Fox News contributor Douglas Murray weighs in on infighting among Democratic lawmakers over border relief funds and the demise of fairy tales on ‘The Bottom Line.’
Disney confirmed they are ending their “Reimagine Tomorrow” program – after Fox News Digital exposed they didn’t include the controversial DEI program in their latest SEC filing.
The House of Mouse announced that they are ending the program, along with a slew of other DEI initiatives in an email, first reported by Axios, sent to employees.
The “Reimagine Tomorrow” program was thrust into controversy after a 2022 meeting it hosted where an executive boasted of her “not-at-all-secret gay agenda” was unearthed by conservative activist Chris Rufo.
DISNEY CEO BOB IGER TELLS EMPLOYEES HE WANTS TO ‘QUIET’ DOWN CULTURE WARS, ‘RESPECT’ THE AUDIENCE
Disney is dropping its “Reimagine Tomorrow” program. (Walt Disney World Communications / Fox News)
“On my little pocket of Proud Family Disney TVA, the showrunners were super welcoming… our leadership over there has been super welcoming to my not-at-all-secret gay agenda… they’re going hard… I don’t have to be afraid to have these two characters kiss in the background. I was just, wherever I could, adding queerness,” executive producer Latoya Raveneau said at the time.
“Reimagine Tomorrow” was dedicated to “amplifying underrepresented voices and untold stories as well as championing the importance of accurate representation in media and entertainment,” according to its website, which is now defunct.
LGBTQ employees and their supporters walkout of Disney Animation protesting CEO Bob Chapek’s handling of the staff controversy over Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill, aka the “Parental Rights in Education” bill, on Tuesday, March 22, 2022 in Burbank, CA ((Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) / Getty Images)
Disney dropped “Reimagine Tomorrow” from its 2024 SEC filing, but today’s announcement goes further by confirming that the program has been terminated, and its website has been shut down.
According to the company email, which Fox News Digital obtained, Disney will now house its diversity initiatives on the “Belong” hub of its employee website “MyDisneyToday.”
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Disney announced they are rolling back their DEI initiatives according to a company email. (Gary Hershorn/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Additionally, Disney will no longer use DEI as a factor in its employee compensation. The movie, TV and theme park powerhouse will now instead use new “Talent Strategy” metrics which are centered on “business success.”
“This factor will assess how leaders uphold our company values, incorporate different perspectives to drive business success, cultivate an environment where all employees can thrive, and sustain a robust pipeline to ensure long-term organizational strength,” per the email.
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JERUSALEM—The president of the Palestinian Authority (PA) apparently capitulated to the Trump administration by claiming to scrap its long-standing program known as “pay for slay,” which provides payments to Palestinian terrorists and their families.
There are, however, conflicting reports about whether the PA ended the program or is trying to hoodwink the Trump administration.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein released a statement on X saying, “This is a new deception scheme by the Palestinian Authority, which intends to continue paying terrorists and their families through alternative payment channels.”
JUDGE LETS LAWSUIT CLAIMING BIDEN ADMIN KNEW US FUNDS WERE AIDING PALESTINIAN TERRORISTS MOVE FORWARD
On Monday, the Palestinian News and Information Agency (WAFA) reported that Mahmoud Abbas “issued a decree law revoking the articles contained in the laws and regulations related to the system of paying financial allowances to the families of prisoners, martyrs, and the wounded, in the Prisoners’ Law and the regulations issued by the Council of Ministers and the Palestine Liberation Organizations.”
WAFA noted that, regarding Abbas’ decree, “powers of all protection and social welfare programs in Palestine have been transferred to the Palestinian Economic Empowerment Foundation.” The Times of Israel reported that it had independently confirmed through sources that the revocation happened.
The pay for slay policy gained public attention when Taylor Force, a West Point graduate who served in Afghanistan and Iraq was savagely knifed to death by a Palestinian terrorist on March 8, 2016, while on a tour of Israel. President Donald Trump signed the Taylor Force Act into law in October 2018, after a vigorous campaign by Force’s parents, Robbi and Stuart Force.
“Abbas’ announcement seems to be a ruse aimed at pulling the wool over President Trump’s eyes,” Asher Fredman, a former Israeli government official who now is the executive director of the Misgav Institute for National Security, told Fox News Digital.
Flags are placed above the poster of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Nablus, Sept. 30, 2015.(AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
‘PAY FOR SLAY’: PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY MAY HAVE TO COMPENSATE FAMILIES OF HAMAS TERRORISTS, REPORT SAYS
“It appears that the terrorists and families of terrorists who received payments under the PA’s ‘pay for slay’ program will continue to receive the same payments, simply via a ‘foundation’ under the control of Abbas, rather than via a ministry under the control of Abbas.”
Fredman added, “It remains to be seen whether Abbas truly ends the pay for slay payments, as well as the virulent terror incitement and antisemitism in PA media, schools and summer camps.”
He said the PA announced that the payments to convicted terrorists are moving from the Ministry of Social Development to an independent Palestinian National Economic Empowerment Foundation. The head of the foundation’s board is the minister of social development. The foundation’s general director is also apparently an employee of the Ministry of Social Development, according to her LinkedIn profile. The linkage suggests that the foundation is closely tied to the PA.
Buses carrying Palestinian prisoners released from an Israeli prison as part of a ceasefire agreement are greeted in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025.(AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, told Fox News Digital, “We will rejoice when the PA stops financially rewarding Palestinian terrorists for murdering and injuring Israelis. Abbas’ statement makes no such commitment. Mr. Abbas, you either support and abet terrorism or oppose and help end it.”
The Times of Israel reported that PA officials informed the incoming Trump administration about its plan to pull the plug on the “pay to slay” program.
The thinking behind the PA’s decision is to curry favor with the Trump administration and avoid the strained relations that existed during the first Trump presidency. After Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital city in 2017, Abbas boycotted the Trump administration.
The Times of Israel wrote that Monday’s “decree is Ramallah’s latest effort to improve ties with Washington and amounts to a major victory for Trump, who managed to secure a concession from the PA that repeated U.S. administrations had worked to bring about.”
A security prisoner with his hands tied at a prison in Giv’at Ze’ev, Aug 28, 2024.(Gideon Markowicz/TPS-IL)
The PA is based in Ramallah in the West Bank (known in Israel as the biblical region of Judea and Samaria).
Fox News Digital reported after a late 2023 deal involving the exchange of Palestinian terrorists imprisoned in Israel for the release of Israeli civilians held by Hamas in Gaza that the freed terrorists would receive monthly payments ranging from approximately $535 to $668 for Jerusalem residents.
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Jason Brodsky, the policy director of United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), summed up a recent trend of foreign leaders caving to the Trump administration. “I think it speaks to the Trump effect. Foreign leaders fear crossing the president because he knows how to engage in coercive diplomacy, and it produces outcomes which advance U.S. interests like this. Iran and other countries are watching very carefully how the president pressures other governments, and this will shape their decision-making. Thus far, Tehran has been more risk-averse since President Trump has been in office,” he told Fox News Digital.
Fox News Digital questions to the Palestinian Authority were not answered.
MDB Capital president and chief marketing strategist Lou Basenese joins ‘Cavuto: Coast to Coast’ to discuss Disney’s recent turnaround.
The Walt Disney Company appears to be scaling back its DEI initiatives according to its latest SEC filing – and activist investors are pushing the entertainment conglomerate to go even further.
Disney dropped its “Reimagine Tomorrow” program from their Diversity, Equity and Inclusion section of its 2024 SEC 10-K report. The program was mentioned in the 2023 report, which defines the program as “the Company’s digital destination for amplifying underrepresented voices and features some of Disney’s DE&I commitments and actions.” The program hosted a controversial 2022 leaked “all-hands” meeting in which a Disney executive touting her “not at all secret gay agenda.”
“On my little pocket of Proud Family Disney TVA, the showrunners were super welcoming… our leadership over there has been super welcoming to my not-at-all-secret gay agenda… they’re going hard… I don’t have to be afraid to have these two characters kiss in the background. I was just, wherever I could, adding queerness,” executive producer Latoya Raveneau said at the time.
DISNEY EXPOSED: LEAKED VIDEOS SHOW OFFICIALS PUSHING LGBT AGENDA, SAYING DESANTIS WANTS TO ‘ERASE’ GAY KIDS
Disney appears to be backing away from woke policies (Fox News Digital / Fox News)
Disney’s “Reimagine Tomorrow” webpage, which is still active, says its mission is “amplifying underrepresented voices and untold stories as well as championing the importance of accurate representation in media and entertainment.”
The page also lists racial and gender breakdowns of their content and workforce as of 2021 and boasts of their Business Employee Research Groups which represent employees from different ethnic backgrounds.
“The Walt Disney Company Has Established Business Employee Resource Groups Across 10 Dimensions: Asian/ Native Hawaiian/ Pacific Islander, Black/ African American Disabilities Hispanic/ Latin X Jewish, LGBTQ+, Multicultural, Native American/ Indigenous Veterans/ Military, Women,” the website boasts.
“Disney dropping [Reimagine Tomorrow] from their DEI section could mean they’re walking back their DEI investments, or it could signal they’re hiding them,” Stefan Padfield, director of the Free Enterprise Project for the National Center for Public Policy Research, told Fox News Digital. “Either they recognize that more litigation is coming, or it could be part of a vibe shift.”
Target was recently hit with a lawsuit related to its DEI initiatives as shareholders contend the retailer failed to be transparent about the risks posed by their DEI policies and Pride displays.
“Where is your data that shows DEI serves the bottom line?” Padfield asked of companies that still employ DEI measures.
“The concern about the scrutiny about these questions is built into this movement we’re seeing across companies. The Trump administration announced they’ll investigate nine companies for their DEI practices, and you’re seeing corporations scramble to not be among those nine,” he said.
By scaling back its DEI section in its SEC filing, Disney joins a growing trend of companies from Meta to John Deere that have rolled back or eliminated their DEI initiatives.
The movie, cruise and theme park behemoth has also dropped its “The Disney Look” appearance guidelines from their DEI section in their 2024 SEC filing. The 2023 SEC filing states that the guidelines were “updated to cultivate a more inclusive environment that encourages and celebrates authentic expressions of belonging among employees.”
Disney didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
DISNEY ACCUSED OF MISLEADING SHAREHOLDERS WITH ‘WOKE POLITICAL AGENDA’
Disney has removed its “Reimagine Tomorrow” section from its recent SEC filing. (Gary Hershorn/Getty Images / Getty Images)
The moves come as Disney reportedly lost 700,000 users on its Disney+ streaming platform in the final quarter of 2024. The entertainment conglomerate has faced backlash for, what some call, its “woke political agenda.” The corporation was sued by America First Legal in March 2024 for allegedly doing “damage to Disney’s brand, properties, and commercial reputation by management’s manufactured misalignment between its woke political and social agenda and the vast majority of the Company’s customers.”
Disney’s move to distance itself from the woke initiative comes as activist investors are pressuring the company to drop its participation in the Human Rights Campaign’s (HRC) Corporate Equality Index.
The HRC releases a yearly survey which grades corporations on their compliance with a litany of LGBTQ initiatives, among them “Equal health coverage for transgender individuals without exclusion for medically necessary care” and “Integration of gender identity and sexual orientation in professional development, skills-based or other leadership training that includes elements of diversity and/or cultural competency.” Disney has had a perfect score on the Equality Index every year since 2007.
‘CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD’ STAR SAYS THE CHARACTER SHOULD NOT REPRESENT AMERICA
LGBTQ employees and their supporters walkout of Disney Animation protesting CEO Bob Chapek’s handling of legislation in Florida in 2022. ((Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) / Getty Images)
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Padfield is attempting to get Disney to drop its participation in the survey. Padfield contends that HRC increases its requirements to achieve a perfect score on each successive evaluation, new indexes are released annually, and meeting these requirements could force companies to pursue policies that are bad for business.
“There’s a number of items in the index that in order to get the perfect score really start pushing corporations out on a radical edge,” Padfield told Fox News Digital. “It’s essentially built to work like ratchet… a lot of people’s perceptions is that these companies are just moved further and further left in terms of this radicalism.”
Boeing on Saturday warned employees involved in its Space Launch System moon rocket program that it expected to lay off around 400 people.
The news comes amid delays and rising costs for NASA’s Artemis program, which was established during President Trump’s first term, and aims to send astronauts back to the moon.
Its budget is expected to be around $93 billion through the end of the year.
It also comes as the new Trump administration has started to lay off government employees from some institutions, although it’s not clear whether the Elon Musk-run Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) plans to make cuts to NASA.
ONE YEAR AFTER BOEING’S DOOR PLUG CRISIS, MORE WORK IS NEEDED: FAA
Musk’s SpaceX is NASA’s main carrier of astronauts to the International Space Station, and the company has several major contracts with the government.
The U.S. last sent astronauts to the moon during the last Apollo mission, Apollo 17, in 1972.
“To align with revisions to the Artemis program and cost expectations, we informed our Space Launch Systems team of the potential for approximately 400 fewer positions by April 2025,” Boeing told FOX Business in a statement.
NASA ANNOUNCES DELAYS IN ARTEMIS PROGRAM, PUSHING MOON LANDING TO 2026
Boeing said that employees affected by involuntary layoffs would be given 60-day notices in the coming weeks, “in accordance with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act.”
The company added that it was trying to minimize job losses by moving employees across the company to minimize job losses and “retain our talented teammates.”
After NASA successfully launched the Artemis I in 2022, the Artemis II mission was delayed from 2024 to September.
Astronauts plan to orbit the moon on the Artemis II mission, and on Artemis III, they will walk on the moon. That mission was also delayed from 2025 until September 2026.
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Artemis I was an uncrewed mission that orbited the moon.
FOX Business has reached out to NASA for comment.
FOX Business’ Michael Dorgan and Reuters contributed to this report.
Former Trump EPA Chief of Staff Mandy Gunasekara examines how the Trump administration is pushing back on former President Biden’s environmental justice agenda on ‘The Bottom Line.’
The Federal Highway Administration pumped the brakes on a program to dole out funds to states for electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
The move regarding the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program comes less than a month into President Donald Trump’s second term in office.
In a letter to state Department of Transportation directors dated Feb. 6., Emily Biondi, associate administrator for the Office of Planning, Environment and Realty, discussed the move.
LOS ANGELES FIRE CLEANUP COMPLICATED BY ‘UNPRECEDENTED’ NUMBER OF EVS WITH COMBUSTIBLE LITHIUM-ION BATTERIES
The Federal Highway Administration is pumping the brakes on a program to dole out funds to states for electric vehicle charging infrastructure. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images | Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)
“The new leadership of the Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) has decided to review the policies underlying the implementation of the NEVI Formula Program. Accordingly, the current NEVI Formula Program Guidance dated June 11, 2024, and all prior versions of this guidance are rescinded,” Biondi noted.
“As result of the rescission of the NEVI Formula Program Guidance, FHWA is also immediately suspending the approval of all State Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Deployment plans for all fiscal years. Therefore, effective immediately, no new obligations may occur under the NEVI Formula Program until the updated final NEVI Formula Program Guidance is issued and new State plans are submitted and approved,” the letter indicated.
AUTOMAKERS THAT PUSHED BACK EV GOALS AND PLANS IN 2024
Then-President-elect Donald Trump and then-President Joe Biden attend Trump’s inauguration in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on Jan. 20, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Saul Loeb – Pool/Getty Images)
The $5 billion program was included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which then-President Joe Biden signed in 2021.
“Instructions for the submission of new State plans for all fiscal years will be included in the updated final NEVI Formula Program Guidance. Since FHWA is suspending the existing State plans, States will be held harmless for not implementing their existing plans. Until new guidance is issued, reimbursement of existing obligations will be allowed in order to not disrupt current financial commitments,” Biondi’s letter notes.
ELECTRIC VEHICLES ARE ‘DIRECT WEALTH TRANSFER’ FROM OWNERS OF GAS-POWERED VEHICLES TO EV OWNERS, EXPERTS SAY
Boyden Gray PLLC partner Michael Buschbacher discusses concerns of an electric vehicle mandate on ‘The Bottom Line.’
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Fox News Digital reached out to request comment from the Federal Highway Administration on Friday.
The now-archived website for the virtually shut down United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has a page devoted to pushing DEI which a former employee whistleblower told Fox News Digital was part of a larger Biden administration effort.
“Each of us has a responsibility to address bigotry, gender discrimination, and structural racism and uphold individual dignity… This isn’t just one of our values; it’s our mission—one hand extended out to another to meet people where they are and treat others as equals,” former USAID administrator Samantha Power, who previously served multiple roles in the Obama administration, is quoted as saying on the archived websites DEI page.
The website explains that the USAID was “committed to a diverse, equitable, inclusive workplace where everyone has an opportunity to thrive” and that it has implemented a DEI strategy that “commits USAID to improving and enhancing diversity throughout the Agency, enhancing inclusion and equity for everyone in the workplace, and strengthening accountability for promoting and sustaining a diverse workforce and an inclusive Agency culture.”
Mark Moyar, a USAID whistleblower who worked in the department from 2018 to 2019, spoke to Fox News Digital about how Power and others in the department made DEI a top priority.
AFTER DOGE CRACKDOWN ON USAID, TRUMP’S HOUSE ALLIES WANT THIS CABINET AGENCY ON CHOPPING BLOCK
USAID found itself on the chopping block in recent weeks due to the DOGE effort to cut government waste(Getty Images)
“Samantha Power’s emphasis on DEI was part of a larger Biden administration effort to infuse DEI into every federal agency and we saw this with very negative effects all over the place and you have people taking time off from their jobs to attend these indoctrination sessions and clearly pushing the message that people are divided into oppressor groups and victim groups andthat there’s this white rage and white extremism running all over the place, which is basically not non existent,” Moyar explained.
Moyar told Fox News Digital that “far left theories” were given “legitimacy” in the wake of the George Floyd movement in 2020 and that when DEI became a “central” focus at USAID it resulted in other countries taking the United States less seriously.
USAID STAFFERS STUNNED, ANGERED BY TRUMP ADMIN’S DOGE SHUTDOWN OF $40B AGENCY
Samantha Power, administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, delivers a speech during a visit to El Salvador at the Central American University in San Salvador, El Salvador June 14, 2021. (REUTERS/Jose Cabezas)
“It’s particularly disturbing that not only were theypushing within the organization, they were actually funding DEI events all over the world, you know, DEI comic books or DEI workshops and so I think this can only undermine our imageabroad because most people outside of this country recognizedDEI for the silliness that it is and the divisiveness that it causes,” Moyar, author of the book “Masters of Corruption: How the Federal Bureaucracy Sabotaged the Trump Presidency”, said.
“We also saw this as well with women’s empowerment that everything for Samantha Power had to be viewed througha genderedlens. So you had all these gender consultants as well as DEI consultants taking huge amounts of taxpayer money to do this sort of analysis. And I don’t think they really have anything to show for it and I think you’ll find what we found in other places where this has been pushed, that DEI only makes things worse. It divides people and group tensions between groups are worse than they were before.”
President Donald Trump speaks before signing an executive order barring transgender female athletes from competing in women’s or girls’ sporting events, in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
USAID found itself on the chopping block in recent weeks as part of President Trump’s plan to rid the federal government of waste along with his campaign pledges to rid DEI from the federal bureaucracy.
“For decades, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has been unaccountable to taxpayers as it funnels massive sums of money to the ridiculous — and, in many cases, malicious — pet projects of entrenched bureaucrats, with next-to-no oversight,” the White House said Monday.
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Musk has meanwhile slammed the agency as a “viper’s nest of radical-left marxists who hate America,” and reported in an audio-only message on X on Sunday that “we’re in the process” of “shutting down USAID” and that Trump reportedly agreed to shutter the agency.
Democrats have slammed the Trump administration’s efforts on USAID. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., accused Trump of starting a dictatorship while she protested outside USAID headquarters on Monday.
“It is a really, really sad day in America. We are witnessing a constitutional crisis,” Omar said. “We talked about Trump wanting to be a dictator on day one. And here we are. This is what the beginning of dictatorship looks like when you gut the Constitution, and you install yourself as the sole power. That is how dictators are made.”
Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report
Andrew Mark Miller is a reporter at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to [email protected].
RNC youth advisory council Co-Chair CJ Pearson reacts to President Donald Trump’s crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion on ‘The Evening Edit.’
Major consulting firm PwC is hosting a conference this summer that offers “high-performing” college students the opportunity to check out the company’s career offerings, but the firm excludes White and Asian applicants based on their race as part of its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) program.
PwC’s Career Preview is a three-day seminar to be held in June that allows potential future hires to rub elbows with the accounting giant’s employees, and the company will pay for the travel expenses and accommodations at the event in Orlando, Florida.
The logo of PricewaterhouseCoopers International in front of the company’s Munich headquarters Aug. 29, 2024. (Matthias Balk/picture alliance via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The application form states that to be eligible for the program, an applicant must be a student on track to achieve a bachelor’s degree within a certain timeframe and someone who “self-identifies as a member of (a) traditionally underrepresented group in the professional services industry (Black or Latino/Hispanic).”
MCDONALD’S DIVERSITY SCHOLARSHIP NOW OPEN TO NON-LATINOS AFTER ANTI-DEI LAWSUIT
The Daily Wire, which first flagged the race-based criteria, noted that the Career Preview application requires applicants to affirm whether they identify as Black or Hispanic, with a mandatory question. No other races are mentioned.
PwC’s Career Preview Experience encourages Black and Latino students to apply, leaving out other races. (FOX Business / FOXBusiness)
The outlet pointed to another PwC program for college students, the company’s Start Experience, which is for career development and leadership. The company encourages any array of racial backgrounds to apply but leaves out Caucasian people and East Asians.
TRUMP LEADS A PUSHBACK AGAINST DEI, BUT THESE COMPANIES ARE NOT BACKING DOWN
“As part of the firm’s commitment to equal employment opportunity, we encourage students who identify as Black or African American, Hispanic or Latinx, American Indian or Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, or two or more races, protected veterans, individuals with disabilities, and/or first generation college students to apply,” the eligibility requirement begins.
Vice President JD Vance sets the record straight on President Donald Trump’s approach to DEI and more during an appearance on ‘Sunday Morning Futures.’
PwC did not immediately respond to FOX Business’ request for comment on its programs favoring certain races over others. In a statement on its website, PwC says its inclusion strategy is “grounded in data and accountability, supports measurable progress and helps create an environment where everyone feels valued and empowered.”
Race-based programs became commonplace at corporations during the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) movement that surged in 2020 amid the Black Lives Matter protests, but the initiatives have fallen under increased scrutiny amid questions over their legality, given that many discriminate on the basis of race.
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A string of major U.S. companies, including Walmart, McDonald’s, Amazon, Ford and Lowe’s, have rolled back DEI initiatives in the past year in response to a cultural shift that included customer backlash, pressure from conservative-leaning groups and activists and possible legal ramifications.
President Donald Trump made promises during his campaign to scale back federal DEI programs. In his first week back in office, Trump signed an executive order ending DEI offices and initiatives across the federal workforce.
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FIRST ON FOX: A covert agency within Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL) tasked with the development of Iran’s nuclear program has been found to be operating out of top sites used by Iran’s space program.
Iran has hidden elements of its nuclear development program under the guise of commercial enterprises, and it has been suspected of using its space program to develop technologies that could be applied to its nuclear weapons program.
Fox News Digital has learned that according to information obtained by sources embedded in the Iranian regime, evidence collected over several months shows that Iran’s chief nuclear development agency, the Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research (SPDN), has been operating out two locations previously recognized as space development and launch sites.
A big banner depicting Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is placed next to a ballistic missile in Baharestan Square in Tehran, Iran, on September 26, 2024 on the sideline of an exhibition which marks the 44th anniversary of the start of Iran-Iraq war. (Photo by Hossein Beris / Middle East Images / Middle East Images via AFP) (Photo by HOSSEIN BERIS/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)
IRAN HIDING MISSILE, DRONE PROGRAMS UNDER GUISE OF COMMERCIAL FRONT TO EVADE SANCTIONS
“These reports, compiled from dozens of sources and thoroughly validated, indicate that in recent months, SPND has intensified its efforts to construct nuclear warheads at both the Shahrud and Semnan sites,” the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) said in a report exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital.
The information was obtained by individuals affiliated with the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (MEK) and given to the NCRI, an Iranian opposition organization based out of D.C. and Paris. The NCRI’s deputy director of its Washington D.C. office, Alireza Jafarzadeh, was the first to disclose to the world information about Iran’s covert nuclear program in 2002.
One of the sites, the Shahroud Space Center, which has been suspected of being used by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to develop intermediate-range ballistic missiles, is also now reported to have “large-scale” SPND personnel operating out of it – a move Jafarzadeh described as a “significant red flag.”
The Shahroud Space Center caught global attention in 2022 when Iran announced it had developed the Ghaem-100 rocket – which could be used to send low-orbit satellites into space, but also as a ballistic missile with a range of nearly 1,400 miles, greater that what was previously achieved with the Qased rocket.
But according to sources familiar with activity at the Shahroud Space Center “SPND’s experts are working on a nuclear warhead for the Ghaem100 solid-fuel missile with a range of more than 3,000 kilometers [more than 1,800 miles] and a mobile launch pad.”
TEHRAN, IRAN – MAY 07: Iran’s medium-range ballistic missile called Hayber (Hurremshahr-4) is seen after the launch during the promotional program organized with the participation of high-ranking military officials in Tehran, Iran on May 07, 2023. The liquid-fueled ballistic missile Hayber, with a range of 2 thousand kilometers, can carry 1500 kilograms of warheads. (Iranian Defense Ministry / Hanodut/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
IRAN EXPANDS WEAPONIZATION CAPABILITIES CRITICAL FOR EMPLOYING NUCLEAR BOMB
The site is under high security and personnel are apparently prohibited from driving onto the complex. Instead, they are required to park at a checkpoint at the entrance to the site, before being transported inside the complex by the IRGC.
“The Ghaem-100 missile, with a mobile launchpad that enhances its military capability, was produced by the IRGC Aerospace Force and copied from North Korean missiles,” the NCRI report said. “The production of the Ghaem missile was designed from the very beginning to carry a nuclear warhead. The IRGC Brigadier General Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam, the father of the IRGC’s missile program, personally pursued the project.”
It is unclear what level of nuclear payload the Ghaem-100 missile would be capable of carrying at the range of 1,800 miles, though this is still shy of the roughly 3,400 miles needed to be classified as an intercontinental missile.
The second site, located in the northern city of Semnan, the Imam Khomeini Spaceport – Iran’s first spaceport – made international headlines just last month when Tehran launched its heaviest-ever rocket into space carrying a payload of roughly 660 pounds, relying on a liquid propellant.
According to the NCRI report, Iran is using this technology to develop liquid-fuel propellants – like the Simorgh rocket with a range of more than 1,800 miles (used for launching heavier satellites into space – but with the capability of carrying nuclear warheads.
This photo released by the official website of the Iranian Defense Ministry on Friday, Dec. 6, 2024, shows the launching of Simorgh, or “Phoenix,” rocket at Iran’s Imam Khomeini Spaceport in rural Semnan province, Iran.(Iranian Defense Ministry via AP)
IRAN LAUNCHES ROCKET WITH HEAVIEST-EVER PAYLOAD INTO SPACE AMID HEIGHTENED CONCERN OVER NUCLEAR PROGRAM
Liquid fuel enables a missile to have greater propulsive thrust, power and control. Though it is heavier than solid fuel and requires more complex technologies.
“Creating a Space Command of the IRGC’s Aerospace Force has served to camouflage the development of nuclear warheads under the guise of launching satellites while additionally giving the regime independent communications necessary for guiding the nuclear warheads,” Jafarzadeh told Fox News Digital.
The International Atomic Energy Agency earlier this month warned that Iran has developed some 440 pounds of near-weapons grade uranium that has been enriched to the 60% purity threshold – shy of the 90% purity levels needed to develop a nuclear bomb.
Though only some 92 pounds of weapons-grade uranium is reportedly required to create one nuclear bomb, meaning Iran, if it further enriched its uranium, could possess enough material to develop five nuclear bombs.
The Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) has analyzed where Iran’s nuclear infrastructure is located as Israel mulls retaliatory attack. 01/31/2025(Image provided by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) )
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But Jafarzadeh warned that the international community needs to be paying attention to Iran’s activities beyond enriching uranium.
“It is naïve to only focus on calculating the amount or purity of enriched uranium without concentrating on the construction of the nuclear bomb or its delivery system,” he said. “All are integral components of giving Iran’s mullahs an atomic bomb.”
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The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website is no longer accepting forms needed to sponsor migrants as part of the Biden administration’s defunct parole program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans (CHNV).
The 2023 program, which allowed certain migrants to apply for U.S. entry and stay for up to two years, was shut down on President Donald Trump’s first day in office.
As of August 2024, nearly 530,000 people were granted parole through the program, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
A group of over 100 migrants attempting to enter the US illegally rush a border wall Thursday, March 21, 2024. In the process the migrants knock down Texas National Guardsmen before they are halted by the border wall.(James Breeden for New York Post / Mega)
Requirements included having a U.S.-based supporter, passing security vetting, and meeting other criteria.
The “Online Request to be a Supporter and Declaration of Financial Support” form, an avenue to meet one of the main requirements, was bumped from the website, as of Wednesday night.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently removed expedited removal restrictions and allowed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to review migrants’ parole status – which may include changing it.
After President Donald Trump ended of one of the Biden administration’s migrant programs, the website disabled a key form.
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A memo obtained by Fox News Digital noted parole is a “positive exercise of enforcement discretion to which no alien is entitled” and that it should “not be regarded as an admission of the alien,” according to previous reporting.
While the Biden administration claimed the program would expand legal pathways to citizenship and decrease illegal border crossings, Republicans contended it was an abuse of limited parole power.
An exterior view of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency headquarters is seen July 6, 2018, in Washington, DC. U.S. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
Prior to Trump’s reelection, the program was temporarily paused amid fraud claims.
An internal review was ordered, leading to the DHS adding enhanced vetting measures for U.S.-based supporters in August 2024.
ICE and CBP officials have been tasked with compiling a list of instructions, policies and procedures related to parole, reviewing them, and creating a plan to phase out any that are not in accord with the statute.
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Fox News Digital’s Adam Shaw contributed to this story.
The Department of Justice is rescinding job offers for the Attorney General’s Honors Program amid President Donald Trump’s federal hiring freeze, according to a new report.
The Attorney General’s Honors Program, established in 1953, hires graduating law students or recent law school graduates from top law schools such as Harvard, Duke, Georgetown, Stanford and the University of Virginia.
But the Department of Justice notified those who had been selected for the program, which serves as a pipeline to recruit top legal talent into the public sector, that their offers were being revoked, several people familiar with the decision told the Washington Post.
CAREER JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OFFICIALS REASSIGNED TO DIFFERENT POSITIONS: REPORTS
A sign at the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.(Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
The Department’s Office of Attorney Recruitment and Management distributed an email to those affected via email on Wednesday.
“Pursuant to the hiring freeze announced Jan. 20, 2025, your job offer has been revoked,” said the email,” according to an email the Post obtained.
Those familiar with the program said it may take on more than 100 lawyers annually, with recent hires assigned to the antitrust, national security, criminal and other divisions.
They told the Post that the program is critical in recruiting new top talent to the Justice Department in order to replace outgoing legal talent. The two-year program places young attorneys on a career path to stay at the Department once the program concludes.
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The seal of the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.(Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)
The Post reports that it is uncertain whether the program will resume once federal hiring starts again.
The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Trump signed a series of executive orders on Inauguration Day this week, including those initiating the federal hiring freeze as well as withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement, and directing every department and agency to address the cost-of-living crisis.
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U.S. President Donald Trump sings a second executive order during the inaugural celebration inside Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., on the first day of his second term, January 20, 2025. (REUTERS/Carlos Barria)
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“As part of this freeze, no Federal civilian position that is vacant at noon on January 20, 2025, may be filled, and no new position may be created except as otherwise provided for in this memorandum or other applicable law,” a White House memo said. “Except as provided below, this freeze applies to all executive departments and agencies regardless of their sources of operational and programmatic funding.”
Those exempt from the hiring freeze include military personnel and other federal jobs pertaining to immigration, national security or public safety.
Diana Stancy is a politics reporter with Fox News Digital covering the White House.
