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FIRST ON FOX: Powerful House Ways and Means chair throws hammer down on ‘foreign-aligned influence network’

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FIRST ON FOX: Congress’s powerful Ways and Means Committee is expanding its investigation into an alleged «foreign-aligned influence network» that happened to be at the heart of the anti-American, pro-communist protests unleashed on the country’s streets on May Day.

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Just after 1 p.m. on Friday, a black minivan pulled up to the curb on Union Square East in Lower Manhattan, and David Chung, organizing director of a national nonprofit, the People’s Forum, started quickly unpacking megaphones and bright yellow pre-made protest signs, including the message, «TRUMP IS THE SYMPTOM. CAPITALISM IS THE DISEASE. SOCIALISM IS THE CURE!»

Below the denunciation of the U.S. free enterprise system was the name «PARTY FOR SOCIALISM AND LIBERATION,» a self-declared Marxist communist group that worked closely with the People’s Forum as part of a network of 600 groups with $2 billion in collective funding behind protests on May 1, known as May Day. The scene repeated itself in cities across the country, with foot soldiers from the Party for Socialism and Liberation’s Washington, D.C., chapter among the first to arrive for May Day protests, pulling identical bright yellow pre-made signs out of a black Subaru Outback parked on 21st Street NW.

600 GROUPS WITH $2B IN REVENUE MOBILIZE 3,000 MAY DAY PROTESTS IN A ‘RED-BLUE’ ALLIANCE, PROBE FINDS

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Fox News Digital has now learned that House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith is escalating an investigation into an alleged malign influence of Neville Roy Singham, an American-born Marxist tech tycoon living in Shanghai, funding the People’s Forum and two other pro-communist, pro-China nonprofits headquartered in the U.S., BreakThrough BT Media Inc. and Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, which regularly publish pro-China propaganda criticizing the U.S. as the «belly of the beast» and an «imperialist» power.

On Monday, Smith sent letters, obtained by Fox News Digital, to the three groups, raising «significant concerns» about «foreign influence or control» in the U.S. and the «financing arrangements and the structure of a foreign-aligned influence network, not protected speech or association.»

According to a Fox News Digital investigation published into the so-called «House of Singham,» the wealthy tech mogul has pumped a documented $278 million into a network of nonprofits, including the three groups, since 2017, pressing anti-American, pro-communist ideology in the U.S. and globally.

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Smith repeatedly describes the three groups as part of an «interconnected network of organizations,» telling each nonprofit, «The Committee is considering whether legislative or regulatory reform is necessary to ensure that tax-exempt status is not used to facilitate or obscure foreign influence across an interconnected network of organizations.»

POWER COUPLE OF CHAOS: HOW A TYCOON AND ACTIVIST BUILT A ‘REVOLUTIONARY BASE’ AT THE HOUSE OF SINGHAM

Tycoon Neville Roy Singham argues the West’s role in World War II has been overstated in historical accounts. (Global South Academic Forum)

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While the congressional investigation isn’t a direct response to the May Day protests, the deepening investigation reveals a wider concern among lawmakers and Trump administration officials in the Treasury, Justice and State departments. They tell Fox News Digital they are concerned that overseas interests are exploiting U.S. nonprofit laws to create an infrastructure and industry that asserts «foreign malign influence» in the U.S., operating through tax-exempt organizations, donor-advised funds, shell companies, fiscal sponsorships and media platforms.

In his letter to the People’s Forum, Smith alleged that Singham and his wife, CodePink co-founder Jodie Evans, had funneled money into groups «through shell companies and donor-advised funds that, by design, obscure the true source of contributions.»

REVOLUTIONARY TOURISM: INSIDE THE $600M MARRIAGE OF DARK MONEY AND FAR-LEFT AGITPROP

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Members of the People's Forum Inc. setting up banners and signs in Union Square.

David Chung, organizing director at the People’s Forum Inc., sets up protest signs in Union Square in New York City on Saturday, March 7, 2026, ahead of an anti-war demonstration. (Rashid Umar Abbasi for Fox News Digital)

The Missouri Republican lawmaker has ordered each organization to turn over internal documents related to the investigation by May 18, including communications with Singham, records of foreign-linked donations exceeding $5,000, contracts tied to fiscal sponsorship arrangements, communications with foreign principals and lists of grant recipients located outside the U.S.

The letters to the People’s Forum, BreakThrough and Tricontinental reveal a congressional strategy in which lawmakers on the Senate Judiciary Committee, the House Ways and Means Committee and the House Oversight Committee have been trying to use their jurisdiction over tax-exempt organizations to examine whether nonprofit law is equipped to deal with the infrastructure that influence-peddlers allegedly build to bankroll activism, amplify propaganda and influence elections.

At a hearing earlier this year into the role of malign foreign influence in the U.S., Smith rebuked the groups for «sowing discord» in the country.

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Smith’s letters also show the common defense mounted by the groups, whose lawyers argue that the inquiry is political, exceeds the committee’s jurisdiction, improperly invokes the Foreign Agents Registration Act, called FARA, and threatens First Amendment rights. Smith rejected those arguments, writing that «none of those challenges withstands scrutiny.»

TOP GOP SENATOR CALLS OUT CODE PINK, THE PEOPLE’S FORUM ALLEGEDLY PUSHING CCP PROPAGANDA IN US

According to the letters, Washington, D.C., attorney Andrew Herman is representing BreakThrough and Tricontinental, along with Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, executive director of the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund, a far-left 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Washington, D.C., that is also representing the People’s Forum. Herman and Verheyden-Hilliard didn’t respond to requests for comment.

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According to digital records, the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund shares the same address at a Florida Avenue NW townhouse that is used by the ANSWER Coalition, a self-described communist group that also operates out of the People’s Forum headquarters on W. 37th Street in Midtown Manhattan. 

When approached outside the People’s Forum in late January, People’s Forum Executive Director Manolo De Los Santos, ANSWER Coalition and Party for Socialism and Liberation co-founder Brian Becker and BreakThrough editor-in-chief Ben Becker refused to answer questions about Singham’s funding to their groups. De Los Santos is a researcher at Tricontinental.

MAY DAY DEMONSTRATIONS EXPECTED TO DRAW THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE AS LEFT-WINGERS PROTEST ‘BILLIONAIRES’

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At the center of the congressional investigation is the influence of Singham. In 2017, Singham sold Thoughtworks, a company that he established, to a private equity firm, Apax Partners, for an estimated $785 million. He then used cash from the sale to build a network of nonprofits that promulgates anti-American Marxist ideology. A spokeswoman for Apax Partners told Fox News Digital that the firm wouldn’t reveal the identities of the investors that purchased Thoughtworks.

In his letters, Smith describes Singham as a former U.S. technology executive «now residing in Shanghai with documented [Chinese Communist Party] affiliations,» and he identifies the three Singham-funded organizations as three nodes in a complex «foreign-aligned influence network.» In a video unearthed by Fox News Digital, Singham expressed support at a conference co-sponsored by Tricontinental at the Golden Tulip Hotel in Shanghai, expressing support for the CCP, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Xi’s «new world order.»

In letters to BreakThrough News and Tricontinental, Smith said that he was investigating whether the groups are «acting as an agent of a foreign principal.»

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FAR-LEFT NONPROFITS IN THE HOT SEAT AS LAWMAKER EXPOSES THEM FOR ‘SOWING CHAOS’ IN US

Activists prepare signs ahead of a May Day march in New York City on May 1, 2026.

Activists prepare signs ahead of a May Day march in New York City on May 1, 2026. (Fox News Digital)

According to a Fox News Digital investigation, Singham has funneled $22.44 million to the People’s Forum between 2017 and 2022 through GS Donor Advised Philanthropy Fund for Wealth Management Inc., a donor-advised fund affiliated with Goldman Sachs. A spokesman for Goldman Sachs told Fox News Digital that the philanthropy terminated its relationship with Singham in early 2024.

Meanwhile, the Fox News Digital investigation found that Singham pumped $16.76 million into Tricontinental Ltd., through the Goldman Sachs philanthropy fund, and he funneled $1.098 million to BreakThrough BT Media Inc. from the Goldman Sachs fund, $2.1 million from the Justice and Education Fund, another Singham-funded nonprofit, and $60,600 from the Progress Unity Fund, another organization in the wider Singham network. 

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Chung, the People’s Forum organizing director, was listed as chair of the Justice and Education Fund in its 2024 tax filing, with De Los Santos, from the People’s Forum and Tricontinental, and Karina Garcia, a leader with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, also on its board.

May Day protest signs in NYC

Activists participate in a May Day march in New York City, Friday, May 1, 2026. (Fox News Digital)

Smith focused on the People’s Forum’s role as a so-called «fiscal sponsor,» collecting tax-deductible donations for like-minded projects, writing that the group provides «fiduciary oversight, financial management and administrative services» for affiliated entities, an arrangement he said «may allow foreign-influenced funds to flow to downstream organizations.»

The committee’s demands show its investigative blueprint to follow the money, map global relationships and determine whether malign interests are exploiting America’s tax-exempt system to obscure foreign influence across a network, not just within one organization.

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Back on the streets, Chung, the organizing director for the People’s Forum, stage-managed the group’s protesters as they weaved across New York City’s streets, crossing over Union Square West, chanting, «One struggle, one fight!»

Soon after, BreakThrough posted the video clip, cropping Chung out of the shot.

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Fox News Digital’s Michael Dorgan, Louis Casiano and Jesse Watson contributed to this report.

Gaza protest and Rep. Jason Smith

Union Square, NYC pro-Gaza protest and Ways and Means Chair Jason Smith (Getty)

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Trump marks 80th birthday, now second octogenarian sitting president: ‘Seemed to utterly defy age’

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President Donald Trump turned 80 on Sunday, becoming only the second sitting U.S. president to reach octogenarian status in the Oval Office, leaving even his onetime political opponents marveling at his defying the effects of Father Time – even if his critics continue to share concerns they never had with the older former President Joe Biden, now 83.

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«You don’t have to wish me a happy birthday, because I’m not happy about that birthday that I’m having,» Trump joked with Dr. Mehmet Oz, 66, in an Oval Office video shared Thursday on Instagram. «It’s a number I haven’t thought too much about.

«It’s not a number I like, but I’m here nevertheless.»

Trump’s White House is celebrating his keeping up the fight with an Ultimate Fighting Championship on the South Lawn.

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TRUMP LOOKING FORWARD TO ATTENDING UFC WHITE HOUSE EVENT FEATURING ‘ALL TOP’ FIGHTERS

President Donald Trump has long hailed his cognitive abilities and is resurfacing the scoring on tests as he approaches his 80th birthday June 14. (Aaron Schwartz/Sipa/Bloomberg)

«At least to date, he has seemed to utterly defy age,» said Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. The 55-year-old Cruz was a target of Trump’s political fire a decade ago on the opposite side of the Republican presidential primary race.

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«I don’t know where he gets the energy that he displays, but he is up early in the morning and late at night,» Cruz added.

Trump, born June 14, 1946, in Queens, New York, crossed the threshold previously reached by Biden, who turned 80 in 2022 while serving in the White House. Trump was already the oldest president ever sworn into office when he began his second term in January 2025 at age 78.

RFK JR: DR OZ SAYS TRUMP HAS ‘HIGHEST TESTOSTERONE LEVEL’ HE’S SEEN IN A MAN OLDER THAN 70

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Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Ronald Reagan and Dwight D. Eisenhower are the four oldest presidents in history

Former President Joe Biden remains the oldest to serve as commander in chief, but President Donald Trump will surpass him by the end of his term in January 2028. Both have surpassed former Presidents Ronald Reagan and Dwight D. Eisenhower as the oldest siting presidents. ((Getty Images))

«He has gained in stamina as he has gotten older,» former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, 82, said recently.

Unlike Biden, whose age and mental acuity became a central political liability before he left office, Trump and his allies have repeatedly pointed to the president’s busy public schedule, frequent media appearances and hands-on governing style as evidence that he remains active and engaged.

Trump hailed his latest physical by White House Dr. Sean Barbabella declaring him to be in «exceptional» health and his cardiac age being «approximately 14 years younger than his chronological age.»

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TRUMP DECLARED ‘FULLY FIT’ FOR ALL PRESIDENTIAL DUTIES AFTER ANNUAL PHYSICAL SHOWS ‘EXCELLENT HEALTH’

«They said I’m very healthy,» Trump told «Pod Force One with Miranda Devine» earlier this month, saying he has «an obligation» to give periodic cognitive reports on his mental acuity after Biden’s administration.

«I took a test and cognitive test and I got 100% on it. I got as the expression goes: I aced it. And the doctors told me it’s very, very few people can ace. That’s actually a tough test.»

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Trump noted Biden was able to skirt potential prosecution for retention of classified documents because special counsel Robert Hur declared Biden to be a «sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.»

TRUMP PITCHES COGNITIVE TESTS FOR LEADERS, TAKES AIM AT HARRIS, WALZ, NEWSOM

«I have a great memory,» Trump told Devine. «Look, so far so good. I hope I’m going to keep it that way.

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«If I don’t, you’ll be the first to know. You’ll say [after] this interview: ‘This isn’t the same Trump; I think he’s lost it.’»

The White House has also sought to bolster that message with medical updates. Trump’s physician said the president remains in «excellent health» and «fully fit» to carry out the duties of commander-in-chief.

«Unlike other U.S. Presidents, none of whom have ever taken an approved, high difficulty, Cognitive Test, I scored a perfect 30 out of 30, considered ‘extreme intelligence,’» the post began.

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«Are the Dumocrats really surprised?»

WHITE HOUSE PROVIDES TRUMP HEALTH UPDATE AFTER MRI SCAN CONCERNS SWIRLED

Trump has long cast his stamina as a political asset, regularly contrasting his pace and public visibility with Biden’s more limited appearances during his presidency. Supporters say the difference is clear: Trump remains outspoken, combative and highly visible as he enters his ninth decade.

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Some Democrats have seized on images of Trump’s bruising of his hand and with his eyes closed during meetings and lengthy Cabinet news conferences, which Trump has noted provide unprecedented transparency and access to the administration lasting up to three hours of live back-and-forth.

«That’s false: I’ve never seen him fall asleep,» Secretary of State Marco Rubio, 25 years Trump’s junior and another one-time target of Trump’s political opposition, told a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing this month.

WHITE HOUSE REPORTERS WENT FROM COVERING AN ‘INVISIBLE PRESIDENT’ BIDEN TO ‘OMNIPRESENT’ TRUMP: POLITICO

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«On the contrary, the guy doesn’t sleep, which is a big problem because he calls me at 2 in the morning. He calls me at 5 in the morning. And, you know, I like to sleep a little bit, maybe not 12 hours, but at least six. So he works. The other day he was at the Oval Office until 12:30 a.m.

«I don’t know what you’re talking about.»

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., 74, rejected age getting in Trump’s way like it did for Biden, saying that «just because you’re 80 doesn’t mean you’re falling apart.»

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Trump’s birthday also arrives during a historically unusual stretch for America’s aging political class. Three baby boomer presidents — Trump, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush — all turn 80 in 2026. The latter two are long removed from active public service.

Trump is not looking to just rest after the UFC fight on the South Lawn on Sunday night. He plans to then travel early Monday to France for the annual G7 summit.

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Estados Unidos: Donald Trump celebra sus 80 años en la Casa Blanca con un espectáculo de peleas de artes marciales de UFC

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El presidente de Estados Unidos, Donald Trump, celebra que cumple 80 años el domingo con un gran espectáculo de cumpleaños que antes habría parecido inimaginable: una velada de peleas en jaula en el histórico Jardín Sur de la Casa Blanca.

Esta semana, las duras realidades del cargo han amenazado con eclipsar el ostentoso despliegue de artes marciales mixtas de la UFC, en el que los combatientes, encerrados dentro de un octágono de malla metálica, intentan golpearse con puños y patadas, asestar tajos y aporrearse hasta someter al rival.

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Trump se ha visto acorralado en una guerra impopular y costosa que ayudó a iniciar en Irán. El acuerdo para poner fin al conflicto podría estar cerca, pero aún falta negociar los detalles cruciales. Mientras tanto, a aproximadamente una milla de la fiesta de cumpleaños de Trump, equipos de trabajo arrancaron el nombre del presidente del Centro Kennedy después de que un juez dictaminara que bautizarlo con el nombre de Trump había ido demasiado lejos.

Aun así, el presidente saldrá de la Casa Blanca y estará rodeado de miembros de su gobierno, funcionarios destacados, legisladores republicanos y más de 4.000 espectadores que gritarán hasta quedarse afónicos en una arena temporal bajo “The Claw” (“La Garra”), un arco metálico parecido a una nave espacial, equipado con iluminación, equipo de sonido y pantallas gigantes. Miles más lo verán en pantallas grandes desde la cercana explanada del Ellipse.

Dana White, jefe de la UFC y amigo cercano del presidente, afirmó durante una sesión de promoción la noche del viernes en el Monumento a Lincoln, donde parejas de luchadores se empujaron y forcejearon para las cámaras bajo la mirada estoica de la figura de mármol del “Honesto Abe”: “Este evento es un evento único, un evento increíble. Me encanta”.

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El presidente ha intentado vincular el evento del domingo —que incluye siete peleas que se extenderán más allá de la medianoche— con las celebraciones más amplias, de varios meses, por el 250º aniversario de la firma de la Declaración de Independencia.

Pero está mucho más orientado a homenajearse a sí mismo, tanto que la cumbre del G7 de líderes de naciones industrializadas retrasó su reunión para que el presidente pudiera asistir a su fiesta de combates en jaula y luego volar directamente a Francia para los encuentros.

El clima, sin embargo, podría aguar la fiesta de manera importante. Fuertes tormentas eléctricas y abundantes rayos interrumpieron el evento del viernes en el Monumento a Lincoln, y el pronóstico para la noche del domingo también es ominoso.

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“Estoy harto y cansado de oír hablar del clima”, dijo White el viernes antes de admitir que preferirá limitar futuros eventos de la UFC a recintos cubiertos.

Una ruptura drástica respecto al 80 cumpleaños del presidente anterior

Cuando el predecesor de Trump, el presidente Joe Biden, cumplió 80 años en noviembre de 2022, lo celebró con un brunch familiar privado en la Casa Blanca, dejando en evidencia cuánto y con qué rapidez han cambiado las cosas.

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Cuando se le preguntó sobre el contraste, la portavoz de la Casa Blanca Allison Schuster señaló que la pelea “será una de las noches más entretenidas en la historia de Estados Unidos” y sostuvo que el momento era apropiado. Schuster expresó en un comunicado: “Que este espectáculo tenga lugar en la casa del pueblo el Día de la Bandera durante el 250º aniversario de nuestra nación es un homenaje adecuado”.

Cuando cumplió 80 años, Biden era el presidente de mayor edad en la historia de Estados Unidos, y estaba a meses de lanzar una candidatura a la reelección que finalmente abandonaría tras un debate desastroso contra Trump y un amotinamiento entre demócratas preocupados de que fuera demasiado mayor para afrontar un segundo mandato.

Trump ha desplazado ahora a Biden como la persona de mayor edad elegida presidente de Estados Unidos. La Constitución le prohíbe postularse de nuevo, pero constantemente juega en público con esa idea. Eso ocurre pese a que las encuestas muestran un aumento del escepticismo público sobre la salud mental y física de Trump, lo que recuerda las preocupaciones que enfrentó Biden cuando cumplió 80 años.

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Dana White, presidente de Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), se reúne con propietarios de gimnasios locales durante el evento UFC Freedom250 para aficionados en la Elipse de la Casa Blanca en Washington. Foto Bloomberg

Una encuesta de Washington Post/ABC News/Ipsos realizada en abril encontró que menos de la mitad de los adultos en Estados Unidos cree que Trump tiene la agudeza mental o la salud física para desempeñarse eficazmente como presidente.

La Casa Blanca respondió con un extenso comunicado del exmédico de la Casa Blanca de Trump, el representante republicano por Texas Ronny Jackson, quien sostuvo que la “resistencia, concentración y fortaleza” de Trump “son excepcionales y se exhiben todos los días. Las afirmaciones en sentido contrario son pura ficción”. Jackson añadió que las preocupaciones reflejadas en las encuestas estaban “siendo propagadas por la misma prensa sesgada, progresista y que odia a Trump, que ignoró por completo el absoluto desastre cognitivo y físico que fue el presidente Biden”.

Aun así, Trump se ha sometido a cuatro exámenes físicos anunciados públicamente sólo en este mandato, y el médico de la Casa Blanca, el doctor Sean Barbabella, lo declaró recientemente en “excelente estado de salud”.

“Pan y circo”, al estilo Trump

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El evento de la UFC es una metáfora adecuada del estilo político pugilístico de Trump. Es tan aficionado a la política tipo combate en jaula como de las peleas en jaula en sí.

Pero Trump también ha sido durante mucho tiempo un maestro de la distracción política, presentando deliberadamente a la gente algo distinto de su presidencia en lo que concentrarse cuando las cosas no van bien.

Mientras la guerra en Irán se prolonga pese a semanas de promesas de Trump de que su fin está cerca, los precios de la gasolina siguen altos, se renuevan las preocupaciones por la inflación y se desploman los índices de aprobación sobre la labor de Trump, una fiesta de cumpleaños en la Casa Blanca como ninguna que Estados Unidos haya visto es, sin duda, una distracción.

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“Esto es pura distracción”, comentó Mike Fontaine, profesor de estudios clásicos en la Universidad de Cornell, que lo comparó con los juegos de gladiadores de la Roma imperial, cuando los combatientes se destrozaban entre sí en un entretenimiento público destinado a reforzar la popularidad de los gobernantes y sofocar posibles disturbios.

“Esta es una estrategia clásica», añadió Fontaine. «En la antigua Roma, la frase sería: ‘pan y circo’”.

Trump dice que la UFC paga el evento y, aunque no se han divulgado sus costos completos, el Servicio de Parques Nacionales indicó en una presentación judicial que se han invertido más de 60 millones de dólares y decenas de miles de horas de trabajo, mientras que siete agencias gubernamentales han “asignado recursos y personal significativos”.

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La UFC también anunció el viernes que incorporaba como socio oficial del evento a World Liberty Financial para crear un fondo especial de primas para deportistas de 250.000 dólares para los ganadores de la noche del domingo. La empresa de criptomonedas es copropiedad de la familia Trump, fue fundada junto con el enviado diplomático especial del presidente, Steve Witkoff, y está dirigida por su hijo, Zach. El acuerdo difumina aún más las fronteras entre los intereses financieros de la familia Trump y los eventos y proyectos de construcción que el presidente ha priorizado y para los que ha utilizado recursos del gobierno.

Aun así, Fontaine señaló que, en lo que respecta a un estilo personal para la pompa, la tendencia del presidente en su segundo mandato a inclinarse por una “masculinidad extrema y el combate bruto” está fusionando el deporte sangriento de la UFC con el humor característico de Trump y su perdurable sentido del espectáculo.

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Israel fears Trump weary of ‘highly suspicious’ Netanyahu and could ‘flip’ amid Iran deal: analyst

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A regional analyst says fears that President Donald Trump could «flip» on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu amid a critical push for a U.S.-Iran peace agreement are growing in Jerusalem, a concern highlighted Sunday after the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) struck Beirut for a second time.

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Despite U.S. warnings that any strikes would derail a breakthrough with Tehran, the strikes came as Netanyahu prepared to convene Israel’s Security Cabinet and after Trump announced a new U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding (MOU) was expected to be signed imminently.

«The strikes today in Beirut are creating issues with finalizing the deal,» a diplomat involved in the talks with Tehran told Fox News Chief Foreign Correspondent Trey Yingst, adding that they were «a clear attempt by Israel to sabotage the president’s deal and drag the United States back into war.»

Trump went on to condemn Israel’s strikes in a post on Truth Social, also telling Axios that Netanyahu had «no f—ing judgment.»

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WHY TRUMP KEEPS FLIPPING ON IRAN: A PRESIDENT WHO SEES THE WORLD AS HE WANTS IT TO BE

President Donald Trump welcomes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Fla., on Dec. 29, 2025. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Natan Sachs, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, noted there was «absolutely this fear in the Israeli government,» calling it «a rational and healthy fear» over the pending deal.

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He said a strategic chasm existed between the two allies, contrasting Netanyahu’s doctrine of sustained, long-term military pressure with Trump’s pursuit of immediate diplomatic victories.

«Now there is a sense in Israel that Trump may be growing weary of Netanyahu and the Israelis, and many others believe that if he got sick and tired of him, he could break norms in other directions and flip on Israel,» Sachs, an Israeli foreign policy expert, told Fox News Digital.

With discussions underway through Pakistani mediation, the Israeli prime minister’s office released a statement shortly after Trump announced the possible deal with Tehran on June 11.

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Jerusalem «is not a party to the memorandum of understanding» between Washington and Tehran, Netanyahu said before reiterating on June 12 that Iran was «working to destroy the Jewish state.» He assured Israelis he had dedicated his life to «preventing them from doing so.»

On Sunday, a senior Israeli official also said Hezbollah attacks had targeted Israeli civilians for the previous three days as Israel prepared for Iranian retaliation.

NETANYAHU DECLARES ISRAEL ‘WILL EXACT THE FULL PRICE’ AFTER IRANIAN STRIKE HITS HOSPITAL IN ISRAEL

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President Donald Trump signing an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House.

President Trump’s push for a U.S.-Iran deal is fueling concern in Jerusalem that he could turn on Netanyahu as Israeli strikes in Beirut threaten to complicate negotiations. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Trump had already criticized Netanyahu during a phone call earlier this month, reportedly calling him «crazy» over a first strike on Beirut that was complicating the administration’s negotiations with Iran.

«It’s not just that there seems to be a crisis — and there were clearly expletives used by the president toward the prime minister on the backdrop of a joint and large military operation,» Sachs said.

«Israel and Netanyahu had first looked at Trump and saw both enormous carrots and enormous potential sticks,» Sachs said of the start of Operation Epic Fury and Roaring Lion on Feb. 28.

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«Trump was a huge opportunity for Netanyahu because he was willing to break the mold on anything, but Israel has made a potentially strategic, historic mistake in putting all its eggs in one basket,» he added.

«Netanyahu was always prepared for the long haul,» Sachs said. «And the long haul is not four months; the long haul is years. Trump likes quick wins. Once the quick win did not materialize — and it did not — now you have a whole new set of problems.»

«Trump’s preference seemed far from pursuing a much broader campaign aimed at achieving the goals that Israel prefers, and he also has a much narrower conception of what a deal would be,» he added.

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TRUMP MEETS NETANYAHU, SAYS HE WANTS IRAN DEAL BUT REMINDS TEHRAN OF ‘MIDNIGHT HAMMER’ OPERATION

Lebanese civil defense workers searching rubble of destroyed building in Beirut

Lebanese civil defense workers search for victims in the rubble of a building destroyed in an Israeli airstrike in central Beirut, Lebanon, on April 9, 2026. (Hassan Ammar/AP)

Sachs noted, however, that Trump and Netanyahu broadly shared goals on curbing Iran’s nuclear ambitions, eliminating Hezbollah’s armed presence in Lebanon and establishing a post-Hamas future for Gaza.

But he said, «having that wish list is not the same as having a strategic goal. They haven’t both committed to them as strategic goals that dictate concerted action going forward.»

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Sachs also argued that tensions between Trump and Netanyahu reflect different temperaments.

«Netanyahu thinks of himself as a strategic thinker — very able, and of course, he has a very high opinion of himself — but he is completely different,» he observed.

«Netanyahu is an erudite, well-educated, patient, highly suspicious and extremely pessimistic man by nature. His self-image is more, ‘I have thought everything through in ways you could not, because I’m smarter than you.’

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«He’s very suspicious of everyone around him, and he’s been surrounded by this same coterie of individuals for decades.»

«In terms of personality and where they come from, their worldview is also actually very different,» Sachs added.

«You can’t imagine Netanyahu spending hours at night on social media. He doesn’t go on it himself, and it’s hard to imagine President Trump spending hours reading books, which Netanyahu likes to portray himself as doing. I doubt he has time for it, but that is an image he projects, and I think it is partially true.»

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«Netanyahu also believes you live with a problem, you manage it, and you kick the can down the road. Trump is the opposite.»

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«The U.S. may turn away and be uninterested; Israel simply does not think it has that privilege,» Sachs said.

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«Netanyahu and Trump have very different time horizons, and that is partly geography and interest — and partly personality.»



donald trump, benjamin netanyahu, middle east foreign policy, treaties, israel

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