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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reuters and Fox News’ Diana Stancy contributed to this article

February 7, 2025
FBI agents’ association ‘optimistic’ about AG Bondi despite early controversy with Trump administration

FIRST ON FOX: The head of the FBI Agents Association (FBIAA) is cautiously optimistic that newly minted U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi will steady the ship at the Department of Justice (DOJ) after turbulent weeks since President Donald Trump took office.

FBIAA president and CEO Nicole Campa told Fox News Digital in an interview this week that she is eager to see if Bondi will make good on her pledge to end political weaponization at the FBI and the Justice Department.

This new leadership could reduce some of the heat agents have felt in recent weeks, she said, citing firings and forced departures of some personnel – as well as a questionnaire requiring agents to detail their roles in the Jan. 6 investigation.

Campa pointed specifically to Bondi’s vows to not go after Trump opponents or chase down any so-called “enemies lists,” two promises Bondi cited repeatedly last month during her confirmation hearing.

BONDI SWORN IN AS ATTORNEY GENERAL WITH MISSION TO END ‘WEAPONIZATION’ OF JUSTICE DEPARTMENT

Pam Bondi, President Donald Trump’s attorney general nominee, listens during her Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing on Wednesday, Jan 15, 2025. (Jabin Botsford/Washington Post/ Getty)

“I’m optimistic about her statements moving forward, in that she has stated that people would not be targeted for simply doing their job,” Campa said. “So I think we are optimistic in moving forward.”

Even so, she added, “there are still real concerns about compiling lists when looking at this stuff and being able to potentially release agents’ names.”

FBIAA, a voluntary professional association, represents more than 14,000 active and retired FBI special agents. The agency joined nine anonymous FBI employees earlier this week in suing the Justice Department to block access to records of agents involved in the Jan. 6 investigation, citing fears of internal punishment or retaliation, as well as threats to the agents or the agents’ families should their names be made public.

The judge in the case, U.S. Judge Jia Cobb, is expected to rule on their request for emergency injunctive relief early Friday afternoon.

DEMS DELAY PATEL COMMITTEE VOTE, DERIDE TRUMP FBI PICK AS DANGER TO US SECURITY

The FBI’s interactions with the Council for American-Islamic Relations was restricted due to allegations from the DOJ. (Getty Images)

The interview comes as rank-and-file DOJ and FBI employees have been roiled by recent firings at DOJ, forced resignations or retirements of FBI personnel and a detailed questionnaire sent to thousands of FBI agents asking them to detail their involvement in the Jan. 6 investigations.

Justice Department acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove attempted to assuage FBI agents’ fears. He stressed in a recent email that the effort was simply to obtain and review what role agents played in the Jan. 6 investigation, and was not intended to be a precursor to a mass expulsion of employees.

The lawsuit filed this week emphasized their intent to ensure their identities were not released to the public and that they were not retaliated against for doing their jobs.

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

Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, a former Trump attorney, directed the FBI acting director to fire seven specific employees by Monday. (Angela Weiss – Pool/Getty Images)

Campa underscored these deep-running concerns to Fox News, noting that FBI employees and the agent association “didn’t have much clarification on what that list was going to be utilized for, besides a broad statement of just personnel actions,” when the DOJ issued its request.

“So it raised a lot of concern within the bureau – mainly because we have seen over the past few weeks the associate U.S. attorneys on the investigation be terminated, and then our seventh floor leadership be presented with ultimatums to either retire or be terminated.”

Other former department officials cited similar concerns in recent days, expressing fear that any mass purge of employees could compromise decades of agency experience across the bureau’s more than 52 field offices, who have deep knowledge of complex issue areas ranging from counterterrorism and violent crime to drug trafficking, cartel activity and more.

“It takes a really long time to get an agent hired and through the process,” Campa told Fox News Digital, citing the lengthy background check and clearance process, as well as training at Quantico, Virginia.

“We can’t just pick somebody up off the street tomorrow and make them an FBI agent,” she said. “So when we lose FBI agents – whether it be through retirement or some sort of ‘mass purge,’ to use a term that’s been thrown around in the media, it will take years and years and years, if not decades, to replace that experience.”

“That’s scary for everyone at the bureau because we need to be able to have those people standing next to us to be able to get this work done.”

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Campa said the “best case scenario” is that the identities of the FBI agents are kept private and that the installation of permanent leadership at DOJ and FBI will resolve the controversy as DOJ commits to a process for looking at the Jan. 6 investigations.

“I don’t know of an FBI agent who doesn’t stand by their work, so we welcome a review of the work,” she said. “But we are just concerned that it will be done in a thorough and fair manner.”

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

February 7, 2025
‘Stunning and brave’: Dem senator mocked after hyping all-nighter stunt in protest of Trump nominee

Dem. Sen. Chris Murphy was ripped on social media on Thursday morning over a post where he explained how he stayed up most of the night drinking Red Bull because democracy is “on the line” if Democrats do not stop Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) efforts.

“After taking the 2-5am shift on the Senate floor last night for our overnight protest, got 2 hours of crappy sleep on my office couch and right back at it today,” Murphy posted on X. “We don’t rest. Keep going. Democracy on the line.”

Murphy, whose post was accompanied by a photo of a Red Bull energy drink and video explaining his cause, was on the Senate floor late Wednesday night attempting to block the confirmation of Office of Management and Budget nominee Russ Vought until the “crisis” of Musk’s DOGE crackdown “passes.”

Murphy’s post on social media was widely mocked by conservatives who questioned Murphy’s motives on the Senate floor.

FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERS LIMITED DOGE ACCESS TO SENSITIVE TREASURY DEPARTMENT PAYMENT SYSTEM RECORDS

Sen. Chris Murphy, left, was mocked on social media over an X post describing his late night in the Senate. (Getty)

“So brave,” Fox News contributor Lisa Boothe sarcastically posted on X.

“Area man has to work overnight one time,” New York Post reporter Jon Levine posted on X.

“Stunning and brave,” the Trump White House rapid response account posted on X.

MEET THE YOUNG TEAM OF SOFTWARE ENGINEERS SLASHING GOVERNMENT WASTE AT DOGE: REPORT

U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) speaks during a press conference following the Democrats’ weekly policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 21, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

“Imagine bragging about doing something that basically every college student has done at some point,” conservative journalist John Hasson posted on X.

“Men used to go to war and now they cry about working overnight and post their little sugar free red bulls like they’re battle scars,” conservative commentator Ashley St. Clair posted on X.

“These clowns are BEYOND pathetic,” video journalist Nick Sortor posted on X. “This is so embarrassing.”

“The purest form of love can be found in the relationship between Chris Murphy and a camera,” former Trump campaign senior adviser Tim Murtaugh posted on X.

SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk speaks during an America PAC town hall on Oct. 26, 2024 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. ( Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

“Overwhelmed at your level of Heroism for ‘democracy’ while your constituents in CT have $1300 electric bills,” radio host Tony Bruno posted on X. “You’re a worthless clown!”

Despite efforts from Murphy and his fellow Democrats, Vought was confirmed as the new White House budget chief late Thursday night.

In an Instagram live post, Murphy explained to his followers that he was not playing the hero.

“I’m not trying to plead hardship here, right?” Murphy said. “All I did was stay up late.”

Murphy added, “So yeah, the USAID workers, the domestic violence workers, the teachers, those are my heroes. But you guys are my heroes too. Because I get paid to do this job, I asked. I raised my hand. I said, ‘make me a United States Senator, I want to defend democracy.’ So I volunteered for this job. I get a paycheck. But the people that are showing up at these protests, the people that are going to show up at these protests, you got other stuff going on in your life. You don’t have to stand up and fight for democracy, but you are because you think the moment is important, and you are despite the fact that they are doing things to try to make you stay home, try to make you afraid of speaking up.”

President Donald Trump’s nominee for Office of Management and Budget director, Russell Vought, testifies during the Senate Banking Committee nomination hearing in the Dirksen Senate Building on Jan. 22, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)

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Murphy’s Senate speech amid the Trump administration’s targeting of USAID after Musk’s DOGE efforts have resulted in the agency being effectively shut down over what the administration argues is wasteful spending.

“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.

Andrew Mark Miller is a reporter at Fox News. Find him on Twitter @andymarkmiller and email tips to [email protected].

February 7, 2025
Trump admin appeals ruling blocking birthright citizenship order

The Trump Justice Department appealed a Thursday order blocking the president’s birthright citizenship order, hours after the ruling was issued.

The Justice Department filed its appeal to the Ninth Circuit on Thursday evening. The move came shortly after U.S. District Judge John Coughenour extended a temporary restraining order he had previously issued. Coughenour notably scolded the Trump administration in the Washington courtroom, accusing the administration of ignoring the rule of law for political and personal gain.

“It has become ever more apparent that, to our president, the rule of law is but an impediment to his policy goals. The rule of law is, according to him, something to navigate around or simply ignore, whether that be for political or personal gain,” Coughenour said while announcing his ruling.

FEDERAL JUDGE BLOCKS TRUMP BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP ORDER: ‘UNEQUIVOCAL CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT’

The appeal will now go up to the Ninth Circuit, which covers Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and Guam. The Court of Appeals notably issues more progressive rulings with a higher reversal rate than other circuit courts.

The Washington ruling came only a day after a Maryland federal judge also blocked Trump’s executive order.

President Donald Trump issued the executive order, titled, “Protecting The Meaning And Value Of American Citizenship,” on Inauguration Day. (Getty)

U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman, a former President Joe Biden appointee, noted the Washington ruling that had previously paused Trump’s order from going into effect.

Boardman said citizenship is a “national concern that demands a uniform policy,” continuing on to say that no court has yet sided with the administration on the matter.

TRUMP ADMIN HITS BACK AS ACLU LAUNCHES LAWSUIT ON BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP: ‘READY TO FACE THEM’

“Citizenship is a most precious right, expressly granted by the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution,” she wrote in her ruling.

Trump issued the executive order, titled, “Protecting The Meaning And Value Of American Citizenship,” on Inauguration Day. The order seeks to end birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants and was one of several orders he signed that day to overhaul U.S. immigration policy and border security.

The executive order seeks to end birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants and was one of several orders President Donald Trump signed to overhaul U.S. immigration policy and border security. (Getty Images)

Supporters and opponents of the order disagree over the meaning of the 14th Amendment, which states, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”

The primary disagreement is over the clause, “subject to the jurisdiction thereof.”

TRUMP’S HOUSE GOP ALLIES PUSH BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP BILL AFTER PROGRESSIVE FURY AT PRESIDENTIAL ORDER

Some legal experts argue that such a move is a constitutional change and cannot be made via executive order. Trump advisers and other conservative legal scholars have previously argued that the idea of giving birthright citizenship to children of illegal immigrants is based on a misreading of the amendment.

The bill was introduced by Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham (SC), Katie Britt (AL), and Ted Cruz (TX), left. (Getty Images)

Senate Republicans recently introduced a bill that would reform U.S. law to end birthright citizenship in light of the executive order. The bill, titled, the “Birthright Citizenship Act of 2025,” would end the practice of automatically conferring citizenship status on people born in the U.S. of parents who are either illegal immigrants or who are in the country legally on a temporary basis.

The bill was introduced by Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Katie Britt of Alabama, and Ted Cruz of Texas.

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The bill’s sponsors said in a statement that the measure would address what they called “one of the biggest magnets for illegal immigration,” which they believe poses a weakness to national security.

Fox News Digital’s Louis Casiano, Adam Shaw and Peter Pinedo contributed to this report.

Haley Chi-Sing is a Writer for Fox News Digital. You can reach her at @haleychising on X.

February 7, 2025
NFL great Brett Favre praises Trump for taking action to protect women’s sports

Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre praised President Donald Trump on Thursday after he signed an executive order this week effectively banning transgender athletes from competing in girls’ and women’s sports.

Trump signed the “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” order on Wednesday, which will require entities that receive federal funding to align with Title IX, which the Trump administration changed last week to recognize protections on the basis of biological sex – undoing former President Joe Biden’s 2024 rewrite.

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

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“I appreciate President @realDonaldTrump signing an initiative to keep biological boys from competing against females,” Favre said in a post on X of the executive order. “It’s sad that this had to happen in this day and age, but glad it was done.”

Favre also thanked Gaines, who hosts OutKick’s “Gaines for Girls” podcast, for “being part of this initiative to help push this forward.”

Former Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre takes the stage during a campaign rally for then-Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2024, at the Resch Center in Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin. (Tork Mason/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin)

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Surrounded by female athletes, Trump declared at the signing ceremony that “the war on women’s sports is over.”

In response to the executive order, NCAA President Charlie Baker said the Board of Governors would review it and take steps to align the organization’s policy in the coming days.

“The NCAA is an organization made up of 1,100 colleges and universities in all 50 states that collectively enroll more than 530,000 student-athletes,” the statement read.

BRETT FAVRE SPEAKS OUT ON BILL TO KEEP TRANS ATHLETES OUT OF WOMEN’S SPORTS: ‘CLEAR BIOLOGICAL DIFFERENCE’

“We strongly believe that clear, consistent and uniform eligibility standards would best serve today’s student-athletes instead of a patchwork of conflicting state laws and court decisions. To that end, President Trump’s order provides a clear, national standard.”

NCAA President Charlie Baker gives a television interview during the game between the UCLA Bruins and the South Carolina Gamecocks in the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament at Bon Secours Wellness Arena on March 25, 2023 in Greenville, South Carolina. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Trump has also turned his attention to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) ahead of the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.

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The pressure comes amid an impending leadership change at the IOC. Current President Thomas Bach is due to retire and the top candidate to replace him, Sebastian Coe, has spoken publicly about his position to protect women’s sports.

Fox News’ Ryan Gaydos and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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February 7, 2025
Trump admin hits brakes on $5B electric vehicle charging station program

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.

February 7, 2025
Iran’s supreme leader says nuclear talks with Trump admin would not be ‘wise’

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told air force officers in Teheran on Friday that nuclear talks with the U.S. “are not intelligent, wise or honorable.”

Khamenei added that “there should be no negotiations with such a government,” but did not issue an order to not engage with the U.S., according to The Associated Press.

Khamenei’s remarks on Friday seem to contradict his previous indications that he was open to negotiating with the U.S. over Iran’s nuclear program. In August, Khamenei seemed to open the door to nuclear talks with the U.S., telling his country’s civilian government that there was “no harm” in engaging with its “enemy,” the AP reported.

IRAN’S FOREIGN MINISTER RESPONDS TO TRUMP ‘MAXIMUM PRESSURE’ CAMPAIGN AMID REGIME PANIC

President Donald Trump floated the idea of a “verified nuclear peace agreement” with Teheran in a post on his Truth Social platform. In the same post, he also slammed “greatly exaggerated” reports claiming that the U.S. and Israel were going to “blow Iran into smithereens.”

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, left, and President Donald Trump. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/File Photo)

“I would much prefer a Verified Nuclear Peace Agreement, which will let Iran peacefully grow and prosper. We should start working on it immediately, and have a big Middle East Celebration when it is signed and completed,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

In 2018, during his first term, Trump exited the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), also known as the Iran Nuclear Deal, saying that it was not strong enough to restrain Iran’s nuclear development. At the time, President Trump argued that the deal, which was made during former President Barack Obama’s second term, was “one of the worst and most one-sided transactions the United States has ever entered into.”

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei alongside a look inside a Uranium plant. (Getty Images)

Just days before his call for a “verified nuclear peace agreement” with Iran, Trump signed an executive order urging the government to put pressure on the Islamic republic. He also told reporters that if Iran were to assassinate him, they would be “obliterated,” as per his alleged instructions.

According to the AP, on Friday, Khamenei slammed the U.S. because, in his eyes, “the Americans did not hold up their end of the deal.” Furthermore, Iran’s supreme leader referenced Trump’s withdrawal from the JCPOA, saying that he “tore up the agreement.”

“We negotiated, we gave concessions, we compromised— but we did not achieve the results we aimed for.”

Iran has insisted for years that its nuclear program was aimed at civilian and peaceful purposes, not weapons. However, it has enriched its uranium to up to 60% purity, which is around 90% the level that would be considered weapons grade.

An Iranian military truck carries surface-to-air missiles past a portrait of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a parade on the occasion of the country’s annual army day on April 18, 2018, in Tehran, Iran. (ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)

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

International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi told Reuters in December 2024 that it was “regrettable” that there was no “diplomatic process ongoing which could lead to a de-escalation, or a more stable equation.”

In addition to his remarks on Iran, President Trump made global headlines with his proposal that the US take over Gaza as the Israel-Hamas war rages on. Khamenei, according to the AP, also seemed to reference the president’s remarks on Gaza without mentioning them outright.

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“The Americans sit, redrawing the map of the world — but only on paper, as it has no basis in reality,” Khamenei told air force officers, according to the AP. “They make statements about us, express opinions and issue threats. If they threaten us, we will threaten them in return. If they act on their threats, we will act on ours. If they violate the security of our nation, we will, without a doubt, respond in kind.”

Rachel Wolf is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital and FOX Business.

February 7, 2025
California plans to continue allowing trans athletes to compete in girls’ sports despite Trump executive order

The State of California and its public school athletics association has indicated it will not fall in line with President Donald Trump’s latest executive order to keep trans athletes out of girls’ and women’s sports.

The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) said it will continue to follow the state’s law that allows athletes to participate as whichever gender they identify as, according to The San Francisco Chronicle.

California Family Council Outreach Director Sophia Lorey told Fox News Digital that her state’s intent to defy Trump’s executive order has made her feel “disgusted.”

“I am disgusted that CIF is disregarding yesterday’s executive order and instead doubling down on policies that are not only unfair, but dangerous for young women across California. By prioritizing their idol of transgender ideology over the safety and rights of female athletes, they are knowingly exposing high school girls to unsafe competition and stripping them of opportunities guaranteed for them under Title IX,” Lorey told Fox News Digital.

“One day, the CIF board will look back and realize they chose to be on the wrong side of history. They will have to answer for why they sacrificed the safety, fairness, and dignity of young girls to bow to an ideological agenda. But the rest of us will not stand by while female athletes are illegally prevented from competing fairly in their own sports.”

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President Donald Trump signs the No Men in Women’s Sports Executive Order into law in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 5, 2025. (ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP)

The NCAA announced Thursday that it has amended its policy on gender eligibility so that biological males are no longer allowed to compete in the women’s category in response to Trump’s order.

However, at the youth and high school level, girls may still be at the mercy of state law.

In California, a law called AB 1266 has been in effect since 2014, giving California students at scholastic and collegiate levels the right to “participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, and use facilities consistent with his or her gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil’s records.”

California Code of Regulations section 4910(k) defines gender as, “A person’s actual sex or perceived sex and includes a person’s perceived identity, appearance or behavior, whether or not that identity, appearance, or behavior is different from that traditionally associated with a person’s sex at birth.”

CIF Bylaw 300.D. mirrors the Education Code, stating, “All students should have the opportunity to participate in CIF activities in a manner that is consistent with their gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on a student’s records.”

These laws and the subsequent enabling of trans athletes to compete with girls and women in the state has resulted in multiple controversies over the issue over the last year alone.

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Martin Luther King High School in Riverside, California, is currently embroiled in one of the most contentious local controversies on the issue.

A recent school board meeting by the Riverside Unified School District on Dec. 19 featured a parade of parents berating the board for allowing a trans athlete on the Martin Luther King girls’ cross-country team. A lawsuit filed by two girls on the team alleges that their T-shirts in protest of that player were compared to swastikas simply because they said “Save Girls Sports.”

The father of a girl who lost her varsity spot to the trans athlete previously told Fox News Digital that his daughter and other girls at the school were told “transgenders have more rights than cisgender[s]” by school administrators when they protested the athlete’s participation.

Stone Ridge Christian High School’s girls’ volleyball team was scheduled to face San Francisco Waldorf in the Northern California Division 6 tournament but forfeited in an announcement just before the match over the presence of a trans athlete on the team.

A transgender volleyball player was booed and harassed at an Oct. 12 match between Notre Dame Belmont in Belmont, California, against Half Moon Bay High School, according to ABC 7. Half Moon Bay rostered the transgender athlete.

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California State Assembly member Kate Sanchez announced on Jan. 7 that she is introducing a bill to ban trans athletes from competing in girls’ and women’s sports.

Sanchez will propose the Protect Girls’ Sports Act to the state legislature. Currently, 25 states have similar laws in effect.

“Young women who have spent years training and sacrificing to compete at the highest level are now forced to compete against individuals with undeniable biological advantages. It’s not just unfair – it’s disheartening and dangerous,” Sanchez said in a statement announcing the bill.

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Jackson Thompson is a sports writer for Fox News Digital. He previously worked for ESPN and Business Insider. Jackson has covered the Super Bowl and NBA Finals, and has interviewed iconic figures Usain Bolt, Rob Gronkowski, Jerry Rice, Troy Aikman, Mike Trout, David Ortiz and Roger Clemens.

February 7, 2025
America First Legal files briefs in support of Trump executive order ending birthright citizenship

America First Legal filed two amicus briefs this week in support of President Donald Trump’s executive order ending birthright citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants.

The firm filed the briefs on behalf of House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and 17 other committee members.

Despite there being nearly two dozen Democrat-run states and civil rights groups suing to stop the order and two federal judges ruling to temporarily block it, America First is arguing that there is a clear constitutional basis for denying citizenship to illegal migrants who have broken the country’s immigration laws.

‘BLATANTLY UNCONSTITUTIONAL’: US JUDGE TEMPORARILY BLOCKS TRUMP’S BAN ON BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP

President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Trump’s order titled “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship” states that “the privilege of United States citizenship does not automatically extend to persons born in the United States” when that person’s parents are either unlawfully present in the U.S. or when the parents’ presence is lawful but temporary.

The briefs — which were filed in the federal courts for the Western District of Washington and the District of Massachusetts — argue that based on the “text and history” of the 14th Amendment, the Constitution does not confer citizenship on the children of unlawfully present aliens. The briefs claim that citizenship in the U.S. is a political right, not an automatic entitlement.

The 14th Amendment was passed in 1868 and was designed to extend citizenship to African-American former slaves. The amendment states that “all persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”

Dan Epstein, vice president of America First Legal, told Fox News Digital that the phrase “subject to the jurisdiction thereof” means that citizens must owe their political allegiance to the U.S., not some foreign power or culture. He said that Trump’s order would restore the constitutional principle that only those who are subject to the jurisdiction of the U.S. — that is loyal, law-abiding Americans — are citizens.

NUMEROUS US STATES SUE TRUMP OVER BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP EXECUTIVE ORDER AS SUPREME COURT COULD MAKE FINAL DECISION

President Donald Trump’s executive order is an effort to end birthright citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci | Christian Torres/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“This executive order is constitutional and legally valid,” said Epstein. “The Constitution makes clear that it is not the ‘natural born citizen clause.’ It is a ‘natural born and subject to the jurisdiction thereof clause.’ And we can’t just scratch out ‘subject to the jurisdiction thereof.’ ‘Jurisdiction thereof’ means something; it means you are a loyal subject to American jurisdiction and if you’re a disloyal subject — which is clearly someone whose parents entered here illegally — it means you don’t believe in the law.”

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“Congress has not specifically authorized that any individual born to illegal aliens on U.S. soil is by definition a citizen. That’s nowhere in the statute,” he explained. “If Congress decided to pass a law and the courts said it was constitutional, and it said that, in fact, if you’re born on American soil, you’re a citizen, well, then, we’re bound by that law and the Supreme Courts and the federal courts affirming that. But that’s just not the law.”

Epstein said that the U.S. policy of extending citizenship to anyone born on U.S. soil, including those born to illegal immigrants, breaks with American tradition and disrupts the rule of law.

REPUBLICAN STATE AGS BACK TRUMP BIRTHRIGHT CITIZENSHIP ORDER IN COURT FILING: ‘TAXPAYERS ARE ON THE HOOK’

Dan Epstein, vice president of America First Legal, said that the U.S. policy of extending citizenship to anyone born on U.S. soil, including those born to illegal immigrants, breaks with American tradition and disrupts the rule of law. (U.S. Border Patrol)

“There’s a lot that hangs in the balance here,” he explained. “If we have an interpretation of the 14th Amendment that says that anyone born here is like African-Americans who have a history of slavery or of terrible things, then we actually dilute that American tradition of enfranchising the rights of the descendants of former slaves and that is not what the 14th Amendment was designed to do.”

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Despite Trump’s executive order being currently blocked, Epstein said that he is optimistic that the Supreme Court will eventually rule in Trump’s favor.

“My expectation is that this is a no-brainer. The law is clear, ‘subject to the jurisdiction thereof’ has to mean something,” he said. “And whether you’re looking at the legislative history of that phrase or you’re looking at how it’s been applied — even in [U.S. vs.] Wong Kim Ark, the kind of preeminent case on this — makes clear that jurisdiction means allegiance. So, it’s not a very hard question. It’s a very clear question. And the law has a very clear answer.”

Peter Pinedo is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.

February 7, 2025
Fired Federal Election Commission leader rants on social media after removal by Trump

President Donald Trump fired the U.S. Federal Election Commission Commissioner and Chair Ellen Weintraub, sending her a letter regarding her “removal.”

Trump took office Jan. 20, and since then has taken on a massive government makeover, sidelining and firing hundreds of top agency officials and civil servants as he attempts to install more loyalists and downsize the bureaucracy.

Weintraub, like many others, was in Trump’s crosshairs, but she did not appear to be standing down.

“Received a letter from POTUS today purporting to remove me as Commissioner & Chair of [the FEC],” Weintraub wrote Thursday in a post on X. “There’s a legal way to replace FEC commissioners — this isn’t it. I’ve been lucky to serve the American people & stir up some good trouble along the way. That’s not changing anytime soon.”

HOUSE GOP DEMANDS FEC PROBE ‘POTENTIALLY ILLEGAL’ ACTBLUE FUNDRAISING AS DEM PLATFORM HAULS HARRIS MILLIONS

U.S. Federal Election Commission Commissioner Ellen Weintraub Jan. 14, 2020, in Washington, D.C. (Federal Election Commission/Handout via Reuters, File)

Along with her post, Weintraub posted a copy of the letter from the White House.

“Dear Commissioner Weintraub,” the letter states. “You are hereby removed as a Member of the Federal Election Commission, effective immediately. Thank you for your service on the Commission.”

The letter was dated Jan. 31, 2025, and signed by Trump.

FEC CHAIR: TRUMP IS ‘DAMAGING TO OUR DEMOCRACY’ WITH ‘BASELESS’ VOTER FRAUD ALLEGATIONS

Weintraub took aim at President Trump in 2019, when she said his “baseless” claims about voter fraud were “damaging to our democracy.”

She criticized the president during an appearance on CNN and claimed he was spreading information for which he had no proof.

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“I think it is damaging to our democracy,” Weintraub told host John Berman, “to spread information like that if there is no proof.”

Weintraub insisted there was no evidence of rampant voter fraud in 2016, responding to Trump’s repeated claims to the contrary.

Fox News Digital’s Joshua Nelson contributed to this report.

Greg Wehner is a breaking news reporter for Fox News Digital.

Story tips and ideas can be sent to [email protected] and on Twitter @GregWehner.

February 7, 2025