The Trump administration designated several gangs and cartels, such as Tren de Aragua, MS-13 and the Sinaloa Cartel, as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs).
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a public notice set to be published in the Federal Register on Thursday, that he had concluded there is a "sufficient factual basis" under section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act to designate eight groups as FTOs.
The eight groups consist of Tren de Aragua; Mara Salvatrucha, also known as MS-13; the Sinaloa Cartel; New Generation Cartel of Jalisco; United Cartels; Northeast Cartel; Gulf Cartel; and La Nueva Familia Michoacana, or LNFM, many of which go under multiple different names.
This comes after President Donald Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office to direct the State Department and other executive agencies to move to designate cartels and other criminal groups as FTOs.
The order specifically mentioned Tren de Aragua – which is also known as "TdA" – as well MS-13, as groups needing to be designated as terror organizations.
Trump gave Rubio 14 days to make policy recommendations – in consultation with the secretaries of the Treasury and Homeland Security as well as the U.S. attorney general and director of national intelligence – to make a recommendation regarding the designation of criminal groups to be designated as terrorist organizations.
A foreign terrorist designation expands the government’s ability to crack down on criminal groups operating in the U.S., allowing all government agencies, including the Department of the Treasury, to target that group from every angle.
The order stated that these groups "present an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States," and invokes the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEP) to declare a national emergency to "deal with those threats."
"It is the policy of the United States to ensure the total elimination of these organizations’ presence in the United States and their ability to threaten the territory, safety, and security of the United States through their extraterritorial command-and-control structures, thereby protecting the American people and the territorial integrity of the United States," the order read.
Joseph Humire, executive director of the Center for a Secure Free Society, authored a report on how to dismantle TdA in 2024. He previously explained to Fox News Digital that designating these groups as foreign terrorist organizations places them "at the highest level" of U.S. national security interest, meaning their funding and any organizations enabling them can be targeted as well.
"Trump just put all of them on notice," Humire said. "This said: ‘We know you're here; we know you're up to no good, and we're going to come after you.'"
Fox News Digital’s Peter Pinedo contributed to this report.
Initial discussions between Trump administration officials and Russia in Saudi Arabia Tuesday marked a "significant milestone" in securing peace between Russia and Ukraine, according to the White House press secretary.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, White House National Security Advisor Michael Waltz and Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff met in Riyadh with Russian president Vladimir Putin, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Putin’s foreign affairs advisor Yuri Ushakov to hash out ways to end the conflict. Ukraine was absent from the negotiations in Saudi Arabia.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt declined to provide specifics about the discussions, but she said the Trump administration was committed to brokering a peace deal to end the conflict between the two countries.
"What I will tell you is that today, sitting down at the table was a significant first step toward peace," Leavitt told reporters at the White House on Tuesday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during a joint press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Tuesday that an invitation to the talks wasn’t extended to Ukraine and that he was postponing a scheduled trip to Saudi Arabia until March.
Zelenskyy has stressed that Ukraine must be involved in negotiations, and said Sunday that Ukraine wouldn’t accept a peace deal if his country were absent from negotiations.
But Leavitt said that everyone would have a seat at the negotiating table — including other European allies — as the Trump administration seeks to advance a peace deal.
"We're ensuring that all parties are heard," Leavitt said in an interview with Fox New’s "America Reports" Tuesday. "But you have to speak to both sides of the war in order to truly negotiate a deal and problem solve. And this is a significant first step toward peace."
Leavitt said that President Donald Trump was in correspondence with Zelenskyy, and spoke with other European allies like French President Emmanuel Macron Monday. Additionally, she said that Trump will meet with the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the White House next week.
Trump and Zelenskky also spoke over the phone Wednesday about the negotiations, and Zelenskyy said he relayed that he believes Putin isn’t interested in peace with Ukraine.
"I said that [Putin] is a liar," Zelenskyy said in an interview with NBC’s "Meet the Press" that aired Sunday. "And he said, 'I think my feeling is that he's ready for these negotiations.' And I said to him, 'No, he's a liar. He doesn't want any peace.'"
While Zelenskyy voiced gratitude for U.S. support, he said that there is no "leader in the world who can really make a deal with Putin without us, about us."
"I will never accept any decisions between the United States and Russia about Ukraine," Zelenskyy said on "Meet the Press."
But Trump has offered reassurances that Zelenskyy would be involved in peace conversations, and told reporters Sunday on the tarmac at Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach, Florida that Ukraine would get a seat at the negotiating table.
The first action the U.S. plans to take following the meetings with Russian officials is to "reestablish the functionality of our respective missions in Washington and in Moscow," Rubio told reporters from The Associated Press and CNN.
"For us to be able to continue to move down this road, we need to have diplomatic facilities that are operating and functioning normally," Rubio said, according to a State Department transcript.
Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, and Trump vowed on the campaign trail in 2024 that he would work to end the conflict if elected again.
Fox News’ Emma Colton and Andrea Margolis contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump’s prowess as a negotiator will help determine if Russian President Vladimir Putin is serious about negotiations to end the war in Ukraine, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday.
Rubio appeared on CBS’ "Face the Nation," where host Margaret Brennan asked if he could trust that potential negotiations with Russia would be forthright considering how Putin "likes to use diplomacy as a cover to distract while he continues to wage war."
"I don't think in geopolitics anyone should trust anyone," Rubio responded. "I think these things have to be verified through actions. I said yesterday that peace is not a noun, it's a verb. It's an action. You have to take concrete steps towards it."
Rubio added that there is "no better negotiator in American politics" than Trump, saying that the president "will know very quickly whether this is a real thing or whether this is an effort to buy time."
"But I don't want to prejudge that," Rubio said. "I don't want to foreclose the opportunity to end the conflict that's already cost the lives of hundreds of thousands and continues every single day to be increasingly a war of attrition on both sides."
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly three years ago. The fighting has produced heavy casualties on both sides, becoming Europe’s largest military conflict since World War II.
Trump had repeatedly said while on the campaign trail that if he was president in 2022, the war would not have broken out — vowing to end it if re-elected.
Trump spoke to Putin in a phone call on Wednesday, telling reporters that he and Putin would likely meet soon to negotiate a peace deal over Ukraine. Trump later assured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy he also would have a seat at the table.
While some officials have indicated that European nations wouldn't be involved in talks, Rubio on Sunday said that should the leaders reach the point of "real negotiations," both Ukraine and Europe would be involved.
"Ultimately, it will reach a point when you are – if it's real negotiations, and we're not there yet – but if that were to happen, Ukraine will have to be involved, because they're the one that were invaded, and the Europeans will have to be involved because they have sanctions on Putin and Russia as well, and they've contributed to this effort."
Rubio emphasized that the phone call between Trump and Putin was only a small step in the process towards opening a negotiation to end the war, and that "we have a long way to go."
"We're just not there yet," he said. "We really aren't, but hopefully we will be, because we'd all like to see this war end."
The State Department's procurement forecast for 2025 included a $400 million contract for "Armored Tesla (Production Units)."
Sjoerd van der Wal via Getty Images
The State Department said it was planning to buy $400 million worth of armored Teslas this year.
It now says it will be buying "Armored Electric Vehicles" instead of specifically Teslas.
Musk's companies have received billions of dollars from government contracts and subsidies.
The State Department has scrubbed mention of armored Teslas from its 2025 procurement forecast.
The procurement document previously contained a line item that read: "Armored Tesla (Production Units)" — a reference to products from Elon Musk's electric vehicle company, Tesla. It was listed as a five-year contract and valued at $400 million, making it the biggest item on the list.
The document was titled "Department of State Procurement Forecast Year 2025 (Revised 12/23/2024)." The Tesla line item had last been revised on December 13.
As of Wednesday night at 9:12 p.m. EST, the line item has been revised. Itnow reads "Armored Electric Vehicles." It's still listed as a five-year contract worth $400 million.
The document is now called "Department of State Procurement Forecast Year 2025."
The latest version of the document doesn't mention Tesla.
"I'm pretty sure Tesla isn't getting $400M. No one mentioned it to me, at least," Musk wrote on X on Thursday about the department's revised forecast.
News of the $400 million State Department contract with Tesla was reported by Drop Site News on Wednesday.
It's unclear when the procurement list was first released. The State Department updates its forecast in the first quarter of every fiscal year.
When contacted for comment, a State Department spokesperson told Business Insider that no government contract for armored electric vehicles has been awarded to Tesla or any other vehicle manufacturer.
The Biden administration had instructed the State Department to assess if private companies would be interested in producing armored vehicles, the spokesperson added. Only one company responded to the department's request for information, the spokesperson said.
There are no current plans to hold an official bid, the spokesperson said.
The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the change.
Procurement list details
The earlier version of the forecast was made under the Biden administration, weeks before President Donald Trump took office on January 20.
It didn't specify which Tesla vehicle model it was commissioning.
Tesla produces several EVs, including its Model 3 and Model S sedans and Model Y and Model X SUVs. The company also produces the Cybertruck, a stainless steel pickup truck that Musk has said is bulletproof.
Both the original and newly revised documents list an anticipated award date of September 30 for the contract. Both versions of the forecast also include orders from other automakers, including a $40 million contract for armored BMW SUVs, the X5 and X7.
Tesla didn't respond to a request for comment.
Musk's companies have received billions from government contracts
Musk's companies have done several deals with the government. His companies have received billions of dollars from government contracts and subsidies.
Gwynne Shotwell, the president and chief operating officer of Musk's rocket company, SpaceX, said in November that the company had $22 billion in government contracts.
Musk is now the public face of Trump's cost-cutting efforts within the government, serving as the leader of the Department of Government Efficiency.
The White House has said Musk is a "special government employee" and isn't compensated for his services. The classification allows Musk to maintain his sprawling business interests, which include companies such as Tesla and SpaceX.
On Tuesday, Musk joined Trump at a press conference in the Oval Office, where he was asked about the conflicts of interest he could face from running DOGE and his companies simultaneously.
"No, because you have to look at the individual contract. First of all, I'm not the one filing the contract. It's people at SpaceX or something will be putting for the contract," Musk said.
"And I'd like to say if you see any contract where it was awarded to SpaceX and it wasn't by far the best value for money for the taxpayer, let me know, because every one of them was," he added.
Trump said at a press conference on February 3 that Musk wouldn't be allowed to deal with government matters where there could be a conflict of interest.
"If there's a conflict, then we won't let him get near it," Trump said.
February 13, 2025: This story has been updated to reflect a change the State Department made in its 2025 procurement forecast after the story was published. The procurement forecast now lists $400 million of "Armored Electric Vehicles," not $400 million of "Armored Tesla (Production Units)."
President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order reinforcing a "unified" voice for U.S. foreign policy that prioritizes his "America First" agenda.
The executive order emphasizes the State Department’s responsibility to uphold the Trump administration’s foreign policy priorities, and that the agency has the proper channels to ensure that "officers and employees faithfully implement the President's policies," according to a White House fact sheet.
Additionally, the executive order instructs Secretary of State Marco Rubio to execute reforms to recruitment, evaluation, performance and retention standards to ensure that the State Department employs the most qualified individuals to represent the U.S., according to the fact sheet.
Likewise, Rubio has the authority under the order to update the Foreign Affairs Manual or other procedural documents pertaining to foreign service.
"President Trump is committed to safeguarding the integrity of U.S. foreign policy by ensuring that America's interests are prioritized through a unified diplomatic voice, with related personnel held accountable to the President's vision," the White House said in the fact sheet.
"No longer will America be taken advantage of by foreign nations or by rogue actors who undermine our sovereignty or security."
The executive order expands upon Trump’s America First policy directive that he signed after his inauguration, which states that "the foreign policy of the United States shall champion core American interests."
The Trump administration has put forward some bold foreign policy proposals during his second term, including unveiling an effort to shutter the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), a group that works to deliver aid to impoverished countries and development assistance.
Rubio, now acting director of the independent agency, said on Feb. 3 that USAID was not "functioning" and that the organization isn’t a "global charity."
"It needs to be aligned with the national interest of the U.S.," Rubio said. "They're not a global charity, these are taxpayer dollars. People are asking simple questions. What are they doing with the money? We are spending taxpayers’ money. We owe the taxpayers assurances that it furthers our national interest."
Likewise, Trump also announced plans on Feb. 4 to "take over" the Gaza Strip in a "long-term ownership position" to deliver stability to the region during a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The proposal prompted swift backlash from Arab countries, including Jordan, and Egypt announced plans on Sunday for an emergency Arab Summit to discuss "new and dangerous developments" regarding the resettling of Palestinians on Feb. 27.
Trump met with Jordan’s King Abdullah II on Tuesday, who said he would wait for the Egyptians to take the lead on a proposal moving forward as they negotiate with the U.S. on plans to take over Gaza. However, Abdullah did reveal plans to accept 2,000 sick Palestinian children to Jordan.
"I think let's wait until the Egyptians can come and present it to the president and not get ahead of us," Abdullah said.
The Biden administration slow-walked its designation of American Marc Fogel as a "wrongful detainee" in Russia, Republicans and officials who previously worked on the effort to free Fogel told Fox News Digital.
"Marc Fogel was viewed by the Biden administration as just an average White guy from flyover country in Western Pennsylvania," House Chief Deputy Whip Guy Reschenthaler, R-Pa., told Fox News Digital Tuesday. "He didn’t have any celebrity status; he wasn’t a military veteran; he wasn’t a journalist. So, the Biden administration overlooked him, and I think that’s absolutely appalling."
Fogel, an American teacher from Western Pennsylvania, returned to the United States late Tuesday, after President Donald Trump secured his release.
Fogel had been arrested at an airport in Russia in 2021 for possession of medical marijuana and was sentenced to 14 years in a Russian prison.
The Biden administration did not designate Fogel a wrongful detainee until October 2024 and did not make that designation public until December 2024 – weeks after Trump was elected and the month before his inauguration.
Reschenthaler was first notified in 2021 of Fogel’s detention and began leading efforts with congressional colleagues to work with the Biden administration to bring Fogel home.
Along with a group of bipartisan lawmakers from Pennsylvania – including Reps. Brendan F. Boyle, Mike Doyle, Dwight Evans, Fred Keller, Mike Kelly, Conor Lamb, Dan Meuser, Glenn "GT" Thompson, Susan Wild, and Sen. Pat Toomey — Reschenthaler penned an August 2022 letter to then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken urging him to classify Fogel as having been "wrongfully detained."
The lawmakers argued that Fogel’s case was similar to that of WNBA player Brittney Griner, who had been imprisoned for a drug offense in Russia in February 2022. Griner, however, quickly was designated as being wrongfully detained and was returned home in December 2022.
Reschenthaler told Fox News Digital he spoke to Blinken "multiple times" about Fogel but said the secretary of state "refused to give me or my colleagues any kind of explanation for why (Fogel) was not put on wrongfully detained status."
When determining whether an American is wrongfully detained, the individual’s case is measured against criteria established by the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage-Taking Accountability Act. There were 11 criteria established by that law, and lawmakers said Fogel had met at least six of the criteria.
But the secretary of state has discretion over designations.
"There are a lot of things that President Trump brings to the table that secured the release of Fogel," Reschenthaler told Fox News Digital. "For one, the Biden administration knew that Marc Fogel was going to be put on wrongfully detained status under Trump – and they didn’t want to give him the win, so they went ahead and did it on their way out the door."
But Reschenthaler said Trump "has a lot more gravitas in talking to foreign leaders and adversaries."
"Because when President Trump talks – when he makes a threat or draws a red line – he will actually deliver on that promise," Reschenthaler said. "Biden would not make bold assertions, and there was nothing to back them off. The Russians did not take Biden or Tony Blinken seriously – and there was nothing to compel them to release Fogel."
A former Biden administration official pushed back and defended Biden and Blinken’s work.
"Whether someone is designated or not doesn’t change our level of advocacy, which is how we brought home over 70 people who’d been detained abroad," the former official told Fox News Digital. "We fought day after day to secure Marc’s release and we celebrate his return home."
By June 2023, two years into Fogel’s detention without the wrongful detainee designation, Reschenthaler, Rep. Mark Kelly, R-Pa., and Pennsylvania Democrat Reps. Chris Deluzio and Brendan Boyle introduced the Marc Fogel Act, which would require the State Department to provide Congress with copies of documents and communications on why a wrongful determination had or had not been made in cases of U.S. nationals detained abroad within six months of arrest.
"When you talked to career State Department officials, they understood what they were waiting for was a green light from the executive branch – but they could never say why they wouldn’t do these things," Kelly told Fox News Digital Tuesday. "They would say, ‘Well, we’re working on it. We’re working on it.’ But the stopping point was that they would not designate him the right way, and it seemed like they had no interest in getting it at all."
Kelly told Fox News Digital that, within the "political State Department," there "just didn’t seem to be any energy toward getting that designation done."
"There have been so many things since I’ve been in Congress that you get stonewalled on, and that was just one of those things I felt at the beginning – we were just getting stonewalled," Kelly said. "They were just giving us conversation."
Kelly said, though, that he could "feel that the career State Department personnel wanted to do something."
"But the political State Department was disinterested," Kelly said.
It wasn’t just Republican and Democratic lawmakers trying to aid the Biden administration in securing the return of Fogel to the United States.
Former White House national security advisor Robert O’Brien, who served during the first Trump administration, also got involved.
O’Brien told Fox News Digital that he sent a letter to the Russian ambassador as "a humanitarian gesture."
"I sent a letter to the Russian ambassador during the Biden years asking if they would consider a humanitarian release of Mr. Fogel," O’Brien told Fox News Digital. "The Russian ambassador sent a cordial, but non-committal, letter of response."
O’Brien told Fox News Digital that he informed Ambassador Roger Carstens, Biden’s special envoy for hostage affairs, of his outreach. O’Brien told Fox News Digital that the Biden administration encouraged that outreach.
Carstens told Fox News Digital that he was "well aware that O’Brien sent the letter on Marc Fogel’s behalf."
"Robert O’Brien and his predecessor, Jim O’Brien, and I all worked together quite closely over the last four years to keep doing the hard work of bringing Americans home," Carstens, who also served during the final year of the first Trump administration, told Fox News Digital.
"Robert’s efforts on Marc’s behalf, and his efforts on behalf of others that are unsung, showcase the bipartisan nature of these efforts and the importance that the senior leadership in this country places on bringing Americans home," Carstens said, calling O’Brien a "good personal friend and mentor."
"We worked hand-in-hand throughout my entire time in the Biden administration to devise ways to bring people home," Carstens said.
But as for Fogel, Carstens told Fox News Digital that the Biden administration did "work tirelessly to bring home Marc Fogel on the sides of negotiations of humanitarian release; negotiated separately as humanitarian release; and when designated, we included him in ongoing negotiations with the Russians."
"Fogel’s return is fantastic news, and the Trump administration is to be commended for bringing this American home and bringing so many Americans home in just the last few weeks from places like Venezuela, Gaza and now Russia," Carstens told Fox News Digital.
He added: "Bringing Americans home might very well be the last nonpartisan issue in this country and any administration that brings an American home should be congratulated for their efforts and their successes."
Meanwhile, Reschenthaler was at the White House Tuesday night with Trump to welcome Fogel back to the United States.
"I was honored to be alongside President Trump at the White House to welcome Fogel back to the United States," Reschenthaler told Fox News Digital. "President Trump promised to bring him home and kept his word – building on the already great success of his weeks-old presidency."
Reschenthaler added: "While President Biden refused to prioritize this Pennsylvanian, President Trump delivered and secured his release. The American people are overjoyed to have strong and skilled leadership back in charge."
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday instructing the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to coordinate with federal agencies and execute massive cuts in federal government staffing numbers.
The order will instruct DOGE and federal agencies to work together to "significantly" shrink the size of the federal government and limit hiring new employees, according to a White House fact sheet on the order. Specifically, agencies must not hire more than one employee for every four that leave their federal post.
Agencies will also be instructed to "undertake plans for large-scale reductions in force" and evaluate ways to eliminate or combine agency functions that aren't legally required.
DOGE Chair Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, told reporters Tuesday in the Oval Office that the American people voted for "major" government reform and that the Trump administration would deliver.
Trump voiced similar sentiments about providing voters what they wanted – to tackle "all of this "horrible stuff going on" – and told reporters that he hoped the court system would cooperate.
"I hope that the court system is going to allow us to do what we have to do," Trump said, who also said he would always abide by a court’s ruling but will be prepared to appeal.
The order builds on another directive Trump signed after his inauguration implementing a federal hiring freeze, as well as an initiative from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management offering more than 2 million federal civilian employees buyouts if they leave their jobs or return to work in person. A federal judge has temporarily blocked the administration's plan from advancing amid challenges from union groups.
Trump’s executive order aligns with DOGE’s "workforce optimization initiative" and would impose restrictions to hire only for "essential positions" as agencies brace for significant cuts to their workforce, according to the White House fact sheet.
The executive order will leave just a few areas of the federal government unscathed, including positions affiliated with law enforcement, national security and immigration enforcement.
DOGE is focused on eliminating wasteful government spending and streamlining efficiency and operations, and it is expected to influence White House policy on budget matters. The group has been tasked with cutting $2 trillion from the federal government budget through efforts to slash spending, government programs and the federal workforce.
The White House said on Feb. 4 that it predicted a "spike" in resignations close to the original Feb. 6 deadline for the buyout offer, which would allow employees to retain all pay and benefits and be exempt from in-person work until Sept. 30.
"The number of deferred resignations is rapidly growing, and we’re expecting the largest spike 24 to 48 hours before the deadline," a White House official told Fox News Digital on Feb. 4.
So far, approximately 65,000 federal employees have accepted the buyout offer, but a federal judge has issued a pause on the deadline for when employees must submit their resignations.
U.S. District Judge George O’Toole indefinitely extended a temporary restraining order Monday, pausing the deadline as he evaluates a preliminary injunction request stemming from cases against the buyout program filed by union groups, including the American Federation of Government Employees.
When asked about the buyout, Trump said that there are empty office spaces and that his administration is attempting to reduce the size of government.
"We have too many people. We have office spaces occupied by 4% – nobody showing up to work because they were told not to," Trump said.
DOGE has moved to slash other areas of the federal government as well.
Other recent initiatives by DOGE have included launching an effort to shutter the U.S. Agency for International Development, a group that works to deliver aid to impoverished countries and development assistance.
The group has come under scrutiny from DOGE amid concerns about wasteful government spending, poor leadership and questionable funding, including an Iraqi version of "Sesame Street" and reportedly millions of dollars in funding to extremist groups tied to designated terrorist organizations and their allies.
"It’s been run by a bunch of radical lunatics, and we’re getting them out," Trump told reporters on Feb. 2.
Fox News’ Brooke Singman, Emma Colton and Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrapped up his first overseas trip across Latin America with several wins on immigration, a top priority for President Donald Trump.
America’s new top diplomat returns home with a binder full of agreements from foreign governments on day-one priorities to interdict human and drug trafficking – a testament to how the Trump administration wields America’s economic might.
"I think the fact that his first trip was to Latin America, I think was a huge statement in itself," said Joseph Humire, executive director of the Center for a Secure Free Society (SFS).
Next, Rubio will head to the Middle East, with plans to visit Israel, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia in mid-February after attending the Munich Security Conference. A broad swath of even more challenging circumstances await him there, including concerns from foreign officials over Trump’s newfangled idea to "take over" the Gaza Strip, with neighboring Arab states staunchly opposed to U.S. insistence that they take in Palestinians.
Before the secretary took off for Latin America, the Trump administration had already scored several victories. Colombia did a lightning fast about-face on accepting deportation flights carrying illegal immigrants headed home from the United States. President Gustavo Petro had initially denied two flights carrying Colombian nationals, saying he would not accept the return of migrants who were not treated with "dignity and respect" and who had arrived shackled or on military planes.
But Trump immediately threatened 25% tariffs on Colombian goods, and Petro acquiesced to all U.S. conditions, according to the White House, including accepting migrants on military planes.
Rubio then began his regional tour in Panama last Saturday, a nation that nervously awaited to see what his visit would hold after Trump repeatedly called for a U.S. takeover of the Panama Canal.
Trump had claimed the canal was essentially under the control of China – Hong Kong-based firms control the ports of entry – and charging America unfair rates after the U.S. built the canal and gave it back to Panama in a 1977 treaty signed by President Jimmy Carter.
After Rubio’s visit, Panama said it would not be renewing its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) with China, an investment project the CCP uses to secure influence in developing nations across the world.
"The BRI thing was huge news," said Humire.
"There are 22 countries in Latin America that signed a BRI agreement. If we really push hard on this, a lot of countries, especially the ones that are allied with us, are going to rethink" their agreements with China, he added.
Rubio had warned Panama that if its government did not move to reduce or eliminate the CCP’s grip on the canal, the U.S. would move to do so.
Under the canal treaties, the U.S. retains the duty to defend the canal if it comes under threat.
But Rubio hit a snag over a claim that the State Department made that Panama had offered free passage through the canal for U.S naval vessels.
Panama President José Raúl Mulino then accused the US of spreading "lies and falsehoods" about his nation offering the U.S. free passage.
The secretary then rowed back the claim, while calling the charges "absurd."
"It seems absurd that we would have to pay fees to transit a zone that we are obligated to protect in a time of conflict," Rubio said. "Panama has a process of laws and procedures that they need to follow as it relates to the Panamanian port."
In Costa Rica, Rubio offered U.S. help to combat a wave of drug trafficking crime and push back on Chinese influence by limiting CCP development of 5G technology in the country.
Then, in El Salvador, Rubio cinched an offer from Trump-friendly President Nayib Bukele to accept deportees of any nationality, including American criminals.
At the same time, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum agreed to send 10,000 Mexican forces to the U.S. border after Trump agreed to delay a threatened 25% tariff on her nation’s exports to the U.S.
"I think a lot of the wins are because of his prior relationships with the region, his team and, frankly, his experience and his knowledge," said Humire. "He’s somebody that can engage them in their language and in their kind of mannerisms."
And, he added, Latin America saw "how serious" Trump was about deportations, watching the threats the president made to Canada, Mexico and Colombia.
"I think we could have gotten more clarity from Panama on the canal," said Humire. "But I think we met little resistance [overall]."
Rubio wasn’t the only Trump official to secure Latin America wins. Special envoy Ric Grenell sat down with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro this week and returned home with six American hostages. The price paid, according to Grenell, was giving the Venezuelan dictator a photo opportunity with an American diplomat for propaganda purposes.
The Trump administration now expects deportation flights to Venezuela to resume "within 30 days," border czar Tom Homan told the New York Times, after Maduro previously refused to accept Venezuelan nationals back from the U.S.
"He's on a good-behavior policy," said Humire. "[Maduro] thinks – they call it agenda zero – they think that they can renew, kind of restart relations with the U.S. by basically being on good behavior, starting to steer us towards their interests."
"Grennell has to be able to get the things that we need without giving a whole lot. And I think he accomplished that," Humire continued. "The photo op, they’re going to spin it, use it for disinformation. But that’s a small concession for bringing hostages home."
A group of transgender people is challenging the Trump administration's new policy that prevents the issuing of passports with sex designations that do not match an applicant's biological sex at birth.
Seven people represented by the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit claiming the policy violates privacy and First Amendment rights. In 2022, the State Department allowed passport applicants to select M, F or X for sex.
"The plaintiffs in this case have had their lives disrupted by a chaotic policy clearly motivated by animus that serves zero public interest," said Sruti Swaminathan, staff attorney for the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Project.
"Our clients need to travel for work, school and family, and forcing them to carry documents that directly contradict what they know about themselves to be true — or withhold those documents altogether — is a blatant effort to violate their privacy and deny them their freedom to be themselves."
The rule came after President Donald Trump signed an executive order promoting the "biological truth."
The order, "Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government," declares that the U.S. will recognize only two sexes — male and female — based on immutable biological characteristics.
It prohibits the use of gender identity in legal and administrative contexts and mandates that federal agencies, including those overseeing housing, prisons and education, adhere to this definition when enforcing laws and issuing regulations.
The order directs changes to government-issued identification documents, bans the promotion of "gender ideology" in federal programs, rescinds previous executive actions that promoted gender identity inclusion and instructs federal agencies to eliminate guidance or regulations that conflict with the new policy.
It mandated the requirement that government-issued identification documents "accurately reflect" the holder’s sex, defined as "male" or "female."
In a statement released by the ACLU, Reid Solomon-Lane, one of the plaintiffs, said he's lived his whole adult life as a man.
"Everyone in my personal and professional life knows me as a man, and any stranger on the street who encountered me would view me as a man," Solomon-Lane said. "Now, as a married father of three, Trump’s executive order and the ensuing passport policy have threatened that life of safety and ease.
"If my passport were to reflect a sex designation that is inconsistent with who I am, I would be forcibly outed every time I used my passport for travel or identification, causing potential risk to my safety and my family’s safety."
Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House and State Department.
The ACLU said it's been contacted by more than 1,500 transgender people or family members, "many with passport applications suspended or pending, who are concerned about being able to get passports that accurately reflect their identity."
Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to the Middle East for a few days beginning next week for his second trip at the head of the State Department.
Rubio will visit Israel, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia after attending the Munich Security Conference in Germany, Fox News confirmed on Thursday.
While an itinerary has not yet been released, Rubio's impending visit to the Middle East comes at a pivotal time in foreign policy, as Israel and Hamas are implementing a three-stage ceasefire agreement after 16 months of war in Gaza.
During a joint news conference in the Dominican Republic with President Luis Abinader on Thursday, Rubio said President Donald Trump has offered to be part of the solution to rebuild Gaza.
Trump suggested on Wednesday that the U.S. take control of the Gaza Strip in order to rehabilitate the territory to a livable location as most of the area has been decimated and millions are displaced.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Wednesday that under Trump's proposal, Palestinians would be "temporarily" relocated in order to successfully level and rebuild.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was on board with the proposed plan, describing it as "remarkable" and "the first good idea that [he's] heard."
"President Trump is taking it to a much higher level," Netanyahu said from the White House with Trump on Wednesday. "He sees a different future for that piece of land that has been the focus of so much terrorism, so much, so many attacks against us, so many, so many trials and so many tribulations. He has a different idea, and I think it's worth paying attention to this."
Rubio said "there are a lot of countries in the world that like to express concern about Gaza and the Palestinian people, but very few [were] willing, in the past, to do anything concrete about it."
Gaza, which is run by Hamas terrorists, is not only uninhabitable because of the destruction from the war with Israel, but because of unexploded munitions, rockets and weapons that plague the land, Rubio said, adding that "it needs to be dealt with."
"If some other country is willing to step forward and do it themselves, that would be great, but no one seems to be rushing forward to do that and that has to happen," Rubio said Thursday.
The secretary of state said he thinks Trump proposed the Gaza takeover idea in hopes of getting a reaction from countries who "have the economic and technological capacity to contribute to a post-conflict region."
As of Friday morning, no other country has spoken out about a potential plan to rehabilitate Gaza.
An aircraft used by a state-owned Venezuelan natural gas company to evade U.S. sanctions and export control laws for the benefit of the regime of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was seized in the Dominican Republic Thursday, authorities said.
The seizure of the Dassault Falcon 2000EX aircraft used by Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PdVSA), the sanctioned Venezuelan state-owned oil and natural-gas company, came as Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited the Caribbean nation for talks with its president.
"The seizure of this Venezuelan aircraft, used for evading U.S. sanctions and money laundering, is a powerful example of our resolve to hold the illegitimate Maduro regime accountable for its illegal actions," Rubio wrote on X.
"With the Dominican Republic and our regional partners, we will continue to counteract any scheme to evade U.S. sanctions."
The seizure stemmed from a 2019 executive order during President Donald Trump's first term in office in an effort to prohibit American citizens from engaging in transactions with anyone who worked for or on behalf of PdVSA. In January 2020, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) identified 15 aircraft that fell under the order.
PdVSA bought the plane from the U.S. in July 2017 and exported it to Venezuela, where it was registered under tail number YV-3360, the Justice Department said.
Despite sanctions being levied on PdVSA, the plane was still serviced and maintained on multiple occasions using parts from the U.S., authorities said. The service included a brake assembly, electronic flight displays and flight management computers, all in violation of U.S. export control and sanctions laws.
"The use of American-made parts to service and maintain aircraft operated by sanctioned entities like PdVSA is intolerable," said Devin DeBacker, head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.
"The Justice Department, along with its federal law enforcement partners, will continue to safeguard our national security by identifying, disrupting and dismantling schemes aimed at procuring American goods in violation of our sanctions and export control laws."
Among its uses, the plane was allegedly used to take Venezuelan Oil Minister Manuel Salvador Quevedo Fernandez, who is also sanctioned, to an OPEC meeting in the United Arab Emirates and has been used to transport senior members of the Maduro regime.
The aircraft was used in a continuation of the regime’s misappropriation of PdVSA assets, the DOJ said.
In September, a plane owned by Maduro was also seized in the Dominican Republic. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) flew the Dassault Falcon 900EX back to the United States soon after.
"Asset forfeiture is a powerful law enforcement tool, which we will continue to use aggressively to deter, disrupt and otherwise combat criminal activity," said U.S. Attorney Hayden O’Byrne.
Maduro began his third six-year term as president last month despite widespread skepticism over the legitimacy of his election victory.
International and domestic critics question the fairness of the electoral process. Maduro claimed victory by more than 1 million votes. However, opposition candidate Edmundo González is widely believed to have won by a landslide.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was tapped as the acting director of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) just days ago, is taking on another new role in President Donald Trump's new administration.
Rubio is now also serving as the acting director of the U.S. Archives, ABC News reported, citing a high-level official. Fox News Digital reached out to the State Department for comment, but they did not immediately respond.
Trump signaled last month his intention of replacing the now-former national archivist Colleen Shogan, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden, during a brief phone interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt. The National Archives notified the Justice Department in early 2022 over classified documents Trump allegedly took with him to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida after leaving office. That would later result in an FBI raid, and Trump being indicted by former special counsel Jack Smith. However, Biden nominated Shogan to run the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) later in 2022, and the Senate confirmed her the following year.
The source told ABC News that Rubio has been the acting archivist since shortly after Trump was sworn in as the 47th president last month.
This week, Rubio is traveling on his first official State Department trip to Central America, during which he convinced the Panamanian president to end its Belt and Roads project deal with the Chinese government. Trump has said the United States could claim the Panama Canal through economic or military measures if necessary after raising concerns about Beijing allegedly controlling the strategic waterway that was constructed by the U.S.
The Trump administration has suspended some foreign aid pending a review into how U.S. taxpayer dollars are being spent abroad, resulting in thousands of layoffs and ended programs.
While addressing reporters in Guatemala City on Wednesday, Rubio said he issued waivers for certain programs that assist in gathering biometric information to better identify fugitives, as well as bolster technology and K-9 units to identify shipments of deadly fentanyl and precursor chemicals, showing "firsthand the kind of foreign aid America wants to be involved in."
"This is an example of foreign aid that’s in our national interest. That’s why I’ve issued a waiver for these programs, that’s why these programs are coming back online, and they will be functioning, because it’s a way of showing to the American people this is the kind of foreign aid that’s aligned with our foreign policy, with our national interest," Rubio said.
America’s top diplomat said the United States wants some fugitives who are "strategic objectives, meaning they help us strengthen our partners, and they help us to cut the head off the snake of a transnational group that’s particularly dangerous." He said the State Department would be "working very closely" with U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Justice Department in "prioritizing our extradition requests so that they align with our strategic objective with regards to who it is that we’re going after."
The State Department announced on Wednesday that "the government of Panama has agreed to no longer charge fees for U.S. government vessels to transit the Panama Canal," saving the U.S. government "millions of dollars a year."
However, the Panama Canal Authority denied having made any adjustments to the tolls or transit agreements of the canal despite the State Department's announcement, adding that they are "ready to establish a dialogue with the relevant officials of the United States regarding the transit of warships." Earlier this week, Rubio voiced frustration about U.S. Navy ships having to pay to transit through the canal despite the U.S. being under treaty agreement to defend the canal if it is attacked.
"Secretary of State Marco Rubio is such a breath of fresh air & he’s proven to be incredibly effective in implementing President Trump’s PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH vision for the world," Rep. Carlos Giménez, a Republican ally of Rubio in Congress representing south Florida, said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "Panama has agreed to drop its ‘memorandum of understanding’ with Communist China & to waive the toll for U.S. Navy ships transiting the Canal Zone. Panama must continue to work with the United States to evict Communist China from their country & achieve a productive, long-term deal that prioritizes both of our countries’ shared interests."
Besides the canal, Rubio has focused his trip on immigration, praising the Panamanians for the decreased flow of migrants through the Darien Gap and overseeing a deportation flight of Colombian nationals back to Colombia.
Rubio secured two agreements with first, El Salvador, and then Guatemala on Wednesday, for the countries to accept deportees from the U.S.
FIRST ON FOX: The Senate chair of the DOGE Caucus is exposing a "demonstrated pattern of obstructionism" at the U.S.' top aid agency in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, outlined how the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has been "stonewalling" her office for years as she sought documents to ensure taxpayer dollars weren't wasted at the agency, which is now under the microscope of billionaire Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
"USAID’s spending shows a blatant disregard for the wishes of American taxpayers, and it is time to disrupt the system," Ernst told Fox News Digital. "The agency has been wasting millions of tax dollars on things like tourism in Lebanon, Sesame Street in Iraq, sending Ukrainians to Paris Fashion Week and so much more."
In one instance, the Iowa Republican claims USAID misled her staff to believe that details about funds going to businesses in Ukraine were classified, funds that in some instances were used for travel to fashion shows and film festivals.
In 2024, after months of delays, USAID finally agreed to offer Ernst's staff a review of recipients of taxpayer-funded assistance to businesses in Ukraine, according to the letter.
But the agency insisted the documents be reviewed in a sensitive compartmented information facility (SCIF), suggesting the records would be classified.
"These requirements were all presented to my staff under the false pretense that this data was classified," Ernst wrote to Rubio. "Only after demanding to speak to your USAID Office of Security, my staff uncovered that this data was, in fact, unclassified."
Ernst said that based on her staff’s review, it appears that over 5,000 Ukrainian businesses received U.S. taxpayer-funded assistance, with awards of up to $2 million each.
That trade assistance was in some instances used to bankroll business owners attending glamorous film festivals and fashion shows in cities like Berlin, Paris and Las Vegas.
She also accused the agency of "misleading" her office on the costs of indirect aid. Negotiated indirect cost agreements (NICRA) allowed contractors to use more than 25 percent of the total award on costs like "rent for a partner’s corporate headquarters, advocacy costs, and other miscellaneous expenses."
Ernst said her staff reached out in November 2022 asking USAID for information on NICRAs with grant recipients. The agency responded, "USAID does not have a system to track or report on this data, as it is not possible to compare indirect costs between for-profit and nonprofit organizations," according to Ernst.
In February 2023, Ernst followed up with a link to a publicly reported NICRA database that USAID confirmed does exist.
The agency then said that it "protects the confidential business information of its implementing partners, including NICRAs… outside the scope of a formal oversight request by a committee of jurisdiction."
Then, Ernst partnered with former House Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul to give USAID the request from a "committee of jurisdiction."
"Even then, USAID refused to permit my staff to acquire the documents or take substantive notes on the NICRA rates. The lack of transparency was alarming because the NICRA rates far exceeded staff’s expected range of indirect costs allowed."
Ernst said: "In the wake of this series of significant misjudgments and oversight obstruction by USAID, it is of the utmost importance to conduct a full and independent analysis of the recipients of USAID assistance."
She also pointed to Chemonics, a government contractor that USAID’s inspector general found over-billed the U.S. government by $270 million through fiscal year 2019. Chemonics led a $9.5 billion USAID project to improve global health supply chains that, "led to 41 arrests and 31 indictments related to illicit resale of USAID funded commodities on the black market, and fueled ongoing allegations that Chemonics falsely portrays its projects’ outcomes to secure future contracts with USAID," Ernst wrote.
"No more stonewalling," said Ernst. "We need to scrutinize every last dollar being spent by this rogue agency."
In a notice posted on its website Tuesday night, USAID announced that all direct hire staff would be placed on leave globally, except for designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership and specially designated programs.
The Trump administration is now exploring merging the agency with the State Department and Rubio has been appointed its acting director.
Rubio told reporters in El Salvador the "functions of USAID" must align with foreign policy and called it a "a completely unresponsive agency."
Democratic lawmakers, meanwhile, staged a protest outside the USAID headquarters on Tuesday, arguing that the agency is essential for flexing U.S. soft power throughout the world, preventing and monitoring disease outbreaks, and safeguarding U.S. national security.
"USAID is the backbone of America’s soft power, helping to stabilize fragile regions and protect U.S. interests abroad," said Reps. Greg Meeks, top Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, and Sara Jacobs,Calif., top Democrat on the Africa subcommittee.
"Weakening it will fuel global crises, endanger American security, embolden other nations like China and Russia, and leave the Trump Administration solely responsible for the fallout."
CBS News reported that Peter Marocco, the director of foreign assistance at the State Department who was tapped by State Department Secretary Marco Rubio to run USAID, told the agency's leadership that those who do not comply will be evacuated by the military.
Fox News Digital has reached out to USAID and the State Department.
USAID has come under scrutiny by the Trump administration over what it is spending.
"For decades, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has been unaccountable to taxpayers as it funnels massive sums of money to the ridiculous — and, in many cases, malicious — pet projects of entrenched bureaucrats, with next-to-no oversight," the White House said Monday.
USAID allocated millions of dollars for programs the Trump administration considers controversial and that frequently involved diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives launched during the Biden administration, critics say.
During an interview with Fox News that aired Tuesday, Rubio said USAID has "basically evolved into an agency that believes that they're not even a U.S. government agency."
"That they are a global charity. That they take the taxpayer money and spend it as a global charity, irrespective of whether it is in the national interest or not in the national interest," he said.
The goal was always to reform the agency, Rubio said, but that "now we have rank insubordination."
"Their basic attitude is: ‘We don’t work for anyone. We work for ourselves'," he said. "'No agency of government can tell us what to do’."
Rubio said a common complaint among U.S. embassies around the world is that USAID isn't cooperative and "undermines the work that we're doing."
On Tuesday, Sen. Jodi Ernst, R-Iowa, said every dollar given to USAID needs to be scrutinized.
In a series of posts on X, Erst noted millions in aid that were allegedly funneled to fund good causes ended up in the hands of bad actors.
She noted $9 million in humanitarian aid to feed civilians in Syria that allegedly ended up in the hands of terrorists, as well as another $2 million spent on Moroccan pottery classes and promotion.
Other projects included trade assistance to Ukraine to pay for models to attend Fashion Weeks events in New York City, London and Paris and millions spent to help Afghans grow crops instead of opium.
"The results: opium poppy cultivation across the country nearly doubled, according to the UN," she wrote.
"USAID asked, ‘Can you tell me how to get how to get to Sesame Street?’ and ended up in Iraq," she wrote in another post. "USAID authorized a whopping $20 million to create a Sesame Street in Iraq."
President Donald Trump has scored a number of rapid-fire wins in his efforts to get other countries to assist the U.S. on border security, as a combination of tariff threats and diplomatic outreach appears to be pushing allies to act.
On Monday, both Canada and Mexico announced new measures to assist the U.S. at their respective borders, which in turn led to the U.S. pausing the implementation of planned tariffs.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that his country will be implementing a $1.3 billion border plan and will be appointing a "fentanyl czar." He also announced new helicopters, technology and enhanced coordination with U.S. authorities.
"We will list cartels as terrorists, ensure 24/7 eyes on the border, launch a Canada-U.S. Joint Strike Force to combat organized crime, fentanyl and money laundering," Trudeau wrote. "I have also signed a new intelligence directive on organized crime and fentanyl and we will be backing it with $200 million."
That came just hours before additional 25% tariffs were to take effect on Canadian goods coming into the U.S. and after a phone call between the two leaders.
Hours before that call, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum announced that Mexico is deploying 10,000 troops to the U.S. border in exchange for a pause on similar tariffs that were going to impact Mexican goods entering the U.S.
"These soldiers will be specifically designated to stop the flow of fentanyl, and illegal migrants into our Country," Trump said on Truth Social.
Trump used tariffs in his first term to secure border agreements. The Remain-in-Mexico policy was expanded in 2019 with the agreement of Mexico after a similar threat of tariffs.
A similar threat secured cooperation from Colombia last week. President Gustavo Petro had refused to accept military flights accepting Colombian nationals being deported from the U.S. Trump responded with the threat of a 25% tariffs on all goods from Colombia, a travel ban on Colombian government officials and other steep financial sanctions. He said the tariffs would reach as high as 50% by next week and insisted the migrants being sent back were "illegal criminals."
Colombia backed down the same day, and two days later accepted the first deportation flights from the U.S.
Not all wins for the administration have required the threat of tariffs, however. On Saturday, Trump announced that Venezuela has agreed to accept back its nationals being deported from the U.S., something it has largely been unwilling to do.
The announcement came after Trump’s envoy for special missions Ric Grenell met with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in Caracas to discuss his country accepting violent criminals deported from the United States.
On Tuesday, after a meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele announced a safe third country that would allow for illegal immigrants facing deportation to be booked into his country’s prison system.
"We have offered the United States of America the opportunity to outsource part of its prison system," Bukele wrote on X Monday night. "We are willing to take in only convicted criminals (including convicted U.S. citizens) into our mega-prison (CECOT) in exchange for a fee. The fee would be relatively low for the U.S. but significant for us, making our entire prison system sustainable."
Rubio said the Salvadoran president "has agreed to the most unprecedented, extraordinary, extraordinary migratory agreement anywhere in the world."
"We can send them, and he will put them in his jails," Rubio told reporters, referring to illegal immigrants behind bars in U.S. prisons. "And, he’s also offered to do the same for dangerous criminals currently in custody and serving their sentences in the United States, even though they’re U.S. citizens or legal residents."
Bukele also said he would take back all Salvadoran MS-13 gang members in the U.S. illegally, and promised to accept and incarcerate criminal illegal aliens from any country, especially those affiliated with Venezuela's Tren de Aragua gang.
Rubio is on his five-nation Central American tour until Thursday and is expected to make stops in Costa Rica, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic.
Fox News’ Landon Mion, Anders Hagstrom and Louis Casiano contributed to this report.
EXCLUSIVE: Secretary of State Marco Rubio is accusing USAID of "rank insubordination," adding "we had no choice but to bring this thing under control." The top U.S. diplomat made the comments in an exclusive interview with Fox News in El Salvador, just after announcing he would take over as acting director of the humanitarian agency.
Rubio blasted USAID for being "completely unresponsive" telling Fox "they don’t consider that they work for the U.S., they just think they’re a global entity and that their master is the globe and not the United States, and that’s not what the statute says, and that’s not sustainable."
Rubio refused to say whether the agency "needs to die," as DOGE chief Elon Musk is suggesting, instead stressing the goal was always to reform it.
"There are things that we do through USAID that we should continue to do, that make sense, and we'll have to decide, is that better through the State Department or is that better through something, you know, a reformed USAID? That's the process we're working through."
Despite plans for restructuring, Rubio said the United States would remain the "most generous nation on Earth," but added, in a way that makes sense, that’s in our national interests.
Asked if changes to USAID would open the door for Communist China to increase its influence around the world, Rubio said "No, I mean, first of all, they don't do that now. If they did, they'd be out there competing with us in these places. But my point is this, even if they did that, why would we fund things that are against our national interests or don't further our national interests, whether China is there or not? If China wants to waste our money on something that's against their China, their national interests, go ahead and do it. We're not going to do it."
Monday evening, the group and labor union that represents U.S. foreign service workers, released a statement opposing the Trump administration's actions regarding USAID. "The American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) strongly objects to the administration’s decision to dismantle the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). This will undermine U.S. national security, may subvert Congressional authority, and demonstrates a lack of respect for the dedication of the development professionals who serve America’s interests abroad."
The wide-ranging interview came after Rubio’s visit to Panama and amidst repeated warnings from President Trump that the United State would "take back" the Panama Canal over concerns the Chinese have de facto operational control over it.
Following his visit with the Panamanian President, Jose Raul Mulino announced the central American nation would leave China’s Belt and Road initiative. Rubio welcomes the move but tells Fox that’s not enough and that he hopes to see "additional steps in the days to come."
President Trump announced 30-day pauses on tariffs on Mexico and Canada. Rubio acknowledge that "changes our economic relationship with our closest neighbors," adding the State Department is not involved in any negotiations to make Canada the 51st state.
Despite Venezuela’s recent move to release U.S. hostages and accept migrants living illegally in the US, Secretary Rubio said there are still no plans to recognize the Maduro regime as legitimate. Rubio added "Maduro knows the US has many options to inflict serious damage on his regime."
Rubio, who is of Cuban descent, says he has "no intention" of going to Havana as America’s top diplomat "other than to discuss when they're going to leave." Rubio continues his western hemisphere trip Tuesday with stops in Costa Rica and Guatemala.
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is led by tech billionaire Elon Musk, is taking aim at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and, according to senior congressional sources, moved to seize control of the independent agency over the weekend.
The senior congressional sources told Fox News that more than 50 senior USAID staff members were placed on administrative leave and subjected to a gag order, meaning they were not allowed to communicate with anyone outside the agency without approval.
Signs were also removed from USAID’s headquarters in the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C., and the DOGE team took over the computer systems, the sources said. USAID is responsible for distributing civilian foreign aid and development assistance to countries around the globe.
President Donald Trump complimented Musk's decision-making on Sunday during a quick interaction with reporters on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews. When asked if he felt Musk was "delivering on his promises," the president responded with much praise.
"I do think Elon is doing a good job," Trump said. "He's a big cost cutter. Sometimes we won't agree with it and will not go where he wants to go, but I think he's doing a great job. He's a smart guy, very smart, and he's very much into cutting the budget of our federal government."
On Sunday, The Associated Press reported that the Trump administration placed two top security chiefs at USAID on leave after refusing to turn over classified material in restricted areas to DOGE.
After initially being refused access to USAID’s classified information, DOGE gained that access on Saturday, allowing them to see things like intelligence reports, a current and a former U.S. official told the AP.
The DOGE team members lacked high enough security clearance to access the information, so the two USAID security officials – John Voorhees and deputy Brian McGill – believed they were legally obligated to deny access.
On Sunday, Musk took aim at USAID on his social media platform X, writing, "USAID is a criminal organization. Time for it to die."
He also wrote several other posts about the agency, saying things like, "USAID was a viper’s nest of radical-left Marxists who hate America" and "USAID is evil."
The latter was in response to a post suggesting USAID helped fund coronavirus research in Wuhan, China, which referred to an interaction posted on Forbes between Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and now former USAID Administrator Samantha Power in April 2023.
Trump echoed Musk's posts by saying USAID has been run by "a bunch of radical lunatics" and his administration is "getting them out."
ABC News reported that those familiar with USAID were questioning whether the moves at USAID were being made in an effort to move the agency under the State Department, where there could be better accountability.
Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., turned to social media on Sunday to sound off on the "dismantling" of USAID.
"Trump and Musk are recklessly and illegally dismantling USAID, an essential national security agency that saves lives, advances U.S. interests, and promotes peace," Booker wrote. "Their malicious actions are putting the health of people, especially children, at grave risk, and will surely lead to future public health and migration crises in the U.S. – let alone suffering around the globe."
Last week, at least 56 USAID officials were placed on administrative leave with full pay and benefits, and several hundred contractors based in Washington and elsewhere were laid off.
The actions came after Secretary of State Marco Rubio, acting on Trump's executive order, paused all U.S. foreign assistance funded by or through the State Department and USAID.
The 90-day pause has halted thousands of U.S.-funded humanitarian, development and security programs worldwide and forced aid organizations to lay off hundreds of employees because they can't make payroll.
Fox News Digital’s Chris Pandolfo and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
President Donald Trump's envoy for special missions, Richard Grenell, has traveled to Venezuela to deliver an in-person message to socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro about accepting violent criminals deported from the United States.
On a call with reporters Friday, Mauricio Claver-Carone, the U.S. special envoy to Latin America, said Grenell will tell Maduro to take back all the Venezuelan criminals and Tren de Aragua gang members that have been "exported to the United States, and to do so unequivocally and without condition."
Grenell will also demand that Venezuela immediately release American hostages being held in that country, Claver-Carone said.
The trip "focuses on two very specific issues. That we expect that Venezuelan criminals and gangs will be returned, as they are, to every country in the world, without conditions, and two, that American hostages need to be released immediately, unequivocally," he explained.
"This is not a quid pro quo. It's not a negotiation in exchange for anything. President Trump himself has made that very clear."
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Friday that Grenell had arrived in Venezuela on orders from the president.
Despite widespread belief among Venezuelans and much of the international community that Maduro lost the 2024 Venezuelan presidential election to opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, he was sworn into his third six-year term earlier this month.
The U.S. does not recognize Maduro as the legitimate head of state of Venezuela.
Opposition leader María Corina Machado has called on Venezuelan citizens to protest the Maduro regime and demand that González be installed as the rightful president of Venezuela.
As many as 10 Americans are currently detained in Venezuela, although the State Department has not declared them wrongfully detained. Three are U.S. citizens who allegedly participated in a plot to destabilize the country, according to Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello.
The State Department has denied any U.S. involvement with a plot to overthrow Maduro.
It remains unclear how many Americans are currently held in Venezuela following the significant prisoner swap in 2023 when Washington and Caracas negotiated the release of dozens of prisoners, including 10 Americans, in exchange for Colombian businessman Alex Saab, a close ally of Maduro.
Saab was arrested during the first Trump administration on charges related to a $350 million bribery scheme.
President Donald Trump's envoy for special missions, Richard Grenell, has traveled to Venezuela to deliver an in-person message to socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro about accepting violent criminals deported from the United States.
On a call with reporters Friday, Mauricio Claver-Carone, the U.S. special envoy to Latin America, said Grenell will tell Maduro to take back all the Venezuelan criminals and Tren de Aragua gang members that have been "exported to the United States, and to do so unequivocally and without condition."
Grenell will also demand that Veneuzeula immediately release American hostages being held in that country, Claver-Carone said.
The trip "focuses on two very specific issues. That we expect that Venezuelan criminals and gangs will be returned, as they are, to every country in the world, without conditions, and two, that American hostages need to be released immediately, unequivocally," he explained.
"This is not a quid pro quo. It's not a negotiation in exchange for anything. President Trump himself has made that very clear."
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Friday that Grenell had arrived in Venezuela on orders from the president.
Despite widespread belief among Venezuelans and much of the international community that Maduro lost the 2024 Venezuelan presidential election to opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, he was sworn into his third six-year term earlier this month.
The U.S. does not recognize Maduro as the legitimate head of state of Venezuela.
Opposition leader María Corina Machado has called on Venezuelan citizens to protest the Maduro regime and demand that González be installed as the rightful president of Venezuela.
As many as 10 Americans are currently detained in Venezuela, although the State Department has not declared them wrongfully detained. Three are U.S. citizens who allegedly participated in a plot to destabilize the country, according to Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello.
The State Department has denied any U.S. involvement with a plot to overthrow Maduro.
It remains unclear how many Americans are currently held in Venezuela following the significant prisoner swap in 2023 when Washington and Caracas negotiated the release of dozens of prisoners, including 10 Americans, in exchange for Colombian businessman Alex Saab, a close ally of Maduro.
Saab was arrested during the first Trump administration on charges related to a $350 million bribery scheme.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio's decision to freeze foreign aid over the weekend included pulling millions of dollars-worth of U.S. funding for "condoms in Gaza," a White House official told Fox News Digital.
The revelation came as the official explained that a separate memo from the Office of Management and Budget will temporarily pause grants, loans and federal assistance programs pending a review into whether the funding coincides with President Donald Trump's executive orders, such as those related to ending diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), the Green New Deal, and funding nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) "that undermine the national interest."
"If the activity is not in conflict with the President’s priorities, it will continue with no issues," the White House official told Fox News Digital. "This is similar to how HHS [Department of Health and Human Services] stopped the flow of grant money to the WHO [World Health Organization] after President Trump announced the U.S. withdrawal from the organization. Or how the State Department halted several million dollars going to condoms in Gaza this past weekend."
Fox News Digital reached out to the State Department on Tuesday seeking additional information.
In her first-ever briefing Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and the OBM found "that there was about to be $50 million taxpayer dollars that went out the door to fund condoms in Gaza."
"That is a preposterous waste of taxpayer money. So that's what this pause is focused on, being good stewards of tax dollars," Leavitt told reporters. She said DOGE and OBM also found $37 million was about to be sent to the WHO before Trump's executive order breaking ties with the global health body.
The Jerusalem Post reported in 2020 that scores of condoms were being used to create IED-carrying balloons that winds would carry into southern Israel, raising alarm on schoolyards, farmlands and highways.
At the time, the Post reported that the improvised explosive devices – floated into Israel via inflated contraceptives – burned thousands of hectares of land and caused "millions of shekels of damage." It's not clear if the practice continues.
Just two days after the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, which involved Hamas terrorists brutally raping some of the approximately 1,200 people killed in southern Israel and hundreds of others brought back into Gaza as hostages, a global NGO known as the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) released a statement regarding the resulting war and escalating violence.
The NGO claimed that any blockade of aid shipments into Gaza would infringe on their "enormous gains made in life-saving sexual and reproductive healthcare in this region."
"Palestinians are systematically denied sexual and reproductive healthcare and rights," the executive director of a corresponding NGO, the Palestinian Family Planning and Protection Association (PFPPA), said at the time. "Our health system has been repeatedly targeted and depleted by the Israeli occupation, and the more it disintegrates, the more it will hinder the full realization of these rights for women and girls."
On Sunday, Rubio paused all U.S. foreign assistance funded by or through the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for review.
The move came in response to Trump's executive order, "Reevaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid," issued last week directing a sweeping 90-day pause on most U.S. foreign assistance disbursed through the State Department.
The State Department said Sunday that Rubio was initiating a review of "all foreign assistance programs to ensure they are efficient and consistent with U.S. foreign policy under the America First agenda."
"President Trump stated clearly that the United States is no longer going to blindly dole out money with no return for the American people. Reviewing and realigning foreign assistance on behalf of hardworking taxpayers is not just the right thing to do, it is a moral imperative. The Secretary is proud to protect America’s investment with a deliberate and judicious review of how we spend foreign assistance dollars overseas," a State Department spokesperson said Sunday.
"The mandate from the American people was clear – we must refocus on American national interests," the statement added. "The Department and USAID take their role as stewards of taxpayer dollars very seriously. The implementation of this Executive Order and the Secretary’s direction furthers that mission. As Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said, ‘Every dollar we spend, every program we fund, and every policy we pursue must be justified with the answer to three simple questions: Does it make America safer? Does it make America stronger? Does it make America more prosperous?’"
Rubio had specifically exempted only emergency food programs and military aid to Israel and Egypt from the freeze on foreign assistance.
On Monday, at least 56 senior USAID officials were placed on leave pending an investigation into alleged efforts to thwart Trump's orders, the Associated Press reported, citing a current official and a former official at USAID.
An internal USAID notice sent late Monday and obtained by the AP said new acting administrator Jason Gray had identified "several actions within USAID that appear to be designed to circumvent the President’s Executive Orders and the mandate from the American people." "As a result, we have placed a number of USAID employees on administrative leave with full pay and benefits until further notice while we complete our analysis of these actions," Gray wrote.
The senior agency officials put on leave were experienced employees who had served in multiple administrations, including Trump's, the former USAID official said.
