The country's top weather and climate monitoring agency has become the latest target of layoffs within the federal government, according to Democratic lawmakers speaking out against the Trump administration.
At least 880 workers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the country's national weather service, were fired Thursday, Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., said in a press release as the Trump administration works to downsize and cut federal costs.
"The firings jeopardize our ability to forecast and respond to extreme weather events like hurricanes, wildfires and floods — putting communities in harm’s way," Cantwell added.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., in a post on X Thursday, seconded Cantwell's claim, writing, "Today, we learned that Trump and Musk are firing HUNDREDS of vital NOAA employees — another blatantly illegal action that must be stopped."
"Once again, the reckless Trump Administration is inflicting tremendous harm upon the American people. Today, hundreds of employees at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), including weather forecasters at the National Weather Service (NWS), were given termination notices for no good reason," Meng wrote in a statement.
The reported layoffs come just weeks after Van Hollen said he heard reports that Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was "targeting" the weather agency in early February.
Daniel Swain, a climate scientist at UCLA, wrote the cuts were "profoundly alarming" and affected "meteorologists, data and computer scientists responsible for maintaining and upgrading weather predictive models, and technicians responsible for maintaining the nation's weather instrumentation network.
"This is not, in short, an acceptable setting in which to ‘move fast and break things.'"
A NOAA spokesperson told Fox News Digital, "Per long-standing practice, we are not discussing internal personnel and management matters," adding the agency "remains dedicated to its mission, providing timely information, research and resources that serve the American public and ensure our nation’s environmental and economic resilience."
President Donald Trump believes former President Joe Biden or his son, Hunter Biden, left behind the infamous bag of cocaine at the White House in 2023, the 47th president revealed in a recent interview.
"So … who actually left the cocaine in the White House?" The Spectator's Ben Domenech asked Trump in an interview at the White House Thursday afternoon.
"Well, either Joe or Hunter," Trump responded. "Could be Joe, too."
The bag of cocaine was discovered July 2, 2023, in a storage locker near the entrance to the White House's West Wing. The Secret Service discovered the small bag of cocaine and launched an investigation, which turned up inconclusive for a suspect.
"That was such a terrible thing because, you know, those bins are very loaded up with … they’re not clean, and they have hundreds and even thousands of fingerprints," Trump said of the discovery. "And when they went to look at it, it was absolutely stone cold, wiped dry. You know that, right?"
Trump added that the lockers typically are covered with fingerprints, but that the locker containing the bag of cocaine "was wiped out with, with the strongest form of alcohol."
The Biden family, including the former president and his son, Hunter Biden, were not staying at the White House when the cocaine was discovered. Instead, the family was staying at presidential retreat Camp David in Maryland.
Hunter Biden has a long and well-documented history with substance abuse, and he detailed his hourly need for crack cocaine in his 2021 memoir, "Beautiful Things." He has since gone through recovery efforts and has been sober since 2019, according to sworn testimony in federal court in 2023.
Former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was grilled about the cocaine when it was found but stressed the Biden family was not at the White House when it was discovered in a high-traffic area of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
"The Biden family was not here," Jean-Pierre said during a July 2023 press conference when pressed about the cocaine.
"They were not here. They were at Camp David," she said. "They were not here Friday. They were not here Saturday or Sunday. They were not even here Monday. They came back on Tuesday. So, to ask that question is actually incredibly irresponsible, and I’ll just leave it there."
Shortly after the Secret Service announced it had discovered the cocaine, the agency announced it had closed its investigation and could not determine a suspect.
"There was no surveillance video footage found that provided investigative leads or any other means for investigators to identify who may have deposited the found substance in this area," the Secret Service said in a statement announcing an end to the investigation.
"Without physical evidence, the investigation will not be able to single out a person of interest from the hundreds of individuals who passed through the vestibule where the cocaine was discovered."
Fox News Digital reached out to Biden's office and Hunter Biden's legal team for comment on Trump's remarks but did not immediately receive a reply.
Ukraine lost hundreds of troops on the battlefield on the same day Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a fiery fallout with President Donald Trump in the White House – underlining the high-stakes nature of the tense negotiations.
The Ukrainian army lost over 220 troops in the Kursk Region in the past day, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement, per the Russian news agency Tass. The Kursk region, also known as Kursk Oblast, is located in western Russia and borders the northeastern part of Ukraine.
The troops were killed as 11 armored combat vehicles, 12 motor vehicles and seven artillery pieces were destroyed by the Russian army.
An infantry fighting vehicle, an armored personnel carrier, seven drone control points and an ammunition depot were also "wiped out," the statement reads.
The heavy losses come as talks between Trump and Zelenskyy publicly fell apart on Friday, in a discussion where Vice President JD Vance highlighted Ukraine’s struggles to recruit troops.
"During the war, everybody has problems, even you. But you have a nice ocean and don't feel [it] now, but you will feel it in the future," Zelenskyy said.
That comment irked Trump and drew him into the clash which ultimately led to the talks falling apart, a canceled press conference and a minerals deal off the table.
Exact numbers of war casualties are hard to quantify due to conflicting reports and limited access to reliable data.
Trump has previously said that "millions" of troops have perished, but Zelenskyy reported earlier this month that around 45,100 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed with an additional 390,000 wounded.
A report by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) estimates that a minimum of 172,000 Russian troops have been killed and 611,000 wounded, of which at least 376,000 are severely wounded.
Trump accused Zelenskyy of "disrespecting" the U.S. during their meeting Friday and said the Ukrainian leader was not ready to secure peace for his country.
"I have determined that President Zelenskyy is not ready for peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations," Trump said in a Truth Social post Friday. "I don't want advantage, I want PEACE. He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace."
Russia and Ukraine have been at war since February 2022, when Russia first invaded its neighboring nation. Trump had repeatedly said while on the campaign trail that if he had been president in 2022, the war would not have broken out — vowing to end it if re-elected.
Fox News’ Diane Stancy and Emma Colton contributed to this report.
As the prospect of a mid-March government shutdown looms, President Donald Trump endorsed the idea of a continuing resolution to fund the government through the end of September.
"As usual, Sleepy Joe Biden left us a total MESS. The Budget from last YEAR is still not done. We are working very hard with the House and Senate to pass a clean, temporary government funding Bill ("CR") to the end of September. Let’s get it done!" he declared in a Thursday night Truth Social post.
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital in a statement on Friday that he will back Trump's request.
"I will support President Trump's request for a clean CR to hold spending flat while DOGE continues to identify cuts, the administration re-programs those funds, and Congress readies a strong FY26 appropriation package that cuts waste and reflects DOGE and common sense," the congressman noted in the statement.
House Speaker Mike Johnson has indicated that "anomalies" can be inserted into a CR to increase or decrease spending, noting that language could be added to reflect spending changes like cuts associated with USAID.
Johnson made the comments during a Wednesday appearance on CNN after Kaitlan Collins asked him if passing a CR would "refund" programs Elon Musk has been seeking to slash.
Johnson said he thinks a continuing resolution would largely be a "clean CR," with changes to account for the "new realities" of "less government" and "more efficiency."
"I would have a real hard time voting for a clean [continuing resolution] after everything that we’ve seen out of DOGE," Rep. Eli Crane, R-Ariz., said, according to The Hill.
Fox News Digital reached out to Crane's office on Friday to request a comment from the congressman. "I have little confidence that Congress will be able to keep up with President Trump," Crane said in a statement emailed over by a staffer who explained the lawmaker was referring to the prospect of Congress making the Trump administration's actions permanent via legislation.
"Why are we even having DOGE if we’re not gonna solidify and put it in the CR?" Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., asked, according to The Hill.
Fox News Digital reached out to Norman's office on Friday, but the office did not provide a comment from the congressman.
CQ Roll Call reported that it obtained a list of anomalies that the White House budget office sent to lawmakers this week.
The document titled "FY 2025 FULL-YEAR CONTINUING RESOLUTION ASSUMPTIONS," includes some proposed anomalies to increase spending but others to decrease spending.
For example, one entry on the list notes, "An anomaly is needed to provide the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program with an additional $3,654 million in order to maintain current services for 2.3 million low-income families in 2025." The document states that, "At the full year CR level, approximately 230,000 households could lose assistance."
But another item goes the other direction, declaring, "An anomaly is needed to include a recurring rescission for the Enforcement account of the Internal Revenue Service in the Department of the Treasury in the amount of $20.2 billion. This anomaly would rescind funding that was enacted in the Inflation Reduction Act," the document notes.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House on Friday to request comment on the CR situation and seek confirmation of the document obtained by CQ Roll Call, but did not receive a response.
Vice President JD Vance defended President Donald Trump and his administration’s foreign policy agenda Friday during a tense exchange with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy — inserting himself into a spotlight rarely seen by vice presidents.
Trump and Vance sparred in the Oval Office Friday with Zelenskyy amid negotiations to end the war in Ukraine — an exchange that ultimately prompted Trump to announce an end to peace negotiations and request that the Ukrainian leader leave the White House.
A source familiar with the meeting told Fox News Digital that there was no expectation of the meeting leading to a combative exchange, and that Trump and Vance were both caught off guard by Zelenskyy’s behavior.
While vice presidents traditionally remain in the wings while the president takes center stage, Friday's encounter with Zelenskyy exposed the weight Vance carries directing and advancing the Trump administration's America First agenda — both at home and abroad.
Edward-Isaac Dovere, a senior CNN reporter, said the moment may have amounted to one of the most significant for the vice presidency, just behind Vice President Dick Cheney's efforts backing the U.S. to invade Iraq.
"Possible that JD Vance today had the most significant 90 seconds of his vice presidency, and the biggest impact any VP other than Cheney has had on shifting American foreign policy in the way he changed the trajectory of the conversation in the Oval Office today," Dovere said in a Friday post on X.
The Oval Office encounter with Zelenskyy also comes on the heels of Vance's Feb. 14 appearance at the Munich Security Conference — an event that left a lasting impression on European nations and their relationships with the U.S.
Specifically, Vance said Russia and China don't pose as great a threat to European nations as the "threat from within," in reference to issues like censorship and illegal immigration.
"To many of us on the other side of the Atlantic, it looks more and more like old entrenched interests hiding behind ugly Soviet-era words like misinformation and disinformation, who simply don’t like the idea that somebody with an alternative viewpoint might express a different opinion or, God forbid, vote a different way, or even worse, win an election," Vance said.
The remarks prompted backlash from European leaders, including German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, who said he interpreted the remarks as a comparison to "conditions in parts of Europe with those in authoritarian regimes."
Tensions escalated in the Oval Office Friday after Zelenskyy pushed back on Vance’s statements that the path forward was through diplomacy, asserting that Russian President Vladimir Putin has broken other agreements in the past.
"What kind of diplomacy, JD, you are speaking about?" Zelenskyy said. "What do you mean?"
In response, Vance said, "I’m talking about the kind of diplomacy that’s going to end the destruction of your country."
"Mr. President, with respect, I think it's disrespectful for you to come into the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media," Vance told Zelenskyy. "Right now, you guys are going around and forcing conscripts to the front lines because you have manpower problems. You should be thanking the president for bringing it, to bring it into this country."
Zelenskyy then asked Vance if he’d ever visited Ukraine, prompting Vance to question again if Zelenskyy disagreed that Ukraine has had challenges recruiting new troops.
"And do you think that it's respectful to come to the Oval Office of the United States of America and attack the administration that is trying to prevent the destruction of your country?" Vance said.
Zelenskyy replied that everyone faces challenges during wartime, and that although an ocean protected the U.S. from Russia, he cautioned that the U.S. would feel the threat eventually.
"Don't tell us what we're going to feel," Trump said. "We're trying to solve a problem. Don't tell us what we're going to feel.
"You are in no position to dictate that, remember that."
Vance and Zelenskyy also sparred when Vance asked if Zelenskyy had ever said "thank you once this entire meeting," prompting Zelenskyy to assert that Vance was speaking "loudly."
Trump then snapped at Zelenskyy and warned him that Ukraine was in "big trouble."
"Wait a minute," Trump said. "No, no, you've done a lot of talking. Your country is in big trouble."
Zelenskyy visited Washington amid negotiations to end the war in Ukraine and was expected to sign a minerals agreement that would allow the U.S. access to Ukraine’s minerals in exchange for support the U.S. has provided the country since Russia's invasion in 2022.
But after the tense exchange in the Oval Office, Trump announced a halt to peace negotiations and said that Zelenskyy could return to the White House when he was "ready for Peace." Additionally, Zelenskyy left the White House without signing the minerals deal.
"I have determined that President Zelenskyy is not ready for peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations," Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Friday. "I don't want advantage, I want PEACE. He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace."
Zelenskyy also followed up with a social media post on X expressing gratitude to the U.S. for its support.
"Thank you America, thank you for your support, thank you for this visit," Zelenskyy said. "Thank you @POTUS, Congress, and the American people. Ukraine needs just and lasting peace, and we are working exactly for that."
The exchange prompted mixed reactions from those on Capitol Hill. Republican Sen. Lindsay Graham of South Carolina said Zelenskyy should resign, while Democrat Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said that "Trump and Vance are doing Putin’s dirty work."
The Associated Press and Fox News’ Emma Colton contributed to this report.
Democrats and Republicans in Congress are gearing up to blame each other for a potential partial government shutdown next month, even as negotiations to avoid the pitfall continue.
"The federal government will run out of money on March 14. Republicans, who control Congress and thus decide whether the government shuts down, will bring to the floor tomorrow arguably one of the worst budget bills ever," Rep. Greg Landsman, D-Ohio, wrote on X recently.
With just over 10 days left in session before the deadline, congressional Republicans are tentatively looking at passing a short-term extension of last year's federal funding, known as a continuing resolution (CR), while potentially modifying it to account for priorities set by President Donald Trump, Fox News Digital was told.
It could also include extra funding for military readiness to ease defense hawks' concerns.
Trump himself weighed in on Truth Social on Thursday night: "We are working very hard with the House and Senate to pass a clean, temporary government funding Bill ("CR") to the end of September. Let's get it done!"
But Republicans have drawn a red line at Democrats' demands for added assurances that Trump will not move to unilaterally cut cash flows already appropriated by Congress.
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Cole, R-Okla., said in a closed-door GOP meeting last week that the Democrats' price was too high, a lawmaker at the meeting told Fox News Digital.
On Friday, the top two Democratic negotiators released a blistering statement accusing Republicans of "walking away from bipartisan negotiations to fund the government — and raising the risk of a shutdown in so doing."
And Democratic lawmakers for weeks have already been positioning to place the blame on Republicans if no agreement is reached.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., dodged a question from Fox News Digital earlier this week about whether Democratic leaders would encourage their members to reject a funding bill if it did not meet their demands.
"The appropriations process at this moment is in the hands of [House Appropriations Committee ranking member Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn.] on behalf of House Democrats," he said.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., wrote on X this week, "Republicans are spending precious time trying to cater to the wishes of Trump’s billionaire buddies INSTEAD OF working to avoid a disastrous government shutdown that would hurt tens of millions of American families. Democrats are fighting for families."
Since Republicans took back control of the House in 2023, any government funding bill that's been signed into law has needed Democratic support in both chambers to pass.
But this year, some Democrats are arguing that Republicans will fully own a shutdown, since they now control both chambers of Congress and the White House.
Republicans, however, have accused Democrats of being unreasonable and are readying to blame them if a shutdown occurs.
"If that happens, that's because the Democrats do not want to do the necessary work of getting waste and inefficiency out of our government," Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., told Fox News' Bill Hemmer.
House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., suggested liberals were still playing hardball earlier this week during his weekly press conference.
"If they are interested in collaborating with us and us putting up votes to fund government, then they have to work with us. If they walk away, that is a signal that they have this on their own… We're not interested in putting up votes just because," he said.
"We're interested in funding a government that protects vulnerable populations, protects our communities, makes investments in our national security and defense. Those are the things that Democrats care about. If Republicans don't want to partner with us, then, clearly they must have a strategy to fund this on their own, using their own votes."
Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Patty Murray, D-Wash., said Democrats "are at the table negotiating in good faith to fund the government."
"But Republicans are the majority in the House and Senate. If they want our votes, they need to work with us," she said, warning Republicans not to "follow [Elon Musk] toward a shutdown."
The Trump administration’s efforts to broker a peace negotiation ending the war in Ukraine came to a halt Friday following a testy exchange between President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The encounter ultimately led to a canceled press conference, Trump requesting Zelenskyy to leave the White House, and the failure to sign a rare-earth minerals deal between the U.S. and Ukraine that would have allowed the U.S. access to Ukraine’s minerals.
Tensions escalated in the Oval Office after Zelenskyy challenged Vance, who said that the path forward was through diplomacy. Instead, Zelenskyy issued a caution and noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin has broken other agreements in the past.
"What kind of diplomacy, JD, you are speaking about?" Zelenskyy said. "What do you mean?"
In response, Vance said: "I’m talking about the kind of diplomacy that’s going to end the destruction of your country."
"Mr. President, with respect, I think it's disrespectful for you to come into the Oval Office to try to litigate this in front of the American media," Vance told Zelenskyy. "Right now, you guys are going around and forcing conscripts to the front lines because you have manpower problems. You should be thanking the president for bringing it, to bring it into this country."
Trump also snapped at Zelenskyy and warned him that Ukraine was in "big trouble" and was "gambling with World War III."
Following the encounter, Trump announced a pause to peace negotiations and said that Zelenskyy could return to the White House when he was "ready for Peace." Additionally, Zelenskyy left the White House without signing the minerals deal.
"I have determined that President Zelenskyy is not ready for peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations," Trump said in a Truth Social post Friday. "I don't want advantage, I want PEACE. He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace."
Zelenskyy also followed up with a social media post on X expressing gratitude to the U.S. for its support.
"Thank you America, thank you for your support, thank you for this visit," Zelenskyy said. "Thank you @POTUS, Congress, and the American people. Ukraine needs just and lasting peace, and we are working exactly for that."
Despite the fallout from the meeting, Zelenskyy told Fox News’ Bret Baier on Friday that the relationship between Ukraine and the U.S. could be salvaged.
Here’s what else happened at the White House this week:
The Trump administration also sent a memo instructing agencies across the federal government to launch plans for "large-scale reductions in force" and construct reorganization plans by mid-March.
The White House’s Office of Management and Budget and Office of Personnel Management sent a memo on Wednesday ordering agencies to prepare to cut staffers and share reorganization plans by March 13.
"The federal government is costly, inefficient, and deeply in debt," the memo said. "At the same time, it is not producing results for the American public."
Several federal government roles are exempt from the order, including those "necessary to meet law enforcement, border security, national security, immigration enforcement, or public safety responsibilities," according to the memo.
Trump held his second administration's first meeting with Cabinet members Wednesday, where he shared plans to massively cut the Environmental Protection Agency and seek to retrieve military equipment left in Afghanistan.
Trump revealed that EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin is eyeing cutting 65% of federal employees from the agency.
"I spoke with Lee Zeldin, and he thinks he’s going to be cutting 65 or so percent of the people from Environmental, and we’re going to speed up the process too at the same time," Trump said. "He had a lot of people that weren’t doing their job, they were just obstructionists, and a lot of people that didn’t exist."
Trump also shared that he wanted back the military equipment U.S. troops left behind when withdrawing from Afghanistan, but didn’t share plans on how the U.S. would retrieve the equipment.
"We left billions, tens of billions of dollars worth of equipment behind, brand new trucks," Trump said Wednesday. "You see them display it every year, or their little roadway, someplace where they have a road and they drive the, you know, waving the flag and talking about America ... that’s all the top of the line stuff. I think we should get a lot of that equipment back."
The Taliban seized most of the more than $7 billion worth of equipment U.S. troops left in Afghanistan at the time of the withdrawal in August 2021, according to a Department of Defense report released in 2022.
Trump signed an executive order Friday mandating English as the official language of the U.S. The order eradicates a previous mandate from President Bill Clinton in 2000 requiring federal agencies and recipients of federal funding to issue language assistance to those who don’t speak English.
The executive order allows each federal agency to determine whether it will offer services in languages besides English.
The U.S. is an anomaly in that it has never had an official language, whereas roughly 180 countries out of the 195 countries in the world have official languages, a White House official told Fox News Digital.
Fox News’ Emma Colton and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
A Texas state lawmaker introduced legislation that would amend the state's ban on gender transition procedures or treatment for minors to also apply to adults in the Lone Star State.
H.B. 3399 filed by Rep. Brent Money, a Republican, would change the language in the current law banning gender-transitioning procedures or treatment for children by replacing the word "child" with "person."
Money's proposal would prohibit medical procedures "for the purpose of transitioning a person's biological sex" or "affirming the person's perception of the person's sex" if the perception is not consistent with the person's biological sex.
Surgeries and puberty-blocking drugs would be banned for all Texans under the bill, with exceptions for a doctor prescribing puberty-blocking drugs to a child with parental consent to normalize puberty and for surgery on a person born with a "verifiable genetic disorder of sex development."
People who have already started puberty-blocking medications must be weaned off the drugs in a "medically appropriate" manner that "minimizes the risk of complications."
Texas has an estimated 93,000 transgender adults, making it the state with the third-most, behind only California and Florida, according to the Williams Institute at UCLA's School of Law. About 30,000 Texans between the ages of 13 and 18 are transgender, also making it the state with the third-most, behind California and New York.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, signed a bill in 2023 banning gender-transitioning treatment for transgender youth after the measure was approved by the state legislature.
The law was challenged in the Texas Supreme Court, with the lawsuit that sought to block the law arguing that the ban has devastating consequences for transgender teenagers who are unable to obtain treatment recommended by their doctors and parents, according to Fox 7.
But the court upheld the ban last summer in an 8-1 decision. Only one justice dissented, saying the state Supreme Court was allowing the state to "legislate away fundamental parental rights."
Texas is one of at least 25 states with laws restricting or banning gender-transitioning treatment for transgender minors.
President Donald Trump reclaimed items seized during a 2022 raid on his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, which was executed by former special counsel Jack Smith.
Trump staff members were seen loading boxes onto Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews Friday after the Department of Justice (DOJ) returned them to the president’s possession.
"The Department of Justice has just returned the boxes that Deranged Jack Smith made such a big deal about. They are being brought down to Florida and will someday be part of the Trump Presidential Library," Trump said in a post on Truth Social Friday evening.
"Justice finally won out. I did absolutely nothing wrong. This was merely an attack on a political opponent that, obviously, did not work well. Justice in our Country will now be restored."
The FBI agents seized 33 boxes of documents in August 2022 from Mar-a-Lago, spurring a legal battle that Trump has called a "scam." Former Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Smith to oversee the investigation, resulting in 40 felony counts against Trump, including his alleged violation of the Espionage Act, making false statements to investigators and conspiracy to obstruct justice.
The FBI at the time told a judge there was "probable cause to believe" that classified documents at Mar-a-Lago were being improperly stored and that investigators would find "evidence of obstruction."
Trump pleaded not guilty to the charges and slammed the case as an "Election Inference Scam" promoted by the Biden administration and "Deranged Jack Smith."
"The FBI is giving the President his property back that was taken during the unlawful and illegal raids," White House communications director Steven Cheung said. "We are taking possession of the boxes today and loading them onto Air Force One."
Trump counselor Alina Habba told reporters during a gaggle Friday the boxes were with the FBI and contained personal items.
For example, Habba said the FBI raided Trump’s son Barron’s closet and wife Melania’s closet and went through drawers, making a mockery of the justice system.
She reiterated that personal items like pictures, newspaper articles and things "completely irrelevant" to lawsuits were removed from the home and are now being returned to Trump.
Returning the items to the president, she explained, brought the issue full circle.
"I personally actually carried some of the boxes with the team to get them back to where they belong, which is where they were unlawfully taken from, and that is Florida," Habba said. "So, it is truly an honor and full circle to be on this trip.
"The boxes are going back, and frankly, this was a hoax, as we knew. So, I think that the biggest message in America today is that justice is going to be restored."
Tulsi Gabbard, the new director of national intelligence, thanked President Donald Trump Friday for his "unwavering leadership" after his clash with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a meeting in the Oval Office earlier in the day.
"Thank you @realDonaldTrump for your unwavering leadership in standing up for the interests of the American people, and peace," Gabbard wrote on X Friday evening, hours after the fiery exchange.
"What you said is absolutely true: Zelensky has been trying to drag the United States into a nuclear war with Russia/WW3 for years now, and no one has."
Tensions increased during the Oval Office meeting between Trump, Zelenskyy and Vice President JD Vance about a potential peace deal between Russia and Ukraine after Zelenskyy said Russian President Vladimir Putin couldn't be trusted and had breached other agreements.
Trump and Vice President JD Vance then accused Zelenskyy of not being grateful for the support the U.S. has provided over the years and said the Ukrainian leader was in a "bad position" at the negotiating table.
"You're playing cards," Trump said. "You're gambling with the lives of millions of people. You're gambling with World War III. You're gambling with World War III. And what you're doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country."
After Vance told Zelenskyy Ukraine had manpower and military recruiting problems, Zelenskyy said war means "everybody has problems, even you," adding the U.S. would feel the war "in the future."
"Don't tell us what we're going to feel," Trump responded. "We're trying to solve a problem. Don't tell us what we're going to feel."
Zelenskyy was asked to leave the White House after the exchange, a press conference was canceled and a deal for Ukraine to give the U.S. its rare earth minerals was left unsigned.
"Thank you America, thank you for your support, thank you for this visit," he wrote on X. "Thank you @POTUS, Congress, and the American people. Ukraine needs just and lasting peace, and we are working exactly for that."
The Ukrainian president told Fox News’ Bret Baier in an interview after the meeting he believes Ukrainian-U.S. ties can be salvaged.
"Yes, of course, because it's relations more than two presidents," he said in the exclusive interview on "Special Report." "It's the historical relations, strong relations between our people. And that's why I always began … to thank your people from our people.
"Of course, thankful to the president and, of course, to Congress," he said, "But, first of all, to your people … we wanted very much to have all this strong relations and where it counted. We will have it."
Zelenskyy said he was "not sure we did something bad" when asked about the heated exchange but conceded the dustup was "bad for both sides."
Trump also received support from Republicans like Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said Trump was "standing up for America," while Democrats like Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly wrote on X, "To be clear, the only winner in this shouting match in the Oval Office is Putin. Almost can’t believe this happened."
During a heated exchange between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office on Friday, Ukrainian Ambassador Oksana Markarova appeared distraught with her head in her hand.
The moment was captured in a number of viral photos and videos as Trump questioned Zelenskyy about not wanting a ceasefire with Russia at a live White House press event.
As shaky microphones hovered above the spatting leaders, Markarova lowered her head to her right hand and closed her eyes.
President Trump addressed Zelenskyy, saying, "You're saying you don't want a ceasefire. I want a ceasefire because you get a ceasefire faster than an agreement."
The Ukrainian president chimed in, "I said to you … with guarantees. Ask our people about [a] ceasefire, [about] what they think."
Trump starkly halted the conversation, saying "that wasn't with me."
The leaders were expected to sign a deal sharing Ukraine's rare earth minerals and discuss a peace deal with Russia when the conversation turned contentious.
After questions were posed by Zelenskyy about diplomacy, Vice President JD Vance reprimanded him for "try[ing] to litigate" in front of the American media, calling his actions "disrespectful."
"Do you think that it's respectful to come into the Oval Office of the United States of America and attack the administration that is trying to prevent the destruction of your country," Vance asked Zelenskyy.
Sources close to Zelenskyy noted tensions were high prior to the meeting, Fox News Digital previously reported.
Zelenskyy reportedly rejected the mineral security agreement before Friday's meeting due to the absence of security guarantees protecting Ukraine from another Russian invasion.
Even though the Ukrainian president warned he would need those assurances to sign the deal, sources said the dismissal angered Trump and Vance.
Just minutes after reporters asked their first questions, the heated disagreement unfolded.
Reporters watched in shock as the meeting came to an abrupt halt, and Zelenskyy was rushed out of the White House.
Minutes later, Trump posted to Truth Social, saying, "President Zelenskyy is not ready for Peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations. I don’t want advantage, I want PEACE."
Zelenskyy subsequently posted to X, thanking America and Trump for their support and allowing the visit.
"Ukraine needs just and lasting peace, and we are working exactly for that," he wrote in the post.
Markarova was ambassador for roughly a year when Russia invaded Ukraine, thrusting her into the spotlight.
In September, Fox News Digital exclusively reported that House Speaker Mike Johnson wrote a letter to Zelenskyy seeking Markarova's firing after she allegedly organized a U.S. taxpayer-funded tour of an American manufacturing site for Zelenskyy in Pennsylvania, a key battleground state, ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
Johnson, R-La., said the tour "purposely excluded" Republicans, calling it "election interference."
"The facility was in a politically contested battleground state, was led by a top political surrogate for Kamala Harris and failed to include a single Republican because — on purpose — no Republicans were invited," Johnson wrote in the letter.
He said the "shortsighted and intentionally political move" prompted Republicans to "lose trust" in Markarova’s ability to fairly and effectively serve as a diplomat.
"She should be removed from her post immediately," Johnson wrote.
The Embassy of Ukraine to the United States of America did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Fox News Digital's Caitlin McFall and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
Iowa Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a bill on Friday that removes protections for transgender people in the state’s civil rights code.
While not every state has protections for transgender people, Iowa Democrats added them to the civil rights code in 2007.
Iowa is the first state to remove gender identity protection from its state civil rights code.
The new law follows President Donald Trump's executive orders only recognizing two sexes, restricting sex change operations and restricting trans people in the military, as well as state efforts to ban trans women from women’s bathrooms and women’s sports.
The bill also defines male and female based on the person’s reproductive organs at birth.
Iowa’s civil rights code will still include protections for race, color, creed, sex, sexual orientation, religion, national origin and disability status.
Reynolds described the bill in a video she uploaded to X on Friday.
"Today I’m signing into law a bill that safeguards the rights of women and girls," she said. "It’s commonsense to acknowledge the obvious biological differences between men and women. In fact, it’s necessary to secure genuine equal protection for girls. It’s why we have men and women’s bathrooms, but not men and women’s conference rooms. Girls' and boys' sports, but not girls' math, boys' math."
She said that "these commonsense protections were at risk because, before I signed this bill, the civil rights code blurred the biological line between the sexes."
Reynolds acknowledged that it is a "sensitive issue for some, many of whom have heard misinformation about what this bill does. The truth is that it simply brings Iowa in line with the federal civil rights code, as well as most states."
She added that every Iowan, "without exception, deserves respect and dignity. We are all children of God and no law changes that."
Trump signaled his approval of the law on Thursday, shortly before it was signed.
"Iowa, a beautiful State that I have won BIG every time, has a Bill to remove Radical Gender Ideology from their Laws," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "Iowa should follow the lead of my Executive Order, saying there are only two genders, and pass this Bill – AS FAST AS POSSIBLE. Thank you Iowa!"
Critics of the law say it will allow transgender people to be discriminated against in all aspects of life.
Democratic Iowa state Rep. Aime Wichtendahl, who identifies as a transgender woman, said, "The purpose of this bill and the purpose of every anti-trans bill is to further erase us from public life and to stigmatize our existence. The sum total of every anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ bill is to make our existence illegal."
Protesters also filled the state Capitol’s rotunda on Thursday, holding up signs like "Trans rights are human rights" and shouting, "No hate in our state!"
Keenan Crow, who directs policy and advocacy for the LGBTQ advocacy group One Iowa, told The Associated Press that the group will take any legal action "available," adding that they’re still trying to understand how the law will be enforced.
All Democrats in the state House and Senate voted against the bill and were joined by five House Republicans.
Conversations about a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia came to a screeching halt Friday after a tense meeting between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy led to a canceled press conference, a minerals deal off the table and Trump asking the Ukrainian president to leave, a White House official confirmed.
Trump accused Zelenskyy of "disrespecting" the U.S. during their meeting Friday and said the Ukrainian leader was not ready to secure peace for his country.
"I have determined that President Zelenskyy is not ready for peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations," Trump said in a Truth Social post Friday. "I don't want advantage, I want PEACE. He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace."…Read more
'YOU'VE TALKED TOO MUCH': Trump, Vance and Zelenskyy spar over Russian war in tense exchange: 'very disrespectful'
'SIDING WITH DICTATORS': Furious Dems attack Trump, Vance after explosive Oval Office meeting: 'Siding with dictators'
MANY 'THANKS': Zelenskyy breaks silence on social media after fiery Oval Office exchange with Trump: 'Thank you America'
'DISGRACE': GOP Ukraine supporters alarmed after explosive Trump, Zelenskyy meeting
'TERRORISTS': White House touts extradition of cartel figures amid Trump admin crackdown
FINANCING TERROR: Illegal immigrant ISIS operative charged with financing terror, firearms violations and immigration fraud
'DETERRENCE': Top House Republican threatens to expose CCP officials if China invades Taiwan
Russia-Ukraine peace negotiations came to a screeching halt Friday after an Oval Office meeting between President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy erupted in anger.
The world is now left wondering where negotiations go from here and whether the two world leaders can repair their relationship enough for the U.S. to broker peace. Some say Europe may need to step up and get involved to help end the hostilities, while others think Zelenskyy either needs to do major damage control or step down.
"It is hard to foresee what happens next," one European official told Fox News Digital. "The optics of it were simply terrible. … This is another sign for Europe to get its act together and support Ukraine. Mobilize Russia’s foreign assets. Purchase arms for Ukraine. Increase defense spending this year. Move forward with EU membership. There are things Europe can do to help Ukraine build leverage."
Trump said he did not believe Zelenskyy was "ready" for U.S. involvement in the peace process, and Republicans who once supported aiding Ukraine's fight against Russia seem to have grown tired of the Ukrainian leader.
TUNE IN: BRET BAIER INTERVIEWS ZELENSKYY ON 'SPECIAL REPORT,' 6 PM ET ON FOX NEWS
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a one-time staunch supporter of Ukraine, said after the meeting that the war-torn nation may need to seek a new leader who can work with Trump.
"The question for me, for the Ukrainian people … I don't know if Zelensky can ever get you where you want to go with the United States. Either he dramatically changes or you gotta get someone new," said Graham.
Another former State Department official said Europe needs to have an "emergency meeting" to figure out how to move forward.
"I think we're gonna have to see an emergency meeting of the Europeans with the United States, and I think there's gonna have to be a little bit of a cooling down right now between Zelenskyy and the U.S.," said Joel Rubin, a deputy assistant secretary of state during the Obama administration.
"That Oval meeting was either the bane of Zelenskyy’s political career or the bane of Ukraine," said former Rep. Mike Garcia, a Republican who served as an informal liaison between Speaker Mike Johnson and rank-and-file House members on Ukraine. "One of those two will cease to exist in the next few months."
He added that Friday’s spat was a natural result of Zelenskyy operating under a "blank check mentality."
"The pill that Zelenskyy seems to not have swallowed yet is that he's not going to get everything that he wants," Garcia told Fox News Digital. "He was humiliated on the global stage in a time when his people needed him to be a little more gracious and grateful for this stuff that he's gotten.
"He needs to come back and say he is very grateful for what he has gotten, say ‘I am alive because of the United States. I'm willing to sit down and negotiate in good faith for a peace agreement that may not yield everything that I want and may not, you know, certainly won't get us to the borders that we had in 2012-2013 before the Crimea invasion.’"
The White House was taken by surprise at Zelenskyy's "combativeness" after President Donald Trump accused him of being a "dictator" last week and invited him to the White House to sign a mineral deal this week.
"The president and vice president did not expect Zelenskyy to engage in such disrespectful behavior," a source close to Vance said.
The testy White House meeting was cut short as aides escorted Zelenskyy off the premises before closed-door negotiations had even begun.
"You don't have the cards right now. With us, you start having cards," Trump told Zelenskyy.
Vance accused Zelenskyy of trying to litigate their issues in front of the U.S. media.
"Offer some words of appreciation for the United States of America and the president who's trying to save your country, please," Vance told Zelenskyy.
"Have you ever been to Ukraine? Have you seen the problems we have? Come once," the Ukrainian president replied.
Trump announced after the meeting that Zelenskyy may return to the Oval Office "when he is ready for peace."
"We had a very meaningful meeting in the White House today. Much was learned that could never be understood without conversation under such fire and pressure," Trump wrote.
"It’s amazing what comes out through emotion, and I have determined that President Zelenskyy is not ready for Peace if America is involved, because he feels our involvement gives him a big advantage in negotiations. I don’t want advantage, I want PEACE. He disrespected the United States of America in its cherished Oval Office. He can come back when he is ready for Peace."
The Justice Department’s rollout of the Epstein files on Thursday and Friday drew heated criticism from many on social media from those expressing dismay at the level of detail of the files and the time it took to release them.
The highly anticipated release of files related to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein on Thursday did not include a "client list" or any new startling information, and speculation continued into Friday with the Justice Department saying that some of the documents were still being tracked down.
Many conservatives took to social media to express frustration and disappointment with the rollout over the past couple of days.
"I nor the task force were given or reviewed the Epstein documents being released today… A NY Post story just revealed that the documents will simply be Epstein's phonebook," Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., posted on X. "THIS IS NOT WHAT WE OR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ASKED FOR and a complete disappointment. GET US THE INFORMATION WE ASKED FOR!"
"The fact that the Epstein files haven’t yet been released demonstrates that the President doesn’t yet have operational control of the DOJ and FBI," Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., posted on X on Friday morning. "It could take a while to establish, or as with his first term, it might never be established."
Many on social media also took issue with the presence of several conservative influencers at the White House who were pictured outside holding binders that said "The Epstein Files Phase 1," suggesting that new information had been released.
"Pam Bondi: ‘We're releasing the first of the Epstein files tomorrow.’ Americans: ‘Cool! Then we'll get to read them?’ Bondi: ‘Well actually you'll get to see fun little photo shoots of conservative personalities & influencers holding a binder!’" Daily Signal investigative columnist Tony Kinnett posted on X.
"Not interested in some big theatrical rollout of the Epstein files, if they even exist anymore," conservative commentator Matt Walsh posted on X. "Put them online for everyone to see. Hold a press conference to walk us through it. There’s a time for showmanship and a time to be direct and boring. This is definitely the latter."
"The most likely outcome of the ‘Epstein Files’ has always been that it's mostly stuff we already knew and nothing truly game-changing," Red State writer Bonchie posted on X. "That's even more true for the JFK files. If that's the case, just admit it and move on. Stop hyping this crap up and then not delivering."
Attorney General Pam Bondi sent a letter to FBI Director Kash Patel which explained the delay in the release of the documents and placed blame on an FBI field office in New York.
Bondi said she had requested the full Epstein case file before Patel was confirmed as the head of the FBI and received about 200 pages of files — far fewer than the number of pages released last year in a civil lawsuit connected to Ghislaine Maxwell, the trafficker's former lover and convicted accomplice.
"I repeatedly questioned whether this was the full set of documents responsive to my request and was repeatedly assured by the FBI that we had received the full set of documents," Bondi wrote. "Late yesterday, I learned from a source that the FBI Field Office in New York was in possession of thousands of pages of documents related to the investigation and indictment of Epstein."
"By 8:00 a.m. tomorrow, February 28, the FBI will deliver the full and complete Epstein files to my office, including all records, documents, audio and video recordings, and materials related to Jeffrey Epstein and his clients, regardless of how such information was obtained," Bondi added. "There will be no withholdings or limitations to my or your access."
As of Friday afternoon, no new files had been released.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Justice Department for comment.
"What you’re going to see, hopefully tomorrow, is a lot of flight logs, a lot of names, a lot of information," Bondi said on Fox News on Wednesday night when asked about the type of information that would be released Thursday. "But, it’s pretty sick what that man did, along with his co-defendant."
Many defended Bondi against accusations of a botched document rollout, including DOGE chief Elon Musk.
"People don’t understand that you don’t get instant power here," Musk posted on X in response to a post defending Bondi for being in a position of "fighting against a leftist culture."
Patel addressed the situation late Thursday in a post on X.
"The FBI is entering a new era—one that will be defined by integrity, accountability, and the unwavering pursuit of justice," Patel wrote.
"There will be no cover-ups, no missing documents, and no stone left unturned — and anyone from the prior or current Bureau who undermines this will be swiftly pursued. If there are gaps, we will find them. If records have been hidden, we will uncover them. And we will bring everything we find to the DOJ to be fully assessed and transparently disseminated to the American people as it should be. The oath we take is to the Constitution, and under my leadership, that promise will be upheld without compromise."
Fox News Digital’s Mike Ruiz contributed to this report.
