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Trump will ‘deliver’: RNC chair signals midterms confidence despite ‘doom and gloom’
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EXCLUSIVE — Despite facing a rough political environment, Republican National Committee Chair Joe Gruters remains optimistic the GOP will successfully defend its slim Senate and razor-thin House majorities in this year’s midterm elections.
«I think we’re on track. I still think that we have a chance to defy history and win the midterms,» Gruters said this week in an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital.
Republicans — as the party currently in power — were already up against traditional political headwinds that lead to a loss of congressional seats. Add to that the challenging climate fueled by persistent inflation, rising gas prices tied to what polls show is an unpopular war with Iran, and President Donald Trump’s underwater approval ratings.
«I know it’s all doom and gloom out there, but we have the best messenger in President Trump that’s ever existed in the party.»
The GOP is facing a low-propensity problem: MAGA voters who don’t always go to the polls when Trump’s name isn’t on the ballot.
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RNC Chair Joe Gruters speaks during the RNC Winter Meeting at the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort in Santa Barbara, Calif., on Jan. 23, 2026. (Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty Images)
The RNC chair, a longtime Trump ally who the president picked last summer to steer the national party committee, said Trump will be «barnstorming the country» later this year, adding, «I think what he’s doing is rallying people. I think he could deliver these low propensity voters over and over again.»
The RNC currently holds a massive fundraising and cash-on-hand advantage over the rival Democratic National Committee (DNC).
Gruters, who was a certified public accountant (CPA) before taking over the RNC and who still serves as a Florida state senator, touted his party’s «superior resources.»
«If we focus on what’s important to us, and that’s the making sure we have the resources, making sure we have good candidates, following the president and his messaging, I think we will be successful,» he predicted.
Deep concerns over inflation boosted Trump and Republicans to sweeping victories at the ballot box in 2024, as they won back the White House and Senate and kept their House majority.
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President Donald Trump gestures during a roundtable event about no tax on tips in Las Vegas on April 16, 2026. (Alex Brandon/AP)
But Democrats say their decisive victories in November’s 2025 elections, and their overperformances in special elections and other ballot box showdowns last year and, so far this year, were fueled by their laser focus on affordability amid persistent inflation.
The latest Fox News national poll indicates that just 28% of voters give Trump a thumbs up on handling inflation, which voters rank as the most pressing issue. The survey also says Democrats have an eight point advantage over Republicans when it comes to handling high prices.
During his first year back in the White House, Trump regularly touted lower gas prices when asked about his administration’s efforts on affordability.
But the surge in gas prices – the national average for regular is hovering slightly above $4 per gallon – due to the Trump-ordered attacks on Iran, has given the Democrats plenty of political fuel.
«Donald Trump started a war that no one wanted, and now Americans are paying the price. Gas prices are soaring and families who were already struggling in Trump’s economy are forced to stretch their budgets even further while footing the bill for this war,» DNC Chair Ken Martin said in a statement.
Martin charged that Trump «stuck everybody else with higher costs with no relief in sight. Americans literally can’t afford the Trump presidency.»
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But Gruters told Fox News Digital, «This conflict is temporary. I think the President knows exactly what he’s doing…I think by the time we hit November, I think we’re going to be in stride.»
Democrats are energized, thanks to their ballot box victories and overperformances.
«Nearly every week, we’re seeing red districts go blue with historic, game-changing victories up and down the ballot,» Martin emphasized. «We have momentum on our side, but we refuse to take a single day for granted. Democrats are all hands on deck ahead of November, because it’s time to send the Republicans packing.»
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Gruters isn’t buying the Democrats’ messaging.
«These special elections are special for a reason,» he said. «The Democrats are motivated because of anger, because every time the president does something good, they get angrier.»
And the RNC chair predicted, «by the time we hit the midterms, I think we’re going to be in full stride. We have great candidates, we have the right messaging, and I think we’ll be successful.»
democrats elections, midterm elections, republicans, donald trump, fund raising, campaigning
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Top Trump administration officials, Republican lawmakers and prominent Christian leaders gathered on the National Mall on Sunday for a massive prayer rally celebrating America’s upcoming 250th anniversary.
The event — «Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving» — drew thousands for worship music, speeches and prayers focused on reaffirming the United States as «One Nation Under God.»
President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and House Speaker Mike Johnson all addressed the gathering, alongside numerous other political and faith figures.
In a prerecorded message, Trump read from 2 Chronicles 7, reciting the well-known Bible verse calling on people to «humble themselves» and seek God.
TRUMP CALLS ON AMERICANS TO PRAY FOR NATION AS 250TH BIRTHDAY APPROACHES: ‘ONE NATION UNDER GOD’
Attendees watch a pre-recorded video of President Donald Trump reading from the Bible during «Rededicate 250» on the National Mall in Washington, DC, on May 17, 2026. (Matthew Hatcher / AFP via Getty Images)
«If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land,» Trump said.
Vance described the United States as «a nation of prayer,» saying faith has shaped the country since before its founding.
«In times of suffering and in times of triumph, millions of Americans continue to turn to prayer and their faith in God,» Vance said.
Rubio similarly tied America’s identity to Christianity.
«From the beginning, we have carried the belief that our country represents something new in the world,» Rubio said. «But the soul of our nation has always been rooted in an ancient faith.»
Gabbard urged Americans to humble themselves before God, saying the nation’s founders «knelt» and «asked for God’s mercy» before declaring independence.
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Johnson delivered a prayer of «rededication,» thanking God for guiding the nation since its founding.
«Heavenly Father, we thank you,» Johnson said. «Thank you so much for this great day that you’ve given us here, and we remember that your mighty hand has been upon our nation since the very beginning.»
Hegseth referenced George Washington’s faith, while Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., spoke about Christianity’s role in shaping the nation and argued prayer was central to the Civil Rights Movement.
Alveda King, niece of Martin Luther King Jr., praised Trump for encouraging Americans to «rededicate America to God.»
«This nation was founded on godly principles,» Alveda King told Fox News, adding that Martin Luther King Jr., «spoke to a crowd like this in 1963.»
Actor Jonathan Roumie, who portrays Jesus in «The Chosen,» also spoke at the event, encouraging Americans to recommit themselves to faith and prayer.
NEARLY 500 PUBLIC FIGURES FROM POLITICS TO HOLLYWOOD WILL READ BIBLE COVER TO COVER TO MARK AMERICA’S 250TH
House Speaker Mike Johnson delivers a prayer during «Rededicate 250» on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on May 17, 2026. (Matthew Hatcher/AFP)
The event also featured appearances from Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Bishop Robert Barron, Rabbi Meir Soloveichik, evangelist Franklin Graham, along with performances from Grammy-winning Christian artist Chris Tomlin, among others.
Many attendees wore patriotic colors as they packed the National Mall.
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Freedom 250, the nonprofit behind the event, said the gathering is part of a broader effort leading up to America’s semiquincentennial celebration on July 4, 2026.
Fox News Digital’s Stephen Sorace and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
america 250, christianity, republicans elections, politics, donald trump, jd vance, marco rubio
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Estados Unidos vinculó las protestas en Bolivia con un intento de desestabilizar al Gobierno de Rodrigo Paz
La Oficina de Asuntos del Hemisferio Occidental de Estados Unidos aseguró este domingo que los bloqueos y las protestas sociales que se llevan adelante en Bolivia son intentos de desestabilizar al gobierno de Rodrigo Paz.
“En Bolivia, los disturbios y bloqueos han generado una crisis humanitaria, causando escasez de medicamentos, alimentos y combustible”, aseguró el organismo a través de un comunicado emitido en su cuenta oficial de X.
En esa línea, agregó: “Condenamos todas las acciones destinadas a desestabilizar al gobierno elegido democráticamente de Rodrigo Paz y apoyamos sus esfuerzos por restablecer el orden en favor de la paz, la seguridad y la estabilidad del pueblo boliviano”.
Según reportes de las últimas horas, persisten al menos 15 puntos de bloqueo en La Paz, donde se registraron enfrentamientos entre manifestantes y fuerzas de seguridad durante operativos oficiales destinados a habilitar un “corredor humanitario” para el paso de suministros básicos.
Simpatizantes del expresidente Evo Morales mantienen cortes en rutas clave y ocuparon el aeropuerto de Chimoré, en Cochabamba, en medio de la tensión generada por una causa judicial contra el expresidente por presuntos delitos de trata de personas y abuso de menores.
Mineros artesanales se enfrentan a la policía durante una protesta para exigir acceso a zonas mineras ampliadas en La Paz, Bolivia, el jueves 14 de mayo de 2026. (AP Foto/Juan Karita)
En medio de las tensiones en el país vecino, el Gobierno argentino envió el sábado ayuda humanitaria.
“A solicitud del gobierno boliviano, y en virtud de la situación que ha derivado en el desabastecimiento de alimentos y bienes esenciales en varias ciudades del vecino país, el gobierno de la República Argentina ha decidido prestar su colaboración enviando un avión Hércules C-130 de la Fuerza Aérea Argentina para la realización de puentes aéreos para el transporte de alimentos”, informó el canciller Pablo Quirno en sus redes sociales.
La situación en Bolivia se agravó en los últimos días por cortes de rutas impulsados por la Central Obrera Boliviana (COB), sindicatos campesinos, mineros y transportistas, que reclaman mejoras salariales, provisión de combustibles y respuestas frente a la inflación y la escasez.
Según denunciaron autoridades de la administración boliviana, los bloqueos dejaron mercados semivacíos y hospitales con dificultades para acceder a reservas de oxígeno. El gobierno de Rodrigo Paz aseguró además que al menos tres personas murieron por falta de asistencia médica a raíz de los cortes.
En medio del conflicto, la Argentina coordinó el envío de asistencia para colaborar con el abastecimiento y aliviar la situación humanitaria, especialmente en La Paz y El Alto, las ciudades más afectadas por las protestas.
El gobierno boliviano debió incluso habilitar vuelos especiales para transportar más de 90.000 kilos de carne vacuna y pollo hacia esas regiones, donde los precios se dispararon y comenzaron a registrarse faltantes de productos básicos.
La tensión política también escala. En los últimos días varios sectores comenzaron a exigir la renuncia de Paz, que asumió hace apenas seis meses tras el final del ciclo del Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) y gobierna sin mayoría parlamentaria.
Leé también: El Gobierno argentino envió ayuda humanitaria a Bolivia ante una escasez de alimentos por bloqueos opositores
El presidente denunció que detrás de las protestas hay sectores que buscan “desestabilizar la democracia” y apuntó contra el expresidente Evo Morales, quien enfrenta pedidos de detención judicial por una causa de presunto abuso de menores. “Los que están buscando destrozar la democracia irán a la cárcel”, advirtió Paz mientras los bloqueos se extendían a gran parte del país.
Las manifestaciones comenzaron por reclamos sectoriales, pero se fueron ampliando a medida que empeoró la crisis económica. Bolivia atraviesa una fuerte escasez de dólares y combustibles, además de una inflación cercana al 20% anual, la más alta en décadas.
Estados Unidos, Bolivia, protestas
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ISIS terror leader at large after US strike kills top commander amid rising Africa threat: analyst
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Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, ISIS’s shadow commander in West Africa, was killed May 16 using what an extremism analyst describes as one of the hardest forms of intelligence to detect, after decades being shielded by «deep local networks» across the region.
While the killing dealt one of the biggest blows to ISIS’s global network in years, disrupting operations in northeastern Nigeria, the terror group’s top leader, Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Qurashi, remains at large as Africa becomes the movement’s global epicenter.
«There is no single ISIS ‘headquarters’ in Nigeria; ISWAP (Islamic State West Africa Province) operates dozens of small, shifting camps scattered across the Lake Chad islands and the Borno bush,» Dr. Omar Mohammed, Senior Research Fellow at the GW Program on Extremism, told Fox News Digital.
«Al-Minuki would have had no smartphones, relying instead on courier-based communications and constant movement between these small camps,» he said.
TRUMP TARGETS ISIS IN NIGERIA AMID WARNINGS SAHEL REGION IS BECOMING ‘EPICENTER OF TERRORISM’
Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, ISIS’s shadow commander in West Africa, was killed May 16. (Pictures from History/Universal Images Group)
President Donald Trump’s explicit reference to «sources who kept us informed» points directly to human intelligence, or HUMINT — the hardest form of intelligence for a target to detect or counter, Mohammed explained.
The precision strike successfully penetrated defenses that had been held for years.
«He would have utilized deep local networks the Nigerian military has struggled to penetrate for over a decade,» Mohammed added.
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«His operational security would have been severe,» Mohammed said. «But two things eventually undo even careful targets: time generates patterns, and human sources are extremely difficult to defeat.»
«Despite severe operational security, al-Minuki was ultimately compromised through persistent human intelligence,» he noted. «Al-Minuki knew he was marked.»
ISIS FIGHTERS STILL AT LARGE AFTER SYRIAN PRISON BREAK, CONTRIBUTING TO VOLATILE SECURITY SITUATION
ISIS caliph Abu Hafs al-Hashimi al-Qurashi is believed to have fled to Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland region. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post)
The Nigerian army described the strike as «a meticulously planned and highly complex precision air-land operation» carried out Saturday between midnight and 4 a.m. in Metele, located in Borno State in northeast Nigeria.
U.S. Africa Command, or AFRICOM, placed the strike in northeastern Nigeria, with Nigerian army communications pointing specifically to the Metele region.
Despite the tactical success, the current ISIS «caliph,» or overall leader, remains on the run, according to reports.
Al-Qurashi was «named following his predecessor’s death in Syria,» Mohammed claimed.
«He is deliberately faceless, with analysts describing this line of leaders as the ‘caliphs of the shadows,’» Mohammed said, noting al-Qurashi assumed leadership after Turkish authorities killed his predecessor in 2023.
While al-Qurashi’s exact location is unknown, reports indicate he traveled from Syria or Iraq through Yemen to Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland region.
«This is where the financial hub also sits, meaning the entire center of gravity of the organization — leadership, finance, operational direction — has been quietly relocating to Africa for years,» Mohammed said.
RUSSIAN MERCENARIES REPLACE WESTERN FORCES AS ISIS SURGES ACROSS AFRICA’S SAHEL REGION
«Africa has transitioned from a peripheral theater to the operational and financial center of global ISIS activity,» Dr. Omar Mohammed, Senior Research Fellow at the GW Program on Extremism, explained to Fox News Digital. (Jaron Willis/AFRICOM)
Data from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project confirms this regional shift, showing more than two-thirds of all Islamic State global activity now takes place in Africa.
«Africa has transitioned from a peripheral theater to the operational and financial center of global ISIS activity,» Mohammed explained. «Africa is no longer a peripheral theater. It is the main one. Funding is overwhelmingly local and extractive — taxation, ransom, smuggling — which is precisely why these networks are so resilient.»
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«Al-Minuki, for example, rose through ISWAP and operated across the Lake Chad Basin and into the wider Sahel,» he noted.
«Still, staking out al-Minuki is the most significant blow to ISIS’ global leadership architecture since the al-Baghdadi raid in 2019, executed in the theater that has quietly become the group’s beating heart,» Mohammed said before adding the strike was «not a one-off kinetic moment.»
iraq, isis, africa, terrorism, syria
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