INTERNACIONAL
Donald Trump as strongman, riling up his base and investigating his enemies
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It’s almost a cliché to say that Donald Trump has accumulated enormous power in the last six months.
He has busted through what used to be guardrails, come close to defying the courts, collected big bucks from ABC and CBS, not to mention $200 million from Columbia, cajoled elite law firms into settlements, and taken over law enforcement in Washington.
One example: Trump fired Erika McEntarfer as commissioner at the Bureau of Labor Statistics when he didn’t like the Biden appointee’s weak jobs number, 73,000 for July.
He has now hired the chief economist from the conservative Heritage Foundation, E.J. Antoni, who has been an outspoken critic of the BLS and has a PhD in economics. He worked on Heritage’s Project 2025, the plan that became a blueprint for the second Trump term, and wants to reform BLS – but his numbers will obviously be pleasing to the White House.
TRUMP FIRES LABOR OFFICIAL OVER WEAK JOBS NUMBER, ORDERS CRIMINAL PROBES OF PAST OPPONENTS
President Donald Trump pumps his fist while gesturing to supporters as he departs the White House in Washington on Aug. 1, 2025. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Trump’s takeover of the D.C. police, which will report to Pam Bondi, is legal under the city’s limited home-rule powers, and others have used such power for different ideological goals. The move has been denounced by area Democrats and whether it succeeds is an open question.
The president’s insistence on meeting Vladimir Putin in Alaska without knowing whether he’s serious about a peace deal, or even a cease-fire, is a classic roll of the dice. Trump has been downplaying expectations, saying he may have to walk away.
While Trump thrives on the spectacle of these leader-to-leader negotiations, they don’t always pan out. Despite his loving exchanges with Kim Jong-un, North Korea never reduced its nuclear arsenal.
In fairness, Trump has pulled off cease-fires with a number of warring countries, the latest being Armenia and Azerbaijan.
TRUMP SAYS HE’LL KNOW ‘IN THE FIRST TWO MINUTES’ IF UKRAINE PEACE DEAL IS POSSIBLE WITH PUTIN
The president has ordered up so many criminal investigations of his opponents – his perceived enemies – that we’ve lost sight of the fact that this kind of interference with the Justice Department has long been considered way off-limits.
The latest is New York AG Letitia James, who brought the civil suit against Trump that resulted in a $350 million penalty but is now being appealed. Also Sen. Adam Schiff on a question about mortgages.
And he has ordered up criminal probes of the Obama administration for allegedly targeting him over Russian hacking that turned out to be unsuccessful, and accused Barack Obama of «treason.» Never mind that a special counsel from the first term investigated this and brought no charges. Trump has also demanded a probe of his first cybersecurity chief, Chris Krebs, and Miles Taylor, better known as Anonymous.
TRUMP DELIVERS ON CAMPAIGN PROMISES WHILE LIBERAL MEDIA CRIES HE’S ‘DESTROYING DEMOCRACY’
Former President Barack Obama speaks at a Democracy Forum event hosted by the Obama Foundation at the Javits Center in New York City on Nov. 17, 2022. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
The president does this out in the open. You don’t have to rely on, well, anonymous sources.
National Review’s Rich Lowry said recently that Trump is the most consequential president since Ronald Reagan. «Even if Trump’s second term ended tomorrow, he would have left a significant mark.» It’s hard to argue with that.
SUBSCRIBE TO HOWIE’S MEDIA BUZZMETER PODCAST, A RIFF ON THE DAY’S HOTTEST STORIES
Then-President-elect Donald Trump speaks at a news conference at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., on Dec. 16, 2024. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
All this amounts to an image of a strong president, a fighter determined to stoke his base and smite his enemies. The average D.C. resident doesn’t feel safe with this frightening wave of carjackings – «only» 16 of them in July. The average American is just glad the border has been shut down. Trump’s opponents are on notice that he’ll use lawsuits and legal threats to get his way.
And his war on the media is constant, with him calling for some individual journalists to be fired, and yet – irony alert – unlike Joe Biden, he speaks to them virtually every day.
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Whether you like this president or not, whether you approve of his policies or not, he keeps declaring states of emergency to justify his blizzard of executive orders.
And that’s why he continues to drive the media agenda.
media buzz,donald trump,white house,washington dc,foreign policy
INTERNACIONAL
Rubio slams UNRWA as a ‘subsidiary of Hamas,’ vows it will not ‘play any role’ in delivering aid to Gaza
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who arrived in Israel shortly after Vice President JD Vance left for Washington, railed against the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) amid the U.S.-brokered ceasefire.
«UNRWA’s not going to play any role in it,» Rubio said when asked about whether the controversial agency would assist in delivering humanitarian aid to Gaza. «The United Nations is here. They’re on the ground. We’re willing to work with them if they can make it work, but not UNRWA. UNRWA became a subsidiary of Hamas.»
UNRWA demanded in a post on X that it be allowed to do work in Gaza.
«As the largest U.N. agency operating in the Gaza Strip, by far, UNRWA has an unparalleled logistical network, longstanding trust from the community, managing the distribution of supplies based on vulnerability and clear criteria. Our teams are ready, inside and outside Gaza. Let us work,» the agency wrote.
EXPERTS URGE TRUMP TO BAN TERROR-LINKED UN AGENCY FROM HIS GAZA PEACE PLAN
Secretary of State Marco Rubio listens to a question as he speaks to the media after visiting the Civil-Military Coordination Center in southern Israel on Oct. 24, 2025. (Fadel Senna/Pool via Reuters)
On Oct. 17, days after world leaders backed a U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) opened a Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC), which is where Rubio spoke on Friday.
The CMCC is located in southern Israel and will serve as the main hub for Gaza stabilization efforts. It will also oversee implementation of the ceasefire agreement and has an operations floor designed to track real-time developments in Gaza.
During the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) last month, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres spoke at a meeting in support of UNRWA, saying that the agency has «made invaluable contributions to development, human rights, humanitarian action, and peace and security, including for Israel.»
«UNRWA is vital to any prospects for peace and stability in the region,» Guterres added.
UNRWA’s headquarters in Gaza City, Gaza, on Feb. 21, 2024. (Dawoud Abo Alkas/Anadolu via Getty Images)
US MILITARY TO OVERSEE NEXT PHASE OF PEACE DEAL FROM COORDINATION BASE IN ISRAEL
However, the U.S. and Israel have taken hard stances against the agency, particularly in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre.
President Donald Trump in February reaffirmed the U.S.’s commitment to not fund UNRWA.
In the executive order, Trump said that «UNRWA has reportedly been infiltrated by members of groups long designated by the Secretary of State as foreign terrorist organizations, and UNRWA employees were involved in the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel.»
A Palestinian boy walks near an UNRWA school sheltering displaced people that was hit in an overnight Israeli strike in Gaza City on July 5, 2025. (Dawoud Abu Alkas/Reuters)
UNRWA SCHOOLS ‘HIJACKED BY HAMAS,’ WATCHDOG REPORT WARNS
In April 2025, when the International Court of Justice (ICJ) demanded Israel work with UNRWA, Washington backed Jerusalem, saying it was under no obligation to work with the agency and had «ample grounds to question UNRWA’s impartiality.»
UNRWA announced in August 2024 the end of an investigation by the Office of Internal Oversight Services into whether its staff participated in the attacks, as Israel claimed. Following the probe, which looked into 19 UNRWA staff members, nine staff members were fired over evidence that «could indicate» they were involved in the attacks.
The investigation found one case in which there was no evidence to confirm the staffer’s involvement and nine other cases in which «the evidence obtained by OIOS was insufficient» to prove their participation, according to UNRWA.
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Fox News Digital reached out to UNRWA and Israel’s mission to the U.N. for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Alexandra Koch contributed to this report.
israel,secretary of state,marco rubio,united nations
INTERNACIONAL
En una importante muestra de apoyo, Carlos III recibe a Zelenski con honores de Estado en Windsor
Honores militares
El Mayor Ben Tracey, capitán de la Guardia de Honor, junto al rey y el presidente ucraniano. Foto: Reuters
El Rey apoya abiertamente a Ucrania frente a la invasión rusa. Foto: APUn defensor de Ucrania
Después de la humillación de Trump
Toda la familia real involucrada
La Cumbre de Buena Voluntad
Starmer recibe a Zelenski en Londres. Foto: AP
Sen. Lankford proposes bill to avoid government shutdowns
Fox News senior congressional correspondent Chad Pergram and Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., join ‘The Faulkner Focus’ to discuss the failed vote to pay federal workers amid the government shutdown as they enter their first week without pay.
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Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has canceled votes in the House of Representatives for a fourth straight week as the government shutdown shows no signs of ending.
Johnson’s move is a part of his continued pressure strategy on Senate Democrats and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who have sunk the GOP’s federal funding plan 12 times since Sept. 19, when the House passed the measure.
Sept. 19 was also the last day the House was in session, meaning lawmakers have been largely in their home districts for over a month.
Republicans are pushing a short-term extension of fiscal year (FY) 2025 spending levels through Nov. 21 — called a continuing resolution (CR) — aimed at giving congressional negotiators time to strike a longer-term deal for FY2026.
SCREAMING MATCH ERUPTS BETWEEN HAKEEM JEFFRIES, MIKE LAWLER AS GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN CHAOS CONTINUES
House Speaker Mike Johnson, right, is canceling House votes to pressure Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, left, for refusing to agree to a GOP-led plan to avert a government shutdown. (Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg via Getty Images; Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
Democrats, furious at being sidelined in federal funding discussions, have been withholding their support for any spending bill that does not also extend COVID-19 pandemic-era enhanced Obamacare subsidies that are due to expire at the end of this year.
Johnson’s decision was made public on Friday afternoon during a brief pro forma session in the House. Under rules dictated by the Constitution, the chamber must meet for brief periods every few days called «pro forma» sessions to ensure continuity, even if there are no formal legislative matters at hand.
Pro forma sessions can also be opportunities for lawmakers to give brief speeches or introduce legislation that they otherwise would not have.
Democrats have criticized Johnson’s decision, with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., telling reporters that House Republicans have been «on vacation for the last four weeks.»
The government is in a shutdown after Congress failed to reach an agreement on federal funding. (Getty Images)
Republicans, however, have largely stayed united behind Johnson as the shutdown continues.
«I mean, if all of a sudden the Senate wants to pass a clean CR, I would imagine there are some options on the table that we can pursue to get things back on track,» said Rep. Adrian Smith, R-Neb., who presided over the House chamber on Friday.
«I would defer, ultimately, to [leadership’s] decisions for the schedule. But right now, I don’t see any sign that we need to change what has been on the counter.»
But there have been several notable defections. Both Reps. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., and Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., have made their criticism of Johnson’s strategy known publicly for weeks.
«I believe very strongly that it’s the wrong decision,» Kiley told MSNBC earlier this week, adding House lawmakers were not «doing all the things we’re supposed to be doing» aside from figuring out how to end the shutdown.
BATTLEGROUND REPUBLICANS HOLD THE LINE AS JOHNSON PRESSURES DEMS ON SHUTDOWN
Rep. Kevin Kiley, seen in August 2023, has been critical of Johnson’s shutdown strategy. (Scott Strazzante-Pool/Getty Images)
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Multiple House lawmakers have also raised concerns about being out of session on private weekly calls that Johnson holds with members of the GOP conference.
Rep. Beth Van Duyne, R-Texas, was the most recent House Republican to suggest the GOP could be in a stronger position if they were back in Washington, Fox News Digital was told.
«I think the longer that we are out, the messaging is starting to get old,» Van Duyne told fellow House Republicans on their Tuesday call.
house of representatives politics,mike johnson,politics,chuck schumer
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