Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., who flew to El Salvador this week to meet with deported illegal alien Kilmar Abrego Garcia before being denied multiple times, was granted his request on Thursday night.
"I said my main goal of this trip was to meet with Kilmar," Van Hollen said in a post on X. "Tonight I had that chance. I have called his wife, Jennifer, to pass along his message of love. I look forward to providing a full update upon my return."
Garcia, a 29-year-old illegal immigrant living in Maryland, was deported to the El Salvadoran megaprison "Terrorism Confinement Center" (CECOT) last month, and officials acknowledged in court his deportation was an administrative error, although now some top Trump officials say he was correctly removed and contend he's a member of the notorious MS-13 gang. Both a federal court and the Supreme Court have ordered the Trump administration to "facilitate" his release and return to the U.S. for proper deportation proceedings.
Van Hollen announced on Tuesday he was going to El Salvador to visit Garcia on Wednesday, and other Democratic lawmakers announced they planned to visit him as well.
But when Van Hollen arrived, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele was out of the country, and the senator from Maryland met with Vice President Félix Augusto Antonio Ulloa Garay instead.
"I asked the vice president if I could meet with Mr. Abrego Garcia, and he said, ‘well, you need to make earlier provisions to go visit CECOT,’" Van Hollen said.
He told Ulloa that he was not interested in taking a tour of CECOT and that he just wanted to meet with Abrego Garcia.
"He said he was not able to make that happen," Van Hollen said of Ulloa.
The senator was also told he could not be promised a visit if he came back next week, nor could he arrange for Abrego Garcia to speak with his family over the phone.
On Thursday, Van Hollen continued to push for entry into CECOT, but he was denied.
"We were there for one simple reason: to check on his well-being, which his family and lawyers have not been allowed to do," Van Hollen said on X. "We won’t stop fighting."
His goal of meeting with Abrego Garcia was later granted, and images of the two men show them sitting at a table in the tropics with water and coffee. Other photos shared by Bukele showed water glasses with seasoned rims and cherry garnishes, and Sen. Van Hollen shaking hands with Abrego Garcia.
"Kilmar Abrego Garcia, miraculously risen from the ‘death camps’ & ‘torture,’ now sipping margaritas with Sen. Van Hollen in the tropical paradise of El Salvador!" Bukele exclaimed in a post on X.
In another post, Bukele wrote, "Now that he’s been confirmed healthy, he gets the honor of staying in El Salvador’s custody."
A federal appeals court earlier in the day denied the Trump administration’s emergency request to block a judge’s order requiring the U.S. government to return Abrego Garcia to the U.S.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit to lift a judge's order to "facilitate" Abrego Garcia's return from CECOT, but the court on Thursday rejected the request.
The three-judge panel included Judge Harvie Wilkinson, appointed by President Ronald Reagan, along with Judges Robert King and Stephanie Thacker, appointed by Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, respectively.
In the court’s opinion, Wilkinson repeatedly referred to Abrego Garcia as a "resident," even though Abrego Garcia is not a lawful U.S. resident.
The court said the DOJ’s request was "extraordinary and premature" and that it would not interfere with the district judge’s efforts to carry out the Supreme Court’s decision.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said that Abrego Garcia would not be allowed back into the U.S. unless El Salvador were to decide otherwise. "He is not coming back to our country."
The Trump administration released information on Wednesday indicating that Abrego Garcia's wife has accused him of repeated abuse of her.
Fox News obtained the written domestic violence allegations filed in court against 29-year-old Kilmar Abrego Garcia by his wife, Jennifer Vasquez, in 2021.
In the filing, written in Vasquez’s own handwriting, she alleges Abrego Garcia repeatedly beat her, writing: "At this point, I am afraid to be close to him. I have multiple photos/videos of how violent he can be and all the bruises he [has] left me."
The Department of Homeland Security also released documents that it says prove Abrego Garcia is a member of the notorious MS-13 gang, which the Trump administration has declared a foreign terrorist organization.
Fox News Digital’s Jasmine Baehr and Bill Mears contributed to this report.
Embattled New York Attorney General Letitia James is hitting up supporters for big bucks just days after the Trump administration accused her of alleged fraud involving several homes she owns.
The money bid is in the form of an invitation to an event on Tuesday from 5:30 to 7 p.m. calling for contributions starting at $500 and climbing to an eye-popping $18,000, the maximum allowed by New York law, in support of her 2026 re-election bid.
The invite features a photo of James framed by a circular gay pride flag.
The high-dollar fundraiser will be hosted at the home of left-wing activists Rod Grozier and Rob Smith, the latter of whom is the CEO and founder of The Phluid Project, a gender-neutral clothing company.
"Letitia James is fighting for our rights every single day. This is our opportunity to show Letitia that we have her back," the event page on lefty fundraising website ActBlue reads.
The New York AG this week became the subject of a federal criminal referral over allegations she falsely claimed in official public documents in August 2023 that her "principal residence" was a home in Norfolk, Va.
James, who also has a home in Brooklyn, bought the Virginia property with her niece that year, when she was already in office as attorney general of New York.
New York requires its AGs to live in the state for at least five years before being elected and also while in office.
A document involving power of attorney for the Virginia purchase and viewed by The Post was signed by James in August of that year complete with the declaration, "I intend to occupy this property as my principal residence."
The Post spoke to several of James’ alleged Virginia neighbors Wednesday, none of whom reported ever seeing her at the property.
Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director William Pulte detailed these and other allegations of James playing fast and loose with residency requirements in a letter to US Attorney General Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.
The criminal referral also accused James, whose salary is $220,000, of misrepresenting the number of apartments for a building she owns in Brooklyn — saying it has four units, when city Department of Buildings records say it has five. That’s a key distinction because buildings with four or fewer units qualify for mortgages with better terms.
Pulte said these issues could amount to criminal charges, including wire fraud, mail fraud, bank fraud and false statements to a financial institution.
In a previous statement, James’ office has lashed out at the Trump administration for "weaponization of the federal government" and provided some details about her ownership of the properties.
But her spokesman did not specifically deny the allegations against her.
Her camp did not immediately respond to a Post request for comment on the fundraiser.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) pointed out that only half of its D.C. headquarters is being used after the agency's building was added to a list of federal properties marked for sale by the Trump administration Thursday.
HUD's headquarters became the first major federal agency building to be added to the General Services Administration's list of "assets identified for accelerated disposition" amid GOP efforts to slim down the government's real estate portfolio and potentially relocate agency headquarters outside the nation's capital.
Simultaneously, Democrats have taken steps to block these efforts, including through the introduction of legislation in Congress.
Last month, the GSA retracted a list of 440 "non-core" assets, including the HUD headquarters and more than a dozen other federal buildings it had initially listed for sale or disposal, according to the Federal News Network. The GSA subsequently posted a new list, but HUD is the first major executive agency headquarters to be included.
President Donald Trump campaigned on relocating federal agencies outside the nation's capital in 2024 as part of his wider efforts to clean up waste, slim down the federal government and "dismantle the deep state."
Earlier this week, Trump signed an executive order rescinding two prior executive actions put into effect under the Carter and Clinton administrations, which the president said in his directive "prevented agencies from relocating to lower-cost facilities." Trump's directive also points out that by moving federal agencies closer to the people they are serving, rather than being centrally located in the nation's capital, it will help the departments more successfully carry out their missions.
"HUD’s focus is on creating a workplace that reflects the values of efficiency, accountability and purpose," HUD Secretary Scott Turner said Thursday. "We’re committed to rightsizing government operations and ensuring our facilities support a culture of optimal performance and exceptional service as we collaborate with our partners at GSA to deliver results for the American people."
HUD indicated Thursday the timeline and final location for the headquarters relocation were still being considered. But the agency did note that the Washington, D.C., metro area remains one of the top options under consideration.
The HUD headquarters is located inside the Robert C. Weaver Federal Building, which is in the Southwest part of D.C. According to HUD, the building is facing $500 million in "deferred maintenance and modernization needs," which the agency said costs taxpayers more than $56 million annually in rent and operations expenditures.
Media reports earlier this month indicated the Department of Agriculture has been putting together plans to relocate its federal headquarters outside D.C., according to several officials briefed on the plans.
The Supreme Court has agreed to examine the Trump administration’s challenge to judges issuing nationwide injunctions, setting a date for a case that could have a major impact on the president’s ability to carry out his agenda as well as on the entire country.
This comes after three federal judges issued separate nationwide injunctions blocking an executive order by President Donald Trump ending birthright citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants.
On Thursday, the court consolidated the three cases into one and set oral arguments to examine the fundamental question of whether district judges can issue rulings that affect the entire country.
The court will hear oral arguments for the case at 10 a.m. on May 15, which is about two weeks after the court normally stops hearing oral arguments ahead of its recess, which begins in July.
Nationwide injunctions are court orders that prevent the federal government from implementing a policy or law that has a cascading effect impacting the entire country, not just the parties involved in the court case.
Since Trump’s return to the Oval Office in January, his administration has faced hundreds of lawsuits targeting his executive orders and actions, some of which have resulted in nationwide injunctions, stalling key portions of his agenda, including immigration enforcement.
In March the Trump administration filed an emergency appeal asking the Supreme Court to narrow three injunctions that were issued to halt Trump’s nullification of birthright citizenship. The emergency appeal requested the injunction only cover individuals directly impacted by the relevant courts.
The administration’s acting Solicitor General Sarah Harris argued in the emergency appeal that nationwide injunctions have hit "epidemic proportions" under the second Trump administration, noting that the federal government faced 14 universal injunctions in the first three years of the Biden administration compared to 15 leveled against the Trump admin in one month alone.
Beyond impacting the question of birthright citizenship for the children of illegal immigrants, the court's ultimate decision will likely have the even larger impact of finally answering the limits of federal judges' power to decide questions of national and international policy.
Fox News Digital's Emma Colton and Breanne Deppisch contributed to this report.
Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan on Wednesday denied an emergency appeal by four Mexican nationals facing deportation. The request asked the court to temporarily block their removal so they could file a formal petition for review.
Kagan denied the application without comment and did not refer the matter to her colleagues on the court.
The petitioners, Fabian Lagunas Espinoza, Maria Angelica Flores Ulloa and their two sons, were ordered to report to immigration officials on April 17. Their legal team argued they face cartel violence if returned to Mexico.
According to their court filing, the family fled Guerrero, Mexico, in 2021 after being threatened by the Los Rojos cartel. The petition stated that cartel members demanded the family vacate their home within 24 hours or be killed.
It also included details of past violence against extended family members, including beatings and threats following refusals to cooperate with the cartel.
The family entered the U.S. unlawfully and sought asylum and an immigration judge denied their claims.
That ruling was upheld by the Board of Immigration Appeals in November 2023, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the decision in February 2025. A temporary stay of removal was lifted on April 7.
The emergency appeal to Justice Kagan argued that the lower courts and immigration authorities failed to consider credible evidence and due process claims.
Under Supreme Court procedures, each justice handles emergency appeals from a specific circuit. As the justice assigned to the Ninth Circuit, Kagan had the authority to act alone or refer the case to the full court.
She denied the application without referring it further.
In their filing, the petitioners’ attorney, LeRoy George Siddell, wrote: "Petitioners face imminent removal and have been directed to report to immigration office on 4/17/2025, despite credible and detailed testimony and documentary evidence showing they are targets of cartel violence due to their family ties and refusal to comply with extortion demands."
There was no response from the Department of Justice to the application before Kagan issued her decision.
As of Thursday morning, the petitioners were required to report to U.S. immigration authorities. Their disposition remains to be determined.
The Trump administration announced sanctions against the International Bank of Yemen Y.S.C. (IBY) on Thursday for its financial support of Houthi terrorists.
Along with the bank, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is sanctioning key leaders of IBY, like its Chairman of the Board of Directors Kamal Hussain Al Jebry; Executive General Manager Ahmed Thabit Noman Al-Absi and Deputy General Manager Abdulkader Ali Bazara. By sanctioning IBY, the U.S. hopes to stop Houthi attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea.
"Financial institutions like IBY are critical to the Houthis’ efforts to access the international financial system and threaten both the region and international commerce," Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Michael Faulkender said. "Treasury remains committed to working with the internationally recognized government of Yemen to disrupt the Houthis’ ability to secure funds and procure key components for their destabilizing attacks."
Based in Sana’a, Yemen, the IBY is controlled by the Iran-backed Houthis and provides the group with access to the bank’s Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) network to make international financial transactions, the Treasury said.
The IBY, for instance, has allegedly aided Houthi businesses and officials to pursue oil on the SWIFT network, while also facilitating attempts by the terrorist group to evade sanctions oversight.
Under Thursday’s sanctions, all property and interests in property of the leaders named, that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. Additionally, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, individually or in the aggregate, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked.
OFAC’s regulations generally prohibit all transactions by U.S. persons or within, or transiting, the United States that involve any property or interests in property of designated or otherwise blocked persons.
U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce spoke about the sanctions during a press briefing Thursday, sending a message to anyone who supports foreign terrorist organizations like the Houthis.
"The United States is committed to disrupting the Houthi financial networks and banking access as part of our whole-of-government approach to eliminating Iran's threat network," she said. "Moreover, we can confirm the reporting that Chang Guang Satellite Technology Company Limited (CGSTL) is directly supporting Iran-backed Houthi terrorist attacks on U.S. Interests. Their actions and Beijing's support of the company, even after our private engagements with them, is yet another example of China's empty claims to support peace.
She continued, urging partners of the U.S. to judge the Chinese Communist Party and Chinese companies on their actions, and not just their words.
"Restoring freedom of navigation in the Red Sea is a priority to President Trump," Bruce said. "Beijing should take this priority seriously when considering any future support of CGSTL. The United States will not tolerate anyone providing support to foreign terrorist organizations such as the Houthis."
The Trump administration's criminal referral targeting New York Attorney General Letitia James for reported mortgage fraud likely never would have unfolded if not for the Democrat's years of targeting the president in court, a New York City real estate attorney and expert told Fox News Digital.
"To be perfectly frank, this is a retaliatory case brought by the president for what the attorney general did to him over the last several years," New York City attorney Pierre Debbas, partner and founding member of real estate law firm Romer Debbas, told Fox News Digital in a Zoom interview Thursday morning. "Both cases, quite honestly, are very weak cases.
"The attorney general's case that was brought against Donald Trump was honestly a pure manipulation of the legal system, and it was laughable," he continued, referring to the civil fraud case she brought against Trump. "Something that's never taken place in the history of New York that was isolated at one particular person for a politically driven purpose.
"Now, on the flip side, this serves the same purpose, right? This is the president's way of seeking retaliation against the attorney general for something that, in reality, is, while it's considered mortgage fraud, it's not criminal," he continued. "And it's not something that would have been brought upon had the attorney general not pursued a similar case with low merit against the president a few years back."
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), an independent federal agency that oversees Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Bank System, sent a criminal referral to the Department of Justice Monday arguing the attorney general appeared to have falsified mortgage records to obtain more favorable loans.
At the heart of the case is a Norfolk, Virginia, home James purchased in 2023, which she identified on mortgage documents and a Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac form as a property that would serve as her primary residence, according to the FHFA letter dated Monday. James is legally required to live in New York as a statewide elected official in the Empire State, the letter adds.
Identifying a home as a primary residence versus a secondary home or vacation home comes with financial incentives, Debbas explained, because banks will offer lower interest rates to primary residences, with homeowners less likely to default on such loans compared to a second home.
"As a real estate attorney, we represent every major lending institution in the country," he said. "And a common underwriting requirement for banks is to solidify what the use of the property is going to be, meaning, is it a primary residence, second home or investment property.
"And the reason banks do that is that clearly there's a higher rate of default when it comes to investment properties and second homes as opposed to primary residences."
"The reason being is people, you know, don't want to leave their homes," he said. "Now, a second home investment property, you may be a little more inclined to throw the keys to the bank."
The bank then requires the borrower to sign an affidavit confirming that the home being acquired will be used as a primary residence, he explained.
"Now, if that is not the intent or that is in fact inaccurate, and you sign that agreement, you are in fact committing mortgage fraud," he said. "And the bank relies on that agreement in giving you the loan. Now, would they have given you a loan if it were a second home? Potentially, but the difference is the interest rate would be significantly higher."
The bank's recourse when discovering such mortgage fraud related to misidentifying a property as a primary residence to obtain more favorable loan terms is "simply to call the loan," he said.
"They would call the loan, force you to pay it off by a certain date," he said. "If you're unable to sell the property or take other liquidity that you have to pay off the loan, they have the right to pursue a foreclosure action. They'd be legally granted this right. It would be very difficult to contest under those circumstances because, technically speaking, this is a default and this is fraud."
"What extent is it fraud? To be quite honest with you, this is a very common thing that does take place in the real estate market," he said. "I'm not saying it's right. I'm not saying Letitia James … the full extent of the law shouldn't be applied to her. But it is something that takes place. Because if the loan is current, the bank hasn't really suffered any detriment, but it's still mortgage fraud. So that doesn't take away the fraud component to this."
Debbas argued this type of fraud does not rise to the level of criminal activity because the bank can call the loan,take back the property or force it to be liquidated.
James' office told The New York Times that a separate loan application for the 2023 Norfolk, Virginia, home purchase reportedly indicated she would not live at the property full time, and that her mortgage agreement did not require her to occupy the property as her primary residence.
James is a longtime political foe of Trump's who campaigned for the attorney general job in 2018 by vowing to aggressively pursue legal charges against Trump if elected, adding she'd expose the "con man" after her win that year.
Her office leveled nearly 100 legal challenges against the first Trump administration and added after his second presidential win in 2024 that she would continue challenging him in the courts to "defend the rights of New Yorkers and the rule of law."
Most notably, James pursued a civil fraud case against Trump and the Trump Organization for inflating the values of properties to obtain more favorable loans, insurance coverage and tax deductions, which resulted in a $454 million judgment in 2024.
A spokesperson for James' office told Fox Digital Thursday that "multiple times during the attorney general’s trial against President Trump and the Trump Organization for years of financial fraud, President Trump’s attorneys repeatedly made the argument that the attorney general’s lawsuit was politically motivated.
"Every single time, the judge rejected that argument and even sanctioned the attorneys for making it," the spokesperson added. "Attorney General James won her lawsuit, and the judgment against President Trump now exceeds half a billion dollars."
Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley noted the irony of Trump's criminal referral over allegations of James fudging numbers to obtain more favorable loans after pursing Trump for something similar.
"This is a person who prosecuted Trump for everything short of ripping a label off a mattress, and among the charges that were brought in New York, in not just the civil but the criminal case, was making false or misleading statements to financial institutions," the legal scholar said on Fox News' "The Ingraham Angle" Tuesday. "As for James, if we apply the Letitia James standard that she created, there'd be little question here. This seems pretty straightforward."
The administration is looking into the allegations put forth by the FHFA while underscoring that "no one is above the law," White House spokesman Harrison Fields said on Newsmax Wednesday.
"With the Democratic Party, they love to throw stones in glass homes when they realize that they're committing the crimes that they're actually trying to go against," Fields said.
"So, this is now a criminal referral that the Department of Justice under Attorney General Pam Bondi will have to look at," he added. "The allegations from the FHFA are very serious. We're going to look at them, and no one is above the law. And Tish James, she'd like to say that about the president, but she should look in the mirror and realize that if you have skeletons in your closets about abusing the law and doing illegal things, maybe you shouldn't be purveying around like some justice queen, because you're not."
The criminal referral also cited past reported issues with James' properties, including a 2001 purchase of a Brooklyn property. The certificate of occupancy lists the property as a five-unit residence, while James' mortgages list the property as four units.
Debbas explained that five-unit properties are identified as commercial properties, which would require a commercial loan that has higher interest rates than a residential loan. However, the banks carry the burden of confirming whether a building is commercial or residential.
"If the borrower has the ability to tell the bank or convince the bank that it's actually four units, it's to their financial benefit," he said. "Now, when you look at a certificate of occupancy, certificate of the occupancy is issued by the Department of Buildings, which tells you the legal use of the building.
"This is a five-family dwelling," he said. "Now, this is unequivocally a commercial property. The burden was on the bank to confirm this, but if the borrower did, in fact, have concrete knowledge … an argument can be made that mortgage fraud did take place in the application of this law."
James’ office told The New York Times a rider attached to the Brooklyn mortgage stated the building was four units, not five.
Debbas added that before the 2008 market crash, there was a lot of "shadiness" in the world of mortgages.
"As an elected official … there should be a heightened standard for honesty and obliging by your legal requirements not falsifying documents or committing fraud," Debbas said.
While reflecting specifically on the Virginia home alleged mortgage fraud, he added, "Now, how would this impact her seating as attorney general of the state of New York? At the end of the day, that's going to be determined largely based on how many enemies she's created. But from a purely mortgage standpoint, it is certainly mortgage fraud, but, in my opinion, it does not warrant any criminal activity."
A spokesperson for James' office said Wednesday morning she has been "focused every single day on protecting New Yorkers, especially as this administration weaponizes the federal government against the rule of law and the Constitution. She will not be intimidated by bullies — no matter who they are," Fox Digital previously reported.
A move by a top Democratic Party official to spend millions of dollars through his outside political group to primary-challenge some older Democrats in blue districts is further igniting intra-party tensions that have rocked the party since President Donald Trump's convincing election last November.
The reverberations started instantly after Leaders We Deserve, a political organization led by recently elected Democratic National Committee (DNC) vice chair David Hogg, announced on Wednesday that it will spend $20 million to help elect younger Democrats. The effort includes supporting primary challengers to House Democrats in safe seats that Hogg argues "are asleep at the wheel."
The move by the 25-year-old Hogg, a survivor of the horrific shooting seven years ago at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in south Florida, to spend money against fellow Democrats is seen as an unprecedented action by a DNC official…Read more
DECLASSIFIED: Gabbard declassifies Biden domestic counterterrorism plan
A federal appeals court on Thursday denied the Trump administration's emergency request to block a judge’s order requiring the U.S. government to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador with a violent criminal history and alleged gang ties, who was deported to the El Salvadoran mega prison "Terrorism Confinement Center" (CECOT) last month.
The ruling allows the lower court’s order to move forward for now.
The case involves Garcia, a "Maryland man" who was deported but whose return was ordered by a district judge after a recent Supreme Court decision. The Department of Justice (DOJ) asked the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to lift a judge's order to "facilitate" Garcia's return from CECOT, but the court Thursday rejected the request.
The three-judge panel included Judge Harvie Wilkinson, appointed by President Ronald Reagan, along with Judges Robert King and Stephanie Thacker, appointed by Presidents Clinton and Obama, respectively.
In the court’s opinion, Wilkinson repeatedly referred to Garcia as a "resident," even though Garcia is not a lawful U.S. resident.
"The government is asserting a right to stash away residents of this country in foreign prisons without the semblance of due process that is the foundation of our constitutional order," Wilkinson wrote.
"This should be shocking not only to judges, but to the intuitive sense of liberty that Americans far removed from courthouses still hold dear."
Court documents and police records show Garcia has a history of domestic violence, including repeated physical abuse against his wife. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has also identified him as a member of the MS-13 gang, using the street name "Chele."
The court said the DOJ’s request was "extraordinary and premature" and that it would not interfere with the district judge’s efforts to carry out the Supreme Court’s decision.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said Garcia would not be allowed back into the U.S. unless El Salvador decided otherwise. "He is not coming back to our country."
The DOJf Justice did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
President Donald Trump said the late President Jimmy Carter could die peacefully knowing he wasn’t the worst U.S. president because that title belongs to former President Joe Biden.
Trump issued the remarks to reporters during a press conference with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who visited the White House on behalf of European nations to assist in brokering a trade deal between the U.S. and the European Union.
"Worst administration in the history of our country," Trump said on Thursday. "Worse than Jimmy Carter. Jimmy Carter died a happy man. You know why? Because he wasn‘t the worst. President Joe Biden was."
Trump has routinely railed against Biden and the former president’s mental fitness, and the remarks coincide with multiple books detailing Biden’s cognitive function while in office. One White House aide said that staff isolated Biden and allowed his faculties to "atrophy" in the book, "Uncharted: How Trump Beat Biden, Harris, and the Odds in the Wildest Campaign in History." It was released on April 8.
A spokesperson for Biden did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Trump’s comments come days after Biden slammed the Trump administration for creating so much "damage" during the early days of the administration.
"Fewer than 100 days, this administration has done so much damage and so much destruction. It's kind of breathtaking it could happen that soon," Biden said in his first public speech post-presidency on Tuesday. Biden delivered the speech during a disability advocacy conference in Chicago.
On Thursday, Trump and Meloni said they were confident the U.S. and Europe could hash out a trade deal. Trump unveiled 20% tariffs on European Union goods coming into the U.S. on April 2, but he announced on April 9 the tariffs would remain at 10% for 90 days to allow the U.S. and the EU to strike a deal.
"There will be a trade deal, 100%," Trump told reporters. "Of course there will be a trade deal, they want to make one very much, and we’re going to make a trade deal. I fully expect it, but it’ll be a fair deal."
After visiting the controversial Salvadoran mega-prison known as the Terrorist Confinement Center (CECOT), freshman Congressman Riley Moore, R-W.Va., says he is "even more determined" to support the president’s efforts to secure the U.S. from criminal illegal aliens.
This comes as the Trump administration’s scheme of sending the "worst of the worst" migrant gang members to CECOT has caused national controversy, with some outraged Democrats accusing President Donald Trump of "kidnapping" people for deportation.
Moore said that while at CECOT he came face to face with some of the country’s "most brutal criminals, including murderers, rapists, pedophiles, and terrorists," and "extremely violent criminals recently deported from the U.S."
After his visit to El Salvador, he said: "I leave now even more determined to support President Trump’s efforts to secure our homeland."
Moore told Fox News Digital he visited the prison with a congressional delegation led by House Ways and Means Committee Chair Jason Smith, R-Mo. The delegation toured the prison this week and spoke with several inmates.
"These are dangerous individuals," he said. "We had several of them tell us, and they were not afraid to share it, [that] they are killers and committed homicides."
"It's not something that it seems that they regret one way or the other, from what I could glean from it," he explained.
While touring the prison, Moore said he spoke with two deportees from the U.S., both of whom were originally from El Salvador and had been deported from Virginia and California. He said one had been in the U.S. for 20 years and was a high-ranking member of the brutal gang MS-13. According to Moore, both deportees "were not afraid to admit" that they had killed people.
"They are in austere conditions in that prison, there's no doubt about that," he explained, adding, "to be clear, they don't have the death penalty in El Salvador."
That being said, Moore said the impact of CECOT and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele’s crackdown on gang crime has been "miraculous" for the people of El Salvador.
He said he spoke with ordinary people on the streets of El Salvador’s capital city, San Salvador, who told him that "they were living in a terror state, being terrorized by these gangs and controlling their lives and taking their lives many times."
Now, he said, "they have their lives back."
That is why Moore’s resolve to support the Trump administration’s crackdown on gang terrorism is stronger than ever.
"It is very tragic that all of these young people have just thrown their lives away because they decided to basically not only destroy themselves, to destroy their own country and community and people's lives… It's hard to really wrap your mind around," he said. "[But] the fundamental building block of any nation state is security. If you don't have security, you can't have economic opportunities, civil society, justice, any of those things. The bedrock of it is security. That has to be provided."
The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments next month in the case challenging President Donald Trump’s attempt to end birthright citizenship, in what is likely to be one of the most highly anticipated cases to be reviewed by the high court since Trump took office.
The justices said Thursday that they would hear arguments on the consolidated cases on May 15, roughly four weeks from now.
The Trump administration in March asked the Supreme Court to intervene and allow a narrow version of the president's executive order ending birthright citizenship to proceed. Trump signed the order on his first day in office and was immediately met with a flurry of lawsuits across the country.
The administration's appeal concerns three nationwide injunctions brought in Maryland, Massachusetts and Washington state.
All three states had issued nationwide injunctions blocking the birthright citizenship ban from taking force – a move that lawyers for the Trump administration argued in their Supreme Court filing was overly broad.
Acting U.S. Solicitor General Sarah Harris asked the justices to limit the scope of the rulings to cover only individuals directly impacted by the relevant courts.
"These cases – which involve challenges to the President's January 20, 2025 Executive Order concerning birthright citizenship – raise important constitutional questions with major ramifications for securing the border," Harris wrote in their appeal.
To date, no court has sided with the Trump administration's executive order seeking to ban birthright citizenship, though multiple district courts have blocked it from taking effect.
Implementation of Trump's executive order was initially set for Feb. 19. The policy would have affected hundreds of thousands of children born in the U.S. each year.
The order sought to reinterpret the 14th Amendment, which states: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside."
Under the Trump administration’s proposed interpretation – later blocked by federal courts – children born to illegal immigrants or to those who were here legally but on temporary non-immigrant visas, are not citizens by birthright.
More than 22 U.S. states and immigrants' rights groups quickly sued the Trump administration to block the change to birthright citizenship, arguing in court filings that the executive order is both unconstitutional and "unprecedented."
The states have also argued that the 14th Amendment does, in fact, guarantee citizenship to persons born on U.S. soil and naturalized in the U.S.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard declassified a Biden-era plan to counter domestic terrorism that called for greater information-sharing with tech companies and a legislative push to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.
Developed in 2021 after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, the plan outlined a government-wide effort to track how foreign actors use disinformation to radicalize Americans and urged coordination with private industry on domestic threats. It also called for measures to curb in-prison radicalization and study extremism within the military.
Among its proposals was a plan to "develop awareness training for active service military members, DOD employees and contractors, and those service members separating or retiring from the military on the threat posed by domestic terrorism, the potential targeting of those with military training by violent extremist actors, and relevant reporting mechanisms."
The strategy had a four-part goal: "Understand and Share Domestic Terrorism-Related Information," "Prevent Domestic Terrorism Recruitment and Mobilization to Violence," "Disrupt and Deter Domestic Terrorism Activity" and "Confront Long-Term Contributors to Domestic Terrorism."
The Biden administration plan encouraged "teaching and learning of civics education that provides students with the skill to fully participate in civic life," and promoted "literacy education for both children and adult learners and existing proven interventions to foster resiliency to disinformation."
It also called for advancing "inclusion" in the Covid-19 response and addressing "hate crime reporting barriers faced by disadvantaged communities by promoting law enforcement training and resources to prevent and address bias-motivated crimes; improve federal hate crimes data and analysis to eliminate hate crimes underreporting; mitigate xenophobia and bias."
Former President Joe Biden's administration launched the first-ever National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism in 2021, identifying domestic terrorism as a major national security threat in the wake of the Capitol riot.
Gabbard declassified the strategy after prompting from conservative groups like America First Legal.
The group wrote to Gabbard earlier this month, asking her to declassify the strategy amid concerns of "weaponization" of power by "censoring disfavored speech on the Internet by labeling such speech ‘misinformation,’ ‘disinformation,’ ‘hate speech,’ ‘domestic terrorism.'"
Biden’s summer 2021 counterterrorism strategy garnered criticism from the American Civil Liberties Union, which said it "reflects the government’s ever-expanding authority to surveil and monitor American communities; law enforcement guidance that permits profiling on the basis of race, religion, or national origin; and the use of abusive tools such as the watchlisting system against people for constitutionally protected speech and association."
Several more congressional Democrats have made statements or issued requests to leadership to travel to El Salvador in hopes of bringing imprisoned deportee and accused MS-13 member Kilmar Abrego Garcia back to Maryland.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., remained in the Central American country as of Thursday morning, after Salvadoran Vice President Felix Ulloa rejected his entreaties to contact or free the alleged gang member on Wednesday.
A representative for Rep. Yassamin Ansari, D-Ariz., confirmed to Fox News Digital on Thursday that the freshman lawmaker would be taking a trip to El Salvador to essentially aid Van Hollen's efforts.
"Kilmar Abrego Garcia should be home in Maryland right now," Ansari said in a separate statement. "His illegal abduction and the subsequent complete dismissal of the Supreme Court ruling is deeply disturbing. Our rights shouldn’t be revoked to propagate Trump’s authoritarian agenda. This is a constitutional crisis."
"He’s already said that he’s ready and willing to illegally deport ‘home-growns’ and American citizens. If this can happen to Mr. Garcia, it can happen to any of us. My parents fled an authoritarian regime in Iran where people ‘disappeared’ – I refuse to sit back and watch it happen here, too. That’s why I plan to join my colleagues in traveling to El Salvador to visit Mr. Garcia and make sure Trump’s war on our Constitution and due process stops here."
Reps. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., and Robert Garcia, D-Calif., also wrote to House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., requesting a former CODEL (congressional delegation) authorization to visit Tecoluca, El Salvador, where the infamous El Salvadoran mega prison "Terrorism Confinement Center" (CECOT) is located.
"Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national legally living and working in Maryland, was subject to a 2019 withholding order from an immigration judge prohibiting his removal to El Salvador," Frost and Garcia wrote.
"A Congressional delegation would allow Committee Members to conduct a welfare check on Mr. Abrego Garcia, as well as others held at CECOT."
Additionally, Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., is reportedly planning to travel to CECOT, according to reports from Politico and Axios. His office did not respond to a Fox News Digital inquiry.
Fox News Digital reached out to Comer’s office for comment, and whether other lawmakers had contacted him seeking CODEL authorization.
"Squad" member Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill., also wrote to House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn., demanding her own CODEL to El Salvador, "given that the Administration's use of CECOT for illegal and unconstitutional deportations is rife with ‘administrative errors.’"
While not party to the letter to Comer, Ansari tweeted Monday that "we need answers now" from either government.
She said she is ready to join Van Hollen – and Frost and Garcia if they go – to "demand" the man’s release.
Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt., also suggested to Axios that travel to El Salvador may be necessary.
"We have to do similar kinds of things for the others who are victims of this dystopian attack on our Constitutional rights. This president is dangerous and we can't let this go," she said.
Meanwhile, at least two Republicans have also traveled to CECOT, albeit for different reasons.
Rep. Riley Moore, R-W.Va., tweeted a photo from the prison, saying he just finished a tour and that many inmates were "extremely violent" recent U.S.-deportees.
"I leave now even more determined to support President Trump's efforts to secure our homeland," Moore said.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., appeared to comment on Van Hollen’s trip in his own post from the prison, writing:
"It is unconscionable that Democrats in Congress are urging the release of more foreign criminals back into our country."
Homeland Security released new documents this week that it says definitively prove Abrego Garcia, who is imprisoned at CECOT after his deportation from the U.S., is a member of the notorious MS-13 gang, which his lawyers deny.
Abrego Garcia also allegedly has a record of being a "violent" repeat wife beater, according to records filed in a Prince George’s County, Maryland, district court by his wife.
Fox News Digital reached out to Booker, Frost, Balint, Ramirez and Garcia for further comment.
The Trump administration placed roughly 75% of full-time AmeriCorps employees on administrative leave on Wednesday as the administration looks to rebuild the Clinton-era volunteer agency from scratch, Fox News Digital learned.
A total of 535 full-time AmeriCorps employees out of the agency's 700 staff were placed on leave, an administration official confirmed to Fox News Digital Thursday.
Volunteers with AmeriCorps’ National Civilian Community Corps, a program that focuses specifically on volunteer opportunities for youth between the ages of 18–26, were preemptively pulled out of the field ahead of the Trump administration placing the agency's full-time staffers on leave Wednesday, Fox Digital learned. Roughly $250 million in AmeriCorps contracts have also been canceled.
AmeriCorps is expected to remain in existence, according to the admin official, but the operations will essentially restart from scratch.
Former President Bill Clinton created the AmeriCorps National Service Program in 1993, during his first year in office, as a volunteer arm of the government to help aid communities nationwide.
The agency has received roughly $1 billion in taxpayer funds every year, the House Higher Education and Workforce Development Subcommittee previously found, but had failed eight consecutive audits across the past decade.
"Unfortunately, AmeriCorps has a long history of abusing taxpayer dollars," chair of the House subcommittee, Republican Utah Rep. Burgess Owens, said in a statement in December 2024.
"AmeriCorps is entrusted with over $1 billion of taxpayer funds every year, with the result of failure of eight consecutive audits," he continued. "In 2023, the AmeriCorps Inspector General issued a 'Management Challenges' report detailing significant challenges AmeriCorps faces. This includes being unable to detect fraud. We have no real idea when AmeriCorps will be able to have a clean audit again. In fact, this year’s audit includes 78 recommendations still open, even after AmeriCorps said it addressed 20 last year."
Fox News Digital examined AmeriCorp's budget in recent years and found its 2023 fiscal year budget stood at $1,312,806, which included $99,686,000 in expenses and salaries, while fiscal year 2024 saw a budget of $1,262,806, which included the same figure for expenses and salaries. The Biden administration proposed a budget of $1,342,093,000 for fiscal year 2025.
The agency's annual management report for fiscal year 2024 showed that it had $3.7 billion in assets, including over $1.5 billion in investments.
Diversity, equity and inclusion and climate change initiatives have been a top priority for the volunteer-focused agency, with the 2024 annual management report identifying "advancing racial and economic equity" as one of its top priorities, Fox Digital found.
"AmeriCorps has a decades-long commitment to advancing racial and economic equity through national service and volunteering," the report stated. "These efforts are designed to expand pathways to opportunity for all Americans. Racial and economic equity will be central to AmeriCorps’ planning and implementation of all priorities, ensuring AmeriCorps members and volunteers reflect the diversity of the American people and the communities in which they serve."
Owens said in 2024 that while some of the agency's programs are "well-intentioned," taxpayers should not continue funding the office and called for it to land on the Department of Government Efficiency's chopping block.
"It makes no sense to expand this agency or give it more money when it continuously fails to meet basic accountability standards," he said. "Every time its representatives come before this Committee, AmeriCorps assures us that they will implement reforms, and year after year nothing changes. We can tell AmeriCorps to modernize and reform until we are blue in the face, but nothing will change unless we recognize the system is built on a flawed idea. It is time to admit that this is a failed program that needs a complete overhaul or elimination. It should be on DOGE’s chopping block."
Conservatives are speaking out against the Trump administration’s plans to finally enact long-expected REAL ID laws in a bid to crack down on illegal immigration.
"If you think REAL ID is about election integrity, you’re going to be sorely disappointed. Someone has lied to you, or you’re engaged in wishful thinking. Please don’t shoot the messenger," Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., wrote on X earlier this week.
Responding to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem's video announcing the May 7 REAL ID deadline, the former vice presidential candidate and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin questioned in a lengthy post: "Or what?? Evidently, existing ID requirements for American citizens just aren’t adequate now, so Big Brother is forcing us through more hoops for the ‘right’ to travel within our own country."
Palin continued: "Other administrations delayed this newfangled, burdensome REAL ID requirement. Are you curious why its implementation is imperative now?? And who came up with this?"
The REAL ID Act was passed in 2005, but the federal government has yet to implement it 20 years later. It requires all U.S. travelers to be REAL ID compliant when boarding domestic flights.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced last week that REAL ID would go into effect May 7, and that no other state-issued ID cards would be accepted for air travel.
TSA senior official Adam Stahl said in the announcement that REAL ID "bolsters safety by making fraudulent IDs harder to forge, thwarting criminals and terrorists."
While an overwhelming majority of Republicans appear to have few issues with the change, some on the right have cried foul.
Massie argued in an X post, "As long as the pilot’s door is locked and no one has weapons, why do you care that someone who flies has government permission? REAL ID provides no benefit, yet presents a serious risk to freedom. If a person can’t be trusted to fly without weapons, why are they roaming free?"
Massie targeted President Donald Trump more directly in response to another X user who asked whether he was opposed simply because of his differences with the commander in chief. The Kentucky Republican has been known for multiple public spats with Trump.
"REAL ID is a 2005 George Bush-era Patriot Act overreach that went completely unenforced until Trump got into office. Let me guess: he’s playing 4D chess and I should just go along with it?" Massie wrote.
Former presidential candidate and ex-House Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, wrote on X, "Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem announced Friday that the notorious PATRIOT Act-era REAL ID scheme would go into effect at the end of the month. REAL ID is one of the greatest threats to Americans' civil liberties in decades."
Kentucky state Rep. TJ Roberts, a Republican, agreed with Paul on social media, writing, "Repeal REAL ID!!"
New Hampshire state Rep. Joe Alexander, a Republican, added on the accusations, calling REAL ID a "violation of the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution," and writing, "the Federal Government should not be mandating ID for its citizens to travel between states. Just say NO."
Cato Institute senior fellow Patrick Eddington told Fox News Digital, "I’m not aware of a single post-9/11 instance of an alleged or actual terrorist being apprehended, much less successfully boarding an airliner, with false ID credentials – which is the entire-stated rationale for REAL ID."
Eddington argued it imposed unconstitutional burdens on people who are seeking to travel by air versus train.
"If you got word that your mother had just had a stroke and her prognosis was uncertain, and you wanted to quickly fly home to be with her but couldn’t because you didn’t have a REAL ID-compliant ID card, that would be one very real-world example of a tangible harm this insane law could cause on literally a daily basis," he said.
"The REAL ID Act effectively institutes a form of mass surveillance and verification that doesn't discriminate between those who have given reason for suspicion and those who haven’t, which is why it should never have been enacted in the first place."
Meanwhile, Trump ally Rep. Mark Alford, R-Mo., targeted critics in his own public statement.
"The REAL ID Act was passed way back in 2005, 20 years ago!!!! It’s about time everyone stop dragging their feet. Quit scrolling through social media, quit complaining, get your info together, and get down to the DMV to get your REAL ID," Alford said Wednesday.
The DHS has argued that implementing REAL ID now will help the Trump administration further its goals in cracking down on illegal immigration.
A DHS memo obtained by Fox News Digital earlier this week argued in favor of its implementation, that REAL ID "closes the gaping vulnerabilities Biden’s policies created, preventing criminals and potential terrorists from exploiting our aviation system, as seen during 9/11 when fraudulent IDs enabled attacks."
Trump administration allies have also pointed out that it is carrying out a directive by Congress that’s long been stalled, but that the current White House took no part in deciding.
Fox News Digital reached out to the White House and TSA for further comment. Massie's spokesman said he was not available for an interview when reached by Fox News Digital.
Fox News Digital's Cameron Arcand contributed to this report.
A former Michigan public health official and Democratic candidate for governor entered the race for the state's open U.S. Senate seat on Thursday in what could be one of the most watched races in the 2026 midterm elections.
Abdul El-Sayed, 40, is the second Democrat to put his name in the running to replace Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, who is not seeking reelection.
El-Sayed, a prominent figure in a movement that was highly critical of support for Israel in the 2024 election cycle, aims to set himself apart from the other Democratic candidates in the race to replace Peters, state Sen. Mallory McMorrow.
McMorrow has said she would vote against Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., retaining his leadership position should she prevail in the primary and general election to represent the battleground state in the upper chamber of Congress.
However, El-Sayed held back criticism of Schumer.
"Anybody who tells you that they’re going to unilaterally oppose one potential candidate without knowing who the alternative is, is either unnuanced or unsophisticated," El-Sayed told Politico. "So I want to know who is available, who is actively seeking the leadership. I’ll make a decision from there."
"What we need right now is somebody who’s willing to take the fight directly to Trump and Musk, but then also knows how to rebuild a version of our federal government that better serves working people after the carnage that Musk and Trump are going to leave behind, and I think I offer that," he told Politico.
Other Democrats considering a run to replace Peters include U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens and Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel.
El-Sayed was active in the "uncommited movement," a group of anti-Israel, traditionally Democratic voters in Michigan, a critical swing state, who threatened to withhold support from then-President Joe Biden, and then then-Vice President Kamala Harris, over the administration's stance on Gaza. He did say he would back whoever was the eventual Democratic choice for the presidential ticket to oppose now-President Donald Trump, according to Politico.
The Israel-Hamas war exposed deep divisions within the Democratic Party last election cycle, and there is concern the conflict could again make for a messy Senate Democratic primary in Michigan if the American Israel Public Affairs Committee intervenes. The powerful pro-Israel lobby group financially backed Stevens in 2022, when redistricting forced a competitive primary run against fellow Democrat, Rep. Andy Levin.
"Everybody is unified around leadership that reminds the Democratic Party that we ought to be the party of peace and justice, that we ought not to be the party sending bombs and money to foreign militaries to drop bombs on other people’s kids in their schools and their hospitals, when our kids need more, our hospitals and schools need more, and we should be spending that money here at home," El-Sayed told Politico.
El-Sayed ran for governor in 2018 as a progressive Democrat and was endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.
He came in second in the Democratic primary, losing to Gretchen Whitmer by more than 20 points and beating now-U.S. Rep. Shri Thanedar by more than 12 points. Whitmer went on to win the general election and is in the midst of a second term. She cannot run again because of term limits.
A resident of Ann Arbor, El-Sayed recently served as director of the Department of Health, Human and Veterans Services in Wayne County, home to Detroit. Before that, he was the public health director of the city after it declared bankruptcy in 2013.
El-Sayed cautioned Democrats against learning the "wrong lessons" from their defeats.
"If you cut corners and trim your message, and you triangulate to the least common denominator, you can find something that’s perfectly inoffensive to everyone, and the problem with that is that you’re not actually saying anything," he told Politico.
El-Sayed said he met with the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee on Tuesday. He told Politico that it was his "understanding" that the Senate Democrats’ campaign arm would not get involved in the primary. If that happens, that deviates from how the DSCC previously acted to clear the field of potential primary candidates to make for an easier primary victory for then-Rep. Elissa Slotkin. Now-Sen. Slotkin, D-Mich., easily won the primary over Hill Harper, and then won the general election.
El-Sayed is also the second candidate this week to launch a campaign to replace Peters. On the Republican side, former U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers launched his bid on Monday after losing the Senate race last year by 19,000 votes to Democrat Slotkin.
Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb. – who has advocated for the U.S. and Europe to "arm Ukraine to the max" – pointed to the American Revolutionary War to push back against the notion that Ukraine should surrender to Russia.
"I’m glad General George Washington didn’t say ‘Let’s surrender because Great Britain is too powerful and defeating them is unlikely.’ But, that is what some of our leaders are saying to Ukraine, the victim of a Russian invasion. Surrendering to a tyrant is not peace," Bacon wrote in a post on X.
The congressman wants the U.S. to provide arms to help the embattled Eastern European nation repel Russia.
"European Allies and U.S. should arm Ukraine to the max and help them defend their country against the Russians, and now the North Koreans and Chinese," Bacon declared in a post on X.
Some Americans oppose the prospect of providing additional aid to bolster Ukraine's war effort.
But Bacon contends that backing Ukraine is in America's interests.
"Supporting Ukraine in its struggle against Russian aggression is not only morally right. It is also in our national interest, because the future cost of abandoning Ukraine would vastly outweigh the investment we have made in rejecting Russia’s aggression," he wrote in a New York Times piece.
"In recent weeks, too many of my fellow Republicans – including Mr. Trump – have treated Russia with velvet gloves, shying away from calling out Mr. Putin’s flatly illegal war and even blaming Ukraine for starting it," Bacon declared in the piece.
