Happy New Year 2025

Tag: Trump

With Trump in White House, Democrats increasingly say their party must moderate

After the Democratic Party’s well-publicized setbacks in November’s elections, a new national poll indicates Democrats increasingly want their party to moderate by moving toward the center.

And the survey, from Gallup, also suggests an increasing percentage of Republicans support the GOP staying the same ideologically.

A plurality of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents — 45% — who were questioned in the survey said they want their party to become more moderate.

That’s up 11 percentage points since 2021, at the start of former President Biden’s single term in the White House.

DEMOCRATS FORCED TO DEFEND ANOTHER OPEN SENATE SEAT IN 2026 MIDTERM ELECTIONS

Newly elected Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin speaks after winning the vote at the DNC Winter Meeting at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Md., Feb. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

“At the same time, Democrats’ and leaners’ desire for a more liberal party has declined five points, to 29%, and preferences for no change in party ideology have fallen nine points, to 22%,” the release from Gallup noted.

The poll was conducted Jan. 21-27 in the immediate aftermath of President Donald Trump’s inauguration and at the start of his second tour of duty in the White House.

WHAT AMERICANS THINK ABOUT TRUMP’S FIRST THREE WEEKS IN OFFICE

Trump recaptured the presidency in November, and Republicans won back the Senate majority while the Democrats failed to win back control of the House of Representatives from the GOP. Republicans made significant gains among Black and Hispanic voters, as well as younger voters, all traditional members of the Democratic Party’s base.

President Donald Trump with first lady Melania Trump at an election night victory celebration in West Palm Beach, Fla., Nov. 6, 2024. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Gallup notes that the Democrats’ “current sentiment may very well be a reaction to their losses in 2024, as they look ahead to 2026.”

The Gallup poll indicates that support among Republicans and GOP-leaning independents for the party to stay ideologically the same jumped nine points, from 34% in 2021 to 43% now.

Meanwhile, those desiring a more conservative party plunged 12 points, to 28%.

“The 27% of Republicans and leaners who now prefer moderation for their party is not significantly different from 2021,” the poll’s release noted.

But the poll indicates that two-thirds of Republicans and Republican-leaning voters self-identify as conservative, with 31% seeing themselves as moderate and just 2% calling themselves liberal.

Since his first election to the presidency in 2016, Trump has held immense sway over Republicans and has transformed the GOP from a conservative-dominated party to a more populist party of loyalists who strongly support Trump’s “America First” agenda.

The United Center is packed on the first night of the Democratic National Convention as President Biden addresses the crowd Aug. 19, 2024, in Chicago. (Fox News/Paul Steinhauser)

The release of the Gallup poll comes a couple of weeks after another national survey spelled trouble for the Democrats.

Only 31% of respondents in a Quinnipiac University survey conducted last month had a favorable opinion of the Democratic Party, with 57% seeing the party in an unfavorable light.

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“This is the highest percentage of voters having an unfavorable opinion of the Democratic Party since the Quinnipiac University Poll began asking this question,” the survey’s release noted.

Meanwhile, 43% of those questioned had a favorable view of the GOP, with 45% holding an unfavorable opinion, which was the highest favorable opinion for the Republican Party ever in Quinnipiac polling.

Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter based in New Hampshire.

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
Trump performs jiu-jitsu flip on judge’s order, sends Guantanamo rejects back to Venezuela

The Trump administration sent three illegal immigrants back to their home country of Venezuela in response to a judge’s decision blocking them from being sent to Guantánamo Bay as part of a continued crack-down on illegal immigration.

U.S. District Judge Kenneth J. Gonzales of New Mexico issued a memo Friday announcing the court had vacated a March 3 status conference for three Venezuelan migrants just five days after it blocked the Trump administration’s efforts to transfer the migrants to Guantánamo Bay.

Since then, Gonzales said, respondents had filed a Notice of Removal “informing the court that all three petitioners were removed to Venezuela, their home country, on Feb. 10, 2025.”

SKYROCKETING HEALTHCARE BUDGET FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS HAUNTS BLUE STATE TAXPAYERS

The control is seen through the razor wire inside the Camp VI detention facility in Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

The Trump administration has vowed to deport millions of the more than 11 million people estimated to be living in the U.S. illegally, including deporting some illegal immigrants to the U.S. Naval Base in Guantánamo Bay.

Trump has claimed the individuals deported to Guantánamo are “highly dangerous criminal aliens.”

But that notion has been sharply disputed by some immigration advocates.

Lawyers for the Venezuelan immigrants argued in a court filing last week that their clients “fit the profile” of individuals that they allege the Trump administration “has prioritized for detention in Guantánamo,” “i.e. Venezuelan men detained in the El Paso area with (false) charges of connections with the Tren de Aragua gang.”

ICE ARRESTS HOMELESS ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT WHO ASKED TO BE DETAINED OR ELSE HE WOULD ‘GO OUT AND COMMIT CRIMES’

ICE agents are seen arresting 32 illegal aliens in a Palm Beach County, Fla., enforcement action. (ICE)

Judge Gonzales ultimately granted migrants’ request for a temporary restraining order blocking their transfer to Guantánamo, ordering the parties back to court on March 3 for a status conference.

In response, the administration appears to have taken the matter into its own hands.

The motion to vacate did not expand upon the situation at hand, noting only that, “[b]ecause Petitioners have now been removed to their home country, it is no longer necessary to hold a status conference” on the previously scheduled date.

“Nor is it necessary for parties to update the Court by February 24, 2025,” Judge Gonzales said. “Thus, the status conference is hereby vacated.”

CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE

The deportation comes less than a month after President Donald Trump signed into law the Laken Riley Act, a bipartisan law that gives authorities broad power to deport illegal immigrants accused of crimes.

Since Trump’s inauguration, White House officials said that the administration has arrested thousands of people in immigration enforcement actions.

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 14, 2025
Judge issues restraining order after Trump blocks federal funds for youth sex change operations

A judge in Washington state has issued a temporary restraining order over President Trump’s executive order that withholds federal funding to health care providers who prescribe youth puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones or who perform surgeries for gender dysphoria.

Judge Lauren King, in the Western Washington District Court, issued the order on Friday.

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President Trump signing an executive order. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

It comes after a federal judge in Maryland issued a similar temporary retraining order this week.

February 14, 2025
Trump executive order to block funds for schools with COVID vaccine mandates

President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order Friday barring schools who still have coronavirus vaccine mandates from receiving federal funds.

The order, according to a report from Breitbart confirmed by the White House, prohibits “federal funds from being used to support or subsidize an educational service agency, state education agency, local education agency, elementary school, secondary school, or institution of higher education that requires students to have received a COVID-19 vaccination to attend in-person education programs.”

It also tasks Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy and the Secretary of Education to establish guidelines for compliance and to “provide a plan to end coercive COVID-19 vaccine mandates.”

That includes coming up with a system to block federal funding to “educational entities” that have coronavirus vaccine mandates.

NO LONGER TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF: TRUMP SIGNS ORDER PRIORITIZING ‘UNIFIED’ US FOREIGN POLICY FRONT

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters in the Oval Office of the White House, where he signed an executive order, on Thursday, Feb. 13. (AP/Ben Curtis)

TRUMP ISSUES EXECUTIVE ORDERS ON RECIPROCAL TARIFFS

An executive order Trump signed in late January called a vaccine mandate for U.S. service members “unfair, overbroad, and [a] completely unnecessary burden.”

That order called to “make reinstatement available to all members of the military (active and reserve) who were discharged solely for refusal to receive the COVID-19 vaccine and who request to be reinstated.”

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The order said in August 2021, the Secretary of Defense “mandated that all service members receive the COVID-19 vaccine.” That mandate was rescinded in January 2023.

Trump also signed an executive order in January that removes federal funding from K-12 schools that teach critical race theory.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Greg Norman is a reporter at Fox News Digital.

February 14, 2025
Top Trump official teases 2026 bid for California governor if Harris jumps in race

One of President Donald Trump’s top aides is floating a potential bid for California governor if former Vice President Kamala Harris also runs.

Richard Grenell, a longtime Trump loyalist who is serving as U.S. envoy for special missions in the president’s second administration, ended a gaggle with reporters at the Munich Security Conference in Germany on Friday by teasing, “I’ll make a little news.”

Grenell then pointed to the 2026 race to succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom of California.

“If Kamala Harris runs for governor, I believe that she has such baggage and hundreds of millions of dollars in educating the voters of how terrible she is, that it’s a new day in California and that the Republican actually has a shot,” Grenell said.

SOURCES TELL FOX NEWS THIS TRUMP SUPPORTING CALIFORNIA SHERIFF WILL RUN FOR GOVERNOR

Former Acting Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell speaks on stage on the third day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum on July 17, 2024, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

There has been plenty of speculation since Harris’ defeat last November, regarding her next political move, with the two potential options likely being launching a 2026 gubernatorial run in her home state of California or seeking the presidency again in 2028.

Harris served as San Francisco district attorney and California attorney general and U.S. senator before becoming vice president.

MAJOR CALIFORNIA DEMOCRAT PREEDICTS FORMER VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS WOULD CLEAR GUBERNATORIAL FIELD

Sources in the former vice president’s political orbit say no decisions have been made about any next steps.

The Democrats’ field for governor in the heavily blue-leaning state is already crowded.

Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, at the PNC Music Pavilion in Charlotte, North Carolina. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Among the more than a half-dozen candidates already running for governor are Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, a Harris ally, and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

Former Rep. Katie Porter, who unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic Senate nomination last year, has expressed interest in launching a campaign.

Former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, who served in Congress and as California attorney general before joining the Biden administration, is also seen as a potential contender.

But pundits predict that Harris could clear the Democrats’ field if she decides to launch a gubernatorial campaign.

It’s been nearly two decades since a Republican won statewide office in California. You have to go all the way back to former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 2006 re-election victory.

Grenell considered a run for California governor during the 2021 recall election that Newsom eventually ended up easily winning, but he ultimately decided against launching a campaign.

FILE – Then-former President Donald Trump speaks next to Richard Grenell during a presidential election campaign event at a farm in Smithton, Pa., on Sept. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

Grenell served as ambassador to Germany and as acting director of national intelligence during Trump’s first term.

In his role as U.S. envoy for special missions in Trump’s second administration, he took part in a mission to Venezuela that led to the release of six hostages.

Grenell also joined the president in Los Angeles last month to survey the horrific wildfire damage in the area. Grenell, who along with Trump blasted state and local Democratic leaders for their performance handling the wildfire crisis, returned to Los Angeles last week as he accompanied EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin on a recovery tour.

Grenell isn’t the only California Republican considering or moving toward a gubernatorial campaign in 2026 in the race to succeed Newsom.

Sheriff Chad Bianco of Riverside County speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol on May 15, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)

Fox News confirmed earlier this week that Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco is planning to announce his candidacy at a scheduled event Monday in Riverside, California.

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And former Fox News Channel host and conservative commentator Steve Hilton is considering a Republican run for California governor.

In California, unlike most other states, the top two finishers in a primary, regardless of party affiliation, advance to the general election.

Fox News’ Kaitlin Sprague contributed to this report.

Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter based in New Hampshire.

February 14, 2025
Murkowski, Sullivan, buck Trump, push to rename Mount McKinley, Denali

Following President Donald Trump’s move to change the name of the tallest mountain in North America to Mount McKinley, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, has once again introduced a measure to designate the mountain as Denali.

Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, is the original cosponsor.

“In Alaska, it’s Denali,” Murkowski, said, according to a press release.

TRUMP TO RENAME GULF OF MEXICO, MOUNT DENALI ON FIRST DAY IN OFFICE

Left: President Donald Trump arrives to speak with schoolteacher Marc Fogel, who had been detained in Russia, not pictured, in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025; Right: Sen. Lisa Murkowski speaks during the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense in Washington D.C., on May 11, 2023. (Left: Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Right: Celal Gunes/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

“Once you see it in person, and take in the majesty of its size and breathe in its cold air, you can understand why the Koyukon Athabascans referred to it as ‘The Great One.’ This isn’t a political issue – Alaskans from every walk of life have long been advocating for this mountain to be recognized by its true name. That’s why today I once again introduced legislation that would officially keep this mountain’s quintessential name, ‘Denali.’”

Trump issued an executive order on his first day in office to change the name of the mountain from Denali back to Mount McKinley, in honor of President William McKinley, who was assassinated in 1901.

“In 1917, the country officially honored President McKinley through the naming of North America’s highest peak. Yet after nearly a century, President Obama’s administration, in 2015, stripped the McKinley name from federal nomenclature, an affront to President McKinley’s life, his achievements, and his sacrifice,” the executive order declares.

MURKOWSKI AND CASSIDY ANNOUNCE THEY’LL VOTE TO CONFIRM TULSI GABBARD TO TRUMP CABINET POST

The Alaska Range with Mount McKinley and Wonder Lake with Tundra swans (Cygnus columbianus) in the fall, Denali National Park, Alaska (Arterra/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Trump’s order directed the Interior secretary to “reinstate the name ‘Mount McKinley.’”

“The Secretary shall subsequently update the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) to reflect the renaming and reinstatement of Mount McKinley. The national park area surrounding Mount McKinley shall retain the name Denali National Park and Preserve,” the order states.

The same order also directed the Interior secretary to rename the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America.

GOOGLE MAPS, FAA OFFICIALLY ACKNOWLEDGES GULF OF AMERICA AFTER TRUMP DECLARATION: ‘ISN’T IT BEAUTIFUL?’

The controversy over the name of the continent’s tallest peak has persisted over the years, and Murkowski has been engaged in the debate for more than a decade.

She previously pushed measures regarding the mountain’s name several times in the past, including one in 2015 for which Sullivan was the original cosponsor.

Interior Sec. Sally Jewell issued an order to change the name from Mount McKinley to Denali in 2015 during President Barack Obama’s White House tenure.

“President Obama wants to change the name of Mt. McKinley to Denali after more than 100 years. Great insult to Ohio. I will change back!” Trump declared in an August 2015 tweet.

He asked about potentially changing the name while meeting with Murkowski and Sullivan, but the senators expressed their opposition, Sullivan, whose wife is Athabascan, recounted in 2017, according to adn.com.

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If “you change that name back now, she’s going to be really, really mad,” the senator said he told Trump, according to the report. “So he’s like, ‘all right, we won’t do that,’” Sullivan recalled.

Murkowski is one of the GOP senators who voted to convict Trump after the House impeached him in 2021 following the U.S. Capitol riot — but notably, the Senate vote, which was held after Trump had already departed from office, failed to clear the threshold necessary for conviction.

Alex Nitzberg is a writer for Fox News Digital.

February 14, 2025
Jon Taffer schools Democrat leader after blaming Trump for rising prices

‘Bar Rescue’ host Jon Taffer joins the ‘Big Money Show’ panel as they discuss the impact of inflation on multiple industries, Sen. Chuck Schumer’s comments and the ‘Make America Healthy Again’ movement as RFK Jr. is confirmed as the HHS Secretary.

The pressure is mounting on President Donald Trump to deliver on his promise of lower prices, but some business leaders argue that stability is just as critical as affordability.

“Donald Trump has not kept his promise that on Day One, prices will start going down,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said on Capitol Hill.

“Prices went up 3%. The price of groceries went up. The price of buying a car went up.”

While rising costs have fueled frustration, entrepreneur and “Bar Rescue” host Jon Taffer warns that unpredictable price swings can be just as damaging as high costs.

TRUMP SIGNS ‘RECIPROCAL’ TARIFF PLAN FOR COUNTRIES THAT TAX US GOODS

“We can’t survive when the prices are going up and down,” Taffer said on “The Big Money Show” Thursday. “You can’t run a business that way because you can’t boomerang your customers in that fashion.”

Taffer argues that businesses can adapt to higher costs, as long as those costs are stable.

“If stability is at [the] current level, so be it. We can build our business models around [the] current level. What we can’t build a business model around is a lack of stability. That’s what’s killing us all,” he stressed.

FOX Business’ Lydia Hu reports on the surge in the egg prices and the limited supply due to a bird flu outbreak.

FIXING AMERICA’S CHICKEN AND EGG CRISIS

The cost of everyday essentials like eggs, coffee, vegetables, and milk has soared in recent months, putting additional strain on restaurants and small businesses.

“Restaurants can’t spend more than 33% of their revenues on food costs,” Taffer explained. “That means it’s a $3 price increase for every $1 cost increase. So, if my burger goes up $3 in price, to me, I have to charge you $9 more for that burger. That creates a resistance at the customer level.”

Rising labor, insurance and energy costs have also made it increasingly difficult for businesses to keep prices reasonable. In response, President Trump has laid out a multistep plan to lower costs, including tax cuts, reduced government spending, and increased oil production to bring down energy prices.

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Taffer acknowledges the importance of lowering costs but stresses that any changes must be sustainable.

“Sustainability and predictability I think is the most important things that Trump needs to bring to the marketplace,” he said.

For businesses, the bottom line isn’t just about lower prices, it’s about knowing what to expect, Taffer concluded.

Carlo’s Bakery owner Buddy Valastro opens up about the soaring price of eggs on ‘The Claman Countdown.’

February 14, 2025
Illegal immigrant arrests skyrocket under Trump ICE compared to Biden levels last year: ‘Worst of the worst’

EXCLUSIVE: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrests of illegal immigrants have soared under the Trump administration compared to the same period last year under the Biden administration, with some metrics doubling or even tripling.

According to Department of Homeland Security data, obtained by Fox News Digital, there were 11,791 interior ICE arrests from Jan 20 to Feb 8., compared to 4,969 during the same period in 2024. That’s a 137% increase.

Arrests of aliens with criminal histories have soared by nearly 100% from 4,526 in the same period in 2024 to 8,993 under Trump this year.

Arrests of fugitive aliens at-large, meanwhile, have gone up from 2,164 to 5,538 — a 156% increase. Arrests of criminal aliens in local jails have gone up 59%.

TRUMP’S ICE LIMITS ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT RELEASES AMID MOVES TO SHAKE OFF BIDEN ‘HANGOVER’

ICE and DEA migrant raids NYC (Drug Enforcement Administration New York)

Arrests of suspected gang members, including those belonging to the bloodthirsty Tren de Aragua, went from 210 in that period in 2024 to 430 under Trump, a 105% increase.

The data is the latest sign that the Trump administration’s flat-out push to ramp up arrests and deportations of illegal immigrants, including by loosening the cuffs on ICE agents imposed by the prior administration, is having a significant impact.

The administration has said it is trying to target the “worst of the worst,” focusing on criminal illegal immigrants and gang members, but has also stressed that it is not ruling anyone out of contention.

ICE has been conducting operations throughout the country, including “sanctuary” cities that do not cooperate with federal enforcement. Fox reported last week that the administration is using federal prisons to house illegal immigrants as it looks to provide additional bedspace.

TRUMP DOJ SLAPS ILLINOIS, CHICAGO WITH LAWSUIT OVER SANCTUARY LAWS

The administration is using Guantánamo Bay to house up to 30,000 detainees, with multiple flights leaving last week. Meanwhile, the DOJ has announced legal action against New York and Chicago over sanctuary laws in place there.

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Those moves came after a slew of moves in the first days of the administration. President Donald Trump signed orders declaring a national emergency at the border, restarting border wall construction and terminating Biden-era parole policies. The Department of Homeland Security has since removed limits on “sensitive places” placed upon agents by the Biden administration, and has ended Temporary Protected Status for some Venezuelan nationals.

“We have thousands of beds in detention facilities that are open today,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said on “Fox News Sunday. “We’ll continue to do ops in the different communities to get these dangerous criminals off of our streets and to get them home.”

Thomas Homan speaks at the National Conservative Conference in Washington D.C., Monday, July 8, 2024. (DOMINIC GWINN/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

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Other numbers have suggested policies are having an impact on the border as well. Fox News reported this week that the daily average number of known gotaways — illegal migrants who successfully entered the U.S. without apprehension — at the southern border since the beginning of February has plummeted to just 132 per day, down 93% from the highest numbers when former President Joe Biden was in office.

Fox News’ Bill Melugin contributed to this report.

Adam Shaw is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital, primarily covering immigration and border security.

He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter.

February 14, 2025
Trump wants Russia-Ukraine negotiations but US has ‘range’ of options says Vance

Former Marine talks ending the war in Ukraine

U.S. Marine veteran Chad Robichaux joins ‘Fox News @ Night’ to discuss efforts to restore peace in Ukraine and Tulsi Gabbard’s confirmation as director of national intelligence.

Vice President JD Vance on Thursday said President Donald Trump wanted productive negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, but noted that the U.S. had a “range of options” if President Vladimir Putin didn’t come to the negotiating table on a deal that would guarantee peace for Ukraine.

In speaking with The Wall Street Journal, which was the first to report on Vance’s comments, the vice president said President Trump was willing to employ a broad range of options to negotiate a peace deal.

“If you look at President Trump’s approach to this, the range of options is extremely broad, and there are economic tools of leverage,” Vance told The Journal. “There are, of course, military tools of leverage. There’s a whole host of things that we could do. But fundamentally, I think the President wants to have a productive negotiation, both with Putin and with Zelenskyy.”

He added: “I think there is a deal that is going to come out of this that’s going to shock a lot of people.”

‘NO REASON’ FOR NEW NUKES: TRUMP FLOATS DISARMAMENT TALKS WITH CHINA, RUSSIA

U.S. Vice President JD Vance visits Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site in Dachau, Germany February 13, 2025. (REUTERS/Leah Millis)

Vance’s comments came a day before the vice president is expected to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Munich. The discussions will be closely watched by European leaders to gauge where President Trump stands on negotiating an end to the Russia-Ukraine war, which is nearing three years.

President Trump had what he described as a “lengthy” phone call with Putin on Wednesday, which included the Russian leader agreeing to “immediately” begin negotiations over the war in Ukraine.

RUSSIA CLAIMS TRUMP, PUTIN TALK BROUGHT WORLD FROM ‘BRINK OF APOCALYPSE,’ EU WARNS OF ‘DIRTY TRICKS’

Writing on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump said the two leaders “agreed to work together, very closely.”

“We have also agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately, and we will begin by calling President Zelenskyy, of Ukraine, to inform him of the conversation, something which I will be doing right now. I have asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of the CIA John Ratcliffe, National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, and Ambassador and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, to lead the negotiations which, I feel strongly, will be successful.”

President Donald Trump (center), Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy (left) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (right). (Alessandro Bremec/NurPhoto via Getty Images | Contributor/Getty Images | Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are scheduled to lead the U.S. delegation to the Munich Security Conference where the future of Ukraine will be the top item on the agenda.

Trump has been vague about his specific intentions — other than suggesting that a deal will likely result in Ukraine being forced to cede territory that Russia has seized since it annexed Crimea in 2014.

RUSSIA LAUNCHES FRESH DRONE ATTACK AGAINST UKRAINE SHORTLY AFTER TRUMP-PUTIN PHONE CALL

“The Ukraine war has to end,” Trump told reporters Thursday. “Young people are being killed at levels that nobody’s seen since World War II. And it’s a ridiculous war.”

Both Trump and U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth dashed Ukraine’s hopes this week of becoming part of NATO, which the alliance said less than a year ago was “irreversible,” or getting back its territory captured by Russia, which currently occupies close to 20%, including Crimea.

United States Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, left, walks with Britain’s Defense Secretary John Healey prior to a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of a NATO defense ministers meeting at NATO headquarters in Brussels, on Wednesday, Feb. 12. (Johanna Geron/Pool Photo via AP)

“I don’t see any way that a country in Russia’s position could allow … them to join NATO,” Trump said Thursday. “I don’t see that happening.”

When asked what he thought Russia should give up to reach a deal, he noted that talks have not yet begun and that “maybe Russia will give up a lot, maybe they won’t.”

At NATO headquarters, Hegseth reiterated Thursday that “simply pointing out realism like the borders won’t be rolled back to what everybody would like them to be in 2014 is not a concession to Vladimir Putin.” He said it’s a recognition of realities on the ground.

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He added, though, that neither Russia nor Ukraine will “get everything that they want” and stressed that “any negotiation that’s had will be had with both.”

Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Bradford Betz is a Fox News Digital breaking reporter covering crime, political issues, and much more.

February 14, 2025