EXCLUSIVE: Despite the ongoing conflict in Iran, President Donald Trump’s «energy czar,» Doug Burgum, is confident the «temporary blip up» in gas and energy prices facing Americans will come back down very soon as the president’s «drill baby drill» agenda takes effect.

In an interview with Fox News Digital, Burgum, who leads the Interior Department and chair of Trump’s National Energy Dominance Council, said: «It’s all about supply.»

«You want prices to go down? Supply has got to go up,» he said. To this end, he said his agency approved a record 6,000-plus drilling permits on U.S. soil, reversing the Biden administration’s trend of increased regulation that he said had stunted the country’s energy independence.

«We have a temporary blip up now because of the conflict in the Middle East, but as you heard the news earlier this morning, energy prices dropped a lot today, and stock markets [are] up and energy prices down; those are all positive things for working Americans to have those two things happening simultaneously,» he said.

TRUMP’S IRAN STRATEGY SHOWCASES ‘DOCTRINE OF UNPREDICTABILITY’ AMID STRIKE THREATS AND SUDDEN PAUSE

Despite criticism of the president’s actions on the global stage, Burgum said these moves, such as the military intervention in Venezuela and negotiations with leadership, are going to help reduce prices for Americans.

«What happened in Venezuela actually helps Americans a lot because now we’ve got Venezuelan oil flowing towards Gulf of America refineries in Louisiana and Texas,» he said.

Another major policy shift Burgum said he expects to make a big difference for Americans is the administration’s actions to «unleash Alaska.»

«The Biden administration had taken over 70 legal actions, executive orders from President Biden to regulatory actions, which were essentially sanctioning Alaska more than we sanctioned Iran during the last administration,» he explained.

Pressed on when Americans can expect to start seeing prices tick back down, Burgum said, «I think we started to see how they were happening and they happened quite effectively over the first year of the Trump administration.» He also pointed out that prices «vary a lot» depending on which state you live in and the extent of regulation and taxes placed on oil and gas production.

«Consumers need to understand that it is not just federal action, but it’s state and local action that’s often driving up the cost of your energy,» he said. «It’s not quite as simple as red state versus blue state. But if you take a look at gas prices before the war, red states were among all the lowest states in the country, blue states were among the highest in terms of that. And it was a reflection of the policies of those state legislatures and those governors that were driving energy prices up.»

US AND IRAN SEND CONFLICTING SIGNALS ON TALKS TO END THE WAR

Rocket trails are seen in the sky amid a fresh barrage of Iranian missile attacks above the Israeli coastal city of Netanya, on March 17, 2026. (Jack Guez / AFP)

As an example, he said that just a month ago, gas prices in Iowa were under $2 per gallon, while the price in California was $5.

«California imports 63 percent of its oil from foreign countries,» he explained, adding, «At the time of this breakout with Iran … California, by their own data, provided by the state of California, the number one country they were importing oil from in California was from Iraq.»

«They always brag about, ‘Oh, if we were a country, we’d have one of the world’s largest economies.’ And if they were a county, they would have designed for themselves one of the most energy-dependent and energy-expensive economies,» he said of California.

«They’re not saving the planet by using foreign oil in California when you could have been getting clean, reliable, affordable energy, say from the Permian Basin in Texas or New Mexico,» he continued. «When you think you’re saving the planet by blocking U.S. infrastructure, you artificially raise the prices.»

To push back on this, Burgum said that, authorized by Trump’s energy emergency declaration, Energy Secretary Chris Wright recently ordered California to reopen its Santa Ynez pipeline system to resume pumping domestic offshore oil. The order is being challenged by California in court; however, oil has already begun being pumped.

IRAN CHOKES STRAIT OF HORMUZ WITH REPORTED $2M TANKER TOLL, REGIME THREATENS GLOBAL OIL SUPPLY

Surfers wait for waves on El Porto Beach as crude oil tanker «Chios» has its cargo pumped into the Chevron Products Company refinery, one of California’s largest petroleum processing facilities, in El Segundo, Calif., on March 4, 2026. (Damian Dovarganes/AP Photo)

He framed the administration’s «energy abundance» agenda as a move back to reality after four years of «climate fantasy» under former President Joe Biden. This move, he said, stands in stark opposition to policies still being pursued in blue states like California.

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«We’re focused on energy reality, which is all Americans deserve and need to have reliable, affordable, and secure energy,» he said. «We’re fighting for every citizen in the country, regardless of what state regime they’re under. Because like I said, every American, no matter where you live, deserves to have affordable, reliable, and nationally secure energy.»  

«The Trump administration is working overtime to point fingers at California after launching a war with no plan to safeguard the Strait of Hormuz — a critical waterway where 20% of global oil trade passes through daily. The result: Trump sent crude prices through the roof which directly translates into higher gas prices in every state, regardless of whether that state pumps oil or has refineries.

In response, Anthony Martinez, a spokesperson for Newsom, told Fox News Digital in an emailed statement that «if the Secretary really wants to talk about ‘getting clean, reliable energy,’ he should answer why the Trump Administration has canceled wind and solar contracts, gutted energy and transportation tax credits, and dragged the auto industry back to gas-powered vehicles that leave American families exposed to exactly the kind of price shock they’re experiencing right now.»

«National security and energy experts — Republican and Democrat alike — saw this risk coming. Donald Trump ignored them, launched a war anyway, and is now using this historic price spike they caused to distract Americans from their own failure,» he said, adding that «while they’re busy blaming California, Donald Trump is handing nearly a billion dollars in taxpayer money to stop a job-creating, clean power-generating wind farm from being built off the East Coast — selling America out to his Big Oil donors.»

«When Americans are paying more at the pump because of a war overseas they didn’t support, Donald Trump doesn’t get to call that an energy independence agenda,» said Martinez. 

Fox News Digital also reached out to spokespeople for Biden. 

Nicolás Maduro “está muy bien” y “con mucho ánimo” mientras espera para este jueves su segunda audiencia del juicio por narcoterrorismo que se lleva adelante en Estados Unidos, donde está detenido tras su captura en Caracas el 3 de enero pasado.

“Están muy bien, fuertes, muy bien, muy bien, con mucho ánimo, con mucha fuerza y vamos a ver a un presidente delgado, atleta, está haciendo ejercicios todos los días”, señaló el diputado chavista Nicolás Maduro Guerra, hijo del ex mandatario chavista, en un video publicado en X por la periodista de Telesur Madelein García.

El congresista añadió que la primera dama, Cilia Flores, quien también fue capturada en enero pasado, está “firme y alerta”.

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Además, dijo que la audiencia de juicio prevista para este jueves servirá para “seguir elevando la verdad de Venezuela y la verdad de la inocencia de Maduro y Cilia”, ambos capturados durante el ataque estadounidense a Venezuela.

Maduro está acusado de cuatro cargos: tres de conspiración para cometer narcoterrorismo, importar cocaína y poseer ametralladoras y artefactos destructivos; y un cuarto delito de posesión de esas armas.

Flores, por su parte, está acusada de otros cuatro cargos relacionados: dos de conspiración para importar cocaína, uno de conspiración para poseer armas y otro de posesión de armas.

¿Cuál es la estrategia de los abogados?

La defensa de Maduro intentará que se desestimen los cargos de narcotráfico en su contra cuando comparezca este jueves ante un tribunal de Nueva York.

Una de las cuestiones centrales de la diligencia judicial seguramente será la de quién se ocupará de los honorarios legales del expresidente y de su esposa.

El gobierno de Venezuela busca cubrir el pago, pero antes el abogado de Maduro, Barry Pollack, deberá obtener una licencia de la administración estadounidense, debido a las sanciones de Washington contra el chavismo.

Pollack argumentó en una presentación ante el tribunal que esa autorización violaba el derecho constitucional de Maduro de tener representación legal, y exigió que el caso sea desestimado por razones procesales.

Leé también: El gobierno de Chile le retiró el apoyo a Bachelet para la ONU: por qué beneficia al argentino Rafael Grossi

Recluido en el Centro Metropolitano de Detención de Brooklyn, una prisión federal conocida por sus condiciones extremas, Maduro está solo en una celda, sin acceso a internet ni a periódicos.

El hombre, al que algunos de sus compañeros detenidos llaman presidente en los pasillos, leé la Biblia, según una fuente cercana al gobierno venezolano. Sólo se le permite comunicarse por teléfono con su familia y sus abogados, por un máximo de 15 minutos por llamada, de acuerdo a la fuente.

“Prisionero de guerra”

Maduro, de 63 años, se declaró no culpable de los cargos de narcotráfico en Estados Unidos y afirmó que es un “prisionero de guerra” en una audiencia el 5 de enero.

Es acusado de haberse aliado con movimientos guerrilleros, principalmente de Colombia, considerados “terroristas” por Washington. Asimismo, es señalado de haberse asociado con cárteles criminales para enviar toneladas de cocaína a Estados Unidos.

Según su abogado, la Oficina de Control de Activos Extranjeros (OFAC) del Departamento del Tesoro, responsable de aplicar las sanciones, le concedió el 9 de enero licencias para recibir pagos por la defensa de Maduro y de su esposa.

Sin embargo, Pollack indicó que luego la OFAC emitió una autorización enmendada que le impedía recibir dichos pagos.

“Al no permitir que el gobierno de Venezuela pague los costos de la defensa del señor Maduro, la OFAC está interfiriendo con (…) el señor Maduro para contratar un abogado y, por lo tanto, con su derecho, bajo la Sexta Enmienda, a un abogado de su elección”, escribió Pollack en una carta dirigida al tribunal con fecha del 20 de febrero.

Agregó que su equipo había presentado un recurso ante esa oficina y que llegado el caso presentaría una queja formal ante el tribunal, con el argumento de que Madurono puede “costear de otro modo un abogado”.

Los fiscales respondieron en un escrito judicial que “incluso si se hubieran violado los derechos constitucionales de los acusados -que no ha sido el caso-, la desestimación de la acusación sería una medida excesivamente drástica”.

(Con información de AFP y EFE)

The Senate confirmed Colin McDonald on a 52–47 vote to serve as the Justice Department’s first assistant attorney general for national fraud enforcement on Tuesday, as the Trump administration ramps up efforts to crack down on abuse of taxpayer-funded programs.

The confirmation comes as federal officials continue investigating large-scale fraud schemes, including a Minnesota daycare fraud probe involving millions in taxpayer-funded federal dollars, while House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer has alleged whistleblowers warned state leaders about the issue for years.

President Donald Trump created the new National Fraud Enforcement Division to target systemic fraud across federal programs, pointing to cases such as Minnesota, which officials say have both exposed widespread abuse and helped shape the federal government’s response.

«My Administration has uncovered fraud schemes in states like Minnesota and California, where these thieves have stolen hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars,» Trump said. «Together, we will end the fraud and restore integrity to our federal programs.»

EXCLUSIVE: SENATE BILL TARGETS MINNESOTA-STYLE ‘RUNAWAY FRAUD’ TO FORCE SCAMMERS REPAY TAXPAYERS

The new role is intended to centralize enforcement efforts and expand the Justice Department’s ability to investigate and prosecute complex fraud schemes tied to public assistance programs.

During his confirmation hearing, McDonald said the work in Minnesota had been «pivotal» spotlighting fraud in taxpayer-funded programs and that the new division would seek to «scale» similar efforts nationwide.

Attorney General Pam Bondi called McDonald an «experienced, skilled, and tough prosecutor» who will «continue doing incredible work to root out fraud across America.»

FEDERAL FRAUD FACES SENATE SHOWDOWN AS THUNE TAPS ERNST TO LEAD REFORMS AFTER MINNESOTA SCANDAL

Quality Learning Center in Minnesota was found at the center of an alleged childcare fraud scandal in the state. (Madelin Fuerste / Fox News Channel)

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche described McDonald as «one of the most effective attorneys» he has worked with and said the American people should have confidence in his leadership of the new division.

Vice President JD Vance said McDonald has an «exceptional prosecutorial track record» and is well positioned to take on the role.

McDonald currently serves as an associate deputy attorney general at the Justice Department, where he has worked on major enforcement initiatives under Blanche.

GOP SENATOR PUSHES TO CREATE ANTI-FRAUD SPECIAL INSPECTOR GENERAL AFTER MINNESOTA FRAUD REVELATIONS

Senator Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, left, and Senator Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois and ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, during a confirmation hearing.  (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

During his testimony, McDonald emphasized the scale of the problem, citing estimates that hundreds of billions of dollars are lost to fraud annually, and said the Justice Department would work with federal, state and local partners to investigate and prosecute cases, adding that «no fraud is too big» and «no fraud is too small» for enforcement.

The Minnesota daycare fraud investigation has drawn particular scrutiny as part of the broader crackdown, with federal investigators and lawmakers examining allegations that funds intended for childcare and meals for children were diverted or misused.

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A recent state audit found Minnesota officials failed for years to properly investigate fraud-related allegations, concluding the Department of Human Services had the authority to pursue cases but did not act, according to the report.

Fox News Digital’s Landon Mion, Andrew Mark Miller, Emma Colton and Max Bacall contributed to this reporting.