President Donald Trump slammed a pair of Democratic lawmakers for introducing a bill that would require federal immigration law enforcement officers to not wear face masks and have legible IDs while on the job, saying the lawmakers must «hate our country» or they «wouldn’t be saying that.»

«Two Democratic senators now, Cory Booker and Alex Padilla, have a new bill out. They want to require CBP and ICE officers to have legible IDs, and they don’t want CBP or ICE officers covering their faces. Would you ever sign that?» Fox News’ Peter Doocy asked Trump during a Wednesday lunch with African presidents. 

«Well, they wouldn’t be saying that if they didn’t hate our country,» Trump responded before praising officers with Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). «And they obviously do. I’m surprised that they would do it knowing a little bit about them.» 

«These officers are doing a tremendous job,» he continued. «They’re great patriots. If you expose them because of, you know, statements like have been made by Democrat and others on the left, usually mostly, I think, probably exclusively, you put them in great danger, tremendous danger.» 

BLUE STATE LAWMAKER RALLIES AROUND MASK BAN FOR FEDERAL AGENTS AS ICE OPERATIONS RAMP UP

Democratic Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Alex Padilla of California introduced a bill Tuesday, dubbed the Visible Identification Standards for Immigration-Based Law Enforcement (VISIBLE) Act, that would require CBP and ICE agents to wear an identification badge while working and that they not wear face masks that conceal their identity. 

DHS FIRES BACK AT DEMOCRATS FOR ‘BEYOND THE PALE’ RHETORIC AS ICE AGENTS FACE WAVE OF VIOLENT THREATS

«For weeks, Americans have watched federal agents with no visible identification detain people off the streets and instill fear in communities across the country,» Booker said of the bill Tuesday. «Reports of individuals impersonating ICE officers have only increased the risk to public and officer safety. The lack of visible identification and uniform standards for immigration enforcement officers has created confusion, stoked fear, and undermined public trust in law enforcement.»

Federal immigration law enforcement officers have been targeted repeatedly in recent days, including at least two ambushes in Texas, and protesters clashing with federal officers at the Portland, Oregon, ICE facility after Trump signed the «big beautiful bill» into law Friday.  

President Donald Trump listens during a multilateral lunch with African leaders in the State Dining Room of the White House on July 9, 2025. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Anti-ICE rhetoric especially intensified in June, when federal officials descended on Los Angeles to conduct raids to deport illegal immigrants, which was met by protests that devolved into riots last month as local Democratic leaders condemned the Trump administration for its immigration policies. 

«And it’s sort of funny when people picket in front of Columbia, in front of Harvard and they have masks on more than masks, I mean, you can’t see anything. Nobody complains about that. But when a patriot who works for ICE or Border Patrol puts a mask on so that they won’t recognize him and his family, so they can lead a little bit of a normal life after having worked so hard and so dangerously,» Trump continued in his response to Doocy about why federal agents should not conduct their work unmasked. «There’s a problem with that.»

FEDERAL OFFICIALS SLAM DEMOCRATS FOR ‘DANGEROUS’ RHETORIC AS ICE AGENTS FACE VIOLENT MOBS IN LA, NYC

Trump continued that Democrats have become «somewhat deranged» and added that wealthy people on the left are likely funding rioters to attack federal law enforcement officers. 

A rioter waves a Mexican national flag next to a car on fire during a protest in the Compton neighborhood of Los Angeles, June 7, 2025. (Getty Images)

«This is the problem with the Democrats,» Trump said. «They have a lot of bad things going on in their heads. They’ve become very… they’ve lost their confidence, number one. And they’re really, they’ve become somewhat deranged. I want to do whatever necessary to protect our great law enforcement people. And they are right at the top of the list.»

Doocy asked Trump about the ambush in Alvarado, Texas, on the Fourth of July that led to the arrest of 10 rioters. 

«President Trump in Alvarado, Texas, a few days ago, 10 people wearing all black allegedly set off fireworks outside an ICE office to lure the officers out so they could ambush them, shoot at them. They had guns and vests and two-way radios. Do you think that this was an isolated incident, or do you think there’s a national threat of a left-wing militia that is targeting ICE and CBP?» Doocy asked. 

Ten individuals have been charged for their roles in the shooting of an Alvarado, Texas, police officer at the Prairieland Detention Center. (Justice Department)

Trump shot back that «some very stupid people on the left» are funding rioters who are targeting the officers.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP 

«I think you have some very stupid people on the left who have some money that are making it available to these people,» Trump said. «Because you look at the guns they had, they were brand new. You look at even the clothing they were wearing, it looked like it just came out of some military shop. So you have some very stupid people that, if anything ever happened, they’d be the first to go.» 

«They’d be the first ones hit,» Trump added. 

A former physical education teacher in the United Kingdom appeared in court this week as she faces 13 charges for allegedly committing sexual offenses against three children over a three-year period, according to reports.

The BBC reported that 29-year-old Bonwen James, of Chippenham, Wiltshire, appeared in the Salisbury Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, after being accused of having sexual activity with a boy and two girls.

James is charged with four counts of sexual activity with a boy and six counts of sexual activity with girls under the age of 16.

She also faces two counts of sexual communication with a child and a single count of producing an indecent photograph of a minor.

NJ ELEMENTARY TEACHER ACCUSED OF SEXUALLY ABUSING STUDENT, HAVING HIS CHILD WHEN HE WAS 13

Chippenham Police said in a Facebook post Monday that James taught PE at Hardenhuish School in Shippenham, and Bitterne Park School in Southampton.

The Independent reported that during the court hearing on Wednesday, the chairman of the bench, Stephen Harrison, told James her case would be heard before the Salisbury Crown Court on Aug. 7.

«By virtue of three of these offenses being indictable only, which means they can only be heard in the crown court, we will be sending them to the crown court,» Harrison reportedly said. «The other 10 offenses are associated offenses and therefore will be included in the hearing to be heard in front of the crown court.»

ILLINOIS TEACHER INDICTED ON 52 ADDITIONAL CHARGES IN STUDENT SEXUAL ABUSE CASE

Former PE teacher Bronwen James, 29, leaves Salisbury Magistrates’ Court, Wiltshire, after appearing in court to face 13 sexual offenses against three children on Wednesday.  (Rod Minchin/PA Images via Getty Images)

James was granted bail on the condition that she does not have contact with any of the children in the complaint. She is also prohibited from having any unsupervised contact with anyone under the age of 16.

When asked if she understood the bail conditions, James reportedly confirmed that she did.

The publication reported that the hearing was short, and the only time James spoke was to confirm things like her name, date of birth, address, and her confirmation that she understood the proceedings.

HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER CHARGED WITH SEXUALLY ASSAULTING FORMER TEEN STUDENT AT HER HOME

Former PE teacher Bronwen James, 29, leaves Salisbury Magistrates’ Court, Wiltshire, Wednesday.  (Rod Minchin/PA Images via Getty Images)

James is just one of a growing list of young female teachers accused of having sexual activity with children.

Last month, a U.S. high school teacher, 35-year-old Alyssa Perry, was accused of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old former student of hers at her residence in Rockaway Township, New Jersey.

Also, last month, an Illinois grand jury indicted high school teacher Christina Formella, 30, on 20 counts of sexual assault, 20 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, six counts of indecent solicitation of a child and six counts of grooming.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Formella had been accused of sexually assaulting the boy in a classroom during a tutoring session before class began at Downers Grove South High School in December 2023.

The victim’s mother discovered the alleged assault when looking through her son’s text message thread on his cellphone and then contacted police, prosecutors said.

Fox News Digital’s Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.

Advertencia del jefe de la Casa Blanca

Los entonces presidentes Donald Trump y Jair Bolsonaro en enero de 2020, en una cena en Mar a-Lago, la residencia de verano del magnate en Florida. Foto: AP

El respaldo a Jair Bolsonaro

El ex presidente de Brasil, Jair Bolsonaro, ante la Corte Suprema, en el inicio del juicio por supuesto intento de golpe contra el gobierno de Lula da Silva. Foto: EFE