Happy New Year 2025

Tag: Trumps

Trump’s name fundraising focal point for Republicans and Dems

Fundraising messages centered around President Donald Trump have continued to dominate on both sides of the political aisle since his return to the White House.

The Democrats’ messages revolve around voicing their opposition to Trump’s second term, his executive orders, and action by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has become a cornerstone of Trump’s first month back in the Oval Office.

“Americans are starting to feel the disastrous effects of a Trump-Musk presidency, and we see that sentiment reflected in our top-performing messaging, which highlights the need to fight the extremes of Donald Trump and prepare for elections this year, in 2026 and beyond,” DNC Senior Spokesperson Hannah Muldavin told Fox News Digital.

Muldavin said the DNC’s most effective fundraising messages have centered around “the extremes of Donald Trump.”

FORMER DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE SAYS HIS PARTY IS ACTING ‘PATHETICALLY’ TO THWART MUSK’S DOGE

Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump holds up a fist at a campaign rally at the Santander Arena on November 4, 2024 in Reading, Pennsylvania. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

“Our most effective outreach to grassroots supporters right now comes from our new Chair Ken Martin, who talks about not just fighting the extremes of Donald Trump, but also on making the case to working families in both red and blue states that Democrats are the party fighting for them,” Muldavin added.

The Democratic National Committee’s website opened this week to a photo of Ken Martin, newly elected DNC Chair, with a simple message: “Ken Martin is the new DNC Chair. Help Democrats mobilize against Trump.” A fundraising message on the donation page invites Democrats to “pitch in to the DNC and help elect Democrats nationwide.”

DEMOCRATS ELECT NEW CHAIR WHO BRANDED TRUMP A ‘TRAITOR’ AS PARTY AIMS TO REBOUND FROM DISASTROUS 2024 ELECTION

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

“The DNC is the organization best positioned to fight back, organize, and stop the worst impulses of a Trump administration. So please don’t wait: donate now to elect Democrats who will fight back against the MAGA agenda,” the message says.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has a similar strategy with a down-ballot focus. On the DCCC website, a photo of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries appears next to a fundraising message inviting supporters to “become a majority maker.”

“At the DCCC, we’re laser-focused on the midterms and taking back the House from the MAGA Majority,” the message says. “With just THREE seats standing between us and the Majority, your monthly donation will help us do everything we can to flip the House blue and build a firewall against the Trump Trifecta. Will you make a recurring monthly donation to the DCCC to fuel our work today?”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., conducts his weekly news conference in the Capitol Visitor Center on Thursday, May 23, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Trump’s fundraising apparatus has also capitalized on his return to center stage. Trump National Committee, the joint super PAC of Never Surrender and the Republican National Committee, have maintained consistent fundraising outreach since Trump’s election victory.

“Trump is the center of the universe at the moment,” Republican strategist Matt Gorman, who worked on Senator Tim Scott’s presidential campaign and as communications director for the National Republican Congressional Committee, told Fox News Digital. “It’s been pretty well proven over the last decade that Trump animates the fundraising base of both parties and utilizing him is an effective strategy.”

As soon as Nov. 6, just a day after the election, a message “from Trump” to his supporters read, “TOTAL VICTORY! Because of you, WE WON!” with a link to donate to Trump’s super PAC. The messages continued in the weeks and months leading up to his inauguration.

The tone of the messages took a turn after Democrat Rep. Al Green, D-T.X., who attempted to impeach Trump three times during his first term, announced that he would file articles of impeachment against the president for saying he would “take over” Gaza.

U.S. President Donald Trump, accompanied by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L), speaks during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House on February 4, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Green said on the House floor the next day that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “should be ashamed, knowing the history of his people, to stand there and allow such things to be said.”

“Before Democrats introduce Articles of Impeachment, can you answer question #1?” a fundraising message from Trump’s super PAC asked the next day.

Then last week, the PAC sent a message from Vice President JD Vance that read, “Don’t pee on my boots & tell me it’s raining. It’s JD Vance. These are the top lies I’ve seen from Democrats.”

“Democrats don’t have any policies. All they have is lies. Nobody believes their crap. So on behalf of every American who is sick of their lies, I got one thing to say: Don’t pee on my boots & tell me it’s raining. Democrats can’t stand that we have a President who’s putting the working men & women of America first, AND NOW THEY’RE THREATENING TO IMPEACH TRUMP AGAIN!”

Senator JD Vance points toward Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally, March 16, 2024, in Vandalia, Ohio. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean, File)

The message from Republicans is clear: Democrats do not have policies beyond resisting Trump.

“Their identity for the last ten years has been, simply, ‘Whatever Trump is for, I’m against,’” Gorman said.

While using Trump’s name can be an effective fundraising strategy, Gorman urged candidates to move past the moniker and step into policy discussions as well.

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“Policy is really important, too. Every candidate has to articulate what they stand for, how they’d be different from their opponent and what they bring to Washington or to the statehouse. Trump is helpful in every aspect, but it’s important to make sure you’re defining what you would do in your policies as well.”

Deirdre Heavey is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.

February 15, 2025
AI Newsletter: Trump’s Stargate ambitions
Welcome to Fox News’ Artificial Intelligence newsletter with the latest AI technology advancements.

IN TODAY’S NEWSLETTER:
- Massive AI Stargate Project under Trump admin reveals next steps
- Elon Musk says he’ll drop $97B OpenAI purchase offer if ChatGPT maker stays a nonprofit
- ‘The Simpsons’ star fears AI could rip off his work, but says there’s one thing it cannot recreate
BREAKING GROUND: Stargate, the massive artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure project recently unveiled by President Donald Trump, has begun production in Texas — with data center construction in other states expected to be announced in the coming months.

ON ONE CONDITION: Elon Musk will withdraw his unsolicited bid of $97.4 billion to take over OpenAI if its board of directors stops the company’s conversion into a for-profit entity.

Elon Musk. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

EXISTENTIAL THREAT: OPINION: Our socioeconomic system is facing an existential threat from AI. In our capitalist society, most people depend on jobs to sustain themselves. The U.S. government, in turn, relies heavily on taxing the income of individual workers for revenue.

UNCHARTED TERRITORY: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman commended Vice President JD Vance’s artificial intelligence (AI) speech in Paris on Tuesday while laying out his vision for how people can take advantage of the rapidly evolving technology at the same conference.

INHUMAN CARTOON: “The Simpsons” star Hank Azaria has voiced his fears over artificial intelligence in a new opinion piece.

AI ROMANCE SCAMS: “Love is blind” takes on a more sinister meaning when so-called artificial intelligence (AI) becomes a tool for exploiting our deepest human emotions.

Subscribe now to get the Fox News Artificial Intelligence Newsletter in your inbox.

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Stay up to date on the latest AI technology advancements and learn about the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future with Fox News here.

This article was written by Fox News staff.
February 15, 2025
Trump’s 2023 mugshot spotted hanging in ornate frame near Oval Office

A copy of a New York Post front page featuring President Donald Trump’s mugshot was spotted hanging in an ornate gold frame near the Oval Office in the White House during a news conference this week.

The photo was snapped at the Fulton County Jail in Georgia after Trump turned himself in Aug. 24, 2023, and appeared on the front page of newspapers across the globe the next day.

Trump told Fox News Digital at the time Georgia officials “insisted” his mugshot be taken during processing at the jail and that doing so was “not a comfortable feeling — especially when you’ve done nothing wrong.”

A framed copy of President Donald Trump’s 2023 mugshot from the New York Post is framed in an office just outside the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

TRUMP SAYS GEORGIA INDICTMENT COMES DURING ‘DARK PERIOD’ FOR US, VOWS TO FIX IT BY WINNING

A photo of the new artwork, shared by Margo Martin, Trump’s special assistant and communications advisor, went viral on social media.

Dan Scavino, White House deputy chief of staff, later posted a video to X providing context on the frame’s placement.

President Donald Trump’s framed mugshot hangs just outside the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

“HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY,” Scavino wrote in the accompanying post. “WELCOME TO THE BEAUTIFUL OVAL OFFICE @WHITEHOUSE.”

The mugshot closely resembles the President’s official White House portrait, which debuted in January.

A split of President Trump’s official White House portrait, left, and mugshot. (Trump-Vance Transition Team; Fulton County Sheriff’s Office via AP )

The unprecedented charges stem from accusations that Trump attempted to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results, a case that is still unresolved.

At the time of the indictment, the Trump campaign said the case was a “continued pathetic attempt by the Biden crime family and their weaponized Department of Justice.”

TRUMP SAYS TAKING MUGSHOT WAS ‘NOT A COMFORTABLE FEELING, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU’VE DONE NOTHING WRONG’

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis testifies during a hearing in the case of the State of Georgia v. Donald John Trump at the Fulton County Courthouse Feb. 15, 2024, in Atlanta. (Alyssa Pointer-Pool/Getty Images)

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who filed the charges, is appealing a Georgia Court’s ruling that disqualified her and her office from prosecuting the case.

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A new prosecutor has not yet been assigned to the case.

Four co-defendants have accepted plea deals in the case, including Scott Hall, Sidney Powell, Kenneth Chesebro and Jenna Ellis.

Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman and FOX 5 Atlanta contributed to this story.

Alexandra Koch is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital. Prior to joining Fox News, Alexandra covered breaking news, crime, religion, and the military in the southeast.

February 15, 2025
Here’s what happened during President Donald Trump’s 4th week in office

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

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

“We agreed to work together, very closely, including visiting each other’s Nations,” Trump posted to Truth Social Wednesday after speaking with Putin. “We have also agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately, and we will begin by calling President Zelenskyy, of Ukraine, to inform him of the conversation, something which I will be doing right now.”

“I have asked Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Director of the CIA John Ratcliffe, National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, and Ambassador and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, to lead the negotiations which, I feel strongly, will be successful,” Trump said.

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

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

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

Meanwhile, the Trump administration has come under scrutiny for the negotiations, fielding criticism that Ukraine is being pressured to give in to concessions after Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said Wednesday that it wasn’t realistic for Ukraine to regain its pre-war borders with Russia.

“Putin is gonna pocket this and ask for more,” Brett Bruen, director of global engagement under former President Barack Obama, told Fox News Digital.

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

Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, and Trump vowed on the campaign trail in 2024 that he would work to end the conflict if elected again.

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

Meeting Jordan’s king

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Denuclearization talks with China, Russia

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

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

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

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

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

Cuts to federal workforce

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

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

TRUMP SIGNS ORDER INSTRUCTING DOGE TO MASSIVELY CUT FEDERAL WORKFORCE

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

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

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

Eliminate the penny?

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fox News’ Emma Colton and Morgan Phillips contributed to this report.

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

February 15, 2025
Jamie Dimon’s rant, Trump’s tariffs and DOGE cuts

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent discusses President Donald Trump signing a reciprocal tariff plan, Vice President JD Vance threatening Russia with sanctions, a potential economic partnership agreement with Ukraine and government spending waste.

-Stocks notch weekly gains despite mixed trading Friday

-Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent defends tariffs, after wheeling and dealing with Ukraine’s Zelenskyy

-Trump’s tariffs and reciprocal tariffs explained

-DOGE bulldozing hits Social Security, Federal Reserve next?

-Inflation runs hot…again, as egg prices soar 53%

-Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins confirmed, along with Robert Kennedy, Jr. as Health and Human Services Sec.

-JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon goes on rant aimed at WFH diehards

-The Big Board is going BIG in Texas. NYSE outlines big expansion

-Two U.S. retailers plan more store closures — a lot of them

-Robot riders will be delivering your next takeout order

STOCKS WIN FOR WEEK: The Nasdaq Composite rose 2.6% for the week, followed by the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrials…more on the markets here. Bitcoin was volatile and remains below $100,000…LIVE cryptocurrency prices here.

TOUGH TALK: U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent defended President Trump’s tariffs in an interview with FOX Business…continue reading here.

UKRAINE ECONOMIC DEAL: We also accompanied Bessent exclusively to Ukraine, where he is working to hammer out an economic deal with Ukraine President Zelenskyy…continue reading here.

RECIPROCAL TARIFFS EXPLAINED: Trump is wielding tariffs fast and furious…continue reading here.

DOGE DEALS: Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency is smashing its way through Washington, D.C., and he claims one Social Security recipient is 150 years old and getting a check…more on the Federal Reserve here. Musk also put the Federal Reserve on notice for an audit, but Chairman Powell fired back…continue reading here.

VIDEO: Elon Musk joins Trump in the Oval Office for some straight talk

INFLATION HOTTER: Consumer prices rose more than expected, a sign inflation is far from under control. Egg prices, for example, posted another startling spike…continue reading here. Many retailers are limiting purchases of this kitchen staple…continue reading here.

CONFIRMED: Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy, Jr. was confirmed and is promising to Make America Healthy Again…continue reading here. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins also sailed through, to inherit the chicken and egg crisis…continue reading here.

CLAPS BACK!: JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon gave employees protesting his return-to-office push an expletive earful…continue reading here.

VIDEO: Listen to Dimon slamming Zooms, texting, Fridays and work from home politics

RETAIL RIP: Two more U.S. retailers announced hefty store closures, including department store chain JCPenney…continue reading here, as well as craft chain Joann…continue reading here.

Y’ALL STREET: The New York Stock Exchange is expanding in pro-business-friendly Texas, following a host of other big companies…continue reading here.

DYING DELIVERY BREED?: Uber is rolling out more robots to deliver your food replacing humans…continue reading here.

VIDEO: See Robot Riders in action

TAX TIPS: WHAT TO KNOW

TAX SEASON 2025: Do this one thing before filing your taxes…continue reading here.

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February 14, 2025
CA lawmakers introduce bill protecting girls from trans athletes after state refuses to follow Trump’s order

After California took a stance refusing to follow President Donald Trump’s executive order banning trans athletes from girls’ and women’s sports, state Republicans are taking matters into their own hands.

On Friday, California lawmakers introduced three bills in the state legislature aimed to combat trans inclusion. One bill, which was introduced by Assemblymember Bill Essayli, focused specifically on sports. His bill would require that students use all school facilities only play on sports teams based on their biological sex and not their gender identity.

“We know the state of California is going to do everything it can to resist and avoid compliance with federal law, so it’s our role to try to force change at the state and local level,” Essayli said at a press conference outside the state capital building in Sacramento Friday.

Former San Jose State University volleyball coach, who was suspended and then let go from the program after filing a Title IX complaint over the school’s handling of a trans player last season, spoke at Friday’s press conference just days after her home was shot at. Batie-Smoose told Fox News Digital she believes she was “targetted.” Police have not determined a suspect or motive.

“We need to make sure there’s DNA testing and moving forward there’s only women playing in women’s sports,” Batie-Smoose said at the press conference. “We definitely need to continue this fight and make sure that laws and legislation is changed so that we can have safe spaces for women and women in sports.”

Essayli’s bill would reverse a current law in California that protects trans athletes in girls’ and women’s sports.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

A law called AB 1266 has been in effect since 2014, and gives 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.”

The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) said it will continue to follow that law, even after Trump’s executive order went into effect, in a previous statement provided to Fox News Digital.

The U.S. Department of Education announced earlier this week that it is launching a Title IX investigation into the CIF over potential Title IX violations for its refusal to comply with Trump’s order.

In addition, residents have held protests and threatened lawsuits in response to the CIF’s current stance.

Essayli’s bill is the second proposal that California has seen to address the issue in 2025 alone.

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.

TEEN GIRLS OPEN UP ON TRANS ATHLETE SCANDAL THAT TURNED THEIR HIGH SCHOOL INTO A CULTURE WAR BATTLEGROUND

“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.

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

A 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 cisgenders” by school administrators when they protested the athlete’s participation.

In San Diego, a middle school was recently thrust into local controversy because of a transgender student using the girls’ locker room. San Elijo Middle School previously provided a statement to Fox News Digital, crediting its enabling of the transgender student to access the girls’ locker room to the school’s obligation of following state law.

The San Diego County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted against a measure to carry out the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, which would prevent trans athletes from competing in girls’ sports or entering girls’ locker rooms, despite pleas from multiple parents at the meeting to take action to protect the girls at the school.

Meanwhile, 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.

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Transgender athlete supporter Kyle Harp, left, of Riverside holds the progress pride flag as “Save Girls Sports” supporters Lori Lopez and her dad Pete Pickering, both of Riverside, listen to the debate as they join the overflow crowd converging outside the Riverside Unified School District meeting Thursday night to debate the rights of transgender athletes to compete in high school sports Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Before that, 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.

The two other bills that were introduced Friday, by Essayli and freshman Assemblymember Leticia Castillo, focus on empowering parents to remove their children from settings and situations that promote transgender ideology in public schools.

“Reestablishing the primacy of parental rights over dangerous indoctrination is a critical first step in reestablishing trust in our schools and educators,” Castillo said Friday.

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

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 14, 2025
Trump’s ‘two sexes’ order spurs state-level efforts to crack down on trans treatments for minors

Several states emboldened by President Donald Trump’s executive orders are moving to introduce bills banning transgender medical care for minors, and one legal expert believes it’s a “continuation” of the success other states have achieved in the last several years fighting against the Biden administration.

“You go back to 2020, when Idaho became the first state to pass a save women’s sports law, and in 2021, Arkansas was the first state to protect kids from dangerous gender transition, drugs and surgeries,” Alliance Defending Freedom senior counsel Matt Sharp told Fox News Digital in an interview. “And since that time, we’ve had over 25 states pass both of those laws, plus other measures to protect women’s privacy and safety and schools or women’s shelters or correctional facilities.”

“So, what we are seeing is truly the continuation of incredible work by state legislatures and others to address the concerns of gender ideology and make sure that women and children in their states are not being harmed by it,” he said.

TRUMP’S ‘TWO SEXES’ EXECUTIVE ORDER COMES ON HEELS OF SCOTUS ACCEPTING ANOTHER CHALLENGE TO LGBT AGENDA

US 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 February 5, 2025. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP)

So far this year, several states have introduced or considered legislation to ban transgender medical procedures for minors. More than two dozen states already have laws in place restricting such procedures.

Alabama recently passed a bill in the Senate aiming to legally define gender based on one’s biological sex, in line with Trump’s “two sexes” declaration. Georgia’s state Senate also passed a bill this week that would cut state funding for transgender surgical treatments, extending to both minors and adults. The bill aims to block state funds for state employee and university health insurance plans, Medicaid, and the state’s prison system.

Some states are still rebelling against Trump’s orders. Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, vetoed a bill this week that would have prohibited state funds from being used on gender transition treatments and procedures on minors and allow civil actions against healthcare providers conducting such treatments.

Despite Trump’s executive orders, Democratic attorneys general from 15 states – California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin – issued a joint statement this month doubling down on their support for transgender procedures for minors.

LGBT ACTIVISTS MOBILIZE TO CHALLENGE TRUMP’S ‘EXTREME GENDER IDEOLOGY’ EXECUTIVE ORDERS

Activists hold a rally outside the Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C., as the court hears oral arguments in the transgender treatments case Skrmetti vs. U.S. on Dec. 4, 2024. (Fox News Digital)

The executive orders, signed in late January, include a reinstatement of the ban on transgender troops in the military, a ban on federal funding for sex changes for minors and a directive requiring federal agencies to recognize only “two sexes,” male and female, in official standard of conduct.

“What these executive orders represent is a 180-degree turn from that, rather than the federal government trying to push this dangerous ideology and being an adversary of states and their efforts to protect women and girls, you know, have an ally at the federal government,” Sharp, who filed one of the first state cases against a Connecticut policy allowing men to compete in women’s sports in 2020, said.

Sharp described Trump’s executive orders as a “return to normalcy.”

“What we saw starting a new Obama administration and continuing in the Biden administration, I think was trying to erase sex and replace it with the concept of gender identity,” he said. “And I think Americans have seen that. They’ve seen the harm that’s caused to countless young women, to young children, pushed to do irreparable damage to their bodies through these gender transition drugs and surgeries to even families who have had their rights violated by policies that were hiding information, lying to parents about a child who was experiencing distress over their sex and gender.”

TRUMP SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDERS BANNING ‘RADICAL GENDER IDEOLOGY,’ DEI INITIATIVES IN THE MILITARY

President Joe Biden speaks at the Pride Month celebration on the South Lawn of the White House on June 10, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

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While the Trump White House has made its stance on gender-related issues clear, the U.S. Supreme Court will determine a critical ruling this summer on whether the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause, which guarantees equal treatment under the law for individuals in similar circumstances, prevents states from banning medical providers from offering puberty blockers and hormone treatments to children seeking transgender surgical procedures.

Jamie Joseph is a writer who covers politics. She leads Fox News Digital coverage of the Senate.

February 14, 2025
White House shares Valentine’s Day message but it has a Trump’s twist | World News

Donald Trump’s White House decided to skip the chocolates and love notes this Valentine’s Day, opting instead for a not-so-sweet message aimed at migrants.

In a post that could only be described as dystopian poetry, the official White House Instagram shared a Valentine’s Day rhyme alongside a picture of Trump and his border czar: “Roses are red, violets are blue, come here illegally and we’ll deport you.”

Happy Valentine’s Day ♥️ pic.twitter.com/6d7qmo7gtz

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) February 14, 2025

The White House shared the post with a simple “Happy Valentine’s Day” and an heart emoji, just as Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers wrapped up weeks of mass arrests.

More than 8,000 undocumented immigrants have been detained since his second term began on January 20, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. Some have already been deported, while others are being held in federal prisons or sent to Guantanamo Bay.

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But not everyone is on board. Resistance is coming from 13 sanctuary states—including California, New York, and Illinois—as well as 220 cities and counties that refuse to comply with Trump’s immigration policies.

His new border czar, Tom Homan, isn’t thrilled, warning that sanctuary policies are making enforcement “more difficult and more dangerous,” and suggesting more people will be caught in the crossfire “if they want to play that game.”

Well, nothing says romance quite like a deportation threat wrapped in a nursery rhyme.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

February 14, 2025
Trump’s Treasury secretary shuts down tariffs concerns, praises ‘frictionless global trade’

Treasury Department Secretary Scott Bessent discusses President Donald Trump signing a reciprocal tariff plan, V.P. Vance threatening Russia with sanctions, a potential economic partnership agreement with Ukraine and government spending waste.

Less than one day after President Donald Trump signed off on a reciprocal tariff plan, the administration’s Treasury secretary shut down any economic concerns around the state of global trade.

“President Trump is serious about negotiating this. And look, I don’t understand why there’s any pushback on this, that if they want to bring all these barriers down, then we will have more frictionless global trade,” Scott Bessent said in an exclusive interview on “Mornings with Maria” Friday.

“As we’ve learned with President Trump, you should take him at his word. This is not theater,” he continued. “The April 1 deadline is for a study that the Commerce Department is doing on global tariffs that apply to U.S. products country by country.”

On Thursday, Trump announced a plan for the U.S. to look at implementing “reciprocal” tariffs against countries that tax or limit markets for American goods. Trump said he did not expect any exemptions or waivers for the plan, which could apply to both adversaries and allies.

TRUMP IS PLAYING A DANGEROUS TARIFF GAME DESPITE HIS ‘REALLY STRONG’ AGENDA, U.S. ECONOMIST WARNS

Commerce Secretary nominee Howard Lutnick and the U.S. trade representative would then submit a report detailing the tariffs on a country-by-country basis, a White House official said, previewing the announcement. The studies will be completed by April 1.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent discussed global trade and Trump’s tariff plans on “Mornings with Maria” Friday. (Getty Images)

The official added that Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russ Vought would then have 180 days to produce a report assessing any financial impacts.

This comes just days after the Trump administration announced 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, and a 10% across-the-board tariff on China last week.

“We’re going to come up with what is the equivalent of an index, what I would call a reciprocal index, country by country, the outstanding tariffs, non-tariff, the trade barriers and currency manipulation,” Bessent explained.

“I’m expecting that we will get this report and we will see how our trading partners choose to respond. But I can tell you that if he needs to, he will implement them,” the Treasury secretary added. “And as he said in the interview yesterday, this can be a big revenue source for the U.S. government.”

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent addresses President Donald Trump’s economic and fiscal goals during his first interview on ‘Kudlow’ since joining the administration.

Bessent also responded to widespread criticism from some economists and market experts that tariffs may exacerbate inflation and create extra costs for consumers.

“I think that is a simplified, reductionist view. It’s typical of the old thinking, and it’s the reason the U.S. has been taken advantage of for years and years. It’s the reason we have these gigantic trade deficits. It’s the reason that many of our products aren’t allowed… to be sold abroad,” he said.

“All President Trump wants is for American businesses to have frictionless trade. And I will stand behind our American manufacturers to make the best products at the best price. And they can sell anywhere in the world without these barriers.”

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White House senior counselor for trade and manufacturing Peter Navarro emphasizes the economic importance of DOGE and President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariff plan on ‘The Evening Edit.’

According to America’s top money manager, accrued revenue from tariffs solely relies on trade partners’ collaboration.

“It’s going to depend on our trading partners’ responses, how quickly they do it, how much they do it over time,” Bessent said. “But I could tell you that these could be very, very substantial if they don’t want to take their tariffs down because we will match them, percent for percent, dollar for dollar.”

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FOX Business’ Greg Norman contributed to this report.

February 14, 2025