A federal judge on Friday issued a temporary pause on the Trump administration’s plans to restructure various government agencies and cut tens of thousands of federal workers because the government overhaul was not authorized by Congress.
U.S. District Judge Susan Illston put a 14-day pause on the mass layoffs, siding with a group of unions, non-profits and local governments after they filed a lawsuit on April 28.
Illston said Trump may broadly restructure federal agencies, but only in "lawful ways" with approval from Congress.
"The President has the authority to seek changes to executive branch agencies, but he must do so in lawful ways and, in the case of large-scale reorganizations, with the cooperation of the legislative branch," Illston said. "Many presidents have sought this cooperation before; many iterations of Congress have provided it."
"Nothing prevents the President from requesting this cooperation—as he did in his prior term of office," the judge continued. "Indeed, the Court holds the President likely must request Congressional cooperation to order the changes he seeks, and thus issues a temporary restraining order to pause large-scale reductions in force in the meantime."
Illston's ruling was the broadest of its kind against administration efforts to overhaul the federal government, which have been led by Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.
In February, Trump directed agencies to work with DOGE to identify targets for mass layoffs as part of the administration's plans to restructure the government.
The president instructed agencies to eliminate duplicate roles, unnecessary management layers and non-critical jobs, as well as to automate routine tasks, close regional field offices and reduce the use of outside contractors.
The group of plaintiffs said the administration's "unlawful attempt to reorganize the federal government has thrown agencies into chaos, disrupting critical services provided across our nation."
"Each of us represents communities deeply invested in the efficiency of the federal government – laying off federal employees and reorganizing government functions haphazardly does not achieve that," the groups said in a statement.
Illston scheduled a hearing for May 22 for a potential longer preliminary injunction. She said plaintiffs are likely to suffer irreparable harm without the temporary restraining order, which she said preserves the status quo.
The judge said the plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits of some of their claims. They accuse Trump of exceeding his authority and say that DOGE, the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Personnel Management exceeded their authority and violated administrative law.
"The Court here is not considering the potential loss of income of one individual employee, but the widespread termination of salaries and benefits for individuals, families, and communities," Illston wrote.
Mexico has filed a lawsuit against Google after it changed the label for the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America on its maps platform to match U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order to amend the name of the body of water, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced Friday.
Sheinbaum said at a press briefing that the lawsuit had been filed against the tech giant, without providing additional details.
The lawsuit comes after Sheinbaum threatened in February to sue Google for the name change.
"We are going to wait. We are already seeing, observing what this would mean from the perspective of legal advice, but we hope that they will make a revision," Sheinbaum said at the time.
Mexico’s Foreign Relations Ministry has also previously sent letters to Google urging it not to relabel the oceanic basin as the Gulf of America.
Trump signed an order on his first day back in the White House in January to rename the northern part of the gulf to the Gulf of America. The body of water has shared borders between the United States and Mexico, and Trump’s order only carries authority within the U.S.
Mexico has argued that the Gulf of America label should only apply to the part over the U.S. continental shelf. The U.S. has control over about 46% of the gulf, Mexico controls about 49% and Cuba controls about 5%, according to Sovereign Limits, a database of international boundaries.
"What Google is doing here is changing the name of the continental shelf of Mexico and Cuba, which has nothing to do with Trump’s decree, which applied only to the U.S. continental shelf," Sheinbaum said in February.
The gulf appears in Google Maps as the Gulf of America within the U.S., as the Gulf of Mexico within Mexico and Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America) everywhere else. It had been called the Gulf of Mexico for more than 400 years.
Google Maps began using Gulf of America for users in the U.S. shortly after Trump's order, citing its "longstanding practice" of following the U.S. government’s lead on these matters. In cases where official names vary between countries, Google’s policy says users will see their official local names.
In February, the Mexican president shared a response from Google's vice president of government affairs and public policy, Cris Turner, who said the company would not change its policy after Trump's order.
Sheinbaum’s announcement of the lawsuit comes after House Republicans passed the Gulf of America Act in a 211-206 vote, marking the first step in codifying Trump's order. The legislation now heads to the Senate.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Google for comment.
Texas lawmakers are charging ahead with what they call the nation’s strongest legislative effort yet to block hostile foreign powers from purchasing land in the Lone Star State.
Championed by Republican state Rep. Cole Hefner and state Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, Senate Bill 17 (SB17) is designed to stop governments and entities tied to countries like China, Iran, North Korea and Russia from gaining a foothold on Texas soil.
In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, Hefner described SB17 as "model legislation" aimed at shutting down land purchases that pose a national security threat.
"This bill is about actions and affiliations, not race, not nationality," Hefner said. "If you’re acting on behalf of a hostile foreign adversary, we’re going to take that land back."
The bill is in direct response to real-world events.
Hefner cited the 2021 case of a retired Chinese general acquiring over 140,000 acres near Laughlin Air Force Base.
"We've [also] seen the attempt of foreign actors or hostile foreign adversaries to buy land close to food processing plants," Hefner said. "And it's just something that we have found the more we dig into it, the more we find that there's a lot of things we don't know and a lot of vulnerabilities that are out there."
The bill prohibits entities and individuals affiliated with governments designated as national security threats, based on the U.S. Director of National Intelligence’s annual assessments, from purchasing real estate if those purchases pose risks to public health or safety.
The law empowers the state's attorney general to investigate, block and even reverse such land deals through court-ordered receivership.
Under SB17, "real property" includes agricultural, commercial, industrial, and residential land as well as mines, minerals, and timber. The law includes key exemptions for U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, and property intended as a personal homestead.
"The strong points of our bill is that it can apply to anyone if we can prove they're acting as an agent," said Hefner. "So even if they're from a friendly country, but they're actually on behalf of a foreign adversary, then they will be subject to the bill."
The bill gives the attorney general investigative powers, and authority to appoint receivers to manage or sell properties acquired in violation of the law.
Hefner pushed back hard on critics who claim the bill is xenophobic. "This has nothing to do with skin color or ethnicity," he said. "It’s about protecting Texans and Americans from foreign espionage and influence."
He also stressed that SB17 should not be seen as a partisan move. "It shouldn't be a partisan issue. This is about national security. This is about keeping our citizens safe," said Hefner. "It's not about Republican or Democrat, it's not liberal or conservative. It is just taking care of our people.
"And I believe that's the, you know, the number one responsibility of the government is to make sure that people can live free and safe in their state."
A Massachusetts suspect was charged this week with attempting to assassinate a cabinet nominee, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
Ryan Michael English, 24, was arrested in January after allegedly attempting to bring a knife and two improvised Molotov cocktails into the U.S. Capitol to assassinate then-Treasury Secretary nominee Scott Bessent during his nomination.
On Thursday, English was charged with the attempted assassination of a cabinet member nominee and carrying a dangerous weapon on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol Building.
English had an initial court appearance on Thursday afternoon.
Prosecutors said that English had also originally plotted to kill House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and was inspired by United HealthCare CEO murder suspect Luigi Mangione.
English walked up to a U.S. Capitol Police officer on Jan. 27 and allegedly stated, "I’d like to turn myself in," according to initial charging documents.
English claimed to have two Molotov cocktails and two knives and expressed being there "to kill Scott Bessent," according to court documents. Federal prosecutors said English left home in Massachusetts and traveled to Washington with the intent of killing Hegseth, whom the suspect referred to as a "Nazi," and Johnson, and burning down the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank near the White House.
Capitol Police officers found a folding knife and two improvised incendiary devices made of vodka bottles with a grey cloth affixed to the top inside English's jacket during a search.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday sent a memo to West Point, the U.S. Naval Academy and the U.S. Air Force Academy, saying that all future admissions will be based solely on merit.
"The Department owes it to our nation, our Service Members, and our young Americans applying to the MSAs to ensure admissions to these prestigious institutions are based exclusively on merit," Hegseth wrote in a memo to the academies.
He added that this would ensure that only the "most qualified candidates" would be admitted.
"Selecting anyone but the best erodes lethality, our warfighting readiness, and undercuts the culture of excellence in our Armed Forces," he wrote.
He said the secretaries of the military departments would have 30 days to certify that there will be no consideration of race, ethnicity or sex in applications and that they will be based on merit only.
"The Department must remain steadfast in its pursuit of excellence and never compromise the high standards at our MSAs," he concluded. "A strong officer corps is essential to ensuring the United States military remains the most lethal the world has ever known."
American author, speaker and theologian Bishop Robert Barron was at the Vatican this week to witness the election of a new pope, and he shared his thoughts with Fox News Digital about Cardinal Robert Prevost's "intriguing" new papal name.
Papal names are often very symbolic with regard to how a Pope will serve as the leader of the Catholic Church. Typically, Pope's select the names of predecessors they admire or want to emulate. Prevost ultimately went with Leo XIV in honor of Pope Leo XIII, who served from 1878 to 1903.
"He could have been Francis II, and we would have said, ‘Oh, there he is clearly in the line of Francis.’ He could have been John Paul III, then we would have thought, ‘Oh, he’s very much in that more conservative line.' He could have been John XXIV, and we say ‘Oh, now he’s a real revolutionary liberal, et cetera,'" Barron said. "The fact that he went back, well over 100 years, to this very interesting and pivotal figure … our new pope was saying, I too, want a critical engagement with the modern world, not simply a ‘no,’ but also not simply a ‘yes,’ not simply an acquiescence to it."
Barron pointed out that Leo XIII was a pivotal figure due to the timing of his reign, which came during a moment when the Church was contending with the tremendous political and philosophical upheavals of the 18th and 19th centuries, such as the French and American Revolutions, and the introduction of philosophies such as Marxism.
"The church's first reaction [to these changes] was very negative. It was a great ‘no’ to modernity. By the end of the 19th century, I think, with a certain distance and a certain critical intelligence, the church was willing to enter into a more, call it, creative engagement with modernity. And I think Pope Leo the 13th represents precisely that," Barron said.
The bishop pointed to the Rerum Novarum to further his point, an encyclical letter issued by Pope Leo XII in 1891.
"In that document, [Leo XII] is a fierce opponent of Marxism, a fierce opponent of socialism and communism, a great defender of private property and of the market economy," Barron said. "So you say, 'Okay, there's that great ‘no’ to the left-wing economic revolutions.' At the same time, in that same letter, [Leo XII] comes out strongly in favor of the right to form unions. He comes out very strongly in favor of what we call the universal destination of goods."
"In fact, Pope Leo says in that letter, once the requirements of necessity and propriety have been met in your life, the rest of what you own belongs to the poor," Barron continued. "That's not a just a standard, boring, mainstream point of view. That's a pretty revolutionary statement. But notice the lovely balance in that letter between ‘yes’ to private property, the great ‘no’ to socialism and Marxism, but the great ‘yes’ to the universal destination of goods. Leo sets the tone thereby for the rest of Catholic social teaching that followed him."
In conclusion, Barron said he thinks Prevost's selection of Leo XIV makes the new pope "a very interesting player" in terms of the debate between the Right and the Left in politics.
"[Leo XVI] doesn't fit – and I've said this 1,000 times – he and other great representatives of Catholic social teaching don't fit into our categories of left and right," Barron said. "They don't fit into Democrat-Republican, they're in a space beyond those distinctions. So, I think that's what's perhaps most interesting about him."
Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, a top House ally of President Donald Trump and a MAGA firebrand with a national following, is passing on a 2026 Senate run.
The three-term conservative lawmaker who represents a solidly red district in northwest Georgia, in a lengthy statement posted to social media on Friday night, took aim at Democratic incumbent Sen. Jon Ossoff, a top GOP target that Republicans view as extremely vulnerable in next year's midterm elections.
But Greene saved much of her venom for fellow Republicans, many of whom feared a polarizing campaign if Taylor Greene became the party's 2026 nominee in Georgia, and for the institution of the Senate itself.
"Someone once said, ‘The Senate is where good ideas go to die.’ They were right. That’s why I’m not running," Greene wrote as she announced her decision.
And Greene argued, "Here’s the hard truth: the Senate doesn’t work. It’s designed to obstruct the will of the people and protect the Uniparty’s grip on power. Nearly everything requires 60 votes to pass, and even when we have a majority, a pack of Republican Senators always votes "no" on the bills that matter most."
Greene's announcement came four days after two-term Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who was the National Republican Senatorial Committee's top recruit in battleground Georgia, revealed that he would also pass on a Senate bid.
The popular conservative governor, who is term-limited and prevented from seeking re-election in 2026, was the GOP's dream candidate to take on Ossoff, as Republicans aim to expand their 53-47 Senate majority in next year's elections.
Greene, in her statement, claimed, "Beating Jon Ossoff? That would be easy. He’s a silver-spoon progressive who’s never held a real job or worried about putting a roof over his family’s head."
"So, Jon Ossoff, you can stop with the fundraising emails and campaign ads claiming I’m your opponent. I’m not running," she added.
While criticizing Ossoff, Greene turned up the volume on her own party, including "the same elites who scoffed at me when I first ran for Congress in 2020."
"Most elected Republicans, propped up by consultants and rich donors, fail to deliver on their campaign promises. Why? Because their donors and handlers don’t want change. They want to protect their own interests, not yours," Greene charged.
She took aim at "the Republicans who see Trump as a speed bump," and argued that "polling has become so dishonest that most people barely pay attention to it anymore. Voters are sick of the consultants who keep getting rich whether we win or lose."
Greene described herself as "effective, fearless, and relentless, not because I serve the Republican Party, but because I serve the American people."
But she added that "I won’t fight for a team that refuses to win, that protects its weakest players, and that undermines the very people it’s supposed to serve… To the elite retreaters, the consultants, and the establishment: consider this your warning."
In the wake of Kemp's announcement, GOP Rep.Buddy Carter, who represents coastal Georgia, launched a Senate campaign this week. Other Georgia Republicans expressing interest in running are Reps. Mike Collins and Rich McCormick, and state Insurance Commissioner John King.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who was arrested on Friday for trespassing at an ICE holding facility, is known as a far-left progressive who has a record of associating with controversial celebrities.
Baraka, who is currently one of the top Democratic candidates for New Jersey governor, was arrested by Homeland Security personnel outside the Delaney Hall ICE detention center for his involvement in what the DHS called a "beyond bizarre political stunt."
The prison currently holds alleged killers, MS-13 gang members and accused child rapists, among other criminal offenders.
U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba announced that Baraka, one of the leading Democratic candidates for New Jersey governor, was arrested on Friday for his involvement in the incident.
"The Mayor of Newark, Ras Baraka, committed trespass and ignored multiple warnings from Homeland Security Investigations to remove himself from the ICE detention center in Newark, New Jersey this afternoon," said Habba. "He has willingly chosen to disregard the law. That will not stand in this state. He has been taken into custody. NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW."
According to Baraka's campaign website, if elected governor he envisions working to "deconstruct the state budget and reassemble with equity as our north star; judging every decision as either a step towards equity or a step towards inequity."
Besides pushing these controversial "equity" policies, Baraka has been criticized for having a record of associating with questionable characters, including Sean "P. Diddy" Combs and radical antisemitic preacher Louis Farrakhan.
When he was first running for mayor in 2014, Baraka was endorsed by P. Diddy. He posted about the endorsement on Facebook and in 2015 posted another picture of himself with the former rapper, saying, "great to see see you [P. Diddy] … you're welcome here anytime!"
Baraka has also been caught on video applauding and embracing Farrakhan after an address in which the Nation of Islam preacher called White people "demons" and encouraged violence as retribution.
The video – taken in 2004 at a Newark church – shows Baraka introducing Farrakhan to the congregation by calling him a major personal inspiration and "the leader of every Black person."
During the speech, which was first reported on by the New York Post, Baraka stood to give Farrakhan a standing ovation two times. The first is after Farrakhan denounces the non-violent protests of the civil rights movement, saying, "We didn’t believe in no non-violence. The cracker hit you on your jaw, you break his neck. That’s the way we think."
Baraka applauds again after Farrakhan demonizes White people as "the enemy."
Local outlet Insider NJ reported that a spokesperson for Baraka’s campaign confirmed the arrest, saying that he "was arrested and detained by ICE" and that he was being transported to the Homeland Security Investigations Newark field office.
DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News that Reps. Rob Menendez Jr., Bonnie Watson Coleman and LaMonica McIver, all New Jersey Democrats, were also involved in the incident and rushed through the facility’s gates, demanding they be allowed to conduct an "oversight visit."
The lawmakers were held up at the first checkpoint.
Baraka, who has been protesting the facility’s opening for months, was a regular presence at protests outside the building throughout the week.
Baraka has said that using Delaney Hall for processing people in the country illegally goes against state and local law, leading the city to file a lawsuit in the Essex County Superior Court at the end of March.
In a press conference on Monday, Baraka said that GEO Group, the private company running the prison, is "following the pattern of the president of the United States who believes that he can just do what he wants to do and obscure the laws, national and constitutional laws, and they think they can do the same thing in the state of New Jersey and in Newark."
Commenting on the arrest, New Jersey Sen. Jon Bramnick, a GOP gubernatorial candidate, told Fox News that "it doesn’t really surprise me because he's been fighting the opening of Delaney Hall since it opened" and that the mayor "wasn’t very pleased with ICE taking over Delaney Hall."
Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J., who is also a candidate for governor, condemned the arrest, calling it an "absolute outrage."
Sherill said that Baraka "needs to be released immediately."
Another Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Steven Fulop, who is mayor of Jersey City, also condemned the arrest, saying, "We’re watching lines get crossed in real time" and that "this is a dangerous precedent."
"In Newark, the airport is in the midst of an unprecedented & dangerous meltdown, the public schools are failing students & families, and there is crime in the streets every day. And yet its Mayor and leading Democrat candidate for Governor, [Ras Baraka], is busy shilling for illegal Immigrants at an ICE detention center with a cheap publicity stunt. Shameful," he posted on X.
Vice President JD Vance refused to talk politics about the newly elected pope on Friday, calling his election a "great thing."
"So many people my entire lifetime have said you’re never going to have an American pope," Vance told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt after being asked for his reaction to his election. "Obviously, now we do, so I think that’s a great thing."
Vance added that "We don’t know a whole lot about him, but I just wish him the best, right? I’m a Catholic. He’s now the head of the Catholic Church, and we’ll pray for his wisdom, for his good decisions, and his good health, and hope that he has a long and successful papacy."
The vice president told Hewitt that something like the election of a new pope can often become "discolored" by politics.
"People are asking is he a conservative or is he a liberal," Vance continued. "Will he attack President Trump and J.D. Vance on certain things, and hasn’t attacked Democrats on other things."
He said his thoughts on that were that it’s hard to "fit a 2,000-year-old institution into the politics of 2025 America."
Vance added that as a Catholic convert, he tries "not to play the politicization of the Pope game. I’m sure he’s going to say a lot of things that I love. I’m sure he’ll say some things that I disagree with, but I’ll continue to pray for him and the Church despite it all and through it all, and that’ll be the way that I handle it."
Vance’s remarks came after news spread of an X account linked to Cardinal Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, that reposted articles earlier this year criticizing the Trump administration on its deportation push.
He also agreed with Hewitt that it was "disappointing" that reporters asked cardinals in a press conference about Leo’s election about Trump.
"The Church is so much bigger than politics," he said, adding that most of the millions of Catholics in the U.S. aren’t worried about whether the pope is liberal or conservative.
He continued, "There are a lot of views the Catholic leadership holds that are, you know, you might consider on the right side of the spectrum. There are a lot of views they’re going to hold that might be more traditionally on the left side of the spectrum. And then there are a lot of views that don’t map easily onto politics at all."
Vance said that although the church touches on public policy from time to time, "that’s not really what it’s about."
"I think it would be better for all of us if we allowed the Church to be about the saving of souls and didn’t try to fit it into a pre-ordained political box," he concluded.
Pope Leo XIV was elected to succeed Pope Francis on Thursday after the former’s death last month after a health battle.
President Trump quickly congratulated Leo on his selection on Thursday.
"It is such an honor to realize that he is the first American Pope," he wrote in Truth Social Post. "What excitement, and what a Great Honor for our Country. I look forward to meeting Pope Leo XIV. It will be a very meaningful moment!"
However, other conservatives like Steve Bannon, the former White House chief strategist in Trump's first administration and a Catholic, called Leo the "worst pick ever."
Pro-Trump conservative commentator Joey Mannarino took to X to charge that "the new Pope has recently attacked JD Vance, shown solidarity with Kilmar Abrego-Garcia and begged Trump to open the borders like Biden had them. This guy is worse than Francis."
Conservative radio host Charlie Kirk said in a video on X, "Let’s just say, not so great tweets about having some willingness for open borders. We’ll see kind of how he is on that. Also some George Floyd stuff that I’m not too crazy about."
Kirk added that "overall, it seems like he’s a pro-life warrior. There’s a lot yet to learn about this pope, but I hope that he will be a strong advocate for strong borders. And for sovereignty."
FIRST ON FOX: The White House is blasting Democrats for "prioritizing the welfare of illegal aliens over American citizens," after "outright breaking the law" and storming an ICE facility in New Jersey.
On Friday, Reps. Rob Menendez Jr., Bonnie Watson Coleman and LaMonica McIver, all New Jersey Democrats, entered ICE's Delaney Hall detention facility in Newark, N.J. and were held up inside the first checkpoint, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News.
The three lawmakers were outside the facility with a group of protesters when the gates opened to allow an ICE bus in. The lawmakers then rushed through the gates and past security, DHS said.
The mayor of Newark, New Jersey, Ras Baraka, was arrested at the ICE detention facility where the three members of Congress also stormed the gate, demanding they be allowed to conduct an "oversight visit."
Baraka, a top Democratic gubernatorial candidate, was arrested at the scene for trespassing, authorities said.
The White House is blasting the Democrats, telling Fox News Digital they are "crossing the line."
"As always, Democrats are prioritizing the welfare of illegal aliens over American citizens - except now they're crossing the line between meaningless political street theatre and outright breaking the law," White House spokesman Kush Desai told Fox News Digital.
Activists have demanded entry into the facility in recent days, saying the GEO Group, the building’s new owner, is unlawfully preventing it from being inspected. A lawsuit filed on behalf of the City of Newark on April 1 alleges that GEO Group failed to permit entry to safety inspectors and violated city construction code, including by conducting electrical and plumbing renovations without proper oversight.
As Republicans search for avenues to extend President Donald Trump's 2017 tax cuts, some Republican lawmakers involved in the process have floated the idea that the nation's highest earners could see a tax increase in order to usher in cuts for lower-earners.
For his part, the president is sending signals he tends to agree.
"You know, they'll go around saying, ‘Oh, this is so terrible.’ What you're doing is you're giving up something up top in order to make people in the middle income and the lower income brackets save more. So it's really a redistribution," Trump told reporters when asked what his response would be to those Republicans opposed to tax increases on the wealthy.
"I would love to be able to give people in a lower bracket a big break by giving up some of what I have," the president added.
He also noted that the move is just "good politics," dismissing comparisons some political experts have made to one-term Republican President George H.W. Bush, whose broken promise to Republicans that there would be "no new taxes" following his 1988 election victory has been blamed Bush's failed re-election efforts.
"Read my lips: No new taxes," Bush Sr. said during his acceptance speech at the 1988 Republican National Convention. Subsequently, in the face of a ballooning deficit, Bush Sr. ultimately cut a deal with Democrats that raised taxes.
"A lot of people say, don't do it because of the fact that you have the Bush statement about ‘Read my lips.’ But he lost because of Ross Perot, he didn't lose because of that statement," Trump said. "I actually think it's good politics to do it where richer people give up. And it's a very small – it's like a point – but they give it up to benefit the people on lower income."
In a post on his Truth Social platform earlier Friday, Trump struck a slightly more cautious tone about the alleged concern that his willingness to increase taxes on the highest earners could spell trouble for him electorally the way it did for Bush Sr.
He complained that Democrats would point to it repeatedly in an effort to discredit him. However, Trump still contended that the elder President Bush lost because of more than just his broken tax promises, and added that while Republicans should probably not increase taxes on the wealthy, he would be okay with it if they were to do so.
"The problem with even a ‘TINY’ tax increase for the RICH, which I and all others would graciously accept in order to help the lower and middle income workers, is that the Radical Left Democrat Lunatics would go around screaming, ‘Read my lips,' the fabled Quote by George Bush the Elder that is said to have cost him the Election," Trump wrote Friday on Truth Social.
"NO, Ross Perot cost him the Election! In any event, Republicans should probably not do it, but I'm OK if they do!!"
As Republicans search for avenues to extend President Donald Trump's 2017 tax cuts, some Republican lawmakers involved in the process have floated the idea that the nation's highest earners could see a tax increase in order to usher in cuts for lower-earners.
For his part, the president is sending signals he tends to agree.
"You know, they'll go around saying, ‘Oh, this is so terrible.’ What you're doing is you're giving up something up top in order to make people in the middle income and the lower income brackets save more. So it's really a redistribution," Trump told reporters when asked what his response would be to those Republicans opposed to tax increases on the wealthy.
"I would love to be able to give people in a lower bracket a big break by giving up some of what I have," the president added.
He also noted that the move is just "good politics," dismissing comparisons some political experts have made to one-term Republican President George H.W. Bush, whose broken promise to Republicans that there would be "no new taxes" following his 1988 election victory has been blamed Bush's failed re-election efforts.
"Read my lips: No new taxes," Bush Sr. said during his acceptance speech at the 1988 Republican National Convention. Subsequently, in the face of a ballooning deficit, Bush Sr. ultimately cut a deal with Democrats that raised taxes.
"A lot of people say, don't do it because of the fact that you have the Bush statement about ‘Read my lips.’ But he lost because of Ross Perot, he didn't lose because of that statement," Trump said. "I actually think it's good politics to do it where richer people give up. And it's a very small – it's like a point – but they give it up to benefit the people on lower income."
In a post on his Truth Social platform earlier Friday, Trump struck a slightly more cautious tone about the alleged concern that his willingness to increase taxes on the highest earners could spell trouble for him electorally the way it did for Bush Sr.
He complained that Democrats would point to it repeatedly in an effort to discredit him. However, Trump still contended that the elder President Bush lost because of more than just his broken tax promises, and added that while Republicans should probably not increase taxes on the wealthy, he would be okay with it if they were to do so.
"The problem with even a ‘TINY’ tax increase for the RICH, which I and all others would graciously accept in order to help the lower and middle income workers, is that the Radical Left Democrat Lunatics would go around screaming, ‘Read my lips,' the fabled Quote by George Bush the Elder that is said to have cost him the Election," Trump wrote Friday on Truth Social.
"NO, Ross Perot cost him the Election! In any event, Republicans should probably not do it, but I'm OK if they do!!"
The mayor of Newark, New Jersey, was arrested Friday at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility where three members of Congress also stormed the facility's gate, demanding they be allowed to conduct an "oversight visit."
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, a top Democratic gubernatorial candidate, was arrested at the scene for trespassing, authorities said.
"The Mayor of Newark, Ras Baraka, committed trespass and ignored multiple warnings from Homeland Security Investigations to remove himself from the ICE detention center in Newark, New Jersey this afternoon," Alina Habba, the U.S. attorney for New Jersey, wrote on X. "He has willingly chosen to disregard the law. That will not stand in this state. He has been taken into custody. NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW."
A crowd, including several lawmakers, gathered outside the HSI Newark Field Office where Baraka was being held Friday evening. The group chanted, yelled and banged on the gate, calling for Baraka's release.
Several politicians have also joined the growing calls for Baraka to be released.
Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., described Baraka's arrest as "disturbing, unnecessary and indicative of tactics that are undermining the safety and security of our communities, not adding to it."
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, said he was "outraged by the unjust arrest." He noted that he had signed a law four years ago that banned private immigration detention centers in the state. Last week, the state defended the law before a federal appeals court.
Democrat Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson called Baraka a friend who encouraged him to fight for change in his community.
"His arrest today is an example of how the federal government's overreach continues to undermine due process afforded by our Constitution," Johnson said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Bob Hugin, chairman of the New Jersey Republican Party, called Baraka's actions a "stunt," noting that he had ignored repeated warnings from authorities.
"He's not a mayor – he's running for governor, and this stunt shows exactly what kind of leader he'd be: one who puts political theater ahead of public safety and the rule of law," Hugin said.
The White House also criticized Democrats over their defense of deported illegal immigrant criminals.
"As always, Democrats are prioritizing the welfare of illegal aliens over American citizens - except now they're crossing the line between meaningless political street theatre and outright breaking the law," White House spokesman Kush Desai told Fox News Digital.
Earlier in the day, Reps. Rob Menendez Jr., Bonnie Watson Coleman and LaMonica McIver, all New Jersey Democrats, entered ICE's Delaney Hall detention facility in Newark and were held up inside the first checkpoint, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News.
"These members of Congress storming into a detention facility goes beyond bizarre political stunt and puts the safety of our law enforcement agents and the detainees at risk," a DHS statement to Fox News said. "Members of Congress are not above the law and cannot illegally break into detention facilities. Had these members requested a tour, we would have facilitated a tour of the facility."
The three lawmakers were outside the facility with a group of protesters when the gates opened to allow an ICE bus in. The lawmakers then rushed through the gates and past security, DHS said.
In a press conference later, Coleman said that ICE was "out of control." McIver said the three lawmakers had waited more than two hours to gain access to the facility to conduct an oversight visit. She said all three of them were also assaulted by ICE personnel.
"There are people who are supposed to be officers, who are supposed to protect us, and they have done none of that," Mclver told reporters. "If they can treat three members of Congress like that, just imagine how they can treat people on the street each and everyday, both undocumented and people who are citizens here in this country."
Menendez, the son of disgraced former Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., said ICE officers at the facility performed an "act of intimidation" on Friday.
"We know what ICE has been doing in our communities. We know that the president lied and that this administration lies every day when they're saying they're going after criminals. It's not true," Menendez said through tears. "They feel no weight of the law. They feel no restraint in what they should be doing, and that was shown in broad daylight today when they not just arrested the mayor of Newark, but when they put their hands on two members of Congress."
Activists have demanded entry into the facility in recent days, saying the GEO Group, the building’s new owner, is unlawfully preventing it from being inspected.
"We’re at Delaney Hall, an ICE prison in Newark that opened without permission from the city & in violation of local ordinances," Coleman wrote on X before Friday's events unfolded. "We’ve heard stories of what it’s like in other ICE prisons. We’re exercising our oversight authority to see for ourselves."
McIver said the "lack of transparency around what’s happening with ICE in this facility is unacceptable. People deserve dignity and we need answers."
The prison currently holds alleged killers, MS-13 gang members and child rapists, among other criminal offenders.
In a press conference on Monday, Baraka said GEO Group is "following the pattern of the president of the United States, who believes that he can just do what he wants to do and obscure the laws, national and constitutional laws, and they think they can do the same thing in the state of New Jersey and in Newark."
A lawsuit filed on behalf of the City of Newark on April 1 alleges that GEO Group failed to permit entry to safety inspectors and violated city construction code, including by conducting electrical and plumbing renovations without proper oversight.
The Department of Homeland Security said the allegations by Newark politicians that Delaney does not have the proper permitting is false.
"We have valid permits and inspection from plumbing, electricity to fire codes has been cleared," the agency said.
Fox News Digital's Max Bacall contributed to this report.
The media’s pile-on of Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., reached the point where both Republicans and Democrats were lamenting the rhetorical blows landing on the hulking Pittsburgh-area lawmaker by Friday.
"This is so blatantly coordinated," remarked media observer and Fox News contributor Joe Concha, who shared a link in his X post to a Politico report claiming an internal Democratic poll found Fetterman’s popularity faltering in his part of the Keystone State.
The report claimed Fetterman had now fallen below 50% in Democratic voter support in the Steel City, just a few miles west of Braddock, where he was previously mayor.
Fox News Digital cannot verify the veracity of the poll's findings.
"The only reason for the coordinated campaign against Senator John Fetterman is his unapologetic pro-Israel politics," wrote Torres, a Bronx Democrat who also bucks his party on Israel, but is also considered a high-profile progressive.
"Let’s call it what it is. As someone who has struggled with depression my whole adult life, I can tell you that if you truly care about someone’s mental health, leaking hit pieces against them is a strange way of showing it."
Swing-state Pennsylvania has a history of politically opposed senators forging close relationships — such as Republican Pat Toomey and Democrat Bob Casey Jr. for many years.
That trend continued Friday when Sen. David McCormick, R-Pa., stuck up for Fetterman, saying in a statement that "it’s time to put politics aside and stop these vicious, personal attacks against Senator Fetterman, his wife, and his health."
"While we have many differences, we are both committed to working together to achieve results for the people of Pennsylvania and make their lives better," McCormick wrote.
The Republican called the Democrat "authentic, decent, principled and a fighter," and ripped the "disgraceful smears" he has seen in recent times.
Philadelphia radio host Nick Kayal remarked on X that he’s seen more reports critical of Fetterman’s health in four days than were seen in the press about former President Joe Biden in four years.
"Wonder why," he asked rhetorically.
Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, added that "the media ought to lay off Senator Fetterman."
A former UPenn student who spoke out on national media against the anti-Semitic protests on campus also came to Fetterman’s defense, slamming the "hit pieces" as of late.
"If you’re a Democrat and oppose the woke mob, you’re enemy #1 of the legacy media," wrote Eyal Yakoby, who also posted a previous photo he took with Fetterman.
Conservative former Pittsburgh news anchor and radio host Wendy Bell remarked on X that the Fetterman attacks are "so weird."
"The New York Magazine hit piece on John Fetterman didn’t hit enough to stick the landing. Now it’s the AP’s turn. This is journalism? No, this is propaganda," Bell wrote.
"The Code Red has been issued on Fetterman," Concha followed up in another X post.
"And of course, our wonderful media follows that order as if Col. Jessup ordered it himself," he said, referring to Jack Nicholson’s crooked Marine Corps officer character in 1992's "A Few Good Men."
Later on Friday, more Republicans came to Fetterman's defense, including Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark.
"John Fetterman and I have our differences, but he’s a decent and genuine guy," Cotton wrote.
"The radical left is smearing him with dishonest, vicious attacks because he’s pro-Israel and they only want reliable anti-Israel politicians. Disgraceful."
Sen. Katie Britt, R-Ala., also pushed back on the media, calling Fetterman a "tremendous friend and colleague."
"It’s a complete disgrace what agenda-driven members of the media and his own party are doing to attack him, all because he dares to be an independent thinker and voice. Proud to stand with John," she wrote.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, a top Democratic gubernatorial candidate in New Jersey, was arrested on Friday for trespassing at an ICE holding facility in Newark during a protest.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) called the incident, which took place at the Delaney Hall ICE detention center, a "beyond bizarre political stunt" that "puts the safety of our law enforcement agents and the detainees at risk."
The prison currently holds alleged killers, MS-13 gang members and accused child rapists, among other criminal offenders.
U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba announced that Baraka, one of the leading Democratic candidates for New Jersey governor, was arrested on Friday for his involvement in the incident.
"The Mayor of Newark, Ras Baraka, committed trespass and ignored multiple warnings from Homeland Security Investigations to remove himself from the ICE detention center in Newark, New Jersey this afternoon," said Habba. "He has willingly chosen to disregard the law. That will not stand in this state. He has been taken into custody. NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW."
Local outlet Insider NJ reported that a spokesperson for Baraka’s campaign confirmed the arrest, saying that he "was arrested and detained by ICE" and that he was being transported to the Homeland Security Investigations Newark field office.
DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin told Fox News that Reps. Rob Menendez Jr., Bonnie Watson Coleman and LaMonica McIver, all New Jersey Democrats, were also involved in the incident and rushed through the facility’s gates, demanding they be allowed to conduct an "oversight visit."
The lawmakers were held up at the first checkpoint.
Baraka, who has been protesting the facility’s opening for months, was a regular presence at protests outside the building throughout the week.
Baraka has said that using Delaney Hall for processing people in the country illegally goes against state and local law, leading the city to file a lawsuit in the Essex County Superior Court at the end of March.
In a press conference on Monday, Baraka said that GEO Group, the private company running the prison, is "following the pattern of the president of the United States who believes that he can just do what he wants to do and obscure the laws, national and constitutional laws, and they think they can do the same thing in the state of New Jersey and in Newark."
Commenting on the arrest, New Jersey Sen. Jon Bramnick, a GOP gubernatorial candidate, told Fox News that "it doesn’t really surprise me because he's been fighting the opening of Delaney Hall since it opened" and that the mayor "wasn’t very pleased with ICE taking over Delaney Hall."
Rep. Mikie Sherrill, D-N.J., who is also a candidate for governor, condemned the arrest, calling it an "absolute outrage."
Sherill said that Baraka "needs to be released immediately."
Another Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Steven Fulop, who is mayor of Jersey City, also condemned the arrest, saying, "We’re watching lines get crossed in real time" and that "this is a dangerous precedent."
"In Newark, the airport is in the midst of an unprecedented & dangerous meltdown, the public schools are failing students & families, and there is crime in the streets every day. And yet its Mayor and leading Democrat candidate for Governor, [Ras Baraka], is busy shilling for illegal Immigrants at an ICE detention center with a cheap publicity stunt. Shameful," he posted on X.
The Trump White House is taking aim at Minnesota leaders for not honoring an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer, as an illegal immigrant charged in a criminal vehicular homicide case is not yet in custody.
Ecuadorian national German Adriano Llangari Inga is facing numerous felony and misdemeanor charges for drunk driving last August, which resulted in a crash killing Victoria Eileen Harwell, and hurting her teenage daughter and sister, according to local media outlets.
"An illegal immigrant drove drunk, killed an innocent mother, and is now on the run because Democrats didn't do their most important job: protect their constituents," Alex Pfeiffer, White House Principal Deputy Communications Director, told Fox News Digital in an exclusive statement.
"This is precisely why the Trump Administration is taking action to hold these so-called 'sanctuary' jurisdictions accountable," he added.
"U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement placed a detainer on German Llangari Inga, 35, of Ecuador, with the Hennepin County Jail, Minnesota, Aug. 4, 2024, after he was arrested for criminal vehicular homicide," an ICE spokesperson told Fox News Digital. "The Hennepin County Jail did not honor the detainer and released Llangari without notification to ICE Aug. 6, 2024, and he remains at large. Llangari initially entered the United States in June 2016, was detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, issued an order of expedited removal and placed into removal proceedings."
The Sheriff's Department said that they were following the rules put forth by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison on immigration-related matters.
"As per guidance from the MN Attorney General’s Office, HCSO cannot lawfully hold individuals in custody based solely on an administrative detainer issued by the Department of Homeland Security or Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). If a judicially-signed warrant is presented to HCSO, ICE will be notified when it becomes the holding agency. In the absence of such a warrant, individuals must be released once all criminal charges or holds have been resolved. HCSO is committed to working with federal and local partners and honoring the constitutional rights of all individuals."
Fox News Digital contacted Mayor Jacob Frey’s office, the Minneapolis Police Department, and Ellison’s office for comment.
President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order last month, cracking down on "sanctuary jurisdictions" that could be at risk of losing federal funding if they do not make changes to their immigration policies, particularly with how certain cities interact with federal law enforcement on immigration cases.
"The term ‘sanctuary city’ is very amorphous, and that's part of the problem in Trump's use of it," Frey told MPR News in an interview last month.
"In Minneapolis, we do not enforce federal immigration law, because that's not our job. We have a separation ordinance in our city that says that our police and our public officials will not collect information as to whether an individual is documented or not. And because we don't collect any information, our response when Trump or others come asking is very simple: We don't have any."
In addition to Frey, several Democratic Minnesota officials defended the state's sanctuary laws, including Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., who said, "If you are an undocumented immigrant, please know that you are in my thoughts and that I will keep fighting."
"With President Trump’s immigration policies targeting sanctuary cities like Minneapolis, the fear of ICE raids is very real, and our communities are on high alert," Minnesota State Sen. Omar Fateh said in January after Trump was sworn in. "Now is the time for bold leadership that stands firm in our progressive values and puts our communities first."
The Trump administration plans to bring white Afrikaners from South Africa to the United States as refugees starting next week after saying they are "victims of unjust racial discrimination."
The arrival of more than two dozen Afrikaners, likely on Monday, comes as the administration has suspended most refugee resettlement programs.
"What’s happening in South Africa fits the textbook definition of why the refugee program was created," Stephen Miller told reporters on Friday. "This is persecution based on a protected characteristic — in this case, race. This is race-based persecution."
The South African government has approved legislation which, under some circumstances, allows for expropriation of land without compensation.
He said the first wave of refugees would be part of a "much larger-scale relocation effort."
The Afrikaners are expected to be met by a government delegation, including the deputy Secretary of State and officials from the Department of Health and Human Services, according to documents obtained by the Associated Press.
Amid his immigration crackdown, Trump said in January the U.S. will only admit refugees who "can fully and appropriately assimilate."
The State Department said: "The U.S. Embassy in Pretoria has been conducting interviews and processing pursuant to President Trump’s Executive Order on Addressing Egregious Actions of the Republic of South Africa. The Department of State is prioritizing consideration for U.S. refugee resettlement of Afrikaners in South Africa who are victims of unjust racial discrimination."
Afrikaners are mainly descended from early Dutch settlers in South Africa.
South Africa’s government has criticized the Trump administration’s effort, saying it doesn’t recognize the country’s history of colonialism and apartheid.
The refugees will be sent to states like Minnesota, Idaho and Alabama.
In March, Secretary of State Marco Rubio expelled the South African ambassador in the U.S., calling him a "race-baiting" politician who hates America and President Donald Trump after he said the commander-in-chief is leading a global white supremacist movement.
Rubio also boycotted a G20 foreign ministers meeting in Johannesburg in March.
South Africa's foreign ministry has said the accusations of racial discrimination against Afrikaners are "unfounded."
"It is most regrettable that it appears that the resettlement of South Africans to the United States under the guise of being ‘refugees’ is entirely politically motivated and designed to question South Africa’s constitutional democracy; a country which has in fact suffered true persecution under apartheid rule and has worked tirelessly to prevent such levels of discrimination from ever occurring again," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
FIRST ON FOX: A Democrat running for Congress in New Jersey who has been positioning herself as a moderate to unseat the sitting Republican in a pro-Trump district, has deleted several social media posts promoting progressive candidates and causes.
Democrat Rebecca Bennett, who is running in the Democratic primary to unseat GOP Rep. Thomas Kean Jr. in New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District, is a Navy veteran and current member of the Air National Guard who has been labeled by local media as a "moderate" in a race the Cook Political Report ranks as "Lean Republican."
A Fox News Digital review of Bennett’s X account, which was created in July 2011 and recently converted from @BigRedBecks to @RebeccaForNJ07, shows several deleted posts that seemingly drift away from the "moderate" label, including praise of progressive Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren…READ MORE
'I DON'T KNOW HER': Trump claims 'I don't know her' and 'listened to' RFK about surgeon general pick who's getting MAGA pushback
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Get the latest updates on the Trump administration and Congress, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.
Discussions over a potential tax hike for ultra-wealthy Americans are threatening to foment a civil war among Republicans on Capitol Hill.
Some GOP lawmakers, as well as conservative groups that are frequently in touch with congressional Republicans, have been loudly voicing opposition to any tax increases.
Meanwhile President Donald Trump and his allies are signaling that the idea could be a way to pay for significant tax breaks targeting middle and working-class Americans.
"Raising taxes on one bracket is a slippery slope. What will stop future tax increases on middle-income earners as the federal government accumulates more and more debt?" a senior House GOP aide told Fox News Digital. "Republicans certainly shouldn’t be the party leading this effort."
But the idea found support among more populist Trump allies like House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris, R-Md.
"Personally, I’ve always believed that if we can’t find spending reductions elsewhere, we should look at restoring the [pre-2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA)] tax bracket on million dollar income to help pay for the President’s agenda," Harris wrote on X.
It comes after Trump signaled to GOP leaders that he was open to raising taxes on the ultra-wealthy to offset the cost of new policies eliminating taxes on tips, overtime pay and retirees' social security.
A source familiar with the president's thinking told Fox News Digital that to accomplish those goals, as well as preserving Medicaid for millions, Trump is considering a new top income tax bracket of 39.6% for single taxpayers making $2.5 million or more per year.
The TCJA lowered the tax rate for the top income bracket — currently $609,350 for single filers — to 37%, a cut that's expiring at the end of this year.
Trump himself toyed with the idea publicly on Truth Social Friday morning, though made clear he saw the potential drawbacks.
"The problem with even a ‘TINY’ tax increase for the RICH, which I and all others would graciously accept in order to help the lower and middle income workers, is that the Radical Left Democrat Lunatics would go around screaming, ‘Read my lips,’ the fabled Quote by George Bush the Elder that is said to have cost him the Election," Trump posted, referencing ill-fated comments by late former President George H.W. Bush.
"NO, Ross Perot cost him the Election! In any event, Republicans should probably not do it, but I’m OK if they do!!!"
Discussions about raising taxes have traditionally been anathema to mainstream Republican beliefs.
But it's now a direction the GOP will have to contend with as Trump continues to bring more middle- and working-class people into the party base – but disagreements on the wisdom of such a move remain.
"'Tax the rich' is a tired slogan with no evidence of spurring economic growth, as higher taxes on any group hinder innovation and investment," Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., told Fox News Digital on Friday.
"We don't have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem. Ultimately, I don't think this will even happen. We must focus on cutting spending and downsizing government, not raising taxes."
Several Republicans told Fox News Digital late last month that they were wary of raising taxes – including Reps. David Kustoff, R-Tenn., and Tim Moore, R-N.C. Spokespeople for both said their opinions are unchanged as of Friday morning.
"When we passed what was called the Tax Cuts Jobs Act of 2017, we did lower taxes for everybody. We reduced the tax rates. We condensed the brackets," Kustoff said. "And what we saw is, that lifted everybody. And the U.S. Treasury still saw revenues continue to grow. So I don't want to see taxes raised on anybody."
Moore told Fox News Digital, "I do not support any tax increases. I think that we do not have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem."
Moreover, nearly 200 past and present House Republicans signed onto a pledge to oppose all tax increases, run by think tank Americans For Tax Reform.
But another Republican, Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., told Fox News Digital that day, "I would want to see some numbers behind it and how it would have an effect on the economy."
"What I've heard from people in the upper tax brackets is, you know, they're willing to pay more as long as they know that it's paying the debt down. They don't want to see it go towards more spending," Stutzman said.
It's one of several ongoing debates over how to advance Trump's agenda via the budget reconciliation process, which allows the party in power to advance a massive piece of fiscal policy legislation while sidelining the minority by lowering the Senate's threshold for passage from 60 votes to 51.
Republicans are working to use the maneuver to advance Trump's priorities on border security, immigration, energy, national defense and taxes, as well as raising the debt ceiling.
On taxes, expected to be the costliest portion, Republicans want to extend Trump's 2017 TCJA cuts expiring in 2026 as well as implement his aforementioned newer policies.
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., a longtime Trump ally, told Fox Business' Stuart Varney on Friday, "We are not going to do tax increases."
But it's not clear how many of those Republicans will change their minds if Trump begins exerting pressure on such tax hikes.
Meanwhile, conservative groups like The Heritage Foundation and Americans For Prosperity (AFP) are already exerting pressure on Capitol Hill to resist any tax hikes.
"Republicans have a chance to lock in pro-growth tax policy and reignite prosperity for a generation of Americans – something every conservative can agree on. There is no appetite anywhere for raising taxes on anyone," AFP Chief Government Affairs Officer Brent Gardner told Fox News Digital.
"The sooner Republicans can get back to this broad consensus – keeping taxes low, while cutting wasteful spending – the sooner they’ll all start to see the benefits, both economically and politically."
The House Ways & Means Committee is expected to meet on Tuesday to advance the tax portion of the package, so its details – including the potential tax hike – will be released in the coming days.
Republican leaders hope to have a bill passed in the House of Representatives by around Memorial Day, with a final bill on Trump's desk by the Fourth of July.
With razor-thin margins in the House and Senate, the GOP can afford precious little dissent if they are going to meet their goals.
President Donald Trump on Friday morning said that an "80% Tariff on China seems right!" adding on Truth Social that the final number would be up to U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
An 80% tariff on Chinese goods coming into the U.S. would be nearly half of the current 145% tariff on the Asian country.
Minutes earlier, he posted: "CHINA SHOULD OPEN UP ITS MARKET TO USA — WOULD BE SO GOOD FOR THEM!!! CLOSED MARKETS DON’T WORK ANYMORE!!!"
It was the first time the president has put out a specific number, after previously suggesting the tariff could be lowered.
Trump’s suggested lower tariffs come ahead of weekend talks between Bessent and chief trade negotiator Jamieson Greer and Chinese economic tsar He Lifeng in Switzerland.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a press briefing Friday, "That was a number the president threw out there, and we'll see what happens this weekend," adding that Trump wouldn’t unilaterally lower the tariff and China would be required to make "concessions."
Earlier this week, Trump said that China is eager to make a deal with the U.S.
"Scott's going to be going to Switzerland, meeting with China," Trump told reporters Thursday at the White House. "And you know, they very much want to make a deal. We can all play games. Who made the first call, who didn't make them? It doesn't matter. Only matters what happens in that room. But I will tell you that China very much wants to make a deal. We'll see how that works out."
The Trump administration announced widespread tariffs for multiple countries on April 2, following criticism that other countries' trade practices are unfair towards the U.S.
The administration later adjusted its initial proposal and announced on April 9 it would immediately impose a 145% tariff on Chinese goods, while reducing reciprocal tariffs on other countries for 90 days to a baseline of 10%. China responded by raising tariffs on U.S. goods to 125%.
Fox News' Diana Stancy contributed to this report.
