Days after he was fired by President Donald Trump, former Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Air Force Gen. C.Q. Brown took to social media to express his gratitude for his time in the military.
"I was inspired to serve by my father, who told me, ‘Four years in the military will not hurt you.’ Four years turned into four decades, surrounded by the finest service members and civilians from across our Nation," Brown posted to LinkedIn.
Brown wrote that it was his "distinct honor" to end his military career as Joint Chiefs chairman and that he used his position to focus on warfighting, modernization and trust.
"The Joint Force’s commitment to our security has never been more critical. I’m confident you will continue to stand resolute in defense of our Nation," Brown wrote, in part.
Brown was the second Black general to serve as Joint Chiefs chairman, following the now late Gen. Colin Powell's term from 1989 to 1993. He served in the position for 16 months before Trump's decision to relieve him.
"I want to thank General Charles ‘CQ’ Brown for his over 40 years of service to our country, including as our current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He is a fine gentleman and an outstanding leader, and I wish a great future for him and his family," Trump posted on social media.
Trump has said he will be nominating retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan "Razin" Caine to be the next chairman.
Caine is an F-16 pilot who served on active duty and in the National Guard. He has also served most recently as the associate director for military affairs at the CIA, as stated by his military biography.
The move to nominate Caine has been controversial as he has not held the key assignments identified by law as prerequisites for the job, although that requirement can be waived if the "president determines such action is necessary in the national interest," according to U.S. Code.
A member of the Boston City Council called out Border Czar Tom Homan in a post on social media, calling his promises to enforce President Donald Trump's border policy "laughable."
Councilwoman Sharon Durkan posted her response on X after Homan said he would "bring hell" to Beantown after Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox recently doubled down on the city’s sanctuary policies.
"You said you doubled down on not helping the law enforcement officers of ICE. I'm coming to Boston, and I'm bringing hell with me," Homan said at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Saturday. "I looked at the numbers this morning... I stopped counting at nine. Nine child rapists that were in jail in Massachusetts, but rather than honoring an ICE detainer, you released them back into the street."
"You're not a police commissioner," Homan continued. "Take that badge off your chest. Put it in the desk drawer. Because you became a politician. You forgot what it’s like to be a cop."
Durkan responded by mocking Homan for briefly serving as a police officer in the village of West Carthage, New York, in the 1980s. He became a Border Patrol agent soon after, and has since worked for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the Obama administration, as well as the first Trump administration.
"Laughable that someone who spent their career policing a town smaller than a Fenway Park crowd thinks they can lecture Boston on public safety," Durkan's post read.
"Commissioner Michael Cox serves with distinction and earns trust with integrity," the city official continued. "Tom Homan should know, we don’t scare easy."
In a recent interview, Cox said that Boston "doesn't enforce detainers" that are filed by ICE, per Massachusetts law.
"We just don’t do that," Cox said on a segment of WCVB’s "On the Record" show. "We don’t enforce civil detainers regarding federal immigration law. It's defined here in the state, and that’s just how it works."
The Boston office of ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) has overseen the arrest of several criminal migrants in recent weeks, including MS-13 gang members.
Earlier this month, ERO Boston officers apprehended an illegal alien from Guatemala who was charged with multiple counts of child rape.
Fox News Digital reached out to Durkan for comment, but did not immediately hear back.
Fox News Digital's Peter Pinedo and Greg Wehner contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump announced that Dan Bongino will serve as the next deputy director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
"Great news for Law Enforcement and American Justice," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social on Sunday night. "Dan Bongino, a man of incredible love and passion for our Country, has just been named the next DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE FBI, by the man who will be the best ever Director, Kash Patel."
The president said Bongino has a Master’s Degree in Psychology from the City University of New York and an MBA from Penn State.
"He was a member of the New York Police Department (New York’s Finest!), a highly respected Special Agent with the United States Secret Service, and is now one of the most successful Podcasters in the Country, something he is willing and prepared to give up in order to serve," Trump wrote. "Working with our great new United States Attorney General, Pam Bondi, and Director Patel, Fairness, Justice, Law and Order will be brought back to America, and quickly. Congratulations Dan!"
The Trump administration is eliminating over a thousand positions at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), while also placing the majority of the remaining staff members on administration leave globally, just before midnight Sunday.
The Associated Press reported that it learned from the Trump administration that 1,600 posts would be eliminated after reviewing notices that were sent to USAID workers.
"As of 11:59 p.m. EST on Sunday, February 23, 2025, all USAID direct hire personnel, with the exception of designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership and/or specially designated programs, will be placed on administrative leave globally," the notices read.
The Trump administration intends on leaving fewer than 300 staffers on the job, out of the current 8,000 contractors and direct hires.
The less than 300 remaining staff, along with an unknown number of the 5,000 locally hired international staff members abroad, will run the few life-saving programs that the administration said it intends to keep in place for the time being.
Sacked USAID staffers left their Washington, D.C., offices for the last time on Friday, with some carrying boxes scrawled with messages that seemed to be directed at Trump, who is slashing the agency's workforce.
"We are abandoning the world," read one message on a box containing belongings being hauled out by a grinning staffer as she walked out of USAID's Bureau of Humanitarian Affairs office.
Another smiling staffer’s box had a more upbeat tone, with her message reading: "You can take the humanitarians out of USAID but you can’t take the humanity out of the humanitarians."
Thousands of staffers had been notified weeks ago of their pending dismissals, and on Friday, U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols lifted a temporary restraining order he had issued at the outset of a lawsuit filed by government employee unions seeking a stop to the mass layoffs. After lifting the temporary restraining order, Nichols declined to issue a longer-term order that would have kept the employees in their posts.
Trump has moved to gut the agency after imposing a 90-day pause on foreign aid. He also appointed Secretary of State Marco Rubio as the acting director of USAID.
The agency has come under fire by the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) for alleged wasteful spending.
For instance, Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, the Senate DOGE Caucus Chairwoman, recently published a list of projects and programs she says USAID has helped fund over the years, including $20 million to produce a Sesame Street show in Iraq.
Several more examples of questionable spending have been uncovered at USAID, including more than $900,000 to a "Gaza-based terror charity" called Bayader Association for Environment and Development and a $1.5 million program slated to "advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in Serbia's workplaces and business communities."
Fox News Digital’s Michael Dorgan and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The Trump administration is eliminating thousands of positions at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), while also placing the majority of the remaining staff members on administration leave globally, just before midnight Sunday.
The Associated Press reported that it learned from the Trump administration that 2,000 posts would be eliminated, after reviewing notices that were sent to USAID workers.
"As of 11:59 p.m. EST on Sunday, February 23, 2025, all USAID direct hire personnel, with the exception of designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership and/or specially designated programs, will be placed on administrative leave globally," the notices read.
The Trump administration intends on leaving fewer than 300 staffers on the job, out of the current 8,000 contractors and direct hires.
The less than 300 remaining staff, along with an unknown number of the 5,000 locally hired international staff members abroad, will run the few life-saving programs that the administration said it intends to keep in place for the time being.
Sacked USAID staffers left their Washington, D.C., offices for the last time on Friday, with some carrying boxes scrawled with messages that seemed to be directed at Trump, who is slashing the agency's workforce.
"We are abandoning the world," read one message on a box containing belongings being hauled out by a grinning staffer as she walked out of USAID's Bureau of Humanitarian Affairs office.
Another smiling staffer’s box had a more upbeat tone, with her message reading: "You can take the humanitarians out of USAID but you can’t take the humanity out of the humanitarians."
Thousands of staffers had been notified weeks ago of their pending dismissals, and on Friday, U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols lifted a temporary restraining order he had issued at the outset of a lawsuit filed by government employee unions seeking a stop to the mass layoffs. After lifting the temporary restraining order, Nichols declined to issue a longer-term order that would have kept the employees in their posts.
Trump has moved to gut the agency after imposing a 90-day pause on foreign aid. He also appointed Secretary of State Marco Rubio as the acting director of USAID.
The agency has come under fire by the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) for alleged wasteful spending.
For instance, Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, the Senate DOGE Caucus Chairwoman, recently published a list of projects and programs she says USAID has helped fund over the years, including $20 million to produce a Sesame Street show in Iraq.
Several more examples of questionable spending have been uncovered at USAID, including more than $900,000 to a "Gaza-based terror charity" called Bayader Association for Environment and Development and a $1.5 million program slated to "advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in Serbia's workplaces and business communities."
Fox News Digital’s Michael Dorgan and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
On Feb. 23, 1945, six Marines teamed up for what would become one of the most iconic photos in American history.
Marines fighting on Iwo Jima scaled Mount Suribachi and worked together to push up an American flag, a moment that was captured by military photographers and later became an enduring symbol of the Allied victory over Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan in World War II.
Marines initially invaded Iwo Jima on Feb. 19, 1945, as part of the U.S. island-hopping campaign in the Pacific, and it took four days to gain the summit of Suribachi, according to a Department of Defense report.
"The taking of the 554-foot hill was significant, in that it suppressed the fire from Japanese who were dug in and who had prime vantage of much of the island," the DOD report reads.
Fighting continued on the island until March 26, resulting in the injury or death of about 27,000 Marines and sailors.
The brutal fighting also led to the deaths of 21,000 Japanese soldiers, who defended the island through a series of caves, tunnels and pillboxes.
Yet the photo from four days into the battle remains its enduring image, spreading rapidly throughout the world and becoming a powerful recruiting and morale tool for the U.S. government.
"The photo was the centerpiece of a war-bond poster that helped raise $26 billion in 1945," the Pulitzer Prize Board wrote in its online account of the image.
While the identity of the men in the photo has been the subject of decades of debate, the most recent research suggests the men are, from left, Pfc. Ira Hayes, Pfc. Harold Schultz, Sgt. Michael Strank, Pfc. Franklin Sousley, Pfc. Harold Keller and Cpl. Harlon Block.
But the image has endured the test of time, being duplicated on everything from postage stamps to a memorial just north of Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va.
President Donald Trump celebrated on Sunday after German conservative opposition leader Friedrich Merz claimed victory in a national election, ousting Social Democrat incumbent Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
"LOOKS LIKE THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY IN GERMANY HAS WON THE VERY BIG AND HIGHLY ANTICIPATED ELECTION," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. "MUCH LIKE THE USA, THE PEOPLE OF GERMANY GOT TIRED OF THE NO COMMON SENSE AGENDA, ESPECIALLY ON ENERGY AND IMMIGRATION, THAT HAS PREVAILED FOR SO MANY YEARS.
"THIS IS A GREAT DAY FOR GERMANY, AND FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF A GENTLEMAN NAMED DONALD J. TRUMP," he added. "CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL — MANY MORE VICTORIES TO FOLLOW!!!"
Germany’s center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) won Sunday's national election, with the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) finishing a strong second, according to exit polls.
The snap election came as the European nation grapples with illegal immigration and a souring economy. CDU leader Merz is expected to take a harder line than Scholz on immigration, though not as much as AfD supporters have called for.
Merz, whose party got about 29% of the vote, must form a coalition with one or more of the other parties, but has said he will not do so with AfD.
Merz has said he will execute a 15-point plan to tackle immigration, including tightening the borders and deporting rejected asylum seekers. AfD wants to deport migrants en masse.
While the AfD may be frozen out of the incoming coalition, it doubled its vote total from the last election.
Endorsed by Trump and Elon Musk, and led by Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla, the party believes it has built momentum for the next election, expected in 2029.
President Donald Trump is set to have another busy week meeting with foreign leaders in the nation's capital as administration leaders continue working out a potential peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.
Trump will meet with U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron in his fifth week back in the Oval Office, national security advisor Mike Waltz said on Fox News' "America Reports." The announcement follows Macron calling for an emergency meeting of world leaders after the Trump administration excluded Europe from sitting at the negotiating table to settle the war between Ukraine and Russia.
"Just a few months ago, everyone was talking about this war as though it would never end," Waltz said on "America Reports" after confirming Starmer and Macron will visit Washington, D.C. "In just a very short amount of time, President Trump has us, everyone – the Ukrainians, the Russians, the Europeans – talking about it now and debating.… Only President Trump could drive that shift in conversation. And we have to acknowledge that that's happened."
Waltz, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff met in Riyadh last week with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and President Vladimir Putin’s foreign affairs advisor Yuri Ushakov to hash out ways to end the conflict. Ukraine was absent from the negotiations in Saudi Arabia.
Ukraine's lack of involvement sparked President Vlodomyr Zelenskyy to double down on the stance that his nation will not accept a peace deal unless they are a part of the negotiation process.
Zelenskyy told reporters Tuesday in Turkey that "nobody decides anything behind our back," after stressing in recent days that Kyiv will not agree to a peace negotiation without Ukraine’s input.
Trump amplified his rhetoric against Zelenskyy last week, including arguing Zelenskyy is a poor negotiator and that he's "sick of it."
"I've been watching this man for years now as his cities get demolished, as his people get killed, as his soldiers get decimated," Trump told Fox News' Brian Kilmeade last week. "I've been watching him negotiate with no cards. He has no cards, and you get sick of it," he continued. "You just get sick of it, and I've had it."
"I get tired of listening to it," Trump responded. "I've seen it enough, and then he complains that he's not at a meeting that we're having with Saudi Arabia trying to intermediate peace. Well, he's been at meetings for three years with a... president who didn't know what the hell he was doing. He's been at the meetings for three years and nothing got done, so I don't think he's very important to be at meetings, to be honest with you. He's been there for three years. He's he makes it very hard to make deals."
Trump added on Friday that Macron and Starmer "haven’t done anything" since 2022 to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.
Trump's recent remarks on Zelenskyy have apparently alarmed European leaders who have backed Ukraine throughout the war. Macron previewed in remarks on Thursday that he will reportedly take a tough tone with Trump during their meeting.
"Trump, I know him. I respect him and I believe he respects me," Macron, who will meet with Trump on Monday, said during a question-and-answer session on social media. "I will tell him: deep down you cannot be weak in the face of President (Vladimir Putin). It's not you, it's not what you're made of, and it's not in your interests."
Starmer, who is slated to meet with Trump on Thursday, said on Sunday in Scotland that there cannot be peace talks without Ukraine's input.
"Nobody wants the bloodshed to continue. Nobody, least of all the Ukrainians," he said Sunday, according to Reuters.
"But after everything that they have suffered, after everything that they have fought for, there could be no discussion about Ukraine without Ukraine, and the people of Ukraine must have a long-term secure future."
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt spoke to members of the media on Saturday following CPAC, saying a peace deal could be reached as soon as this week.
"The president, his team are very much focused on continuing negotiations with both sides of this war to end the conflict, and the president is very confident we can get it done this week," she said.
Fox News Digital's Bailee Hill, Morgan Phillips and Diana Stancy contributed to this report.
The Department of Defense (DOD) told its civilian workforce to ignore billionaire and head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Elon Musk’s request to report their productivity.
In a letter to DOD personnel, Darin S. Selnick, who is performing the duties of the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, provided guidance on how to handle Musk’s demand through the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).
"DoD personnel may have received an email from OPM requesting information. The Department of Defense is responsible for reviewing the performance of its personnel and it will conduct any review in accordance with its own procedures," Selnick wrote. "When and if required, the Department will coordinate responses to the email you have received from OPM. For now, please pause any response to the OPM email titled, ‘What did you do last week.’"
Musk, a senior advisor to President Donald Trump, said earlier on Saturday that employees would receive an email giving them a chance to explain how productive they were the previous week. If an employee fails to respond to the email, Musk said the government will interpret that as a resignation.
"Consistent with President @realDonaldTrump’s instructions, all federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week," Musk wrote on X. "Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation."
Later that day, Musk said the report should take under five minutes for employees to write. The deadline for responding to the email is 11:59 p.m. on Monday.
"To be clear, the bar is very low here. An email with some bullet points that make any sense at all is acceptable! Should take less than 5 mins to write," Musk wrote on X.
A spokesperson from OPM confirmed Musk's plans.
"As part of the Trump Administration's commitment to an efficient and accountable federal workforce, OPM is asking employees to provide a brief summary of what they did last week by the end of Monday, CC'ing their manager," the spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "Agencies will determine any next steps."
Also telling employees to stand down was Kash Patel, who was confirmed by the Senate last week as the new director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
"FBI personnel may have received an email from OPM requesting information," Patel told employees, according to The Associated Press. "The FBI, through the Office of the Director, is in charge of all of our review processes, and will conduct reviews in accordance with FBI procedures. When and if further information is required, we will coordinate the responses. For now, please pause any responses."
The State Department also reportedly issued a similar message to employees on Saturday, informing them that department officials "will respond on behalf of the Department," according to a message sent by Ambassador Tibor P. Nagy, who serves as acting under secretary of state for management.
Fox News Digital's Landon Mion, Andrea Margolis and Fox News' Patrick Ward contributed to this report.
Popular TV host Mike Rowe believes that President Donald Trump’s policies will be better for the country in the long run.
Asked by Fox News Digital how he feels about Trump’s first few weeks back in office, Rowe indicated that he is "happy" with what he has seen so far and optimistic about the future outlook.
"I’m a one-issue guy, I got a foundation, we’re trying to close the skills gap, he wants to bring manufacturing back, and I am all for it," Rowe said of Trump from the Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday. "But right now we got 7.2 million men, able-bodied, who are not looking for work. They’re just sitting out of the workforce. And we’ve got giant shortages already in dozens of skilled trades, so I think part of what has to happen is a PR campaign to reinvigorate the trades as we bring back the manufacturing."
Rowe noted that he is willing to put his money where his mouth is to assist the effort and indicated he was available to help Trump with the issue as well.
"I got a million bucks I am giving away this month to microworks.org to help train the next generation of skilled workers. If I could be of use in any other capacity in that regard, I am at his disposal," Rowe said.
Touching on Trump’s tariff and trade policies, Rowe acknowledged the possibility of some short-term pain for American industries but argued the payoff would be worth it in the end.
"Yes, they will hurt short term. Is it worth it long term?" Rowe said. "Look, do you want to be dependent on China? Do you want to be reliant on other countries? These are really simple, fundamental questions. If the answer is we want to be more independent, there’s going to be some short-term pain."
"I think it will be worth it to be less reliant on countries who hate us," Rowe added. "I think it will be worth it to be less dependent on countries that aren’t terribly concerned with what’s best for us. I am all for an equal playing field, and I am all for every kind of independence we can muster, whether it's energy independence, economic independence, workforce independence, all of it."
Pope Francis signed a letter of resignation in 2013 to be used in case he was forced from his duties as a result of bad health.
"I have already signed my resignation. Tarcisio Bertone was Secretary of State. I signed it and I told him: ‘In case of impediment for medical reasons or whatever, here is my resignation,’" the Pope said during a 2022 interview, according to a report at the time from the New York Post.
The resurfaced interview comes as Francis has been hospitalized for over a week and was reported to be in critical condition after suffering an asthmatic respiratory crisis on Saturday, according to a report from the Associated Press.
Francis also received blood transfusions after tests revealed he had a low platelet count, according to a Reuters report.
Francis, who turned 88 in December, has long faced questions about what he would do if health issues left him unable to carry out his duties. Such questions would have been unheard of prior to 2013, when Pope Benedict XVI resigned, becoming the first papal resignation in over 600 years.
Francis revealed during the 2022 interview that he gave his resignation letter to the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, a holdover from Benedict XVI, about six months after being elected to the papacy in March 2013.
"You have it. I don’t know to whom Cardinal Bertone may have given it, but I gave it to him when he was secretary of state," Francis said at the time.
As Francis continued his hospitalization in Rome on Sunday, he shared a message thanking those who have kept him in their prayers during his health struggle.
"I have recently received many messages of affection, and I have been particularly struck by the letters and drawings from children," Pope Francis posted on X Sunday. "Thank you for your closeness, and for the consoling prayers I have received from all over the world!"
"I urge you to continue your apostolate with joy and to be a sign of a love that embraces everyone, as the #GospelOfTheDay suggests," another post said. "May we transform evil into goodness and build a fraternal world. Do not be afraid to take risks for love!"
Latest Political News and Updates from BBC
Latest Political News on Fox News
