stocks its shelves solely with products made in the U.S. and that seeks to increase American manufacturing.

“I don’t have [anything] that plugs in or takes a battery out of 15,000 products, and I said we’ve been to the moon but we can’t make a toaster. We’ve got to want. You’ve got to make ‘Made in America’ important again,” he said.

Meanwhile, Flying Bison Brewing Company founder Tim Herzog told Simonetti tariffs could negatively impact costs.

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“Where we are, the light delicate malt that’s the popular malt for beers right now is from Canada. Some is grown in northern New York state, sent to Canada to be malted, comes back over the border, so it’s going to get tariffs going over and it’s going to get tariffs coming back,” he said. “The price is going to go crazy.”

The number of manufacturing employees in the U.S. stood at a preliminary 12.76 million as of January, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That is millions fewer than the numbers seen in the ‘80s and ’90s.

There were nearly 403,000 private manufacturing establishments in the U.S. at the end of 2024’s second quarter, according to preliminary data from the BLS.

TRUMP’S TREASURY SECRETARY SHUTS DOWN ANY TARIFF CONCERNS, PRAISES ‘FRICTIONLESS GLOBAL TRADE’

Trump has been busy pursuing other tariffs since taking office as well.

Donald Trump (Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)

He inked executive orders for 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico and a 10% tariff on imports from China this month. However, his administration paused the levies focused on America’s northern and southern neighbors for one month after Canada and Mexico both agreed to take steps to heighten enforcement on their borders with the U.S.

Those were implemented in response to the “extraordinary threat posed by illegal aliens and drugs” that the Trump administration said were coming across the borders, according to a White House press release.

February 18, 2025
Are more airplanes crashing under President Donald Trump than under Joe Biden?

The United States saw double the number of fatal plane crashes under President Joe Biden’s first four weeks in office compared to the same time period under President Donald Trump’s second administration, federal data reviewed by Fox News Digital shows.

There were 10 fatal plane crashes in the United States between Jan. 20, 2021, and Feb. 18, 2021, according to the National Transportation Safety Board’s Case Analysis and Reporting Online, or CAROL, which has recorded aviation accidents since 1962. There were four fatal plane crashes recorded during the same time period under the second Trump administration — from inauguration day to Feb. 18 — the data shows.

A fifth fatal plane crash unfolded in Georgia on Saturday evening, which has not yet been added to the database but is included in Fox Digital’s final tally of five fatal plane crashes in the U.S. since Jan. 20.

Though the second Trump administration has seen fewer plane crashes than the first month of the Biden administration, the Washington, D.C., crash in January provided greater national visibility to concern over aviation crashes as it was the deadliest in U.S. history since November 2001, when an American Airlines flight crashed into a residential area of New York City, killing 260 people on board and five on the ground.

A total of 67 people were killed in January when an Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines passenger plane collided near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

Fox News Digital found that during the Biden administration’s approximate first month in office, there were U.S.-based fatal plane crashes in Janesville, Wisconsin; St. Thomas, Caribbean Sea; Tehachapi, California; Galt, Missouri; Belvidere, Tennessee; Chitina, Alaska; Hackberry, Louisiana; Port Angeles, Washington; Boynton Beach, Florida; Rio Rancho, New Mexico. A total of 18 individuals died in the 10 crashes.

TORONTO PLANE CRASH: HARROWING VIDEO SHOWS DELTA PLANE ERUPTING INTO FIREBALL, FLIPPING UPSIDE-DOWN

The United States saw double the number of fatal plane crashes under President Joe Biden’s first four weeks in office compared to the same time period under President Donald Trump’s second administration. (Getty Images)

The five fatal plane crashes in the first month of the Trump administration occurred in Nome, Alaska; Philadelphia; Washington, D.C.; Charlottesville, Virginia; and Covington, Georgia. A total of 96 people died in the plane crashes.

When comparing the two Trump administrations, Fox News Digital found there were 11 recorded fatal plane crashes between Jan. 20, 2017, to Feb. 18, 2017.

TORONTO PLANE CRASH TIMELINE: DELTA FLIGHT FROM MINNEAPOLIS FLIPS UPSIDE DOWN WHILE ATTEMPTING TO LAND

Fox News Digital also found that the Biden administration saw seven serious — not fatal — plane crashes between Jan. 20, 2021, and Feb. 18, 2021, compared to six serious plane crashes under the same time period for the Trump administration, according to the CAROL database.

As for crashes that resulted in “minor” injuries for passengers, the CAROL database recorded seven under the Biden administration’s first month and two under the second Trump administration’s first month, Fox Digital found.

A Delta Air Lines plane is upside down on its roof after crashing upon landing at Toronto Pearson Airport in Toronto on Feb. 17, 2025. (Geoff Robins/AFP via Getty Images)

SWALWELL DECLARES ‘ALL CRASHES ARE TRUMP’S FAULT’ AS HE DOUBLES DOWN ON PLANE DISASTER BLAME GAME

Another plane crash unfolded on Monday in Canada, when a Delta Air Lines CRJ-900 jet originating from Minnesota crashed at Toronto Pearson International Airport. None of the 80 passengers or crew were killed, but at least 18 were treated for injuries after the plane crashed, caught on fire and flipped upside down.

The Toronto crash unfolded as news mounted that the Trump administration is in the midst of firing a bevy of federal employees across various agencies as part of his administration’s effort to cut government spending fat and weed out corruption and mismanagement, including terminating Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) employees who have been hired in the past year, according to a union representing the employees.

President Donald Trump listens as Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy speaks at the White House on Jan. 30, 2025. (Alex Brandon/Associated Press)

A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Transportation told Fox News Digital Monday that the agency continues to hire air traffic controllers and those focused on air safety.

PLANE CRASHES SPARK RENEWED FEAR OF FLYING: 10 CAUSES OF AVIATION DISASTERS

“The FAA continues to hire and onboard air traffic controllers and safety professionals, including mechanics and others who support them,” the spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “The agency has retained employees who perform safety critical functions.”

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy added on X that his predecessor, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, had “failed for four years to address the air traffic controller shortage and upgrade our outdated, World War II-era air traffic control system.”

A police boat patrols the water and guards the crash scene on Jan. 30, 2025, after an American Airlines plane collided midair with a military helicopter and crashed into the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. (Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“Here’s the truth: the FAA alone has a staggering 45,000 employees,” he said. “Less than 400 were let go, and they were all probationary, meaning they had been hired less than a year ago. Zero air traffic controllers and critical safety personnel were let go.”

The crash, however, has opened the floodgates of criticism from Democrats and liberal media outlets who have laid blame for the crash at Trump’s feet.

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“I’m thankful that everyone in the flight incident in Toronto that took off from Minneapolis is safe, but we keep seeing these incidents day after day,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer posted to X after the Monday crash. “Meanwhile, Trump’s doing massive layoffs at the FAA—including safety specialists—and making our skies less and less safe. Democrats are fighting to protect the flying public.”

February 18, 2025
Vice President Vance likely to highlight Trump administration agenda at CPAC

Vice President JD Vance is no stranger to the crowd at the Conservative Political Action Conference, better known by its acronym CPAC.

But on Thursday, at the opening session at National Harbor, Maryland, just outside the nation’s capital, Vance will address CPAC for the first time since his inauguration last month as vice president of the United States.

Vance has been a regular at the conference in recent years, dating back to his successful 2022 campaign for the Senate in Ohio. And last October, as he crisscrossed the national campaign trail as Donald Trump’s 2024 running mate, Vance also spoke at a CPAC-hosted townhall in battleground Arizona.

WATCH: JD VANCE SITS DOWN WITH FOX BUSINESS’ MARIA BARTIROMO

JD Vance speaks on stage during CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) Texas, on Aug. 18, 2022, in Dallas. (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

CPAC, which dates back to 1974, is the nation’s oldest and largest annual gathering of conservative leaders and activists. In the years since Trump first won the White House in 2016, it has been dominated by legions of MAGA loyalists and America First disciples who hold immense sway over the GOP.

The vice president is expected to use his address to highlight and promote the avalanche of activity – both domestically and overseas – by the Trump-Vance administration during its first month in office.

HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS’ REPORTING, ANALYSIS, OPINION ON VICE PRESIDENT JD VANCE

Vance, who served two years in the Senate before being elected vice president, has been considered a key player in helping the GOP-controlled chamber confirm Trump’s Cabinet nominees at a brisk pace.

And Vance made major headlines earlier this month at the Munich Security Conference in Germany, when he used his first major speech as vice president to deliver a blistering address directed at Europe’s political class.

Vice President JD Vance gives a speech at the Munich Security Conference in Germany, Feb. 14, 2025. (Reuters/Leah Millis)

Trump’s naming last summer of Vance – a former venture capitalist and the author of the bestselling memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy,” before running for elective office – as his running was seen as a sign that the now 40-year-old politician was the heir apparent to Trump and his movement.

Trump praised Vance in a recent interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier on “Special Report” for “doing a fantastic job,”

WATCH: VICE PRESIDENT JD VANCE SITS DOWN WITH FOX NEWS’ BRET BAIER ON “SPECIAL REPORT”

But asked by Baier if he viewed Vance as his successor and the Republican nominee in 2028, the term-limited Trump said, “No, but he’s very capable.”

“It’s too early. We’re just starting,” Trump added.

Vice President JD Vance, on Jan. 25, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (AP )

Questions about 2028 may be hanging over Vance at CPAC, which has long held a closely watched GOP presidential nomination straw poll.

Vance, in an interview earlier this month with FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo on “Sunday Morning Futures,” was asked about the next White House race.

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“We’ll see what happens come 2028, but the way I think about this is the best thing for my future is actually the best thing for the American people, which is that we do a really good job over the next three and a half years,” the vice president said.

Vance noted that “we’ll cross that political bridge when we come to it. I’m not thinking about running for president. I’m thinking about doing a good job for the American people and I think the best way to do that is to make sure that President Trump is a success.”

Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter based in New Hampshire.

February 18, 2025
President Trump seen with Bills players on his golf course

Several Buffalo Bills players were seen posing with President Donald Trump on a golf course on Monday as they got their offseason started on the right foot.

Spencer Brown, Dalton Kincaid, Sam Martin, Ryan Van Demark and Tommy Doyle were all seen with the president at Trump International Golf Club Palm Beach. Brown posted the photo of his teammates with the president on his Instagram.

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President Donald Trump, center, gestures to supporters gathered for a Presidents’ Day rally as he leaves the Trump International Golf Club on Monday, Feb. 17, 2025 in West Palm Beach, Florida. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

“45-47,” he wrote.

Doyle was seen wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat, which has been Trump’s tagline during his pursuits of the presidency in 2016, 2020 and 2024.

“Met the president on Presidents’ Day,” Doyle wrote on his Instagram Stories.

Trump garnered support from some NFL players during the 2024 season, including San Francisco defensive end Nick Bosa.

BENGALS EXPECTED TO FRANCHISE TAG TEE HIGGINS AGAIN, HOPING TO REACH LONG-TERM DEAL: REPORT

Buffalo Bills tight end Dalton Kincaid, #86, against the Kansas City Chiefs during the AFC Championship game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, on Jan. 26, 2025. (Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images)

Bosa was seen wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat after a game and even did Trump’s dance as a sack celebration.

“I think you know the answer to that question,” Bosa said in November about what inspired him to do the move, via the San Francisco Chronicle. “All the guys wanted me to do it. I wasn’t even going to do it, but the boys reminded me. And it was fun.”

Trump was at Super Bowl LIX to watch the Philadelphia Eagles take on the Kansas City Chiefs. He picked the Chiefs to win the game, but it was the Eagles who eventually came out on top.

President Donald Trump, center, poses with members of the New Orleans Police Department and emergency personnel before the start of Super Bowl LIX between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025 in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

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The president was also at the Daytona 500 and could complete the sporting trifecta should he show up at the 4 Nations Face-Off final in Boston later this week.

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

Ryan Gaydos is a senior editor for Fox News Digital.

February 18, 2025
President Trump urged to confront Iranian regime over repression of Christians

Iran is reported to have launched a new crackdown against Iranian Christians this month following the re-arrest of two men.

According to a Feb. 10 report on the website of the U.K.-based NGO Article18, which seeks to protect religious freedom in Iran, “Two Christians in their 60s who were released after a combined six years in prison on charges related to their leadership of house-churches have been re-arrested.”

Iranian regime intelligence agents re-arrested the two Christians, Nasser Navard Gol-Tapeh and Joseph Shahbazian, and incarcerated both men in Tehran’s brutal Evin Prison. Gol-Tapeh is reportedly on a hunger strike over “unlawful re-arrest,” noted Article 18, which advocates on behalf of persecuted Iranian Christians.

IRAN HAS WORLD’S ‘FASTEST-GROWING CHURCH,’ DESPITE NO BUILDINGS – AND IT’S MOSTLY LED BY WOMEN: DOCUMENTARY

A huge mural of Iran’s supreme leader on Motahari Street on March 8, 2020, in Tehran. (Kaveh Kazemi/Getty Images)

Article18 said a “number of other Tehran Christians were also arrested at the same time and remain in custody.”

Iranian-Americans and Iranian dissidents are urging the Trump administration to shine a spotlight on the ubiquitous Iranian regime human rights violations while imposing punitive measures on the clerical state in Tehran.

Alireza Nader, an Iran expert, told Fox News Digital, “Christians in Iran are relentlessly persecuted by the Islamist regime. The Trump administration should highlight their plight publicly while putting maximum economic and diplomatic pressure on the regime.”

Wahied Wahdat-Hagh, a German-Iranian political scientist, who is a leading expert on religious minorities in Iran, told Fox News Digital, according to the Christian advocacy organization OpenDoors 2025 annual report, “Christian discrimination in Iran remains extremely severe, scoring 86 out of 100 points and ranking 9th among the worst countries for Christian persecution.”

He added, “The government views Christian converts as a threat to national security, believing they are influenced by Western nations to undermine Islam and the regime. As a result, Christian converts face severe religious freedom violations, including arrests [and] long prison sentences.”

STUDENTS IN IRAN CONTINUE PROTESTS OVER 19-YEAR-OLD’S MURDER ON CAMPUS FOR SECOND DAY

A girl lights a candle in St. Thaddeus Monastery in Chaldoran, Iran. (Adis Easaghlian/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

Wahdat-Hagh continued, “Those who leave Islam to follow Christianity are the most vulnerable. They are denied legal recognition and are frequently targeted by security forces.”

One Iranian Christian who fled Iran to Germany to practice her faith free from persecution is Sheina Vojoudi.

She told Fox News Digital, “As the belief in Islam keeps going down in Iran, the important growth of Christianity has deeply alarmed the Islamic Republic, a theocratic dictatorship. Iran has seen an outstanding rise in the number of Christian converts, despite the decidedly oppressive environment. International human rights groups often consider Christian converts to be political prisoners of conscience, meaning that even after arrest and release, they remain in constant danger of re-arrest and severe punishment.”

The dire situation of Iranian Christians prompted the U.N. Special Rapporteur on human rights in Iran, Mai Sato, to sound the alarm bells in a video presentation organized by Article 18. “The situation of Christians in the Islamic Republic of Iran is a matter of serious concern that demands our continued attention,” she said.

IRAN PROXIES ENGAGED IN ‘INVISIBLE JIHAD’ AGAINST CHRISTIANS IN MIDDLE EAST, REPORT WARNS

The most recent U.S. State Department report on religious freedom in Iran (2023) states, “The government continued to regulate Christian religious practices. Christian worship in Farsi was forbidden and official reports and state-run media continued to characterize private Christian churches in homes as ‘illegal networks’ and ‘Zionist propaganda institutions.”’

The number of Christians in Iran is difficult to pinpoint because of the widespread repression of the faith. According to the State Department report, the Iranian regime’s Statistical Center claims there are 117,700 Christians of recognized denominations as of the 2016 census.

Iranian women prisoners sit inside their cell in Tehran’s Evin prison, June 13, 2006. (Reuters/Morteza Nikoubazl )

Boston University’s 2020 World Religion Database notes there are roughly 579,000 Christians in Iran, while Article 18 estimates there are 500,000 to 800,000. Open Doors reports the number at 1.24 million.

The Trump administration re-imposed, in early February, its maximum economic pressure campaign on Iran’s regime to reverse Tehran’s drive to build a nuclear weapon and stop its spread of Islamist terrorism.

Vojoudi, an associate fellow at the U.S.-based Gold Institute for International Strategy, told Fox News Digital, “Now is the time for European nations and the United States to take meaningful action, not only by holding the Islamic Republic accountable for its support of terrorism and extremist groups, but also by prosecuting it on the international stage for violating one of the most fundamental human rights: the freedom of religion.

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“This is critical not only for the safety of Christian converts but also to reaffirm the values of freedom and human dignity that these nations claim to uphold.”

Multiple Fox News Digital press queries to Iran’s foreign ministry and its U.N. mission in New York were not returned. Fox News Digital asked if the government would release Iranians imprisoned for merely practicing their Christian faith.

Benjamin Weinthal reports on Israel, Iran, Syria, Turkey and Europe. You can follow Benjamin on Twitter @BenWeinthal, and email him at [email protected]

February 16, 2025
President Donald Trump unified the Republican Party, Rep. Marlin Stutzman says

Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., has spent the better part of the last decade in Indiana, running various businesses and coaching his sons’ baseball team.

Before that, he had a front-row seat for most of the Obama administration, followed by the meteoric and unprecedented rise of now-President Donald Trump. Stutzman was a part of political history himself, having been one of the original members of the House Freedom Caucus — a group that has grown to be known as a bastion of ideological conservatism and, at times, a thorn in the side of House GOP leaders.

Now he’s back as one of several first-term House Republicans, succeeding Sen. Jim Banks, R-Ind., as a member of a perilously thin House GOP majority.

But according to Stutzman, who previously served in Congress from 2010 to 2017, he sees Republicans as more aligned with each other than before.

SCOOP: KEY CONSERVATIVE CAUCUS DRAWS RED LINE ON HOUSE BUDGET PLAN

Rep. Marlin Stutzman of Indiana served in Congress from 2010 to 2017 and is back for another term. (Getty Images)

“I feel like it’s different. I don’t think the GOP conference is as far apart — you know, moderates to conservatives — as it was back in 2010,” he told Fox News Digital in an interview.

“I was looking at the membership in 2010, and there were true moderates. I think we’re actually much closer together now than what we were back then. And, of course, we had large majorities. So that creates other challenges. So having a tight majority is not a bad thing at all. It actually makes you unify.”

He credited that re-alignment in large part to Trump, pointing out that he and other Republicans were first elected in 2010 as a backlash against former President Barack Obama rather than in support of the leading party’s agenda.

“We won the 2010 election because it was a reaction to Obama. And in 2020 — I mean, you could say every election is a reaction to the incumbent party, but I think in this case, after the Biden years, the American people elected Trump because they believed he could move the country forward,” Stutzman said.

Stutzman with former House speakers Paul Ryan and Kevin McCarthy in 2012. (Getty Images)

“And so we have a leader that is casting a vision and is clear in his messaging, and it gives us the chance to, you know, coalesce behind his leadership. So that’s a huge help, compared to 2010.”

He also disputed the notion that the Freedom Caucus was founded to be “obstructionist” to House GOP leaders, despite members of the group leading well-known coups against senior Republicans in the past.

“There’s a lot of smart people that wanted to just be part of a group that looked at things from every angle and was really being productive. And so that’s why I wanted to join it, because I wanted to be at a place that I could learn, I could really dive deep and learn from other people and staff that were part of the caucus to really understand the policy, but also talk through the strategy,” he said.

“It was never designed to be an obstructionist caucus. There have been times that it’s definitely been labeled that and accused of that . . . any obstruction was to stop bad things from happening. Not to obstruct the good things from moving forward.”

BLACK CAUCUS CHAIR ACCUSES TRUMP OF ‘PURGE’ OF ‘MINORITY’ FEDERAL WORKERS

Stutzman credits President Trump with unifying Republicans. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

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Stutzman said that being a private citizen running businesses for eight years gave him perspective on the value of consensus-building, allowing him to return to Congress with an emphasis on the “big picture.”

“You’re never going to get everything you want. You know, find a way to support the team and find a way to support us to a yes,” Stutzman reflected.

“Now, look, there’s going to be times when you just say no, And that’s just part of negotiating. But I think the main thing is just fight hard, offer everything you have. But then at the end of the day, let’s take a win and then move on to the next fight.”

Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.

Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to [email protected]

February 16, 2025
Here’s what happened during President Donald Trump’s 4th week in office

President Donald Trump and his administration forged ahead with its foreign policy priorities in meetings and calls with heads of state and advanced discussions surrounding the end of the Russia-Ukraine war this week.

Trump spoke with both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, where leaders agreed to launch negotiations to end the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

“We agreed to work together, very closely, including visiting each other’s Nations,” Trump posted to Truth Social Wednesday after speaking with Putin. “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,” Trump said.

Additionally, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent traveled to Kyiv on Wednesday, and Vice President JD Vance also met with Zelenskyy Friday at the Munich Security Conference.

TRUMP SAYS RUSSIA AGREES TO ‘IMMEDIATELY BEGIN’ NEGOTIATIONS TO END WAR IN UKRAINE

Then-Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meet at Trump Tower in New York City, New York, Sept. 27, 2024. (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has come under scrutiny for the negotiations, fielding criticism that Ukraine is being pressured to give in to concessions after Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said Wednesday that it wasn’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.

But Hegseth shut down comments like these, and told NATO members in Brussels on Thursday: “Any suggestion that President Trump is doing anything other than negotiating from a position of strength is, on its face, ahistorical and false.”

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.

Here’s what also happened this week at the White House:

Meeting Jordan’s king

Trump welcomed Jordan’s King Abdullah II at the White House Tuesday, a visit that comes amid contentious discussions between the U.S. and Arab nations about relocating Palestinian refugees to Jordan and other neighboring Arab countries to rebuild Gaza.

Trump unveiled plans on Feb. 4 that the U.S. would seek to “take over” the Gaza Strip in a “long-term ownership position” to deliver stability to the region during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

However, Trump’s proposal prompted swift backlash from Arab countries, including Jordan, and Egypt announced plans on Sunday for an emergency Arab Summit to discuss “new and dangerous developments” regarding the resettling of Palestinians on Feb. 27.

TRUMP MEETS WITH JORDAN’S KING AMID TENSE TALKS ABOUT RESETTLING PALESTINIANS

When asked how he felt about Trump’s plans for the future of Gaza, Abdullah remained tight-lipped and said he would wait for the Egyptians to take the lead on a proposal moving forward as they negotiate with the U.S.

“I think let’s wait until the Egyptians can come and present it to the president and not get ahead of us,” Abdullah said.

Abdullah did reveal plans to accept 2,000 sick Palestinian children to Jordan.

“I think one of the things that we can do right away is take 2,000 children that are either cancer children or in a very ill state, to Jordan as quickly as possible,” Abdullah said. “And then wait for … the Egyptians to present their plan on how we can work with the president to work on the cause of challenges.”

Denuclearization talks with China, Russia

Trump floated a joint meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Putin, claiming he wants all countries to move toward denuclearization.

Trump on Thursday told reporters he plans to advance these denuclearization talks once “we straighten it all out” in the Middle East and Ukraine, comments that come as the U.S., Russia and Ukraine are actively pursuing negotiations to end the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

“There’s no reason for us to be building brand new nuclear weapons, we already have so many,” Trump said Thursday at the White House. “You could destroy the world 50 times over, 100 times over. And here we are building new nuclear weapons, and they’re building nuclear weapons.”

“We’re all spending a lot of money that we could be spending on other things that are actually, hopefully, much more productive,” he said.

The U.S. is projected to spend approximately $756 billion on nuclear weapons between 2023 and 2032, according to a Congressional Budget Office report released in 2023.

Cuts to federal workforce

Trump signed an executive order Tuesday instructing the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to coordinate with federal agencies and execute massive cuts in federal government staffing numbers.

The order will instruct DOGE and federal agencies to work together to “significantly” shrink the size of the federal government and limit hiring new employees, according to a White House fact sheet on the order. Specifically, agencies must not hire more than one employee for every four that leave their federal post.

TRUMP SIGNS ORDER INSTRUCTING DOGE TO MASSIVELY CUT FEDERAL WORKFORCE

Elon Musk and President Donald Trump talk about DOGE’s efforts to investigate wasteful U.S. government spending from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 11, 2025. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

Agencies will also be instructed to “undertake plans for large-scale reductions in force” and evaluate ways to eliminate or combine agency functions that aren’t legally required.

The order builds on another directive Trump signed after his inauguration implementing a federal hiring freeze, as well as an initiative from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management offering more than two million federal civilian employees buyouts if they leave their jobs or return to work in person. The White House told Fox News Digital Thursday that more than 75,000 employees have accepted the buyout.

Eliminate the penny?

Trump unveiled plans Sunday to halt production of the penny — but getting that initiative underway requires a few additional steps and possibly congressional approval.

Additionally, while Trump said he instructed the Treasury Department to stop minting them due to their high costs, supporters of the penny claim it’s wiser to evaluate changes to the nickel instead.

“For far too long, the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday. “This is so wasteful! I have instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies.”

In fact, producing pennies is even more expensive than Trump’s numbers. It costs nearly 3.69 cents to mint a single penny, according to a 2024 U.S. Mint report. The coins are primarily made of zinc and then covered in copper.

While the waters are a little murky on the next steps, experts say Congress likely would need to become involved and pass legislation to fulfill Trump’s wishes.

“The process of discontinuing the penny in the U.S. is a little unclear. It would likely require an act of Congress, but the Secretary of the Treasury might be able to simply stop the minting of new pennies,” Robert Triest, an economics professor at Northeastern University, told the Northeastern Global News.

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.

February 15, 2025
Trump so far has freed 11 hostages in his first month as president; Biden released around 70 in four years

President Donald Trump’s administration has secured the release of 11 U.S. hostages held by foreign governments since taking office less than one month ago, according to the White House.

The Trump administration has emphasized arranging the release of U.S. hostages under his second administration and welcomed U.S. Marc Fogel, a U.S. history teacher who had been detained in Russia since 2021, back to the U.S. Tuesday.

Other hostages released since Trump’s inauguration include six Americans detained in Venezuela, two Americans detained in Belarus and Israeli-American citizen Keith Siegel, who was held hostage by Palestinian militant group Hamas. There are at least two living American citizen hostages believed to be held in Gaza.

By comparison, former President Joe Biden said in 2024 his White House secured the release of more than 70 hostages during his four years in office, according to an August 2024 statement. Fox News Digital didn’t find any available data to compare numbers from Biden’s first month in office.

ISRAELI PRESIDENT CALLS TRUMP A ‘TRUE FRIEND’ ON INAUGURATION DAY, PRAISES HIS WORK TO RELEASE HOSTAGES

Released American schoolteacher Marc Fogel reacts during a Feb. 11, 2025, event held by President Donald Trump to welcome back Fogel, who had been held in Russia since 2021. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

There were 46 American nationals known to be held captive in 16 different countries in 2024, according to the nonprofit Foley Foundation, which advocates for U.S. hostages and was named after James Foley, a U.S. journalist kidnapped while reporting in Syria in 2012 and killed by ISIS in 2014. That number is now likely closer to the low 30s after the recent releases of hostages in January and February.

On Tuesday, Trump met with Fogel, who was arrested in August 2021 at a Russian airport for possessing drugs and was slated to serve a 14-year sentence. Fogel’s family said the drugs he had on him were medically prescribed marijuana.

“I want you to know that I am not a hero in this at all,” Fogel said Tuesday after meeting Trump. “And President Trump is a hero.

FREED ISRAELI HOSTAGE SPEAKS OUT FOR FIRST TIME

“These men that came from the diplomatic service are heroes,” Fogel said. “The senators and representatives that passed legislation in my honor — they got me home — they are heroes.”

Following Foley’s return and after announcing the release of another, unnamed hostage held in Belarus Wednesday, Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs Adam Boehler said Trump “has made bringing Americans home a top priority, and people respond to that.”

The names of most of the hostages released in February have not been publicly shared.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital about which hostages the U.S. was planning to release next.

American-Israeli citizen Keith Siegel has released a video message heaping praise on President Donald Trump after he was freed from captivity by the terrorist group Hamas two weeks ago. (Omar el Qattaa/AFP via Getty Images; Joe Raedle/Getty Images )

Just before Trump’s inauguration Jan. 20, both the Biden administration and the incoming Trump administration coordinated to secure a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, which included provisions to release dozens of hostages on both sides.

Biden and Trump separately boasted about their individual efforts to secure the deal, and State Department spokesman Matthew Miller described the Trump administration’s involvement as “critical” to getting the deal over the finish line.

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Trump also touted his administration’s involvement in a social media post Jan. 15, claiming it occurred “as a result of our Historic Victory in November, as it signaled to the entire World that my Administration would seek Peace and negotiate deals to ensure the safety of all Americans, and our Allies.”

Although Biden said the two teams had been “speaking as one team” during the negotiations, he also mocked suggestions that Trump was responsible for securing the ceasefire deal.

Former President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump both took credit for their role in securing the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas. (Getty Images)

“Who in the history books gets credit for this, Mr. President, you or Trump?” Fox News’ Jacqui Heinrich asked Biden Jan. 15 after a White House news conference.

ISRAEL RELEASES 90 PALESTINIAN PRISONERS AS PART OF CEASEFIRE DEAL TO FREE HOSTAGES

“Is that a joke?” Biden said.

When Heinrich said it was not, Biden replied, “Oh. Thank you.”

The Associated Press and Fox News’ Emma Colton and Landon Mion contributed to this report.

Diana Stancy is a politics reporter with Fox News Digital covering the White House.

February 14, 2025
Democrats set to ‘waste millions’ litigating President Donald Trump’s executive orders, University of California, Berkeley, law professor John Yoo says

Democrats will likely “waste millions” of dollars battling President Donald Trump’s executive orders and actions in court with little success to show for it, according to University of California, Berkeley law professor John Yoo.

Trump “will have some of the nation’s finest attorneys defending his executive orders and initiatives, and the Democrats will waste millions of dollars losing in court,” Yoo, the former deputy assistant attorney general for the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel, told Fox News Digital on Tuesday when asked whether there are efforts of “lawfare” against Trump in his second administration.

“I expect that Trump will ultimately prevail on two-thirds or more of his executive orders, but the Democrats may succeed in delaying them for about a year or so,” Yoo said.

The Trump administration has been hit by at least 54 lawsuits in response to Trump’s executive orders and actions since his inauguration on Jan. 20. Trump has signed at least 63 executive orders just roughly three weeks into his administration, including 26 on his first day alone.

The executive orders and actions are part of Trump’s shift of the federal government to fall in line with his “America First” policies, including snuffing out government overspending and mismanagement through the creation of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), banning biological men from competing in women’s sports and deporting thousands of illegal immigrants who flooded the nation during the Biden administration.

‘ANYTHING BUT ORDINARY’: LEGAL EXPERTS SHRED NY V. TRUMP AS ‘ONE OF THE WORST’ CASES IN HISTORY

President Donald Trump’s administration has been hit by dozens of lawsuits in response to Trump’s executive orders and actions since his inauguration on Jan. 20. (Ian Maule/Getty Images)

The onslaught of lawsuits come as Democratic elected officials fume over the second Trump administration’s policies, most notably the creation of DOGE, which is in the midst of investigating various federal agencies to cut spending fat, corruption and mismanagement of funds.

A handful of Democratic state attorneys general and other local leaders vowed following Trump’s election win to set off a new resistance to his agenda, vowing to battle him in the courts over policies they viewed as harmful to constituents. Upon his inauguration and his policies taking effect, Democrats have amplified their rhetoric to battle Trump in the courts, and also to take the fight to “the streets.”

“We are going to fight it legislatively. We are going to fight it in the courts. We’re going to fight it in the streets,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said in January of battling Trump’s policies.

“Our biggest weapon historically, over three years alongside the Trump administration, has been the bully pulpit and a whole lot of legal action, so my guess is it will continue,” New Jersey Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy said the day after Trump’s inauguration.

Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, said at a protest over DOGE and its chair, Elon Musk, earlier in February, “We are gonna be in your face, we are gonna be on your a–es, and we are going to make sure you understand what democracy looks like, and this ain’t it.”

‘PLAYING WITH THE COURTS’: TRUMP ADMIN HIT WITH DOZENS OF SUITS AFTER YEARS OF PRESIDENT CONDEMNING ‘LAWFARE’

The dozens of cases come after Trump faced four criminal indictments, on both the state and federal level, in the interim of his first and second administrations. Trump had railed against the cases — including the Manhattan trial and conviction, the Georgia election racketeering case, and former special counsel Jack Smith’s election case and classified documents case — as examples of the Democratic Party waging “lawfare” against him in an effort to hurt his re-election chances in the 2024 cycle.

President Donald Trump has signed at least 63 executive orders just three weeks into his administration, including 26 on his first day alone. (Seth Wenig/The Associated Press)

Yoo, when asked about the state of lawfare against Trump now that he’s back in the Oval Office, said the president’s political foes have shifted from lawfare to launching cases to tie up the administration in court.

“I think that what is going on now is different than lawfare,” he said. “I think of lawfare as the deliberate use by the party in power to prosecute its political opponents to affect election outcomes. The Democrats at the federal and state level brought charges against Trump to drive him out of the 2024 elections.”

“The lawsuits against Trump now are the usual thrust and parry of the separation of powers,” Yoo explained. “The Democrats are not attacking Trump personally and there is no election. Instead, they are suing Trump as President to stop his official policies.

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

Yoo said the Republican Party also relied on the courts in an effort to prevent policies put forth during the Obama era and Biden administration, including when President Barack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law in 2010, or his 2012 immigration policy, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Republicans also challenged the Biden administration in court after President Biden attempted to forgive student debt through executive action in 2022.

‘LOSING THEIR MINDS’: DEM LAWMAKERS FACE BACKLASH FOR INVOKING ‘UNHINGED’ VIOLENT RHETORIC AGAINST MUSK

“Turnabout is fair play,” Yoo said of groups suing over various administrations’ executive actions or policies.

“What makes this also different than the law is that now Trump controls the Justice Department,” he added, explaining that Democrats will spend millions on the cases, which will likely result in delays for many of the Trump policies but will not completely thwart the majority of them.

“The lawsuits against Trump now are the usual thrust and parry of the separation of powers,” John Yoo explained. (Julia Nikhinson-Pool/Getty Images)

A handful of the more than 50 lawsuits have resulted in judges temporarily blocking the orders, such as at least three federal judges issuing preliminary injunctions against Trump’s order ending birthright citizenship.

TRUMP 100% DISAGREES WITH FEDERAL JUDGE’S ‘CRAZY’ RULING BLOCKING DOGE FROM TREASURY SYSTEM

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked on Wednesday during the press briefing whether the administration believes the courts have the authority to issue such injunctions. Leavitt appeared to echo Yoo that the administration will be “vindicated” in court as the cases make their way through the judicial system.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also appeared to think the administration will be “vindicated” in court as the cases make their way through the judicial system. (Evan Vucci/Associated Press )

“We believe that the injunction actions that have been issued by these judges, have no basis in the law and have no grounds. And we will again, as the president said very clearly yesterday, comply with these orders. But it is the administration’s position that we will ultimately be vindicated, and the president’s executive actions that he took were completely within the law,” Leavitt said, before citing the “weaponization” of the court systems against Trump while he was on the campaign trail.

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“We look forward to the day where he can continue to implement his agenda,” she said. “And I would just add, it’s our view that this is the continuation of the weaponization of justice that we have seen against President Trump. He fought it for two years on the campaign trail — it won’t stop him now.”

February 14, 2025