"We're going to be changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, which has a beautiful ring. That covers a lot of territory," Trump said on Tuesday. "The Gulf of America. What a beautiful name. And it's appropriate."
Trump made the announcement in his first press conference since Congress certified his election win over Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday from Mar-a-Lago. He opened the press event announcing DAMAC Properties will invest $20 billion in new data centers across the country in addition to previewing a bevy of policy issues ahead of his inauguration this month.
Trump did not detail how his administration will go about renaming the body of water, but went on to slam Mexico for the immigration woes in the U.S. under the Biden White House.
"Mexico has to stop allowing millions of people to pour into our country. They can stop them. And we’re going to put very serious tariffs on Mexico and Canada, because Canada, they come through Canada too, and the drugs that are coming through are at record numbers, record numbers. So we’re going to make up for that by putting tariffs on Mexico and Canada, substantial tariffs," he said.
Trump has referred to Canada as the nation's "51st state," while his son and other Trump allies traveled to Greenland this week following Trump repeatedly called for the U.S. to acquire the autonomous territory under the Kingdom of Denmark.
"As someone who has traveled to some fascinating places across the globe as an outdoorsman, I’m excited to stop into Greenland for a little bit of fun this week," Donald Trump Jr. told Fox News Digital of his trip to Greenland.
A source familiar told Fox News Digital that Trump Jr. is "popping in for a quick day-long trip to shoot some fun video content for podcasting." Trump Jr. is not meeting with government officials while in Greenland, Fox Digital previously reported.
Fox News Digital's Anders Hagstrom and Brooke Signman contributed to this report.
The Laken Riley Act passed the House of Representatives on Tuesday afternoon, the first piece of federal legislation approved by the 119th Congress after the House agreed to its rules for the term.
All voting Republicans supported the bill, along with 48 Democrats – more than the total left-wing lawmakers who voted for it last year. It passed on a 264 to 159 margin and will now be sent to the Senate.
The bill is named after a nursing student who was killed by an illegal immigrant while jogging on the University of Georgia's campus.
The bill would require federal immigration authorities to detain illegal immigrants found guilty of theft-related crimes. It also would allow states to sue the Department of Homeland Security for harm caused to their citizens because of illegal immigration.
Jose Ibarra, who was sentenced to life in prison for Riley's murder, had previously been arrested but was never detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, the agency previously said.
The bill passed the House along bipartisan lines last year after it was first introduced by Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga.
All voting Republicans plus 37 Democrats voted for the bill by a margin of 251 to 170. All the "no" votes on the bill were Democrats.
Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said of the Democrats who opposed it last year, "I think they put politics ahead of principle. And we're going to find out where they stand on this now."
"We have every intention of doing, really important, bipartisan work," Johnson said hours before the vote on Tuesday. "We welcome with open arms any Democrat who wants to help us solve these problems because the American people demand and deserve it, it's overdue. And, we'll be looking for that and we'll see how it shakes out."
It was not taken up in the Senate, however, which at the time was controlled by then-Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
"[T]he Laken Riley Act, sponsored by Rep. Mike Collins, holds the Biden Administration accountable for their role in these tragedies through their open border policies, requires detention of illegal aliens who commit theft and mandates ICE take them into custody, and allows a state to sue the Federal government on behalf of their citizens for not enforcing the border laws, particularly in the case of parole," House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said in his daily House floor lookout.
"House Republicans won’t stop fighting to secure the border and protect American communities. When will Democrats finally decide enough is enough?"
The Senate is also poised to vote on the bill this week.
It is one of several border security bills House Republicans have reintroduced this year as they prepare to take over all the levers of power in Washington, D.C.
Republicans held the House and took over the Senate in the November elections. President-elect Donald Trump will take office on Jan. 20.
Donald Trump Jr. arrived in Greenland on Tuesday as his father, President-elect Trump, made remarks that sparked speculation that the U.S. may seek to acquire the Danish territory.
Trump Jr. landed in Nuuk, the Arctic territory's capital, to meet with locals, visit cultural sites and shoot video for a podcast. The president-elect posted a video showing a plane emblazoned with the word "TRUMP" landing in Nuuk.
"Don Jr. and my Reps landing in Greenland," Trump wrote. "The reception has been great. They, and the Free World, need safety, security, strength, and PEACE! This is a deal that must happen. MAGA. MAKE GREENLAND GREAT AGAIN!"
Trump also spoke with locals over speakerphone in video that supporters shared online.
A source familiar told Fox News Digital on Monday that Trump Jr. is "popping in for a quick day-long trip to shoot some fun video content for podcasting. He will not be meeting with any government officials or political figures."
The trip comes as President-elect Trump seeks to buy the mineral-rich, geographically important territory.
At a press conference at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate on Tuesday afternoon, the president-elect again said that "Denmark should give it up."
President Biden’s recent move to award the prestigious Medal of Freedom to progressive megadonor George Soros has sparked criticism both on social media and from one crime expert who spoke to Fox News Digital.
"President Biden’s decision to award George Soros the Medal of Freedom is a slap in the face to the citizens and crime victims suffering under the policies and politicians he has promoted," Zack Smith, Heritage Foundation legal fellow and co-author of "Rogue Prosecutors: How Radical Soros Lawyers Are Destroying America's Communities," told Fox News Digital after a weekend ceremony awarding the Medal of Freedom to Soros, via his son Alex, who has taken over the family's $25 billion empire.
"Soros has been a major donor to far-left politicians and has promoted policies that undermine the rule of law in our country. Given Biden’s embrace of these policies and the funding Soros has provided, this looks like nothing more than an effort to reward and keep happy one of the Left’s major donors (and his family). It cheapens what should be a prestigious award and gives everyday Americans yet another reason to be disgusted by the current Administration’s actions."
The award, the nation’s highest civilian honor, is given to individuals who have made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values or security of the United States, world peace or other significant societal, public or private endeavors, the White House said in a statement.
Soros, a mega-Democrat donor, runs a web of non-profits that bankroll various candidates around the world who align with his progressive agenda, including his Open Society Foundations. Soros has given over $32 billion to Open Society Foundations since 1984, according to its website.
The White House said that Soros’ philanthropy across the world has strengthened democracy, human rights, education and social justice.
Conservatives on social media disagreed and made the case that giving the medal to Soros sent the wrong message given the alleged effects Soros-backed policies have had on crime.
"Police officers deserve the Medal of Freedom for dealing with violent criminals set free by Soros prosecutors," GOP Sen. Tom Cotton posted on X.
"George Soros is responsible for the breakdown of American society," conservative lawyer Marina Medvin posted on X. "His goal is the destruction of the West. He supports illegal immigrants, Antifa, Palestinian terror enthusiasts, campus disrupters, etc. Of course this is all wonderful in Biden’s world. So he’s giving Soros the highest civilian honor."
"A travesty that Biden is giving Soros the Medal of Freedom," Tesla and Space X CEO Elon Musk posted on X.
"A clear sign Joe Biden lost his mind or he's not in control, for awarding George Soros a Presidential Medal of Freedom," political commentator Richie Greenberg, who led the effort to recall Soros-backed San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin from office, posted on X.
"Few have risen to the level of criminal justice arch-nemesis as Soros has. This is a slap to countless victims of crime enabled by Soros DAs. Truly disgusting."
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and Open Society Foundations but did not receive a response.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was also awarded the Medal of Freedom on Saturday, prompting similar outrage from conservatives.
Clinton, the White House said, made "history many times over decades in public service," becoming the first female senator from New York and the first first lady to hold elected office.
Fox News Digital’s Michael Dorgan contributed to this report
President-elect Donald Trump railed against the ongoing "lawfare" against him during his first public remarks since Congress certified his decisive election win over Vice President Kamala Harris.
"They're playing with the courts, as you know, they've been playing with the courts for four years. Probably got me more votes because I got the highest number of votes ever gotten by a Republican by far, actually, by a lot. And, you know, we had a great election, so I guess it didn't work. But even to this day, they're playing with the courts and they're friendly judges that like to try and make everybody happy .. It's called lawfare, it's called weaponization of justice," Trump said Tuesday during a press conference at Mar-a-Lago.
Trump held the press conference, which was his first since Congress certified his election win on Monday, to announce DAMAC Properties will invest $20 billion in new data centers across the country. DAMAC's owner, Hussain Sajwani, said the investment is aimed at facilitating the development of AI and cloud-based technologies.
Trump took aim at the legal battles he has faced in the last four years during the address, slamming special counsel Jack Smith as well as New York Judge Juan Merchan.
"I call it the Injustice Department. What they've done is so bad, the whole world has watched that. And, it took work, but it got me a lot of votes, because when explained, we have a judge in New York is a very crooked judge," he said, referring to Justice Juan Merchan who presides over the New York v. Trump case. "I'm under a gag order. I can't even talk about aspects of the case that are the most vital aspects I'm going to do. You know that I'm the president-elect of the United States of America. I'm a former very successful president."
Merchan announced earlier this month that he will sentence Trump in the New York v. Trump case on Jan. 10, ahead of his inauguration as president on Jan. 20. Trump's legal team filed a motion to delay sentencing, which Merchan denied on Monday afternoon.
"Today, President Trump’s legal team moved to stop the unlawful sentencing in the Manhattan D.A.’s Witch Hunt. The Supreme Court’s historic decision on Immunity, the state constitution of New York, and other established legal precedent mandate that this meritless hoax be immediately dismissed," Trump spokesperson and incoming White House communications director Steven Cheung told Fox Digital on Monday morning.
"The American People elected President Trump with an overwhelming mandate that demands an immediate end to the political weaponization of our justice system and all of the remaining Witch Hunts. We look forward to uniting our country in the new administration as President Trump makes America great again," Cheung continued.
Trump was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records in the Manhattan case in May. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office worked to prove that Trump falsified business records to conceal a $130,000 payment to former porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election to quiet her claims of an alleged affair with Trump in 2006. Trump has maintained his innocence in the case.
Smith, who led the investigation into Trump's handling of classified documents after his first term in the White House, is set to release a final report on the investigation. Two of Trump's former co-defendants in the classified documents case, Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, filed an emergency motion on Monday in an effort to block the report's release.
"These Defendants will irreparably suffer harm as civilian casualties of the Government’s impermissible and contumacious utilization of political lawfare to include release of the unauthorized Report," Nauta and De Oliveira's attorneys wrote in an emergency motion filed on Monday. "The Final Report relies on materials to which Smith, as disqualified special counsel, is no longer entitled access— making his attempt to share such materials with the public highly improper."
The judge presiding over the case blocked Smith's efforts to release the report on Tuesday.
Trump slammed Smith as "deranged" during his Tuesday remarks while taking a victory lap that the court cases brought against him since the 2020 election have fizzled out since the 2024 election. Trump has maintained his innocence in the various state and federal cases brought against him, arguing they were examples of "lawfare" intended to hamper his campaign to reclaim the White House.
"I defeated deranged Jack Smith. He's a deranged individual. I guess he's on his way back to The Hague. And we won those cases. Those were the biggest ones. And, the press made such a big deal out of them. But we did nothing wrong. We did nothing wrong on anything. And the people saw that, you know, when they vote to when you went to Republicans," he said.
Fox News Digital's Anders Hagstrom and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
President-elect Donald Trump is keeping up his taunts of referring to Canada as the United States' 51st state.
"Many people in Canada LOVE being the 51st State," Trump argued in a social media post on Monday.
Trump emphasized that "if Canada merged with the U.S., there would be no Tariffs, taxes would go way down, and they would be TOTALLY SECURE from the threat of the Russian and Chinese Ships that are constantly surrounding them. Together, what a great Nation it would be!!!"
In recent weeks, the former and now president-elect has trolled the United States' neighbor to the north, musing about it becoming the 51st state, and posting a doctored photo of him standing beside a Canadian flag high atop a mountain.
Additionally, his recent mocking of longtime Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, repeatedly referring to him as "governor," along with his threat to impose massive tariffs on Canada, was likely a contributing factor in Trudeau's resignation announcement this week.
Trump's fixation on Canada comes as he also turns up the volume on his calls for Denmark to sell the sparsely populated but massive North Atlantic island of Greenland to the U.S.
However, what if the unlikely expansionist scenario of Canada joining the U.S. actually came to fruition?
Hypothetically, it could be a massive political boon for Democrats at the expense of Republicans.
Canada's modern political history points to the left.
"The Liberals have been in charge of the Canadian federal government for the majority of the time since World War Two," longtime Republican strategist Dave Carney noted to Fox News.
It is likely the voters supporting those governments would vote for Democrats rather than Republicans if Canada became the 51st state.
With a population of slightly more than 40 million, Canada would become the most populous state in the U.S., edging out blue-state California for the honors.
Canada's addition to the U.S. as the nation's largest state could give a big boost to the Democrats in the battle for Congressional majorities and the electoral vote count in presidential elections.
Rich Lowry, editor-in-chief of the prominent conservative magazine National Review, warned in an opinion piece for the New York Post that "Canada would be a blue-state behemoth, matching California in population…and, presumably, in reliably Democratic politics."
"We might think we’d annex Canada and make it more like us, but — with two Democratic senators and a huge tranche of electoral votes for Democratic presidential candidates — Canada would surely make us more like it," Lowry predicted.
Veteran political scientist Wayne Lesperance agreed, noting that "Canada as a state would bring millions of voters more likely to align with the Democrats' agenda and ideology. And with 40 million voters, the new 51st state would be the largest state in the union with a congressional delegation much more likely to oppose Trump and his party's political agenda."
Lesperance, president of the New Hampshire-based New England College, said if Trump "is serious, and does bring a proposal forward, I would expect tremendous support for his initiative…especially from Democrats."
Democratic strategist and political analyst Van Jones, on CNN, said that Canada would "be a huge blue state" and that "if Canada wants to come here and rescue us, I am more than happy."
However, Carney, noting that the likelihood of Canada joining the U.S. is extremely slim, said that it is a great negotiating strategy by Trump when it comes to negotiations with America's northern neighbor.
"He has an ability to use tools that no one would have ever thought of," Carney said. "He has the ability and the willingness to use every tool in his toolbox."
Carney, the top political adviser to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a veteran of numerous Republican presidential campaigns, added that Trump "uses the soft power of the presidency to get people to pay attention and get what he wants."
FIRST ON FOX: House Republicans are pushing to abolish the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) ahead of President-elect Donald Trump taking office later this month.
Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., is unveiling the bill on Tuesday and already has several co-sponsors in Reps. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., Mike Collins, R-Ga., Bob Onder, R-Mo., Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., Mary Miller, R-Ill., Keith Self, R-Texas, and Paul Gosar, R-Ariz.
Burlison argued that the ATF was an "unconstitutional agency" and that its mission and goals are duplicates of existing state and local regulations.
"The Constitution makes it very clear that when it comes to the federal government, there shall be no laws restricting firearms," he told Fox News Digital. "It's in the purview of the states, and so I don't think it belongs on the federal level."
"But here's the thing I want to reiterate – they don't have the manpower to enforce the laws that they implement. So they go and they solicit help from every local state law enforcement official to help them implement their stupid new rules."
He said assisting the ATF "takes them out of the things they should be prioritizing to keep the community safe."
Burlison said he has not spoken with members of President-elect Trump's orbit on the bill, but added, "I'm sure there's quite a few people in Trump world that would be open to this."
One possible supporter the bill could find is Vice President-elect JD Vance, who previously called for abolishing the ATF and vowed to fight toward that goal in the Senate.
The ATF makes federal regulations for firearm handling and storage, gun licenses and other matters. It also assists in law enforcement investigations like the recent New Orleans attack.
The modern iteration of the ATF was formed as a bureau under the Treasury Department in 1972. It was transferred to the Department of Justice in 2003 as a law enforcement agency after laws on gun control and explosives were added to the ATF's purview in the 1990s.
Supporters of the ATF's existence include gun control advocates who argue it does important work to fight gun violence.
However, opponents like Burlison argue its regulations are unnecessary.
ATF Director Steven Dettelbach warned earlier this week that he believes curbing the ATF will result in more unnecessary deaths.
"People who don’t think that law enforcement, including ATF, has anything to do with driving down violent crime are just wrong — it didn’t happen by accident," he told the New York Times.
"What I am concerned about is that people will take their eye off the ball, that they’ll either get complacent or political, or some combination of those things."
The ATF has gotten public blowback for its handling of the infamous standoffs in Ruby Ridge and Waco, Texas, however.
Trump previously promised to fire Dettelbach on his first day in office. He told an audience at a National Rifle Association event that the Biden administration appointee was a "radical gun-grabber."
It is not clear if he would abolish it altogether, however.
Fox News Digital reached out to Trump and the ATF for comment.
Vice President Kamala Harris presided over the certification of the 2024 presidential election results on Monday, but Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., asserted in a post on Tuesday that the political battle was only beginning.
Blumenthal, who has served in the Senate since 2011, claimed President-elect Donald Trump has tapped "malignly motivated" nominees who are not qualified.
"Now that the Electoral Count is done we can move on? No. Not with Trump planning blanket pardons. Not with dangerously unqualified, malignly motivated Trump nominees. Not with Trump normalizing election denial. The fight is just beginning," the senator declared in the post on X.
"Enough with the Trump Derangement Syndrome," Karoline Leavitt, who Trump has selected to serve as his White House press secretary, said in a statement to Fox News Digital on Tuesday.
"The American people clearly support President Trump and his policies to secure the border, end inflation, and restore world peace; and President Trump will work with anyone on Capitol Hill who wants to solve these problems and deliver results," she added.
Fox News Digital also reached out to Blumenthal's office to request comment from the senator on Tuesday, but no comment was provided.
Trump, who is slated to be sworn in on January 20, has indicated that on his first day back in office he will likely pardon people connected with the Jan. 6 episode, telling "Meet the Press" moderator Kristin Welker late last year that the cases would be examined and there could be exceptions if a person was "radical, crazy."
After President Joe Biden announced a sweeping pardon for his son Hunter last year, Trump declared on Truth Social, "Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years? Such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!"
In a March 2024 post, Trump said freeing "January 6 Hostages being wrongfully imprisoned" would be among his "first acts" as president.
"Pardoning any convicted Jan 6 rioter, particularly anyone who attacked police officers, would disgrace them & endanger democracy," Blumenthal asserted in a tweet on Monday.
A federal judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked Special Counsel Jack Smith from releasing his report relating to his now-suspended investigations into President-elect Trump’s alleged 2020 election interference and alleged improper retention of classified records.
Trump co-defendants Waltine Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira filed an emergency motion to block the reported imminent release of Smith’s final report.
U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Florida Aileen Cannon ruled in favor of Nauta and De Oliveira to "prevent irreparable harm."
Cannon said Smith is "temporarily enjoined" from "releasing, sharing, or transmitting the Final Report or any drafts of such Report outside the Department of Justice."
The order remains in effect until three days after a resolution is announced from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
FIRST ON FOX: Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., is taking the opportunity to renew two key bills aligned with the incoming advisory board known as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) now that the GOP controls the Senate.
DOGE was previously announced by President-elect Donald Trump, who tapped billionaire Elon Musk and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to lead the charge in eliminating government waste.
The ERASER Act would target regulations by requiring agencies to repeal three rules before issuing any new major rule and ensure that the new rule does not exceed the cost of the repealed rules. The Separation of Powers Restoration Act (SOPRA) would address the Administrative Procedure Act by ending the standards of executive deference and allowing courts to weigh arguments without affording deference to either party.
"Reining in an out-of-control administrative state has long been one of my top priorities, and I look forward to working hand-in-hand with the incoming Trump Administration to [accomplish] the shared goal of gutting the administrative state and clawing power out of the hands of nameless, faceless bureaucrats and returning it back to the people," Schmitt told Fox News Digital in a statement.
"The ERASER Act would require agencies who wish to enact a new regulation to pull three regulations off the books. And, the Separation of Powers Restoration Act would put a stop to courts’ deference to agency interpretation on regulations and enact a much stricter review, putting power back in the hands of the people, where it belongs … This is a critical, one-two punch to the bloated administrative state."
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., is a co-sponsor of the ERASER Act. SOPRA is also backed by co-sponsors Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., Rand Paul, R-Ky., Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, Ted Budd, R-N.C., Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., Katie Britt, R-Ala., and Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn.
The bills were debuted by Schmitt in the last Congress but never received consideration on the floor due to Democratic leadership in the Senate.
However, with Republicans leading the upper chamber, and an increased emphasis on government efficiency, it's much more likely the measures will get voted on. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., is already expected to tee up votes on a couple other re-introduced GOP bills that never got floor time.
The Biden administration secured an agreement to implement police reforms in Minneapolis ahead of President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration.
The consent decree agreement Monday with the Minneapolis Police Department follows a similar decree that the department agreed upon with Louisville, Kentucky, police last month. The agreements follow the Biden administration's initiation of 12 investigations in 2021, which probed possible "pattern or practice" of civil rights abuses by police departments around the country following the anti-police riots that took place after the death of George Floyd in 2020.
Both decrees await approval by the courts. The 171-page Minneapolis agreement would overhaul the city's police training and use of-force-policies, while requiring officers to "promote the sanctity of human life as the highest priority in their activities." The decree also mandates that officers must not allow race, gender or ethnicity "to influence any decision to use force, including the amount or type of force used."
Other elements of the Minneapolis agreement include bolstering protections for protesters, new data collection requirements aimed at reducing racial discrimination, guidelines restricting officers from going after fleeing subjects, new interrogation requirements, a mandate against racial profiling in investigations, traffic stop reforms and more.
Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division was asked repeatedly during a Monday press conference from Minneapolis whether the Trump administration could derail the agreement.
"I can’t predict the future," Clarke said. "What I can tell you is that the findings we identified in Minneapolis are severe. These are real issues that impact people’s lives. The community wants reform. The city wants reform, the police department wants reform, and the Justice Department stands here today as a full partner in the effort of achieving reform and transformation for this community."
Meanwhile, in an email to constituents, Minneapolis City Council Member Robin Wonsley said she has no faith that the incoming Trump administration will be a "serious partner" in supporting the recently agreed-upon consent decree.
A similar consent decree agreed upon by the Biden administration and the Loisville police roughly three weeks ago also compels the department to revise its use-of-force policies, places new restrictions around traffic stops and police searches, and challenges how law enforcement deals with protesters.
A local police union in the city is challenging the reforms, calling on a judge not to approve the agreement. Meanwhile, the conservative Heritage Foundation has argued that the point of the consent decree coming so late in Biden's term is "to bind the Trump 47 Administration and future elected Louisville administrations who may well vehemently and categorically disagree with the Proposed Consent Decree."
Both Minneapolis and Louisville were flash points for debates around police reform after both cities saw the high-profile deaths of Floyd and Breonna Taylor in 2020. Both cities, and numerous others, saw protesters rampage through the streets following their deaths, leading to multiple fatalities and billions of dollars in damage that year.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Justice Department for comment, but they declined to comment.
President-elect Trump addressed the nation for the first time since the certification of his November election victory on Tuesday.
Trump held a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago home just one day after Congress and Vice President Kamala Harris certified his electoral college victory. Trump took the opportunity to announce $20 billion in new data centers across the country.
Trump says the $20 billion will come over a "short period of time" from DAMAC Properties. The company's owner, Hussain Sajwani, detailed that the investment will center around Texas, Oklahoma, Indiana and other Midwestern states.
EXCLUSIVE: President-elect Donald Trump reacted to Meta's move to end its fact-checking program on Facebook, Instagram and its other platforms, telling Fox News Digital that the company has "come a long way."
Fox News first reported that Meta is ending its fact-checking program and lifting restrictions on speech to "restore free expression" across its platforms, admitting its current content moderation practices have "gone too far."
Trump's comments come after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg made the announcement in a video Tuesday morning, saying his company is "going to get back to our roots and focus on reducing mistakes, simplifying our policies and restoring free expression on our platforms."
Meta plans to replace fact-checking with a "Community Notes" model similar to the one used on X, formerly Twitter.
Meta’s third-party fact-checking program was put in place after the 2016 election and had been used to "manage content" and misinformation on its platforms, largely due to "political pressure," executives said, but admitted the system has "gone too far."
Meta's chief global policy director, Joel Kaplan, told Fox News Digital that Meta is also changing some of its own content moderation rules, especially those that they feel are "too restrictive and not allowing enough discourse around sensitive topics like immigration, trans issues and gender.
"We want to make sure that discourse can happen freely on the platform without fear of censorship," Kaplan told Fox News Digital. "We have the power to change the rules and make them more supportive of free expression. And we’re not just changing the rules, we are actually changing how we enforce the rules."
Kaplan said Meta currently uses automated systems, which he said make "too many mistakes" and removes content "that doesn’t even violate our standards."
He also said there are certain things Meta will continue to moderate, like posts relating to terrorism, illegal drugs and child sexual exploitation.
But as for the timing of the changes, Kaplan told Fox News Digital the company has "a real opportunity now."
"We have a new administration coming in that is far from pressuring companies to censor and [is more] a huge supporter of free expression," Kaplan said, referring to the incoming Trump administration. "It gets us back to the values that Mark founded the company on."
Last year, Zuckerberg sent a letter to the House Judiciary Committee in which he admitted that he felt pressure from the Biden administration, particularly with regard to COVID-19 content, and even subjects like satire and humor.
"The thing is, as American companies, when other governments around the world that don’t have our tradition or our First Amendment, when they see the United States government pressuring U.S. companies to take down content, it is just open season then for those governments to put more pressure [on their companies]," Kaplan explained. "We do think it is a real opportunity to work with the Trump administration and to work on free expression at home."
Kaplan also said Meta sees "opportunities for partnership" with the Trump administration, not only on issues of free expression but also in "promoting American business and America’s technological edge."
"Those are issues of great importance to Meta and our sector," Kaplan said. "And we’re excited to work with the Trump administration to advance those goals."
Meanwhile, Meta also said it plans to take a more personalized approach to political content, so that users who want to see more posts of that kind can do so.
Meta said it will refocus its enforcement efforts to "illegal and high-severity violations."
Meanwhile, this week, Trump ally UFC CEO Dana White joined Meta’s board.
"I love social media," White wrote. "And I’m excited to be a small part of the future of AI and emerging technologies."
Also joining the Meta board is former Microsoft Corp. executive Charlie Songhurst, who has been working with the company already on artificial intelligence products, and Exov NV CEO John Elkann. Elkann’s company has stakes in many European businesses, including Ferrari NV and Italy’s popular soccer team, Juventus Football Club.
Conservatives on social media took a victory lap on Tuesday in response to the news that Meta had ended its controversial fact-checking practices and promised to move toward a system more focused on free speech.
"Meta finally admits to censoring speech…what a great birthday present to wake up to and a huge win for free speech," GOP Sen. Rand Paul posted on X on Tuesday in response to news, first reported by Fox News Digital, that Meta is ending its fact-checking program and lifting restrictions on speech to "restore free expression" across Facebook, Instagram and Meta platforms, admitting its current content moderation practices have "gone too far."
"Jaw dropping—he explicitly says Meta will ‘adopt a system like X has of community notes’ because of the bias/abuse of 3rd party fact checkers," Independent Women's Forum visiting fellow Lyndsey Fifield posted on X in response to Meta’s chief global affairs officer, Joel Kaplan, speaking to Fox News Channel’s "Fox & Friends" Tuesday morning for an exclusive interview to discuss the changes.
"There is absolutely 0 chance this would have happened if Trump didn’t win," Abigail Jackson, communications director for GOP Sen. Josh Hawley, posted on X.
"Here is the full video from Mark Zuckerberg announcing the end of censorship and misinformation policies," Breaking Points co-host Sagaar Enjeti posted on X. "I highly recommend you watch all of it as tonally it is one of the biggest indications of ‘elections have consequences’ I have ever seen."
"Zuck is committed to cleaning house," journalist Jordan Schachtel posted on X. "Question the motives or not, this is a very real commitment and it's good news for speech on the internet. Of course, probably not possible to pull off without Trump winning."
Meta’s third-party fact-checking program was put in place after the 2016 election and had been used to "manage content" and misinformation on its platforms, largely due to "political pressure," executives said, but admitted the system has "gone too far."
Since then, the process has drawn the ire of conservatives who have accused the platform of politically driven censoring while pointing to several examples of content being silenced, including the bombshell New York Post reporting on Hunter Biden’s laptop, which Zuckerberg admitted the Biden White House pressured him to do and later called the move a mistake.
Kaplan said Meta currently uses automated systems, which he said make "too many mistakes" and removes content "that doesn’t even violate our standards." He also said there are certain things Meta will continue to moderate, like posts relating to terrorism, illegal drugs and child sexual exploitation.
Zuckerberg also pointed out in his video message on Tuesday that moderation teams will be moving from California to Texas, where he suggested there will be "less concern about the bias of our teams."
"We’re going to get back to our roots and focus on reducing mistakes, simplifying our policies and restoring free expression on our platforms," Zuckerberg said. "More specifically, we’re going to get rid of fact-checkers and replace them with Community Notes similar to X, starting in the U.S."
Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is moving forward with a regulatory rule in the final days of the Biden administration that would effectively ban cigarettes currently on the market in favor of products with lower nicotine levels, which could end up boosting business for cartels operating on the black market, an expert tells Fox News Digital.
"Biden's ban is a gift with a bow and balloons to organized crime cartels with it, whether it's cartels, Chinese organized crime, or Russian mafia. It's going to keep America smoking, and it's going to make the streets more violent," Rich Marianos, former assistant director of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the current chair of the Tobacco Law Enforcement Network, told Fox News Digital of the proposal.
The FDA confirmed to Fox Digital on Monday that as of Jan. 3, the Tobacco Product Standard for Nicotine Level of Certain Tobacco Products had completed a regulatory review, but that the proposed rule has not yet been finalized.
"The proposed rule, ‘Tobacco Product Standard for Nicotine Level of Certain Tobacco Products,’ is displaying in the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) ROCIS system as having completed regulatory review on January 3," an FDA spokesman told Fox Digital. "As the FDA has previously said, a proposed product standard to establish a maximum nicotine level to reduce the addictiveness of cigarettes and certain other combusted tobacco products, when finalized, is estimated to be among the most impactful population-level actions in the history of U.S. tobacco product regulation. At this time, the FDA cannot provide any further comment until it is published."
Fox New Digital reached out to the White House regarding concerns over the proposal if it were to take effect but did not receive a response.
Former President Barack Obama signed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act in 2009, which granted the FDA the power to regulate tobacco products. In the years since, the agency has worked to lower nicotine levels, including in July 2017 under the Trump administration, when then-FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb announced it would seek to require tobacco companies to drastically cut nicotine in cigarettes in an effort to help adult smokers quit.
In 2022, the FDA under the Biden administration announced plans for the proposed rule that would lower levels of nicotine so they were less addictive or non-addictive.
"Lowering nicotine levels to minimally addictive or non-addictive levels would decrease the likelihood that future generations of young people become addicted to cigarettes and help more currently addicted smokers to quit," FDA Commissioner Robert Califf said at the time.
Lowering the levels of nicotine in commonly purchased cigarettes and other tobacco products would open the floodgates to the illicit trafficking of tobacco products into the U.S., Marianos told Fox News Digital.
"This decision is being thrown down the public's throat without one ounce of thought and preparation. Nobody sat down with law enforcement, nobody sat down with any doctors, No one sat down with any regulators to find out, ‘Hey, look, what are the unintended ramifications of such a poor choice,’ and that's what I'm going to call it, a poor choice," Marianos said.
He explained that Mexican cartels are well-positioned to bring illegal tobacco across the border, as they do with substances such as fentanyl that have devastated communities across the U.S., while Chinese criminal organizations have some of the best counterfeit operations stretching from baby formula to cigarettes, and Russian organized crime groups have their foot in the door in cities across the nation, including in bodegas and other stores that sell tobacco products.
Marianos said that criminal groups would likely quickly catch on to the proposal if it takes effect and subsequently amplify their tobacco operations – which he says will serve as an economic boon for the criminals.
Americans who want to purchase cigarettes with higher levels of nicotine would then need to go through the illicit channels to obtain them, similar to buying "loosie" cigarettes on the streets of New York, putting average Americans at further criminal risk while also offering them cigarettes that are not regulated and originating from foreign nations.
Both Democrat and Republican lawmakers have already warned that tobacco trafficking in the U.S. poses a grave national security threat and already has its foot in the door.
"In 2015, the State Department cited activity by terrorist groups, and criminal networks who have used tobacco trafficking operations to finance other crimes, including ‘money laundering, bulk cash smuggling, and the trafficking in humans, weapons, drugs, antiquities, diamonds, and counterfeit goods,’" Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La.; Mark Warner, D-Va.; Marco Rubio, R-Fla.; Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn.; and then-Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., wrote in a 2023 letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
"Recently, public reporting has also noted these financial linkages between Mexican transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) involved in narcotics and fentanyl trafficking, and these tobacco smuggling activities. Mexican TCOs pose a grave threat to American national security and public health."
Marianos added that in addition to the criminal effect posed to America and its residents, lowering nicotine levels would also defeat the stated mission of weaning smokers off cigarettes and instead lead to an increase in smoking.
"You're going to create more smoking. And I thought that's what we're trying to get away from, right? Smoking is bad. I thought we're trying to do everything possible to get away from that and get the country safer. Well, if you take down the nicotine levels, people are going to smoke more. That is proven. All you have to do is just drive here in DC and see, you know workers on their smoke break," he said, saying work productivity will even be driven down as people take more smoke breaks in alleys to get their nicotine fix.
The Biden administration previously attempted to outright ban menthol cigarettes, in what was described as a "critical" piece of President Biden's Cancer Moonshot initiative, but announced last year it was abruptly delaying such regulations as the public decried the move. A handful of groups argued that banning menthol unfairly targeted minority communities, while others argued the ban would open the floodgates to illicit menthol sales.
The House of Representatives is poised to vote on its first piece of federal legislation on Tuesday afternoon.
Lawmakers will be voting on the Laken Riley Act, a bill named after a nursing student who was killed by an illegal immigrant while jogging on the University of Georgia's campus.
The bill would require federal immigration authorities to detain illegal immigrants found guilty of theft-related crimes. It also would allow states to sue the Department of Homeland Security for harm caused to their citizens because of illegal immigration.
Jose Ibarra, who was sentenced to life in prison for Riley's murder, had previously been arrested but was never detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, the agency previously said.
The bill passed the House along bipartisan lines last year after it was first introduced by Rep. Mike Collins, R-Ga.
All voting Republicans plus 37 Democrats voted for the bill by a margin of 251 to 170. All the "no" votes on the bill were Democrats.
It was not taken up in the Senate, however, which at the time was controlled by then-Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
"[T]he Laken Riley Act, sponsored by Rep. Mike Collins, holds the Biden Administration accountable for their role in these tragedies through their open border policies, requires detention of illegal aliens who commit theft and mandates ICE take them into custody, and allows a state to sue the Federal government on behalf of their citizens for not enforcing the border laws, particularly in the case of parole," House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., said in his daily House floor lookout.
"House Republicans won’t stop fighting to secure the border and protect American communities. When will Democrats finally decide enough is enough?"
The Senate is also poised to vote on the bill this week.
It is one of several border security bills House Republicans have reintroduced this year as they prepare to take over all the levers of power in Washington, D.C.
Republicans held the House and took over the Senate in the November elections. President-elect Donald Trump will take office on Jan. 20.
